💎 WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎🔥 30→2ch | 60→5ch | 100→8ch | 200→15ch | 400→25ch⏰ Resets Monday!
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The sight of Miyuki Uzumaki being bullied, tears streaming down her face, sent a surge of blood roaring into Qianyu's head.
I swore an oath! The thought screamed inside his skull. I swore to protect her smile!
His eyes burned crimson. His body coiled low. Lightning chakra crackled to life around him.
The Genin who had been sneering moments ago froze, his face paling as he saw the electricity wreathing the boy. In his entire career, he'd only mastered one C-rank jutsu. But this… this raw, violent lightning aura spoke of something far more dangerous.
Shedding his arrogance, the Genin released Miyuki's hair, his hands flying into a seal. "Earth Style: Stone Pillar Spear!"
A single, sharp spike of earth shot upwards from the ground. It was slow. Predictable. Qianyu took a single step back, letting it pass harmlessly.
His left thumb pressed against his sword's tsuba. The blade slid free, just an inch, with a soft metallic hiss.
"Thunder Breathing," Qianyu whispered, the words a low growl. "First Form: Thunderclap and Flash."
The final syllable vanished into thunder.
A streak of blue lightning tore across the clearing. The Genin heard the roar first—a deafening crack of thunder that shook his bones. Then he saw it: a brilliant, blinding flash of blue light. Then…
CRACK.
He coughed, a spray of blood misting the air, and collapsed onto his back.
"Brother!" The younger boy's eyes went wide with shock. One second his brother was standing. The next, he was on the ground, choking on his own blood.
Crackle. Zap.
The sound of lightning came from behind him. The boy turned his head, muscles locked with terror.
Qianyu was already there. He held Miyuki gently in one arm. His eyes, fixed on the boy, were pools of molten scarlet.
The boy's pupils shrank to pinpricks. A cold, primal fear—like falling into an icy lake—seized his entire body. He stumbled back, his legs giving out, and landed hard on his rear.
The Genin on the ground stared up, disbelief warring with pain. Qianyu had used the flat of the blade. But the impact had caved in his chest, snapping ribs. The lingering lightning chakra made his limbs tremble and go numb.
How? his mind screamed. He's just a brat from the Academy! Not even a Genin! What kind of monster…
In Qianyu's arms, Miyuki stared up at his face. To the others, he looked like a demon, eyes blazing with murderous intent. To her, in that moment, he was the most breathtaking sight in the world.
Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic, unfamiliar rhythm. Something warm and fierce bloomed in her chest.
"Stay here, Miyuki," Qianyu's voice was low, almost gentle for her alone.
He set her down carefully. Then he turned. The sword slid fully from its sheath with a clear, cold ring. His killing intent solidified into a physical weight as he stalked toward the bleeding Genin and the cowering boy.
"W-what are you doing?!" the boy shrieked, scrambling backward on his hands. "The village rules! You can't attack a comrade!"
A savage, twisted smile stretched across Qianyu's face. "Can't attack a comrade? Then what the hell were you doing just now?" He raised his sword. "Don't worry. I won't kill you. I'll just break every one of your limbs."
He took a step forward.
A kunai sliced through the air, aimed directly at him.
Clang! Qianyu's blade flicked out, deflecting it with a sharp spark. His head snapped toward the source.
Minato Namikaze stood on a tree branch. "That's enough, Qianyu," he said, his voice calm. "They've been punished."
Qianyu's expression darkened further. "You were watching this whole time?"
Minato hesitated. Said nothing.
He had been watching. He'd seen Miyuki run this way and followed, hoping for a chance to finally talk to the fiery red-haired girl he admired from afar. He never expected to see her attacked. That little punk had always picked on her at the Academy, but Miyuki had always handed him his teeth. Minato, as their classmate, had never intervened for the boy.
So when he saw the boy and his Genin brother corner Miyuki for revenge, he'd frozen, unsure of what to do. Since he hadn't helped the boy when Miyuki beat him up before, some twisted sense of fairness made him feel it would be wrong to help her now.
His silence was answer enough.
A cold, mocking laugh escaped Qianyu's lips. "So you were here. You saw her get bullied, and you did nothing. Now that I'm handing out payback, you step in to help them? Minato Namikaze. You're something else."
"That's not it!" Minato protested quickly.
Qianyu pointed his sword at the deflected kunai on the ground. "Not what? You threw a real kunai at me. Explain. What is it?"
Minato's heart sank. "That kunai… it's not mine! It's the one he threw at Miyuki! It was stuck in the tree!"
The already stormy fury on Qianyu's face hardened into something glacial. "He threw a real kunai… at Miyuki?"
Slowly, deliberately, Qianyu reversed his grip on the sword. The razor-sharp edge now faced outward, gleaming in the dappled light.
"I'm going to cut off all your hands and feet."
He pushed off the ground.
Minato's scalp prickled. Oh no. This wasn't a threat anymore. This was a promise. He burst into motion.
Scooping up the fallen kunai in a fluid motion, Minato interposed himself, blocking the downward slash aimed at the Genin's leg.
The Genin sobbed in relief, tears mixing with the blood on his chin. Another half-second, and his leg would have been gone.
"Qianyu!" Minato pushed back, strain evident in his voice. "If you maim them, you'll be punished too!"
Qianyu's crimson eyes locked onto his. "So what? They used a real kunai on Miyuki first. Who's to blame if I return the favor?" His voice dropped, seething with contempt. "And you, Minato. You saw it happen and did nothing. Now you stand here playing the hero? I'll say this once. If you want to watch, then get out of the way. If you want to help them… I'll cut you down too."
"Qianyu, be reasonable!" Minato insisted. "They're still comrades of the village!"
A bitter, icy laugh. "How righteous. So they're your comrades, but Miyuki isn't? Fine. You made your choice."
The air hummed with static.
"Thunder Breathing," Qianyu intoned, the lightning around him flaring violently. "Second Form: Rice Spirit."
In the space of a single breath, five arcing, zig-zag slashes of lightning tore through the air where Minato had stood.
Every hair on Minato's body stood on end. Pure, instinctual reflex saved him—a desperate backward flip that carried him just outside the lethal web of lightning.
He landed in a crouch, breathing hard. He'd seen Qianyu's speed with the Thunderclap and Flash—a blur almost too fast to track. But facing it head-on… feeling the killing intent and the wind from those passing blades… Minato finally understood.
Qianyu wasn't just fast.
He was a storm given form.
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