I crouched on a branch, my eyelids closed.

I could feel Kenzei sitting in the living room, just as I'd left him when I came three servants were still in the kitchen. The east wing was desert, except for the two idiots in their rooms.

My senses reached further into the heart of the forest. Two great, crackling energies? were battling there.

Shunshin.

The energy concentrated in my legs: half a hand signal later, and I was gone.

My soles barely grazed the branches before I was propelled into the next jump.I could hear the bark crack as I passed, a spray of wood shavings exploding on impact.

The air shook, its transparent surface shimmering like water as I crossed the invisible barrier.

The scene transformed into a battlefield.

Trees as thick as three men lay in the middle of the overturned earth, uprooted corpses. Puddles and mud had replaced the meadow of flowers. Holes the size of wells littered the plowed ground. A smell of burning rose to my nose.

I crouched at the edge of the field and scanned my surroundings for them.

A tree trunk shot through the air like a cannonball.

It crossed the improvised clearing from left to right, whipping up a gust of icy wind.

Crouched horizontally against an oak was Second Shoto.

He made half a sign.

Tiger.

He disappeared. The trunk thrown by the First hit the oak so hard that the whole clearing shook.

Clods of earth flew in all directions as the leaves of the stricken tree fell like snow. Cracks scattered across the oak's bark as its wood rumbled to withstand the tree bent in two, its roots snapping out of the ground like whips.

And then it collapsed, the bushy part falling back onto the trunk that had attacked it.

The birds that had nested there took to the air with a flurry of wings and angry cries.

My eyes darted to the left of the field.

The Second Shoto leapt from the foliage above the First, his sword aiming dangerously at his First, crouched on a thick branch, spun on his feet, kunai in hand.

Yellow sparks flew from the blades.

The First's arm shook, but he pushed the blade back far enough to avoid decapitation. The branch beneath his feet cracked, however, unable to support their combined weight.

The First made Ram-

Lightning exploded from the Second's body, passing through his sword like a shock wave to strike the First.

The First arched his back, his body pierced by lightning. There was an explosion of smoke, then the Second's blade sliced through the log the First had replaced himself with.

The Second didn't even have time to turn around before a tanto, identical to his own, pierced his chest. A new puff of smoke.

Substitution.

The First, far from being distracted by the decoy, jumped back a good two meters. The tree he'd been standing on a second earlier shook, and the half dozen explosive tags hidden by a genjutsu came to light.

The next moment, everything exploded.

The tree burst as if a bomb had been placed inside. The upper half of the trunk was torn from its base and crashed to the ground with a thud, rolling several meters away. It smashed into some bushes, reducing them to rubble.

The lower part of the tree, anchored to the ground by its mighty roots, caught fire as if soaked in gasoline. Its bark shriveled and scorched sap flowed from it like black blood.

A dark, opaque smoke, like a wave of ink, spread over the whole area.

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I covered my mouth with my forearm and wriggled against the branch, my eyes squinting.

My eyes burned and my throat was on fire.

I can't feel them anymore.

The forest was deathly quiet.

The black veil continued to spread across the clearing, covering the sky and the trees. The dust itself darkened.I couldn't even see my hand next to my face.

Not even the sun could get through.

A breeze came up and soothed my irritated nose. The cloud did not dissipate.

A flaming leaf fell from the sky.

It cut through the darkness like a torch thrown into the abyss, its golden light barely illuminating the surroundings. It spun around, its edges shriveling as it fell.

It looked like the last star in a dead galaxy.

I forced myself to keep my eyes open, knowing what was about to happen.

All that remained was a burning rod. It brushed against a blade of grass.

The wind whistled.

Clang clang clang.

Yellow sparks flew from the clash of their tantos in the center of the clearing. A new hiss of air. Sparks exploded in the trees, far to the left. A split second later, they exploded to the right.

A Shoto, haloed by lightning, emerged from the darkness and flashed toward the Shoto on the left.

A kamikaze.

The left shoto jumped back. A volley of kunais shot from his right hand to meet the threat.

One of the kunais grazed the skin of Lightning Shoto. He froze skin turned white as if he had swallowed a light lightning crackling above his skin brightened with him, illuminating the darkness like a super nova at the end of its life.

The forest took on shades of gray, then white in the bright light.

Lightning Shoto's silhouette blurred. He was nothing more than a crackling light, humanoid and unrecognizable.

The left Shoto, panicking, made a half-hand sign.

The Lightning Shoto exploded.

A ring of light erupted, consuming everything in its path.

The cloud of black smoke was pierced by radiation.

Trees were sliced at the base. Grass caught onfire.

I threw myself to the ground, covering my head with both light pierced the branch I'd been standing on a second before, reducing it to ashes.

A hole like a well opened at the top of the cloud. An oblique ray of sunlight slipped through, illuminating the devastated forest.

I turned my head to the right, where the First Shoto who had created the Lightning Clone was still lurking. He met my gaze.

Like a vengeful demon, the Second Shoto burst out of the darkness. Half of his clothes were charred, and white smoke billowed from his hair in waves.

The First turned his head to the side, his eyes wide. His hand rose, his fingers flexed, and-

And then the Second pierced his chest with a chidori.

The scream of a thousand birds echoed through the forest as the First jerked against the arm. He burst into white smoke, ending the battle.

The Second met my gaze.

He looked downright furious.

"I can expl-

I dissapeared in a puff of smoke.

"So boss, how was the-"

The clone exploded in a cloud of smoke. I wrapped a towel around my neck and wiped my hair with the only square that was still dry.

"Give your clones some autonomy", I told myself,"The more time they have to prepare, the better the fight will be"

And that soulless bastard had almost killed me with a jutsu out of his ass.

Still, it was a hell of a- Could we say it was asuicide as he tried to kill me ?

I moved closer to my desk and lifted the pages my clone was writing on.

There were three concentric circles filled with Fuinjutsu inscriptions as tight and thin as hairpins. Three large commas filled with symbols crossed them.

I hope this Sharingan doesn't blow the brains out of the next mouse.

The Chakra Encyclopedia had once told me that I could reproduce some Dojutsus if I reached a sufficient level in it also explained that at this stage, even with my clones working day and night, I wouldn't be able to do it for another three years.

But I couldn't wait three years.

That's exactly why I brute forcingmy way for my Sharingan creation.

The encyclopedia had vaguely explained how it would work, but the construction stages were , more than four months ago, I sent my clones on a mad quest.

It was possible that one day the rodent test would be passed, but that the seal would fail me completely.

But what was the difference between dying today to become stronger or dying tomorrow at the hands of a murderer?

I put the sheet back on the desk.

It was a good job, too. But I really didn't want to see anymoremy clones today.

There was a knock at the door.

"Yes?"

My father poked his head through the crack.

His dark circles were longer than my arm.

"Have you eaten yet?"

I walked to him.

"I waited for you to come home For the movie"

"Right. The movie"

I stopped abruptly and raised my eyebrows.

"Again?"

He sighed.

"Listen Shoto, recently-" I crossed my arms.

"Yes, yes, 'recently'. You've been putting it off for a week"

I'd spent the week eating my meals facing the wall. Old Kenzei had wanted to "keep me company" and after his third abracadabra story about his youth, I'd set sail.

He watched me silently.

"Look, why don't we ask them to bring the food into the theater ? We'll start the movie, and when you fall asleep, I'll finish it by myself"

The way things were going, that was the best I could get out of him.

"Very well"

I fidgeted in my seat, my feet barely touching the end of the chair.

"What are you doing?"

I looked up at my father, who was sitting comfortably in his seat. The chairs were all custom-made so that he could sit in any of them without ever feeling like he was being folded in half.

But even when I sat down, I didn't even touch the tip of the seat.

"When did you have your growth spurt?"

A gleam of amusement flashed through his eyes.

"Your height again?"

He leaned forward and took the (huge) plate the cook had prepared for him. Tonight it was assorted raw fish, something my father was very fond of.

"I've always been tall. Even at your age, I was a head taller than all my classmates"

But I wasn't.

For the first time in my life, I wondered if the chakra was hindering my growth.

"Hmm"

"You should eat. Even if you don't grow, you could compensate by building up your muscles"

He made a square with his fingertips.

I crossed my arms and started the movie. The ceiling lights went out in a second.

I could hear his laugh over the roar of the motorcycle behind the rain curtain.

By the time I deigned to look at him again, he was asleep.