Chapter 14: The Sharingan
The circle continued to tighten.
Five metres now.
The ANBU didn't rush their advantage. If anything, their movements became even more controlled than beforehand.
Every step inward was measured, cautious, like hunters approaching a wounded animal that could still bite.
Smoke drifted through the clearing in thin grey sheets. The burning forest still crackled quietly around them.
Kenzo stood at the centre of it all.
Mud clung to his boots. His sleeve was torn. A thin line of blood ran down his forearm where the kunai had nicked him earlier.
His breathing remained steady.
But the pressure around him was growing thicker and thicker.
Another pair of ANBU moved in.
One came low with a sweeping kick aimed at destabilising his footing in the mud. The other followed half a heartbeat later with a downward blade strike.
Kenzo stepped back just in time for the kick to pass in front of him. Mud splashed under the ANBU's leg, destabilising him for a moment.
And in that instant his blade dropped from his hand.
This happened due to the previous incident when Kenzo had used his forehead to crack the ANBU mask.
The results were already starting to show their effect.
Kenzo raised his forearm again as the blade descended, but instead of meeting the strike he caught the flat of it and pushed the attacker's blade sideways. At the same time, he shifted his shoulder forward, ramming his elbow into the attacker's chest, catching him off guard and forcing all the air out of the man's lungs in a short grunt before he could withdraw.
The impact forced the ANBU two steps back.
Just as he gained a good position—
Immediately, another replaced him.
Rotating again.
Never allowing Kenzo a moment of stillness.
A wind blade sliced toward his side.
Kenzo twisted his upper body, the edge grazing past his clothes.
Before he could recover, a second shinobi lunged from the opposite angle.
Steel flashed again.
Kenzo stepped inside the strike again instead of away from it.
His elbow drove straight into the attacker's ribs.
The man's breath escaped in a short grunt before he retreated.
Another rotation.
Always another.
Water bullets came next, five this time, staggered rather than simultaneous. Not powerful enough to kill him, but enough to keep him moving.
This tactic again.
Kenzo moved between them with small steps, letting two pass behind him while knocking the third aside with the back of his hand.
The fourth struck his shoulder and burst against his guard in a splash of cold water.
Making them slightly drenched.
The fifth came in low.
He jumped it—
But as he landed,
A blade thrust forward instantly toward his stomach.
Kenzo turned his hips and let the blade scrape along the side of his armour plate instead of piercing through.
After the attack the ANBU withdrew quickly.
Another replaced him just as fast.
Kenzo felt it clearly now.
His arms were beginning to feel heavier.
Not because they were injured—no—but from constant repetition.
They were slowly but surely reaching their goal.
The shinobi above the trees shifted position rhythmically, still watching every movement below like a hawk encircling its prey.
Then another set of hand seals began forming in the outer ring.
Kenzo noticed it instantly from the corner of his eyes.
His Sharingan was still active, performing its duty and waiting for an opportune moment.
This time two of them were preparing something together.
The pressure on him increased again.
Three attackers stepped forward this time instead of two.
One aiming high.
One aiming mid.
One aiming low.
Kenzo deflected the high strike with agile movements and twisted his body away from the mid slash, then kicked downward with momentum to redirect the low attacker's weapon into the ground.
Mud splashed as the attacker's weapon was redirected downward.
But this time the attackers didn't retreat fully.
They pressed him for a full second longer than before.
Making it clear they had changed their stance to a more aggressive one.
Just then a voice was heard on the battlefield.
"Now."
The voice was low behind a mask.
But Kenzo heard it clearly with his terrifying perception alone.
His pupils shrank suddenly as the ground beneath him shifted again.
But this time it didn't harden.
It collapsed.
The mud gave way as if the earth beneath had been hollowed out. His leg sank almost to the knee before he forced chakra into his muscles and pushed upward.
That brief imbalance, however, was all the ANBU needed.
A wire snapped through the air from the side.
Kenzo caught it around his forearm before it could wrap around his neck.
Another shot out toward his ankle.
With quick and agile movements, he took out a kunai from a small pouch and slashed it.
Then the jutsu finally finished.
Wind surged inward from two directions.
Not slicing—but pushing.
They didn't want to kill him yet.
They wanted to bring back his Sharingan intact.
Kenzo understood this point instantly with his incredible battle instincts.
Then a sudden blast of compressed air slammed into him from the side, trying to knock him off balance while his legs were still stuck in the mud.
Kenzo dropped his centre of gravity instantly to make himself harder to move.
The wind struck his shoulder, forcing him to move half a step sideways.
But he didn't fall.
The moment the gust faded, two ANBU lunged at him together.
Blades aimed directly for his arms.
They were trying to disable him now.
Kenzo's eyes sharpened as he understood their intention.
Instead of retreating, he raised his forearms and stepped forward.
Both blades struck his guard as he moved inside their reach.
The sound of steel clashing rang through the small clearing.
Before the attackers could pull away, Kenzo grabbed one by the wrist and yanked him forward violently.
The shinobi stumbled as he was pulled forward.
Kenzo pivoted his body, then drove his shoulder into the second attacker, sending him crashing into the first.
For a brief moment, two of them tangled together.
The circle faltered again.
And this time Kenzo didn't wait.
Chakra surged through his legs.
The mud beneath him cracked apart as he forced himself free in a sudden burst of strength.
He moved sideways.
Toward the narrowest point between two shinobi.
The ANBU reacted instantly.
Three moved to intercept him like before.
But by that time Kenzo had already stepped into their range.
As they swung their blades—
Kenzo ducked under the strike and brutally drove his fist into the man's stomach with all his force.
The impact folded the shinobi forward.
Making him spit out a mouthful of bile.
A second blade came in from the side with a wide vertical slash.
Kenzo caught the attacker's elbow effortlessly before he could even swing the blade properly.
Then shoved him directly into the path of the third person.
The two collided shoulder-first.
For the first time since the fight began—
Kenzo finally broke through the circle.
Not completely, however.
But enough for what he was about to do.
Kenzo dashed two steps toward the outer edge.
Lightning crackled instantly in front of him again.
The ANBU above had anticipated it.
But this was also what Kenzo had anticipated.
All this time Kenzo had never used his Sharingan in his fights.
Gradually and slowly they had let their guards down slightly, unconsciously letting him get some glimpses of their eyes—and that was all Kenzo needed.
The ANBU, who were trained to look at body parts when fighting an Uchiha—
Had their vision shift slightly instead of his chest, arms, or legs.
What appeared in their vision instead—
Was a blood-red three-magatama Sharingan spinning with a vast amount of ocular power.