Chapter 33: Are You Telling Me What to Do?
"I gave you a chance. Since you wouldn't show yourself, don't blame me for what happens next."
Zane let out a cold sneer. Clutching his scrolls tightly, he executed the Body Flicker Technique he had been prepping, vanishing from his spot to sprint frantically toward the central tower.
As long as he made it inside the doors with the scrolls, he would officially become an Anbu ninja. It didn't matter how strong the person hiding in the shadows was, or how ironclad their will might be. Without the scrolls, they could never pass the exam.
"The final victor of this test can only be me!" Staring at the towering spire of the central structure just ahead, Zane burst into boisterous laughter.
"Finally here? You're a bit slow. I've been waiting so long I almost died of boredom."
The moment Zane burst out of the forest, a slightly lazy voice drifted into his ears, causing the color to drain instantly from his face. Someone had reached the tower before him—and they had been waiting to set an ambush.
But as his eyes focused on the figure blocking the entrance, Zane fell into a stunned silence.
Height-wise, the Anbu trainee intercepting him didn't even reach his chest. Maybe not even his waist.
Zane had a vague impression of Jie Uchiha. After all, the boy's stature stood out dramatically among all the older Anbu candidates in the exam. Initially, Zane had assumed Jie's small size was simply the result of a unique physical trait. But upon hearing the boy's voice, reality crashed down on him: Jie Uchiha didn't have a special physique. He was literally just a child.
How strong could an unweaned brat possibly be?
Jie's reputation had been causing an absolute uproar throughout the Hidden Leaf. However, Zane had spent the last few months sequestered in the Anbu base preparing for this exam. He had completely shut out the outside world, dedicating all his time to mastering his Konoha-Style Kenjutsu. Had he known the rumors, he never would have underestimated the boy at first glance.
"Where did this brat come from? Get out of my way before you get hurt!" Zane spat fiercely, lunging forward to rush past him and into the tower. He still didn't know where the mysterious ninja who had left that warning in the forest was hiding. Only by crossing the threshold of the tower would he be truly safe.
Hearing the threat, a bright smile bloomed across Jie's face.
Perfect. Ever since he had become the eldest young master of the Uchiha clan, no one had dared speak to him with such open disrespect.
"Are you telling me what to do?" Jie asked calmly.
Yet, despite the simplicity of his words, a single drop of cold sweat trailed down Zane's forehead.
'What kind of monster is this kid?' Zane thought, swallowing hard. 'How can he possess such a terrifying aura?'
As a sudden realization struck him, Zane briefly lost his voice before crying out in shock, "It was you! You're the one who left that warning in the forest!"
"Warning?"
Jie glanced in the direction Zane had come from and immediately realized what had happened: the man had stumbled across the classic movie line he had carved into the trees out of sheer boredom.
"Ah, yes. I did leave that," Jie admitted smoothly. "But I've changed my mind. I don't just want your toll fee anymore. I want you to stay behind, too. None of you are getting past me!"
The sheer arrogance of his words clashed jarringly with his childish voice, yet to Zane, they sounded like booming thunderclaps.
"Stop spouting nonsense! I..." Zane stammered, gritting his teeth. "I am going into that tower! I will be the sole victor of this exam!"
To suppress his rising panic, Zane unsheathed his tantō, gripping the hilt tightly. The familiar weight of his weapon acted like a warm hearth in the dead of winter, instantly steadying his nerves. Though his terror had ebbed slightly, he completely dropped the arrogant attitude he had carried just moments before. He hadn't tested Jie's true strength yet, but his finely-tuned instincts screamed that this boy was incredibly dangerous.
Glancing down at the bundle of scrolls in his arms, Zane ground his teeth. If things went south, his plan was simple: throw out all of his extra scrolls and keep only the single pair he needed. An Anbu candidate only needed one Heaven and one Earth scroll to pass, and Jie Uchiha obviously needed them too. By using the surplus scrolls as a distraction, Zane figured he could buy just enough time to trigger his Body Flicker Technique and cross the finish line.
"Have you prepared your last words?" Jie suddenly broke the silence.
"What?!" Zane blurted out in shock.
"Are those your last words?" Jie sighed. "How terribly brief."
The moment the words left his lips, Jie vanished into thin air.
'So fast!'
Zane's face twisted in horror. Pure instinct took over as he fired off his Body Flicker Technique, desperately leaping backward.
A split second later, a brilliant flash of white steel slashed through the space Zane had just occupied, carving a deep trench into the earth.
'Hatake Kenjutsu: Sword Draw!'
Jie's figure slowly materialized as the mental invocation of his technique faded.
"Your reflexes aren't bad," Jie noted lightly. "No wonder you managed to steal so many scrolls and make it to the tower in one piece."
It didn't surprise Jie that Zane had managed to dodge his blade. He hadn't put his full strength into the strike; it was merely a test of the man's speed. Besides, anyone who qualified for the Anbu exam was bound to have some genuine skill. The weak ones had been weeded out long ago—you couldn't hoard that many scrolls and stroll up to the central tower without being capable.
Still, if Zane hadn't been able to dodge such a casual slash, it would only have proven he was trash. And in the ninja world, trash died quickly.
Upto 40 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/Vristikk