** The conclusion of the fight has arrived. Please, even if you do not usually comment, I would really appreciate your feedback on the entire fight after reading this chapter.
The fact that Kaen was able to push me this far was honestly impressive. I could see how hard he had worked. The effort it took to suppress his fiery instincts, to plan, to think, to strategize. He'd grown. His promise back in the woods wasn't empty talk. He had meant it. And more than that, he'd followed through with everything he had. That, at the very least, earned him some respect from me.
But none of it mattered now.
By the time I finished forming the hand signs and activated Stormdrive, he was already lunging forward, a fist aimed straight at my abdomen. I could have dodged it. Part of me even considered it. But I didn't. I let it happen. The moment his knuckles touched my stomach, the Static Shell kicked in. A violent pulse of lightning exploded from the point of contact, seizing up his body and locking him in place. He froze completely, his momentum ruined, as I stepped forward and drove my palm into his chest.
I kept my strength restrained, but even so, the force behind the blow launched him backward like a ragdoll. He slammed into the ground with a thud, dust rising around him in a cloud.
Before the instructors could even consider stepping in, Kaen was already forcing himself upright again.
He stood there, shoulders slumped, breathing in ragged gasps, blood trailing down his mouth. His whole body trembled. Yet his eyes… his eyes hadn't changed. That fierce, stubborn flame still burned within them. Determination. Raw and undiluted. I found myself smiling in spite of everything. Of course, that was a mistake.
He saw that smile and misunderstood it.
Without a second's hesitation, Kaen began forming hand seals again. I didn't stop him. I didn't even move. I wanted to see how far he could take it. I wanted to witness, for myself, how strong his resolve is. His hands moved slower this time, stiff with pain, but he completed the sequence. I saw his chest rise as he took in a sharp, labored breath. Then, through clenched teeth and bruised lips, he let it out.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
This one was different. Bigger. Wilder. Desperate.
He poured nearly every last bit of chakra he had into it. The fireball roared to life, massive and unstable, rushing toward me like a living wall of flame. It was designed to cut off all escape routes. Clever. He was still using his brain.
But I still smirked.
There were too many eyes on me to reveal all my cards. I could've neutralized it with a gesture, but I didn't want to show that I could use ninjutsu without hand signs just yet. I still wanted to keep Stormdrive under wraps a little longer. So, with a practiced motion, I formed a hand seal and launched several Current Shots. Lightning tore through the space ahead of me, weaving through the air in arcs of pure energy. They struck the center of the fireball, not enough to cancel it outright, but more than enough to tear a hole through the middle.
That was all the opening I needed.
In an instant, I surged forward, my feet leaving scorched marks in the dirt. I blurred through the flames and emerged right in front of Kaen, who had no time to react. My fist connected cleanly with his face, and he was sent tumbling backward once more.
But the kid refused to stay down.
He rose again, slower than before, his legs shaking. Blood was now pouring freely from his nose, joining the other wounds injuries. Swollen. Broken. Brutalized. I let out a quiet sigh, berating myself for letting it go this far. I glanced at the instructors, expecting them to call it off.
They didn't.
And suddenly, I understood why.
They wanted to make a point. They wanted the rest of the class to witness the sheer grit it took to be a shinobi. To feel the weight of what it meant to push forward even when everything screamed at you to stop. Maybe it was supposed to be inspirational.
But it was still a bad call.
Kaen picked up a kunai with trembling fingers. His grip was weak. His body, broken. Yet he stumbled toward me anyway.
At that moment, I had a choice. Step down and dishonor the effort I'd put into my own training… or finish it. No hesitation.
I waved a single hand sign and released three precise Current Shots. One struck his chest, another hit his right knee, and the last clipped his chin. Kaen crumpled instantly, collapsing like a puppet whose strings had been cut. I had made sure to aim for key points without causing lasting harm, but it was enough to put him down for good.
As I slowly walked toward him, I let the Stormdrive fade, feeling the hum of lightning drain from my limbs.
He was still moving. Barely.
One hand scraped across the dirt, trying to push himself up again. He didn't make it far. His strength gave out, and he slumped back down.
I stopped beside him and looked down.
"You did great, Kaen," I muttered. "The fact that I had to go all out says everything. Rest now. In time, your strength will…"
"Shut up!"
His voice exploded from his throat, loud and raw. I blinked in surprise. That wasn't a wounded yell. That was a scream dragged out from the bottom of his soul.
He lifted his head. His face was soaked with tears and blood, his mouth twisted into something halfway between anguish and rage.
"Why?" he cried. "Why are you better than me?"
I didn't speak. He wasn't really asking, and I was still stunned by the raw display of emotion.
"I'm from the Uchiha," he spat. "I have the best teachers. I train every day, harder than anyone I know. And you…" his voice cracked, "you have no one. No guidance. No legacy. Nothing! And yet you still beat me every time!"
He started sobbing. His shoulders trembled.
"They all expect me to be the best," he whispered. "But no matter what I do… you're always ahead. You're always the one they talk about. I… I can never catch up."
Then the sorrow in his voice began to shift.
Anger crept in.
"My clan looks at me like I'm a failure. My family won't even say it, but I see it in their eyes. I work so hard… and it's never enough."
His head tilted back. His voice grew louder.
"And it's because of you."
Now I knew hate. I had breathed it. Lived on it. It had fueled my revenge after I lost my sister. It had kept me moving when everything else inside me wanted to shut down. I knew that fire intimately.
But this wasn't the same.
This wasn't pure anger. Kaen's hatred was layered with bitterness, grief, despair, and chakra fused together into something different, deeper. Something darker. It wasn't just about me. It was about everything. His clan. His pride. His worth. His fear of being left behind or forgotten, like the great Uchiha of old were.
"I hate you," he said quietly. Not screamed this time. Whispered. From the core of his being.
Then I felt it.
Even though he had almost no chakra left, something in him snapped. Power burst out like a final flare, and his eyes… they changed.
His irises turned red. A single tomoe spun into place in each one.
His Sharingan had awakened.
He didn't even realize it. But I did. His gaze locked onto mine for a second longer, filled with a hatred so deep it shook my soul.
Then he collapsed. Completely unconscious.
And I just stood there in complete silence, like we were the only two people left in the world.