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Burdened Soul: Uchiha SI Ch.56
🕑 Added 2025-05-05 14:24:22 +0000 UTCChapter 56
IZUNA UCHIHA
The day of evaluation for his brother’s team was here, and though he was not invited, Izuna now sat hidden in a tree watching the three genin gather and wait for their sensei. He was aware of their individual prowess and was a bit excited to see them act as a team, especially when being tested by none other than Konan.
And he was not the only one.
“I didn’t know that you were back in the village, Tsunade-sama,” he addressed the blonde woman standing beside him, watching the proceedings with an equally keen eye, and it had been quite a surprise when he had found her waiting here.
“It's not every day one hears about the revival of the Uzumaki clan. So, I came back to see if the rumors were true,” and much like Kushina-san, she had Uzumaki blood running through her veins as well, and was equally devastated by its decimation.
“And now that you have seen that the rumors are true, what do you intend to do?” he asked about her intentions, and she seemed to hesitate for a bit before she answered.
“I just might stay for a while,” which would be for the better. After all, having another S-ranked ninja at their beck and call was always a good thing. She had not been back for years now, only visiting for short intervals, as she tried to help him in her research to try and save Rin.
So, he was a bit surprised hearing that answer.
“The village. It has changed much from the times of the sensei. Changed for the better,” and she glanced at him, her eyes not as lifeless and hopeless as the last time he had seen them.
“After a very long time, I can feel it turning back into what Grandfather wanted it to be,” and that was quite a statement, especially coming from her.
“You and Minato, you have done well. But I think it is time for me to come back and do my own part in reviving my grandfather’s dream,” and he gave her a nod as they turned towards the field once more, as Konan appeared on the field, walking out of the forest, as Itachi, Saiko, and Anko all became alert.
“Well, that is a welcome prospect,” he whispered, sitting down as the blonde Sanin smirked.
“Do you not fear that you might be out of a job,” and he shook his head, smiling.
“I am happy to hand it over anytime,” for as good an Iryo-nin he was, his interest in the art was only in its role in combat. He was skilled at it, yet he lacked both the time and will to innovate and evolve the discipline, something she could do.
“Well, you can keep being the head. I don’t think I will ever miss the paperwork,” she said before adding that Itachi seemed to recognise Konan.
“But I might go and test that new crop of Iryo-nins that you and Minato keep raving about.” She was welcome to test them all, and do whatever she was desired for no matter how popular he was, the name Tsunade Senju still carried quite a weight in the ninja circles both because of her strength and heritage.
“You...” Itachi’s eyes widened in recognition, as did Saiko’s and Anko’s as Konan cast a small glance towards him and Tsunade-sama, making the blonde sanin raise a brow.
“She could sense us both. Quite interesting,” she whispered. Konan was a natural sensor who had honed her abilities in war, so it was quite difficult to fool her.
“Are you our sensei?” asked Anko, as she wet her lips, as Konan began dismissively.
“That remains to be seen,” and then she addressed them all.
“Lord Hokage may have nominated you three for the Chunin exams, but the final decision still rests in my hands. Today, I will evaluate all three of you, and then give my recommendation to the Lord Hokage about whether the three of you are worthy of being shinobi or not,” and her words made the trio frown, as they all glanced at each other.
Papers began to swarm out of her cloak and take the form of her iconic wings as her feet were lifted off the ground. Itachi finally recognised her.
“It’s her. It’s Ame no Tenshi,” and Anko frowned, as the three of them readied themselves.
“Ame’s Angel?” she asked, as Itachi nodded slowly, reaching for her tanto as the three of them got into their formation.
“Don’t you think we all should introduce ourselves first?” Saiko cut in, reaching into her back pocket, as Konan replied impassively.
“We will see about that after you can show me that you deserve to live. After all, unlike your usual Konoha teachers, I have no qualms in killing worthless shinobi,” and that was rather intense, as Tsunade-sama raised a brow.
“Paper, huh. Interesting,” and Izuna pulled a rock from the ground using his chakra and threw it straight at the ground between Konan, and the trio.
Konan glanced at the rock, her intentions clear to all three of them, and just as the rock hit the ground, the battle began.
CLANG!
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KONAN
Tenshi. Angel. That was her epithet, but angels were merely carriers, messengers, and that had been her role. With Nagato and Yahiko, she had lost her purpose. She had become haunted by the burden of their dream, and she had forgotten that even as strong as the two of them were, they had needed allies, people who shared their aspirations.
But she had shut herself off from the world, to hope, to life. The Hokage’s message resonated with her. It helped her realise her folly. She had thought herself a failure, for they had failed in bringing their desired change to Ame and the world.
But change had come. It had come to Konoha. It had come into the lives of the people who had taken refuge in this village. One day, it would come to Amegakure as well, but for that, she must do her duty as the messenger and leave behind a generation who could become messengers for their dream.
As she stared at the three genin standing opposite her, she saw in them herself, Yahiko and Nagato. She saw in them the hope for a better future, and as the stone hit the ground, two of them moved in an instant.
The black haired boy was Izuna’s brother and was clearly quite skilled. But she knew that she could not underestimate the girls as well, especially given that they were trained by none other than a Sanin.
“Ninpo: Hidden Snake Arms,” the purple-haired kunoichi screamed, as snakes rushed out of her. She brought forward her wing, and the snakes bit into it, as she felt the two Uchiha’s gathering their own chakras.
“Katon: Fireball Jutsu...” “Katon: Fireball Jutsu...”
And as she tried to move away, she realised the purpose of the Snakes who held her in place, as two massive orbs of fire rushed towards her from two sides, as the girl tried to yank her into the ground.
“You are not going anywhere,” she screamed, as Konan simply pulled back her wing with force, pulling her off of the ground as she flapped her wings with might.
SWOOOSH!
A windstorm erupted and doused their fire-style ninjutsu, as the purple-haired kunoichi was thrown back into the forest.
“ANKO!” the girl screamed, as the first girl hit a tree and screamed in agony.
“AGHHH!” But that lapse of the second was enough to give her the edge, as Konan raised her hand, forming a storm of senbons behind her.
“Ninpo: Paper Senbons!” and she unleashed it at the purple-haired girl, and the Uchiha girl jumped in between her attack and the girl, as she pushed her hands to the ground.
“Doton: Mud Wall!” and a mud wall emerged in front of her, blocking her attack, as Izuna’s brother jumped into the air above her and unleashed a jutsu of his own.
“Katon: Fire Fire Bomb,” and this time the attack was bigger and hotter than his previous efforts, yet she simply raised her hand, forming a wall of papers as his attack hit the paper wall and dissipated, as she raised her fingers and formed a handseal.
“Your wall may be able to stop my senbons, but can it protect you from this?” and with that, she activated the paper bombs she had incorporated into her senbons, and Izuna’s brother was the first to recognise the danger as he shouted, cutting off his attack.
“SAIKO GET AWAY!”
But it was too late, as she activated the bombs.
BOOOM! BOOM! BOOOM!
The bombs exploded, and she heard the girl scream. As she swiped her hand sending another storm of senbons towards the injured girl, Itachi Uchiha appeared in front of them in a blur and began to deflect her senbons accurately as he shielded his two teammates, the sharingan now spinning in his eyes.
“Are you fine?” he questioned his two teammates as she stopped her attack. And the Uchiha girl was bruised, yet she stood tall, just like her other friend, who licked the blood dripping down her forehead.
“Never better,” and the three of them stared at each other.
“Time to go all out,” Saiko Uchiha uttered as her own eyes began to shine with that signature red hue as she activated her own sharingan when suddenly a blade was pushed into her chest.
And in front of her the body of Itachi Uchiha dissolved into a swarm of cawing crows, as she glanced back and saw the young Uchiha pushing the blade into her back with those menacing eyes staring straight at her.
“You Uchiha and your crows,” she whispered, reminded of his brother. She had seen him use the same trick over a thousand times, and so she could easily break it.
“Even your brother knows that such cheap tricks do not work on me,” and before he could jump away, she grabbed him by the neck, as paper began to cover his body, stopping him from moving.
“Itachi!” and the Uchiha girl was the first to react, as she jumped forward, throwing a shuriken towards her, as she quickly cycled through a series of handseals.
“Ninpo: Shadow Shuriken jutsu...” and that one shuriken transformed into a few dozen, and the technique reminded her of her sensei, who had taught them this very technique. But the girl was not done as she continued.
“Katon: Phoenix Flame jutsu...” and then she spat a torrent of fire, which encapsulated each shuriken coming towards her, and it was a good move, but one that was useless against her, as she simply flapped her wings and created a windstorm.
“Not so fast!” and in the meantime, Anko had jumped up and had sifted through her own handseals.
“Ninpo: Hidden Snake Arms,” and this time eight snakes erupted out of both of her arms, and bit into her shoulders as the girl smirked, as Konan suddenly noticed the paper bombs attached to the snake heads.
“BOOOM!”
And the bombs exploded, tearing away at her wings, and in this chaos, the two of them blitzed towards her, attacking her. She jumped back, avoiding a few of their tricks, until Izuna’s brother began to struggle in her hands, and so as she avoided a kick, she spun and threw Itachi at the Uchiha girl with all his might.
“AGHHH!” she grunted, and with her hand free, she caught the purple-haired girl’s arm, and hit her in the back, pushing her to the ground as she put her foot on her neck and began to push down.
“AHHH!” the girl grunted in pain, as Konan took out the rods from her sleeve’s pocket and pushed them into her arms and legs, nailing her to the ground.
“Anko!” her teammate screamed as the dust cleared. With her foot on the neck, the purple-haired girl could only grunt as Konan stared at her two teammates.
“Now that was quite pathetic,” she taunted, as her wings reformed as she stared at the two Uchiha now glaring at her, with caution and anger as she pushed down further, causing the girl to squirm.
“Let her go,” Saiko Uchiha, the black haired girl, called out, gritting her teeth as she raised a brow and threw a kunai at her feet.
“I will,” she said, much to their surprise.
“As soon as you kill your other teammate,” and her words made the whole clearing still, as the their eyes widened.
“What!” the Uchiha girl gasped, and to drive her point home, one of her wings pushed forward and cut into the purple-haired girl’s skin, making her bleed.
“Kill him, and I will spare her life,” and if there was any doubt about her intentions, it was clear now, as their eyes widened.
“This is a test, you are taking things too far,” she began, as she scoffed.
“As I said, I am not a Konoha shinobi. I have no qualms about killing you lot if I judge you to be useless. So, prove me wrong. Kill Itachi, and I will spare this one’s life,” and she pushed forward her wing, slowly and slowly, until suddenly Itachi Uchiha cut in.
“Wait!” and he pulled out the kunai.
“I will do it. I will do it,” and his words surprised them both.
“What are you doing, Itachi. Don’t listen to...” the purple-haired girl under her tried to scream, but she pushed her foot onto her jaw, making her stop, as she looked Itachi Uchiha in the eye.
“Do it,” and the kindness in his eyes reminded her of Yahiko, reminded her of the tragedy that they were forced to endure. Izuna’s brother slowly raised the kunai, as his two teammates simply watched, and just as he was about to push the kunai into his neck, he suddenly shifted as he threw it straight at her, much to her surprise, as she retaliated.
“Wrong move!” and she slashed with her wing at the neck of the purple-haired girl yet just as it was about to cut into her neck, she saw it get blocked as an arm extended out of the ground, and stopped her attack.
CAW! CAW! CAW!
And Itachi Uchiha’s body once more dissolved into the ground as the earth beneath the girl suddenly began to hollow out.
“Doton: Headhunter jutsu,” and Anko was pulled under ground, before she could blow up the ground beneath her, suddenly Saiko Uchiha substituted herself with the kunai Izuna’s brother had thrown towards her, and the girl pushed herself forward, coming inside her defence as she placed her palm on her back, and made a tiger handseal.
“Katon: Internal Combustion!”
BOOOM!
In one second, she felt a massive firestorm build up inside her as her body felt itself heat up and transform into fuel before it blew up.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
“Saiko!” she heard the purple-haired girl scream, as the girl jumped back holding her arm, which was clearly broken, and had quite a few burn marks on it.
“Are you fine?” and the purple-haired girl pulled out the rods as she stepped out of the cloud of smoke, unbothered by the attack, much to their dismay.
“How?” the Uchiha girl gasped, as she gripped her arm tightly. And it was a good move, one that could have killed even a very skilled jounin, but in the end it was useless against her because of her ultimate technique—the Dance of the Shikigami.
“You could use that technique a hundred times here, and it would still be useless,” she taunted, as she looked at the three of them and found herself fairly impressed.
“You three are skilled in the ninja arts,” and they seemed to perk up at her praise as she rose off the ground once more.
“But you are not a shinobi. No, you are simply children playing at being ninja,” and then she lifted her hands and activated the jutsu that she had spent the entire battle preparing for them.
“And these games end now,” and their eyes widened as the ground split right under them, as they fell down as she used one of her most demanding and chakra-intensive techniques.
“Ninpo: Divided World...” and they screamed as they fell down, and just as the Earth had split, it began to close up, threatening to bury them underneath.
“Anko! Itachi!” the Uchiha girl screamed as she spun in the air, and offered them her feet as jumping points.
“Now!” she prompted and the two of them positioned themselves against her soles as she quickly cycled through a set of handseals.
“Futon: Gale Palm!” and a wind storm erupted at her soles as she pushed her two teammates out of the ravine, and just as Itachi and Anko came out, the purple-haired girl turned around and used her jutsu.
“Ninpo: Hidden Snake Arms,” and snakes came out of her arm once more, and bit into the Uchiha girl, and tried to pull her away, as she finally decided to jump in.
“Not so fast,” and she raised her hands forming a chakram, and quickly launched it towards the snakes, to cut them off.
And as Itachi Uchiha tried to cut in, stopping it, she rushed forward and stopped him herself as she kicked him away, as her chakram cut away the Snakes.
“NOO! SAIKOOO!” the purple-haired girl screamed, as the ground closed up, and her arm began to bleed, as Konan landed on the ground.
“One down,” she whispered as Itachi joined his teammate, rubbing away the blood spilling down from his lip, as his sharingan gleamed with rage.
“Two more to go,” and suddenly his eyes widened, as his hands began to shake.
“Saiko,” he whispered.
“I cannot feel her chakra,” he whispered as the purple-haired girl stilled, the implication of it clear to them both.
“You sicko! You really killed her!” she lashed out as Konan replied with no remorse or emotion.
“As I said. I am not a Konoha shinobi,” and a thousand senbon formed right behind her as she prepared herself for another attack.
“I have no problem killing shinobi that I deem wothless....”
.
.
.
In the distance, Saiko Uchiha opened her eyes and was about to scream for her teammates when suddenly she felt a hand cover her mouth and muffle her voice.
“HMM,” and she struggled, yet as she glanced back towards the person holding her down, she stopped struggling as she recognised that face in an instant, for it was none other than her childhood friend—Izuna Uchiha.
“I am going to remove my hand, but you are not to make any noise,” and she nodded as he removed his hand from him, and she wondered what he was doing here, but quickly remembered that his brother was on her team.
It was only then that she noticed that he was not alone, but another person was standing beside him, looking straight at the training ground. And as she stared at that face, she felt her face heat up in embarrassment as she recognised it to be her idol, the Lady Tsunade.
“Don’t tell me that she was watching it all?” She prayed for Izuna to say no, but her friend nodded, dashing her dreams of keeping her dignity intact.
“You could have warned me,” she whispered, punching Izuna in the arm as she turned towards the training ground once more and saw the purple-haired kunoichi taunting Itachi and Anko with her death.
“Be proud of yourself, kid. Its just a shame that you lot ended up with her as your sensei,” Lady Tsunade added from the side, as her face began to heat up.
“Thank you, Tsunade-sama,” and indeed, they had tried everything from ninjutsu, genjutsu to taijutsu, and yet all of it had proven itself to be ineffective against their sensei, who had seemed invincible.
But the fact that she was sitting here, hale and healthy, showed her that the woman was not evil, she was simply trying to push them beyond their limits.
Izuna was watching her intensely beside her, his face as serious as she had ever seen it, as his gaze remained focused on the purple-haired kunoichi.
“She is the one, isn’t she?” she asked, and he did not answer.
“Just what kind of life has she lived for her to be like that?” questioned Lady Tsunade from the side, and there was some pity and concern in that voice, as she glanced towards Izuna-kun as well, who replied after a few seconds of silence.
“One filled with war and despair...”
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Comments
Radiant Tiefling
Thank you for the chapter.
Tj321
Great chapter
