Uchiha Tatsumi sat alone on the branch of a large tree.
The sun was sinking beyond the horizon, its final rays casting an amber glow over his pale face.
He quickly chewed a Soldier Pill (Bingūyōgan), trying to replenish his chakra.
But his condition was dire.
He had less than a quarter of his chakra remaining.
Inside the sealing scroll he developed with Watergate, he had stored a backup reserve of chakra—more than double his current capacity.
When his kunai failed to take down Sakamoto in one blow, Tatsumi had immediately retreated.
He had left behind a Shadow Clone to stall for time.
The memory from that clone had just returned.
Uchiha Tatsumi now knew: he was poisoned.
The scratch on his arm had turned from purple to a dark, bruised hue.
To prevent the toxin from spreading faster, he had to stop and focus on recovery.
Sakamoto had said the poison would take forty minutes to fully activate.
But Tatsumi estimated that if he resumed battle, he'd collapse in less than twenty.
And already, five minutes had passed.
He had contacted Orochimaru-sensei, only to learn that Orochimaru had engaged another Sand team elsewhere.
Both Orochimaru and Tsunade were now en route after handling the threat.
That meant Uchiha Tatsumi had to hold out for ten more minutes.
Ten minutes between life and death.
Tatsumi rubbed his temples.
A wave of dizziness passed through him.
Just a moment ago, he had mistaken a branch in the distance for Kushina.
Hallucinations were setting in.
Whether it was the poison or his body's weakness nearing its limit, he began seeing things that weren't real.
Tatsumi smacked his own cheeks, trying to stay alert.
But the images came anyway—visions of Mikoto and the others lying in blood, motionless.
They wouldn't go away.
They clung to his mind like an afterimage burned into his retinas.
Suddenly, a familiar white beast—Dai Bai—appeared, snapping him out of his daze.
It was a warning.
He's here.
Sakamoto—who wasn't a sensory-type ninja—had found him.
The poison must've had a tracking agent.
"Sand's poisons are no joke..." Tatsumi muttered grimly.
A figure appeared in front of him.
"There you are," came Sakamoto's voice.
Tatsumi looked up—and saw multiple images of Sakamoto overlapping.
Sakamoto was holding something in his hands, but Tatsumi's vision was too blurred to see it clearly.
He squinted, trying to focus.
The afterimages slowly merged, and the real Sakamoto stepped forward into clarity.
Then Tatsumi froze.
A creeping chill surged up from the soles of his feet.
He couldn't breathe.
Sakamoto was holding Mikoto's body.
No—
Impossible—
This can't be happening!
Tatsumi's head spun. This had to be an illusion.
Yes.
Genjutsu!
He immediately disrupted his chakra flow, performing the mental release technique.
But—
The image didn't disappear.
In the heat of July, Tatsumi felt only cold.
He whispered to himself, "This is an illusion."
But deep down, he knew—
It wasn't.
Terror gripped Uchiha Tatsumi like never before.
"You killed her… you killed her…" he stammered, breaking into a shaky whisper.
"Oh? Looks like the poison is finally kicking in," Sakamoto chuckled. "I like that look."
"That's the same look your father had… right before he killed my teacher."
"Delicious, isn't it? That kind of pain."
Every word stabbed at Tatsumi's heart.
A single tear slipped down his cheek.
Why am I crying?
She's not dead. She's not!
You liar, Sakamoto!
You bastard!
And then—despair.
The final thread of denial snapped.
Mikoto was gone.
Not an illusion.
Not a trick.
Nothing left.
This was hell.
Suddenly—
A blood-red hue spread across Tatsumi's vision.
His eyes spun.
Sharingan: Double Tomoe.
The world became clear—crystal clear.
Tatsumi's chakra surged, filled with rage.
This time, he was no longer himself.
This was Uchiha Tatsumi, the avenger.
Sakamoto saw the change and paused.
"Lightning Release: Chidori!" Tatsumi roared.
A fierce mass of chakra, fine-tuned to a sharp edge, gathered in his palm.
The crackling sound of a thousand birds erupted through the forest.
In mere seconds, the Chidori had reached peak power.
Tatsumi kicked off the branch and launched himself at Sakamoto with speed and fury.
Sparks raged around him.
"Earth Release: Multiple Earth-Style Wall!" Sakamoto countered, forming a rapid string of seals.
Massive walls of stone rose in Tatsumi's path.
As an A-rank technique, Chidori typically couldn't penetrate such reinforced defense easily.
But Tatsumi's rage-fueled chakra turned his Chidori monstrous—nearing Raikiri levels.
The lightning pierced through the walls like thunder through paper.
One wall.
Two.
Three.
The sound of bursting stone echoed with every impact.
Tatsumi's Sharingan locked onto his target.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
"I'LL KILL YOU!!"
He didn't stop.
Using Chidori as a battering ram, he vaulted over the final wall.
He stomped off the last crumbling barrier, propelling himself down at Sakamoto like a thunderbolt.
This was no longer about victory.
It was vengeance.
Die!
Visit patreon.com/TEA_QUILL to get 30+ chapters