Naruto: The Tale of Neo

The village, ravaged by the chaos of ninja battles, lay in ruins.

Within the towering barrier,

the ground was littered with shuriken, scattered wires, and broken pieces of earth, branches, and bricks that had been sliced apart by the wires.

In the center of the battlefield, Neo Uchiha's soft, eerie voice hung in the air.

Moroi flinched involuntarily as if experiencing a trauma response.

For all his overwhelming offense and techniques, he now appeared battered and disheveled.

His red cloak was torn to shreds by the razor wires, revealing deep, smooth cuts beneath. Blood oozed steadily from the wounds, and the pain made him involuntarily hiss through his teeth.

Had he not carried a pre-prepared sealing scroll—one that could be activated without hand signs, containing the Sealing Binding Formation—

he might have actually perished at the hands of this fledgling Genin, Neo Uchiha.

Narrowing his eyes warily, Moroi formed the Hare Seal with his hands and cast a sensory ninjutsu to scan Neo from head to toe.

Only after confirming Neo's depleted chakra levels and physical exhaustion did Moroi relax slightly.

Pressing his blade forward, he sneered coldly.

"Still trying to trick me, kid?"

"I've already checked. You've almost completely run out of chakra, your stamina is less than ten percent, and you're caught in my Lightning Bind technique."

"In your current state, you can't even use a basic Substitution Jutsu."

Smirking confidently, he continued,

"You've lost. There's no way out for you but death."

"Give it up. Your fate is sealed."

Neo Uchiha's gaze remained unnervingly calm.

He truly was in terrible shape, as Moroi had said.

Forget a Substitution Jutsu—he didn't even have enough chakra to use the lowest-ranked Escape Rope Technique.

And yet, despite his dire situation, a strange look of relief crept across Neo's face.

He murmured softly to himself, "Finally… finally… finally…"

"What nonsense are you muttering?" Moroi frowned, keeping his eyes locked on Neo.

Even now, when he appeared to hold all the cards, he dared not underestimate Neo after their previous exchange.

Neo's lips curled into a faint smile, his voice calm and storytelling-like.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for this moment?"

"And now—"

His eyes grew wild, and his grin widened into a maniacal expression.

"I've finally reached it!"

"What in the world are you talking about?" Moroi growled, scowling at what he assumed was meaningless rambling.

But he decided to end the farce.

"No matter what final words you have, this is where it ends!"

"Die!"

Gripping his longsword tightly with both hands, Moroi took a step back, bracing the hilt at his waist.

The blade's tip aimed directly at Neo's heart.

One forceful thrust, and this boy wouldn't be able to utter another word.

With a grim expression, Moroi lunged forward, driving the blade toward Neo.

He could almost picture Neo collapsing before him.

Yet—

As the sword neared its target, Neo suddenly tilted his head back and let out a loud, chilling laugh.

"Hohoho, hahahaha, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The laugh built in intensity, from mocking chuckles to roaring laughter that left him gasping for breath, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

Neo glanced at Moroi, his gaze dripping with disdain.

"Hidden Cloud ninja… do you really think you've won?"

The instant Neo's words fell—

Moroi's blade sliced through the high collar of Neo's black robe, exposing what lay beneath.

At the sight of it, Moroi's expression froze in utter shock.

The smug grin vanished from his face, and the hand gripping the blade trembled as it stopped mid-thrust.

"What… what is this?!" Moroi stammered, his voice tinged with disbelief.

"This?" Neo's maniacal grin widened further.

"Let me enlighten you!"

Ignoring the numbing pain of the electricity coursing through his body, Neo clenched his hand around the collar of his robe and ripped it apart.

Beneath the tattered black robe—

Neo's body was clad in an underlayer made entirely of exploding tags!

From head to toe, every inch of him was covered in dense, overlapping seals.

The word "爆" (explosion) was scrawled across the tags in every direction, creating a visually overwhelming spectacle.

There were enough tags to level the entire village in an instant!

Moroi felt a shiver shoot up from his toes to his scalp, and his body began trembling uncontrollably.

Neo Uchiha… had worn exploding tags as clothing?!

What the hell?!

This kid's insane!

Completely insane!

He's a lunatic!

Isn't he afraid that one wrong move could send himself straight to the heavens?!

In his panic, Moroi momentarily lost focus, causing the Lightning Bind technique to fail as the chakra flow broke.

Neo stretched his limbs, shaking off the remnants of the binding jutsu. Stepping down from the rubble, he shot Moroi a cold, piercing look.

"The one who's truly won… is me."

With that, Neo reached for the exploding tags on his chest.

A single tug would send the entire village sky-high along with Neo himself.

The battlefield descended into utter silence.

Outside the Barrier

The three onlookers—Setsuna Uchiha and the two Hidden Cloud ninjas—watched the scene unfold with bated breath.

After Moroi used Seal Fire Formation, Sealing Binding Formation, and Lightning Bind, the situation had shifted drastically.

The roles of predator and prey reversed, with Neo caught and seemingly moments from death.

"Neo!"

Setsuna's voice trembled as he instinctively moved to break away from his own battle, preparing to use a powerful jutsu to destroy the barrier.

Neo's importance to Setsuna had grown immensely.

This was no longer the same boy who once struggled to awaken the Sharingan.

Neo, with his masterful Wire and Shuriken Manipulation, his ability to absorb lessons quickly, and his skill in combining techniques into innovative, powerful combos, had proven himself a prodigy among prodigies.

Setsuna had already begun to imagine a grand future for Neo.

If Neo were allowed to fall here, it would be an incalculable loss for the Uchiha clan—especially for Setsuna's hawkish faction.

Grinding his teeth, Setsuna made up his mind.

He decided to use Izanagi to swap places with one of the Hidden Cloud ninjas, break the barrier by force, and rescue Neo at any cost.

Such talent could not be allowed to perish here.