Naruto: The Blind Swordsman

Chapter 167: ‘Debt’, Underdog and Trump Card

_________ POV Narration _________

'Ok, no reason to get psyched out now, Ume... You've got this!' The little girl thought to herself as she walked forward into the arena.

Even among her peers she was exceptional, possessing a talent and will that allowed her to be sent into supervised missions earlier than others.

Her overwhelming talent with Sage Mode and the ease with which she mastered it also made Ken trust her to take care of herself regardless of the situation.

At the end of the day, most of the big players in the world were on the Brotherhood's side of the war table, so Ume could technically travel the world unrestricted with her strength...

Although Ken was still only really allowing her to go on supervised missions within the Land of Fire.

She was still far too young to go into the world on her own in his lack of eyes.

But despite her youth, her will and character were far beyond her age.

It was all due to her upbringing, brutally losing her parents right in front of her eyes during her formative years, then being passed around from foster home to foster home when they realized she was not normal...

Thankfully, that pattern didn't repeat too many times, as Tosho managed to notice her talents during one of his recruitment runs.

She was very young at the time, but Ken had never put an age cap on how young the children they recruited should be. The only real stipulation was for them to not be in diapers, as hiring a full-time nanny at the time was not something they could afford.

It was thanks to the Brotherhood that Ume developed into a nice young girl. She met many like-minded people, others who went through what she did, and people who could understand her fully.

And it was all within a positive environment which turned their friendly ties into familial bonds over time.

Thanks to the wide support network she had gained in the form of her siblings, she turned out very well compared to what she could have become.

And now, it was her chance to repay the slightest fraction of that indebted feeling she had towards Ken, their very own and real support pillar.

Although young, he was the man who had decided to shoulder the weight of it all and create the Brotherhood.

It was their eyeless father who had nurtured the brotherhood, going out on dangerous escapades to help it grow, to provide them all with a good environment, to make sure they lacked nothing and had nothing to worry about aside from their very own competitive spirits.

When put into perspective, the work that Ken had done over the years was monumental, especially in the eyes of the children. They couldn't help but feel indebted to him, even if that feeling was something that the Brotherhood actively discouraged.

'There are no such things as debts among family...'

But how could Ume turn down the chance to make their father happy?

'Father said that I don't need to win this, that I just need to knock him down a few pegs... But I'll do my best to do much more than that. I will prove to everyone that the Brotherhood is the best, and make father proud!'

She stepped into the arena with a proud smile on her lips, steeling her resolve. Even if she couldn't win, she was going to do her damned best!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, Uzumaki Takehiko's demeanour was not quite as relaxed as before.

Two members of the Dark Brotherhood had competed previously. Both of them were able to win against the Tailed Beast vessels.

Even if the Uzumaki prodigy believed himself to be above anyone in his generation, he still wanted to be a bit cautious, especially after seeing just how powerful Kushina and Yugito Nii both were.

'Still... If I remember correctly the one I am facing is a higher number, which must mean that she is weaker...

Hell, she should technically be weaker than the Dark Brotherhood assassin I took out in the preliminaries. She just got lucky to get to this point.'

The announcer immediately spoke up as the two contestants took their positions in the arena.

"Number 7 of the Dark Brotherhood will now face off against the prodigy of the Uzumaki clan, Takehiko!"

And only a few seconds after that, the round started. And this time, there was no deliberation or waiting.

Takehiko's hands immediately moved, forming hand signs at quite impressive speeds as he finished by slapping both of his hands onto the ground.

"Earth Release: Great Burial Technique!"

In an instant, two slabs of stone closed in on Ume from both sides, crushing her just as quickly as the match began.

And to finish it off, another wall was raised high towards the sky and broke off to fall directly into the congealed rocks.

It was clear that Takehiko was aiming to crush anything that was left of his opponents.

What he didn't expect was for his spine to gain a strange chill as his instincts flared up. In that same moment, he felt some movements from the ground underneath him, and immediately took to the air, jumping up towards the sky.

The moment his feet left the ground a thin and pointed tail-like appendage pierced through the ground and where his heart would have been had he not jumped off.

The tail had such a straight accuracy and speed that it managed to slightly change its course and wrap around the Uzumaki's leg, immediately grasping it tightly as the rest of Ume also burst out of the ground.

Her coat unveiled to reveal a scaly claw pointed directly at Takehiko's torso.

At that moment, the Uzumaki prodigy still remained calm. Instead of panicking he decided to do the only real thing he could in that situation.

"Adamantite Sealing Chains!"

The overwhelmingly powerful golden chains burst out from all over his back, instantly entangling Ume completely and stopping her in her tracks.

The chains had such a powerful effect on her that they caused her grip on his leg to even loosen, as he was now able to kick at her head, which Ume blocked with a simple hand raise.

The kick made full contact with her scaled wrist, and the ground underneath Ume's feet cracked, bones were heard breaking as well, but it was hard to tell whose bones were breaking, as both contestants were flaring in pain.

Takehiko then proceeded to use Ume's arm as leverage to push himself further away, as he panted for a second, pain still bursting from his shin.

"You're tougher than you look, pipsqueak..." Takehiko muttered as he slowly stood up. He couldn't help but scowl as he realized that Ume had managed to untangle herself from his grasp.

Ume didn't respond to his provocation in any way, instead, she just backed away a bit further, dodging a whip of the Uzumaki's fabled chains.

'Father was right, whilst they may be strong, they are not as useful without powerful Fuinjutsu to go along with them...

Still, I can't get too close to him, his chains suppress my sage mode's benefits. Had it not been for that, my hand would not hurt from just a simple kick like that...'

Ume took a moment to calculate her next move, but in the end, she could only come to the conclusion to finally put her father's extra training to good use.

'I guess it's time for a trump card, huh?'

In an instant, her hands moved at great speed, forming a flurry of hand signs. This immediately set Takehiko's alarm bells off, he immediately took a step forward to extend his chains towards her, but he was a step too late.

"Water Release: Sky Droplets!"

With her technique prepared, Ume's chest inflated, and she immediately shot out a few large bubbles of water towards the sky, firing like a mortar and aiming directly for Takehiko's head.

"Tsk, useless." The youngster shook his head, his chains immediately turning into whips, cutting apart the water bubbles before they reached him.

He, as well as the ground around him, still got wet, as the chains had turned the large bubbles into just regular rain.

Takehiko was then about to try and catch Ume once more, but before he moved the little assassin had already dashed to the side, a technique already prepared as she planted her hand on the ground whilst doing a cartwheel to dodge a few chains.

"Earth Release: Bottomless Swamp"

In that moment, Takehiko's sandals immediately sunk into the ground. The bottomless swamp jutsu was cast using the humid environment, which caused it to cost much less chakra to use.

But Ume was not quite done, as she used her opponent's sudden shift in balance to fire off another technique.

"Earth Release: Stone Pummeling!"

This time, the little girl slapped both of her hands on the ground, and the earth in front of her immediately shifted, rising upwards and flowing towards Takehiko in a dozen of small, punch-sized pillars.

"Petty tricks!" Takehiko's chains just swiped away all of the attacks, breaking them with ease whilst also holstering the Uzumaki prodigy up from the mud pit.

"Go ahead then, tire yourself out... I doubt you can maintain that strange form of yours for too long anyway..." Takehiko's eyes flashed with a dangerous light, as he immediately formed a strategy to toy with his opponent.

'She can't get close because of the chains, and her Ninjutsu can't reach me at all... So it's just a matter of waiting for her to keel over due to exhaustion.'

He normally would not have liked that type of 'victory'. But, as he was taking the Brotherhood more seriously now, he decided to play it safe whilst also finding an opportunity to poke fun at his opponent and ruin their morale.

Unfortunately for him, the morale part didn't quite work for Ume... And he also walked right into her trap by becoming passive.

In an instant, her hands moved to form another technique, this time a stronger one.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique"

In an instant, the young assassin spat out a gigantic water dragon from underneath her mask through the pin-sized hole within it.

The dragon spun in the air a few times, growing in size before rushing towards Takehiko, who just sneered, his chains already moving to whip that Jutsu apart.

"As if that's gonna wor-"

But he couldn't even finish his sentence, as his chains seemed to be batted off to the side with sheer force, as the dragon bullet slammed into his body head-on.

The strong current immediately proceeded to crush Takehiko into the nearest wall, causing a tremor through the arena.

"W-what?!" Yorihikko immediately stood up, looking at the situation with wide eyes.

"Ho? So that was your plan?! Hahahaha!" The Raikage laughed out loud, he had already known that Ken was giving Ume special training before the fight, but seeing the results in person was quite impressive.

"Heh... Indeed. Nature Energy Enhanced Jutsu."

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Hey there! Hope you liked the chapter!

Trumpcard may feel pretty simple, but it'll be expanded on a bit more next chapter ;)

Story Shoutout: Transcendence: The Versatile Demoness

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