Chapter Thirty: The Challenge Ends, A Maiden in Peril

After a while, the black pillar of light gradually faded, finally revealing a sliver of silver. Qi’s face was a little pale; the amount of spiritual energy he had expended while engulfed in the pillar far exceeded his expectations. But he had no choice but to burn through his reserves for self-preservation—after all, recovering from injuries would consume just as much, if not more, energy.

He hadn’t even caught his breath when the little demon fox charged at him, delivering a slap that sent Qi flying. He barely managed to raise his arm to block, but was still knocked over a hundred meters away, tumbling another few dozen meters before coming to a stop. This felt all too familiar—the bloodstain from yesterday was still visible on the nearby ground, and now he’d added another one. He couldn’t help but feel a bit ridiculous.

The little demon fox was relentless, vowing not to stop until its enemy was finished off. In the blink of an eye, it had crossed a hundred meters, bearing down on him. Qi pursed his lips and scrambled to his feet, fleeing once again. Though the fox’s swipe had injured him, it wasn’t serious; he’d simply used the momentum to escape the fox’s vicinity, rolling to dissipate the force.

Man and fox chased each other from the earth to the sky, and then from the sky to the mountain’s foot. Even burrowing into the ground was useless—impatient, the little demon fox unleashed another Tailed Beast Bomb. Qi’s spiritual energy was nearly depleted. Meanwhile, over on Naruto’s side, something seemed to be changing: the demon fox cloak around him began to boil, the tail at his back stirring as if a fifth tail was about to emerge.

He couldn’t even handle four tails—if a fifth appeared, wouldn’t he be annihilated instantly? Could this creature be the Six-Tailed Fox, or even the legendary Nine-Tailed Fox? But none of that mattered now. What mattered was finding a solution. If he didn’t stop Naruto, he’d be caught and destroyed in an instant.

But how could he possibly come up with a solution in such a short time? No, he couldn’t panic. First, he needed to take a deep breath and calm down. There were generally two ways to stop someone: external intervention, or internal collapse. He didn’t have overwhelming offensive power—if external intervention worked, he wouldn’t be running for his life. He could only try to break Naruto down from within. But how? He’d just met him and exchanged only a few words; he didn’t know any of his weaknesses...

Wait—a weakness... There was a way.

“Wake up, Naruto! It’s me, Sasuke! Do you really want to attack me? I promise I’ll return to the village with you. Wake up! Naruto, don’t you remember the days we spent together? I said I’d go back to the village. Please, wake up, Naruto!”

Somehow, the person being chased by the demonized Naruto had transformed into a tattered Sasuke—the distinctive hairstyle, the face, and the slowly spinning three-tomoe Sharingan, all unmistakably Sasuke.

Though there were subtle differences in his manner and tone, even a clear-headed Naruto might not be able to tell this Sasuke was a fake, let alone in his current, barely rational state.

With a furious roar, Naruto gradually slowed his pursuit. Sasuke also came to a stop. “Naruto, look at me. I’m Sasuke. Come back to your senses. We’re going back to the village—you wanted to bring me back, didn’t you? Wake up, Naruto.”

“Sasuke... Ah—!” Naruto bellowed in agony. The demon fox cloak faded, revealing raw, skinless muscle. He then collapsed unconscious, his body dissolving into white light and returning to the other side. Naruto’s eyes were still confused, seemingly unaware of what had happened. The others saw through some of it, but said nothing—ninja fought to win by any means necessary; it was kill or be killed, and there was no such thing as ‘dishonorable’ tactics. Only Sasuke’s mouth and eyes twitched, his true feelings unreadable.

Naruto, upon learning the truth, was furious, loudly protesting Qi’s actions. But the outcome was set—Qi emerged victorious. The twelve participants were teleported back, the battle nothing more than a dream they would forget upon waking.

“Heh, you’re not wise but you’re certainly clever. You pass, and put on quite the show. I’m pleased. Interested in fighting their future selves? The reward is your choice of any one of their ninjutsu techniques—even Lee’s Eight Gates, Shikamaru’s Shadow Imitation, Sasuke’s Fire and Lightning Styles, or, if you prefer, Naruto’s Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu. You could split into thousands—want to give it another go?” The divine figure’s seductive voice issued from the strange tome he’d appeared with.

“Not right now. We’ve already revealed our abilities to each other. If I face their future versions, I’ll be up against even more unknowns, and I only scraped by these last two rounds. Maybe another time. For now, tell me where the black cat is.” Qi refused without hesitation.

“We’ll see about that—depends on my mood. Anyway, I just checked: you should be able to see your adorable, chuunibyou black cat today. More school romance comedy, I suppose. Entertaining, but not exactly exciting,” the divine figure sighed.

“Comedy? This is all your fault! And stop peeping on people’s lives and treating them like anime, you jerk!”

“When did you become the snarky type? Sharp—I like it. Thumbs up.”

“Just go. And no more weird stuff on the mountain—it’s ruining the view.” With that, Qi spread his wings, soared out of the mountains, ignored the military and fighter jets around him, and vanished over the horizon.

...

“Ayase, Ayase, you’ve been distracted in class these past two days. Haven’t been sleeping well?” The teacher’s concerned voice pulled Ayase from her daydream.

“Sorry, sensei. I haven’t been feeling well these past two days,” Ayase quickly stood and apologized.

“Be sure to get some rest. Balancing work and study is already tough, and you’re keeping your grades up—don’t wear yourself out. Take care of yourself. Sit down.” For good students, the teacher was always lenient.

“Thank you for your concern, sensei. I’ll be careful.” Ayase shook her head to clear it and focused on the lesson.

The final bell rang. After school, Ayase and Kirino walked home together. “Ayase, are you thinking about that guy you want to move in with?” Kirino teased.

“Wha—what are you talking about? I just didn’t sleep well last night. Tomorrow’s Saturday—let’s go shopping, okay?” Ayase averted her gaze, changing the subject.

“Kirino, over here,” Ayase waved, making sure her friend could find her. Today was a rare chance to go shopping with Kirino—everything else could be put aside for now.

The two girls happily started shopping. After lunch, they went to the park to rest, only to be accosted by a group of thugs.

“Our boss has been in a foul mood lately and we’re getting chewed out for no reason. Why not grab these two girls and blow off some steam?” sneered a green-haired punk, both disgruntled and lecherous.

“They look familiar… Aren’t these the models from that famous magazine?”

“Models, huh? That could be troublesome, but models make a living off their looks, don’t they?”

“Damn it, just drag them away. If anything happens, I’ll handle it—just a couple of models. My dad can smooth it over easily. I’m in a bad mood too; our bosses all got beaten into the hospital, and we’re banned from causing trouble—so annoying.” The blond thug eyed the girls greedily.

“Haha, that’s what I wanted to hear, Sato. The boss only said not to mess with that guy—not a word about women. No harm in having a bit of fun.”

“Don’t come any closer! I’ll call the police!” Ayase, realizing they were serious, felt a surge of fear. She hastily pulled out her phone and her self-defense stun gun.

“Heh, little lady, I’ve seen that trick too many times,” sneered the blond as he stepped forward to grab the weapon—but he underestimated Ayase’s reflexes.

A crackle—he was shocked on the back of the hand, his body convulsing before he collapsed to the ground. “You little—still dare to fight back?” The other three thugs drew knives, aiming them at the girls. The situation was dire.

“Stop!” This shout didn’t come from Qi, but from Kirino, who had been shielded behind Ayase. She stepped forward, glaring fiercely. “My dad’s a detective. If you lay a finger on us, you’re dead meat.”

The thugs hesitated. The word “detective” still carried weight.

“Kirino…” Ayase looked at her friend, touched. Then she shouted, “If you hurt Kirino, my father won’t let you off either—he’s a member of parliament.” Her gaze was icy as she stared the punks down.

“Hell, there’s no one around anyway. Let’s just drag them into the woods. We’ll bring them back to the gang tonight—who would know? Even if someone suspects, there’s no evidence. My dad’s untouchable. Move it—they nearly made me piss myself with that shock,” the blond snarled, regaining his composure.

The remaining three exchanged glances, their eyes glinting with malice. They turned on the girls, stepping forward to grab them. Kirino, finally panicking, swung her bag at them and pulled Ayase to run. But they only managed a few steps before being caught. Ayase tried to fend them off with her stun gun but was kicked away.

They were quickly surrounded. Ayase tried to call for help but her phone was snatched, her wrist seized tightly. She struggled desperately, panic in her eyes. Kirino, too, was filled with despair—was this really the end? She hadn’t even…

In her terror, for reasons she couldn’t explain, Ayase thought of the person who’d been troubling her thoughts for days. Instinctively, she cried out, “Qi!” Kirino, stunned, also thought of that man—if he were here, none of this would be happening. Would he return at a moment like this?

(The black cat is about to appear.)