As the words left his mouth, Inoiki moved. His sword flashed through the air at a speed the enemy couldn't even register. One instant, the r
As the words left his mouth, Inoiki moved.
His sword flashed through the air at a speed the enemy couldn't even register. One instant, the rock-covered fist was mid-swing—an unstoppable force. The next, it was severed cleanly at the forearm. The detached arm hit the ground with a heavy thud, stone cracking against stone.
The squad leader stared at the stump in disbelief. A second of silence. Then the pain hit.
He opened his mouth to scream—but never got the chance. A short sword, guided by Inoiki's will, shot forward and drove clean through his throat. The scream died in his mouth, replaced by a gurgle. He collapsed in a heap, lifeless.
The remaining guards outside Kurotsuchi's room didn't fare any better. Inoiki's short swords—silent, controlled, merciless—moved in a wave of death. Each one struck with unerring precision, embedding into vital points: necks, temples, hearts. It was over in seconds.
When the last blade stopped moving, only Inoiki remained standing.
He turned to the door and paused. Behind it, he could sense her—her chakra unmistakable. He raised his voice just enough to carry through the wood.
"It's me. Inoiki."
Inside, Kurotsuchi sat quietly on the edge of the bed. Her eyes widened as the name reached her ears—a name she hadn't heard in years. A thousand questions surged through her mind at once.
"What is he doing here?" she thought, stunned.
But she quickly gathered herself, standing and stepping toward the door.
"Did my grandfather send you?" she asked, voice steady.
Inoiki replied without hesitation. "Yes. I came on his request. I'm here to get you out."
He took a step closer to the door.
"Now listen carefully. I'm going to use my psychokinesis to lift and move you. Don't panic. Don't resist. It's the fastest and safest way out of here."
He waited for her response, ready to act.
Kurotsuchi gave a faint smile, her voice calm but laced with irony.
"Fate really is strange. Two years ago, I was your prisoner, and you carried me to Konoha using your psychokinesis. Now, you're rescuing me the same way." She paused, then nodded to herself. "All right. I won't resist. I'll follow your lead."
Outside the door, Inoiki gave a small nod. Without wasting a moment, he activated his psychokinesis.
Inside the room, Kurotsuchi's body lifted gently off the floor, floating toward the door like a weightless phantom. At the same time, the short swords circling Inoiki began spinning faster, forming a drill-like formation around him—sharp, controlled, and ready for impact.
The door itself remained untouched—for now. Inoiki was acutely aware of the danger it held.
He had analyzed the trap mechanisms linked to the door and found them impossibly complex. Dozens of seals and chakra threads were intertwined in a web of precision. A single wrong step, a misjudged disarmament sequence, and the entire compound would explode in an instant. There was no safe way to open it. So Inoiki chose not to.
He chose force over finesse.
With Kurotsuchi now floating just in front of the sealed door, Inoiki focused, then pulled.
Her body burst through the door with a sharp crack of splintering wood. The impact rattled her—but she gritted her teeth and endured it. She was a trained shinobi. Pain was part of the job.
Within seconds, she was in Inoiki's arms. The moment she reached him, the spinning blades around him surged upward, carving through the ceiling above like a drill through stone.
(AI generated image in the comments.)
Without hesitation, Inoiki launched himself vertically into the air at blinding speed, tearing through roof after roof. Debris exploded outward as he tunneled a path straight through the compound's upper levels, not bothering to look back.
Escape was no longer a question.
They were already gone.
---
From a distance, a radiant, sky-blue cone of light erupted from the heart of the compound where Kurotsuchi had been held. It pierced the night sky in a sharp, spiraling ascent—unstoppable, unmistakable. Within seconds of the glowing formation breaching the rooftops, a chain of explosions tore through the compound below.
A massive boom echoed across the village, shaking the ground and rattling loose tiles from the buildings. Windows trembled in their frames. The night, moments ago quiet, was now split open by fire.
Villagers, roused by the noise, scrambled to their windows. Curious but fearful, they peeked through the slats and curtains, eyes wide with alarm. But not one dared to open a door. The entire village remained paralyzed in its homes, because they all knew who ruled these streets now—rogue ninjas. And crossing them meant death.
Elsewhere, the rogue commander stood frozen, staring in disbelief at the plume of destruction rising into the sky. His face twisted in fury as the realization hit.
"Damn it!" he spat. "It has to be them—the ones who killed my men. And now they've reached the Tsuchikage's granddaughter."
His eyes narrowed, locking onto the sky-blue cone still suspended above the destroyed compound. It pulsed with an unnatural glow, spinning with terrifying precision. As he studied it closer, the shape became clear: a vortex of short swords, rotating at high velocity, giving the illusion of a glowing cone of energy.
"That formation… those swords..." he muttered, eyes narrowing further.
His mind raced, flipping through every known shinobi from Iwagakure—anyone who could wield such deadly precision with that kind of power. But nothing fit. No name came to mind. No face matched the ability.
"Who the hell is that?" he thought, a gnawing unease building in his chest.
And for the first time, the commander felt it—not just anger, but fear.
Just then, a subordinate sprinted toward the rogue commander—breathless, wide-eyed, and clearly bearing urgent news. One of his most trusted men.
"Boss," the ninja called out, "we've got word from above."
The commander's expression shifted. His voice dropped, cautious and cold.
"What kind of word?"
The subordinate handed him a sealed letter.
"It's official. The Silent Reaper of Konoha—Yamanaka Inoiki—has entered the village. He's here under Iwagakure's request... to rescue the Tsuchikage's granddaughter."
The commander's face hardened. A name like a blade to the gut.
----
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