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"There's one more piece of good news." Akio turned to look at Miji. She froze for a second. "Your father isn't dead. He's just locked up in a prison. We just need to break him out."
"Really?! That's amazing!"Both Miji and Shancheng lit up with joy."Then… what about Mi-Kage? Is he okay?"
"Mi-Kage? You know him?" Akio frowned. If she was asking about him… this wasn't going to be a happy answer.
"He's my brother!" Miji looked straight at him.
"…"
Akio went silent. Seeing his reaction, Miji seemed to get the picture."My brother… is he dead?"
Akio didn't say a word. He just nodded.
Miji didn't say anything either. A few moments passed before her quiet sobbing started to echo in the cave, soon turning into full-on crying.
Akio sighed, then looked at Tenten. She understood and put down her food to go comfort Miji. It's usually better for girls to talk to other girls in situations like this.
A few hours went by. Night fell, and the group got ready to sleep.
Rustle... rustle...
Two soft sounds came from the forest outside. Everyone stood up—except for Miji, who was already asleep.
"They really picked nighttime to strike, huh?"Akio walked to the mouth of the cave and peeked outside. Sure enough, there were two ninjas.
"Those bandits are probably sleeping by now. Let's take this chance to sneak in and kill them all," one ninja whispered. The other nodded. They both drew their kunai and crept toward the cave.
"Lightning Style."Akio raised his right hand. He had two kunai between his fingers, both crackling with lightning chakra. But he didn't throw them immediately—he hesitated. Should he really kill them?
"Akio, being a ninja means taking lives sometimes."The voice came from behind him—it was Shikaku. Akio nodded silently. He stood still for a moment longer, then, just as the two ninjas were about to enter the cave—
Thwip!He flung both kunai at lightning speed.
The two Chūnin dropped instantly."AHH!" One of them let out a cry of pain.
Akio walked over. He looked down at the other body—dead, a kunai through the head. The two kunai had ended up stuck in a tree far behind them.
He'd killed one and left the other alive. Why did it go so smoothly?Well, for one: the enemy thought they were just up against some bandits, so they let their guard down.Two: Akio's kunai were just that fast.And three: he was genuinely stronger than them.
"M-M-Leaf Ninja…"The one still alive had a kunai through his leg. He spotted the Konoha forehead protector on Akio's belt and immediately understood everything.
"Urgh…"Akio looked at the corpse and felt a wave of nausea. The last time he saw dead bodies was when he buried those four guards from the Insoro clan. But this… this was the first time he'd killed someone with his own hands. He didn't throw up, but his stomach was definitely churning.
Shikaku came over and tied up the surviving ninja.Akio, meanwhile, dragged the body outside and tossed it off the cliff. Then he returned to the cave.
"P-Princess…"The surviving Chūnin recognized Miji—he was clearly one of the rogue ninja.
"You know me?"Miji had been woken up by his scream and was surprised to hear the ninja call her that.
"I… I used to be a Chūnin of the Land of Honey…"The man looked down in shame, not daring to meet her eyes.When Miji heard he was one of their own, her expression hardened. She clenched her fists in anger.
"How many ninja from the Land of Honey turned traitor?"Shancheng stepped forward and asked, face tense—he clearly knew this man.
"Shancheng…"The rogue ninja looked up and recognized him. "Kai-sensei and… Yama-sensei both defected."
"Wait—my dad?"Shancheng's eyes went wide. Yama was his father. He never would've imagined that his father would turn traitor.
The ninja nodded."There's also me and the one you just killed, making two Chūnin. Plus ten Genin."
"My dad…? No way…"Shancheng looked completely stunned. His father had always been dutiful, loyal to the Land of Honey.
He'd spent years protecting it, and had always told Shancheng to do the same. And now this…?
"....."