Ao's fingers brushed the metal of his forehead protector, the symbol of Kirigakure etched into it. His youthful face still bore traces of blood, his eyes smoldering with the desire to prove himself.
"It's him! He killed our squadmates!" Fly-Bamboo Dragonfly shouted, trembling with fury.
"Why so angry?" Ao replied coolly from the branch above. "Didn't you kill one of ours as well?"
"Damn it… Ao. This might be trouble," Kazeya murmured.
The others didn't recognize the name—understandably. Kirigakure was a remote, isolated nation, its island home rarely clashing with the shinobi of the mainland. Konoha and Kiri hadn't fought a full-scale war since the First Shinobi War, more than two decades past.
But Tsukasa Kaede recognized him instantly. That single sharp eye, not yet bearing the Byakugan, but already dangerous. Ao.
"He claims to be a jōnin from the Mist. Could be psychological warfare," Kazeya muttered. "Three on their side. Four on ours. But none of us are jōnin. Our only real options are stall or flee, and hope reinforcements show up."
Kazeya himself was only a chūnin. The rest were genin. None of them prodigies. None of them battle-hardened killers.
Still, surrender wasn't an option. No Kiri shinobi would accept the surrender of Leaf medics behind enemy lines. They were too valuable.
The forest grew damp. A haze of mist began to rise. Kazeya twirled a kunai and hurled it.
"Fall back!" Kaede barked, grabbing the two wounded comrades and hurling them away from the explosion zone.
A second kunai, this one wrapped in an explosive tag, arced through the air toward Kaede. It would have struck dead on—but Kazeya's throw hit its hilt, deflecting it off-course.
BOOM!
The blast roared through the trees. Kaede stumbled, caught in the shockwave, moving purely on reflex.
Ao was already in front of him, fingers flashing through seals. "You may have numbers—but not for long. Water Style: Water Needles!"
Dozens of crystalline droplets formed, then shot forward in a deadly barrage.
Kazeya flung open his med-kit—bandages scattered midair, forming a makeshift web. Fly-Bamboo tried deflecting with kunai, managing two… but the third tore through his shoulder, blood spraying out, his body quickly growing cold.
He and Kazeya were lucky. They survived.
Someone else wasn't.
"Now it's three-on-three," Ao said, leaping back.
The other two Mist shinobi lunged. A blur of movement—and the last medic on Kaede's team fell, a kunai driven cleanly through the back of his neck.
Instant kill.
The two critically wounded ninja groaned on the ground, their injuries reopening. If they didn't get immediate treatment, they'd bleed out fast.
The tide had turned. Unless Konoha backup arrived in minutes, none of them would make it.
People mocked Ao in the future. For retreating when he saw the Yellow Flash. For fleeing at the first glimpse of Shisui.
But the truth was—he survived because he knew when to run.
And now, he knew he could kill everyone here and vanish into the Land of Fire without a trace.
Kazeya gritted his teeth. "We've lost. We can't push to the border. The mission's a failure. I'll stall them—you run!"
"You can always scatter," one of the Mist-nin laughed. "Maybe one of you survives."
"Konoha shinobi don't abandon comrades!"
Kazeya charged, trying to pin down two of the enemies, desperate to buy time.
But Kaede knew it was hopeless. Kazeya wasn't strong enough to stall two jōnin for long.
"We're dead, we're dead! This is my fault!" Fly-Bamboo sobbed, pounding his fists against his head. He was unraveling fast.
Kaede knew that feeling well. The kind of despair that blooms when false hope is used to deepen the drop.
Ao had already engaged Kazeya. The other two Mist-nin sprinted—one toward Kaede, the other toward Fly-Bamboo.
They weren't afraid of chakra scalpels. Not when they were sure the medics lacked the strength to land a clean hit.
"Don't just stand there! Run! Split up, like Kazeya said!"
Kaede didn't hesitate.
Pain from the explosion screamed through his ribs, but he turned on his heel and leapt—hauling the two wounded ninja with him, one slung under each arm.
He didn't care about missions or camaraderie. He only cared about surviving.
All that "those who abandon comrades are worse than scum" crap? That was for Hokage speeches. Most shinobi would drop it when their lives were on the line.
But still…
Kaede didn't let go of the wounded. He jumped, hauling both through the forest canopy. He wasn't fast.
CRACK!
Kazeya crumpled under a spinning kick from Ao, ribs snapping. He flew backwards, coughing blood.
"Kaede… You're still hauling those two? Even now? You stupid bastard…" Kazeya grinned through the blood. "Fine. I won't let you down either. Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
His trembling hands slammed into the dirt. A thick barricade rose, buying precious seconds.
Dust exploded as Ao's Water Style tore the wall apart—but by the time the debris cleared…
Kaede was gone.
"They won't get far," Ao said coldly. "A half-dead chūnin and two chakra-depleted genin… One of them's even carrying bodies."
"Jifu," he ordered, "take care of that idiot. Kill them all."
Konoha and its ridiculous obsession with "bonds"... They were so predictable. They wore their moral high ground like armor.
But maybe that was just a kind of self-brainwashing. A trick to suppress fear and keep fighting.
Kirigakure didn't need tricks. Under the brutal regime of the Third Mizukage, the Mist became a nest of paranoia, assassinations, and blood. A hint of what would soon earn it the name: Village Hidden in the Bloody Mist.
Kaede stumbled.
Blood dripped from his lips as his body convulsed. But he still carried the two unconscious shinobi.
Anyone watching would swear he was a shining example of the Will of Fire.
"They're catching up, huh?"
He wasn't surprised. Buying even these few minutes had been a miracle.
"I heard Mist-nin were cruel, sadistic… I expected you to waste time mocking me. Gloating over how a minor village ninja was about to die to a 'real' one."
The Mist-nin—Jifu—appeared in front of him, perched on a tree branch.
"Minor village? Don't underestimate Kirigakure. You look like one breath of wind could knock you over. A runt. A freak. Bet no one in Konoha gives a damn about you."
He sneered. "Still trying to carry those two? You're slow as hell. You ditched the mission and your own survival for this? No wonder Captain Ao said you were an idiot."
Kaede lowered the bodies gently.
"I don't know if Kazeya will survive… but that doesn't matter. You've given me exactly the time I needed."
Jifu blinked. Kaede's hand was already clasped in a seal, fingers wet with blood.
"I started planning the moment I saw Fly-Bamboo and these two. Something was off. I knew we'd be ambushed."
He raised his palm to the earth.
"My jutsu takes time to prepare. Chakra's scarce, and… these two? They're strong. Their chakra still lingers. That's why it took this long."
"Impressive," Jifu said mockingly. "I'll give you a painless death."
He threw three senbon needles.
Kaede didn't flinch.
"You've misunderstood," he whispered. "The time was never for me. It was your time… to die."
His hand slammed into the ground.
Summoning Jutsu!
The earth buckled.
The soil roared like boiling water.
And from it… rose a pitch-black coffin.
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300 Stones in this story = 1 Bonus chapter in every fanfic currently translated