You Have Courted Death

Tejima Shinichi watched the enemies vanish into the distance, his clenched fists trembling from the force. Intense killing intent and fury burned in his eyes, nearly bursting forth.

I almost... almost died!

Yamato's heart sank as he watched him. He stepped forward, his tone concerned yet grave as he tried to calm him.

"Shinichi, you..."

"That's enough, Teacher Yamato!"

Tejima Shinichi abruptly waved a hand, cutting him off. Forcing down his surging emotions, he turned to Yamato, his amber eyes stripped of their usual indifference, leaving only barely suppressed savagery.

"I'm not a three-year-old child. I know perfectly well what this is all about."

Yamato fell silent.

Faced with his disciple's icy gaze, every word of comfort he had prepared caught in his throat.

How could he not understand?

After all... that was the Mind Transfer Jutsu!

Seeing this, Tejima Shinichi said no more.

He turned, his cold gaze falling upon the severely wounded Tanuki Jonin lying on the ground, a gruesome bloody hole in his chest.

The man's eyes beneath his mask could still move. He stared fixedly at Tejima Shinichi, filled with pain and resentment.

Tejima Shinichi raised his hand impassively. The familiar hum of Chakra rang out once more as a brilliant blue Rasengan instantly formed in his palm.

Yamato's expression changed. He immediately stepped forward and shouted, "Shinichi! Wait! We need him alive. He's important evid—"

"Teacher Yamato."

Tejima Shinichi interrupted him without even turning around.

"I'm merely eliminating foreign ninja who infiltrated the Land of Fire and attacked Konoha ninja."

Yamato's outstretched hand froze in midair. The words of protest lodged in his throat, and he instantly understood the deeper meaning behind those words.

If he stopped Shinichi from killing the man, it would be equivalent to admitting that the attackers were...

But if he did not stop him, then the people who had attacked Tejima Shinichi were foreign ninja invading the Land of Fire... and Shinichi had merely been attacked by foreign ninja!

Looking at Tejima Shinichi's back, brimming with killing intent, Yamato still tried to persuade him in the end, his voice low.

"Shinichi, I understand how you feel. But hand him over to the village. Lord Third Hokage will surely uncover the truth and give you justice..."

Tejima Shinichi slowly turned his head and merely gave Yamato a calm glance.

Yet that placid gaze was like a ninjutsu attack, leaving Yamato speechless at once.

There was no expectation of "justice" in his eyes, only unfathomable indifference, as though silently questioning: If this so-called justice was useful, how could everything tonight have happened?

Yamato's lips moved, but in the end, he could not say another word. He slowly lowered his raised hand and stood there in silence.

Tejima Shinichi withdrew his gaze, his heart cold.

Justice? No need... Right now, I only want to kill!

He silently thought to himself.

Besides, Third Hokage... you're already old.

What I lost, I will... take back myself.

With that thought, Tejima Shinichi ignored the teacher behind him and walked straight to the Tanuki Jonin, whose consciousness had grown hazy from blood loss and agonizing pain. He looked down at him from above.

"Thank you," Tejima Shinichi said, his voice carrying a piercing chill. "You taught me that in the ninja world, one truly cannot relax for even a moment."

He slowly crouched down. The Rasengan in his right hand let out an even more shrill hum as it drew closer to the man's mask.

"One moment, you let your guard down and I gravely wounded you. The next, I relaxed for even a moment, and you controlled me." His eyes were as cold as blades. "This lesson—to guard against arrogance and impatience—I'll remember it."

A rasping sound came from the Jonin's throat. His eyes were filled with relief, as though he had encountered the death that was about to arrive!

"As thanks... I'll send you on your way."

As soon as the words fell, Tejima Shinichi slammed his right hand down!

The Rasengan struck the tanuki mask squarely!

"Bang!!!"

A bone-chilling crack and a dull explosion erupted at the same time!

The sturdy mask, along with the skull beneath it, deformed instantly beneath the Rasengan's violent tearing force like a smashed watermelon, then exploded with a bang!

Red and white... mixed with shattered bone fragments and brain matter, they splattered in every direction amid the chaotic currents of Chakra!

The headless corpse convulsed violently twice before finally falling completely still.

Tejima Shinichi slowly rose to his feet and flicked the filth from his hand. There was no expression on his face. Only those dark eyes were deeper than the night itself.

He glanced at the silent Yamato, then looked toward Konoha.

"Let's go, Teacher Yamato. Our mission must be complete by now. It's time to return... and report."

Yamato nodded wordlessly. He gave the headless corpse on the ground a complicated look, then looked deeply at Tejima Shinichi. In the end, he said nothing, merely turning in silence and walking toward Hozumi Village!

Tejima Shinichi followed behind him. Just as he was about to leave the bloody battlefield, his steps paused. He turned back one last time, his shadowed gaze falling upon the headless corpse again.

The night wind stirred his slightly disheveled black hair. The suppressed killing intent on his face surfaced clearly once more before he finally departed!

As the two went farther away, only Tejima Shinichi's faint murmur drifted on the breeze:

"Not pursuing this any further?!"

"Heh..."

"Danzo... you have courted death!"