Escape

I'd thought that with my Nintaijutsu and Kusama Shigeo backing me up, we could hold out for a little while, at least.

But then a bank of mist drifted past. Kusama Shigeo must have inhaled something, because his steps immediately faltered, and he began stumbling around in a daze!

"Hold your breath!" I panicked and hurried to warn him, but the enemy noticed first. They immediately turned their attention to Kusama Shigeo and attacked him from all sides!

This was bad!

Several swords were about to pierce him. I didn't care that I was putting myself in danger, and stepped in front of him with my blade raised.

"Clang!"

Murasame flashed. I struck two daggers aside, one of them blackened by electricity before it hit the ground, smoking!

"He's a Taijutsu fighter who specializes in Lightning Release. Use Wind Release against him." A voice came from within the mist. The next moment, countless wind blades mixed with moisture flew at me, instantly scattering the faint chakra flickering around my body!

Damn it, Wind Release countered Lightning Release!

As I watched Murasame's glow fade, my gaze sharpened. My hands immediately formed Hand Seals so quickly that none of the enemies could react. A blazing fireball appeared in the air! It burst through the mist and slammed into the crowd in an instant, so large it nearly swallowed them all!

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

I grinned, grateful once again for my bloodline!

Who said Lightning Release was all I could use?

Fire Release, inherited from the Uchiha Clan—that was my true specialty!

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

But in the next instant, an equally enormous wall of water rose up. The fireball crashed into it with a tremendous roar but couldn't break through. It could only keep spinning until it finally vanished, releasing a massive cloud of steam. The heat made the place feel like hell itself! All I could see was white. My vision was completely blocked!

Damn it, I'd only made things worse!

In the midst of the mist, I grabbed the swaying Kusama Shigeo. Holding my blade in my right hand, I crouched low, tense to the point of breaking.

I knew Kirigakure was famous for its Silent Killing Technique. In a situation like this, I couldn't let my guard down for even a moment!

Sure enough, though I couldn't see anyone, I heard something slide along the ground, followed by the sound of wire being pulled taut!

A trap!

I grabbed Kusama Shigeo and tried to jump, but he cried out in pain! I looked down and saw that his right foot was tightly bound by a steel wire. He couldn't move!

I hurried to cut through it with Murasame, but countless steel wires suddenly appeared around us, sweeping toward us like a net!

I had no choice but to dodge first. I rolled aside, hacking through the wires with Murasame. Kusama Shigeo wasn't as lucky. The net wrapped him up tight, and in an instant he was a fish on a chopping board, unable to move even a finger!

This wouldn't work!

I forced myself to calm down, but then a voice called, "Water Release: Water Snake!" Dozens of streams of water wound around the steel wires and slammed into Kusama Shigeo! He didn't even have time to scream before his head lolled to one side and he passed out completely.

Cold sweat broke out all over me.

No ordinary Kirigakure shinobi could coordinate their attacks this well. I finally realized there was no way I could beat them.

"Take him alive."

At the order, the mist began to swirl again. I stood in front of the unconscious Kusama Shigeo, my body trembling slightly. The light of Murasame flickered in my hand.

Calm down. Calm down!

My teacher had said that the more desperate the situation, the calmer you had to be, hadn't he?

Just then, the mist in front of me gathered into a human shape, and the figure swung a sword at me!

I raised my blade to block, but danger sprang up behind me, too! Another Kirigakure shinobi materialized and wrapped both arms around my neck, yanking me backward with all his strength!

"!"

I couldn't break free. My neck bent backward, and the crushing force turned my vision blood-red. I was on the verge of suffocating! But the blade in my hand flashed. Fine currents of Lightning Release raced along it and coursed through my entire body. The two attackers were hurled away by the electricity, crashing heavily to the ground and rolling several times before their true forms appeared!

"Haah... haah..." I stood where I was, still shaken, gripping my blade with both hands. Blood streaked my mouth and neck. My eyes were unfocused as I stared helplessly at the sparks in my hand, unable to understand what had just happened.

"That kid... He's no ordinary Genin. Weaken his chakra first."

The words brought me back to my senses. I reacted at once, cutting through the steel wires around Kusama Shigeo before hoisting him up and carrying him behind the cover of a grass-thatched hut. I tucked him beneath a wall and caught my breath.

"Hey, Shigeo, are you all right?" During a lull in the enemy's attacks, I grabbed Kusama Shigeo by the collar and shook him, trying to wake him up. He opened his eyes and glanced at me, then his expression changed. His pupils contracted in terror, and he rolled onto his side and vomited!

My heart sank completely.

He was too afraid...

I forced myself to stay calm, leaning against the shattered wall as I waited for the enemy's next attack.

"..."

They were getting closer.

I could sense it from the faint shifts in chakra: the enemy's encirclement was tightening. They could attack us at any moment!

Here they came!

I shoved Kusama Shigeo aside. The next instant, a hail of concealed weapons and Kunai rained down, striking the spot where we'd just been hiding and smashing the crumbling wall to pieces!

"Don't kill the injured one. Use him to keep the kid in check." I heard someone rasp an order from within the mist. They were... utterly confident they'd win!

And then the war of attrition began again!

Endless concealed weapons, Ninjutsu, even Genjutsu—feints using all kinds of substitution techniques.

Several times, I felt I was on the brink of death and wanted to risk everything in a final fight, only for them to suddenly ease up on their attacks!

It was as though they wanted to torment me without end, but not take my life!

They definitely wanted to capture me alive...

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

The sense of being as insignificant as an insect rose in my heart again and again.

"Boom!"

The pile of hay beside me was blown apart by a single Wind Release attack. It scattered everywhere, and the debris cut my skin, but I couldn't feel the pain anymore!

I grabbed Kusama Shigeo and darted left and right through the ruins. By the end, all I could hear was the wind and my own panting. Blood kept dripping onto the ground. I no longer knew how badly I was injured, whether my arms and legs were still whole, or even if I was still breathing. I just relied on instinct to block one attack after another!

"That's enough. Close the net."

At those words, the attacks—which had already been relentless—suddenly came down like a storm!

I was losing more and more blood, and my vision began to blur. I could only stand swaying in front of the motionless Kusama Shigeo, swinging my sword and blocking in vain... All I knew... all I knew...

All I knew was that combat shinobi had to protect medical shinobi.

And shinobi of Konoha had to protect their comrades.

"He's at his limit. Don't waste any more time. Everyone, attack."

I thought I heard the sound of death. Before I could react, several figures appeared behind me, reaching for my back. My eyes moved as my will still struggled to break through the encirclement, but my body had reached its limit. I couldn't move even a single finger...

I watched the black shadows draw closer. The whole world was about to disappear beneath the heavy mist. I slowly closed my eyes, but just then... I suddenly felt a cuttingly cold wind.

The cold wind swept in like a raging current, breaking through layer after layer of mist. The black shadows within it were stirred like ink and torn apart by the wind in an instant.

"—Eight Trigrams Palm: Rotation!"

Amid the cries of pain, I saw faint sunlight pierce through the mist. Pure white chakra currents appeared in the air, forming a spinning sphere that firmly protected us at its center.

For an instant, I could see everything in front of me clearly, but the force of the wind nearly drove me back a step. I raised a hand to shield myself, only for someone to grab my arm. Their touch was ice-cold. A voice came from above, telling us which way to escape.

"The way back is blocked. Head east, follow the river out of the Land of Water, and find Konoha reinforcements."

Before I could react, a force struck my back and shoved me forward, sending us easily out of the circle of death we'd been unable to escape until then.

In exchange, he stood in the path the Kirigakure pursuers would have to take to reach us.

The distance between life and death was that short.

"Run..." Kusama Shigeo sensed our chance to survive and managed to open his eyes. He said just one word, then passed out again.

Under the circumstances, he was much more clearheaded than I was.

I was the one left completely frozen in place. I knew I should run, but my feet felt rooted to the ground. I couldn't move. I just stared blankly and helplessly as the Hyuga Boy darted and leaped through the blood-red mist...

"Go!"

Then he roared at me through the only opening, twisting aside to avoid a sword strike. Blood burst out at once—from another man's body—

I ran.

I carried Kusama Shigeo, who kept slipping in and out of consciousness, and escaped before the main Kirigakure force arrived.

I'd never run so fast in my life. I used up almost all my chakra, as if countless ghosts were chasing me from behind. I stumbled and crawled to the riverbank, then plunged in. Clutching the other person's body in the rushing current, I instinctively swam downstream.

Then came a long, freezing drift.

I floated in the river, clutching a piece of driftwood. It wasn't my body that had gone numb, but my mind.

Then something warm flowed from my eyes, only to be swept away by the cold water in an instant.

We... had escaped just like that?

We'd gone to so much trouble to reach the Land of Water, only to be attacked before we even found the person we were looking for. My teammate was injured, and even our squad leader... our squad leader...

He'd saved us, but now his fate was unknown.

I felt tears streaming from my eyes as my body grew colder and colder. I knew I couldn't stay in the water any longer, so I waited for my chance, grabbed a branch deeper along the riverbank, and hauled myself onto it. Then I dragged the unconscious Kusama Shigeo deep into the woods and hid.

And so I spent the entire day hiding in terror.

Until night fell.