Ninja Combat

"Boom!"

With a deafening blast, the ground was suddenly blown open, leaving a deep crater.

Chiba had no idea what had just happened.

He could only feel his body grow light as the world spun around him. He was swept away from where he had been standing, and by the time he reappeared, he had already been flung a long way.

The only thing that seemed different was that the coat covered in Explosive Tags was gone.

"Tsk, tsk. Now that's some incredible speed."

Heichen emerged from the shadows with two of his subordinates.

Looking at the ground covered in weapons, Chiba understood that in that brief moment, the two sides had clashed countless times.

The sheer number of weapons scattered around showed just how frequently Heichen and his men had attacked.

Yet the boy before him was clearly exceptionally skilled. Even while carrying Chiba, he had effortlessly dodged every attack.

Chiba knew the world of the Hokage very well. There was no doubt that this boy was a genius.

And perhaps not just any genius. Heichen was a jonin, yet the boy had handled himself with such ease. He was definitely no ordinary person.

From the boy's actions just now, Chiba could also tell that he was a good person.

But none of that mattered right now. What mattered was that Chiba still hadn't escaped whoever was controlling him.

He wanted to say something, but he couldn't control his body at all.

On the surface, Chiba still looked as timid as ever. No one could tell that anything was wrong.

The boy casually sent chakra through Chiba's body, but found nothing unusual.

He gently tossed Chiba behind him, then turned a cold gaze on Heichen and the others.

"Using civilians as bait is downright despicable."

"Despicable? You're calling me despicable? Hahahaha!"

Heichen couldn't help but laugh derisively.

"One look at you tells me you're a brat who's only just been to the battlefield. And you still have the nerve to say something so naive. What do you know about being a ninja?"

"You bastard." The boy glared at Heichen, murderous intent in his eyes so palpable it could almost take physical form.

It was clear that Heichen's shameless methods had thoroughly enraged him.

Heichen glared right back at the boy, his eyes filled with equally brazen murderous intent.

"Doing whatever it takes to achieve your goal, even if it means sacrificing your life—that's what it means to be a real ninja. A naive brat like you doesn't understand a thing."

As he spoke, Heichen and the boy both tightened their grips on their weapons. A battle was about to erupt.

Meanwhile, as the boy faced off against Heichen, a girl in his squad who looked like a medical ninja pulled out a bandage and wrapped it around Chiba's wound.

"T-thank you."

Chiba timidly thanked her.

The girl smiled gently but said nothing.

Her warm smile vanished in an instant. She quickly turned around and warily watched the ill-intentioned ninjas across from them.

But suddenly, the wariness on her face turned to terror.

A thin black line silently extended from behind Chiba and lightly cut across the girl's throat.

"Ghk—"

Chiba could even clearly see a streak of blood arc through the air.

The boy sensed something amiss behind him and turned around. He froze on the spot.

"Hotaru?"

From where Chiba stood, he could see the boy's utterly bewildered expression.

Time seemed to stand still. The boy's face was blank with confusion.

Soon, his confusion gave way to anger.

"Arghhh!"

In that instant, Chiba could clearly sense the boy's grief in his eyes, the pain of having nowhere to vent all the hatred surging inside him.

Chiba could somewhat understand what it felt like to lose a close comrade because of one careless mistake.

But when the boy looked at him with cold eyes, Chiba couldn't help shivering.

"Heh. This is what happens when you do something stupid. Your comrade wouldn't have died if it weren't for you. You killed her with your own hands."

Heichen kept hurling taunts at him.

As an onlooker, Chiba could clearly tell that Heichen was trying to provoke the boy. But Chiba had no way to warn him.

Shadow had already left Chiba's body, yet for some reason, Chiba still couldn't move at all.

The boy's two other teammates, standing beside Chiba and Shadow, wore the same look of disbelief.

"How is this possible?"

One of the squad members, who had six arms, stared blankly and said,

"I didn't sense even the slightest trace of chakra!"

"Heh. There's plenty more you haven't seen."

Without another word, Shadow continued toward the other two. Chiba couldn't make out what was happening at all.

These people were simply too fast for Chiba. To his eyes, they seemed to teleport.

In an instant, Shadow appeared on the other side and clashed with the two of them.

"Arghhh!"

"I'm going to kill you! I'll kill you all!"

Meanwhile, the boy had clearly gone berserk.

He charged at the three opponents without hesitation.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

In an instant, the boy had the three of them on the back foot. By that measure, he really was a genius.

The boy repeatedly attacked their vital points with superb swordsmanship, and from time to time, he quickly used small ninjutsu and genjutsu to suppress them.

For a while, the three opponents seemed unable to put up any decent resistance at all. They could only keep defending in silence.

Not far from Chiba, the boy's two teammates were being held firmly in place by Shadow.

The battle between the two sides was clearly fierce, yet Chiba could feel that the whole world seemed to have fallen silent.

The battle had frightened away every animal nearby. Apart from the sounds of the fighting, all that remained was the faint whisper of the wind.

"Whoosh..."

The wind sighed softly, as if it were playing an accompaniment to the battle.

For some reason, Chiba suddenly let go of his fear and focused instead on watching the fight before him.

Several dark figures appeared and vanished again and again. They clashed with a series of metallic clangs in midair, then quickly disappeared once more.

Now and then, flames suddenly flared, or earthen spikes thrust up from the ground.

Kunai and throwing knives seemed to appear from nowhere, and before long, the ground around them was covered with weapons.

So this was... a ninja's battle?

Chiba should have considered himself lucky. If the two sides hadn't been some distance away, and if the ninjas' weapons weren't so precise, he would already have died in the crossfire.

But even if he survived for now, Chiba had no idea what to do next.

If Heichen's side won, Chiba would undoubtedly face the same miserable fate of being turned into a human bomb.

But even if the boy's side won, Chiba might not fare any better. From the way they had looked at him just now, he could sense their deep resentment. Whether they would let him go remained to be seen.

Knowing that he might already be doomed, Chiba felt a little dejected. But since the outcome seemed inevitable, all he could do was accept it in silence.

Was this what happened when you had no power?

You could only let others butcher you, completely unable to control your own fate.

Just like now—whether he lived or died was out of his hands.

Never before had Chiba longed for power as much as he did now.

Watching the battlefield in silence, Chiba made a vow to himself.

If I survive, I'll learn ninjutsu no matter what. I'll take control of my own fate once and for all.