The Deliberate Release and Kidomaru's Terrifying Reunion

The night wind was cold as a blade.

It carried the stench of charred wood, the sickly sweetness of blood and flesh, and a faint sulfurous reek as it swept over Sakon and Ukon's battered bodies.

The form of Cursed Seal Level Two was slowly fading, but not because they had withdrawn their power themselves. It was the dying wail of bodies whose vitality had been overdrawn. Every inch of muscle spasmed, every meridian felt as though it had been seared by flames, and the pain was like billions of ants gnawing at their bone marrow.

They had escaped.

Yes, they had escaped that cold, despairing Meat Grinder formed from over a hundred pairs of Byakugan.

But there were no pursuers behind them.

There were no shouts of slaughter, no sharp whistles of kunai cutting through the air, not even the slightest ripple of Chakra.

It was quiet as death.

That silence was more unnerving than having an entire army of ANBU on their heels.

"Haah... hah... haah..."

Sakon dragged a leg with a knee shattered by Gentle Fist and sprinted through the empty alley, limping badly. Ukon, clinging to his back, was in even worse shape. His consciousness had grown hazy, and he could only cling to his brother's body like a lump of rotten flesh, making meaningless "huh huh" sounds in his throat.

"Why..."

Sakon's bloodshot single eye was filled with blood vessels and incomprehensible madness. "Why did they let us go?"

The question drove into his mind like a poisonous thorn.

He wasn't afraid of defeat.

He wasn't afraid of death, either.

What he feared was the humiliation of being toyed with in the palm of someone's hand!

The Hyuga Clan, those haughty "nobles" arrogant to their very bones, had beaten them into two half-dead dogs. After