The boy picked at his ear as he watched the old man's eyelids twitch up and down, as though he were struggling to keep them from closing. His voice was lazy, yet carried a chilling menace that was almost impossible to bear.
"Hatake Ryunosuke, reporting in!"
The old man was about to continue questioning him when, to his surprise, the other boy attacked without warning. A silver gleam, like a crescent blade, shot from his sword and slashed toward the old man. Though advanced in years, the village chief dodged at a speed that rivaled any young man's. He formed Hand Seals in front of his chest and spat out a whirlwind.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The white-haired boy held his sword across his chest and withstood the Wind Release head-on. Then his body left behind an afterimage and vanished from the spot. Cold sweat broke out on the old man's forehead as he turned around quickly, but he was still too slow. The boy's expression remained as blank as ever, but his blade was now stained with a streak of eerily bright red.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl in the old man's eyes. The vivid red liquid kept spraying before him. He slowly lowered his head and saw his fingers twitching on the ground—his hands had been severed at the wrists, and blood gushed from them like water from a faucet. Before the pain could even register, he felt a chill at his neck. His head began to tumble backward through the air.
"What a pain!"
As the boy killed the old man, he pursed his lips as if complaining. Just as he finished speaking, Tamaza Ryojin appeared behind him in full armor.
"Our Wind-Thunder Clan has never wronged you, so why have you been so ruthless toward us?"
"It'd be a real pain to explain. You might as well die."
The boy called Ryunosuke scratched his head as if pondering something that troubled him. When he finished muttering to himself, his body vanished from the spot once more.
"Wind Release: Whirlwind Fist!"
Seeing the afterimage where Ryunosuke had stood, Tamaza Ryojin didn't panic. He rushed forward, leaving the spot as a silver blade swept past behind him. He quickly formed Hand Seals in front of his chest, gathered gray wind around one fist, then turned and collided with the sword wave.
Ryunosuke didn't pause just because his attack had been blocked. He stepped forward with one leg, bent low, and crouched as if charging up for a strike. His eyes fixed on Tamaza Ryojin like a wolf's.
The moment Tamaza Ryojin saw his posture, he sprang into the air without a second thought, his legs like coiled springs. Just as he leaped, Ryunosuke drew his sword in one smooth motion and sent a crescent-shaped blade of light sweeping across the field. It cleaved every building behind Tamaza Ryojin in two. Watching the houses slowly collapse into ruins, Ryunosuke pursed his lips again and darted backward.
"Wind Release: Thousand-Faced Wind!"
Countless wind blades appeared in the sky around Tamaza Ryojin. Then, like arrows loosed from a great bow, they rained down in a carpet-bombing assault. Tamaza Ryojin darted and weaved across the ground like a small boat tossed in a raging sea, seemingly on the verge of being smashed to pieces by every rising wave. But the attack lasted only four or five seconds. The wind blades ran out of chakra and vanished from the sky—and Tamaza Ryojin disappeared along with them.
"Just in time!"
The boy sheathed his sword once more, a mocking smile curling at the corners of his mouth. As he turned and continued deeper into the village, countless white wolves charged in, howling as they launched indiscriminate attacks against the villagers.
The Wind Release chakra gathered in Tamaza Ryojin's mouth never left it. That was why, when he was reverse-summoned, he wasn't devoured by the countless venomous snakes. In an instant, his mind altered the Wind Release and expelled it, forming a spherical barrier around himself and buying him a moment to catch his breath.
Ah... Ah... Ah...
Countless screams reached Tamaza Ryojin's ears. Looking around, he saw the Wind-Thunder Clan's elite all in sight. The family's prized warriors, of whom he had once been so proud, were now in a wretched state, bitten and wrapped up by countless snakes. In just a few moments, they were swallowed by the sea of serpents and fell silent forever.
"Why?!"
Snakes! They had once been the creatures he knew best, the very beings on whom his summoning pact depended. Now they had become a death sentence, wiping out every elite of the Wind-Thunder Clan in a single night.
"Wind Release: Thousand-Faced Wind!"
Furious, Tamaza Ryojin's eyes reddened. He rapidly formed Hand Seals, and wind blades appeared in his hands, slicing the venomous snakes that rushed at him into pieces. But he couldn't unleash his jutsu fast enough to keep pace with the snakes surging toward him. He leaped into the air, trying to escape the sea of serpents.
"Dragon Roar!"
A beam of white light drove Tamaza Ryojin back into the sea of serpents. He unleashed Wind Release against the snakes, forcing them back to open up another small patch of ground for him to stand on. Then he glared toward the direction of the attack. Suddenly, a blast of chakra tore a path through the sea of serpents. At its center, Mingye came into view.
"Why?!"
It was the second time Tamaza Ryojin had roared that question. He wasn't still confused about what had happened, nor was he angry at Mingye's actions. He was demanding an answer from the so-called White Snake Sage. When Mingye had come to ask him to sign the scroll, Tamaza Ryojin had already felt a vague sense of unease, though he hadn't known why. Only now did he fully understand: the White Snake Sage had abandoned his entire clan and chosen Mingye as her successor.
"Things are unpredictable. Maybe Grandma's happy to spare you one second, but the next, she decides to kill you. That brat Mingye is already the representative of Ryūchi Cave. There's room for only one representative, so you have to die. Stop asking why. You should know better than anyone, Ryojin. Survival of the fittest doesn't mean those with the ability or talent get to survive. It means whoever we decide can survive gets to live. I told you that thirty years ago, when you received the scroll!"
Mingye's neck twitched, and Ara appeared. With cold eyes fixed on Tamaza Ryojin, he spoke. Ryojin trembled as he listened. The clan's shinobi were all ordinary people with no ninja abilities. It was obvious that the Hatake Clan had been there to slaughter them once the elite who had signed the blood pact were reverse-summoned. Realizing this, Tamaza Ryojin glared at Mingye with fury. He had to return to his clan as soon as possible. Even if going back meant certain death, he still had to return to his people. He was their trusted clan leader, the great tree that sheltered them from wind and rain.
"I'll kill you right now!"
Roaring at Mingye, Tamaza Ryojin's body radiated pale blue chakra. At that moment, he decided to trade his life for Mingye's. He ruptured his chakra network and launched a surprise attack using a forbidden technique that would shorten his lifespan.
The snakes didn't attack Tamaza Ryojin at once because of the blue chakra. He forcibly shoved them aside, opened a path, and rushed toward Mingye.
A wall of air appeared before Mingye, halting Tamaza Ryojin's attack. Mingye took the chance to retreat, then leaped back and hovered above the sea of serpents. Countless venomous snakes tried to bite him from below but couldn't penetrate the air barrier. His face full of guilt, Mingye let out a long sigh and said,
"I'm sorry! I have to kill you! I'm so sorry!"
"Die!"
Under the barrage of wind blades, Mingye was like a thin sheet of paper, drifting with the wind. Yet not a single blade harmed him as he moved across the surface of the black sea of snakes, dodging Tamaza Ryojin's attacks. Mingye never struck back. Tamaza Ryojin seemed to realize what he was doing and scoffed.
"Do you think you can wear me down like this? Don't even dream of it!"
Mingye expressionlessly shook his head, smiled faintly, and replied,
"I never thought I could wear you down like this. My goal is to make you even angrier, until you lose the calm judgment of a shinobi!"
"...!"
Tamaza Ryojin's attacks faltered at Mingye's words. Then his chakra surged again. Mingye immediately darted backward. Having anticipated Ryojin's anger, he retreated thirty meters away before speaking again.
"The Hatake Clan's shinobi have never had any feelings. Do you think I'm right or wrong?"
"Mingye!"
Tamaza Ryojin knew what Mingye was trying to do. Shinobi were human, too. Going from stillness to motion was easy, but going from motion to stillness was extremely difficult. Snakes always struck from stillness, and Mingye was doing the same. If Ryojin let his guard down even slightly, Mingye would launch a fatal attack—not with his own strength, but by using the endless venomous snakes beneath his feet to poison him to death.
He couldn't keep this up with Mingye forever, either. Just as Mingye had said, his clan was still struggling to survive. The Hatake Clan's blades had never been merciful. Whenever one was drawn, it had to taste blood. Young or old, man or woman, no one was spared. That was the Hatake Clan's way, and the reason people feared it.
Mingye listened calmly to Tamaza Ryojin's furious roars, knowing how badly he wanted to tear him apart. But he also knew how dangerous it would be to fight Ryojin directly. Mingye was determined not to put himself in harm's way. His goal was clear: he just needed a little more time to drive his opponent completely berserk, until Ryojin would give up his own life just to kill him.
"I can't beat you. I have to admit that. You have the power to kill me, but that would take time. Meanwhile, now that your clan has lost the protection of its so-called elite shinobi, how do you think they'll fare against the Hatake Clan's blades—feared throughout the entire Ninja World?"
Before you continue