An Unexpected Battle

After the three members of Team Guy hurried away, the training room fell silent.

Takuma looked down at the vine-like markings in his palm, recalling the training just now. The vines had definitely reacted faster, but he still felt something was missing.

"Real combat."

The wooden targets on the training ground were lifeless after all. Only the split-second reactions that determined life or death in a real battle could truly test his progress.

Takuma quickly packed his ninja tools and left the village, heading for the forest on Konoha's outskirts.

He wanted to find a quiet place and use the vines growing naturally in the forest as a reference while he studied how to improve Mimicry Wood Release.

After walking for about forty minutes, Takuma reached a thicket overgrown with vines.

He crouched down and reached out to touch a wild vine, preparing to feel its texture and flexibility—

His Spider-Sense suddenly tingled.

Chakra signatures were approaching fast.

Takuma instantly suppressed his presence and rolled into the nearest thicket, pressing himself as low as he could.

He pushed his Neo Sunglasses up onto his forehead, switching his vision to chakra sight.

Three glowing chakra signatures, arranged in a triangle, were closing in on his position.

His opponents likely had a sensor among them. He could see that the head of one chakra signature was unusually bright—the telltale sign of a sensory ninja using a detection jutsu.

He had already been spotted.

"Attack!"

A hoarse command came from the left, without a word of needless explanation.

Three figures burst through the brush from three different directions.

Earth Release: Earth Rising Spear—

The ground suddenly bulged as several rock spikes shot up from below, stabbing toward the thicket where Takuma was hiding.

Takuma had no time to think. His body reacted on instinct, rolling backward to escape the spikes, but one grazed his right calf, leaving a bloody gash.

Before he could regain his footing, Wind Style: Wind Cutter Jutsu came slashing toward him with a sharp whistle.

Three wind blades fanned out, blocking his escape to either side.

He twisted into an almost contorted sideways flip. Two wind blades skimmed past his cheek and waist, slicing through a tree trunk as thick as a bowl behind him.

He failed to evade the third completely. It cut a deep gash into his shoulder, exposing bone.

At the same time, shuriken rained down from the front, precisely sealing off the route he would need to get back to his feet.

With nowhere to dodge, Takuma could only shield his vitals with his arms. Shuriken struck his left shoulder and the outside of his right leg.

The impact pinned him to the ground.

"A Konoha brat."

A low voice came from the treetops, its tone flat. "Finish him quickly."

Takuma gritted his teeth and pulled the shuriken from his leg. Blood trickled between his fingers.

The three worked together far too smoothly. Earth Release restricted his movement, Wind Release kept him pinned down, and shuriken finished the attack with pinpoint precision. Not a single word had been exchanged during the entire ambush.

"Second wave." The person in the treetops gave another order.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough—

A fierce gale mixed with stones swept toward him from the front, covering a wide area.

At the same time, the ground surged beneath his feet. Earth Spears stabbed up from behind, cutting off his retreat.

Shuriken flew in diagonally from the side, sealing his last route of escape.

They meant to trap him in place and finish him off with Wind Release from the front.

Takuma narrowed his eyes.

Cursed Seal patterns instantly spread from the back of his neck across his entire body. Blue-black markings wound over his skin as a chilling but powerful force surged into his limbs.

His speed and strength soared. He didn't retreat. Instead, he charged straight into the Wind Release.

The wind blades tore through his shirt, leaving crisscrossing wounds across his chest and abdomen.

One gash by his ribs was deep enough to reveal the membrane over the bone. His blood traced a red line through the air.

A Wind Release user had a brief pause to catch their breath after performing a jutsu. That was his only window of opportunity.

Takuma endured the wind blades and charged at his opponent, slapping an Explosive Tag against the man's chest.

He formed Hand Seals, then darted backward.

The explosion sent the man flying. He slammed into a tree trunk, his chest blown to a bloody mess. He died on the spot.

"Saki!"

Someone cried out, their voice filled with shock and fury.

"Quiet."

The voice from the treetops remained calm, but now carried a note of caution. "Be careful. There's something off about this brat."

The remaining two reacted quickly, changing tactics at once.

The Earth Release user stopped helping with the attack and focused entirely on defense, rapidly forming Hand Seals to raise several earthen walls around the two of them.

The sensor leaped down from the treetops and landed on the ground. His hands blurred as he expanded the range of his chakra detection, trying to pinpoint Takuma's exact location.

Takuma didn't give them time to catch their breath.

With the Cursed Seal's boost, his body became a blur as he circled around the earthen wall. Two vines shot out from the palms of his hands at once.

This time, the vines no longer grew in stiff, straight lines. He remembered what Guy had told him and treated them as extensions of his own arms.

The vine from his left hand whipped around from the side like a soft lash, wrapping around the Earth Release user's wrist and interrupting his Hand Seals.

At the same time, the vine from his right hand curled toward the man's ankle from a completely different angle.

The Earth Release user clearly hadn't expected this kind of attack. He froze for half a beat as the vine wrapped around his wrist.

Takuma was already at close range. He drove the Chakra-Conducting Kunai in his hand into the man's shoulder, severing the tendon beneath his shoulder blade.

The Earth Release user screamed and dropped to one knee.

The sensor immediately unleashed Wind Release: Wind Cutter to support him, sending a blade of wind slashing toward the back of Takuma's neck.

Takuma turned and shoved the wounded Earth Release user into the blade's path.

The wind blade cut into the man's back, spraying blood.

At the same time, Takuma slapped a second Explosive Tag onto him.

Another explosion rang out.

The second man died.

But in that instant, Wind Release: Great Breakthrough struck Takuma squarely in the back.

The tremendous force hurled him away, and he crashed through two trees before finally coming to a stop.

His flesh was torn open, and he felt a searing pain in his spine. His vision repeatedly went dark.

His Healing Factor went into overdrive. Buds of new flesh writhed and grew along the edges of his wounds, visible to the naked eye, but the bones throughout his body creaked under the strain.

Only one remained.

Takuma dropped to one knee, gasping for air.

Blood ran down his forehead, obscuring half his vision.

His wounds were healing, but his chakra was nearly spent. The Cursed Seal's power began to fade, and the vines withdrew into his palms.

The sensor ninja stood ten meters away.

At last, his expression lost its composure, and his pupils contracted slightly.

"What kind of monster are you?"

Takuma raised a hand and wiped the blood from his eyes.

He looked at the man and forced a smile. "That's something... I'd like to know too."

The sensor stopped testing him.

He bit his finger and rapidly formed Hand Seals. A visible vortex of chakra formed around him.

He was preparing to erase Takuma once and for all, no matter the cost.

Takuma charged straight into the gale.

A look of disbelief flashed through the sensor's eyes. No one would charge head-on into a Wind Release attack.

His hands slowed by half a beat without him realizing it.

Another vine shot from Takuma's sleeve.

It slithered along the ground and, at the last moment, darted out of the sensor's blind spot to wrap around his ankle.

Takuma yanked hard.

The sensor lost his balance and fell flat on his back.

Takuma pounced on him, pinning his chest with a knee and pressing a Kunai to his throat.

"Who sent you?"

The sensor looked at the brat and gave a bitter laugh.

He crushed the poison capsule hidden behind his molar with his teeth.

His body stiffened within seconds, and his pupils went slack.

Takuma bent down and quickly searched the body.

No Forehead Protector, no identifying marks, standard-issue equipment, and identical poison capsules—the exact same setup as the group of ninja he'd encountered in the mountains last time.

As the sun began to set, Takuma appeared in the Hokage's office.

After hearing his report, the Third Hokage slowly turned his pipe between his fingers.

"The Anbu will investigate this."

The Third Hokage finally spoke. "You don't need to concern yourself with what happens next. Focus on preparing for the official Chunin Ninja Exams. There isn't much time left. Go."

Takuma wanted to ask more, but the Third had already turned away.

The message in his silhouette was clear: the conversation was over.

By the time he returned to the bookstore, it was completely dark.

Mori Kazuki was arranging the shelves. He heard footsteps and looked up, only to see his son standing in the doorway, covered in blood.

Father and son stared at each other for a moment.

Mori Kazuki set down the book in his hand.

Then he led Takuma into the backyard and examined him from head to toe. Only after confirming that his injuries weren't life-threatening did he ask gravely, "You got caught in another battle?"

Takuma briefly recounted what had happened.

After hearing him out, Mori Kazuki stood silent for a long time beneath the moonlight.

"Three attackers working in perfect sync, proper equipment, and matching poison capsules."

He spoke slowly, his voice low. "This wasn't ordinary infiltration. Two battles, the same tactics, the same equipment—this was an organized military operation."

"You think so too?"

"Ever since your first encounter with that detection team in the mountains, I've felt something was wrong."

Mori Kazuki took a cigarette from his pocket, then thought better of it and put it away. "The weak points in Konoha's outer barrier were being systematically scouted. A proper ninja squad set up an ambush outside the village to hunt Konoha ninja. That's not how rogue ninja operate. It's how hostile nations infiltrate."

Takuma said nothing.

"There isn't enough intelligence yet. All we can do is speculate."

"Are you still planning to participate in the official Chunin Ninja Exams?"

Takuma nodded.

"I have to."

There was nothing he could do to change what came next, but he had to become strong enough to survive the storm that was approaching.

To protect the people he wanted to protect.