Chapter 2 - 2:A Fools Gamble
"Damn it, stay still."
Youyu grumbled as he tried to steady his swaying hand, grabbing his own wrist in frustration. He was attempting to bring the sake bottle up to his eyes to check if there was anything left inside.
"Ugh..."
From Tanaka Hideichi's perspective, however, it looked like Youyu was the one flailing all over the place, making it impossible to see the bottle clearly.
"Um... Y-Youyu, I have an extra bottle of sake here," a soft voice chimed in.
A girl with curly hair and striking red eyes tugged at Youyu's sleeve shyly. Her cheeks were flushed as she carefully pulled out a bottle of sake, sneaking it into his hands.
At the sight of fresh alcohol, Youyu's drunken eyes lit up with excitement.
"Oh? This little lady is adorable," Youyu slurred, turning toward her with a playful grin. "Want to drink with me?"
The girl, Kurenai Yuhi, let out a startled gasp as Youyu suddenly pulled her closer, an arm wrapped around her shoulders.
"Y-Youyu-kun..." Kurenai's voice was barely a whisper. Her beautiful crimson eyes shimmered with a mix of nervousness and... something else.
Her face turned even redder as she got a whiff of the faint, intoxicating scent of sake from Youyu's clothes.
She bit her lip.
Her heart was pounding.
"YOUYU!! First, you drink in class. Now you're flirting with our female classmates?! I won't stand for this!"
A loud, angry voice interrupted the moment.
A boy slammed his hands on his desk and shot to his feet, his face filled with outrage.
Sarutobi Asuma.
The son of the Third Hokage.
"Huh?"
Youyu lazily turned to look at him, his expression indifferent.
"Who the hell are you again? Buzz off. I'm drinking with this lovely lady here."
With that, Youyu smirked and lightly brushed his fingertips against Kurenai's flushed cheek.
"BASTARD!"
Asuma's temper snapped. He clenched his fists, his frustration boiling over. Without thinking, he charged straight toward Youyu.
"Has he lost his mind?! He just threw a punch at Youyu!"
"He's dead. He's so dead. What do we do?!"
The classroom erupted into a panic.
Who was Youyu?
He was the kid who had put their previous teacher in the hospital with a single slash.
He was the monster who had defeated Kakashi Hatake, a prodigy hailed as the strongest of his generation.
Even though Asuma was the Hokage's son, in terms of power? He wasn't even worthy of tying Youyu's sandals.
"Shit!"
Tanaka Hideichi paled as he realized what was about to happen.
If Youyu killed Asuma, how the hell was he supposed to explain this to the Third Hokage?!
CLANK.
The room fell into dead silence.
Youyu narrowed his drunken eyes, finally letting go of Kurenai. His hand slowly reached for the weapon resting at his side.
SHING—
He drew his blade.
A sleek, 80-centimeter-long katana. A standard, but deadly, Japanese sword.
The moment his fingers wrapped around the hilt, the air in the room shifted.
BOOM.
The once laid-back, drunken fool was gone.
In his place stood a beast.
An overwhelming, suffocating killing intent spread through the classroom like a tidal wave.
Tanaka Hideichi, who had just been about to intervene, froze in place. His breath hitched as his instincts screamed at him—
"This... this aura..."
At that moment, Youyu wasn't a human.
He was a demon.
Asuma, who had been charging forward with all his bravado, came to an abrupt halt.
His body locked up.
His face twisted in horror.
His mind was screaming at him to run—RUN.
But his legs wouldn't move.
All he could see... was death.
From his perspective, Youyu's eyes were like those of a phantom executioner—cold, detached, and utterly merciless.
Asuma felt like a rabbit cornered by a starving wolf.
There was no escape.
FWOOOSH.
"NO! YOUYU, STOP!"
Tanaka Hideichi screamed, but it was too late.
Youyu swung his katana down—
A sharp, clean arc.
Asuma's heart pounded.
"This is it. I'm going to die—"
SLASH!
Blood sprayed across the floor.
A horrified silence filled the classroom.
Eyes wide with terror, the students watched as Asuma's body...
split in half.
"AAAAAHHH!!"
"A-ASUMA?!?!"