Kazuki's hand seals slowed.
He had intended to wait until the girl landed before continuing the attack—but then his sharp eyes caught something stuck to her body.
His pupils contracted.
BOOM! A deafening blast tore through the air.
Before the smoke could even clear, a hand charged with Lightning Release chakra lunged from the dust cloud toward him.
But before the attacker could get close, Kazuki's shadow darted up from the ground and wrapped around the enemy's limbs.
"A Shadow Technique?!" the burly Kumogakure shinobi froze in surprise. He could feel the binding tightening around him and immediately tried to break free—
—but a flicker of flame lit up in front of his eyes.
The burst of searing heat from Great Fireball Jutsu momentarily stunned him. Still, the Cloud shinobi gritted his teeth and struggled, wrenching to the side.
His body lurched as he twisted—only to hear a sharp snap as he inadvertently broke his own ankle.
"Damn it—" he cursed, hobbling and barely managing to dodge the fireball. But before he could steady himself, a blur of silver-white chakra streaked past—
—and a small hand punched through his chest.
The Cloud-nin coughed blood. But he didn't give up.
"Damn you, Leaf scum!" he growled, twisting his torso and grabbing the arm that had pierced through him. With his free hand, he reeled back an elbow strike aimed at his attacker's head.
If he connected, he was sure he'd crush their skull.
For a moment, time seemed to slow.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed the figure behind him—a silver-haired ANBU wearing an animal mask.
But just as his elbow was about to strike, something snapped in his mind.
That strange auditory hallucination returned.
He saw his dead son, cut down by Leaf shinobi, crying out to him—"Why didn't you save me?"
"Aaaargh!" the Cloud-nin howled in anguish. His elbow sailed through empty air.
Kakashi withdrew his hand as the man flailed in confusion, dazed by the psychological backlash Kazuki's fire jutsu had carried.
The Cloud-nin collapsed, a bitter expression in his eyes—part regret, part hatred.
And now their captain would fall too.
Sorry, Captain... I couldn't take more of them with me...
The last of the enemy tried to flee but was swiftly cut down by the three-man Leaf team. He left behind nothing but a blood-splattered smear on Kitsune's mask before being beheaded.
Kazuki surveyed the surroundings.
A single battle between ninja had reduced the area to devastation. He glanced at the site of the earlier explosion—what was left of the girl's body now little more than scattered remains.
In silence, Kazuki drew a blade and walked over to the corpse of the Kumogakure shinobi who had used her.
One clean stroke—and he took the enemy's head.
He lifted it up to inspect.
The eyes had been burned out—but the mouth still held a twisted, mocking grin.
This was what it meant to be a shinobi.
"You'll have to get used to it, Red Deer," Kitsune said, approaching and wiping the blood from his mask.
During the earlier fight, he'd noticed the explosive-tag tactic and got distracted—enough to take a Lightning Release wound to his arm. A charred black line cut across his bicep.
"I'm fine, Captain," Kazuki replied, shaking his head.
Kakashi joined them and gave Kazuki's shoulder a reassuring pat.
All the enemy shinobi were dead.
They didn't stay to clean up. That would be left to ANBU Intelligence.
As for the civilians caught in the blast—they might receive a token compensation, if any.
Konoha was already struggling to afford death benefits for its ninja. What did the lives of a few villagers cost? A couple bowls of ramen?
"Technically, it's best if we leave one alive," Kitsune said as they regrouped in a nearby grove. He was tending to his wound. Kakashi did the same.
Kazuki had gotten off lightly—just a few burns from the blast.
"Seriously? These guys fought like they didn't care if they lived," Kazuki snorted. "You only get prisoners if someone actually survives."
"Haha, I know," Kitsune chuckled. "But if we did get one alive, we could claim any jutsu in their memory for study. Maybe even trade it for more advanced techniques."
As he spoke, he began rewrapping his arm with a bandage.
Kazuki glanced at him.
Wait... could he actually be a woman?
But even if Kitsune was, Kazuki didn't care.
Women only slowed down his Q-stacking.
Speaking of which, he summoned another shadow clone to continue training Great Fireball Jutsu.
No breaks. No rest. Grind or die.
"Any jutsu can be exchanged?" Kazuki asked, suddenly interested.
He wasn't greedy—but his fire chakra nature made it hard to branch out unless he earned it.
And Konoha had powerful Fire Release jutsu he wanted to get his hands on.
"Pretty much anything. But Forbidden Techniques need Hokage approval," Kitsune said as he tied off the bandage and rolled down his sleeve.
Kazuki thought about it.
Forbidden jutsu... not practical for now. But eventually?
Once his chakra reserves grew?
Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu would be the dream.
He'd be able to grind out technique proficiency ten times faster.
Kazuki glanced back toward the village they'd left behind. The smoke still curled upward in the distance.
The fallout would linger long after they were gone.
War bred hatred. Hatred fermented into bitterness.
And unless something like the Fourth Great Ninja War happened—a conflict that forced all five great nations to unite—this cycle would never end.
The world would drown in its own war.
"You're thinking too much," Kitsune said, stepping beside him and gazing toward the horizon.
"This world's always been ," he added, tone unreadable.
Then he shrugged, pulled out a rice ball, and casually took a bite.
They'd return to Konoha after this.
Three days off, minimum.
After all, even ANBU weren't mules.