The skirmish ended—enemies driven back.
Toneri dropped from the car roof and brushed dust off his clothes.
"Fire Release, Earth Release, Lightning Release..." Mitsuki's eyes gleamed with interest. "You've got quite the arsenal."
"I guess." Toneri kept his tone casual, not mentioning the past six months of regular sparring sessions with his father. All five chakra natures—mastered. Though Lightning Release remained his bread and butter.
Sarada's amazement warred with confusion. He looks my age, but when he fights... Her stomach twisted. There's no hesitation at all.
Reality hit them hard. The car—obliterated. Their backpacks—inside said obliterated car. Every painstakingly gathered supply—gone.
Worse: the map.
"Already copied it." Toneri tapped his temple. "Sharingan. Every detail's up here."
"That's not the issue." Mitsuki checked his watch. "The map's a ninja tool. When the poison fog spreads, it updates to show safe zone boundaries. Two hours in, the first zone's already marked. Without it?" He shrugged. "We're stumbling blind."
Toneri's fist clenched. "My fault. Should've realized enemies might've pushed this far—"
Mitsuki's hand landed on his shoulder. "Relax. Early fog's not lethal—just unpleasant. Plenty of room to maneuver. Besides, we might still be in the safe zone."
"Yeah." Toneri nodded, smoothly removing Mitsuki's hand. "Next supply house—ten o'clock, three klicks. Let's move."
Using Toneri's mental map, they navigated to the target location.
Sarada closed her eyes, chakra flaring. "Mind's Eye of the Kagura says... clear. No ambush."
"Hold up." Toneri's Sharingan spun lazily. "Those three from earlier jumped twelve kilometers out, searched backward. This house might be picked clean."
"Even if they looted it, pouches have limits." Mitsuki tilted his head. "Could be leftovers."
"Or traps."
Mitsuki's smile widened. "Also true."
Toneri's hands blurred through seals. "Shadow clone goes first."
"Is that really—" Sarada started.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The explosion answered for her.
"Clone's toast." Toneri's voice stayed flat.
Sarada's eyes went wide. "That's just—"
"Shinobi." Mitsuki's tone carried no judgment. "Competition or not, we don't pull punches."
Toneri studied the pristine house—not a scratch despite the blast. "How's the building fine?"
"Special sealing formulas. Reinforced. Basically indestructible."
"Huh." Toneri turned away. "Next house is five klicks. Let's go."
They ran.
"Hey, um..." Sarada's voice came out small. "If someone dies here, do they actually..."
"The watches." Mitsuki gestured at his wrist. "Linked to vitals. Someone flatlines, specialists reverse time and revive them. They're disqualified, but alive."
"The handbook didn't mention that!"
"Intentional. First-timers need the fear factor. Veterans keep quiet about it."
Oh. Relief flooded Sarada's chest. So Toneri knew all along. That's why he didn't hesitate—
She glanced at him. Surprise flickered across his face.
He didn't know.
"Toneri..." The question burst out before she could stop it. "You're a kid too. How can you be so... decisive?"
His eyes stayed forward. "I've killed people. More than one."
The casual delivery hit harder than any jutsu. Sarada's breath caught. What has he been through?
Mitsuki cleared his throat. "Supply drop should hit soon. If we're lucky, we'll be swimming in gear."
He explained the system—airdrops introduced in the third Exhibition, rare supplies, advanced armor, high-grade tools, and the crown jewel: Magic Fantasy Cards.
"Magic what?"
"Dream-encoded jutsu training. Itachi Uchiha consulted when the Mental Health Unit formed, Kurenai Yūhi ran with the concept. You sleep with the card on your forehead, experience the jutsu in dreams, wake up with the knowledge. A-rank, S-rank techniques—stuff you'd never access normally. Mastery depends on aptitude, but the shortcut's real."
Toneri nodded slowly. "That's... actually brilliant."
"I read a lot of obscure material." Mitsuki's smile turned sheepish.
Whoosh!
White shape. Sky. Fast.
"The drop!" Sarada's face lit up. "We're in—"
THUD.
Mitsuki's hand shot up, shading his eyes. He froze. Color drained from his face.
"That's not a drop." His voice went deadly quiet. "We're in a bombing zone."
"What—"
"RUN!" Mitsuki exploded into motion. "Back to the last house—NOW! Or we're paste!"
WHOOSH!
The white bird screamed downward. On its back, Deidara peered through his infrared scope, lips curling as he tracked three fleeing dots.
"Art..." His hands moved to his clay pouches. "...is an explosion!"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!📚
This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now
💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today!
[✨patreon.com/DarkGolds]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━