Hinata Haruki's footwork shifted abruptly. Without warning, he spun around and leapt toward the Sunagakure chūnin who was leading the pursuit.The chūnin froze for a split second before readying himself for combat.
"If I just tie this brat down, he's dead!"
Haruki flung six shuriken in a swift arc toward the chūnin. His target kicked off a tree branch to leap aside, the shuriken slicing past beneath him—only to suddenly curve back midair toward his exposed back.
"Damn it!"
The chūnin dropped rapidly, the shuriken grazing through his hair. But in that same moment, Haruki used the Body Flicker Technique to appear directly in front of him.
"Not good!"
Still airborne, the chūnin's posture couldn't adjust in time.
"Watch out!"Several of his comrades shouted, rushing forward.But in the split-second it took to sprint ten meters, Haruki could do plenty.
"Gentle Fist: Five Elements Shattering Palm!"
Chakra surged into Haruki's palm as he struck with lightning speed, planting his hand firmly into the man's chest and abdomen.
"Wood! Metal! Water! Fire! Earth—Break!"
Within a single second, his Gentle Fist strikes pounded the opponent's lungs, liver, kidneys, heart, and spleen five times each. The chūnin spat a mouthful of blood, his organs ruptured and blood vessels shredded.
Haruki didn't stop. He raised both legs and kicked hard into the man's gut, sending him hurtling toward the Sunagakure shinobi charging from behind. Using the man's body as a springboard, Haruki spun midair and leapt forward again, continuing his escape.
The two pursuing chūnin caught their comrade, only to find his body limp and lifeless—his insides destroyed.Fifth Sunagakure shinobi down.
"Kill that brat!"
Fury ignited among the survivors as they chased with renewed rage.
Haruki was still just a boy—nimble, yes, but with short arms and legs. After another hundred meters of tree-leaping, the enemy closed in quickly, attempting to flank him.
"Heh… time for hide-and-seek. Body Flicker!"
He suddenly veered off, vanishing into a dense grove on the right.
"Over there!"
A few Sunagakure shinobi dove into the grove after him—only for Haruki to burst from the undergrowth on the other side and slip into another forest to the left.
"Damn it! After him!"
But just as they turned, Haruki flickered past them again from the flank. The would-be flankers found themselves unsure which direction he'd actually taken.
"There! He's darting around like some damned monkey!"
The jōnin leader roared, but before the echo faded—
Swish! Haruki had already looped behind them, disappearing once more into another forest.
"That way! Don't let him—!"
They charged again, but deep among the trees Haruki moved like a phantom—constantly changing direction, pulling them along in circles until they lost track entirely. Once the distance was clear, he slipped into hiding with the Concealment Technique. The forest fell still.
"Playing hide-and-seek with me in dense woods? I'll play you to death."
A sly grin tugged at Haruki's lips.
Thanks to his Byakugan's unparalleled perception, the entire terrain within a kilometer lay open to him—every path, every hiding spot, every exploitable feature, every enemy position crystal clear in his vision.
"The brat's trail ends here," a chūnin reported to his jōnin.
"He can't have gone far—he's hiding nearby. Search carefully. The woman too. But don't spread too thin!"
It infuriated the jōnin that so many of them were being toyed with by a single child.
"Yes!"
The search spread through the forest, each shinobi keeping a bit of distance but remaining in sight of each other. Haruki, from the shadows, used his Byakugan to monitor their movements, repositioning silently—looking for someone isolated.
The hunt began.
A chūnin crept through the undergrowth, kunai in hand, checking even the smallest bushes. Ten meters behind him, Haruki blurred past, slipping into another thicket. The man, sensing something, spun around—but missed him entirely.
"I swear that brat was just behind me…"
Distracted, he stepped onto a leaf-covered patch of ground—only for his foot to plunge into a small child-sized pit.
"A trap?!"
He toppled sideways, catching himself with one hand while the other whipped his kunai around defensively.Silence.
"Just a hole?" He exhaled—then froze, eyes snapping upward."No—!"
Haruki hung upside-down from a thin steel wire, descending silently right above him.
"Gentle Fist: Spirit Shatter!"
Before the chūnin could react, Haruki's palm tapped the crown of his head. Chakra pulsed ten times in an instant through the man's brain. His eyes glazed over, blood streamed from his ears, nose, and mouth, and he collapsed without a sound.
Sixth Sunagakure shinobi down.
The Spirit Shatter technique targeted the brain's natural resonance at ten hertz, the same rhythm as Haruki's rapid chakra strikes, turning the Gentle Fist's internal damage into a devastating resonance that could shred brain tissue—leaving the victim brain-dead, paralyzed, or instantly dead.
"One minute before someone finds this spot."
Haruki quickly buried the body under leaves and branches, then scaled back up the rope.
The others had no idea another comrade had just been erased without a trace.
"With the chakra I have left, I can probably take out a few more. Damn it—having to hold back my big techniques is so frustrating…"
He melted back into the forest, Byakugan sweeping for his next target.
Half a minute later, another chūnin appeared nearby, unaware of the hidden corpse. His search led him toward a massive tree—where a kunai was lodged at its root.
Approaching cautiously, he checked the area, found nothing suspicious, and pulled the kunai free.
Suddenly—crack!—a fingertip burst through the tree's bark and jabbed him.
"Wha—?!"
Paralysis swept through him, and Haruki stepped out from behind a peeled slab of bark.
"Didn't expect me to be hiding inside the trunk, did you? My Byakugan spotted the hollow tree ages ago."
Haruki struck several lethal tenketsu points, dragged the body inside, sealed the bark, and left. Thirty seconds later, the man's heart stopped.
Seventh Sunagakure shinobi down.
Soon, Haruki spotted two chūnin moving together, covering each other's backs.
"Cautious, huh? Fine—then I'll take you both at once."
He burst from cover. The pair, unfazed, attacked in formation. Haruki leapt high, sailing over the first man and landing in front of the second—who hadn't expected to be the real target.
Before he could react, Haruki's legs hooked over his shoulders, core muscles snapping his torso upright.
Smack!Both palms slammed against the man's ears—Double Ear Burst.
Even with some chakra defense, the chūnin's inner ear was rattled, the vestibular nerves damaged. The world spun, vision swam, and balance shattered.
Haruki landed, already turning as the first chūnin stabbed with his kunai. Haruki's palm met the man's forearm, chakra drawing and diverting the strike.
"Gentle Fist: Flow with the Current!"
He redirected the stab just enough to avoid himself—then turned it toward the dazed comrade behind. Momentum carried the strike through the man's chest.
Eighth Sunagakure shinobi down.
The attacker froze in horror. Haruki didn't.Five fingers clawed forward, chakra needles piercing the heart's nerve center.
Ninth down.
"Heh—two at once."
But before he could savor it, a Sunagakure jōnin appeared behind him.
"Die, brat! Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!"
Tiny, deadly spheres of wind shot forward at blinding speed. Haruki leapt, shielding his head with an arm, but one bullet punched through his chest and flung him back.
Elsewhere, another jōnin found Mizuki hiding in the grass.
"You're not getting away!"
He lunged, but Mizuki only smiled, unleashing stored chakra in a close-range burst.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
The air blast slammed into him at point-blank range, hurling him into a tree—where his body melted into mud.
"Earth Substitution… and I'm out of chakra," Mizuki murmured calmly.
In truth—poof!—both she and the "mortally wounded" Haruki vanished in puffs of white smoke.
"Shadow clones?!"
The twin roars of the deceived jōnin shook the forest canopy.