Chapter 10: Comrades
Hyūga Haining fell into the stance of Gentle Fist. His form was shaky—understandable, for no one facing death can remain completely calm.
"Still trying to resist? How troublesome..." Yoru Kurayami slowly approached, his lanky figure moving like a ghost in the fog.
"The Hyūga Clan… the Main Family does not run away!" Haining straightened his back, spine rigid with pride. Though young, he embodied the dignity of his lineage.
"Secret Technique: Rain Severing."
Yoru's hands blurred through dozens of hand seals—this jutsu's complexity rivaled even the Triple Rashōmon.
Strange droplets began to fall from the sky. The moment they touched Haining's skin, panic bloomed in his eyes—his Gentle Fist chakra was dissolving, being neutralized!
"This is a technique I developed myself. It's complex and usually too chakra-intensive to use often. But against taijutsu users or shinobi who rely on long seal chains—it's perfect," Yoru casually explained, like a teacher giving a lecture before an execution.
"I'm going to die…?"
Haining's eyes lost focus. The blood loss from his thigh wound was becoming fatal.
"Goodbye, child of the Hyūga clan. Next time, don't be born in Konoha."
Bored, Yoru formed his final seals. His cheeks puffed up slightly.
"Water Style: Severing Wave!"
Just then—a shout broke through the mist from behind!
Yoru flinched. He had completely forgotten the remaining genin.
Hadn't that kid run away already? A genin facing an elite jōnin battlefield—he should've vanished long ago. Why was he still here?
"Secret Technique: Rain Severing Cannon!"
The two high-level water-style jutsu collided midair and neutralized each other.
It was clear, though—Minamoto Ren lacked the chakra to keep trading techniques like this.
"Ren…"
Haining's eyes widened as he glimpsed his partner through the thinning fog—tall, serious, calm under pressure.
"…I'm counting on you…"
With those last thoughts, Hyūga Haining slipped into unconsciousness.
Maybe he'd wake in a Rain ninja prison.
Maybe not at all.
But somewhere deep down, he still hoped… he'd wake up and see Ren and Nawaki again.
Yoru spun midair, grabbing his blade and twirling it with flair. The Rain Severing Cannon had propelled him back, but now he was ready to end it.
Rain-nin like him—shaped by Hanzō's doctrine—had crafted a deadly blend of Water Release, kenjutsu, and a hint of Kirigakure-style assassination techniques. In the water-logged terrain of the Land of Rain, such tactics were brutally effective.
They stared at each other in silence.
There was something mutual in their gaze—both men possessed that quiet acceptance of risk, that fierce "live or die" resolve.
On this rain-soaked battlefield, only one would walk away.
Ren hadn't turned back for Haining out of sentiment. He wasn't foolish—Haining, even as a Main House Hyūga, wasn't important enough.
He came back… for Yoru Kurayami's head.
That head would catapult him into Hiruzen Sarutobi's field of view.
It would force Konoha's leadership to reassess him—not as a survivor, but as a genius.
Only a "genius" could change the ending of a war already lost.
And… perhaps there was a more selfish reason.
He simply wanted to know—how far could he go, if he gave everything?
Their chakra surged.
Both began weaving hand seals at the same time.
"Water Style: Severing Wave!"
Slender arcs of slicing water carved through the air. Yoru stepped forward, maintaining his casting posture with his right hand while gripping his blade with his left. He was trying to close the gap—to reach killing range.
Even for a jōnin, these repeated techniques had taken their toll. The two massive secret jutsu earlier had already drained much of his chakra.
One more strike.
One more strike would take the boy's head.
Then, with the Byakugan in hand, he'd report to Lord Hanzō and complete the mission.
Thirty steps.
Twenty.
The distance shrank with every heartbeat.
Minamoto Ren's jutsu flickered, fading—the chakra maintaining it barely holding.
Yoru almost laughed. This genin only knew one jutsu… and he dared challenge a jōnin?
At that moment, both their jutsu halted—like two gamblers calling each other's bluff.
Yoru instantly shifted seals—Body Flicker Technique!
He closed the distance in a blink.
His blade arced forward with a roar of chakra—this slash, meant to decapitate, was fast, precise, and absolute.
But was it truly over?
But in Ren's focused eyes, he saw something unexpected in Yoru Kurayami—
A smile.
"You've been tricked."
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Seedling Fern!
It was Kimimaro's ultimate technique from the original canon!
Devastating area-of-effect. High-speed. High-lethality.
Ren was betting everything on this—on the information gap between him and his enemy!
"What?!"
Suddenly, white bone spikes erupted from the ground like bamboo shoots after the rain. At the same time, sharp bones thrust from Ren's own body, deflecting Yoru's blade from impossible angles—and some even pierced straight into the jōnin's flesh!
"You—you're a Konoha ninja! Where the hell did you get Shikotsumyaku?!"
Yoru coughed up blood, his eyes wide in disbelief. A massive hardened bone was lodged in his abdomen, while his chest and arm were riddled with bloody holes. For the first time in the fight, rage overtook his calm—he'd been played!
Ren didn't bother replying.
Instead, he pressed the advantage—rushing forward just as Yoru began forming hand seals again.
That sneak attack, powered by the Dance of the Seedling Fern, had severely injured the elite Rain-nin. If he was allowed to escape, to gain distance and perform long-range ninjutsu…
Then Ren's life was as good as forfeit.
"Shikotsumyaku: Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"
Ren roared, launching his hardened finger bones like bullets, forcing Yoru to interrupt his seals again and again. He snatched the fallen ninja blade from the ground, eyes bloodshot, and charged.
Yoru gritted his teeth and drew a kunai, trying to meet him in close combat—but this "white porcupine" was absurd!
The Shikotsumyaku—renowned as the strongest close-range kekkei genkai—made any melee fight a death sentence.
First second: Yoru blocked the ninja blade. His left hand, wracked with pain, tried forming seals to flee—only to be skewered by a protruding bone. His left arm went numb.
Second second: Ren unleashed the Dance of the Larch, firing hardened bone shards at point-blank range, punching gaping holes in Yoru's torso.
Third second: Blood loss clouded Yoru's vision. Time seemed to stutter. As he blinked to refocus—
He saw a flash of cold steel in the rain…
And the pitiless calm in that white porcupine's eyes.
Shing!
A clean slice echoed through the rain.
A severed head flew into the night sky.
---
"Hah… hah…"
Ren let the ninja blade fall from his hand and gasped for breath, forcing down the nausea that came with chakra exhaustion. But the crash of fatigue—adrenaline fading, wounds aching—sent him to his knees.
From the nearby forest came rustling.
Several figures emerged—faces Ren recognized from earlier.
The villagers that Orochimaru had ordered him to protect.
The one leading them was the old man.
But this time… his eyes gleamed green with greed.
"Go. Cut off their heads. We can trade them to Hanzō-sama for food," the old man barked, waving his hand. The few able-bodied men still standing stumbled forward with blades in hand.
"What are you doing?!"
A shout broke through the tension.
Nawaki had returned.
Tears welled in his eyes as he saw Ren and Hyūga Haining collapsed on the ground. Mizudori Gō had passed out from blood loss.
When Nawaki awoke and found no one around, he had raced back—guided by instinct, by loyalty, by the last embers of the Senju spirit.
Thank the gods he came back in time.
If not… Ren and Haining would've paid dearly for their earlier mercy.
Kunai rained down like a storm.
The old man and his ragtag militia fell without ceremony.
Nawaki didn't spare them a glance.
He rushed to Ren and Haining, quickly checking their injuries.
He bandaged Haining as best he could, picked up the ninja blade lying beside Ren, and slung both boys over his shoulders.
He staggered toward the border of the Land of Fire.
As he walked, he passed the field of white bone spikes.
Saw the remnants of protruding bones still jutting from Ren's unconscious body…
But he didn't care.
A friend was a friend.
And a friend's secret?
That was something to protect—with his life.
That… was Senju Nawaki's ninja way.