FLASHBACK — Just before Henji entered the Void
As Shino prepared to step forward, hand hovering near the entrance, Henji's voice cut through the silence.
"What are you going to do? Get stuck with Haru?"
Shino turned, confused by the question.
Henji stepped forward, gently pushing Shino aside as he faced the door himself.
"Luckily for you... I want to be a Shadow Ninja," he said, eyes sharp.
"And I can't become one by letting someone else take all the A-level missions."
He glanced back at Shino.
"Treat Matsamaru. And find Chimaru."
Without waiting for a response, Henji stepped through the door. The moment he passed, it instantly sealed shut, transforming into a solid wall.
As he fell into the depths of the Void, his voice echoed with reckless energy:
"HENJII IS HEREEEE!!!"
Back in the present…
Haru's bloodied eyes widened at the sight of the figure descending.
He whispered to himself in disbelief,
"…He came?"
BEGINNING OF THE MISSION — En Route to the Village
The squad moved steadily toward the village where their mission would begin.
Haru walked silently at the back, steps steady and distant, his presence almost ghost-like.
Up ahead, Henji walked beside Chimaru and Matsamaru, while Akiro took the lead. Shino and Hiro were locked in a heated back-and-forth, still arguing about something that had happened earlier in the village.
As the group continued, Henji turned back—his eyes landing on Haru.
He slowed his pace, letting the others walk ahead. Waiting.
When Haru reached him, Henji smiled warmly, attempting to bridge the silence.
But Haru walked past him—completely unfazed. As if Henji didn't exist.
Like a shadow.
Henji blinked in confusion before jogging up beside him.
"Haru-san! Haru-san!!" he called out, trying to catch his attention.
For a long moment, Haru remained silent, his eyes locked forward… until finally, he turned his head slightly toward Henji.
They walked slowly through the forest path.
Henji glanced at Haru beside him, then finally spoke up, voice filled with quiet desperation.
"Haru-san… how can I be stronger? Matsamaru-san told me to ask you. Since you became strong regardless of your condition, I want…"
Haru interrupted without turning:*
"…Oi."
Henji paused, startled. His heart jumped—worried he'd overstepped.
Haru came to a stop.
"Trust your gut," he said calmly.
"The rest happens through luck."
Henji blinked. "Luck? But… what if there's no luck?"
Haru replied:
"Then that means there's a way out. Once there's no way out... there will be luck. Regardless of the situation."
"Trust yourself and just go. When it rests in your hands, you'll find the solution."
With that, Haru continued walking, leaving Henji behind.
Henji stood there, eyes wide—then slowly, a smile formed, tears threatening to fall.
"He spoke to me…" he whispered.
---
BACK TO THE PRESENT — INSIDE THE VOID
*Henji dropped rapidly from above*, laughter bursting from him mid-fall.
"I'M HEREEE!!"
Massive debris fell toward him—but Henji smiled, then kicked off a chunk mid-air.
He landed gracefully on a floating plank, then leapt again, *hopping across the falling ruins* inside the broken Void—like stepping stones to destiny.
Henji landed softly on the floating garden, where Haru sat bloodied, silent, and still.
He smiled warmly, despite the tension.
"Haru-san… I made it."
Tanzegtsu turned toward Haru, eyes narrowed.
"This is your luck?"
Haru nodded slowly.
"I never thought he'd make it… He's not the luck itself. What he does from here… that depends on luck."
Henji scratched the back of his head, smirking.
"Did you have to say that out loud? Now they know…"
Ejin chuckled and stepped forward, placing himself between Haru and Henji—but his eyes stayed fixed on the newcomer.
"It's luck, right? Then there's nothing to worry about!"
"Even we don't know how it'll play out. You're hopeless enough that maybe luck really *is* your best shot."
Henji's smile faded into calm determination. He looked around at the shattered Void.
"This place… it's massive."
He turned to Haru, taking in his torn robes, soaked socks, and battered face.
"Haru-san… I've never seen you like this before."
"Don't worry."
"We're leaving together."
Henji gazed upward, his eyes scanning the debris floating endlessly in the infinite void—ruined towers, broken palaces, shattered monuments from a lost realm.
He slowly raised his left arm, voice solemn:
"This is it… the end of everything, everywhere…"
Then, with a deep breath, he formed a hand seal with his right—index fingers pointed to the sky, the rest folded in focus and resolve.
But just as the technique was about to activate—
SHHK!
His left arm was severed, flying off his body in a clean slice.
Blood splattered midair, and Henji dropped to his knees, eyes wide.
Then—
A scream erupted from his lungs, raw, violent, echoing through the void like a wounded beast.
Ejin stepped forward, unbothered, his smirk sharp.
"Tsk... lucky for you, we're S-rank demons."
"You think you can just stand there and cast a jutsu right in front of us? You take us for fools?"
Henji's cry slowly died down… replaced by a trembling laugh.
He grinned through the pain, teeth clenched, saliva trailing from his lips, and tears streaming down his cheeks.
He turned toward them, defiant.
"At least…" he muttered, voice cracking,
"…you lost him."
Before they could process it—
Haru was gone.
His Kurugisama… vanished with him.
Only the blood stains remained where he sat.
Ejin stared blankly at the empty space.
Tanzegtsu's eyes widened, his jaw tightening.
He glanced at Henji, finally realizing—
"…He planned this…"
"…Just by looking at Henji…"
A pause.
A moment of silent understanding.
Henji, kneeling, arm lost, panting—
But not done.
"No hesitation…" Tanzegtsu muttered.
"He gave his arm… for Haru."
Then—before they could act—
Henji raised his right hand.
The blood dripping didn't stop him.
His fingers formed the seal again.
His voice thundered through the void:
"ETERNAL FLAMES: ARISE!!"
A light burst from his palm, slow at first, then blazing upward, cutting through the void like a divine spear.
They all turned, watching it rise—
Its brilliance intensified…
And then—
BOOOOOOOM!!!
A deafening roar split the entire void.
The explosion ripped through everything.
Debris flew.
Buildings crumbled.
The sky cracked open.
—
Outside the Void — in the village —
Every hidden gate BURST open!
Walls cracked. Doors split.
Shino, still running, froze.
The pressure of the explosion hit like a storm.
The team nearby stumbled, shielding their faces.
The ground shook, reacting to the force unleashed from another realm.
Something had changed.
Henji's sacrifice had unlocked something bigger.
---
Henji ran, leaping across falling debris, dodging burning wood, each jump landing on a crumbling tile or collapsing plank.
Flames burst around him, smoke rising violently, wrapping the air in suffocating heat.
The fire spread fast.
Each falling ember caught onto something else—
Turning the void into a blazing maze of destruction.
Henji found a door midair, grabbed the handle—SWUNG IT OPEN—
Haru stood inside.
His Kurugisama clenched firmly in his hand.
Henji, panting hard, one arm missing, gasped—
"I lost them..."
Haru's eyes dropped to the bleeding stump.
Without speaking, he ripped part of his tattered robe, knelt, and wrapped it tightly over the wound.
The cloth turned deep crimson, the blood blending with the red dye like it belonged there.
Haru then peeked outside.
Fire. Smoke. Debris.
The Void was crumbling, collapsing on itself.
---
Meanwhile—
Ejin and Qisa moved swiftly, hopping through floating ruins, shielding themselves from flames.
Qisa's harp glowed, strings vibrating as he summoned barriers of sound to deflect burning wood and crumbling stone.
Ejin growledthrough gritted teeth, "They've triggered something too deep… We can't let it reach the Party."
Far below—
In the heart of the Void, shadows moved—
The leaders of Nimo, the Higher-Ups, watching everything unfold.
---
Back in the doorway—
Haru stood over Henji.
"How are we going to leave?" Haru finally asked.
Henji smiled through the pain, sweat dripping, his body trembling—
"The doors…" he began, coughing.
"All of them—except this one—lead back to the village. This Void… it's like a box with holes."
He looked at Haru.
"They made the village the holes… the exits… but now—"
He pointed to the flames.
"Because of the fire—if we pick wrong, we'll burn before we step through. Not even water can stop this flame."
---
Haru tightened his grip on Kurugisama.
He looked up—
At the falling skies, at the debris,
At the spreading fire—
"Then we choose right."
---
Haru's face remained detached, unreadable—
Despite the fire, the collapse, the blood, the loss...
He scanned the void, eyes narrowing—
Calculating. Measuring. Deciding.
Looking for the closest path out before the entire structure buried them in flame.
---
Meanwhile — back in the village…
Shino burst into the circular field—
The ground scarred from battle, ash still hanging in the air.
Matsamaru sat near a crumbled wall, body slowly regenerating, his chest heaving.
Beside him were Akiro and Hiro, bruised but alive.
Shino ran to them, stopping only to catch his breath.
"Henji… he went in."
Akiro and Hiro glanced at each other, disappointed.
But Matsamaru only smiled, eyes half-closed.
"He knew who would come… He's Haru."
---
Shino blinked.
Something clicked in his head.
"Wait—where are the—"
"They left," Hiro cut in coldly.
"The others vanished. The moment the explosion hit, they took the chance and disappeared..."
He stood up and dusted his arm.
"Aside from the monkey," he added, smirking faintly.
"That one died by my hands."
---
The wind blew harder now.
The doors that once sealed off the voids shattered from the inside, cracks appearing in the village walls.
The real war had begun.