They thought it was an easy hunt—until Adrian shows them why ignorance is a death sentence.
Night fell.
While Adrian Voss and the others were enjoying their hard-earned pay—eating well and soaking in the hot springs—far away, danger was already tightening its grip around them.
Not far from the Land of Fire's border, on a high ridge deep within the Land of Hot Water, a newly carved, hidden mountain chamber housed more than a dozen shinobi.
They were tall, broad-shouldered, dark-skinned, and radiated heavy chakra.
Kumogakure.
One of them stood over a map, chakra rolling off him like heat. Clearly the leader—an elite jōnin.
"Still no contact?" he asked coldly.
A subordinate shook his head. "After yesterday afternoon's report, nothing. No messages since."
The jōnin's expression darkened. "Tch. Konoha discovered them?"
"It's likely," another voice muttered. "Even with delays, their daily report should've arrived before nightfall."
Silence.
Then the jōnin stabbed a finger onto the map—right on the closest town to their position.
"Asaï. Take three squads and scout this place. If Konoha hasn't caught on yet, seize the town. The main force is already on the way."
"Yes!" Asaï answered sharply.
…
After bathing and relaxing, Adrian went to sleep without the faintest idea that someone had just shoved him into a pit.
It wasn't even entirely their fault. The caravan had moved too slowly—ten-plus days on the road. When they left Konoha, the situation hadn't yet deteriorated this far.
If it had…
Even Hiruzen's slow-moving bureaucracy wouldn't have approved a mission like this.
…
The next morning, in the inn's back courtyard, Adrian rose early and faced the sun—starting his daily breathing practice.
He exhaled long and slow, pushing out stale air. When he opened his eyes, he saw Tsume standing behind him.
"Morning, Tsume-sensei."
Tsume watched him with clear appreciation. She didn't understand what technique he was practicing, but for more than ten days now, he'd never missed a single morning or night.
That kind of discipline mattered.
"Morning," she said. "Are you training a jutsu? You've been at it twice a day, every day."
Asking about someone's techniques was usually taboo.
But after traveling together this long, they'd grown familiar. Tsume had taught them plenty, and the relationship between mentor and student—however temporary—was already established.
Besides, in the shinobi world, secrets were everywhere… yet people still asked when trust had formed.
Adrian smiled. "You could call it… training a kind of senjutsu."
Tsume's eyes widened. "Senjutsu? You mean—like the kind one of the Sannin, Jiraiya-sama, learned?"
What Adrian was cultivating was far beyond that… but he wasn't about to explain it in detail.
He tilted his head, choosing his words carefully. "Uh… something like that."
Tsume didn't push further. Curiosity was one thing; prying was another.
She knew enough about the Three Great Sage Regions and the Sannin's contracts to understand the basics. And as Tsunade's foster son in all but name, Adrian having access to unusual training wasn't shocking.
Still—
It was absurdly impressive.
After all, countless shinobi knew the legends of senjutsu.
Almost none could actually use it.
Tsume burst into a bright laugh. "Ha! That's insane, kid. If you really pull it off and get famous someday, I'll be able to brag that I taught you too."
Adrian chuckled. "You're flattering me. I'm not even past the doorway yet."
With the border growing more unstable by the day, they had no intention of lingering.
Adrian had already sent a clone to buy breakfast. They ate quickly, then departed town.
They hadn't been gone long before—
Kumogakure's three squads arrived at Yusui Town.
And just as quickly, they learned that Konoha shinobi had been staying there.
"Captain," one of them asked, "should we chase? They can't be far."
In front of Asaï lay the caravan leader, Tado, collapsed on the floor. A kunai had punched clean through his shoulder. Blood soaked his clothing. His face was paper-white.
Asaï stared at him for a moment, weighing options.
Then he issued his order.
"Leave one squad here. The rest come with me. We hunt."
…
In the forest, Tsume and the others traveled fast.
Most of them moved in the classic shinobi way—leaping between branches.
Adrian, however, ran differently. Arms pumping, balance controlled through precise body mechanics—more like a sprinter than a tree-jumper.
It wasn't a style many used.
In the original era, only freaks like Orochimaru ran like that.
Then Adrian's expression shifted.
"No. Something's off."
He stopped.
"There's a large group behind us. They're chasing."
Daily absorption of natural energy had sharpened something within him—an instinctive sensing, bordering on the eerie. The "innate breath" he'd cultivated acted like an invisible net.
Along the journey, Adrian regularly checked the surroundings. This time, from more than ten kilometers away, he felt the chakra signatures moving toward them.
Everyone halted.
Tsume looked at him sharply. "You're sure?"
The Inuzuka excelled at tracking—but even a ninja dog couldn't "smell" a force from that far without specific conditions.
Adrian formed seals, focused, and listened with his entire body.
When he opened his eyes, his voice had turned calm and heavy.
"Nine of them. Two squads, maybe more. One jōnin, two chūnin, six genin."
"…What?"
The excitement from completing their mission vanished instantly.
Shizune's breath hitched. Yuanhai's heart hammered so loudly it felt like it might burst out of his chest. Fear clamped down hard—cold and suffocating.
Even Tsume's face went grim.
If she were alone, she might have a chance to escape.
With two children?
None.
And yet—
As Tsume's eyes swept over the shaking faces of Shizune and Yuanhai… they landed on Adrian.
He was still calm.
Still steady.
So steady it was unsettling.
A strange sense of safety rose in Tsume's chest—despite herself.
She'd suspected it for days. She'd seen him erase a chūnin like it was nothing.
But she was a teacher.
Relying on a student felt wrong.
And yet in this moment… it was all she had.
Ten kilometers wasn't far for shinobi.
They'd be caught within minutes.
Tsume met Adrian's eyes. "Adrian. What do you suggest?"
Adrian's voice turned firm. "This is the plan. I'll send clones to escort Shizune and Yuanhai away first. You and I stay behind and buy time."
"No!" Shizune snapped, fear trembling through her—yet her eyes burned stubbornly. "I'm not leaving!"
Yuanhai stepped forward too, shaking but determined. "Boss, I'm not running either!"
Adrian stared at them, then let out a short, helpless laugh.
"You two… what are you imagining?" His tone sharpened. "I'm sending you away so you don't drag us down. You think I'm staying behind to die for you?"
That bluntness snapped them out of their emotional spiral.
Tsume exhaled, tension easing a fraction. "Do you have confidence?"
Adrian's smile returned—thin, dangerous. "No problem."
After a hard round of convincing, Shizune and Yuanhai finally left with Adrian's clones, running toward safety.
Adrian and Tsume remained.
They set quick traps—simple, brutal delays.
Tsume still looked tight with worry. "Adrian… do you really have this?"
Adrian's answer was calm, almost amused. "Relax, Tsume-sensei. If anything, I'm worried the fight will end too fast."
He wasn't reckless.
He was cautious to the bone.
But he also knew what he could do.
As long as the enemy didn't have his intelligence…
Unless they were elite jōnin or Kage-level…
Numbers meant less than people thought.
And then—
They arrived.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A wave of explosive tags detonated through the forest ahead, ripping trees apart and lighting the underbrush on fire. Adrian's traps were few—too few—but they still slowed the pursuit.
A moment later, several Kumo shinobi emerged from the smoke, faces blackened with soot, eyes sharp with irritation.
Adrian stood openly in front of them—alone.
Tsume had already shifted to the side, ready to strike.
Asaï's gaze locked onto Adrian, and his expression twisted with humiliation.
"A brat?" he snarled. "You set the traps?"
Adrian looked at them—at the towering, muscled Kumo men—and sighed with genuine regret.
"What a shame," he said. "Not even one of you died."
Asaï's face darkened. "You little—!"
They weren't here to negotiate.
They were here to erase.
Asaï didn't waste another word.
"Kill him!"
They surged forward, reaching for tools, tags, weapons—
And in that exact moment, when attackers were most confident… most careless…
Adrian's eyes turned cold.
"Forty Blooming Petals: Hooking Claws."
Within his field of control, arms erupted.
From shoulders—both sides—dozens of hands grew in a blink, latching onto the backs of throats and jaws.
And then—
Crack.
The sickening sound of breaking bone snapped through the air.
Six genin died instantly, necks twisted beyond recovery, not even given time to scream.
"What?!" Asaï's pupils shrank.
The two chūnin reacted too—barely.
Kumo shinobi were different.
They trained taijutsu hard. Their bodies were tough, their reactions sharp, and Lightning Release made their reflexes even faster than most villages.
The Sand elite scout Adrian had killed back in Konoha died because he underestimated him.
These Kumo shinobi underestimated him too—
But their toughness bought them a fraction of a second.
Lightning surged.
Chakra flared violently.
And Adrian was forced to release his technique.
The Flower-Flower Fruit was terrifying…
…but it had weaknesses.
The arms he created weren't as durable as his real body.
And worse—
If those grown arms were damaged, the pain and injury fed back into him.
If Adrian could harden them the way a certain kind of armor might…
He would be flawless.
But he couldn't.
Not yet.
Still, he felt it—deep in his core.
Once his cultivated breath reached a certain threshold, it could become its own kind of protection… something like absolute reinforcement.
While the two chūnin avoided instant death, their necks were still wrenched badly—injured and off-balance.
Tsume's eyes widened.
Now she finally understood the bizarre death of that Sand scout from earlier.
But there was no time to dwell.
Adrian had carved out a window—brief, precious—
And Tsume seized it with everything she had.
She and Blackmaru moved as one.
"Fang Over Fang!"
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/CrimsonHub