Ichu Kin grabbed his brother's collar, spitting in his face with rage.
"When we scouted this place, didn't you slap your chest and swear there was only one main road through this forest?!"
Ichu Gin shrank back, stammering.
"I... I did find a small path, Big Bro. But I thought it was too narrow! Who would take a deer trail?"
"I just... I picked up a wooden sign, wrote 'No Entry' on it, and blocked the path. Who would have thought he'd actually..."
"You moron!" Kin saw stars. He slapped the back of Gin's head so hard it echoed.
"Which way did he go? Chase him! Now!"
"But... I should collect the explosive tags from the traps first. It's a waste of money to leave them..."
"Forget the tags! Pack your... cough... pack your damn self and lead the way!"
Kin's roar shook the leaves off the trees.
Gin didn't dare argue further. He closed his eyes, sensing for a moment, then his rotund body shot forward with surprising speed, barreling through the underbrush. Kin followed, teeth gritted.
As they ran, Gin hesitated, then spoke up.
"Big Bro... that kid's skin looked really tender. When we catch him, can you... leave me an arm or a leg? I haven't had a fresh meal in a long time..."
"Eat, eat, eat! That's all you know how to do!" Kin cursed between breaths.
"If we lose him, my hundred thousand ryo is gone. If that happens, I'm selling you to the organ merchants to make up the loss."
Gin looked aggrieved but kept his head down, following the chakra trail.
Moments later.
Gin slowed down, confusion clouding his small eyes.
"What is it?" Kin skid to a halt, looking around warily.
"Big Bro... the kid. He just... vanished from my sensing."
Gin's voice wavered.
"Vanished? You just said we were closing in!"
"Yeah, it was like... poof. Gone." Gin gestured anxiously.
"Wait!" Kin snapped his head up, realizing something was wrong.
The air had grown heavy. Sticky.
A thick, unnatural fog was rolling in, swallowing the trees. In seconds, visibility dropped to less than ten meters.
Kin reached out, feeling the moisture on his skin. It wasn't just rain. It was chakra-infused vapor.
"Hidden Mist Jutsu! He's still here!"
"Big Bro, I'll blow it away with Wind Style!" Gin shouted, his hands forming a seal.
Twang.
A sound cut through the fog—the faint, high-pitched vibration of a taut string being released.
Then, the screaming hiss of something displacing air at supersonic speed.
"BIG BRO! BEHIND US!"
Gin's eyes bulged. He roared a warning, throwing himself to the left.
They were veteran bounty hunters; their reflexes were sharp. They both dodged instinctively.
But the arrow was faster.
The mist churned as a streak of blue-white light punched a tunnel through the vapor. It wasn't aiming for a random spot. It was tracking.
Oh no.
Kin's mind registered the threat. He tried to twist his body in mid-air, but momentum was against him.
He could only watch as the light expanded in his pupil, consuming his vision.
BOOM!
The Heilig Pfeil hit him square in the face.
Kin didn't scream. He was launched backward like a ragdoll, slamming into a massive oak tree. He slid down slowly, leaving a smear of red where his head used to be. The arrow dissipated, having done its grisly work.
Ichu Kin was dead before his body hit the ground.
Gin stared blankly at the headless corpse of his brother.
He couldn't process it. One second, Kin was yelling orders. The next, he was meat.
"BIG BROTHER!"
A wail of pure, animalistic grief tore from his throat.
But the sniper wasn't done.
Another arrow—smaller, weaker than the first—hissed out of the fog.
Gin, fueled by adrenaline, threw himself sideways. But he was a fraction too slow.
Squelch.
The arrow grazed his right thigh, tearing away a massive chunk of flesh. Blood sprayed into the mist.
"AAAAHH! MY LEG!"
Gin shrieked like a slaughtered pig, collapsing as his leg gave out.
Gritting his teeth against the agony, he slammed his hands together.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
A violent gust of wind exploded from his palms, tearing the fog apart.
The mist cleared.
Standing on the edge of a pond ahead was a small figure.
Hyuga Aokawa.
He stood straight, water dripping from his clothes. In his hand, a blue-white Spirit Bow hummed. His white eyes looked down at Gin with zero emotion.
"Bastard... you were hiding in the water." Gin hissed.
Seeing his cover blown, Aokawa didn't hesitate. He turned and vanished into the dense forest.
"Running? You're dead, kid!"
Gin's eyes were bloodshot. He crawled over to Kin's corpse, frantically rummaging through his brother's pack until he found a syringe filled with golden liquid.
"Big Bro said this stuff had side effects..."
He looked at the needle, then at the headless body.
"I'm going to die anyway. Who cares about side effects?"
He jammed the needle into his neck and depressed the plunger.
Instantaneously, his pale face flushed a deep, violent red. The pain in his leg dulled to a throb. His muscles swelled, veins popping like cords under his skin.
"It works!"
He grabbed Kin's gear and scrambled to his feet, ignoring the blood pouring from his leg.
"I'm going to tear you into little pieces!"
Deep Forest.
Aokawa ran.
His lungs burned. His throat felt like he had swallowed sandpaper.
Chakra is too low.
The first arrow—the kill shot—had taken too much. The second one had been rushed, weak. If he had just a bit more reserve, Gin would be dead too.
He popped his last soldier pill into his mouth, chewing the dry, bitter paste and forcing it down.
His Byakugan saw the chakra flare behind him. The fat one was moving faster now. Drugged.
He's closing the gap.
Aokawa cursed his weak body. Being a Quincy was powerful, but being a child ninja was a severe handicap. His stamina couldn't keep up with his firepower.
He opened the stolen ninja pouch he had taken from the bald bandit days ago.
Wire. Tags. Kunai.
He didn't stop running. As he moved, his hands worked in a blur, tying tags to wire, wrapping wire around kunai handles.
He picked choke points between trees.
Snap. Set. Run.
Behind him, explosions bloomed like fiery flowers.
BOOM!
"YOU RAT!" Gin's roar got closer.
The traps were slowing him down, but not stopping him. The drugs made him ignore the shrapnel.
This won't work. I'll run out of chakra before he runs out of blood.
Aokawa scanned the terrain.
I have to stand my ground.
He sprinted another hundred meters, then stopped abruptly in a small clearing.
He pulled out four kunai, each trailing a thin steel wire.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
He threw them into the surrounding tree trunks, creating a crisscrossing web of nearly invisible steel at neck height. He swiftly attached explosive tags to the anchor points, hiding them under the bark.
He took a breath.
The heavy footsteps were close.
Aokawa turned around. He didn't manifest his bow. He held a single kunai in a reverse grip.
When Gin burst into the clearing, frothing at the mouth, Aokawa didn't run.
He charged.
Like a cornered animal baring its fangs, he rushed straight at the monster.