Asuma chases glory into a forest of corpses—only to find Danzō dead like a rotten stump, and a name from the past turning into a nightmare.
Asuma wasn't alone.
At his side were Yūhi Kurenai, a Hyūga branch-family jōnin, an Akimichi jōnin, and an Inuzuka jōnin—
plus one uneasy white ninken that kept whining under its breath.
Asuma was the Hokage's son.
That was the only reason these jōnin dared approach the forest at a time like this.
The woods were cold.
Corpses carpeted the ground.
Everything here reeked of death—thick, ominous, and wrong, like the forest itself had become a grave.
Kurenai's red eyes trembled violently.
Her small hand tightened into a fist.
To steady her nerves, she shot Asuma a glare and snapped, "Stomp it out."
Kurenai hated his smoking habit.
But because the Third Hokage also smoked like it was oxygen, she couldn't criticize Asuma too harshly without stepping on the wrong toes.
Asuma chuckled, baring a few teeth tinged slightly yellow by tobacco in the moonlight. He reached out, trying to pull Kurenai into his arms.
"Don't be mad. It'll go out on its own."
Smack.
Kurenai slapped his hand away.
"Focus. Do the job first."
"Haha—fine, fine. Do the job first," Asuma said shamelessly. "Though honestly, dating you feels like my real job."
Kurenai sighed.
She didn't want to deal with his thick skin, but she still stayed with the group.
She hadn't accepted him.
Not really.
"Alright, everyone—move," Asuma said, snapping his fingers dramatically.
The Akimichi jōnin shifted to guard his flank, while the Hyūga and Inuzuka jōnin began searching.
One activated the Byakugan, scanning the battlefield.
The other released the ninken—
only for the dog to bolt in the opposite direction.
The Inuzuka jōnin stared, dumbfounded, then hurried after his fleeing partner.
Asuma's mouth twitched.
"There—Root. One survivor isn't too badly injured!"
The Hyūga jōnin spotted movement and immediately pushed deeper into the trees.
Asuma turned and led the others after him.
The Hyūga jōnin questioned the man quickly.
On the ground lay a Root captain. Several fingers were missing. A ninja blade pinned his thigh to the earth. He groaned through the pain, his voice trembling.
"It was… Uchiha Kazuki."
"He killed Danzō-sama."
"And then…"
"He defected with nine Uchiha. They fled the village."
"Uchiha Kazuki…?" Asuma's brows tightened. He slowly turned his head toward Kurenai.
Kurenai's face had gone pale.
She looked down, unable to meet Asuma's questioning gaze.
Moonlight washed over her smooth profile, exposing the panic she was trying to hide beneath the curls of her dark hair.
She wore red beneath her outfit, her outer layer wrapped like bandages in a dress-like fit. Mesh armor traced her curves under the fabric. Beneath, white wraps hugged her thighs—long legs, clean lines, a poised adult beauty.
To Asuma's credit, he didn't press her.
He looked away, irritation flashing briefly in his eyes.
"In the Uchiha clan, there's only one who went by that name."
"It has to be our classmate from the academy."
Kurenai bit her lip, then denied it immediately.
"He's not that kind of person!"
"And besides… how could Kazuki possibly defeat Shimura Danzō?"
Kurenai was beautiful—like a red rose in full bloom.
She had grown into adulthood, learned makeup and presentation, and with that refined face and mature poise, every word carried the air of a composed older sister.
"You're right," Asuma said slowly, his expression sinking. "I don't believe he could kill Danzō either."
Back in the academy, Uchiha Kazuki had been their classmate.
Gentle.
Kind.
The type who naturally took care of girls without making it feel like a performance.
At first, half the class crushed on the cold prodigy Kakashi.
The other half—
fell for Kazuki, warm as sunlight.
He had been just as dazzling as Kakashi.
And unfortunately for Asuma, Kurenai, Shizune, and even a still-clueless Anko back then—
they had all looked at Kazuki with the same bright admiration.
Luckily, Kazuki had graduated early, like Kakashi, and gone to war near the end of the Third Shinobi World War.
That was when Asuma finally had space to get close to Kurenai.
But that was the past.
He wasn't going to drag it back into the light now.
Asuma inhaled, forced the bitterness down, and looked at the Root captain.
"Tell me everything."
"Every technique those Uchiha used."
The Root captain clenched his teeth through the pain.
"Control…"
"It was an irresistible control-type dōjutsu."
"The one leading them—Uchiha Kazuki—opened the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Asuma's group went rigid.
Eyes widened. They exchanged stunned looks.
The Inuzuka jōnin's courage visibly wavered.
None of them had fought a Mangekyō Uchiha before.
But they had heard the stories.
On the battlefield, those eyes were disasters.
A symbol of death and curse.
Each pair carried a god-given ability.
"Please…" the Root captain begged, his voice breaking. "Send me… to Konoha Hospital…"
Asuma glanced at him.
Flatly:
"Hold out five minutes."
"Someone will bring you treatment."
Then he turned and led his team deeper into the forest.
"Asuma…," the Inuzuka jōnin said nervously, struggling to keep his ninken from pulling away again. "Maybe we should drop this 'credit' idea. This feels wrong."
He could feel it through the leash—
the dog's violent resistance.
The fear in its eyes.
Asuma shook his head.
"We go a little further. Gather more information. Then decide."
They didn't make it far.
In the clearing ahead—
a massive pale tree dominated the space, towering like a nightmare.
A sword hilt jutted from its trunk.
And inside a dark hollow, a face hung low—
withered, lifeless.
A body swallowed by wood.
Asuma stared into the moonlight and recognized the old man's features.
"Shimura Danzō…?!"
Kurenai and the others saw it too.
That face—so high above them in life—
now sagged in a tree like a corpse in a cage.
No movement.
No breath.
No dignity.
"This… was Kazuki's doing?" the Hyūga jōnin said grimly.
That was Konoha's darkness.
Shimura Danzō.
And he had been turned into this.
Dead—most likely—
and dead in agony.
"Was it really… Kazuki…?" Kurenai whispered, her cheeks flushing as her heart surged with conflicting waves.
The boy she once admired—
had become someone who could reach this height?
Asuma's face drained of color.
He yanked another cigarette from his pocket and shoved it between his lips. His hands trembled as he flicked the lighter.
Uchiha Kazuki had really killed Shimura Danzō.
Click—click—click—
Sparks sprayed.
Asuma's eyes looked distant, almost numb, until the flame finally caught.
He drew in a deep drag, forcing his heartbeat down.
Then he exhaled slowly and asked the question no one wanted to answer.
"So… what do we do now?"
The Akimichi jōnin looked at Asuma, waiting for orders.
As always, the Akimichi way in missions was simple:
Follow command.
Asuma rubbed his temples.
He scanned the bodies—Root, ANBU, shredded earth—and then the dead Danzō.
His thoughts sharpened into a single line.
Kazuki must have awakened the Mangekyō.
Otherwise he would never risk assassinating Danzō.
But even so—
after killing this many, after fighting this hard—
Kazuki had to be at the end of his rope.
Asuma's mouth curved into a smile.
His cigarette had burned down to ash.
He flicked it away and stomped it out hard.
"Kazuki killed the Hokage's advisor."
"He also caused the deaths of countless Root and ANBU."
"He has to be exhausted."
"He has to be cornered."
"After tonight, his bounty—his rogue status—will be enormous."
"It won't be lower than Orochimaru's was after he defected."
Asuma lifted his gaze, his eyes gleaming now—not with fear, but with hunger.
"If we seize this chance…"
"If we bring him back alive…"
"Or even return with his corpse…"
"Then every one of you will become core members of your clans."
He paused, letting the temptation settle into their bones.
Then he spoke the words that sealed their decision.
"So I propose—"
"We hunt down this Uchiha rogue squad."
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