"My back is in your hands, Nagashi!"
The moment the words fell, Kaito pushed off from the tree trunk behind him and landed lightly atop another branch further ahead. His gaze locked onto the silhouette perched on a tree some distance away.
Tch—
"Well, well…
Konoha shinobi really are a pain."
A lazy voice echoed out.
"You should be at least a chūnin. Your alertness and reaction speed are far above what a genin could ever have."
From behind the tree farther ahead, soft footsteps sounded. A red-haired man stepped out with his arms crossed, landing on the branch with casual confidence.
He wore the flowing-patterned Kirigakure forehead protector, and a thin brown fitted cuirass — far lighter than the heavy armor used by Kumogakure. Mist-nin valued speed over bulk.
The man stared directly at Kaito, confidence radiating off him.
"One more thing," he said.
"I may be a Mist chūnin…
But once I return from this mission, I'll be promoted to Special Jōnin."
"In other words, you are not facing a mere chūnin right now."
Kaito replied flatly, "Impressive."
Seeing the boy's calm expression only made the man's forehead bulge into an angry 井. His fists tightened.
"Before you die, let me introduce myself.
At least you'll know whose hands sent you to hell."
Shing—!
Twin blades slid free, gleaming in his hands as his eyes sharpened.
"My name is Ringo Amayahoe.
Don't forget it in hell."
"Oh. I'm—"
Kaito didn't even finish speaking before Ringo suddenly charged in.
"The name of some weak chūnin? I, Ringo Amayahoe, don't care to remember it!"
Kaito: "…"
He twisted his body and leapt off the branch, narrowly avoiding the vertical slash.
Show-off, he thought.
Still… that name sounded oddly familiar.
Before he could dwell on it, a flash of blue light cut through the dust in midair.
"Lightning-Release activated at the cellular level?!
Only a true Lightning-style shinobi can use that."
"Amazing."
Kaito praised him again. Ringo, standing on the branch with his long blade resting on his shoulder, turned and smirked proudly.
A thicker tree trunk beside him suddenly split into a deep V-shaped notch before collapsing to the ground.
"Good eye. Tell me your name — anyone with vision like that deserves to be remembered by a future Mist Jōnin like me."
"…"
"I'm Kaito. Konoha genin."
"…Hmmm~~~ HMM?! HMM!!!?"
Ringo's voice screeched upward as comprehension hit him. His expression twisted.
"You're a genin?!"
"That's impossible!!!"
He, an almost-Jōnin elite, had been wasting so much time on a genin? If people back home heard, he'd be ridiculed to death.
"Ehh…"
Kaito scratched his cheek awkwardly from another branch.
"Sorry, but I really am a genin."
"But don't worry — I'll fight you seriously."
"…"
Ringo's face darkened, his expression unreadable in the shadows.
"I'll kill you."
"…What?"
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOUUU!!!"
Whoosh!!
Ringo shot forward again with lightning-activated speed, his blade cleaving through the branch Kaito had just stood on.
Before Kaito could land, Ringo accelerated again, roaring:
"A genin has no right to be on my kill-list!! DIE!!!"
Midair, without a foothold, the black-haired boy pretended to panic as Ringo closed in—
Crack—
But Ringo, blinded by rage, didn't notice Kaito had swapped with a Substitute Log.
A rustle echoed beside him.
From another position, Kaito flung out six shuriken.
"Don't embarrass yourself with that pathetic attack!"
He expected them to fly straight at him — but instead, the shuriken passed by harmlessly.
A glint of reflected light off the steel wire flashed across Ringo's eyes.
"So that's your—! Like hell I'll fall for it!"
He instantly slashed the wire, preventing Kaito from binding him.
But at that exact moment—
From a tree trunk above him, a hidden shadow clone made its move.
"Fire Release: Drive-Shuriken!"
Instead of standard ninjutsu speed, this D-rank taijutsu-enhanced technique fired a half-heated metal shuriken through the air. By the time Ringo realized the danger—
It was too late.
Thud!
"AAAAHHHHHH—!!"
Ringo screamed as the burning shuriken buried into his back.
Kaito snapped the wire in his hand and nodded at the clone, which dispelled in a puff of smoke.
"Sorry~ I don't have the Uchiha's Sharingan — I can't track every line's movement."
"I only threw them to scare you. Didn't think you'd really fall for it."
Without Sharingan's dynamic vision, this kind of wire-work was half luck anyway. If the wires tangled, he'd just embarrass himself.
Below, the red-haired man trembled as he yanked the burning shuriken from his back.
Psk—plop.
The wet sound of metal pulling free from flesh hit the ground.
"Damn… without this armor's protection, that might've pierced my heart."
His brown cuirass now had a clean hole burned through it.
He glared at the warped shuriken — its metal twisted by Fire-style chakra.
"You bastard!!"
"A genin — actually injured me?!"
"That must have been a shadow clone, right?! A genin can't use a B-rank technique!!"
"You Konoha liar!!!"
Kaito: "…"
He tells them the truth, they don't believe it.
They lose, they get angry.
His whole point in these fights was to practice not killing people instantly so he wouldn't accidentally wipe out genin in this year's Chūnin Exams.
Kaito ignored the raging man and turned his gaze toward Nagashi.
On the other side—
In pure taijutsu, Nagashi was evenly matched with the Mist chūnin.
But he was younger, less experienced — and not ruthless enough.
The Mist chūnin caught an opening and flicked Nagashi's kunai out of his grip.
"Die!!"
A kunai sliced past his face, cutting off several strands of brown hair.
"Don't underestimate Konoha shinobi!"
Nagashi twisted aside, his hands blurring.
Earth-style chakra reinforced the side of his body as he stepped in and slammed his shoulder forward—
Bam!
The Mist chūnin felt a sharp pain in his abdomen as he was launched backward.
Nagashi, panting, didn't let up and charged again.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Three shuriken spun through the air.
The Mist chūnin landed on a branch, sparks hissing against his kunai.
"Tch! A genin matching me in taijutsu?! Impossible!"
Before he could think further, another kunai flew toward him — tied to a white ball marked with the character "毒" (poison).
"Crap!"
He saw the marking clearly.
Boom!
The white sphere exploded into thick blinding smoke.
Holding his breath, the Mist chūnin quickly pulled out his gas mask and strapped it on.
But that was exactly what Nagashi wanted — a feint.
The moment of panic was all he needed.
A second kunai shot toward him — this one tied with an explosive tag.
Thunk!
It embedded into his mask, though it lacked the force to pierce through.
But the Mist chūnin's eyes widened as he saw the tag's color through the corner of his vision.
This wasn't poison.
He'd been tricked.
The distance was too close —
If it were real poison, Nagashi would've also put on a mask or retreated. That would've alerted him.
And no Mist-nin would expect someone to use regular smoke against a village specializing in mist.
BOOM!!!
(The explosion and aftermath continue into the next part of the chapter.)
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