Chapter 21: The Crimson Thorns
With Shuichi's permission granted, a profound change swept over Momiji. His icy blue eyes dissolved into pools of liquid crimson, glowing with an inner, bloody light. He dropped into a low crouch, fingers interlaced in a strange, arcane gesture. A cold, predatory gleam flashed in his newly reddened gaze.
"Blood Demon Art: Crimson Bramble."
The earth beneath their feet trembled, a low, ominous groan.
"What now?!" Hyuga Kuji's Byakugan swept the ground. His vision revealed a horrific sight—a network of pulsating, thorny vines, thick as blood vessels, surging just beneath the surface. "The ground! Watch your feet!"
He didn't hesitate. Pushing chakra to his soles, he launched himself skyward.
CRACK! SHWIP!
The moment he left the earth, blood-red thorns as thick as a man's calf erupted from the soil. They weren't mere spikes; they were serrated, barbed tendrils that writhed and coiled like enraged serpents, carving a field of jagged crimson across the forest floor.
Kizugawa Sakiko reacted a split-second slower. As she jumped, a whipping thorn lashed across her thigh, tearing through her pants and flesh. A line of bright red welled up.
The horror wasn't just the cut. The blood that dripped from the wound was instantly sucked into the nearest thorn, drawn along its surface like water into a root. The thorn darkened, becoming a more vibrant, wet-looking crimson.
If those pierce you… you'd be drained in seconds.
Aburame Fumihiko, still tangling with a crow clone, had no time to evade the subterranean assault. In two heartbeats, he was encircled by a cage of writhing thorns. One barbed tendril pierced his shoulder, another his leg. Any movement risked shredding the wounds wider.
Got it…? Momiji's brow furrowed. The impact felt solid, but the thorns sent back no feedback of life essence being drained.
BZZZZT—POOF!
As if answering his doubt, the 'Aburame Fumihiko' impaled by the thorns dissolved into a cloud of dissipating black insects.
An insect clone? When did he switch?!
Frustrated, Momiji turned his crimson eyes on the other two. Hyuga Kuji was airborne, evading. Sakiko was bleeding, scrambling back from the thorn field.
He raised his right hand, index and middle fingers extended, and swept them upward in a sharp, commanding arc.
The thorns obeyed. They writhed, tangled, and merged, surging from the ground directly beneath Kuji's descending trajectory, forming a single, massive spear of intertwined barbs.
Kuji had no room to dodge mid-air. He twisted, throwing his weight backward in a desperate, graceless fall.
WHOOSH—THUD!
The thorn-spear erupted where he would have landed. A moment's hesitation would have impaled him.
He hit the ground hard, the wind knocked from his lungs. As he tried to push himself up, thinner, wrist-thick vines shot from the earth, coiling around his ankles. More followed, snaking around his torso, his arms, pinning him in a cruel, barbed embrace. Needle-sharp tips pierced his skin at multiple points.
A cold, draining sensation followed immediately. His blood was being siphoned away. Momiji controlled the rate, aiming not for instant desiccation, but to induce hemorrhagic shock. He wasn't a fool; the Ghost King's interest in these three was palpable. He wouldn't spoil the experiment for a momentary feast.
"Boss Mayuki, why…?" Sakiko, having found a momentarily clear patch of ground, looked up, her question dying on her lips.
Shuichi Mayumi stood calmly beside Momiji, arms crossed. Both arms.
She stared, stunned. She was certain Mayumi had only one arm when they left Konoha. Yet now… two, whole and unmarked. Rapid regeneration like that… it was unheard of for a civilian. For anyone without specific, legendary kinjutsu.
Is he even Shuichi Mayumi?
The pieces tumbled in her terrified mind. The red-haired boy had been with them from the start. The thorns were clearly his doing. What if… the crow attacks, the disappearances… what if this 'Shuichi Mayumi' was behind it all? This was his exit strategy—leaving Konoha openly under a stolen identity.
A war erupted in her mind. One voice screamed for her to fight, to capture this imposter, to save Kuji. The other, colder voice whispered of overwhelming power, of certain death, of the duty to retreat and warn the village.
Hidden in the deeper shadows, the real Aburame Fumihiko pushed his sunglasses up his nose, his decision made. Retreat. They were still close enough to Konoha. If he moved fast, there was a chance reinforcements could save Kuji, who was being deliberately kept alive. A hostage had mobility limitations.
As for Sakiko… He grimaced. Warning her would reveal his position, complicating his escape. Not warning her might mean her death. She was a civilian-born, with no bloodline value to spare her.
"Sakiko! Withdraw!" He called out, his voice cutting through the chaos. Loyalty, in the end, won out. The shout pinpointed his location, but he was already melting backward into the forest.
Sakiko's gaze darted from the captive, pale-faced Kuji to Fumihiko's retreating form. The calculation was brutal and immediate. Alone, she was a liability. Her best chance to help anyone was to bring back help.
Gritting her teeth, she turned to flee.
"Crow. Momiji," Shuichi's voice was calm, a stark contrast to the surrounding violence. "Don't let them leave. Secure them."
His orders given, Shuichi walked unhurriedly toward Hyuga Kuji, trapped in his nest of thorns. His right arm shimmered, flesh warping into the familiar, spiked whip-tentacle. Without ceremony, he drove the tip into Kuji's side, not to kill, but to inject.
"Now then," Shuichi murmured, his own eyes glinting with a bloody hue as he stared down at the Hyuga shinobi. "Let's see what happens." The prize of the Byakugan, however diluted, was finally within his grasp.
(End of Chapter)
✨Enjoying the story? You can support me on Patreon —
Patreon.com/MizuSan 20% Off on Membership for a week
✨ Patreon members get early chapter access, bonus content, and a say in future story ideas! 🥰
🎉 Plus, I'll release 1 extra chapter for every 5 reviews!💎 Or grab 1 bonus chapter for every 50 Power Stones you send my way! 🥳
🌊 Let's reach 20 Patreon members to unlock 5 extra chapters together!