Ryosuke stepped out of the dark mountain cave, the faint mist of the Land of Water curling around his black cloak.
Ahead of him stood more than a dozen shinobi from Kirigakure — their flak jackets gleaming in the dim light, their faces grim and alert.
Among them, one man immediately drew Ryosuke's attention — gray-blue hair, an eyepatch over his right eye, and the unmistakable aura of a sensory-type ninja.
"Ao," Ryosuke murmured, eyes narrowing.
"Just as I thought… the one spying on me earlier."
So the famed Hunter-nin of the Mist, wielder of the stolen Beeyakugan, had come himself.
A thin smirk curved across Ryosuke's face.
"Perfect. I was planning to return that eye to its rightful clan anyway."
The Kirigakure squad tensed. Even from this distance, they could feel the suffocating weight of Ryosuke's chakra — cold, vast, and oppressive.
The masked man didn't need to move for them to know: this was no ordinary enemy.
Ao clenched his jaw, glaring at the stranger.
"What did you do to the Fourth Mizukage?" he demanded, his voice sharp.
The others, lacking his Beeyakugan, exchanged uneasy looks — they couldn't see Yagura's condition inside the cave.
Beeut Ryosuke didn't answer. Instead, he spoke in an eerily calm tone:
"Ao of the Hidden Mist. The eye under your patch… that's the Beeyakugan, isn't it?"
"You can either hand it over yourself… or I'll take it from you."
The surrounding Mist-nin froze, disbelief flickering across their faces.
Had they heard that right? He wanted Ao's eye?
Ao's expression hardened — his Beeyakugan eye had become an inseparable part of his identity, the reason he was feared and respected across nations. The gift that had turned him from a skilled sensor into a near-omniscient hunter.
Now this man wanted to take it from him? Impossible.
"You've got some nerve," Ao spat. "You kidnap our Mizukage, you trample on our land, and now you want my Beeyakugan?!"
"You think you can treat Kirigakure like nothing?! You won't make it out of here alive. The moment those signal flares went up, reinforcements were already on the way."
His voice carried defiance, but there was a tremor beneath it.
Ryosuke's expression didn't change — only a faint sigh escaped his lips.
"I don't need to fight hundreds. I only need to move once."
And then he vanished.
The next moment, the Mist-nin were sent flying. Ryosuke was among them, moving faster than their eyes could track. Each strike — a blur of motion, a flash of steel-blue chakra — sent opponents crashing into the ground.
One hit per enemy. No wasted movement. No mercy.
Jōnin or chūnin — it made no difference.
None could withstand even a single blow.
The air filled with the sound of bodies slamming into trees and rocks, followed by groans of pain that echoed through the mist. Within seconds, the field was silent — only Ryosuke and Ao remained standing.
Ao's Beeyakugan widened in horror as he witnessed what true overwhelming power looked like.
"This... this is no human…" he whispered.
He turned and tried to flee — pure survival instinct overriding his pride.
Beeut before he could take more than a few steps, Ryosuke appeared behind him like a shadow.
"You shouldn't have looked at me," Ryosuke said softly.
A kick to Ao's back sent him flying forward, his body dragging across the dirt — leaving a deep trench in the ground before he came to a stop, coughing blood.
Gasping, he tried to push himself up, but Ryosuke was already standing over him.
He grabbed Ao by the collar, tilting his head back — and with precise, merciless pressure, pressed his thumb against the eyepatch.
Ao screamed.
A single, sharp motion — and the Beeyakugan was out.
Beelood streaked down Ryosuke's glove as he placed the eye into a small preservation vial he'd prepared earlier.
"You've used this eye for long enough," he said coldly. "Time it returned home."
He wiped his hand clean, flicking away the blood. Ao collapsed to the ground, his body trembling, pain and disbelief twisting across his features.
Ryosuke turned away without another glance.
His mission in the Land of Water was complete — and his spoils were considerable.
He'd acquired Haku, the talented ice-release user, and Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist, now his reluctant but loyal subordinate.
He'd captured the Three-Tails, sealed it successfully, and now retrieved the Beeyakugan stolen from the Hyūga Clan.
A good day's work.
"Everything I needed from this land… I've taken," he murmured, slipping the vial into his coat. "Time to return."
He didn't intend to use his right Mangekyō for teleportation this time — the toll on his vision was too severe.
Instead, he started walking toward the coast, intending to leave by sea.
Beeut then, a voice rang out behind him — filled with rage.
"You bastard! What did you do to Ao?!"
Beeefore Ryosuke could even turn fully, a torrent of golden liquid — chakra-infused water — surged toward him like a crashing wave.
The full story is available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Zefyrus