"Spd +4!"
Kairen endured the pain, spending 200 experience points to add 4 points to his speed.
His steps became lighter, his speed nearly doubling, slowly widening the distance between him and Dōheimon.
Dōheimon stood atop his Wind Eagle, chest heaving slightly. After casting seven or eight high-level Wind Release techniques, the chakra within his body was already running low.
The Wind Eagle beneath his feet was the same. With the high-speed flight combined with constant ninjutsu casting, both man and beast were nearing depletion of chakra.
But the two continued to pursue Kairen relentlessly. This was the culprit who had caused great losses to Sunagakure—Dōheimon could not let him escape.
Moreover, Dōheimon had already realized Kairen's value. The ability of infinite resurrection—any hidden village would go mad for it.
Kairen ran for another five minutes, bursting out of Sunagakure's troop range.
Activating his Byakugan to glance behind, he saw Dōheimon and the Wind Eagle still chasing closely.
"Persistent pests!"
Kairen observed carefully with his Byakugan and noticed that both Dōheimon and his Wind Eagle had less chakra than him—only at a chunin's level, enough to release just three to five jutsu.
"You're courting death—don't blame me!"
Kairen suddenly stopped. From the system space, he spent 600 points to exchange for the B-rank ninjutsu: Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique exchange successful!"
A flood of memory rushed into Kairen's body—the hand seals of Dragon Flame Release Song Technique, the chakra flow routes in his meridians, the degree of Fire attribute Chakra Nature Transformation…
In an instant, Kairen mastered it. The four attributes on his chunin template once again rose by varying degrees.
Chakra Control reached 30%. Nature Transformation also reached 30%.
Dōheimon, still panting above, saw Kairen's figure stop. He guided his Wind Eagle to hover above Kairen, then slowly descended.
"Konoha brat, not running anymore?"
Kairen formed a seal with both hands, sneering at Dōheimon, his tone strengthened with Sasuke's style:
"Sunagakure reptile, even if you stand in the sky, you're still just a worm gnawing at the sand!"
"Brat!!"
As Kairen finished the hand seals, fire-natured chakra gathered in his chest.
With Deva Path's speech boost, he said:
"Do you Sunagakure fools know how many of you I've blasted to death? Have you tasted pain yet?"
"Damn brat!"
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique!"
Kairen poured all his chakra into the Fire Release, immediately spitting a fire dragon from his mouth, surging up toward Dōheimon and his Wind Eagle.
"Wind Eagle, dodge!"
Dōheimon guided his Wind Eagle to drift aside, dodging, but Kairen's second fire dragon followed instantly.
Forming seals, Dōheimon unleashed a Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, dispersing the dragon.
But two more fire dragons encircled Dōheimon and his Wind Eagle.
"Not good!" Dōheimon's heart sank.
Both man and beast had nearly exhausted chakra—there was nothing to do but be struck by the flames.
With a violent roar, flames engulfed them. A puff of smoke exploded—the Wind Eagle was forced back to its summoning realm.
Dōheimon plummeted from the sky, his clothes tattered, skin scorched badly by the fire release.
He landed on a tree, then slowly dropped down.
"Cough, cough…"
He spat blood twice, gritting through the burning pain.
Kairen leapt out from the shadows, laughing wildly like Sasuke:
"Hahaha… You can't even endure some burns?"
"Do you know the pain your Sunagakure brought me? Cutting out tongues, dissection, human experiments, poison…"
"Everything that can't kill me—or even that which can—only makes me stronger!"
"Eight Gates—Gate of Opening, Open!"
Kairen's chakra surged violently. In a flash step, he appeared right before Dōheimon.
Dōheimon drew a kunai from his holster, stabbing fiercely toward Kairen.
"Heh…"
Kairen saw it, didn't even dodge, slamming straight into it. Immediately, he swapped from the system space, drawing a ninja blade.
"Now, stretch your neck out obediently!"
Murder filled Kairen's eyes as he slashed at Dōheimon's shoulder.
Dōheimon released the kunai stuck in Kairen's chest, jumping back quickly to avoid being cut down.
Kairen chased with the blade. Dōheimon hurled three shuriken, which pierced Kairen's chest, stomach, and thigh as he charged in without slowing.
Kairen, already numb to pain, swung down his blade fiercely.
Dōheimon's eyes widened.
"Your fighting style is outright suicidal!"
Kairen's blade sliced off an inch of flesh from Dōheimon's shoulder.
Then he laughed maniacally:
"I am the immortal shinobi of chaos! No matter how vast the shinobi world, no one will ever find a way to kill me!"
Slashing upward, Kairen forced Dōheimon to roll back, narrowly evading.
But Kairen felt blood loss overwhelming him, coupled with the chakra he had drained using Dragon Flame Release Song Technique.
He raised the blade to his own throat and slashed, severing his windpipe.
"Ding!"
"You killed yourself with your own blade. EXP +5!"
With a puff of smoke, Kairen instantly resurrected.
Without a word, he charged Dōheimon again.
…
A minute later.
Kairen sat atop Dōheimon's corpse, his body marked by shuriken cuts and kunai wounds.
The jonin's final struggle was not to be underestimated—Kairen had died twice to wear him down.
He slashed his own throat again, resurrected once more.
Rising, he gazed at the battlefield's lingering embers in the dark night.
The night was deep, a void wind sweeping over his bare torso.
Kairen closed his eyes, Sasuke's cold aura spilling out:
"I have long shut my eyes. My purpose can only be achieved in darkness. Now… let me embrace the lonely night!"
He spread his arms wide, as if to embrace the whole darkness.
With a swoosh, a figure flashed by—a Sunagakure Anbu wearing a tanuki mask.
The Anbu smirked at him.
"Miss me? Want a hug?"
"…"
"Not hug—explode!" Kairen immediately detonated explosive tags exchanged with 10 EXP.
The Sunagakure Anbu kicked him away at once. The explosion rang out, and Kairen resurrected again.
"Byakugan, open!"
"Eight Gates—Gate of Opening, Open!"
Without hesitation, he flashed away in the opposite direction.
He had managed to kill one jonin only because the fool kept chasing and drained his chakra dry.
But this Anbu—there was no way he could play the same trick.
The Anbu pursued tightly, forcing Kairen into yet another deadly game of chase and clash with a Sunagakure jonin.
…
Dawn broke, sunlight creeping across the horizon.
Kairen was covered in wounds, shuriken still embedded in his back.
The Sunagakure Anbu understood some of Kairen's traits, avoiding fatal strikes.
Kairen used the forbidden Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, buying himself some time.
Along the way, he killed himself twice more to reset his state.
But the Anbu's Tracking talent was strong, summoning hundreds of sand mice that pursued Kairen endlessly.
All Kairen could do was run, run desperately, until finally—just as the sun rose in the east—he entered the range of Konoha's forces.
The Anbu realized his location, cursed, and quickly formed seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A fierce gale spewed from his mouth, sweeping toward Kairen.
Kairen clenched his teeth, opened the Gate of Opening, and used a body flicker to escape the wind release.
"Cough… cough…"
He collapsed beneath a tree, spitting several mouthfuls of blood.
Turning, he saw the Anbu walking toward him step by step. His explosive tags were all used up. Quietly, he pressed the blade against his own throat.
Suddenly, a green figure with a ninja blade strapped to the back stepped between him and the Anbu.
A voice rang in Kairen's ears. "Kairen!"
He deactivated his Byakugan, looking up weakly.
Black hair, porcelain-like skin, crimson eyes like the rising dawn.
"Shinku!"
The Sunagakure Anbu cursed.
"Konoha jonin Yūhi Shinku—damn it!"
Shinku drew his ninja blade.
"Shinobi of the Sand, leave this place!"
Kairen could no longer hold on, and collapsed into unconsciousness.