Komainu's fingers released the blade hilt.
That fierce blade once tame as an extension of his limbs now fell dejectedly, emitting a dull metallic clang exceptionally harsh in the silent courtyard.
He retreated several steps backward, opening distance from Shuji.
His gaze swept the asura field-like courtyard—Gaishoku's lifeless body rigidly prostrate in a blood pool. Not far away, that Uchiha brat knelt on one knee, head bowed, body uncontrollably trembling slightly, each inhalation carrying tearing difficulty.
"Gaishoku, dead." Komainu's voice rasped. "Actually died at a child's hands."
Listening to the rear courtyard's unceasing explosions.
"Mizushoku, seems he can't be counted on either."
That mantle of piercing killing intent suddenly peeled away. Komainu's upright shoulders seemed to sag a fraction, then quickly tensed again.
He stared at Shuji, those eyes sunken in brow-bone shadows like two nearly dried blood pools.
"Genshoku sent word you were at the Seafoam Inn. Now you stand here... Genshoku, also dead?" The interrogative phrasing was actually definitive statement.
Without waiting for Shuji's answer, he immediately pressed: "What about Shushoku?"
"That one whose arms and neck can stretch at will?" Shuji's tone remained flat and calm. "Dead. I killed him."
Dead.
An indescribable emptiness mixing absurdity with bone-deep chill filled his entire being. Komainu's facial muscles twitched neurotically, contorting into a strange expression somewhere between laughter and tears.
How could this be... how was it done?
This thought only flashed through his mind an instant before being covered by deeper exhaustion and coldness.
It no longer mattered.
This Konoha squad seemingly hastily assembled, even including an eight-year-old child, had destroyed his Black Erosion Group.
Genshoku and Gaishoku possessed powerful lethality against enemies unfamiliar with their abilities.
Shushoku's solo combat capability was the strongest aside from himself.
Without these three, even if he exhausted everything to kill this ninja before him, crushed the remaining two Konoha ninja in the courtyard—what then?
The village-founding grand plan that consumed his heart's blood and gambled everything, that blueprint repeatedly refined through countless deep nights, now seemed absurd and laughable as snow under scorching sun.
What had he done wrong?
Every link had been repeatedly weighed.
Racing to erect the village's framework before Konoha and Cloud's peace talks settled, obtaining Tea Country's official endorsement.
Once that banner stood firm, Konoha moving against them would be open aggression against a sovereign nation's legitimate armed force.
Then, extend olive branches to Cloud, Rock, Sand and Mist, promise benefits, borrow multi-party restraint—Konoha would inevitably have reservations.
As long as they could withstand the initial waves of most dangerous assassination and probing, there would be opportunity to sit at the negotiation table, cede part of mission commission share to Konoha in exchange for peace, then later find opportunity to strengthen.
Exactly where did it go wrong?
Shouldn't have lacked confidence in the daimyō's choice, easily dispatching Shushoku to intercept the messenger?
Shouldn't have been indecisive, delaying action against Konoha ninja?
Or let that old thing Wasabi Jirōchō live too long, giving him chance to compile evidence and deliver a fatal strike?
Chaotic thoughts churned and collided in his mind, ultimately transforming into icy desolate silence.
Komainu's toe suddenly hooked—a long blade fallen on the ground was flicked up, steadily landing in his palm. The hilt's cold touch seemed his only remaining support.
"Konoha ninja," Komainu's voice dropped low, carrying a strange calm. "State your name."
"Shuji."
"Shuji..." Komainu slowly savored this name, as if tasting some bitter aftertaste.
"Komainu, leader of the Chasan Group." He stated his first identity, paused, then a deeper, more tragic aura emanated from him. "Meishoku, leader of the Black Erosion Group."
The instant his words fell.
Komainu's exposed skin suddenly manifested spider-web-fine ghostly blue veins, like some living thing swimming and burning beneath his skin!
The air around him violently distorted and heated, a scorching and violent aura explosively erupting with him as center!
From deep within his bones came teeth-grinding dense explosive sounds, as if invisible force was forcibly propping open and reshaping his body.
His already imposing frame seemed to swell another size, knotted muscles bulging beneath clothing, skin presenting an eerie dark red hue from the vast energy surging within.
Secret Technique: Demon Lantern's Extinguishment!
Opening three hidden points beside the heart, stimulating the body's latent potential.
This young ninja before him absolutely could not be handled by his current bodily functions.
"Shizune-san," Shuji's voice sounded amid Komainu's steadily climbing terrifying pressure, still stable. "Can you still move?"
Shizune's face was pale, gritting her teeth and nodding: "Yes! I'm sorry... I was careless."
"Please look after Itachi," Shuji's gaze swept over the black-haired youth half-kneeling in the distance, his breathing barely perceptible. "His condition is dire."
"Understood!" Shizune showed no hesitation, her left hand pressing the small slug on her shoulder, her figure staggering yet resolute as she rushed toward Itachi's direction.
"Anko," Shuji's sight turned to his purple-haired companion. "The rear courtyard—Jirōchō-san needs support."
"Got it—" Anko's taut nerves relaxed somewhat with her captain's return. "Putting me to work the moment you arrive! I'll leave this guy to Captain-sama!"
She neatly turned, toes lightly touching ground, about to dash toward the rear courtyard where explosions continued.
"Wait!" Komainu's hoarse voice like rusted iron scraping suddenly rang out.
Anko's form abruptly halted, violently turning her head, eyes instantly blazing with wariness and incomprehension, firmly fixing on that samurai like a burning beast.
"That little girl," Komainu's eyes burned crimson with violent energy, through steaming distorted air firmly locking onto Anko. "What are you to Orochimaru?"
Orochimaru?!
Her pupils suddenly contracted, all blood in her body seemingly freezing in an instant, then in the next moment madly rushing to her head! Her tightly clenched fists' knuckles emitted "crack crack" sounds from excessive force, nails deeply embedded in palms.
"What... are you talking about?" Her voice trembled slightly, each word squeezed from between clenched teeth.
"Snake ninjutsu... that cold, slippery taste, I won't mistake it."
Komainu's voice carried an almost dreamlike indifference, as if stating a fact unrelated to himself.
"Orochimaru... that man once toyed with our Black Erosion Group, also left some 'souvenirs'..."
His words carried regret. "Such a shame, should have twisted your neck first earlier. You're his disciple, right?"
"You—!" Ultimate fury nearly made Anko lose reason and charge forward, a sweet metallic taste surging up her throat.
She bit down hard on her lower lip until tasting rust-like flavor.
Betrayal, pain, self-doubt assaulted her nerves...
But the next moment, her captain's calm back, Shizune-senpai's blood-soaked arm, Itachi's weak breathing—like cold tidal water, forcibly suppressed her churning rage and killing intent.
"I..." Anko took a deep breath, chest heaving violently. When she spoke again, her voice was forcibly flattened. "I will kill him with my own hands someday!"
She didn't look at Komainu again, violently turning, her dark purple coat's hem tracing a sharp arc in the chaotic airflow as she shot toward the rear courtyard battlefield where firelight and explosions intertwined.
In the courtyard center, only two remained.
On one side, a figure wreathed in ghostly blue flames like a beast stepping from hell's furnace.
On the other, a Konoha jōnin with bearing upright as a solitary peak, aura deep and condensed as an abyss.
Reference Glossary:
Demon Lantern's Extinguishment (鬼灯燃灭) – A forbidden body-enhancement technique that forcibly opens hidden chakra points near the heart to explosively release latent physical potential at great cost to the user's life force.
Chapters in advance there: patreon.com/Thaniel_a_goodchild