"Beng! Beng! Beng…!"
The metallic sound of blades echoed endlessly, interrupted by shouts of courage, full of life, while others invoked raw, desperate pain, like the moans that reverberate in a hospital after a massive emergency rescue.
In the middle of this chaos, a boy with short light brown hair, piercing greenish-gray eyes, and vividly flushed cheeks slipped stealthily through the shadows. He was no older than 13. He wore Konoha's forehead protector.
'Right, as a future Hokage, I must show my courage!' the boy thought as his hand gripped the kunai more firmly.
He purposely avoided the area where his sister was, or else she would force him to return to the village. That clearly doesn't fit with the future Hokage. As the future Hokage, he needs to defend the village and not make excuses that he's too young to stay safe.
Nearby, the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were confronting some members of the Hyuga and Uchiha Clans.
The fact that it took at least 12 shinobi, even from these two major Leaf clans, showed just how strong they were.
"Incredible..." Nawaki whispered softly.
Whether it was the Uchiha Clan or the Hyuga Clan, they were still struggling to deal with the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. This deeply impressed Nawaki.
'Okay, I need to do my best!' Encouraging himself, he ran when he saw a lone Iwa ninja.
As he approached, the Iwa ninja turned toward him, narrowing his eyes, which soon transformed into a pair of predatory eyes, like those of a wild beast.
"Die!" The Iwa Ninja shouted as he charged at Nawaki.
Sure, sure, of course, he's going to die just because you told him to...
"Beng!"
"Urghh!"
With blood dripping from his mouth, the Iwa ninja was in disbelief.
In his chest, he saw a kunai plunged into his heart, but… Before that, he could have sworn that the boy wielding it had been right in front of him, being struck by his own kunai.
"Poof!"
And then, he saw what he had hit turn into a tree trunk.
But that still didn't explain how the boy was where he was.
"How?"
"I'm not telling you, idiot~" Nawaki sang in disdain, pulling the kunai out and moving on without checking if the Iwa ninja was dead.
If he survived having a kunai pierced through his heart… It would be a miracle in itself, one that deserved to keep living.
In reality, Nawaki wasn't as calm as he appeared. After moving away, his body trembled as he thought, 'I... I did it, I killed someone...'
"Brat, die!" A Suna ninja, seeing Nawaki distracted, attacked him from behind.
But here's a question… Why shout while trying to ambush someone?
Hearing the shout behind him, Nawaki became alert, his senses warning him he was in extreme danger.
Leaping to the side, rolling on the ground, he saw the ninja who had attacked him with a sword.
'Phew… That was close.' Sweat dripped from Nawaki's forehead as fear clouded his heart.
Grabbing shurikens from his pouch, Nawaki threw them while still sitting on the ground. Taking advantage of the moment while the Suna ninja defended himself, he stood up.
The Suna ninja, who had quickly deflected the shurikens with a swing of his sword, advanced towards Nawaki.
"No!!!" Nawaki shouted in despair, extending his hand.
The Suna ninja laughed as he exclaimed, "Haha, die!"
"Whoosh!"
"Poof!"
At the moment the sword slashed down on Nawaki, before the Suna ninja could celebrate, the cut body transformed into a curtain of white smoke and disappeared.
"A shadow clone?"
"Urghh!"
Suddenly, behind him, he felt something pierce his back, and he groaned in pain.
Turning his head, he was shocked to see it was the same boy he had attacked earlier.
"How did you do that?"
"Idiot, I was among the shurikens you deflected," Nawaki said, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
If the first time made him feel bad, the second time made him feel a different emotion.
Was it strange that he felt a bit excited about tricking another ninja and managing to kill him, seeing him so surprised?
Pulling the kunai, Nawaki attacked again toward the neck with extreme speed.
However, he missed the target when the ninja jumped back.
"Tsk, it seems it was foolish of me to waste time talking to him..." Nawaki muttered, scolding himself.
Now, he was even more certain that it was foolish to talk or even shout when attacking someone.
He saw the Suna ninja regroup with other Suna ninjas. Going after them would be suicide. So, he changed his target.
Forming hand signs, he created two shadow clones. Soon, they cooperated with him, running toward another ninja.
Forming hand signs, he opened his mouth. Soon, he used the Heavenly Weep, firing water needles from his mouth toward the Kiri ninja.
When the multiple needles hit, he smiled. However, his smile faded when he realized the ninja had been replaced by a tree log.
Alert, he searched for the Kiri ninja. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find him.
"Whoosh!"
Behind him, a sound of something cutting through the wind whistled. Information from the clones that were cut by a sword appeared in his mind, and in a hurry, he turned around and barely managed to defend himself with a kunai, gripping it with both hands.
"Ahhh!"
Sent flying by the impact, Nawaki spun and fell on his back, sliding across the ground from the force.
The Kiri ninja looked at him coldly and quickly appeared before him with extreme speed.
With his sword, the Kiri ninja stabbed downward, intending to pierce Nawaki's head.
Feeling death approaching, he didn't know why he thought: Ahh, so not everyone makes sounds when attacking...
From beginning to end, this Kiri ninja just looked at him with cold eyes while attacking without saying a single word. And when the tip of the sword was only a few centimeters from his forehead, Nawaki reflexively closed his eyes.
||- Note -||
If you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to cast your vote with a Power Stone! Your support means the world and keeps me motivated to bring you new chapters.
Chapter 94 is already released on Pa treon!
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Next chapters: Chapter 74: Capturing the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, Chapter 75: Stolen Chakra, Chapter 76: The Arrival of the Uzushio Ninjas, Chapter 77: Silent Battlefield, Chapter 78: A New Member of the Organization, Chapter 79: Unexpected Escape, Chapter 80: Danzo Shimura, Chapter 81: I Found You, Danzo~!, Chapter 82: Indomitable Uzumaki, Chapter 83: The Fear Factor Named Tanaka Uzumaki, Chapter 84: The Name that Echoes on the Battlefield, Chapter 85: Fear in the Face of Tanaka's Power, Chapter 86: Several Days Later: Tanaka Enrages the Third Tsuchikage, Chapter 87: The Clash of Two Monsters, Chapter 88: Mass Destruction: The Battle That Shakes Nations, Chapter 89: The Confrontation Between Tanaka and Oonoki Continues, Chapter 90: Will Oonoki Retreat with the Stone Ninjas?, Chapter 91: Oonoki's Indecision and the Stolen Strawberry, Chapter 92: Tanaka Gets Serious!, Chapter 93: The Death of the Third Tsuchikage, Oonoki Kamizuru!, Chapter 94: I Have the Power!