The full moon shone brightly in the sky, illuminating our small campsite. I leaned against a tree, trying to keep my mind busy because, let's face it, night watch is 90% staring at nothing and 10% fighting to stay awake.
Ever since I had been reincarnated into this world, I often stared at the moon, trying to find any noticeable difference between this moon and the one from my previous life.
Back in my old life, I never thought about the moon much, but here? It felt like it had secrets. Big ones. Like, "by the way, there's a rabbit goddess up here and she's super angry" kinda secrets. Kaguya... yeah, her whole backstory was a mess. But hey, even alien ninja goddesses deserve some sympathy, right? I mean, her kids literally sealed her in moon jail. Parenting, am I right?
Besides, she was quite beautiful—when she wasn't completely insane. Honestly, I'd be angry too if I were sealed away by my own kids for years. I couldn't judge her. Well, dealing with the alien mess was a problem for future Kenshin.
Right now, my main issue was surviving the first watch of the night. We needed rest because tomorrow was D-Day—or in this case, F-Day, "F" for flags. To come out on top, we'd need at least four flags, which meant snagging another one or two before the exercise ended.
The sound of Jimei's snoring was one of the few noises that night. Seriously, how could that kid snore so loudly? Apparently, Tokuma was just as annoyed as I was, as I could see him tossing and turning in his sleeping bag. Hiyomi? Dead to the world. And Natori? That dude was so still he could've been mistaken for a particularly well-dressed corpse.
Tomorrow, I'd definitely take Natori along for the flag hunt. Jimei seemed tired, and let's be real, he'd probably jump at the chance to stay behind and awkwardly flirt with Hiyomi. She'd hate it, of course, but hey, not my problem.
Just as I was considering this flawless strategy, a shrill scream shattered the peace. And not just any scream—this was the kind of scream that said, "Someone just made a massive, life-altering mistake."
The sound came from a bit farther away. For a moment, I thought it might just be the wind rustling a branch or a rock rolling downhill. But no. The scream repeated, and this time I recognized it. It was unmistakable.
"AAAAAAHHHHH! MY FOOT! SOMEBODY HELP!"
I glanced around the camp. Jimei was still snoring like a dying boar. Hiyomi? Still sleeping like a rock. Tokuma, on the other hand, was wide awake and glaring at me like I'd just insulted the Hyuuga clan's sacred honor or something.
"Who's the idiot screaming?" Natori asked, yawning as he wandered over.
"No clue. Let's go find out." I said, already planning the best way to handle this. "Natori, you're with me. Tokuma, you stay here and guard the camp in case this is a distraction."
Natori nodded and moved to grab something from his bag, while Tokuma stared at me like I'd just said the Hyuuga clan was hosting weekend rap battles.
"Stay here?" Tokuma almost laughed, though it sounded more like disdain than humor. "I'm the strongest one here! Why am I stuck babysitting the camp?"
Ugh. This guy. Sometimes he acted like the poster child for spoiled kids. Then again, he was a kid. And spoiled. Whatever. Time to deploy my foolproof strategy for dealing with brats: Grade-A bullsh—uh, strategic persuasion.
I said, slapping him on the back. Then, I pulled out the ace: the yellow flag we'd captured earlier. "If it's a distraction, who better to defend the camp? You're practically our first and last line of defense. Here, hold onto this. It's a big responsibility."
That got him. His chest puffed out like a proud little pigeon. Tokuma grabbed the flag like it was the most important mission of his life.
"AAAAAHHHH! MY FOOOT!"
The screaming snapped us all to attention. Tokuma sighed but nodded begrudgingly. Thank God. No time to argue—Natori and I had to move.
"Let's go." I said, motioning for Natori to follow. "Tokuma stays. He'll watch the camp."
Natori didn't say anything, just nodded and started following me. His movements were nearly silent, but I could tell even he was curious about what had happened.
We moved through the forest, shadows swallowing us as we closed in on the source of the commotion. Natori was quiet as usual, while I was mentally preparing for anything. Bandits? Rival students? Hiyomi's traps backfiring?
But nothing could've prepared me for what we found.
There they were: an enemy group. I recognized one of them—an Inuzuka kid I'd sparred with at the academy. His name was… Hage? Hito? No, Hige. That was it.
But Hige wasn't the main event. No, the star of this little disaster was one of his teammates, who was currently dangling upside down from one of Hiyomi's traps.
The poor guy was tangled in vines, feathers, and what I really, really hoped was mud. Judging by the smell, though, it was not mud. The guy looked like he'd lost a fight with a birdhouse.
"Is this one of Hiyomi-san's traps?" Natori whispered, sounding just as stunned as I felt.
I nodded, trying not to burst out laughing. The kid looked like a giant, feathered disaster piñata. He was flailing helplessly, only making the situation worse.
"HELP ME!" he wailed.
Meanwhile, Hige was busy doing what Hige does best—absolutely nothing useful. Instead of rescuing his teammate, he was bent over, laughing so hard I thought he might choke on his own spit.
"Seriously?! I can't believe you got yourself stuck like that! What kind of…!" Hige could barely talk through his wheezing laughter.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" the guy shrieked from his upside-down position. "This is a nightmare! Everyone's gonna make fun of me forever!"
Honestly? He wasn't wrong.
I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing out loud. If this weren't a survival exercise, I'd probably be on the ground right now, wheezing right next to Hige. The whole setup was too perfect—like some higher power decided this kid needed to suffer for comedy's sake.
"Not sure if I should feel proud or just embarrassed for them." Natori muttered beside me, his arms crossed as he watched the scene like he was judging a bad movie.
I was about to reply, but then I heard it—a low growl and these tiny, sharp barks. My entire body froze.
Hige's ninken, Komaru, was perched on his head, ears up, nose twitching like crazy. His eyes locked right onto our hiding spot.
"Hm? Komaru, you smell something?" Hige's deep, overly excited voice cut through the chaos.
Our cover was blown. That stupid dog had a nose sharper than a customs beagle at the airport.
"I THINK I FOUND SOMETHING!" he yelled, and then just yeeted them into the bushes like a maniac.
The shuriken zipped past us, slicing leaves and giving us a free haircut as they revealed our hiding spot. What was wrong with these kids and their obsession with throwing sharp things?!
"Move!" I shouted at Natori as we dodged like our lives depended on it, which, let's be real, they kind of did.
Natori and I bolted out of the bushes, landing a safe distance away from the flying death stars.
"HAHA! Gotcha!" Hige smirked, pointing at us like he'd just uncovered the crime of the century. "Nice work, Komaru! You flushed out the rats!" Komaru gave a proud little bark, wagging his tail like he deserved a medal.
I dusted myself off, staring at Hige, who looked way too smug for someone who had no idea what he was doing.
"Did you really think you could hide from me?" Hige puffed out his chest. "I'm the GREAT Hige! And you're about to learn why they call me that!"
"Uh, Hige?" the dangling kid called weakly. "Can you maybe get me down before you... y'know... start your epic showdown or whatever?"
"SHUT UP! You're ruining my vibe!" Hige snapped, glaring at his teammate like he was the problem here.
"So…" I said, pointing at the disaster hanging behind him, "how exactly were you planning to steal our flag with one of your teammates… y'know, stuck like that and the other who looks will start running in two seconds?"
"Not my fault!" the kid yelled, flailing his legs in frustration. "WHO PUTS A TRAP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PATH?!"
"Uh… that's literally where traps go, genius." I replied, blinking slowly. The stupidity was physically painful to process.
Natori let out a quiet sigh.
"If this is their idea of teamwork, we could just leave and let nature take care of it."
I ignored him, turning back to Hige. That's when I saw it—the green flag tied to his waist, swaying in the breeze like a giant "kick me" sign.
"No way." I muttered under my breath. "He didn't..."
"Oh, he did." Natori said, smirking.
"HEY! STOP IGNORING ME!" Hige shouted, dramatically grabbing the flag and waving it around like it was a trophy. "DO YOU SEE THIS? THIS FLAG PROVES I'M BETTER THAN YOU! And with Komaru by my side, you're gonna regret ever messing with the GREAT HIGE!"
Oh, he was that dumb.
I rubbed my temples, feeling the secondhand embarrassment seep into my soul
"Alright, Hige. Look, I get that you like to brag, but do you even have a plan here, or are you just winging it?"
"There's no such thing as a plan when you're as awesome as me!" he shouted, puffing out his chest like some kind of discount superhero. "Komaru, let's DESTROY THEM!"
The tiny ninken jumped off Hige's head with a low growl, landing on the ground like he meant business… until he got distracted and started digging a hole.
Meanwhile, Hige and his other teammate (who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else) tried to strike these overly dramatic fighting poses.
"Get ready!" Hige screamed, his eyes sparkling with way too much energy.