The trees thinned as Team 7 approached the western border of the Land of Fire.
The sky had turned a bruised gray, clouds thick with the promise of rain. Kakashi walked several paces ahead, eyes scanning the forest floor for signs of disruption. His posture was relaxed—but Hyuk knew better.
"Area's quiet," Naruto muttered. "Too quiet."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You've been reading too many adventure scrolls."
"Seriously though," Naruto continued, lowering his voice. "Doesn't this feel off? Like something's watching us?"
Hyuk said nothing. But he agreed.
The woods here felt unnatural. Not because of traps or enemy chakra. But because everything was too still. The air itself felt wrong—thick, weighted. Like breathing in memory.
Kakashi raised a hand. "There's a clearing just ahead. We'll rest there. Be alert."
The team moved silently through the brush and entered the glade.
A ring of withered trees stood in a perfect circle.
Dead. Drained. Every trunk marked by the same curling thorn sigil Hyuk had seen in the mirror.
His blood turned cold.
Sakura stepped cautiously behind him. "This place… it feels wrong."
Naruto approached one of the trees and tapped the bark. "This stuff is rotted all the way through."
Then the wind stopped.
And the trap sprang.
Boom.
A blast of chakra detonated beneath the soil—blinding light and a wave of force sent the team scattering in all directions.
Kakashi landed first, sliding backward into a defensive stance. "Ambush!"
Shadows moved at the treeline.
Figures cloaked in gray, faces hidden beneath twisted masks. Five of them. Each moved like trained shinobi—but their movements were too synchronized. Too clean. Like puppets.
One raised a hand and spoke.
"Hyuk Haruno."
The voice was familiar.
The masked man from the forest.
"We told you—we're not here for them. Just you."
Hyuk stood slowly, brushing blood from his temple, eyes locked on the figure.
Kakashi stepped forward. "You'll have to get through me first."
"No," the masked one replied. "We accounted for you."
He raised both arms.
From the trees, black vines erupted, forming a dome over the clearing, sealing them in with a hum of chakra.
The vines weren't just chakra constructs—they were laced with blood, thorns glowing faintly. Thorn Vein chakra. The real kind.
Hyuk felt it resonate in his veins. A sick harmony.
Naruto grabbed a kunai. "You wanna fight, let's go!"
Sasuke was already moving—fast and low, striking one of the masked attackers with a sweeping kick. His blow landed—but the figure didn't even flinch.
It wasn't genjutsu.
It was something else.
"Be careful!" Hyuk called. "Their chakra's not flowing right!"
The figure Sasuke struck twisted its arm unnaturally and countered with a savage elbow. Sasuke blocked—but the strength was inhuman.
One of the attackers rushed Sakura.
She blocked the first strike, stumbled, then redirected the second with a kunai parry. "What are these things?!"
"They're blood puppets," Hyuk said, eyes narrowing. "Made with Thorn Vein chakra. That's why they don't feel alive."
Kakashi moved in a blur, intercepting two at once. He struck both with blunt precision—but they barely faltered. "Then we hit the source."
Hyuk locked eyes with the masked leader.
And moved.
Fast.
The air between them cracked as Hyuk's chakra surged—not blue, but tinged black, his sleeves flaring as veins pulsed down his arms, feeding energy into his fists.
He struck.
The masked man blocked—but his cloak tore. Hyuk followed up, channeling Thorn Vein chakra into a needle bloom burst—thin vines erupting from his knuckles, laced with thorns.
One cut across the man's mask—revealing half his face.
A burn scar. A long, thin scar down the jaw.
"You," Hyuk growled.
"You're learning quickly," the man said. "But still too restrained."
He slammed his hand into the ground.
The vines forming the dome twisted inward—converging on Hyuk.
"Hyuk!!" Sakura screamed.
But Hyuk didn't retreat.
He let the vines come.
Then he closed his eyes.
Let it in. Just for a second.
He extended both hands. The veins in his arms darkened completely. Blood chakra coiled along his skin—and then burst outward in a spiraling, thorned counterattack.
The vines clashed mid-air—his vines versus the invader's.
And Hyuk won.
The enemy vines shattered like glass, fragments raining around them.
Hyuk stood tall, breath ragged, steam rising from his back.
The masked man staggered.
"You've already bloomed," he said, more impressed than angry. "Then the others will want to see you."
He made a seal—then vanished in a gust of smoke.
The blood puppets collapsed instantly, as if strings had been cut.
The clearing went silent.
Naruto lowered his kunai. "What the hell just happened?"
Sasuke wiped blood from his cheek. "That guy was after Hyuk."
Sakura ran to his side. "You're hurt."
Hyuk didn't respond.
He was staring at his own hand. Still pulsing faintly. Still glowing black.
And it felt good.
Too good.
Kakashi stepped up. "That was Thorn Vein chakra. The real thing."
Hyuk looked up at him.
"They're not trying to kill me," he said. "They're trying to awaken me."