When we finally reached the village, the scent of pine and charcoal clung to the wind like an old memory. The torii gates stood solemn and still, with their red lacquer faded by rain and sun.
I had never thought that the stone paths and paper lanterns could feel like safety, but after everything that happened during our mission—the smoke, the corpses, the strange silence in Daizo's eyes—our old training ground looked like a forgotten paradise.
Souta led the way up the hill to the main hall. His back was rigid as he looked deep in thought. His voice was brief when he ordered us to wait while he requested an audience with the clan leader. I glanced at Kento when Souta was giving us order but he said nothing as he clenched his jaw tight.
We hadn't spoken much since the river crossing, both of us were too exhausted to untangle what we'd just survived. I think we knew, deep down, that Daizo was not the core of the rot. There had been something in his stillness, something dead in his stare—like he wasn't the master of his own body and the dead silence after he was taken down. But our mission was completed and was all that mattered to the clan leader.
Inside the tatami-floored chamber, the clan leader listened to us in silence. He sat beneath the scroll of our ancestors with his fingers steepled beneath his chin and not interrupting us once as Souta described everything. From the slaughtered patrol to the underground temple and the robed strangers, he had spared no detail. Kento added his insights where ever needed, I had never witnessed him being serious and right now he was sharp and clear. When it came to my part, I tried to steady my voice, as I recalled the strange glyphs and my fight with Daizo.
After the briefing was complete, we had all agreed to one thing for sure: Daizo had not acted alone.
"A puppet," Kento said quietly. "His strings were pulled by someone who was never in the room."
The clan leader dismissed us with a wave of his hand, their was no praise or any rebuke. But I noticed how his gaze lingered after we bowed and turned. He remained seated, unmoving as his eyes unfocused like they were trying to pierce through the sliding doors and into a world only he could see. Something troubled him. Maybe something he hadn't shared with even us.
We were halfway down the steps when Genzo's voice cut through the quiet.
"Kento. Aoto. Come with me."
He looked more stern than ever as he watched us with squirming eyes, maybe he was hoping that we will defy but we followed him without a question much to his disappointment. His presence had the weight of a carved granite, though never raised his voice or repeated himself. You just listened to a guy like that.
He led us behind the dojo, where a ring of stones circled a practice field flattened by decades of footfalls. The air was warm and crickets were just beginning their nightly chorus. Kento rolled his shoulders, already switching into his training mindset. I tried to do the same, but my muscles still held the tremble of fear and the memory of blood that my sword had spilled.
"Form the bubble," Genzou said. "Together. Hold it."
We stood facing each other, feet apart with our breath syncing and the system inside me stirred.
[COLLABORATIVE TASK: Initiate Level-1 Kettai Containment Barrier]
[Timer: 00:00:00... Begin.]
I extended my hands. Kento did the same. I felt his Kettai slowly merge with mine like two rivers slowly crashing into a basin—different rhythms, but a shared purpose. A faint shimmer sparked between our palms. Then, gradually, the field bent around us and a translucent barrier hummed to life, casting faint ripples in the dust around our sandals.
"Hold," Genzou said. He sat down and closed his eyes.
The minutes passed like hours, my arms ached, but I kept the flow steady and Kento's eyes never left mine.
The bubble remained, vibrating gently with our shared energy.
When the sun dipped behind the treeline and the first firefly sparked in the air, Genzou opened his eyes and nodded once.
"Good. Dismissed."
We both exhaled with excitement and nearly collapsed.
When we were walking back to the dormitories I heard some familiar voices.
"Tch. Look who thinks he's some kind of prodigy now."
Three figures stepped out from the shadows near the well. They were the same guys who had tossed me into the hot spring weeks ago and today their faces were twisted in that ugly, half-amused sneer that people wear when they want to pretend they're joking but are itching for violence.
"So what? Got your little bubble working, huh? Guess even worms can crawl their way to the surface."
I froze and my chest tightened at his comment. I may have defeated a warlord but in front of bullies, who have given me all this trauma, I was nothing but a wimp.
The cold splash. The laughter. My body shaking in the water while they stood above, unmoved.
Everything flashed in front of my eyes as I felt that same helplessness rise in my throat like bile.
But this time, there was someone to save me. Kento stepped forward towards the 3 of them. There was no hesitation and no fear in his stride as he confidently looked them in the eye, he had a sneer on his face -- something I had never seen before.
"You three done barking yet?" he said, his voice sounded like steel under snow.
They didn't expect that.
Kenji lunged first but Kento sidestepped with ease, elbowing him squarely in the ribs. A second came from the side—Rei, all brawn, no brains but Kento had caught his wrist mid-swing and twisted, Rei dropped to his knees groaning with pain. The last one, Toma barely got within striking range before Kento kicked his leg out and slammed him to the ground with a palm to the chest.
It happened so fast, I almost missed it.
The three of them groaned in the dirt as their bruised pride oozed out with every breath and Kento turned to me.
"You alright?"
I nodded, even though my hands were still shaking.
"They're not worth it," he muttered, walking past them.
But I lingered.
Kenji looked up at me, his eyes were full of venom.
"You're still a coward, Aoto. No matter how many tricks you learn."
I clenched my fists as anger brimmed inside me due to his comment, a part of me wanted to answer him, to prove that I wasn't that boy in the hot spring anymore. But I didn't. I just turned and walked away.
Because the truth is, I was still scared.
But for the first time, I wasn't alone in that fear. And maybe that was enough.
As we reached the dorm entrance, Kento clapped me on the shoulder.
"You held the bubble like a proper shinobi," he said. "Tomorrow, you hold it longer."
His words carried no mockery, It was something I have never seen anyone give me before, their faith in me.
And under that quiet, rising moon, it felt like it was the beginning of something.
Not revenge. Not redemption.
But growth.