Chaos erupted.
Jimmy and his team froze for a moment, stunned by the sheer size of the attack. Some scrambled behind trees and rocks, seeking shelter. Others retaliated, launching spells like ice arrows and miniature fireballs to counter it.
Weapons flew, knives, arrows, bolts, but most were missed. The few that struck barely dented the blazing orb, which barreled forward like a comet.
Jimmy's face darkened. Without wasting a breath, he yanked a flying knife from his side and hurled it. With pinpoint accuracy, it struck the core of the fireball, detonating it mid-air in a burst of flames.
Smoke still hung in the air when the first clone, disguised as Tommy, made his move.
Gripping his kunai, he activated the Sharingan. His crimson eyes locked onto Jimmy, who was also looking back at him with a confusion on his face.
Aaron cast Hell Viewing Jutsu.
Jimmy flinched. In his vision, he saw the mangled body of Stormback Vyral, his beloved beast companion, lying dead before him. It shook him to the core. His instincts screamed at him. Something's wrong. Danger is near.
But before he could react...
His throat burned. He gasped. Strength drained from his limbs. His body trembled. Confusion turned to fear.
What just happened? Jimmy's mind raced, his vision fading.
Then came a panicked scream from the crowd:
"Tommy! You killed Master Jimmy!"
"Help! Healers, save Master Jimmy!"
"Kill Tommy! He's a traitor!"
The battlefield exploded into chaos. Shouts filled the air, weapons clanged, and panic rippled through the ranks.
Cora turned sharply, alarmed by the noise behind her. Her eyes widened, Jimmy lay on the ground, blood pouring from a deep gash across his throat. The sight froze her for a moment. How…?
Her mind raced through the confusion until a single thought broke through: With Jimmy dead… I could take command.
That idea excited her. Control over the Bounty Hunter Team meant power, influence, fear. She wasted no time.
She pointed at Tommy and shouted, "Everyone, kill him!"
But as she glared at Tommy, she paused, his eyes were glowing blood red. Devil eyes? Her vision blurred, then her head felt like it had been struck by a heavy hammer. Everything tilted. She staggered, disoriented.
Tommy had cast an illusion on her again. Yet, something was wrong, it hadn't worked. He noticed the resistance. It felt like her mind was protected, shielded by some unseen mental barrier. A counter to genjutsu…? Interesting.
No time to dwell. He formed a quick seal. Wind chakra surged through his body.
He activated Gale Fang Cleave Jutsu, a colorless blade of sharpened wind formed in his hand, humming with deadly force.
Then the slaughter began.
Tommy lunged into the fray, slicing through the disorganized hunters. Their fear of friendly fire kept them from using ranged attacks. Instead, they reinforced themselves with buffs and clashed with Tommy head-on.
But they were too slow.
With his Sharingan active, everything around him slowed. He saw their movements before they made them, their openings exposed like cracks in glass. One by one, he struck with precision, cutting through armor and flesh.
Meanwhile, Cora regained control of her senses. Her face was pale, her breath shallow, but her resolve was still intact. She turned toward Tommy, but his gaze caught hers again.
Blood red eyes. Hypnotic. Terrifying.
He cast Demon Illusion: Tree Bind Death.
Cora blinked. The ground beneath her twisted. Her teammates vanished. Suddenly, roots crept up her legs. A tree erupted from her own body, entangling her, trapping her.
She tried to scream, but no sound came.
Her mind was now caught in the illusion.
The sight of Tommy tearing through the crowd with merciless precision sent shockwaves through the ranks. He moved like a shadow, striking down seasoned fighters as if they were nothing more than helpless chickens. Panic began to fester.
One shaken hunter, eyes wide with fear, couldn't hold back. "He's a devil…"
Another screamed, "Run! Save yourselves!"
That was all it took.
The illusion of bravery crumbled. The ranks of the Bounty Hunter Team broke, and chaos erupted. Professionals scattered in every direction, some sprinting into the woods, others diving behind trees or pushing through their own allies just to escape.
But their hope of survival was short-lived.
From the treetops, the real Aaron launched a surprise assault. With precise hand seals, he expelled massive fireballs, flaming spheres that tore through the sky and exploded like thunder among the fleeing hunters.
Screams filled the air.
To make matters worse, Aaron threw kunai and other sharp projectiles with terrifying accuracy. Each weapon flew like a guided arrow, striking targets with pinpoint force. One hunter collapsed before he could even turn; another fell mid-sprint, a blade lodged in his back.
Those who tried to run found themselves surrounded.
Those who tried to fight were met with overwhelming fire and steel.
In the span of moments, the battle shifted from organized chaos to total slaughter. What had started as a confident manhunt had become a scene of horror, led by an illusion-wielding clone and a tactically ruthless shinobi clone.
A few minutes passed. The battlefield, once filled with roaring fire and flashing blades, had fallen silent. Only Cora remained standing, surrounded by the dead. The ground was soaked in blood, the air heavy with ash and the scent of iron. It felt like she had woken up in the middle of Hell.
She blinked slowly, finally free from the illusion. Confusion washed over her as she looked around. Bodies were strewn across the field, some burned, some pierced, all lifeless. Her heart pounded.
Then she saw them. Two figures stood nearby. Her breath caught in her throat as fear gripped her.
"You… You're a devil," she whispered, her voice trembling. "And you… traitor Tommy…"
Before she could say more, Aaron's clone walked up and slapped her sharply across the face.
"Who placed the bounty on me?" he demanded.
Cora, still dizzy and terrified, didn't dare to resist. Her voice shook as she answered, "The Goldvien—"
But her sentence never finished.
An arrow whistled through the air and struck her directly in the forehead. The force pushed her body back, and it didn't stop there. The same arrow pierced through Aaron's clone standing behind her.
Cora collapsed instantly, dead on impact. Aaron's clone staggered slightly, then dissolved into a puff of smoke, vanishing without a trace.
Tommy, the other clone, turned toward the direction of the shot.
His eyes landed on an old man in elegant armor standing in the distance. That was Arad, the loyal butler of the Goldvien family, once known as a strategist and a silent executioner in his prime. The bow in his hands still vibrated from the force of the shot.
Tommy smirked. Slowly, he raised a hand and dragged his thumb across his throat in a neck-cutting gesture.
A moment later, another arrow flew.
It struck Tommy directly, but just like before, his body turned into smoke and vanished into the wind.