Reina woke to the sound of fighting—steel ringing, chakra cracking, and the panicked screams of monkeys outside the tent.
Her eyes snapped open. "Aika…?"
She pushed herself up on one elbow and scanned the dim canvas. No Aika. Instead, standing at rigid attention near the flap, was Aika's samurai langur—tiny armor strapped over reddish fur, wooden practice katana at its side, round eyes fixed and serious.
He looked absurdly cute trying so hard to be a warrior.
Reina's gaze swept the tent until it snagged on the familiar shape of her sword, leaning against a crate. She grit her teeth and forced herself to stand. Her bandaged ribs flared hot; the world tilted for a heartbeat.
Move.
She willed her legs forward, each step a jolt. When her fingers closed around the hilt of her katana, her shoulders loosened just a fraction.
"Dammit," she hissed under her breath. "I need to be out there. As team leader, I don't get to sit this out."
She slung the sheathed blade across her back and looked down at the samurai langur.
"What do you say," she rasped, "about us going to help your master?"
The langur straightened, eyes brightening. He gave an eager, high-pitched squeak and thumped a tiny fist against his chest.
"Thought so," Reina muttered, and pushed through the tent flap.
⸻
Outside, chaos.
Aika and her summoned langurs were being driven back across the campsite, hemmed in by three enemy genin. The monkeys darted in and out, throwing pebbles, swinging tiny staves, and spitting flickers of fire—but they didn't have the raw power to break bone or armor. Aika used them like moving screens and bait, trying to funnel her opponents into delayed combo attacks.
But the genin were fast. Too fast. Most of the charged techniques either whiffed by inches or exploded in empty air.
Aika was surviving on pure evasion and distraction, nothing more.
"Dammit—where is Karui?" Aika panted, sliding under a wild swing from the tall genin. "I can't keep this up."
Steel whistled over her head. She twisted, but a thrown kunai still grazed her upper arm, carving a shallow line that bloomed red. Before she could reset, the calm genin body-flickered in front of her and drove his palm into her stomach.
Air and chakra both fled her lungs.
Aika's vision went white—but the instant before the follow-up, her replacement jutsu triggered. The genin's next strike shattered a log instead of ribs.
She reappeared several meters away, dropping to one knee, one arm clamped around her gut as she fought to breathe.
"Hah… hah…"
The tall genin stalked toward her, a cocky half-smile on his face.
"Just give it up, girl," he called. "You're outnumbered and outclassed. Defeat is inevitable."
The leader langur landed between them, hackles raised. He sucked in a breath and spat a fast-moving ball of fire.
The tall genin flinched back—Aika's fingers were already on her last explosive tag.
"Go," she whispered, slapping it into the fireball's path.
The tag caught, flared, then detonated mid-air.
Boom.
Flame and smoke swallowed the three genin. Aika didn't wait to see the damage—she scooped up the nearest two monkeys, cradling one under each arm, and staggered toward the outer edge of camp.
When she risked a glance back, silhouettes emerged from the smoke.
Two of them.
The tall genin and the calm one, both singed and coughing, clothes charred. The tall genin's shoulder bled freely where shrapnel had bitten deep.
"Persistent…" Aika murmured, jaw tightening.
They took off after her. Aika pushed her legs harder, trying to widen the gap.
Behind her, seals flicked through practiced hands.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" the calm genin shouted.
"Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder!" the tall one began—
Aika whirled mid-stride and flung two shuriken. They spun true, forcing the tall genin to jerk aside and killing his focus; the lightning chakra in his hands sputtered out.
But she couldn't dodge the wind.
The Great Breakthrough roared down the path, a wall of compressed air. Aika tried to leap clear, but the technique spread wide—too wide. The gale ripped across her skin like knives, hurling her backward.
She had just enough presence of mind to twist, tossing the two langurs out of the blast line and slipping a sealed scroll into the leader's hands.
"Take it… to Reina," she gasped.
Then the wind slammed her into a boulder.
Crack.
Dust plumed. Aika hit the ground hard, vision swimming, body screaming. She lay tangled at the base of the rock, bruised, bleeding, breath coming in ragged pulls.
The two genin approached, shadows blotting out the sky.
"This could've been avoided," the tall genin said, looking down at her with bored irritation. "If you'd just handed over your scroll."
Aika spat blood to the side and glared up at him.
"And betray my team?" Her voice shook, but her eyes didn't. "That'd be like spitting in their faces. You're not taking our scroll."
The tall genin's expression hardened. He raised a fist.
"Enough talking. I'll take it from your unconscious body."
His fist began to fall.
⸻
"Lightning Release: Shock Discharge!
(雷遁・放電掌 — Raiton: Hōden Shō)"
A blue flash cut between them.
Reina body-flickered into place in front of Aika, one hand snapping up to meet the descending punch. Her palm slapped against the tall genin's forearm; lightning surged from her chakra network, flaring bright and hot.
The contact point sizzled. The genin's muscles locked, a strangled noise ripping from his throat as a sharp burn bloomed across his skin.
Reina didn't give him time to recover.
He swung reflexively with his other fist—she dipped under it, pain lancing her ribs, and drove a clean, tight punch into his kidney.
He folded with a choked grunt, staggering back.
Behind him, a blur of orange and black dropped from the rocks.
Karui landed lightly, eyes flaring with battle-heat, and snapped a kick that forced the calm genin to guard up.
"Thought you could pick off my teammates while I was busy?" she said, sliding into stance. "Bad call."
Steel rang as she clashed with the calm genin, while Reina planted her feet over Aika, lightning still humming faintly around her hand.
"Sorry I'm late," Reina murmured without looking back.
Aika, still on the ground, managed a pained, relieved smile. "Took you… long enough, captain."
Karui's kick knocked the calm genin's guard high. He slid back across the dirt, boots carving grooves, then snapped into a low stance again—eyes sharp, breath measured.
Reina stayed planted over Aika, keeping herself between her teammate and the tall genin. Lightning still crackled faintly around her hand, fading in blue threads.
The tall genin shook out his numbed arm with a scowl. "Two on two now, huh? Fine. Makes this interesting."
Reina's ribs screamed when she shifted her weight. She ignored them.
"You wanted the scroll," she said, drawing her katana in one smooth motion. Lightning crawled along the blade in a tight sheath. "You're going to have to work for it."
The samurai langur dropped from a nearby tree limb, landing by her heel. He'd already tucked the sealed scroll Aika had slipped him into a pouch at his waist. He drew his tiny wooden sword with both hands, masklike face deadly serious.
The tall genin snorted. "You're bringing pets to a real fight?"
"They're not pets," Aika croaked from behind Reina, forcing herself up onto one elbow. "They're my squad."
On the other side of the clearing, Karui surged back in. She stepped inside the calm genin's reach, fists snapping in tight arcs, her braid whipping behind her. Static hissed off her knuckles with each punch.
He slipped and rolled with her strikes, letting them glance instead of land flush. Every few beats he stabbed in with precise counters—knife-hand strikes to her forearm, a shin kick to the outside of her leg. Nothing crippling yet, but she could feel the bruises stacking.
"Your lightning's sloppy," he remarked, deflecting another jab. "You're forcing it."
Karui grinned, teeth sharp. "Funny. You're still blocking it."
She feinted high, then spun—her heel caught his guard and shoved him back toward the tall genin.
"Reina!" Karui called. "You take Tall. I'll glue myself to the quiet one."
"On it," Reina said.
The tall genin realized too late they were trying to split them. He lunged, aiming to close the distance and keep their formation, but Reina met him halfway.
Sword and fist collided.
He ducked under her first cut, arm crackling with half-formed lightning as he drove a jab toward her ribs. Reina pivoted, angling her side away—the punch skimmed bandages instead of digging in, but pain flared bright. She rode it, twisting her blade down in a short arc.
The lightning-wrapped katana kissed his thigh, shallow but sizzling.
He flinched, chakra flaring. "Tch—annoying!"
Up close, Reina could feel his reserves pulsing—deeper, fuller than hers. His movements were still crisp, while her joints already felt half a beat slow.
Behind her, the leader langur darted in and slashed at the tall genin's calf with his wooden blade. It didn't cut, but the surprise made the boy shift his stance, opening his guard for a heartbeat.
Reina took it, stepping in to slam a shoulder-check into his chest.
He staggered back a pace, boots skidding. "You really using monkeys as foot soldiers?"
Reina bared her teeth. "You really getting bullied by them?"
⸻
On the right flank, Karui and the calm genin blurred through a rapid exchange. His wind chakra wove around his limbs in faint ripples, shaving the air off her punches, letting him redirect her momentum with small, efficient movements.
Karui compensated with aggression. She darted in and out, mixing low kicks and body blows, trying to herd him toward a half-collapsed supply cart.
He recognized the trap and cut sideways, fingers flashing through seals mid-step.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm."
The air between them detonated. Karui crossed her forearms just in time; the compressed burst slammed into her guard and launched her backward. She flipped, boots digging furrows when she landed, arms stinging.
"Still standing," he noted.
"Still talking," she shot back, chest heaving. "Guess we're both stubborn."
Two smaller langurs skittered along the perimeter, following Aika's hand signals. One flicked pebbles at the calm genin's ankles. The other leapt up a tree and shook the branches, showering leaves into his line of sight.
He frowned, annoyed by the gnats in the fight.
Karui didn't waste the opening. She lunged through the leaf-fall, lightning sparking around her shins. Her low kick smashed into his guard and drove him a step toward Reina's side of the clearing.
"Reina!" she called again. "Let's cross them!"
Reina snapped a quick glance, reading the angles. "Move on three! One—two—now!"
She broke left, feinting a retreat. Karui mirrored on the opposite side, both of them circling to force the two enemy genin to cross paths.
For a moment, it worked—the tall genin's line of attack tangled with the calm one's movement, their timing stepping on each other.
Aika forced herself upright, clenching her teeth against the ache. "Leader, mark them!" she wheezed.
The samurai langur sprang forward, tumbling through the dirt, and whipped small ink-smeared tags out from his belt. In two quick motions he slapped them onto the ground in an invisible arc between the enemy genin.
Reina saw the faint glimmer. Not explosive tags—different script. Seal-based.
"Rein, don't step there!" Aika coughed. "Force them into it!"
"Copy!"
Reina baited the tall genin, backing just enough to make it look like she was flagging. He prowled after her, feeling the momentum shift.
"You're slowing down," he said, chakra gathering along his forearm. "Guess the hype around you was a little exaggerated."
He thrust his hand out.
"Lightning Style: Arc Lash!"
A crackling whip of lightning snapped toward her. Reina brought her sword up and to the side, letting the edge and her own elemental affinity catch the worst of it. The impact numbed her fingers and sent a fresh scream through her ribs.
She slid back, boots digging in—and checked her position.
One more step.
She let him drive her, giving ground at just the right angle. The instant his lead foot landed on the first tag, the ink flared.
Thin bands of chakra shot up like tripwires.
"Now!" Aika shouted.
The bands snapped taut around his ankle and shin, binding him in place. The second tag lit in sequence, lines racing across the ground to link with the first, forming a crude anchor seal.
"Seriously?" he snarled, trying to wrench free. "Low-rank binding tags?"
His chakra surged, and the seals immediately started to strain.
"That's the point," Aika rasped. "They only need to hold you for a few—"
Karui crashed in from the side and drove a lightning-boosted heel into his ribs.
The tall genin's breath exploded out of him; the seals flexed and cracked under the strain, but for a heartbeat he was locked down, forced to eat the full force of the kick.
He flew sideways into a stack of supply crates, smashing them to splinters.
The binding tags burned out, smoke rising from the ground.
Karui landed and staggered, one knee hitting the dirt. "Ugh—okay, that felt good."
The calm genin didn't waste their moment of satisfaction. He blurred through hand signs again, eyes narrowing.
"You two are dangerous together," he said quietly. "So let's fix that."
He slapped a palm toward the ground.
"Wind Style: Pressure Wave."
The air didn't explode outward this time—it collapsed in. A deep, sucking force yanked at the trio, dragging leaves, loose gear, and even small stones toward the calm genin as the center point.
Reina's feet ripped off the ground. Her gut lurched as she slid, then lifted, pulled toward him.
"Karui—!" she snapped.
"I got it!"
Karui jammed a kunai into the dirt and wrapped her free hand around Reina's forearm as they skidded. The blade screeched, carving a line, slowing them enough that they didn't slam directly into the calm genin's waiting strike.
Even so, they crossed into his effective range.
He stepped in, elbowing Karui's grip aside and driving a palm heel at Reina's face. She jerked her head; it clipped her cheek instead, sending a hot burst of pain and stars across her vision.
Karui lunged to counter, but a secondary gust spun off the Pressure Wave and caught her from the side, knocking her balance just enough that her punch glanced off his shoulder instead of his jaw.
Aika tried to reinforce them, fumbling another tag out of her pouch. Her chakra, though, had gone thick and sluggish, barely answering her.
"Leader!" she called hoarsely. "Formation C!"
The samurai langur snapped to attention, then darted between the calm genin's legs, hopping up onto his back and jabbing his neck with the tiny wooden sword.
It didn't hurt, but it made him flinch—just long enough for Reina to recover a step of space.
She brought her katana up in a short, vicious cut. He twisted, the blade scoring across his shoulder instead of opening his chest.
Blood beaded. His expression finally sharpened from calm to annoyed.
"You're draining yourselves," he said flatly. "We've still got half our reserves. This only ends one way."
"Yeah?" Reina said, wiping the blood trickling from her cheek with the back of her hand. "Then you'd better pray it ends fast—for you."
Behind them, the tall genin dragged himself out of the wreckage of the crates, clutching his side. His thigh and ribs were scorched, and his breathing had gone rough, but his eyes still burned hot.
"Enough playing around," he growled. "We're taking that scroll, and we're breaking your team's reputation while we're at it."
Chakra flared around his arms and chest, brighter than before. He was chewing through his reserves now, pushing for a finish.
Reina felt the pressure spike, like a storm front rolling in. Her own chakra coils, by contrast, felt thin and frayed. Karui's breathing had gone shallow. Aika was pale, one hand braced on the rock behind her to stay upright.
The numbers hadn't changed—two on three—but the math had.
"Aika," Reina said quietly, eyes not leaving the enemy. "Do you have anything left that can hit both at once?"
Aika swallowed, mind racing. Her vision swam at the edges.
"One," she whispered. "But if it misses… I'm done. No chakra left."
Reina's fingers tightened around her sword hilt.
"Then we won't miss."
She slid into stance again, ribs on fire, lightning beginning to gather along her blade in crackling filaments. Karui shook out her arms, sparks crawling along her fists, and stepped up on Reina's right.
The langurs rallied without needing words, fanning out in a rough triangle.
Across the clearing, the two enemy genin lined up—tall genin in front, calm genin half a step behind and to the side, wind already stirring at his fingertips.
For a long heartbeat, the four combatants and their small summons faced each other, battered, bleeding, and refusing to yield.
Then both sides moved at once.
⸻
Aika's fingers shook as she pressed the last tag into the dirt.
Her chakra felt like sludge, heavy and unresponsive. Reina and Karui were in front of her, staggered in a loose V, lightning flickering weakly along blade and fists as they kept the two enemy genin at bay.
It wasn't enough.
The tall genin crashed in again, lightning crawling up his arm. Reina barely caught his punch on the flat of her katana; the impact rattled down her arms and into her ribs. She hissed, vision tunneling for a heartbeat.
The calm genin slipped past Karui's guard and drove a palm into her shoulder. Pain lanced through her; she skidded back, boots carving furrows.
They were losing the ground inch by inch.
We're not… we're not turning this around by trading blows.
Aika's gaze cut to the three langurs circling at the edge of the fight—the wizard clutching his staff, the samurai knuckles white on his tiny sword, the leader's tail lashing with anxious energy.
"Leader! Formation—" Her voice cracked. She forced more air into it. "Now!"
All three monkeys jerked as if jolted, then moved.
⸻
The wizard langur bolted to a clear patch of earth a few meters behind Reina and slammed the butt of his makeshift staff down.
Chakra thrummed.
The ground shivered, then began to swell. Dirt heaved and folded in on itself, forming a compact dome of tightly packed earth about the size of a cart. Pebbles and chunks of mineral fused into it as it rose, veins of darker stone running through its surface.
The tall genin cut toward Aika, then skidded to a stop when he saw the earth bulging up. His eyes narrowed. "What now…?"
Reina saw it too, the forming boulder at their backs, the wizard's paws braced and trembling with effort. Her gut clenched.
Big move. Slow setup.
"Karui—keep them off it!" she snapped.
Karui spat blood, rolled her shoulder once, and flashed a sharp grin. "I'm on it."
She darted in again, fists crackling, throwing a flurry of jabs and low kicks at the calm genin. He met her with small, efficient parries, irritation finally tightening his jaw.
Behind them, the leader langur planted both palms against the fresh earth dome.
Fire chakra roared to life.
Heat bled into the stone in waves. Red-orange glow started to web across the surface from his hands outward, like molten veins. The air above the dome shimmered as the inside began to superheat, earth softening toward magma.
The samurai langur hopped in front of the dome, inhaled slowly, then drew his little sword. A tight sheath of wind chakra wrapped the wooden blade in a faint, rippling shimmer.
Aika's heart pounded as she watched all three work in sync.
Come on… come on, just a little more…
⸻
The calm genin glanced past Karui's shoulder again. His pupils tightened when he saw the glow deepening in the boulder.
"Stop that," he said simply.
He stepped back from Karui's punch instead of trading, then snapped a sharp front kick into her gut. The blow knocked the wind out of her and shoved her directly into Reina's side.
Both girls stumbled, formation bending.
The tall genin took the opening, thrusting a hand forward.
"Lightning Style: Arc Lash!"
A whip of lightning cracked toward them. Reina dragged Karui down with her, the lash grazing above their heads and blowing apart a half-burned tent behind them.
Canvas and sparks rained down.
"Stay on your feet!" Reina grunted, hauling them both back up, ribs screaming.
"I'm trying," Karui hissed, one arm wrapped around her stomach.
The calm genin didn't chase them. He pivoted instead, body-flickering toward the forming crucible.
"Tall—pressure them! I'll cut off the trick."
He was already halfway there.
Aika's stomach dropped. If he reached the monkeys now—
"Reina!" she yelled, voice tearing. "He's going for them!"
Reina didn't think. She lunged, body-flashing past the tall genin with a burst of speed that scraped the bottom of her chakra reserves. The world blurred; her vision pulsed black at the edges.
She appeared between the calm genin and the glowing dome, sword up.
He hadn't expected her to still be that fast.
His eyes widened a fraction—then narrowed again. He twisted, turning what should've been a clean rush into a sliding palm strike at Reina's blade arm.
His hand smacked her wrist. Numbness shot down her fingers; her grip faltered, katana dipping. He followed with a low kick that scythed her legs.
Reina hit one knee, teeth digging into her lip hard enough to draw blood.
"Out of my way," he said quietly.
Karui barreled in from the side, lightning sparking off her heel. He ducked under her kick, hand snapping up to chop the back of her knee. Her leg buckled; she crashed down next to Reina, both of them breathing hard, bodies refusing to keep up with their intent.
Every second they bought felt thinner than paper.
⸻
Behind them, the earth dome glowed brighter, the leader's teeth grit in a silent snarl as he poured more fire chakra in. Heat rolled off it in shimmering waves. Hairline cracks of orange magma crept along its surface.
The wizard's arms shook violently, little claws dug into the ground. The samurai adjusted his stance, wind chakra tightening around his blade, eyes locked on Aika.
She swayed where she stood, hand braced to the boulder behind her. Sweat stung the cut on her arm. Her chakra pool felt like it had been scraped hollow.
If we don't use it now, we won't use it at all.
"Aika!" Reina called, fighting to get her feet under her again. "How much longer?"
"Zero," Aika rasped. Her eyes burned with the mix of fear and resolve. "We launch now or it breaks on us."
The calm genin had almost reached the edge of the dome. His wind chakra was already starting to coalesce in his palm, ready to slice it apart before it could be triggered.
No time.
Aika drew in what little chakra she had left, threw her arm out, and screamed:
"Now!"
⸻
The wizard slammed his staff down one more time, compacting the earth shell. The leader funneled a final surge of fire into the core; the dome pulsed, light bleeding through the cracks like a heartbeat.
The samurai stepped in front, both hands on his sword.
Wind Release wrapped the blade in a tight, invisible edge.
He slashed.
The compressed wind tore into the superheated dome.
For a split second, the world held its breath.
Then the earth shell detonated.
⸻
The explosion was less a bang and more a deep, throaty roar. The dome ruptured outward in a wave of molten sludge and razor-hot shrapnel. Superheated fragments screamed through the air, carving glowing tracks wherever they struck.
Aika felt her skin prickle and burn just from the heat wash.
The calm genin reacted on pure instinct. His half-formed wind jutsu snapped into a full force wall.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
The gale howled forward—not at the girls, but sideways at the blast.
The lava spray met the rushing wind and skewed off-course, the cone of molten shrapnel twisting away from both teams. Glowing fragments hissed into a line of rocks and trees off to the side, carving molten gouges into bark and stone, turning one unfortunate boulder into a half-melted, glassy lump.
The tall genin threw an arm up to shield his face from the heat, cursing. Reina and Karui turned away, feeling the air sear the exposed skin on their arms and cheeks.
When the world finally settled, a smoking scar had been carved across the outskirts of the camp—trees blackened, earth turned to cracked, glass-flecked slag.
But none of the enemy genin had been caught in the heart of it.
Aika stared, chest heaving, as realization sank in.
We missed.
Her last big card, the thing she'd been saving since before the exam even started—burned on empty air.
The leader langur slumped to his knees, chest heaving, fur singed around his arms. The wizard collapsed onto all fours, staff clattering beside him. The samurai stabbed his little sword into the dirt just to stay upright, tiny shoulders rising and falling in harsh pants.
They were tapped.
⸻
The calm genin lowered his arm, eyes tracking the lava-scar.
"Impressive," he said, voice still maddeningly even. "If that had landed, we'd be in trouble."
The tall genin let out a shaky laugh, then winced, a hand going to his scorched ribs. "'In trouble' is one way to put it."
His gaze shifted back to Reina, Karui, and Aika—battered, burned at the edges from the heat, chests heaving, chakra all but dry. The langurs huddled in front of Aika, still trying to put themselves between her and danger despite shaking legs.
"You spent everything on that trick," he said, a slow, unpleasant grin spreading across his face. "And you still missed."
Reina pushed herself up, one hand on her knee, the other braced on her sword. Every muscle screamed. Her lightning barely sparked now, a faint, intermittent flicker along the blade.
Karui rose beside her, wobbling for a second before catching herself, blood dripping from a cut at her hairline.
Aika forced herself to stand, using the rock as a crutch, the monkeys clustering at her feet.
They were all three still on their feet.
But the gap in strength had never felt wider.
Reina met the tall genin's eyes, forcing her expression into something like a smirk even as her vision swam.
⸻
Aika's legs finally gave out.
"G-guys…" She swayed, blinking hard against the blur in her vision. "I don't… think… I'll last much longer…"
Her chakra guttered like a dying candle.
One by one, her langurs burst into smoke—leader, wizard, samurai—vanishing with soft puffs that felt way too loud in the sudden silence.
Aika's eyes fluttered, then rolled shut as her body went limp. She collapsed sideways into the dirt.
"Aika!" Karui dropped to a knee beside her, grabbing her shoulder. "Dammit—Aika, wake up! We still need you!"
No response. Just shallow, ragged breaths.
Reina shifted, planting herself between them and the enemy, katana trembling in her grip. Every part of her screamed to lie down next to Aika and stop moving.
The tall genin chuckled, low and breathy.
"For a bunch of academy brats," he said, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip, "you've got guts. And your teamwork's not bad."
His eyes hardened.
"But guts don't beat experience. Your run ends here."
He surged forward, his calmer teammate matching his step. The two of them rushed the battered duo in a blur of motion—
—and the scene cut on Reina and Karui bracing themselves, too exhausted to run, too proud to bow.
To be continued.