The kunai came fast, slicing through the fog like the fang of a beast. Shigure pivoted sharply, crimson tomoe spinning. His left hand caught the blade mid-flight, metal biting deep into his palm. Pain seared—but his right hand was already driving forward.
"Jūken!"
His palm slammed into the Mist rebel's chest with surgical precision. Chakra burst from his fingertips, piercing through ribs and flesh, detonating along the heart's meridians.
"Wha—?!" The rebel's eyes widened in shock. Arrogance drained as blood sprayed from his lips, his body convulsing like a puppet with cut strings. He staggered, face frozen in unbelief. "You're… just… a child…"
His words drowned in a wet choke as his body slumped lifeless against Shigure's arm before sliding to the ground.
Shigure wrenched back his bloody hand, cold fire burning in his eyes. "You dared use Mist Hidden against me. Then your own technique killed you."
His boots crunched the soil as he strode from the body toward his teammates.
"Shigure!" Akane gasped, rushing to his side. Her pale eyes flicked down with alarm. "Your hand—it's bleeding! Where did the other enemy go?"
Kusuo raised Gray Fang warily, scanning the thinning haze. Noguchi trembled silently between them, pale as death.
"It's fine," Shigure replied tersely, shaking blood from his palm. His eyes hardened. "The rebel from the Mist is dead. His tricks won't harm us again."
At that instant, Shigure pressed his hands into seals. White chakra rippled.
"Sui Kirigakure no Jutsu—Release!"
He unleashed the counter-technique he had just copied mid-battle. The mist dissolved instantly, dragging clarity back into the clearing. The air was sharp with cold and burnt iron.
The haze peeled away to reveal Hyūga Hizashi locked against the Cloud missing-nin in a furious duel.
Lightning danced across the Cloud-nin's arms, chakra crackling as each strike shattered bark and stone. Opposite him, Hizashi flowed like water, Byakugan veins bulging, every palm thrust a scalpel against nerves and blood pathways.
Every clash rippled through the air—lightning and Gentle Fist colliding, exploding sparks that made the earth tremble. They were equals.
But when the fog fell away, the Cloud-nin's dark gaze snapped to the smoldering corpse of his fallen comrade. His lips curled in an animal snarl.
"Worthless fool!" he spat. "Slain… by a child?!"
He thrust both hands forward—shuriken swarmed from his fingers like a storm cloud.
"Eight Trigrams: Kaiten!" Hizashi spun instantly, chakra blossoming outward in a spinning shield. The projectiles ricocheted harmlessly away, bouncing like hailstones against a storm.
The Cloud-nin's eye twitched in rage. With a feral grin, he hurled kunai—each tagged with paper seals.
Shigure's eyes widened. "Explosives—!" He slammed rapid seals between his fingers, chakra surging to his lips.
"Sensei, move!"
Hizashi backstepped, Byakugan watching every current of lethal chakra. The kunai erupted in concussive fire. Trees uprooted, soil tore away in pillars of smoke.
The missing-nin spun to escape through the smoke.
But Shigure was already there, eyes flaring. "Fūton: Kazeryūdan no Jutsu!"
A dragon of slicing wind roared from his throat, spiraling directly into the path of the fleeing enemy.
The Cloud-nin's lips curled. "Brat!" Lightning coated his arms in armor. He crossed them, barreling straight into the dragon as it ripped across his body. His clothes shredded. Blood blossomed like petals. Still he endured.
But Shigure's seals blazed again.
"Katon: Karyū Endan!"
A Fire Dragon burst forth, feeding hungrily into the spinning Wind Dragon. Heat and gale merged violently, surging until orange flames twisted into a tornado cyclone.
"Fūka Ryūdan no Jutsu—Compound Wind-Fire Dragon!" Shigure's shout echoed through the clearing.
The compound jutsu surged like an inferno storm. Flames lashed on wind's breath, scorching everything in its path. The Cloud missing-nin braced, chakra flooding his limbs, but even lightning armor could not dampen the consuming storm. His body crashed against the ruined trees, blood spattering across bark.
Hizashi leapt forward instantly to finish him, but the rebel was cunning. With a snarl, he slammed his hands. Chakra twisted—his body flickered. In a burst of wind, he vanished.
"Do not pursue," Hizashi's voice cut firm, rolling his eyes away to confirm their safety. He exhaled, Byakugan veins fading. "That one… lives to fight another day." He turned back, gaze locking on Shigure. "Well done." His voice, calm but taut with suspicion, carried both pride and warning.
The Jonin's brows knit faintly. "You copied, combined… and released compound ninjutsu mid-battle. At your age, this is… abnormal."
But still, he nodded. "Without your intervention, that exchange could have ended far messier. Team 7—this victory is yours too."
Kusuo and Akane stumbled slightly, raw disbelief still painted across their faces. Noguchi trembled more deeply than ever, sweat glistening along his beard.
When silence fell, Hizashi lowered his tone. "Listen carefully. Bandits were one thing. But tonight, we faced Jōnin-level missing-nin. This mission is no longer what Konoha agreed to. This is no longer C-rank."
His eyes were steady, grave. "From now—this is tentatively a B-rank mission. Perhaps worse."
He closed his Byakugan, shoulders falling slightly. "Even I cannot promise the safety of each of you from this point forward. If you wish to withdraw—it can be counted as complete."
For a heartbeat, no one spoke.
Then Noguchi staggered forward, falling to his knees. "I—I cannot. The Craftsmen Village needs me. No matter the cost, I must go."
Shigure folded his arms, eyes burning as he spoke evenly. "If danger is certain, then good. Only in battle do we sharpen our blades. I'll go."
Kusuo's hand tightened on Gray Fang. He straightened, voice hard. "We're a team. We walk forward together."
Akane raised her chin, fists trembling but eyes firm. "I won't leave either. Team 7 stands together!"
Hizashi watched them all, weighed their resolve, then breathed once deeply. "So be it. Then onward. To the Land of Craftsmen."
And so, under moon and ash, Team 7 moved forward again.
The week that followed was grueling. They slept in shifts at night, pushed their legs by day, tension wound in every step. No ambushes came, but vigilance never left their shoulders.
Between stretches of quiet, Hizashi drilled them sharply, pushing control exercises into daily training. Tree-walking with chakra. Water-walking. Maintaining stability under stress.
And Shigure—who already mastered such fundamentals as though they were breathing—left Hizashi wordless. In mere hours, he surpassed every "record." His mastery of basic chakra control was beyond natural—it was unnatural.
Akane and Kusuo struggled, yet improved. Noguchi trailed in silence.
At long last, the Land of Fire's treeline thinned, the wind sharper, colder. The air smelled of ash and steel.
They crossed the border into the Land of Craftsmen. Stone forges dotted the landscape, smoke rising faint from distant chimneys.
"We're here," Kusuo murmured, exhaling slowly. His hand stayed firm on Gray Fang anyway.
Akane pressed her lips together, eyes glancing at Shigure, whose expression did not shift—his strange white tomoe eyes remained steady, scanning everything with the hunger of someone not intimidated, but eager.
As they walked, Hizashi reflected inwardly. This boy… this child carries fire like Madara in his youth. Perhaps hotter. But where fire burns, will it warm Konoha—or set it aflame?
Ahead, Shigure practiced seals idly, his sharp voice low. "Shunshin no Jutsu… silent steps. D-level. Yet worlds fall to flickers."
Lightning-fast chakra bursts wove across his frame. Already he was learning from memory, copying flickers of techniques he saw in combat. His ambition ran like wildfire.
And the path ahead only promised more battles to feed it.
In the shadows of the Land of Craftsmen, greater threats had already stirred. Team 7's trial was only beginning.
--
Unlock 50 exclusive advanced chapters for just $10 – don't miss out! Check the synopsis/description for the link! 🚀
Loved this fic? 🔥 Then you'll absolutely binge my other hits — "Douluo Dalu: Ten Thousand Years Early System!" & "Douluo Dalu: The Godly Drunkard System" — don't miss out!