Brown fur.
A massive frame.
A scarred face twisted in rage, roaring as it charged.
It was a brown bear.
And not just any bear—
It was the very chakra beast that had once forced Hyūga Akira to retreat in humiliation.
A bear infused with chakra.
Still a bear… but a dangerous one.
"Long time no see," Akira said, his smile stiff and cold as he looked at the monster.
The bear spotted him atop the tree.
Enemies meeting again—hatred burned bright.
Just as Akira had never forgotten this thing, the bear had never forgotten him either.
The scar on its face?
Akira's handiwork.
This bastard dared to show his face again.
Back then, the bear had been the handsome one of its pack.
All it did was glance in Akira's direction once—
And immediately ate a shuriken to the face.
Who did it offend? What crime had it committed?
The more it thought about it, the angrier it became.
"ROOOAR!!"
The brown bear charged.
Akira slid the bronze blade back into his belt and filled both hands with shuriken.
His arms blurred.
"Flaming Shuriken!"
The shuriken ignited midair, turning into fireballs that slammed into the bear's body.
Sparks flew.
Metal shattered.
The shuriken bounced away uselessly.
The only result—
Charred fur.
That only enraged the bear further.
It reached the tree Akira stood on and smashed the trunk with one paw.
The tree snapped.
Akira leapt to another branch as his barrage continued without pause.
Finally irritated, the bear lunged sideways and hid behind a massive rock.
Akira stopped throwing.
That rock was sturdier than the tree.
He dropped to the ground and began circling it.
Seeing Akira come down, the bear abandoned cover and charged again, all fours pounding the earth.
The shuriken barrage resumed.
Whoosh—whoosh—
Fireballs slammed into its body as it bulldozed forward, completely ignoring the damage.
Akira stopped running.
He stopped throwing.
Instead, he drew the bronze battle blade.
"This thing's defense is ridiculous."
Normal shuriken were useless.
Last time, he'd struggled for ages just to wound its face.
And Flaming Shuriken drained chakra too fast.
Better to cut it.
The bronze blade boosted attack power—far more efficient.
Akira stepped forward.
In an instant, he was beside the bear.
The bear swiped.
BOOM!
Smoke erupted.
Akira turned into splintered wood as the paw smashed through it.
Substitution.
Akira appeared behind the shattered log, both hands gripping the blade as he slashed hard into the bear's arm.
Blood sprayed.
"ROAR!!"
The bear snapped its jaws toward him.
Akira flicked his wrist.
A kunai—somehow already in his hand—flew upward.
The bear bit down—
Straight onto the blade.
The soft flesh inside its mouth was pierced.
Akira appeared above it.
The blade fell.
Straight for the neck.
It cut in—
But met terrifying resistance.
"Thick," Akira muttered through clenched teeth.
Chakra surged into his arms.
"Pseudo—Monster Strength!"
Veins bulged.
He forced the blade down inch by inch, grinding through muscle and bone.
The blade passed through—
Carrying its momentum into the air in a half arc.
The bear's massive head hit the ground and rolled.
A panel flashed.
[Experience +763]
Akira exhaled slowly.
"That was annoying."
On the corpse, one paw glowed faintly.
He stepped forward and picked it up.
[Skill Book: Bear Wrestling Hands]
"…No equipment drop?"
Akira frowned.
Skills were piling up, but his chakra pool still lagged behind.
He learned it anyway.
Memories flooded his mind.
Bear Wrestling Hands required no hand seals—it was pure chakra control that amplified hand strength.
"Similar to Monster Strength… but worse."
It granted the strength of a bear to the hands alone, scaling with level.
Senju Monster Strength enhanced the entire body and scaled with chakra volume.
This one was inferior.
"Shame I can't properly learn Monster Strength."
He'd observed Nawaki countless times with the Byakugan and even mimicked it partially.
But since no skill formed, it was clearly just technique.
Monster Strength consumed massive chakra.
Only someone with Senju blood could spam it.
Otherwise, it would've formed a skill long ago.
Akira used his blade to carve open the bear's corpse, letting blood spill freely.
The scent spread.
"One bear isn't enough."
Blood was the best lure.
Night fell.
In the darkness, pairs of green eyes slowly appeared.
Akira flicked the blood from his blade and smiled.
He walked into the darkness.
Slowly.
Then faster.
Then he leapt.
Blade raised high.
Elsewhere—
Nawaki hung from a tree, dead-eyed.
Rope bound his ankles.
His arm—once broken—was fully healed.
Minato had set it properly, and Senju recovery did the rest.
Physically healed.
Mentally unchanged.
They'd tried to find Akira—
And triggered trap after trap instead.
Minato stood beneath the tree, hesitating, glancing between Nawaki and Kushina—who was also hanging upside down.
"AAAAH!! DAMN IT!! I'LL KILL THAT BASTARD!!"
Kushina roared.
The meek little girl act was completely gone.
Full-blown rampaging dragon.
"How twisted do you have to be to set this many traps?!"
Two steps—trap.
Three steps—explosive tag.
She and Nawaki had stepped on most of them.
She'd managed to spot a few.
Nawaki?
He was something else.
Anywhere he walked—there was a trap.
His torn clothes told the story.
Normal trap detection relied on observation.
Minato used awareness.
Nawaki used his body.
If a trap existed, he would trigger it.
Minato watched silently.
"…Nawaki-niisan," he said cautiously.
"Do you think specializing in traps… might suit you?"
Nawaki hung there, lifeless.
"…Maybe."
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