Sarutobi Shinnosuke quickly found Yūhi Shinku, stated his purpose, and domineeringly demanded that Yūhi Shinku control his daughter.
He told him not to let his daughter get close to Kairen anymore, while also promising that one day Yūhi Shinku's daughter would marry into the Sarutobi family, thereby elevating Yūhi Shinku's status in the village.
Yūhi Shinku refused again and again, unwilling to hurt his daughter's feelings. But Sarutobi Shinnosuke used the Sarutobi family's influence to pressure him.
Helpless, Yūhi Shinku could only side with the Sarutobi family. He had to protect his daughter from harm at all costs.
The campfire at night burned brightly, driving away the rising chill from the earth.
Nara Yūji sensed the heavy silence. Clever as he was, he quickly found an excuse to go to sleep.
By the fire, only Yūhi Kurenai and Yūhi Shinku remained.
Yūhi Shinku clenched his teeth hard. Though he was an Elite Jōnin with some influence in the village, in front of the mighty Sarutobi family, he was like an ant.
"Kuren…"
Yūhi Kurenai lifted her head and looked at her father, her expression seemingly suppressing something.
"What is it, Papa?"
"From now on, don't go to Kairen anymore. Don't play with him. Forget about him!"
Yūhi Kurenai stared wide-eyed at Yūhi Shinku. He had always indulged her in everything, never interfering in her private matters.
This was the first time!
"What are you saying, Papa?" Yūhi Kurenai stood up.
Yūhi Shinku spoke each word firmly: "Don't go to Kairen anymore. Forget him completely! And also, forgive Asuma. Stop holding petty grudges with him."
"Why?"
Yūhi Kurenai raised her voice in protest: "Why? Why can't I see Kairen anymore?"
Yūhi Shinku's voice grew louder:
"There's no why! This is an order. I'm your supervising Jōnin. You must obey my words."
"But you're my papa!" Tears welled up in Yūhi Kurenai's eyes.
"I…"
Yūhi Shinku froze, gazing at his daughter's tears with deep pain.
In his thirty years of life, this was the first time he felt so powerless. The hands of the ninja clans constantly tore at the fates of civilians.
Kato Dan, White Fang, and so many others—who could block the colossal hand of the ninja clans moving the pieces of fate?
Yūhi Shinku hardened his heart: "This is the first order I've ever given you. Moku Kairen will not survive. Kurenai, forget him! The sooner you forget, the less it will hurt when the time comes."
The girl's tears fell. She couldn't believe her doting father could say something so cruel.
Yūhi Kurenai turned and ran off without looking back.
"You're all the same! One by one, you watch Kairen die. He's so pitiful, so lonely, yet he can never escape the schemes of adults."
Yūhi Shinku watched her run away. He didn't move, only stared silently into the burning flames.
The warmth of the fire was so real, yet his heart felt icy cold.
"We're all but sails on the sea—how could we possibly escape the endless whirlpools?"
...
On the Seventh Line of the Konoha front, a massive white-headed hawk pressed its claws down on the chest of a one-armed ninja.
The Sunagakure ninja Koshikawa pressed his blade against Jūjirō's neck.
"Who guards the Eighth Line on your side?"
Jūjirō's body was covered in blood, his internal organs torn apart.
Suddenly, the pressure on his chest grew stronger. Jūjirō cried out at once:
"It's Moku Kairen! He's been guarding the Eighth Line all along!"
"Moku Kairen? Who is he?"
Koshikawa mentally reviewed Konoha's list of Jōnin. He had never once heard of anyone named Moku Kairen.
Jūjirō immediately answered: "He's a civilian Genin. Because he offended the Sarutobi family's young master, he was exiled to the Eighth Line to die!"
"A Genin?"
Koshikawa was full of doubt. Konoha had a mere Genin guarding the Eighth Line, yet Sunagakure had already lost 8 Special Jōnin and 12 Chūnin?
"Do you take me for a fool? You dare lie to me?!" Koshikawa suddenly slashed down.
The light in Jūjirō's eyes dimmed slowly, but his broken, stammering voice persisted:
"I… I… didn't lie to you…"
Koshikawa leapt onto the black hawk, standing atop its neck as the wind howled past.
"Head for the Eighth Line. I don't believe Konoha would station a Genin there!"
The hawk screeched, its vast wings blotting out the moonlight.
...
"Wuuu… wuuu…" A girl's sobs echoed in the dark night.
Yūhi Kurenai pushed through the thorns that blocked her, ignoring the bloody scratches on her hands as she stumbled blindly through the forest.
She didn't know where she was, nor where she was going.
It was the first time her father had made such a harsh demand.
Forgive Asuma. Forget Kairen.
The world of adults was so complicated. Yūhi Kurenai only wanted to save her comrades, only wanted to escape the dark whirlpool of the village. But no one could resist the crushing weight of the ninja clans.
A piercing hawk's cry rang from the sky. The beasts in the forest panicked, their calls rising chaotically, as though bowing to the black monarch of the heavens.
Yūhi Kurenai looked up. A massive black hawk circled in the night sky, a Sunagakure ninja with a headband standing on its white-feathered neck.
"Sunagakure ninja!"
Her heart sank. She immediately dove into the dense forest.
The black hawk's vision was sharp. Even in such darkness, it spotted Yūhi Kurenai instantly.
Koshikawa noticed the fleeing girl below.
"A Konoha Genin? Is it her?"
Judging from the way the girl scrambled in panic, it was impossible for her to be a powerful ninja capable of defending the Eighth Line.
"Capture her!"
Yūhi Shinku's instincts were razor-sharp. He faintly heard the cry of a summoned hawk and immediately grew alert.
"A summoned beast… Sunagakure's ninja hawk. Damn it, Kurenai!"
Without another word, Yūhi Shinku grabbed his blade and sprinted in the direction Yūhi Kurenai had fled.
Nara Yūji also rushed out of his tent, quickly deducing the urgency of the situation.
At the Eighth Line, Kairen's eyelid twitched. In cliché tales, this was usually a sign of bad luck.
With no one else to ask, he turned to his Infinite Resurrection System: "System, what's going on? Why is my right eyelid twitching?"
The system replied truthfully: "Host hasn't slept for a long time. Twitching eyelids are natural."
"You're still joking with me! Answer seriously!"
"Host, focus all your chakra into the Byakugan to expand detection range."
Kairen immediately followed. He formed hand seals.
"Byakugan — Open!"
Chakra surged into his eyes continuously.
The Byakugan's range began to expand.
1 kilometer.
2 kilometers.
Still nothing. Kairen quickly opened the Third Gate of the Eight Gates.
His skin flushed red, green energy bursting out of his body. Overdrawing on his life force, he forced more chakra into the Byakugan.
3 kilometers.
4 kilometers.
8 kilometers.
10 kilometers! The Byakugan's detection range expanded past 10 kilometers. He scanned intensely—and suddenly saw two immense chakra signatures in the sky.
The larger one was chaotic, belonging to a summoned beast. The other was stronger than a Special Jōnin, belonging to a Jōnin.
And there was another faint chakra… one Kairen knew very well.
"Kurenai!"
Kairen slashed his blade across his neck, reviving instantly. He opened the Third Gate once more and used Body Flicker, rushing toward the direction Yūhi Kurenai had been taken.
With all three Gates open, endless chakra poured into Body Flicker.
In the night sky, he was like a streak of green light cutting across the silent forest.
"Faster! Faster! Faster!"
Kairen accelerated relentlessly, forming seals again and again, unleashing Body Flicker without pause.
The three chakra gates in his body spewed chakra nonstop.
"Ahhh—!"
Kairen roared low, steam bursting from his body. His nutrients were burning away, his life force ebbing with each passing second.
He was like a gale sweeping the forest, closing in on Koshikawa.
7 kilometers.
6 kilometers.
5 kilometers.
Agonizing pain shot through Kairen's body as the side effects of the Eight Gates took hold. He immediately detonated the explosive tag on his chest.
...
The chapter is for the review, thank you