After being resurrected, Moku Kairen once again opened the Three Gates, pushing his Body Flicker to the extreme.
4 kilometers!
3 kilometers!
1 kilometer!
Kairen lifted his head. Beneath the moonlit sky, a giant eagle soared.
Unlike Dōheimon's wind eagle, this hawk was pitch black, far larger than Dōheimon's summoning beast, with twice as much chakra.
"Boom——"
Kairen immediately detonated an explosive tag. After being blown apart and resurrecting again, he entered his green-light Body Flicker sprint mode.
The blast from the explosive tag drew the black eagle's attention. It let out a piercing cry, circling once in the sky.
Koshikawa sensed his partner's agitation, his pupils shifting downward.
A green streak was shooting toward them at extreme speed, the distance closing in a flash.
"What is that? A green flash?!"
200 meters below the eagle, Kairen stomped down hard, gouging a crater more than ten meters wide.
He leapt upward, like a missile being launched, shooting straight for the eagle.
The night was cold. The wind in the sky lashed against the scarred girl's body. Yūhi Kurenai didn't dare open her eyes, afraid the wind would injure her pupils.
Her heart was filled with despair. Captured by Sunagakure shinobi and brought back to their main camp—what kind of torment and humiliation awaited her?
Wasn't it the same for Kairen back then? Captured by Sunagakure, with no one coming to rescue him… he must have felt the same despair!
Kurenai thought of the boy. Kairen had changed so much, which meant he had endured even greater pain and suffering.
"Red——"
A resounding shout rose from below. Kurenai glanced down in confusion, only to see a figure radiating green energy soaring upward.
"Kairen——"
The girl cried out in surprise, then quickly shouted in panic:
"Go back, go back! He's a Jōnin, you can't defeat him!"
Koshikawa finally saw the figure clearly.
"A child? And he can use this kind of ninjutsu?!"
He instantly formed hand seals, spitting out dozens of wind blades.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"
Kairen brought four fingers together, front to back:
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
"Boom boom boom boom boom…"
In an instant, white smoke erupted all around him as about 100 shadow clones appeared, suspended in midair.
The moment they were created, they cursed the heavens, blaming the original for being such a bastard—releasing them this high up!
Several shadow clones formed a shield for Kairen, intercepting Koshikawa's wind blades.
But one blade still grazed Kairen's shoulder, slicing clean through his left arm.
Kurenai screamed in worry:
"Kairen——"
But Kairen didn't stop. Stepping on a shadow clone's head, he launched himself forward, finally reaching the black eagle.
"Kyaww——"
The eagle flapped its wings, climbing higher into the sky.
Kairen's clones formed a human bridge in midair. One clone grabbed his foot, flinging him upward with tremendous force, giving Kairen massive acceleration.
"Go!"
He shot upward, smashing into the eagle's talons.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
With one-handed seals, he expelled a massive fireball that engulfed the eagle's feathers.
"Kyaww~"
The eagle shrieked in pain, instinctively loosening its grip. Kurenai fell.
Kairen caught her with his one remaining hand. She opened her eyes slightly, looking at the boy whose skin was flushed and glowing with green energy.
"Kairen…"
Kairen cradled Kurenai as they plummeted, the gravitational force combining into kinetic energy.
The sheer downward momentum was enough to smash any person into paste on impact.
Yet in that desperate moment, Kurenai felt a strange calm settle in her heart.
Bathed in moonlight—the boy, the girl. Wasn't this exactly the beautiful scene described in stories?
The scars left by her father's harshness slowly faded. Her resentment toward the power struggles of the village ebbed away.
Now, in her heart, there was only the boy holding her.
"Kairen, I'm so glad you're here!"
As they plunged, Kairen released Kurenai with his right hand and quickly formed seals.
In an instant, about 50 clones stacked beneath them.
Kairen caught Kurenai again, using the clones to cushion their fall.
"Original, damn you!"
"Original, screw you—"
One by one the clones exploded, each cursing Kairen's entire family before disappearing.
They landed, bent their knees, and rolled—everything in one seamless motion.
Kairen deactivated the Eight Gates, exhaustion crashing through his body. Enduring the pain, he gently set the girl down.
He comforted her:
"Kurenai, everything's okay now."
Tears streamed from Kurenai's eyes as she looked at Kairen's severed arm.
"You fool, why did you come to save me?"
Kairen glanced at his missing limb.
"Don't worry. Just a scratch."
The girl threw herself into his arms.
"Idiot! Big idiot! Super big idiot!"
Kairen froze.
As a 20-year-old single otaku, he suddenly discovered the trick to winning a girl's sympathy: self-harm. The more miserable, the better—so she'd feel heartache, and through that pain, he'd gain the "first right to mate."
He patted Kurenai's soft back with his right hand.
"Don't cry. My recovery ability is strong. I'll be healed by tomorrow."
"You're lying! No ninja can grow an arm back after it's cut off!"
"Secret Art: Hundred Feathers Shatter the Sky!"
Above them, Koshikawa—an old bachelor—couldn't stand the sight of Kairen and Kurenai's lovey-dovey display. He immediately unleashed his combined jutsu with his summoned beast.
Hundreds of feathers floated in the sky, each pure white, as thick as bamboo, beautiful yet brimming with killing intent.
"Hundred Feathers Shatter the Sky—Release!"
The barrage of feathers rained down, blotting out the heavens.
"One-Handed Body Flicker!"
Kairen instantly formed seals, teleporting with Kurenai—but his chakra was nearly exhausted. They only made it to the edge of Koshikawa's wind techniques.
Dozens of wind-imbued feathers shot down from the sky. Kairen rolled with Kurenai, dodging three or four, but five still came, full of killing intent.
Too late to avoid them, Kairen braced one hand above Kurenai, using his body to shield her.
"Kairen——"
Kurenai's wide eyes froze on that moment—the boy sheltering her from the storm.
"Whoosh whoosh…"
The deadly feathers pierced his body.
One drove through his stomach into the ground, another pierced his chest. Kairen grabbed it with one hand, stopping it from striking Kurenai.
"Cough cough…"
Blood poured from his mouth, his life force fading, the light in his eyes dimming.
Kurenai trembled, her hands frantically wiping the blood from his lips.
"Kairen, don't die, don't die…"
On his knees, head bowed, the glow left Kairen's eyes.
"…You are… the red haze of the sunset… and I am… the cloud chasing after you…"
The brightness faded from his gaze, his heartbeat stilled.
"Kairen!!"
Agonizing grief tore through the girl's heart. In that moment, all she remembered was the cloud that had sacrificed itself for her.
Tears streamed down her face.
"Why? Why? You survived two weeks on the frontlines, but now you died saving me."
"Kairen, please come back to life——"
A massive shadow loomed over Kurenai, but she didn't look up. She had shut herself away from the outside world.
Standing on the black eagle's head, Koshikawa gazed coldly at the crying girl.
"This is the shinobi world. The curse of cruelty and indifference will be passed from generation to generation, until humanity itself vanishes."
"Hm?!"
From Koshikawa's view, Kairen's corpse released a plume of white smoke, obscuring the ground below.
"Smoke? An undying bloodline?!"
His eyes widened. As an intelligence shinobi, he had encountered ANBU reports and naturally knew the descriptions of the rumored immortal bloodline among the upper echelons.
"Smoke?!"
Kurenai looked around in confusion as white mist spread. A finger gently tapped one of her sleep points.
Uncontrollably, she fell unconscious.
A shadow clone of Kairen emerged, carrying Kurenai into the forest.
When the smoke cleared, a boy in white clothing, chest bare, stood with hands on his hips.
His eyes gleamed like twin black gems beneath the moonlight.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is—Moku Kairen!"