CHAPTER 29 — "Fangs Beneath the Fog"
The mist thickened until even breathing felt heavy.
Their steps grew quieter.
Even the trees seemed to hold their breath.
Temari hugged her arms, voice trembling.
"Something is… wrong here."
Shoto forced a grin, though his eyes darted nervously.
"Relax… it's just fog. Fog can't kill you, right?"
Ashura stayed silent, gaze fixed ahead.
Every instinct inside him whispered danger.
Haruto walked calmly… too calmly.
Humming.
Ashura narrowed his eyes.
(thinking)
"What kind of guide hums in a place like this?"
---
A rotten torii gate loomed overhead.
As they passed beneath it, Ashura felt a whisper slide past his ear—
—turn back—
He turned sharply. Nothing.
Just mist.
He exhaled slowly.
"…Keep moving."
---
The path twisted unnaturally.
The ground felt uneven now — as if it didn't want to be walked on.
Then—
Shoto stopped suddenly.
He swallowed hard.
"Someone's watching."
Ashura:
"I know."
Haruto didn't look back.
"Perhaps just the spirits. They're curious."
His tone was too casual.
Like he'd been here many times before.
Ashura frowned.
(thinking)
He's hiding something.
---
A low growl crawled out of the fog behind them.
Before Temari could blink,
a shadow blasted toward Shoto — claws open wide.
Ashura moved.
His blade flashed.
Lightning erupted beneath his feet—
"忍法・電迅 (Ninpō: Denjin)!"
Flash Step.
He appeared in front of Shoto, catching the creature's strike —
the impact forcing him backward.
Temari gasped.
Shoto stumbled away, pale.
The thing before them snarled —
wolf-shaped, but wrong.
Twisted limbs.
Black veins.
Hollow pits instead of eyes.
It lunged again — fast.
Ashura countered, slashing downward —
"忍法・嵐斬 (Ninpō: Aranzan)!"
Tempest Slash.
Heat and wind tore across the creature,
ripping flesh from bone.
It howled —
a disturbingly human cry.
Temari covered her mouth.
"That… that didn't sound like a beast…"
Ashura:
"Focus."
The creature blurred —
circling, lunging from behind.
Ashura barely blocked —
the hit driving him into the ground.
(thinking)
"Fast… too fast. Like a trained fighter…"
---
It sprang upward, soaring toward him.
Ashura jumped to meet it—
"忍法・空撃 (Ninpō: Kūgeki)!"
Aerial Burst.
A fiery ignition launched him upward.
They crashed mid-air —
his fist slamming into its skull.
The beast hit the ground hard,
shrieking.
Ashura landed, sparks simmering around his fist.
His stance tightened.
"忍法・焔拳 (Ninpō: Enken)!"
Burning Fist.
He struck.
A wave of molten heat pulsed along the earth —
exploding beneath the creature.
A flash —
a scream —
and silence.
Smoke coiled upward.
Only charred soil remained.
Shoto exhaled, shaking.
"B-bro… you roasted it…"
Temari:
"That thing wasn't natural…"
---
Ashura wiped his blade clean—
eyes narrowing.
Haruto finally turned.
Calm.
Too calm.
Haruto:
"Impressive response time. The forest… tests those who enter."
Ashura studied him.
"You didn't sense it?"
Haruto smiled gently.
"Perhaps it didn't see me as worth approaching."
A tiny chill ran down Temari's spine.
Before her eyes,
the creature's remains dissolved into black mist—
trickling into the roots below.
Shoto recoiled.
"W-What!?"
Temari:
"It… vanished…"
Ashura scanned the woods.
No trace.
(thinking)
"There's more to this island…
and more to that man."
---
Haruto turned back toward the path.
"This way. The shrine awaits."
As he walked,
mist briefly parted from his wrist—
revealing strange markings
before his sleeve covered them again.
And for just a moment,
when Haruto thought no one was watching,
a thin, delighted grin stretched across his face…
(Haruto — thinking)
Wonderful…
Show me more, Ashura.