The forest trembled with the ceaseless hum of wings. Clouds of insects poured through the trees like a living storm, chasing Mitsuki through the branches.
He moved like a streak of silver, body twisting and gliding from limb to limb, barely a shadow between bursts of sunlight.
Once he'd drawn half the swarm far enough, he spun in midair and flung a cluster of shuriken back toward them. His hands blurred into seals.
"Lightning Release: Swift Lightning!"
The shuriken ignited with streaks of light, and in the next instant, the air split with a snap. A surge of lightning flashed through the swarm—then another, and another—each one leaping between wings and carapaces until the entire flock was a convulsing storm of crackling blue arcs.
The forest echoed with the staccato sound of insect bodies hitting the ground.
When the last of the arcs faded, Mitsuki exhaled and whispered,
"Wind Release: Kamaitachi."
He swept both hands forward, sending a crescent of compressed air slicing through the remaining few. Without Shino's focused control, the scattered bugs were aimless—mere shadows of their threat—and vanished beneath the slicing wind.
With the air clear, Mitsuki paused to breathe. Then, with the quiet precision that was second nature to him, he made for the lake—his and Boruto's rendezvous point.
By the time Mitsuki arrived, sunlight glimmered off the surface in fractured patterns.
Boruto sat cross-legged atop the water, scroll unfurled across his knees, reading with an almost meditative calm.
Mitsuki approached quietly. "Reviewing what you learned last night?"
Boruto didn't look up. "No. Just some basic Water Release techniques. This lake happens to make a good classroom."
Mitsuki couldn't help but smile faintly. Basic techniques, he thought, recalling the hundred shadow clones Boruto had unleashed the night before.
Sure.
But their brief calm was shattered when the surrounding forest began to stir again. The faint tremor of countless wings rippled through the trees.
Shino had found them.
He emerged from the shadows of the trees, eyes dull, steps heavy. Yet behind him, a storm of insects boiled into the air, blotting out the sun.
"It's too late to start learning now," he said, voice low and cracked.
Boruto turned, smirking. "And you sound like a barking dog, Sensei."
Mitsuki's eyes flicked between them. "Boruto… It's starting."
The two exchanged a grin. Mischief. Determination.
Shino's composure broke. "You two—don't underestimate a Jōnin!"
His rage flared, and with it came an explosion of black wings. The swarm poured from his body in waves, darkening the sky above the lake.
Boruto's smirk lingered. "Water Release — Tide!"
Mitsuki's seals followed immediately. "Lightning Release — Serpent Lightning!"
The calm lake convulsed. Water surged upward in waves that rolled and crashed, spreading across the shore in white spray. At the same time, golden arcs of electricity danced across the churning surface, turning the lake into a glimmering trap of light and current.
The storm of water and lightning collided with the falling insects. A cacophony of pops and crackles filled the air as wave after wave of insects were swept and electrocuted in flashes of gold. For a moment, the air itself seemed to vibrate with static.
Then—movement.
Boruto blinked. The insects that had fallen limp into the water began to twitch, then rise again.
"They… got back up?" he muttered.
From the opposite shore, Shino straightened, expression eerily calm. "My insects develop antibodies when exposed to stress. They evolve, adapt. These are no longer ordinary parasites—they're superior."
Boruto's jaw tightened. "Adaptability like that shouldn't even exist…"
He inhaled deeply, chakra swirling around his hands.
"Then let's see if evolution can beat nature itself! Water Release — Water Dragon Tornado!"
The lake erupted again. A column of spiraling water surged skyward, spinning with ferocious speed, its roar echoing through the clearing. The wind generated was strong enough to strip leaves from nearby trees. Within the swirling vortex, Shino's insects were shredded into fragments, their carapaces scattering like rain.
Shino's eyes widened. The loss hit him like a blow to the chest. For a moment, his calm cracked—and fury replaced it.
He lunged across the lake.
A Jōnin's speed was frightening. One blink, and he was already there—kunai flashing, the spray beneath his sandals splitting apart. Boruto barely raised his own blade in time, the metal shrieking as their weapons met. Mitsuki joined the fray instantly, intercepting Shino's next strike with his forearm.
It was chaos in motion—steel clashing, chakra crackling, feet skimming water. Despite the difference in power, Boruto and Mitsuki fought with surprising rhythm: one attacking, one intercepting, both moving like reflections of the same thought.
But Shino was relentless. The years of battle experience behind every motion made him unstoppable. He moved like a storm, his strikes carrying the weight of instinct. Before long, both boys were bleeding from shallow cuts, breath ragged.
Boruto backed off, panting, Rasengan blooming in his palm. "Then try this!"
He hurled himself forward, but Shino's insects immediately surged into formation, forming a living wall that absorbed the impact. The Rasengan sputtered against the black mass, dissolving in a burst of spray.
"Not enough," Shino said coldly, advancing with his kunai.
Boruto's eyes sharpened. "Maybe not alone."
"Mitsuki!" he shouted.
Without hesitation, Mitsuki dropped to one knee and pressed both hands against the lake.
Lightning webbed out across the surface in an instant, spreading like veins of gold through the water—straight toward Shino.
The Jōnin's eyes narrowed. "Predictable."
With a flicker, he vanished from sight, reappearing behind the two of them. "You're still green."
Exactly as planned.
Mitsuki's back was turned, the perfect opening. Shino lunged, blade first, insects flaring behind him to cut off Boruto's defense. The kunai tore through Mitsuki's cloak—through his skin—and the Jōnin smirked, triumphant.
Then he froze.
Boruto was smiling.
A sharp pop echoed through the clearing—followed by a puff of smoke.
Not again… Shino thought, horrified. Another clone?!
The ground beneath his feet shifted. From the earth, two chakra-formed arms erupted, wrapping around his legs like iron restraints. Shino struggled, but they held fast.
"Now!" Mitsuki's voice rang out from the lake's edge.
"Got it!" Boruto sprinted forward, the air screaming around his spiraling hand.
The Rasengan grew as he ran—swelling, roaring, glowing like a miniature sun.
Shino barely had time to look up.
The impact hit like thunder. The water exploded outward in a massive geyser, swallowing the clearing in mist. When it cleared, a crater the size of a house filled the lake's center, waves still rippling from the force.
Shino's body floated motionless for a moment before slowly sinking beneath the surface.
Underwater, silence enveloped him. The cold pressed in from all sides.
His limbs felt heavy, unresponsive. Shame and exhaustion dragged him down deeper than the water ever could.
I… nearly killed them.
As his vision darkened, a hand caught his arm. A pulse of chakra. Then—motion. The world rushed upward as he was hurled from the depths, crashing back onto the shore in a splash of white spray.
Gasping, Shino blinked up—and saw Mitsuki pulling him from the edge of the water.
"The one who jumped in was a shadow clone," Mitsuki said gently. "Boruto already went back to class."
For a long moment, Shino just stared, rainwater—or maybe tears—trailing down his face.
He looked toward the empty lake, then let out a faint, incredulous sigh.
"…That kid…"