Asuma, the Inuzuka jōnin, and the Akimichi jōnin all grew solemn, exchanging glances.
They weren't surprised that Kazuki had come back.
That much was expected.
Otherwise, Jaeger wouldn't still be alive.
What truly shook them was how Kazuki had arrived without a sound.
The ninja hound hadn't even warned them.
The Inuzuka hadn't smelled danger.
What kind of person could suppress their presence to this degree?
If they didn't have Hyūga Yū with them, in that instant… they might have all died already.
Asuma shifted his gaze off Kazuki.
His eyes flicked subtly to the ceiling beams. He removed the cigarette from his mouth and tossed it away as if it didn't matter.
Naturally—almost casually—his hands drifted toward the ninja tool pouch strapped to his thigh.
Hyūga Yū's eyes widened.
A chill crawled up his spine.
His spirit and chakra were being controlled. He couldn't even make the smallest movement to warn his teammates.
"You shouldn't have come back…"
Kurenai's long lashes trembled. Her eyes shimmered as she stared at Kazuki with a soft, aching tenderness, her breath unsteady as she murmured to herself.
The scene she feared most—
Had arrived without warning.
The room remained dead quiet.
Kurenai understood she couldn't stop what was about to happen.
Her heart sank.
She grabbed the woman behind her who was holding the baby, her gaze hardening from worry into resolve as she swept it across Asuma's group.
"I'm withdrawing from this mission…"
She led the woman out of the wooden house.
In the corner, Doctor Nake knew this was his last chance in his entire life to escape this room.
He immediately followed behind Kurenai toward the door.
Kazuki didn't stop her.
As they passed each other, Kurenai paused.
Her brows knit. She lifted her face, looking up at Kazuki's beautifully defined profile.
Tears gathered in her crimson eyes—resentment and pleading tangled together.
She looked at him.
Kazuki didn't react.
Kurenai bit her lip. Her chest rose and fell, her heart thundering wildly.
She understood what he intended.
Then she turned away without another word and left.
Kazuki's gaze shifted to Yakushi Nono.
The wandering shrine maiden's eyes widened as she studied the handsome young man who had appeared out of nowhere, as if she'd discovered a piece of art.
But the moment her eyes met the blood-red glare of his Sharingan, whatever appreciation she'd felt vanished instantly—replaced by trembling fear.
"Help me save someone," Kazuki said plainly.
"I'll pay you a fitting reward."
His voice was calm.
Yet the persuasion inside it was undeniable.
"Y-yes…" Nono's brows drooped. She reined in her emotions and left without hesitation.
The moment she stepped outside, Nanpū—waiting at the door—escorted her away.
Asuma watched Kurenai's back disappear and, strangely, felt relieved.
From this point on—
Whether they killed Kazuki, or Kazuki killed them—
Kurenai wouldn't be caught in the aftermath.
In the corner, Jaeger wanted to run too.
But the kunai in Hyūga Yū's hand erased the thought before it formed.
Asuma was about to speak before the fight—
Then he realized something horrifying.
No matter how hard he tried, his lips wouldn't move.
"So that's it."
"As expected, his eyes can control people."
"As troublesome as they said…"
"But we've chased him this far. How much chakra can those eyes have left?"
Asuma forced his thoughts to stay sharp.
At this moment, only his brain could still move.
Not only Asuma.
The Akimichi jōnin, the Inuzuka jōnin, and even the ninja hound—
All remained frozen in the exact posture they'd held when they turned, like wax statues.
Kazuki gripped his blade and walked toward Asuma.
They both understood.
Once they met—
Only one side would leave alive.
One was Konoha.
One was a fugitive.
There was no middle ground.
Asuma stared at Kazuki.
His eyes couldn't blink. They were already bloodshot, tears spilling reflexively from his ducts.
All he could do now was breathe—
And wait for Kazuki to take his life.
The distance closed.
Red light flickered in Kazuki's eyes.
His hand tightened around the hilt.
Then he swung.
Cold light burst.
The straight blade carved a sharp arc through the air, flashing with killing intent.
At the same instant, the other three—still caught under Yachiman's control—began drawing their kunai, moving to stab their own abdomens.
And then—
From the roof came the echo of chanting.
Deep, chakra-laced Buddhist sutras.
Solemn. Majestic. Pure.
The sound washed through the wooden house like flowing water, scrubbing away discord in the mind.
Asuma's mental state—already chaotic under control—snapped loose.
The moment the blade slashed toward his throat, he regained movement, rolling aside.
Kazuki's sword cut across his back and right shoulder blade, ripping open a deep wound.
Yachiman's control faltered—briefly.
"Spread out!" Hyūga Yū roared.
"Damn it—waiting until the last second to act?" the Inuzuka jōnin cursed as he retreated, hugging his dog close.
The four jōnin scattered to the corners, forming an encirclement around Kazuki at the center.
Above them, the sutra chanting continued.
Kazuki watched without emotion.
Asuma's "insurance" didn't surprise him at all.
His Mangekyō's Yin chakra hadn't recovered fully.
He only had thirty percent.
He had to reserve ten.
Which meant he could only spend twenty.
And that was why—
The solemn, thunderous sutras could disrupt the control.
Even if he had immediately targeted Hyūga Yū, the countermeasure would have triggered regardless.
Jaeger—still inside—looked up in horror.
The chanting was pouring down from the roof, as if the ceiling were crowded with monks.
And it was.
On the roof sat ten monks in meditation, palms pressed together, heads bowed, lips moving in continuous recitation.
They were reinforcements from the Fire Temple.
The sutra's Sanskrit resonance strengthened mental will—
And interfered with genjutsu and spiritual manipulation.
Inside the house—
"Yukimaru… don't be afraid," the Inuzuka jōnin said, still wearing a gentle smile.
He crouched beside his dog and pulled something from his pocket.
"Eat this."
"When this fight is over, I'll dig up as many as you want."
The white-furred dog stared at it.
The stench hit its brain like a spike.
Its limbs trembled, stress snapping tight—
Then it changed.
The nervousness vanished.
A savage hunger flooded in.
Its pupils glowed green.
It opened its jaws, fangs bared, foul drool stringing down to the floor.
Yukimaru bit down and swallowed.
Jaeger's eyes flew wide.
He stared at what the dog had eaten—
And suddenly his stomach lurched as he gagged violently.
He was a hunter.
He knew organs.
That wasn't from a beast.
That was a human heart.
If he wasn't mistaken, it had been cut from one of the refugees.
In the next instant—
Yukimaru's neck thickened.
Muscles bulged in hard knots.
Veins crawled over its body.
Claws extended, sharp as blades.
The Inuzuka jōnin formed seals.
A shadow clone split off at his side.
He smiled.
"Inuzuka: Human–Beast Combination Transformation—Three-Headed Wolf!"
Poof—
Smoke exploded outward.
A massive wolf appeared—three heads, snow-white fur, black claws like scythes, corded muscle everywhere—its sheer size tearing through one corner of the wooden house.
Hiss—
Asuma drew a deep breath, enduring the burning pain in his back.
From his tool pouch, he pulled out the Chakra Blade: Shin Ichimonji, fitting it across four fingers.
Wind chakra flowed in, sharpening it into a killing edge as he locked his eyes on Kazuki.
"Multi-Size Technique!" the Akimichi jōnin roared.
His body expanded, swelling into a giant inside the cramped room.
His fists inflated into enormous slabs of flesh.
His presence surged with it.
Hyūga Yū spread his arms wide.
His Byakugan never faded, his sight piercing through everything as he settled into the Gentle Fist stance.
At the center of the shattered house—
Kazuki's Mangekyō angled left and right.
One man.
One blade.
Like a single leaf-boat surrounded by storm waves—
As if it could capsize at any moment.
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