Jūbēi swung his bde in a horizontal arc, and Lian Chi seized the opportunity to crouch down, throwing a kunai at Jūbēi.
Jūbēi's red eyes widened with a fierce gre, and with a swift motion, he lifted his foot and kicked Lian Chi in the chest, sending him flying. Lian Chi crashed into a tree trunk, coughing up blood.
Seeing Jūbēi charging toward him with his bde raised to strike again, Lian Chi hastily darted around the tree to dodge. The enraged Jūbēi wasn't going to give him a moment of respite and pursued relentlessly, sshing through the air.
Lian Chi colpsed under the tree, clutching his abdomen. The kick had at least broken three of his ribs.
"Wait! Spare me! I won't trouble you again! I—I can help you. You saw it, that bald bastard betrayed me. I can help you catch him, kill him!" Lian Chi shrank back, his voice trembling with fear.
Jūbēi's murderous gre softened slightly, his rationality beginning to return. Coldly, he replied, "Too te." With that, he swung his right arm, and the bde sshed through Lian Chi's throat.
But no blood spttered. Lian Chi's figure began to fade, vanishing before Jūbēi's eyes.
Jūbēi's pupils contracted, and his combat instincts kicked in. He moved to dodge, but it was too te.
"Thud," the sound of something sharp piercing flesh filled the air. A searing pain shot through Jūbēi's back as Lian Chi's kunai had pierced his heart from behind.
"W-What kind of sorcery is this?" Jūbēi's mouth spurted blood as he slowly turned his head.
"Heh, you pitiful fools who've never seen ninjutsu. 'Stone Lion' Jūbēi? Just a joke. You simply never encountered a ninja," Lian Chi scoffed, his gaze sweeping over the dying Jūbēi. He pulled out his kunai and turned to walk into the forest.
He needed to find the yellow-haired rogue ninja, the only ally among the three.
But just as Lian Chi turned, Jūbēi—whose eyes had already lost their gleam—slowly lifted his head, and his gaze fred with renewed rage.
With a sharp "whoosh," Lian Chi heard the sound of slicing wind. He rolled forward to evade, but the bde still left a deep gash across his back, cutting so deep that his lungs were visible through the wound.
"Ah! You filthy bastard!" Lian Chi roared, charging back at the now-lifeless Jūbēi. He relentlessly drove his kunai into Jūbēi's body.
The sound of metal sinking into flesh echoed, and soon Jūbēi's corpse was riddled with blood-soaked holes. Only when he was certain Jūbēi wouldn't rise again did Lian Chi spit on the dead man's face. He turned and began searching for the yellow-haired rogue.
He needed someone to help stitch up his back.
…
"Big Brother Xiong'er!" Konan gasped, staring in disbelief at the lifeless body of Xiong'er. They had never seen a substitution technique before and had thought they'd won, only to be met with tragic death. Xiong'er had taken the fatal blow meant for Yahiko.
"Bastard!" Yahiko was consumed with fury. He dashed forward, wielding a hunting knife and aiming for the yellow-haired rogue ninja's body.
But the yellow-haired rogue ninja, being a seasoned shinobi, easily avoided Yahiko's attack. He countered with a swift, vicious kick to Yahiko's kidneys, sending him flying.
Yahiko tumbled to the ground and began dry heaving, his vision blurring as everything around him went dark.
"Yahiko!!" Nagato shouted in panic, his legs shaking as he struggled to stay upright. But he didn't notice the hot tears beginning to well up in his eyes.
What should he do? Nagato hadn't yet unleashed his power. Was it because his eyes had already been used recently and were in cooldown? There was no hope of victory now. Should they flee? There was still a chance if they ran. Otherwise, when their comrades arrived, they would only be left hoping the enemy wouldn't wipe them out entirely.
The scent of death lingered heavily in the air, and driven by his primal instinct to survive, Hayami Reina's mind relentlessly reminded him that survival was the most important thing—that there was no need for him to die alongside the others.
Yahiko was still lying on the ground, unable to move. Nagato had frozen in pce, terrified, and Konan was deep in despair.
"I'm sorry." Hayami Reina muttered softly to himself, so quietly that even he could barely hear. He made the choice that he felt was more rational. Maybe he craved the thrill of a desperate battle, but he hated the certainty of defeat. He chose to avenge the three of them ter, though he felt guilty for altering their fates. He had shattered the years of happiness they could have had.
"I'll go with you. I won't resist. Spare them. Hayami may look like a girl, but he's actually a boy." Konan spoke calmly, without pain in her voice, her eyes lingering sadly on the others for a moment before she stood up and walked toward the yellow-haired rogue ninja.
To make Hayami Reina seem more like a boy, she didn't address him by his first name but used only his surname.
"..." Hayami Reina was silent. In that rain-soaked night filled with blood and the sounds of dogs barking, he no longer feared death but had gained an overwhelming desire to survive.
But in the end, compared to surviving with guilt, wouldn't it be more satisfying to fight to the death? Maybe his power-up would awaken in this battle. Maybe Nagato would finally unleash his true potential.
It wasn't that he had lost his will to survive—it was just that it felt unbearable. The rain fell steadily. In the end, he couldn’t be as cold-blooded as he had hoped.
"Heh, what are you saying, Konan? Aren't we 'best friends'?" Hayami Reina spoke, his tone light, as he began walking quickly toward the yellow-haired rogue ninja, his pace increasing until it turned into a run. His body swayed, and his left arm tightened as he threw a punch with all his strength.
But his unknown power-up didn’t work any miracles. The yellow-haired rogue ninja easily caught his fist, then grabbed the colr of Hayami Reina's clothes and lifted him off the ground.
"Hehehe, little brat, you dare resist me? Maybe I should show you the most cruel torture in the world," the yellow-haired rogue ninja sneered, his grin monstrous, before nding a vicious punch to Hayami Reina’s face, causing his cheeks to flush and his vision to blur.
Yet Hayami Reina only ughed, the corner of his lips curling up as he couldn't hold back the chuckle. "Heh, whatever. You’ll die soon enough. At most, I’ll just wait for you below."
"You dare talk back!" The yellow-haired rogue ninja raised his hand again, ready to strike. As a ninja, no civilian dared to defy him. But this little brat kept provoking him.
"Can't you feel it? Ever since earlier, death has been hanging over this pce. This intense killing intent... and you still think you can survive? How ughable."
In Hayami Reina's vision, the yellow-haired rogue ninja’s face was marked by the looming word "death." Seeing that the rogue didn’t believe him, Hayami Reina forced himself to gnce back toward the trees behind him.
Since earlier, a chilling killing intent had been emanating from there, casting a dark shadow over the surroundings. Hayami Reina had turned to look several times but had seen nothing.
This time, though, he saw something. The yellow-haired rogue ninja also saw it. Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan all saw it as well.
A rge tree trunk loomed ahead, and perched on it was a figure cd in a bck cloak. The figure leaned forward, arms resting on their knees, quietly observing. It felt as though the figure had been watching them for a long time, but only when Hayami Reina pointed it out did the figure materialize from the shadows.
"W-What is this? Some ghost trick?" The yellow-haired rogue ninja was shocked, and he threw two shuriken at the shadowy figure.
Without moving, the figure simply waved a rge sleeve. Two round objects flew out, deflecting the shuriken and nding at the yellow-haired rogue ninja's feet.
When the rogue ninja looked down, he nearly lost his mind. His legs trembled, and in a panic, he ran toward the forest.
Lying at his feet were two bloodied human heads, each with wide, terrified eyes and gaping mouths.
It was the yellow-haired rogue ninja and Lian Chi, the "Cobra."
