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Chapter 66 Out of the Shadows
🕑 Added 2025-06-15 15:42:59 +0000 UTC…
“So… that didn’t work out as planned.” That was all I could say as we sat huddled up in a small, hidden corner of the Land of Rivers.
“Indeed… Not every day you see that many puppet masters in one team.” Haruto agreed.
He wasn’t wrong; we had dealt with plenty of puppet masters so far, but a team of four together with three Jōnin? Yeah, that wasn’t seen often.
Jōnin were rare, as were puppet masters, more so such skilled and well-equipped ones like those.
That kind of team was dangerous; had it not been for my shadow clone being able to sneak off, due to their lack of sensors, we might have been in trouble.
Because a puppet master can keep going for a long time, while the rest of us use a lot of chakra and stamina to fight.
“I still can’t believe they had such a bomb like that… it was insane,” Koji muttered, and I felt a slight shiver run through him as he hugged me tightly.
“No doubt an Elite puppet user, or someone important. No normal shinobi runs around with something like that ready to fire.” Arata said with a quiet, tired voice.
“Good job holding that back, Haruto, that can’t have been easy.” I send the man a smile.
Haruto didn’t look up. He just let out a weak grunt and leaned his head against the mossy stone behind him. “My brain’s still vibrating. Pretty sure I heard colors at some point in there.”
Despite everything, we chuckled.
The tension of the battle still clung to us like smoke, but in this tiny, hidden alcove—half-covered by tree roots and brush—we had a few precious minutes of quiet.
“I’m just glad Kuro ran away rather than towards us when the enemy fell back,” Koji said as he removed one arm from around my stomach to pet his Ninken, which rested next to where I sat in his lap.
“I always did say he was the smarter of you two.” I teased him lightly.
Koji made a wounded noise behind me, his chin dropping to rest on my shoulder. “I think I’m being slandered in my moment of emotional vulnerability.”
Kuro gave a low woof, tail thumping once against the dirt as if to agree with me.
Arata snorted. “You don’t hear us complain about your shameless flirting, so take what is given and be happy about it.”
Koji didn’t deny it. Just grumbled, “Yeah, but she’s not supposed to side with the mutt.”
I leaned further back against his chest. “You're my mutt,” I whispered, causing him to shut up real quick as he blushed and hid his face in my neck, before shamelessly kissing and licking it.
“Koji aside,” I said, doing my best to ignore his actions. “That was close… this entire last week has been filled with trouble.”
“Too much trouble,” Arata muttered, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses. “Between the terrain, the patrols, and the traps, I’m starting to think we’ve wandered into one of Suna’s core shadow corridors.”
Haruto grunted in agreement.
Since returning to the Land of Rivers, it had been nothing but problems. First, our camp was compromised, then we kept running into large teams of Suna shinobi.
Sure, there are plenty of teams we could take on still, but they have grown in strength and size. Forcing us to take detour after detour.
“The real problem,” I continued. “Is the fact that now we can be sure that they know our full strength.”
That made the silence heavier than before.
This wasn’t the first time someone managed to slip away from us, but it was mostly just someone running quickly, while the rest of their team kept us busy.
That allowed them at most to guess at our numbers. But this time it was very different. They saw us, fought us, and knew that there weren’t more hiding in the shadows, which meant they could start to plan around us.
That knowledge alone was a greater risk than any kunai to the throat.
“They’ll factor us into their patrol grids now,” Arata said grimly. “Expect countermeasures built specifically for our formation. People to keep Yuki busy, people who can keep her away, and sensors to ensure I can’t get the jump on them. People with powerful offense for Haruto, and scent bombs and lures to deal with Koji and Kuro.”
It wasn’t easy to deal with the Byakugan or Inuzuka nose, but it wasn’t impossible, at least with the nose. They would spread fake trails when moving around, take care to leave none when worried, and try to lure and trap us.
There were many things they could do now that they had this information. At the very least, they would ensure that they used it to their advantage, depriving us of all the advantages we had.
“Out of the shadows, into the light.” I whispered as I looked up towards the sky, faint starlight breaking through the canopy of the forest.
Koji shifted behind me, the warmth of his chest rising and falling in sync with mine. He didn’t say anything—just held me tighter.
No one contradicted me. There was nothing left to say.
For shinobi like us, anonymity was more than a tactic. It was survival. The fewer people who knew how we fought, the longer we could keep winning. Now, the veil had been torn away. Our names might not be known—but our methods were. And in this war, that was enough to tip the scales.
Arata leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “We’ll have to rotate the entire strategy.”
“Easier said than done,” I said. “The strategy we used was the basis for the entire team. Everyone was put on this team just for that tactic, for that way of attacking. The only thing we can do now is rely more on Arata to score a single kill before running away, or at least try to do that.”
Arata didn’t flinch. “I can do it.”
“It’s the only thing we can do; it will be less efficient for sure, but much less dangerous.” I didn’t like it, but what choice did we have?
I was pretty much at my peak. The Gentle Fist couldn’t take me higher than Elite Jōnin, and while I knew plenty of ninjutsu, I was limited on the amount of chakra I had, not to mention training. I had no experience as a ninjutsu-focused fighter.
That is, without considering the questions it could raise, no. While I could use some ninjutsu to enhance my overall strength, it wasn’t much; I couldn’t just start killing Tokubetsu Jōnin or higher with ease.
I had gotten by so far, but every fight was still that, a fight; it wasn’t a breeze.
I had some tools left, but they couldn’t be used easily, as it was far too risky.
I would rather not be forced to kill everyone. I rather liked Koji and Kuro. Their loyalty towards me was heartwarming.
This meant that taking on those larger, far more difficult battles was getting too dangerous, so yeah, other than letting Arata try a far more long-range snipe, we didn’t have many options.
“We still need a camp.” Koji reminded us as he nibbled on my ear.
I elbowed him lightly without turning around. “Focus.”
“That was me focusing,” he muttered, but his grin was audible.
Arata, ever professional, didn’t even look up. “There’s a ravine about half a klick northeast of here. Narrow and shallow. Might have enough cover from the sky and terrain to keep us safe for the night.”
I looked in the direction using the Byakugan to scout ahead. “It’s not ideal, but it's likely the best we can get on short notice.”
“That wasn’t what I meant. We need a proper place to rest, you know, the reason we left the old one was to find a new camp.” Koji unhelpfully reminded us of our lack of a proper place to rest.
“I know Koji, but we have been looking for a week, and well, it's not like a good place is easy to find.” I groaned in frustration.
Haruto let out a humorless chuckle. “At this point, I’d settle for a pit that doesn’t smell like fox piss.”
“I’ll take a pit that doesn’t collapse under us,” Arata added dryly.
Kuro gave a low snort, then padded a few steps toward the northeast, giving a soft huff and glance back as if to say Are we going or what?
Koji rubbed the back of his head and sighed. “Kuro votes yes on the ravine.”
“Of course he does,” I muttered, “we can rest there for tonight, but it’s no good for a long-term camp, but well, we might have to keep looking further away for that, this place is crawling with hostiles.”
With that decided, we spent another hour recovering our chakra before setting off towards the ravine. It was nothing special, just another spot in the massive land of Rivers.
But that was the point, wasn’t it?
No landmarks. No settlements. No high ridges or rocky outcrops to give us away. Just cold, shallow bends and worn-down riverbanks.
-----
[Sunagakure camp in the Land of Rivers.]
Sunagakure had entrenched itself deeply into the Land of Rivers; it had long greatly desired this valuable piece of land and had been unwilling to see it in the hands of Konohagakure.
Ever since the last war, they had made plans for how to obtain it, carefully preparing their revenge against the Leaf.
Yet, just as they were getting ready to act, disaster struck, and their noble Kazekage-sama disappeared. And not long after, even Sasori of the red sand went missing.
The fact that, soon after one another, two of the strongest shinobi of Sunagakure were going missing in such quick succession was suspicious. And since the thing they were planning was an attack against the Leaf, it meant all that suspicion also landed on them.
Though if Leaf thought it would make them give up, they were wrong. Instead, they had continued with the planning, launching forces into the River, taking advantage of how busy Konoha was with other forces.
Yet, in the last few months, they had faced higher casualties than they could afford at this stage of the conflict.
And now, they finally knew just what they were dealing with.
The lanterns flickered low in the stone-walled chamber. Maps covered every surface—rivers, valleys, and countless marks all over.
Chiyo-baasama, the leader of the entire camp sat on top of the table and looked at the four people standing before her.
One of them stepped forward.
He was tall and lean, wearing an unmarked gray coat that hung open to reveal a wind-scarred flak vest. His curved blade rested diagonally across his back, the hilt worn smooth from years of draw and re-sheath. Hair the color of pale ash was tied at the nape, and his expression kind, gentle, yet it didn’t fool the people there, they knew what that smile hid.
Chiyo knew him, his reputation was… special.
Sazanami Tokuma, one of the greatest masters of the blade Suna had, was deadly with his sword, and wielded it with a smile on his face, but just like his sword hid a deadly gale of wind, so did his smile hide a sinister heart.
To his left, arms crossed, stood a man of heavier build. Older than the rest, though younger than Tokuma. He wore armor reinforced with chakra plates and a heavy scroll fastened across his back, but what stood out were the puppet gauntlets attached to his forearms—each with a sealed compartment twitching faintly.
Kiso En. Puppet master and suppression specialist. Not one for words, but his skills with puppets had even Chiyo acknowledge him.
The third was a younger man with short, dark hair and wide shoulders. He stood loosely, relaxed—but the moment his eyes locked on the map behind Chiyo, a faint crease formed between his brows.
Tsurugi Shoma. Taijutsu bruiser and front-line enforcer. The kind who didn’t flinch at kunai and didn’t care much for shinobi who used too many hand signs.
Chiyo’s eyes flicked toward the last.
She was slight, deceptively so, standing with one hip cocked and a fan resting against her shoulder. Her long bangs framed a smirking mouth and pale amber eyes. Where the others stood like soldiers, she looked like a performer waiting for her cue.
Yomei Kasui. Taijutsu dancer. Wind-footed, glib-tongued, and as cruel as she was fast.
“Tch. No introductions? How rude,” she said, fanning herself once before giving Chiyo a mock bow. “But we’re honored, truly.”
“Save your tongue for the battlefield,” Chiyo said flatly.
Kasui gave a lazy smile and twirled her fan.
With all four assembled, the old woman leaned forward slightly, letting her voice carry like rusted iron across the stone chamber.
“You’ve all read the reports. Seen the casualty lists. The team we’re facing is not just strong—they’re clean, coordinated, and built to kill.”
She tapped the parchment beside her. “Hyūga Yuki. Elite Jōnin-level taijutsu with the Byakugan, another young genius of the Leaf. Inuzuka Koji and his ninken. Ninjutsu specialists—Arata and Haruto. Their team is built to be deadly, to kill our people, and so far they have done that without facing much threat.”
Her fingers curled slowly.
“That ends now.”
She turned her eyes to Tokuma.
“Your mission is simple: hunt them down and eliminate them before they manage to kill more of ours. No prisoners. No retreats. The moment they’re aware of you, the mission becomes harder. You will break their formation and destroy them before they have time to adapt.”
There was no need to ask if they understood.
Tokuma bowed slightly. “It will be done.”
Chiyo allowed herself the faintest exhale. “I expect results, not excuses.”
And with that, the wind stirred behind the squad leader, and one by one, the four shadows turned and vanished into the night, off to begin the hunt.
(End of chapter)
Indeed, far too long had there been no proper enemies, just nameless and faceless fools.
And while I would have preferred to use someone known… not a lot of know Suna Jōnin I could use. We will see someone like Pakura later on, but she is very much kage level, or Clan Lord level, still too much for Yuki.
Instead, these, and there should be a few clashes between the two teams in the future.
