The moment Hanzo raised his hand, the remaining Rain shinobi retreated, leaving only the silence between us. I could feel their eyes, their presence, all focused on me—especially his. Hanzo. The man whose reputation stained in blood. The one I had to stop in order for Yukino and Shinichi to survive.
What a tall order.
I watched as Shinichi scooped up Yukino's limp form, his face a canvas drawn in fear as his entire body trembled visibly.
"Shinichi… Yukino…" I muttered under my breath, pressing my palm against the rain-slicked earth.
I had to do this—there was no other choice.
I had to die.
Hanzo was watching me, his eyes filled with quiet disdain, and yet I could feel something else, something far deeper. Respect, perhaps. Or amusement.
It didn't matter.
"Run," I whispered for them, and maybe a little for myself. But I knew I was the one who would never leave.
I had to die.
My heart pounded with adrenaline. After a year of warfare, the tales of Hanzo's exploits reached far and wide. This man was single-handedly responsible for pushing away the Sand, Leaf, and Rock from the Hidden Rain village's walls. He was a monster, and right now, his eyes bore into mine.
Hanzo was waiting for me to make a move, a hesitation, anything. But I couldn't afford to hesitate. Not now. Not while I could still hear Shinichi's footsteps pounding against the earth as he ran with Yukino, moving toward our outpost. Right now, I was the final hope that they might make it.
That Yukino might yet live.
I had to die.
The rain slowed in my view as Hanzo stepped forward, his movements felt heavy despite being casual. His voice sounded with a deep rumble, each word cutting through the tension like a blade.
"Kid. You're like the living embodiment of a spider. The way you fight, so precise, so deadly. I like it. Know that I'm impressed."
I swallowed hard, forcing my breathing to steady, my grip tightening around my wire. Hanzo had just acknowledged me. That in itself felt like a victory. But I couldn't let it distract me. If I let my guard down for even a second, it could be the end of everything.
It'd be too soon. I need to survive for at least a few minutes.
No, at least five minutes.
I had to die in five minutes.
Sounds easy enough.
I took a deep breath, and my clones—three copies of me—rushed to my side, forming a protective ring around me. We were a unit. A team of me's.
I didn't say a word, just nodded to my clones. They knew what to do. The four of us stared at Hanzo, our feet sinking slightly into the wet ground, poised and ready to strike.
Hanzo's lips curled in something between a smirk and a sneer. "You really think you can take me with those?" His gaze flicked to my clones, then back to me, as if they were an afterthought. "Alright, kid. Show me what you've got."
I didn't waste any time. My body surged with energy as I activated the Fifth Gate of Limit, the surge of power hitting me like a thunderclap. My vision sharpened. My senses heightened. The surrounding air pulsed with raw energy from my until now untapped chakra.
"Let's go!" I shouted, my voice carrying across the battlefield as my clones launched into action. We moved in sync, a blur of motion, as we charged at Hanzo from all directions with the wire in our hands.
In an instant, Hanzo's sickle and chain lashed out, whipping through the rain like a predator. I barely saw it as it happened. The chain shot out, faster than I could react, and one of my clones vanished in a puff of smoke as the chain wrapped around its neck and tore it apart. Another clone fell, severed by the sickle as Hanzo's weapon slashed through the air with deadly precision.
I gritted my teeth.
I had to be faster.
Stronger.
But Hanzo wasn't just fast—he was on another level. He danced around my remaining clone, effortlessly dodging and parrying with his chain and sickle. In a moment, the last clone crumbled, disappearing as Hanzo severed it in one swift motion.
I was alone in an instant.
But I still launched myself at Hanzo with everything I had, my wire snapping out like a coiled serpent as the multiple nets I controlled aimed straight for his throat and limbs.
Hanzo didn't flinch. Instead, he swung his chain, countering my wire and knocking it aside like a child's toy. His eyes were locked on me, and I could see the smirk tugging at his lips.
"Impressive yet still, I see!" He said, his voice like gravel. "But you're still a kid."
I didn't let his words distract me. I kept pushing, moving faster than I thought possible, using my wire to slash at him from every angle. But Hanzo was a master. Every time I thought I had him, his sickle or chain would deflect my attack, cutting through the air with lethal force. He was relentless, dominating the fight with ease.
He was just toying with me. I could feel it in the way he moved. The way he looked at me, as if expecting something to happen. He was giving me space to grow, to push myself further. Maybe he was expecting that I'll show him something he wouldn't forget. If that's true, then that's exactly what I'll do. I knew I couldn't beat him. Not at my current level. And to be honest, a part of me wanted to give up, to stop fighting and admit that I wasn't strong enough. But I couldn't. I wouldn't. Not when so much was on the line.
And I still had to at least prove that I could stand tall, even in the face of someone like him.
If to anyone, to myself.
I'd worked myself to death over the last half a decade. I'll be damned if I show nothing for it all.
The battle raged on, the rain turning into a curtain of mist around us, blurring the lines between us. Each strike, each counter, sent ripples through the air. Hanzo's sickle slashed through the air again, but this time I was ready. I ducked low, twisting my body out of the way just in time. As I evaded, I also unleashed my wire onto him and wrapped it around his arm, pulling him off balance as the steel threads dug into his skin.
I couldn't cut him like I did the others.
Hanzo retaliated with a quick twist of his chain, sending me sprawling back into the mud as he released himself from the steel wire and I hit the ground hard.
I may not have severed his arm, but blood dripped from his forearm. My current pain felt like nothing compared to the satisfaction of knowing I'd at least hurt Hanzo. Even if it was just from his own carelessness in toying with me.
"You've got spirit, kid," Hanzo said, stepping forward, his chain still swinging in his hand. "But you're still not on my level."
I pushed myself up, blood dripping from my lip, my body screaming in protest. But I was still standing.
And that's all I needed.
I lunged again, determined to give it my all, even if it was my last.
Still, I couldn't help but feel a strange sense of pride. At my age, to be able to push someone like Hanzo to at least a certain extent, enough for him to recognize my strength... that meant something.
I bloody hoped it meant something.
Please, let it mean something.
Everything hurt. My muscles burned, my lungs screamed for air, and my vision blurred from the strain of the Fifth Gate. Hanzo stood before me, calm, composed, and still completely in control. He wasn't fighting me with his full power—he didn't have to. He could kill me at any moment.
So I went further beyond—past the pain, past the exhaustion, past the limits of my flesh.
"Sixth Gate of Joy… OPEN!"
A violent burst of energy erupted from within me, my body howling in protest as the raw power surged through my veins in waves of green vapor. The surrounding rain turned into steam, sizzling against my skin as my muscles bulged, my vision sharpening to an almost painful degree. The world slowed further still. Every drop of rain, every twitch of Hanzo's fingers—I could see it all.
And then I moved.
The ground cracked beneath my feet as I launched myself at Hanzo with a force I had never felt before. My fists blurred, each strike powerful enough to break a normal man in half. But Hanzo was not a normal man. He twisted, dodged, and countered, his chain whipping through the air like a serpent seeking my throat. I barely ducked in time, feeling the wind of its passing scrape against my skin.
My body was already beginning to fail, my muscles tearing themselves apart with every motion. My bones cracked under the intense pressure.
I wasn't ready for the 6th gate. Not at all.
This is the absolute limit to my current abilities. I don't have much time left. It's been at least several minutes though, and I'm going to die soon.
But not until I give this bastard as scar.
As my kunai clashed against Hanzo's chain and sickle, three puffs of smoke appeared around us.
My Shadow Clones again.
But they didn't attack him as directly as earlier. Instead, they darted around us, forming a perfect triangle. I knew he noticed—his gaze flickered to them for the briefest moment—but I didn't give him time to think. I pressed forward, every blow slamming into him with enough force to rattle his stance. Each one of the clones pulled out a single shuriken and raised it into the air. Their hands formed a blur of seals, each movement deliberate, precise.
My jutsu. The one I had created.
"Shuriken Railgun."
As the last seal was formed—the Tiger Seal—the shuriken in their hands trembled, then lifted into the air, humming with power. The surrounding air crackled, electricity dancing along the surface of the spinning metal. Each clone raised their free hand, forming a finger gun and aiming it directly at Hanzo.
I saw his eyes narrow.
He knew.
He had to evade.
But I was still on him. Hanzo blocked my kick with his weapon and I forcing him back, keeping him locked in place. He twisted, evading my next strikes with immaculate footwork. But I didn't need to hit him here—I just needed to keep him occupied.
"Fire!" my clones shouted in unison.
The shuriken shot forward like bolts of lightning, each one moving faster than any thrown weapon had the right to.
Hanzo reacted instantly, twisting his body just in time for the first one to whip past his ear, slicing a thin strand of his hair. The second grazed his side, his armor barely deflecting the brunt of it.
But the third—
The third found its mark.
A sharp zing cut through the storm, and Hanzo's shoulder jerked back as blood erupted from where the shuriken had torn through his flesh.
For the first time in the fight, Hanzo had been hit properly.
There's that scar I wanted.
I grinned, despite the agony tearing through my body.
Hanzo let out a breath, more amused than angry, and I saw it then—that flicker of something deeper in his eyes.
"Damn impressive," he muttered.
His knee slammed into my gut.
I felt everything. The air rushed out of my lungs in an instant as my stomach convulsed and my vision exploded into white. My body folded, the raw impact sending me flying backward with my limbs going limp as I crashed into the mud.
I tried to move. Tried to force myself up.
But my body wouldn't listen.
I'm dead.
Hanzo stood over me, his chain slowly retracting into his grip, his wound barely a scratch compared to the damage I had taken.
"You're twelve at best," Hanzo's voice was low, "and yet you've made me bleed. A feat few have achieved thus far in the war."
He crouched beside me, his expression unreadable. "I can't wait to see what you'll become in a few more years."
The last thing I saw before the darkness took me… was Hanzo smirking.
And then, everything faded to black.
...
Yukino… Please survive…
....