Chokuro was a chuunin of Konohagakure with no idea what he had gotten himself into. Following his squad captain through the thickets, the world around him had blurred.
Moving as one unit, Chokuro felt a sense of pride. A sense of overwhelming power, where nothing could stand in his way.
However, a bleeding anxiety gripped his heart.
It was a sentiment that exploded the moment his captain spotted a silver-haired boy.
"Kill him,"
That simple command was accompanied by the taste of iron on his tongue. Chokuro had rushed in, aiming for the gap in the boy's Fire Release. Although he was a blur of movement, his speed among his squadmates was unmatched...
He realized he was... outmatched.
'Those eyes...!'
It was then that Chokuro realized why he felt a nagging incongruence. A Genjutsu had been forced upon the battlefield. The child's gaze had been left unnoticed since the start of the fight.
The reason for his movements.
The reason for the deaths of his comrades.
The reason why every jutsu was caught within his field of vision.
'It's the Sharingan!'
Chokuro's eyes shrank in his lapse of judgment. As if the Genjutsu disappeared the moment he approached, the child's eyes appeared beneath the darkness of his expression.
It gleamed with a terrifying implication.
—Fwhip!
Just as the child called upon his chakra, the sound of sliced wind brushed past Chokuro's ear.
A scythe, with its blade as long as his own body, sliced through his neck. Wielded by a cloaked phantom whose face was obscured by the shadow of their hood.
Warmth erupted like the embrace of a parent. Blooming from the thin line across Chokuro's neck.
The flames that burned throughout the battlefield had somehow cooled. Their welcoming warmth was a floral dance that mesmerized his senses.
"Ah..."
A gasp escaped Chokuro's lips. The world began to dissolve in a flurry of fiery rose petals.
"...How beautiful,"
There would be nothing but darkness from here on out.
***
'Genjutsu: Infernal Mirage,'
The moment Suguru cast his wide-scale illusion, his chakra dropped significantly. Feeling the weakness that suddenly consumed him, he exhaled the breath he was holding.
'Fifty-four percent left...'
His chakra reserves were quite large given his feat of plunging an entire army into a subtle Genjutsu. However, that would be one of the few table flips he would be allowed.
Unless...
Before he could think any further, Suguru's body moved.
—Fwhip!
Taking out a kunai, Suguru rushed back upward, facing the unfortunate chuunin caught in his Sharingan's Genjutsu. His arm flew in a swift arc that cut through only what he needed to.
Just like the kunoichi he had earlier slain, this one met a similar end.
Then the rain of flames descended.
—Vwhoom! Vwhoom! Vwhoom!
Hellfire Artillery was combined with Infernal Mirage, creating a storm, unlike the former's original precise strikes.
Illusions were mixed in with the real thing. Flaming meteors fell from the sky en masse, further dying the forest in its crimson hues.
—Grumble.
As Suguru admired the flames of his creation, his stomach cried out. Suddenly, his vision blurred further. The already-red world in his eyes deepened further.
The only other color he could see were the different chakras of the shinobi that surrounded him. They were a beautiful blue hue.
His hunger deepened.
It was then.
—Swish!
In that split second, Suguru felt a surge of chakra coming from Matatabi in the distance. It was a sudden threat that made his hair stand on end. Goosebumps filled his body as he instinctively realized what was about to happen.
'Oh no!'
There was no room for any other thought.
With all his might, he roused his chakra. Pouring energy throughout his body he tried to flicker away.
"!!!"
For once, he wasn't fast enough.
—BOOM!
Protected only by the raging flames that surrounded his body like an aura of armor, Suguru was flung into the distance. His body was rag-dolled through the trees, burning through the foliage and leaving a trail of ashes in his wake.
Like a meteor had passed through, Suguru caught a glimpse of the destruction as his crimson vision faded.
The hunger that consumed him dissipated with the newfound pain that erupted from his ribs.
"Cough—!"
Suguru retched as he held his chest, desperately searching for more air to breathe. His flaming aura flickered out of existence to allow oxygen into his damaged lungs.
'A few shattered ribs,' Suguru examined the state of his body in a hurry.
Furthermore...
Looking at the charred skin on his arms, Suguru realized a flaw in his own jutsu.
'No wonder I couldn't find any faults in its ability to attack...'
His Blaze Battle Body was a double-edged sword when it came to defense.
Sure, he had avoided becoming a collateral death from what might've been a Tailed Beast Bomb. However, the flames that deflected all that force had burned his body, effectively melting away his skin.
Suguru's long silver hair had also been burned a few inches shorter. Now, his hair only reached up to his shoulders, but other than that he was fine.
"Hm?!"
Suddenly, Suguru's senses screamed once again. Just as he was about to begin healing himself, a blur of movement caught his attention.
"Tsk!"
The battle wasn't over.
—Clang!
Hurriedly meeting a kunai's lethal trajectory with his own, Suguru leaped backward to create distance.
'The attacker is still a ways away.'
Finally, Suguru had the advantage he usually had. Unfurling a scroll from his pocket, he summoned his bow with a puff of white smoke. While the battle continued to rage in the distance, he steadied his ragged breaths.
Pushing down the pain.
"I'll deal with all of these rascals first,"
Suguru's Sharingan shattered into pieces before reforming into a different pair of irises. A dull, dark brown soon appeared.
Until he poured more chakra into them.
'Shinrakugan!'
A fierce red glow engulfed his eyes, looking like burning lamps in the shade of the trees. His vision widened, observing his target despite all the obstacles between them.
Suguru drew his bow.
—Twang!
And let loose an arrow that flew into the sky.
Then, his gaze shifted, searching for others who had their eyes on him. However...
A subtle movement of darkness caught his attention, and he hurriedly leaped backward once more. Forced to flee from the suitable area he had been in, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.
'I see... That Nara is still alive...'
Suspecting that a gaze had locked onto him from a distance, Suguru was made more keenly aware of the situation.
A Hyuga had been watching him the entire time.
In response to their prying gaze, red dust began to swirl...
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