After hiding their wounded, powerless clansmen deeper within the forest, the three acting as decoys moved swiftly in a set direction without making any effort to conceal themselves.The sound of the enemy's pursuit was already drawing near. Hanemiya Genshin planned to split them up and defeat them one by one, while the other two intended to sacrifice themselves to buy a sliver of safety for their remaining kin.
As for whether the enemy would divide their forces to give chase—Hanemiya Genshin was fairly certain they would. His reasoning was based not only on the immediate situation, but also on the nature of the current warfare.
At this point in time, conflicts between ninja occurred primarily between different ninja clans. Ninja clans were the core units of war, and most ninjas only trusted their own. Everyone else was either a direct enemy or, at best, a "neutral threat."
In such an environment, survival for any given clan was incredibly harsh. This forced them to act decisively—eliminating threats completely and leaving no loose ends.
The Hanemiya clan was like a dying candle, its flame so faint that even a breath—let alone a gust—could extinguish it. In this case, splitting up to pursue targets came with neither concern nor risk.
They were just a small clan—no kekkei genkai, no secret jutsu lineage. They had always survived by slipping through the cracks. If anything set them apart, it was their relative skill in Fire Release techniques.
But Fire Release was a jutsu with a wide disparity in power. The Hanemiya clan specialized in it, sure—but so did the Sarutobi and Uchiha. Could the Hanemiya clan really be compared to them?
Their enemies were from the Tsugawa clan, a mid-sized ninja clan with over a hundred combat-ready members. In terms of overall strength, the Hanemiya clan was utterly outmatched... It was the Tsugawa clan that had destroyed their village.
As for whether any old grudges existed between them—not particularly. The Tsugawa clan simply crushed them in order to expand their own territory.
Big fish eat small fish. The Tsugawa clan would never dare to challenge a major clan for land, so they showed their fangs to the weak instead.
Once Hanemiya Genshin had put a reasonable distance between himself and the hiding place of his clan, he began leaping across the tree canopy, almost as if deliberately trying to be seen by the enemy.
And sure enough, things unfolded exactly as he had hoped. The enemy scouts soon spotted them.
From the northwest part of the forest, Tsugawa ninjas arrived on schedule.
"Captain, three enemies spotted. They're fleeing in different directions. One of them is likely that young clan head who managed to escape earlier. Aside from these three, I haven't found any other survivors... It's highly likely they're acting as decoys to draw us away and buy time for the others to escape."
The lead scout quickly gathered information based on Hanemiya Genshin's intentionally exposed movements and reported it to the commander behind him.
The captain, a tall and muscular ninja in his thirties, didn't even break stride as he responded, "Decoy tactics—still relying on the same old tricks."
The scout nodded. "Yes, Captain. They've used a ploy like this before."
"The rest of the survivors are likely hiding in this forest. They don't have the ability to relocate quickly. These three are probably the last of their fighting force. Maybe, in the extreme case, the only three who can still move. Once we deal with them... this forest, vast as it is, will become their grave."
The captain's judgment was spot-on. These "decoy tactics" were no more than a final, desperate struggle. The Hanemiya clan's destruction was inevitable. Whether they served as bait or not, they were going to die—sooner or later, closer or farther.
"I remember that young clan head—a pitiful little man with a bit of cleverness but not enough strength to back it up... Listen up: split into three teams, five men each. That little clan head is mine. Scouts, follow the far group."
"Yes, Captain!"
The Tsugawa ninjas didn't hesitate. They split into three groups to eliminate the last of their enemy's fighting force as efficiently as possible.
Just as Hanemiya Genshin had predicted, the enemy divided their forces—and even better, the strongest among them, the captain, personally led the charge in his direction.
It made sense. No matter what else, Hanemiya Genshin was the clan head now—the symbolic core of his people. His death would mark the fall of the Hanemiya clan. He absolutely could not be allowed to escape, so the enemy captain would take him on directly.
Among the fifteen enemy ninjas were:
One all-around Jōnin (the captain),
Two Special Jōnin (commanders of the other two teams),
Eight Chūnin,
Four Genin (support roles).
There was no doubt—they had more than enough strength to destroy the Hanemiya clan.
"Captain, he's just ahead."
As the distance between them closed, one of the enemy ninjas called out.
The enemy was relentlessly pursuing, while Hanemiya Genshin intentionally slowed down from time to time—making his capture inevitable.
"Surround him," ordered the captain.
Five enemies split off and began encircling Hanemiya Genshin from different directions. Before long, he was within their attack range.
A piercing whistle cut through the air—one kunai aimed straight for his torso. Still midair, Hanemiya Genshin twisted his body and dodged, narrowly avoiding the strike.
But dodging cost him his landing. With nothing beneath him, he plunged into the underbrush below.
Then something strange happened—Hanemiya Genshin vanished without a trace.
"What happened? He's gone?"
"A clone? No... that's not possible."
His disappearance caused brief confusion among the enemy. But the seasoned captain wasn't fooled. Remaining calm, he said, "Everyone get to higher ground. Hold your positions. Stay alert and observe carefully. No need to second-guess yourselves. The rat is hiding somewhere in that area below. He can't escape."
Under normal circumstances, as long as the enemy didn't panic and break formation, there was indeed no possibility for Hanemiya Genshin to escape. However...
The Mayfly was one of White Zetsu's most iconic abilities. It allowed him to merge his body seamlessly with the earth and flora. While completely masking his presence, he could rapidly travel through the organic networks beneath the ground—plant roots, underground water veins, and more—making it a supreme assassination technique.
Yet ironically, such an absurdly powerful jutsu was often used by White Zetsu merely for reconnaissance. Even more outrageous was the fact that this technique required no hand signs—it activated instantly!
At this moment, whether he had fully mastered it or not, Genshin was already capable of using this ability in combat.
The enemy captain stood upon a thick tree branch, patiently observing the forest below. As an elite shinobi who had experienced dozens of battles, he wasn't easily fooled by appearances. No matter how well an enemy hid, as long as he stayed calm and still, their flaws would soon be exposed.
In terms of combat strength, experience, and battlefield judgment, he far surpassed Genshin. To him, the young clan head was nothing more than a child playing ninja games.
What he didn't realize, however, was that conventional experience only applied to conventional battles. Even the sharpest judgment would eventually falter. And overwhelming power was useless if it couldn't be brought to bear.
War offers no room for trial and error.
Silently and without a trace, Genshin appeared behind the captain like a ghost. Though fully visible, he gave off no presence at all. The captain's keen senses didn't detect a thing.
In that moment, time itself seemed to freeze.
Genshin's heart felt like it had stopped beating. In the brief interval before his atrium could pump blood again, he had created a moment that would forever divide life from death.
With his right hand, he thrust a kunai without hesitation into the captain's lower back, sinking it in to the hilt. At the same time, his left hand drove a short sword into the back of the man's neck. The blade, thin and razor-sharp, cut through the vertebrae effortlessly, piercing diagonally downward through his throat as easily as slicing through paper.
Even though the Mayfly technique possessed unmatched assassination potential, due to Genshin's lack of full mastery, he could only guarantee a successful kill on its first use. So he aimed for the strongest target.
And he succeeded.
It was a perfect kill—silent and without struggle. Yet even so, one of the nearby enemy shinobi, who had been highly focused on monitoring the ground, instantly turned his head the moment Genshin finished the assassination.
"Enemy attack!"
he shouted.
The moment the words rang out, a barrage of shuriken and kunai came flying wildly in Genshin's direction, heedless of ally or foe.
Genshin immediately ducked behind the captain's body. His assassination had gone off without a hitch—so why had he been discovered so quickly?
He realized the answer almost at once.
It was the breathing. After the kill, the captain's breathing had turned erratic. In a silent environment, such irregular breathing was easy to notice.
Battle-hardened ninja indeed.
It didn't look like he'd get a second chance for another sneak attack—but that was fine. Genshin wasn't disappointed. He had already achieved his primary goal: eliminating the strongest enemy. With that, half the battle was already won.
The kunai and shuriken continued stabbing into flesh with sickening thuds. The remaining enemies showed cold precision and ruthless logic. Once they saw their captain had no chance of survival, they launched a relentless, indiscriminate assault without hesitation.
Well—perhaps Genshin had overestimated them. In truth, their actions were nothing more than mechanical reactions, a form of shock-induced reflex.
The sudden assassination of their commanding officer had left them stunned. What they couldn't accept was that they had no idea how Genshin had gotten behind the captain—or why the man hadn't reacted at all when attacked.
Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!
One of the enemy shinobi formed hand signs and launched a massive water orb in Genshin's direction.
Seeing this, Genshin finally let go of the kunai still buried in the captain's kidney. Chakra surged through his feet, propelling him sharply to the left. As he dodged, his raised right arm hooked the hilt of the short sword still embedded in the captain's neck.
The force of the movement gave the blade a slight twist, completely severing the captain's throat.
A finishing strike was always a good habit—only then could he be certain the enemy was truly dead.
Genshin flipped midair and landed lightly on the forest floor.
The captain's head swayed for a moment, then finally, almost reluctantly, slipped from his shoulders. It dropped like a heavy leather ball and rolled to a stop at Genshin's feet.
Thump.
It hit the ground, covered in dead leaves and twigs, with a soft, dull sound.
In that instant, all enemy attacks ceased.
Genshin's lips curled into a grin. He pressed his cracked lower lip with the tip of his tongue. His expression made him look almost deranged.
In his previous life, he had grown up in a peaceful world. After graduating from elementary school, he'd never been in a single fight. He had always lived by kindness, gentleness, and honesty. He had never once shown such a violent side.
But never showing it didn't mean it wasn't there. Humans are products of their environment—and different circumstances reflect different faces.
Ninjutsu came in many forms—brilliant, dazzling even. Genjutsu was insidious, elusive, and lethal. Taijutsu could be either fierce or fluid, but always remained the most direct form of killing.
Yet strip away the aesthetics, and every form of combat, in every system of power, would eventually reveal its coldest truth:
Iron and blood.
Whether in the shinobi world or elsewhere, war is only ever iron and blood.