Chapter 49 : The Smell of Ash and Iron
The path twisted beneath their feet, the dirt thinning out as the trees thinned. Ren's eyes traced the shadows around him, the world slowly shifting into something more familiar—and not in a good way.
Charred leaves clung to broken branches, and the air was thick with a scent he wished he could forget. The cracked bark of trees and the blackened earth beneath them reminded him too much of the battlefield where Juro had fought, where Aki had died.
He took in a slow breath, instantly regretting it. The air was sour—metallic and smoky.
Burnt blood…
He recognized it now. The heavy scent that clung to your skin even after you washed.
We're close, he thought. Too close.
Kaede stopped at a small clearing. "We'll rest here," she said simply. "Eat something, gather your energy. There may be trouble ahead."
Her reddish-brown ponytail fluttered slightly as she turned to the others. "See if you can catch a rabbit or bird nearby."
Without needing to be told twice, Hiro grinned and shot into the woods. "I call dibs on the chicken!"
Nao shook her head but followed him with a sigh, muttering, "Last time you chased one, you nearly fell into a stream."
Kaede turned to Ren. "Can you collect some dry wood and stones? We'll need something to cook on."
"Got it," Ren said and moved quietly through the forest. His hearing picked up the gentle scurry of animals, the occasional rustle of wind through dry leaves. His eyes scanned for useful sticks, branches, and flat rocks. When he returned, arms full, Kaede was already at work.
Two rabbits were skinned and laid beside a fire pit. A chicken, feathers half-plucked and still warm, sat nearby.
"That chicken put up a fight," Hiro said with a chuckle, wiping a feather from his sleeve.
"Good practice," Nao muttered as she sharpened a stick with a kunai. "Remember the mission where we had to catch that clan's pet cat?"
"And the dogs too," Hiro added with a laugh. "Those were the good days."
Kaede gave a small smile, her hands working efficiently as she prepped the meat. "Peaceful times."
Ren placed the wood and stones near her and sat on a nearby stump. His mind wandered to those words. Peaceful times... Could he even remember what that felt like anymore?
Hiro poked at the fire as it started crackling to life. "Well… now we're chasing chickens with kunai and walking toward a battlefield. No more cats and gardens."
Ren looked at him. Hiro's tone was light, but his eyes weren't. They looked away, into the flames.
"No matter how many times I go out there…" Hiro said, quieter now, "I still can't get used to it. Taking a life."
Nao glanced at him, something soft but unreadable in her expression. "You're not supposed to get used to it," she said quietly.
Ren leaned forward, elbows on his knees. The fire reflected in his eyes. "Anyone who gets used to it... is already lost."
There was silence for a moment.
Kaede, her expression unreadable, nodded. "We don't kill for fun. Or for pride. A shinobi's duty is to protect their village, their people. That's what we're trained for. But killing to protect and killing because you can—those are not the same thing."
Nao's voice was almost a whisper. "Sometimes I wonder… will we regret this path someday?"
Ren didn't answer immediately. He thought of Aki. Of Kota. Of the hole in the earth where his old friends had died and where the new ones might one day fall. Then he said, "We might. But I'd rather regret surviving… than regret letting someone else die."
The fire snapped, sending a spray of sparks into the darkening sky.
Kaede looked at him for a long second, then nodded once. "Eat up. We move out in thirty minutes."
They shared the food. It was simple—no spices, no flavor beyond the smoke and meat—but warm. Real. Enough to hold them together for the next few hours.
Ren stared up at the sky. It was streaked with the deep orange of evening, fading fast into night.
He felt the chill of the air sink through his sleeves but didn't shiver.
They were heading straight into danger. But for once, he wasn't alone.
And maybe… that was enough.
---
The fire had burned low, reduced to warm embers that pulsed gently beneath the stone ring Ren had arranged. The forest around them was quiet—too quiet. No birds chirped. No insects buzzed. The kind of silence that pressed into the ears like cotton, wrapping around the senses and smothering everything beneath it.
Nao was the first to stiffen.
Ren saw her shoulders tense, her gaze snapping to the trees behind them.
"Something's not right," she whispered, barely audible.
Kaede, sharpening a kunai, immediately stilled. "What is it?"
Nao's eyes didn't move from the shadows. "Chakra signatures. Three of them. Moving fast... but quiet."
Ren closed his eyes, focusing. The world seemed to slow—he breathed in, slow and steady, reaching for that faint, flickering sensation he'd been practicing for months. Then—yes. There. Like drops of heat on the edge of his senses. Three faint pulses… no, not faint. Masked. Suppressed. Whoever was coming knew how to hide.
"I feel them too," he said, opening his eyes. "Coming from the northwest."
Nao gave a nod, her face pale but steady. "They're close."
"How many?" Kaede asked, her voice level but her hand already wrapping around her kunai's grip.
"Three," Nao replied. "Definitely ninja. And strong."
Kaede stood. "Iwagakure. Has to be. Their scouts have been spotted near this area."
Her eyes narrowed, calculating.
"Hiro, Nao—on me. We intercept and stall."
Nao hesitated. "Shouldn't we retreat toward the camp?"
Kaede shook her head. "Too late. If they found us now, they've probably been trailing us for a while. Retreating gives them the chance to circle around and ambush us from behind."
She turned to Ren, her expression shifting to something harder.
"Ren—guard Akane. Don't let anyone get past you. If things go bad, take her and run south. Don't wait for us."
Ren stood slowly, adjusting the pouch on his hip and the kunai strapped to his thigh. "Got it."
Akane, who had been silently observing, frowned. "I'm not helpless."
"No one said you were," Kaede replied sharply. "But you're our objective. You're a medic, and they'll want to either capture you or make sure you never reach the warfront. Ren can hold his ground long enough for the rest of us to break off and regroup."
Hiro looked like he wanted to argue, but one look at Kaede silenced him.
"Let's move," she said. "Hiro, you take the right flank. Nao, with me through the center. Ren—protect the rear."
Without another word, they vanished into the forest like leaves scattered by the wind.
Ren crouched slightly, body relaxed but alert, eyes scanning the darkened trees. Akane moved behind him, her hands glowing faintly with preparation—a healing jutsu already forming, just in case.
The wind picked up, cold and biting.
Ren's thoughts flicked back to Taro and Aki . I couldn't protect him back then. But I'll protect her now. I won't freeze again. I won't lose anyone else.
He pulled a kunai free and waited.
The forest held its breath.
---
A rustle in the canopy. A stillness in the wind. Even among the cold and silence of the forest, tension moved like a low current, pulsing between the trees.
From behind a moss-covered ridge, three Iwagakure shinobi crouched in the shadows.
"Looks like we've been spotted," muttered Ken, the chunin, his steely grey eyes narrowing as he observed the clearing. His spiky hair caught the pale sliver of moonlight, making him appear even sharper—like a blade honed for war. "The chakra signatures split. They're preparing a counter."
Beside him, a girl in a stone-patterned flak jacket—Shiori—smirked. Her short dark hair framed a face that was too calm for someone her age. "So the intel was right. Konoha's moving medics again."
Ken nodded. "And they've sent a new team to escort one. One chunin, two genin... and one more watching the medic. That one's odd. His chakra's strange."
Shiori turned her head slightly, sensing the air. "Yeah. Feels… off. Not weak, just unfamiliar. Unrefined, maybe."
Kogane, a boy with a long scarf wrapped around his mouth and a bored expression, leaned forward. "Still a genin. Doesn't matter how strange he feels—he bleeds like the rest."
Ken raised a hand, silencing them. "Don't underestimate him. He's guarding the medic. That means their leader trusts him."
Shiori adjusted her gloves. "We go for the genin first?"
Ken shook his head. "I'll take the chunin. You two deal with the other genin. Pressure them. Draw them away. And keep an eye on the one near the medic. If he interferes, take him out fast—but don't waste time. If we can't take the medic, we leave."
The three of them nodded.
"Alright," Ken said. "Let's move."
In the distance, just beyond the edge of the clearing, Ren exhaled and said quietly, "It looks like a clash is about to happen."
His grip on the kunai tightened.
The wind shifted again, and from the trees, chakra flared.