*Chapter 22: Cruelty is the Weapon of the Weak*

*Nightfall.*

Kaguya Hikari fed another log into the fire, watching as flames licked up the edges of the wood, casting flickering light across the campsite.

The memory of the girl from earlier—the one who’d snuffed out their flames with Ice Release—lingered in her mind like a stain.

"One day, I’ll slaughter every last kekkei genkai user. I swear it."

Her brother had held her as she cried, their matching blue eyes burning with the same icy hatred. He wielded power in the ANBU, while she rallied the common shinobi against the bloodline clans. And when the Mizukage aligned with their cause, one by one, the great kekkei genkai families crumbled beneath their hands.

They all deserved to die.

"Hikari-nee…"

A soft voice called from the lone tent. Hokari’s tone was hushed, gentle—like a kitten afraid to wake its mother.

"What is it?"

"I… I need to use the bathroom."

Clad in only a thin undershirt, the silver-haired girl fumbled at the tent flap, her blindfolded face peeking out timidly.

"Careful, I’ll take you."

Hikari’s expression softened, her heart swelling as she rushed to guide Hokari by the arm.

She didn’t see it.

The way Hokari’s delicate fingers—so small, so harmless—brushed against her neck.

"This way. Watch for the—"

*—Shink!*

A flash of white.

Hikari felt a cool touch at her throat, like a damp fingertip tracing her skin. Puzzled, she wiped at it.

Her hand came away slick with blood.

"Ghk—!"

Air hissed through her severed windpipe. Trembling, Hikari stared at the girl in front of her—the one who now tilted her head, blank-eyed and serene.

Hokari’s soft hands were no longer soft.

Five needle-like bones jutted from her fingertips, dripping crimson.

"You…"

Hikari clutched her throat, stumbling back. Her legs gave out.

Thud.

"M-Hikari-nee! Are you okay?!"

"What happened?!"

The others came running, jolted awake by Hokari’s panicked cries and the sound of a body hitting the ground.

(They’d been pretending to sleep. They’d heard everything.)

"Hikari-nee, she’s—!"

Hokari pointed. Across the clearing, Hikari writhed in the dirt, hands clamped over her gushing neck.

"Protect Hokari! Karui, heal her—now!" Nakama barked.

Okamura shoved Hokari behind him without hesitation. Douzan Karui lunged for Hikari, hands glowing green with medical ninjutsu.

"It’s okay, it’s okay…!"

Karui pressed her palms to the wound, pouring every drop of chakra into sealing torn flesh.

"Gh… ru…n…" Hikari’s lips formed the words, her face ghostly pale.

"You’ll be fine! Just hold on—"

*—Sssss.*

Something sizzled beneath Hikari’s collar.

Karui yanked the fabric aside.

Five exploding tags.

Their seals burned red-hot.

Hikari’s eyes shrank to pinpricks. "K-Karui… RUN—!"

*—BOOM.*

The night split open.

Fire swallowed the clearing, the blast hurling Nakama backward. He scrambled up, staring at the crater where Hikari and Karui had been.

Blackened meat. Scattered limbs.

"No… No, no, no—!"

This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.

"Okamura! Oka—"

He whirled around.

Hokari stood behind Okamura, her bone blade sliding free of his spine. Blood painted her sleeves as he crumpled, dead before he hit the ground.

"Hokari…? YOU—! WHY?!"

Nakama’s scythe shrieked through the air.

"Because I’m weak."

*—Clang!*

She caught the blade bare-handed, bone grinding against steel.

Nakama’s face twisted with hate. Hokari didn’t flinch.

There was no anger in her. No vengeance.

Only necessity.

They could track her. She wasn’t strong enough to outrun them.

So she made sure they couldn’t follow.

"You… fucking monster…" Nakama spat, swaying as blood poured from his ribs. "Why… not kill me first…?"

"Sorry, Nakama-nii." Her voice was quiet. "But you were the least dangerous."

*—Schlik.*

The bone sword tore upward, splitting him open.

He fell.

Silence.

Then—

"Tch. We’re late."

Two figures dropped from the trees.

Mist Crow sighed, scratching his head as he surveyed the carnage. Blood Hound’s muscles tensed, his hackles rising.

"You took a detour," the latter growled.

"Had to avoid the traps. Didn’t wanna spook her."

Hokari’s bone blade dragged through dirt, leaving a scarlet trail.

"They didn’t have to die," she said. "You came too soon."

The scene was familiar.

The fog. The blood. The bodies.

Just like that night.

"My name is Houki Hokari."

Mist Crow twirled a kunai. "Not planning to let us leave alive, huh?"

A cold smile touched her lips. "If I did, Hikari-nee would haunt me."

"Funny." Blood Hound bared his teeth. "We were just thinking the same thing."

Wind howled.

Fire roared.

Three shadows faced off beneath the burning trees, the air thick with the scent of blood and killing intent.

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(✧ω✧)