Chapter 18: Team 7's Fate

The Misty Battlefield

Deep in the forest, an unnatural fog swirled—thick, suffocating, expanding like a living tide.

Okamura Shin perched on a high branch, squinting at the horizon. The mist there wasn’t just dense; it was wrong, sharply demarcated from the natural haze.

"Hiding in Mist Technique," he muttered. "Hikari-sensei’s fighting someone."

Beside him, Yōma’s face darkened. As a top graduate of Kirigakure’s academy, he prided himself on stealth—yet the scale of this jutsu dwarfed anything he could muster.

"The enemy’s strong."

* Karin* tossed her pack aside, drawing a kunai. "Hikari-sensei’s in trouble. We have to help." She turned to Yōma. "You know this technique best. What’s its weakness?"

"Wind-style," Yōma replied instantly. "Or… a bigger mist." A realization struck him. "Wait—this fog might not just be the enemy’s. Hikari-sensei could be adding to it."

Karin’s shoulders relaxed slightly. The Hiding in Mist Technique was a double-edged sword: it blinded foes but also equalized the battlefield. If both sides were shrouded, the advantage of "silent killing" vanished.

Nearby, Hakuri watched through her Byakugan, the fog meaningless to her all-seeing eyes. Three chakra signatures blazed like torches—

• An elite jōnin (swinging a goddamn executioner’s blade).

• A genin (delicate, icy chakra).

• Hikari, battered and fading.

"Zabuza Momochi… and Haku."

Her stomach twisted. Hikari—a special jōnin at best—was barely holding on, using hit-and-run tactics to survive. But her chakra was nearly spent. Once the mist dissipated, she’d die.

Should I help?

Exposing her Shikotsumyaku or Byakugan would paint a target on her back. Yet—

"Hakuri!" Karin sprinted over, shoving a kunai into her hands. "Stay here. If we don’t come back… run."

Before Hakuri could respond, the trio vanished into the fog.

Alone, she clenched the still-warm blade.

The smart move is to leave.

Westward lay Port Hakugan—freedom, anonymity. No more bloodshed.

But the kunai in her palm burned.

Hikari gasped, her back against a tree. Blood seeped from her side, her right arm hanging limp. Across from her, Zabuza emerged like a specter, Kubikiribōchō gleaming.

"Pathetic," he rumbled, hefting the cleaver.

The mist thinned. Hikari’s breath hitched—without cover, she was dead.

Zabuza struck.

Steel sang—

CLANG!

A volley of senbon deflected off the massive blade. Zabuza pivoted, just as Shin’s fireball roared toward him.

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!

The inferno swallowed Zabuza whole… or so it seemed.

In a blur, the demon reappeared, sword arcing toward Shin’s neck—

SCRREEE—!

Yōma’s scythe intercepted, sparks flying. "Took you long enough!" Shin yelled, hauling Hikari up as Karin’s glowing hands pressed to her wound.

"Idiots—!" Hikari coughed. "Why—?"

"Shut up and move!"

Yōma’s hands flashed. "Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu!"

Fresh mist erupted, swallowing Team 7 whole.

The game of cat and mouse began anew.