The Enlightened One Ch.63 (Patreon)

— Lei — 

We really did come in the nick of time.

I looked down at Hinata, giving her a small smile which she returned before moving my attention to the biggest known threat in the forest. 

Gaara. 

He was mad—really mad. 

Judging by how messed up Gaara looks with the sand around his skin crumbling, and Hinata’s near pristine appearance, I can tell that she was fucking his shit up. 

Which was bad. Either Hinata would end up knocking Gaara out, which would turn him into Shukaku and the One Tailed Beast would reek havoc through the forest. Or, Gaara would end up getting so mad he’d let Shukaku take control anyways.

Either one would end up in a tailed beast on the loose with no regard for human life. 

“Stay here, you two.” 

“Aww, seriously?!” Naruko whined. “Why can’t we have some fun?!” 

“You just did.” I blinked. We had just taken out the group of stone shinobi. Wasn’t that enough?

“But they weren’t even that strong!” 

“They were chunin level at least, Naruko.” Satsuki added helpfully, which only made Naruko look at her like she was a traitor.

“Why did you have to go and say that?! I had him on the edge!” 

“You really didn’t.” I snorted. “Wait here.” I didn’t wait for another reply and hopped off the branch, falling to the ground just beside Hinata. 

“You’re here.” Hinata smiled warmly. 

“Of course I am.” I returned her smile and her body crashed into mine. She rested her head in the crook of my neck and I stroked her hair soothingly. 

“It hasn’t been all that long since we saw each other.” I chuckled. At most it had been a few hours. 

“You’d be surprised how long it felt for me.” She hummed softly into my neck. 

“Well, I’m here now. We can finish this exam together.” 

“Mhm!” 

“MOTHER WILL HAVE YOUR BLOOD!” 

I blinked and looked at the absolutely seething Gaara. 

Honestly…I kinda forgot about him for a second. Hinata’s presence is on another level I guess. 

“Yeah, maybe later.” I grinned at Gaara. “We should do this another time.” 

Gaara didn’t like my answer and sent a blast of sand at both Hinata and I, but a shield of wood erupted from the dirt in front of us, shielding us from some of the sand as more of it founds it’s way past my defense. 

I lifted Hinata in a princess carry and jumped up to the branch where Naruko and Satsuki were chilling. I put her down, and vanished. 

I reappreared just in front of Gaara and winded my leg back-

BAM

*BOOOOOOMMMMMM* 

I watched as Gaara’s body went flying for my kick to his torso. I put as much power as I could into that attack and as his body continued to fly I started weaving through hand seals. 

‘Wind Release: Wind bullet” 

With Gaara in midair, there was absolutely no way for him to dodge. The wind bullet hit him and took his body further and further into the forest and away from us. 

Within seconds I couldn’t even see him anymore. My attention was turned toward Kankuro and Temari who were looking where Gaara had gone flying with shock and worry. 

“He’s fine.” I shrugged, earning their attention. “I made sure to hit him just hard enough to not kill him or knock him out. Just find him and tend to his injuries…I promise there are a lot.” 

The siblings immediately took my offer for what it was. A chance for them to retreat without losing their lives. 

Neither of them said anything as they body flickered away toward their downed little brother and I watched on with a smile on my face.

I wasn’t too worried about dealing with a tailed beast. After all Yuto was somewhere in this forest to contest with Shukaku and I had my Wood Release which was bullshit when it came to dealing with Tailed Beasts, but I really didn’t want to. 

So, I hit him just hard enough to not force his body to loose consciousness while also making sure he wouldn’t be coming for us anytime soon. 

Sometimes, my own genius stuns me. 

“That…was insane!” Kiba shouted beside Shino who nodded along with the Inuzuka boy’s take. 

“I didn’t expect the wind jutsu.” Satsuki commented as the girls jumped down from the branch and landed beside me. 

“Just wanted to send him as far away from us as possible.” I admitted with a shrug. 

“Are you sure you didn’t kill him?” Naruko asked, sounding concerned for the boy.

“He’s fine. Or…he’s alive.” I scratched the back of my head nervously. “Isn’t that enough.”

Naruko stared at me for a while. Scrutinizing my face before smiling. 

“As long as he’s alive.” 

“Good.” I grinned before turning to the forest ahead of us. “I hope you guys enjoyed the show, but don’t you think it’s about time you come out and say hi? It would be rude not to, you know?” 

“...”

The bushes started to rustle and out walked Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. 

“Of course you sensed us.” Shikamaru frowned. “Sensors, what a drag.” 

“I did as well,” Hinata informed everyone. “Though, I opted to deal with the threat before calling any of you out.” 

“Who wouldn’t? It wasn’t like they were hiding their presence well.” Satsuki snorted. 

“...I didn’t,” Naruko admitted before sighing. “I really need to work on that.”

“You do.” I nodded patting her head lightly. “But you’ve come a long way. Stand proud, Naruko. You are strong.”

— Naruko —

Her heart fluttered at her boyfriend’s compliment. 

“Of course I’m strong!” She flexed her bicep that was packing a solid amount of muscle. “I’m Naruko Uzumaki, believe it!” 

All of her life she had spent countless hours trying her best to catch up with her friends. Hinata was a natural talent in all fields and even surpassed Lei when it came to pure taijutsu. 

Satsuki was a lot like Hinata in that regard. She could do everything and was balanced in all fields. Plus, she has the sharingan, the eyes of the Uchiha clan, and perhaps the greatest dojutsu in history!

Lei…Lei was something else. He’s an amazing prodigy in ninjutsu, and his body is powerful. Not to mention his mastery in his kekkei genkai, Wood Release.

Everyone has something over her, and all her life, she’d been behind, but not anymore! 

She found something she can really work on, something she can grow with, something she can use to surpass them! 

So she can protect them. 

At the end of the day, her dream of bringing the Uzumaki clan the honor it deserves and becoming Hokage doesn’t matter if he loved ones aren’t there to be a part of it. 

Naruko couldn’t even begin to imagine a world without Lei, Hinata, and Satsuki. 

They are her family. 

Suddenly, Lei and Hinata’s heads snapped in another direction. 

“Is something wrong?” Kiba asked. 

“No,” Lei answered, still looking in that direction but with a smile. “It seems the whole class is coming for a little reunion.” 

“Oh, who is it?!” Naruko asked, looking giddy. “Please don’t tell me it’s Shino.”

“Shino is right there, Naruko.” Hinata blinked. 

The blonde-haired girl turned to Shino, who was looking at her through his glasses. The boy looked completely unfazed by her comment, but Naruko would always be Naruko—always digging herself in deeper holes. 

“S-Shino…When did you get here?” Naruko questioned nervously as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. 

“I’ve been here the entire time.”

“Really?!” Naruko damn near shouted before coughing into her hand. “Well…it’s good to have you.”

“Likewise.” 

FWOSH

“Oh look, literally anything else! Let’s pay attention to it!” Naruko pointed at the forms of our new arrivals. 

“Satsuki!” 

“Oh god.” The Uchiha Head groaned as a fluff of pink hair crashed into her. 

— Lei —

“What’s up, Kuzan.” I grinned at my childhood friend before turning to the other kid I’ve also grown up with. “Taro.” 

“Nothing much.” Kuzan shrugged, walking over to me and clasping his hand with mine in a powerful handshake. “How’s your exam going?”

“Well, we fought a couple of teams, but we’ve only gotten scrolls we don’t need.” I frowned for a moment before killing it. Now was not the time to force our own failures on others and ruin the mood. “What about you guys?” 

“We have both scrolls. We’re just here to help you guys before we finish up.” 

“Really?!” Ino asked, looking absolutely shocked. “It hasn’t even been more than three hours yet!” 

“We work fast.” Kuzan laughed. “So, what scroll do you all need.” 

“We need a Heaven scroll.” Satsuki pried herself away from Sakura. 

“Earth.” Hinata smiled, and I immediately pulled out an earth scroll and handed it to her. She looked at it and blinked a few times before happily accepting. 

“You got another of those?” Shikamaru asked. 

“Mhm.” I smiled, reaching into my pouch and throwing him the other Earth scroll we had. 

“Yes! And we didn’t even have to do anything!” Choji cheered, and Shikamaru’s expression indicated that he agreed with his best friend’s sentiments. 

“So, you guys aren’t gonna just finish up?” I asked with a bit of concern. I’m sure we could handle the rest of this exam alone, and I really didn’t want to cause any trouble. 

“Nah, we want to help. Don’t worry about us; we’re more than capable of helping you and finishing quickly.” 

I couldn’t help but feel a warm smile on my face.”Thank you guys.” 

“Of course, what are friends for if not for helping one another?” Taro asked with a chuckle. 

“I suppose you’re right.” 

My smile was wiped off my face as I felt more and more people approaching us. I had known teams were growing close, but I thought they were just blindly moving through the forest. The fact that several teams are heading straight for us…means this is likely a targeted attack. 

And I recognize the chakra signature of all the approaching teams. 

“Lei, what do we do?” Hinata asked, sensing them as well. 

“Wait,” I answered curtly. That was all we could do at this point. We were being closed in by all sides, but I wasn’t worried. I was strong enough to take some of them on by myself, and we had three teams with us; there was absolutely no way we’d lose. 

The first team arrived and landed tens of meters away from us. 

“There’s so many of them!” 

“We knew there would be, calm down, Omoi.” 

“But what if they planned for us to come and the reinforcements are to deal with us, and then they’d hold us hostage and take us to their Hokage, then their Hokage would order us sent to the-” 

BAM

“Shut up! Always rambling, even in a situation like this!” Karui shouted after knocking Omoi hard on the back of his head.

“What if I’m not wrong though?!” Omoi shouted back as he rubbed the back of his head where a bruise was likely forming. 

“Damn, beat by the Cloud shinobi.” 

All eyes turned to the woman standing atop a tree branch. Beside her were both of her teammates.

Kurotsuchi and…whoever the fuck those other guys are. 

“What exactly does that mean?” Karui asked, narrowing her eyes dangerously. 

“Focus, Karui.” Samui ordered but Karui was still clearly pissed off. 

“So…why the company?” I asked with a smile on my face and open arms, trying my best to show how unbothered I am by the situation. “You all have something you need?” 

“That’s for us to know and you to find out.” Kurotsuchi spat, pulling a kunai out of her pouch. 

“Trust me, I’d love to find out.” I grinned madly, punching my fist into my palm. 

“Well, if you’re gonna fight Lei, do you mind if I give you a hand?” Kuzan asked, stepping beside me and placing a hand on my shoulder. 

“Of course, it’s been a while since we’ve had some fun together.” I nodded. 

I was curious to see how much Kuzan grew, and honestly, I figure he felt the same way about me as well.

“Agreed.” Kuzan returned my nod, wearing a grin of his own. 

“I told you, Karui! The reinforcements are after us!” 

“I said shut up!” 

“All of you branch sitters can come at us at once and we’d still clean the dirt with you. Thus is the power of the Hidden Stone!” Kurotsuchi declared. 

“Then prove it.” My smirk grew to shit eating proportions. I looked at Kuzan in the corner of my eye and said: “Let’s do this, just like old times!” 

Kuzan closed his eyes, and nodded. “Yes, just like old times.”

SHING 

My body froze. Everything was moving slowly, as if time had slowed down. 

Pain. More pain then I had ever felt in both of my lives coursed through my body. 

I forced my fading eyes to look down and withing my chest was a tanto, sparkling with lightning. 

“”“LEI!”””

I heard several people shout, but as my eyes grew heavy, I couldn’t bring myself to question my surroundings. 

And so, darkness welcomed me. 

— Chapter End —

Patreon Note: Finally reached some real action in the Forest of Death! 

Gonna actually write some more chapters for Retribution, Spider, Let There Be Light, and cook up the last bit of this section of the exam. I should drop a chapter for each within the next week.