The Enlightened One Ch.69 (Patreon)

— Samui —

She and the Stone Princess, Kurotsuchi, took deep breaths. Their chests heaved from exertion, and their bodies revealed just how intense a fight they were engaged in. 

Samui was on her last leg. Even with her few years of life on the Princess, she knew she lacked firepower. 

Samui's survival in the fight was not a result of luck but a testament to her ability to calculate and act rationally. This starkly contrasted with Kurotsuchi’s brash and explosive nature, which served as a disadvantage in their intense battle. 

However, how things were going, no matter who was the winner, no one would succeed in their mission. They had suffered too many injuries, and at this point, any downed stone shinobi, or Omoi and Karui, were likely more energized than the two fighting women. 

This needed to end now.

“Enough,” Samui said, earning Kurotsuchi’s attention. “We’re fighting needlessly.”

“Oh? Are we?” Kurotsuchi glared.

“Yes, we are.” Samui gestured to her injuries, her clothes torn and her body riddled with all sorts of cuts and bruises. “Neither of us nor our teams are in any condition to take on Lei Senju, much less alone.” 

“Back to this worthless drivel?” Kurotsuchi spat out.

“Is it worthless, or is it cautious?” Samui tapped her head. “Lei Senju was said to be the next coming of Hashirama Senju, the same man who captured eight of the nine-tailed beasts. I’ve experienced the might of the Two and Eight Tails, and I know such a feat is not small.”

Kurotsuchi glanced away, looking at her downed teammates, then back to Samui.

“That doesn’t-”

BOOOOM

Both women snapped their gazes over to the direction where the explosion occurred.

“They’re still going at it?” Kurotsuchi frowned, rubbing her bruised arm.

“I believe so.” Samui nodded. “I intend to see how the battle has progressed.” 

“Tch.” The Stone Princess scoffed, but Samui paid her no mind, instead walking toward her down teammates and gently prodding them awake. 

And by gently…

She kicked both of them, earning groans of pain.

“Omoi, Karui, we’re moving.” 

“Ugh, j-just a little longer.” Omoi turned to the other side, only to earn another kick.

“No.” Samui denied.

“So rude! This is why I wanted a team full of men!” Omoi half-shouted/half-whispered.

“Sounds about right, you fucking bottom.” Karui groaned at her male teammate, earning an offended look from him. 

“Hey, I’m not a-”

“Enough, moving, now.” Samui declared with finality, jumping up to the branches and heading toward the battle that was still taking place.

“You heard Samui, dumbass.” Karui glared at him and pursued the busty blonde. 

“Yeah…yeah.” Omoi frowned deeply, shooting up and following his two teammates.

— Kurotsuchi —

She watched as the three Cloud Shinobi took their leave with a deep scowl on her face. For the first time in her life, she wondered if her stubbornness was actually good for her.

That Samui girl raised some amazing points, one that the Granddaughter of Onoki couldn’t help but consider.

Lei Senju was a powerhouse among powerhouses, one capable of taking down a tailed beast, perhaps not at the same level as Hashirama Senju, but capable of reaching those heights nonetheless, there was no question about it, just a matter of time.

Not to mention, the Konoha shinobi who took part in this exam were no joke. If they wanted to succeed in their mission to kill Lei Senju, it would be considerably harder than Kurotsuchi first anticipated.

And that knowledge angered her. 

She was a loyal subject to the Tsuchikage! One who embodied the Will of Stone! Completing the mission meant everything, even her life if need be-

…Yet, now, she wondered if she and her team could complete it.

Kurotsuchi shook her head and looked down at her downed comrades. She could figure that out later. Killing Lei Senju simply wouldn’t be an option during this exam, unless fate smiled down on them.

Yet she doubted it. The Stone Village was never a receiver of Fate and her miracles, instead, they remained unmoving in her light, both in body and spirit. 

Yes… that was the answer she had been looking for all along!

“Get up!” Kurotsuchi kicked both of her teammates, hard, earning pained groans from the two men. 

“Arghh! Must you be so harsh, Lady Kurotscuhi?!” 

“I must, we have a mission to complete. You both can rest when we’re dead.”

“Our mission is to protect you, Princess.” The other Stone shinobi clarified, but in Kurotsuchi’s mind, it was the same difference. 

A quiet scoff left her lips. Even now, when she was trying her best to do something meaningful for her village, her Grandfather still insisted on keeping her safe. 

But that’s not what she wanted! 

“We’re going!” She ordered before jumping off in the direction the Cloud team had gone. 

She was a Stone shinobi, and she’d fulfill her duty or die. 

…Just like her Father.

— Hinata Hyuga —

Hinata pressed her hands against Naruko’s abdomen, all the while pouring as much chakra into the girl as she could in an attempt to heal her. 

Naruko wasn’t dead, far from it in fact, and Hinata knew just how resilient she was as the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. Naruko wouldn’t die here, and this bit of medical ninjutsu was just insurance on that fact.

But Satsuki…

Hinata glanced at the Uchiha girl who held another Chidori in hand as she rushed her opponent.  

…She didn’t have the same knowledge Hinata had. Or if she did, she didn’t care. 

“DIE!” Satsuki shouted as the powerful Chidori slammed into Taro’s Susanoo again, cracking it.

The skeletal chakra construct slapped Satsuki away, sending her flying and crashing down to the earth. 

 “DAMN IT!” She roared in anger, readying another Chidori.

“Stop it, Satsuki!” Hinata shouted. “Naruko will be fine! We don’t need you killing yourself!” 

Satsuki glared at Hinata, and the Hyuga Heir returned the glare unflinchingly. 

“Hinata’s right.” Shikamaru said from the side. “We can buy some time, what you need to do is take Naruko away from here, now!”

“Why the hell would we do that?!” Satsuki bit back at the Nara heir.

“Because Taro’s target has never been us! We’ve been fighting to pursue Lei this entire time, but it doesn’t even seem like he’s fighting anymore! This battle has no purpose!” Shikamaru explained.

“That’s truly what you believe?!” Satsuki pushed herself back to her feet, glaring hard at Taro’s unmoving form. “This is about much more than Lei; this is about the honor of the Uchiha! It’s about punishing this eye stealer and stomping on his corpse!” 

“Then you can do that without us.” Shikamaru shook his head. “Pride and honor have never meant much to me, much less when I need to die for them.” 

“Satsuki…you need to calm down.” Ino agreed with the Nara Heir. “I know-”

“You know nothing!” Satsuki shot back, shutting down whatever else Ino had to say, leaving the blonde girl shocked into silence.

“Then…we have nothing to say.” Shikamaru let out a sigh. “But we’re not dying for this.” 

“Tch!” 

Satsuki glared at Taro, who was just standing there expressionlessly, her fists clenching so tightly that her nails began to dig into her skin.

“S-Satsuki…” All eyes turned to Naruko who had woken up, there were bags under her eyes and she looked like she was in horrible condition. “W-We…never give up, o-or go back on our w-word…”

Slowly, Naruko pushed herself out of Hinata’s arms and began to rise to her feet. 

“Naruko, you need to rest!” Hinata was quick to try and keep Naruko down, but the blonde was too stubborn. 

“Now’s not the t-time, we finish what we s-started!” Naruko stood up, holding out her fist to the Uchiha.

Satsuki stared at the blonde, dumbfounded by her words and resolve… before a small smile tugged at her lips.

“Took you long enough…loser.” 

“Ehehe.”

CRASH

Suddenly, something impacted against the ground, blowing up dirt and obscuring their vision, in the next moment, two wood dragons were flying toward Taro’s body.

“Get down!” Lei’s voice echoed, and they all did as he said, with the exception of Hinata, throwing their bodies to the ground.

BOOOOOM

BOOOOOM 

Two explosions rang out, kicking up even more dirt as everyone covered their heads on the ground, hoping none of the flying debris hit them. 

Meanwhile, Hinata was using Rotation to keep up a substantial defense and ward off any unnecessary injury. 

As the air cleared and the group regained their vision, they saw Taro, missing an arm, with serious burns all over his body. Roots were wrapped all around him, trapping him in place, and standing next to him was Lei-

But he looked…no, he felt different. 

Hinata didn’t know how to describe it, but it was like she was looking at a totally new person, even though he looked the same for the most part. The only difference was he was in his sage mode, and it seemed to have changed a bit.

Whereas before, he would only have a circle on his forehead with a dot in the center, now the borders of his eyes held a darker shade of black around them as if he had painted the corners of his eyes with ink. 

No matter how he had changed, or how different she felt he was, Hinata was glad that Lei was okay. 

— Lei Senju —

I stared at the restrained traitor with a deep frown, before scanning my gaze across everyone else.

Hinata, Satsuki, Naruko, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji were all tens of meters in front of me, while Sakura was a bit further back, unconscious and being protected by one of Naruko’s clones. 

My gaze shot up to the treeline to see both the Cloud and Stone teams watching me. I didn’t spare them too long of a glance, instead focusing my attention back onto Naruko, more specifically, the cut on her abdomen that was visibly healing.

“Are you alright, Naruko?” I asked with no small amount of concern.

“I…I’m fine. I’m glad to see you’re good now, Lei.” Naruko gave me a thumbs up and a smile, one I couldn’t return…not now.

“Good.” I nodded and turned my attention back to the captured traitor. “Now…you.” I stepped closer to him. Even with his arm blown off, and burns littering his body, he remained expressionless. 

Unlike Kuzan, Taro had been completely stripped of emotion. 

A part of me wavered, wanting to forgive the boy; after all, it’s not like it was his fault why this happened. Danzo had taken everything from him.

Yet, another, bigger part of me knew that this was exactly what needed to be done. 

“Damn, kid, why did you go and run away from me?!” Anko landed behind me, taking a small breath, and walking up beside me. 

“Took you long enough.” I side-eyed her, earning a cheeky smile. “Kid, it’s not my fault I can’t teleport.” 

“Taro…” I said, looking at the boy. 

“So he’s the second troublemaker, huh?” Anko asked, placing her hand on her lips. “Want me to take him in?” 

“No.” I shook my head. 

“Huh?” Anko blinked. 

“The ROOT have seals that they place on their agents’ tongues to prevent them from leaking any information. I don’t know if the seals can be removed, and if they can be, only Danzo knows how to as of now.” 

“Then, we’re leaving him here?” Anko asked, her tone suggesting that there was no way on Earth she planned on letting that happen.

“No, we’re gonna-”

Before I could finish, Taro’s body was suddenly engulfed it black flames. The flames burned at his waist but quickly spread across his entire body, thanks to the wood restraints. 

My gaze shot over to Satsuki who was glaring at Taro’s burning body, and my eyes widened when I noticed her eyes were no longer three tomoe.

“Satsuki…when?” I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. She had unlocked her Mangekyo Sharingan this early?!

That…I couldn’t believe it!

I closed my eyes and sent my clone a mental order, one that needed to be carried out now with this new development. 

Everyone else looked away, not wanting to see Taro, our friend, be reduced to nothing, but Anko, Satsuki, and I watched quietly as Taro’s body burned down to nothing. All of us watched for different reasons, I’m sure.

I owed him this at least. To see his life come to an end due to my own negligence and passive nature.

Had I noticed the signs, things would have turned out differently, I’m sure.

As Taro’s body became nothing and the flames dissipated, I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked down to see Anko looking up at me. 

“It’s not your fault, kid.”

I turned away from her and looked at where the boy, who I had once called friend, now ceased to exist without even a single ash of his body remaining.

“You don’t need to lie to me, Anko.”

I knew I was in the wrong; I knew I had made more than a few mistakes. But I couldn’t change the past. The only thing I could do was be more vigilant and proactive in making sure the people I care about never have to suffer the same fate as Kuzan and Taro.

— Chapter End —

Beta reader: @Dragonboy1

Author’s Note: Dropping an extended word count Spider chapter today as well, as promised. Every Tuesday and Thursday at 8 PM US EST.

Also, this is the last short Naruto chap, so it’s the last one I’ll be posting randomly. When I update this fic again, it’ll mirror my update schedule, Tuesday and Thursday.