Chapter 130: Shadows in the Forest
Time was slipping away quickly.
The island offered no respite.
The forest stretched out before Jun'ko like an endless labyrinth, the shadows of the trees stretching into the mist, turning every snapped branch into a foreboding omen.
The beating of her heart was the only steady sound in the hostile silence of nature.
Find Ren. Keep moving. Don't get caught.
Her mind repeated the mantra obsessively.
It was an exercise in clarity, a way to resist the paranoia that Kirigakure had instilled in her since childhood. Every step was calculated, every breath measured.
The damp ground muffled the sound of her movements, but the forest had sharper ears than she did.
Then, a chilling shiver ran down her spine.
It wasn't paranoia.
Someone was following her.
She didn't turn around abruptly—she knew it would be useless.
Instead, she slowed her pace imperceptibly, letting her gaze flicker to the edges of her vision.
A shadow.
A shadow moving between the trees.
The dry snap of a branch confirmed her suspicions.
A predator?
The mist weaved through the branches, dancing like a living entity around her.
Jun'ko glided toward a tree with fluid movements, pressing her body against the rough bark, allowing the forest's shadows to swallow her.
Her fingers swiftly formed a sequence of seals.
Sly Mind Affect Technique.
A whisper barely touched her lips as chakra silently spread through the air.
The mist seeped into the ground, invisible to the untrained eye, ready to confuse and distort the perception of anyone who came too close.
The sound of hesitant footsteps
.A shadow, trapped in her illusion
.With her heart pounding, Jun'ko moved sideways, ready to strike.
Her blade lifted slightly, tension crackling between her fingers.
But when her eyes locked onto the face of her prey, her breath caught in her throat.
A familiar face.
- - -
Aoi advanced along the shore with a steady pace, the salty wind ruffling his hair. His eyes were fixed on the horizon, scanning the sea with calculated intensity. There was nothing unusual… until he saw it.
A boat.
Abandoned on the shore.
The water around the hull was still rippled, as if someone had left it there in a hurry.
An insignificant detail to anyone else, but not to him.
No visible footprints in the sand.
That could only mean one thing: whoever arrived was already in the forest.
Aoi lowered his stance slightly, letting his hand slide toward the kunai strapped to his thigh. Instinct and training told him the same thing: don't stay exposed.
With one last glance at the boat, he stepped into the trees, leaving the sea behind.But he wasn't alone.
A few meters away, hidden in the shadow of a tree trunk, a figure watched him in silence.
Watchful.
Patient.
Aoi didn't notice.
- - -
Kurara moved with the grace of a predator.
The metallic scent of blood was in the air, making her skin prickle. Instinct told her to stop, to assess the danger before moving forward.
But she ignored the inner warning, continuing to follow the invisible trail of death saturating the forest.
Then, suddenly—A roar.
A mass of dark fur exploded from the vegetation, its sheer weight making the ground tremble.
Sharp teeth.
Claws tearing through the earth.
The bear lunged forward, its roar shattering the forest's silence like a thunderclap.
Kurara moved on instinct.
She sidestepped, drawing her Kusarigama in one fluid motion. The chain hissed through the air, wrapping around the nearby branches.
The bear swiped with a devastating paw, splinters of wood exploding from the trunk behind her.
But Kurara was no prey.
With a swift motion, she snapped the chain of her Kusarigama, trapping the beast in its own momentum.
The animal thrashed, raw strength straining to break free.
Kurara prepared to strike.But then—a sudden whistling sound in the air made the hairs on her neck stand on end.
A kunai.
Too fast to be random.
She turned sharply, her eyes searching for her new opponent.
Someone had attacked her.
- - -
Ren moved silently through the forest, every step a calculation, every breath a measurement of the space around him.
He had already sent his clones in different directions to monitor his comrades, but now something was keeping him on edge.
He closed his eyes, letting his chakra expand like an invisible wave.
No familiar signatures nearby.
But something was there.
An unfamiliar energy, slithering through the trees.
Ren turned toward the source of the disturbance.And walked toward the heart of the forest.
- - -
Far from the island, two figures observed the hunting ground with unreadable expressions.
Zetsu chuckled, his voice a sharp whisper in the shadows.
"So this is the great Bloody Mist exam?"
Obito didn't answer immediately. His Sharingan glowed in the dim cave light, a red flame in the night.
"Soon… the village will know its darkest period."
A whisper dripping with venom.
"Fujino will complete the mission."Zetsu grinned.The hunt had just begun.
[Hi There! Ito-kun here ^.^ can you help me down in the comment? I was thinking if i should keep in consideration the knowledge of Boruto too or not, from one side there are many interesting things and clarification, like the summoning technique, that does'nt work like we saw in Naruto, from the other side we can implement some interesting information.
Let me know what do you think about :)
Ps: i already saw some comment regarding it, Thanks to Misteriboi
Thanks everyone specially Jayroy_63 ,Sami_Alfoheday, BagusPardana, thefarmerboy007_7, Darkosiris_Lopez, Alexx_Sejas, Werty_9247, RyuB201, shadowborn, Yasmin_Silva_3876, RyuB201, DaoistVVm1Vi, DaoistDW5XU4, Acnol,DaoistSEsItM,bndr, RyuB201, VanHellsing6969, Daoist710883, WertyTribola, LevinCloth, Daoist0thxiB, bndr, AKIB19,LevinCloth, DaoistAZmi17,Alexx_Sejas, Morgoph, Strandarn, Gothrog, Nonymous_H, Ikaro_Rodrigues, Radical_Hamburger1, Misteriboi, AKIB19, Abdul_Salam_FASAMI, Daoist9Sa84q, Gothrog, shadowborn, DarkGambit, Miguel_024 and Meltis_Pach!
Sincerely Thanks and remember about the Power Stones, these are the motivation for my work :) ]