Chapter 11 Tension in the Land of Waves

(63 Days Before Graduation Exam | Canon Arc: Team 7's Escort Mission Begins)

Word Count: 1,368

"Some names are so feared, they are spoken only in whispers…

And some are buried so deep, the whisper itself becomes a wound."

— Ryūketsu Reflection, Scroll Fragment 91

[Opening Scene – Hokage Tower, Briefing Room, 0700 Hours]

The briefing room was quiet save for the soft hiss of incense and the scrape of charcoal on parchment. A map of the southern border was pinned to the wall, marked with three red circles: Mizutani Crossing, Gōzu Harbor, and Takano Gorge.

Standing in front of them was a man Satoshi had never seen before — tall, lean, left eye bandaged. Name: Kiyomaru. A special-ops investigator once retired, recalled under Hiruzen's orders for one task:

"We believe someone is moving stolen elemental scrolls through unregulated ports. B-Rank danger minimum. We'll need your eyes more than your blades."

Satoshi said nothing.

Kakashi stood at the back, arms folded, watching silently. Not assigned — observing.

Kiyomaru (eyeing Satoshi): "You're the Ryūketsu kid. Thought you'd be taller."

Satoshi (flatly): "I thought you'd be retired."

There was no warmth.

Kakashi (interjecting with a half-smile): "He's functional. Not friendly."

Kiyomaru: "That'll do."

[Scene: Departure – South Gate of Konoha]

Satoshi wore a modified version of the standard shinobi vest — lightened armor, tighter collar, wind-resistant shoulder straps to reduce drag.

Attached to his belt:

• 3 kunai, balanced edge-up

• 2 explosive tags folded with chakra thread

• 4 sealing tags infused with burn-stabilized fire chakra

• And a scroll with experimental Earth-Fire chakra pulse traps

Internal (mental prep):

"Primary element advantage: fire. Element control: improving.

Lightning: unstable. Sealed. Not usable.

Secondary: earth — anchor-type. Requires precise timing."

Kiyomaru (checking supplies): "We move fast and sleep short. Expect to engage under fog.

You're not backup. You're eyes and decision-making. Stay smart."

Satoshi nodded once.

[Scene: Forest Border – Two Days South of Konoha]

The forest here was denser. Trees bent toward each other as if conspiring. Light rarely touched the moss.

Kiyomaru (whispering): "Hold."

They crouched.

Ahead, a supply team in black — not bandits. Not shinobi. Too coordinated. Three wagons, no banners, chakra suppressed.

Satoshi adjusted his position, hands moving silently across a seal patch folded on his thigh. A light charge of fire chakra activated it — disguised as moss. When stepped on, it would emit a silent flash visible only through Ryūketsu sensory tuning.

Kiyomaru (watching): "You made that?"

Satoshi (quiet): "Heat-glyph fusion. Triggered by body weight + moisture shift. Took 12 failures."

Kiyomaru (blinking): "…I like you."

[Scene: Interception Begins]

Satoshi circled wide, coming up behind the second cart. When the flash seal activated, he counted three seconds — then threw a kunai tipped in flint into a dry branch above the first wagon.

Snap.

All heads turned.

Too late.

"Ryūketsu Style: Ember Vein Trap."

Fire chakra, low and snaking, ran through the trees — under them, not at them. When it surged upward, it didn't explode — it boiled the moisture in the trunks, making them burst from the inside out.

Chaos. Screaming. One of the masked couriers dove to intercept but was burned across the chest, the cloth melting to skin.

Kiyomaru descended like thunder — precise and brutal.

Two enemies fled. One stayed.

And looked directly at Satoshi.

Stranger (half-burned): "So… the dragon's heir still lives."

The blood in Satoshi's legs turned to ice.

Satoshi: "You know me."

Stranger: "I knew your mother."

He vanished into mist.

[Scene: Aftermath – Campfire on the Gorge's Edge]

Satoshi sat with hands over the fire. His chakra was drained — but not from the jutsu. From the memory.

Internal Monologue:

"He looked like no one from the archives.

His chakra—not Leaf. Not Mist. Not any known system.

But he said he knew her.

That means either he's lying… or he was there the day she died."

He stared into the flame.

The fire flickered blue for just a moment — not his chakra. Residual signature. A resonance.

That man left something behind.

Kiyomaru (handing a ration bar): "You handled the misdirection well. That fire-line trap — that was cruel."

Satoshi (without turning): "You wanted them alive?"

Kiyomaru: "Nah. I just didn't think a kid could break a man's lungs that cleanly."

Satoshi ate quietly.

[Scene: Flashback Fragment – Memory Bending Trigger]

Later that night, while meditating, the Celestial Fragment pulsed.

He didn't call on it.

But the memory came anyway.

The stranger's face.

Only… younger. Smiling. Crying. Holding a bundle in his arms — an infant.

Satoshi.

And someone speaking off-screen.

Voice:

"Leave him. No more interference. His fate must remain uncertain."

It was Jigen.

[Final Scene: Return to Konoha – Dusk]

As they returned through the gate, Kiyomaru offered a nod. No praise. Just respect.

Kiyomaru: "You work like a seasoned shinobi. No theatrics. No ego."

Satoshi: "I train to outlive regret."

Kiyomaru smirked. "Then you might just make it."

At the Hokage Tower, Satoshi handed Hiruzen the scroll they recovered — contents: partially translated Ryūketsu sealing scripts.

Hiruzen read it. Then looked at the boy.

Hiruzen:

"…Your mother's name was Akihime, wasn't it?"

Satoshi didn't answer.

He didn't have to.