Chapter 138: “Souta’s First Kill”
Blood.
Sticky.Fresh.Warm.
Souta stared at his hands.
Not trembling.
Just still.
Like the world had paused again.
The body at his feet didn't move.
Older shinobi.Missing-nin.Nothing special.
He'd tried to cut Eri from behind.
Souta didn't hesitate.
Just blinked—
And the man folded inside out.
Gone in a breath.
No cheering.No clapping.
Just the cold taste of truth.
His first kill.
Not from rage.Not instinct.
Choice.
Eri touched his shoulder.
He didn't pull away.
"I didn't mean to," he said.
"But you chose to."
"I didn't want him to die."
"You wanted us to live."
Silence.
Then wind.
That sound again—The one Ryuki always hated.
The sound peace made before it broke.
Souta sat beside the body.
Didn't cry.Didn't panic.
But his spiral spun again.
Slow.Faint.
Not consuming.
Just breathing.
Ryuki arrived late.
Saw the mess.Saw the silence.
Then looked into Souta's eyes.
"Do you feel it?" he asked quietly.
Souta nodded.
"The smile is closer."
They buried the man.
Not with honor.
But with respect.
A stone, unmarked.
Souta stared at it a long time.
Then whispered.
"I understand Kurashiki better now."
"Why he laughed while killing."
Eri looked up.
Eyes narrow.
"You're not him."
"But I could be."
Later that night—
Souta dreamed.
He stood before a white spiral mirror.
His reflection stared back.
It smiled.
Identical.
But wrong.
"One death is a seed."
"A thousand is a forest."
"Will you grow?"
He woke up screaming.
Ryuki was already there.
No words.
Just an embrace.
Because Ryuki knew what came next.
The spiral wouldn't remain quiet forever.
Not with blood on its roots.
Meanwhile.
The man in rags stood.
He hadn't moved in years.
But now—
He stepped forward.
Eyes still stitched shut.
"He's killed."
"The smile is real."
"I can walk again."
He lifted a gnarled blade.
Covered in spirals.
Not steel.
Not chakra.
Made of memory.
And far away—
Souta stood on the Hokage Monument.
Looking down at Konoha.
His village.
His family.
His battlefield.
His future.
He whispered to the wind:
"If I become like him…Will you kill me?"
Eri's voice floated up behind him.
"Not if you don't let me."
He smiled.
Small.Human.
Then walked down into the night.
End of Chapter 138.