Kotetsu awoke in the cold dirt. Sprinting, then running, then jogging, then walking. His night had been nothing but fleeing the people he had known all his life. At some point, the sky grew lighter, and he felt the pull of sleep trying to drag him into unconsciousness. Knowing that it was either to sleep now or pass out unexpectedly, he pulled the rough sleeping cot from his bag and curled up right there on the forest floor. He had wriggled out of it at some point through his slumber. His bag lay tossed aside, contents spilling from within after his frantic search. The sun was still somewhere in the early hours of the morning, not yet past the midpoint. The day would still be shorter due to winter. He forced himself to get off the ground, and began to clean up his mess.

  At the moment, there was no goal. Kotetsu simply wandered from tree to tree, mind still locked on the night before, wondering at the tidal storm of events that brought him out into the wilderness. It was insane. He wondered at the malevolence the elder always seemed to hold for him, and where it really came from. He wished he had actually taken that dump in the elder’s tent back then. Hours went by as Kotetsu simply walked, thinking. He was brought back to reality by the snap of a stick.

  Kotetsu’s entire body went stiff as he paused his stride, straining his ears to figure the direction of the sound. A small movement to his right brought his head turning, eyes wide open, to stare directly at… A squirrel. It looked at him. He looked at it. He slowly let out the breath he had unconsciously held, and the squirrel took off crawling right up a tree. Kotetsu watched it scurry for a second. With his stream of thoughts broken, he began to actually see where he was. The forest all looked the same to him, but the density of trees had been rising slowly for the last hour or so. He had avoided roots and stiff saplings that dotted the landscape as he absentmindedly wandered.

  After taking a good look around, he figured something out: He was completely, utterly lost.

  —

  “Go, RUN!”

  Niko yelled the words as he brought fist after fist down on Gakuji. The only advantage he really had over Gakuji was his size, and that advantage quickly dwindled as Gakuji activated his Byakugan. It was against clan law to use Ninjutsu against each other, and the Byakugan was pushing against that boundary, only really allowed during spars. Niko knew that if he used his own Byakugan, the elder would surely have his head. He looked up to see Kotetsu gone. It was time to endure.

  Gakuji kicked up, pushing Niko off of him, then he swiftly jumped to his feet. He took the stance of his proud clan and prepared to rain vicious retribution down on his opponent. Niko just stood there. Gakuji took two quick steps forward and began his assault. His fingers formed into prongs as he stabbed down into Niko’s body through his clothes, tiny sharp pins of Chakra stabbing into the poor boy. Gakuji used the superior vision of the Byakugan to rupture blood vessels, tear muscle, damage nerves and even almost puncture bone. To top it all off, Niko wouldn’t be able to circulate Chakra through most of his body for a week, possibly more. Niko was left barely standing as Gakuji stretched his fingers, forming two palms. A merciless smile spread across his face. He aimed and placed one palm strike against Niko’s chest. Niko felt as if his lungs had suddenly just exploded, like he held his breath for too long. Blood came spewing out of the boy’s mouth and nose in wracking coughs. Gakuji held up his other palm.

  “I have a great idea for your punishment.” Gakuji breathed. His entire body heaved at the Chakra expenditure. Niko could no longer move.

  Gakuji threw his palm straight at Niko’s heart. The palm hit a brick wall. Gakuji could feel the bones in his fingers bend, then begin to break as the immovable might of Syuka’s hand gripped his own. Gakuji attempted to pull back, but fell to the ground instead as the grip only grew stronger. Tears streamed down the boy’s face as he could feel the joints in his fingers on the verge of snapping. Then, as quick as it began, the pain vanished, leaving his hand red and numb from the attack. Syuka turned her back to him and grabbed Niko right as he began to fall over.

  “Thank you.” She whispered into Niko’s ear. His head buzzed with pain, but the words cut right through to his barely conscious self.

  “Th… Tha-” He coughed, trying to force the words out.

  “Don’t speak, please. You are in no condition to…” She began, but he cut her off.

  “That… Was for… Emilia…” Niko said, right before passing out.

  —

  Emilia strode into the camp. The assignment only required one person, and she readily accepted it. She had been gone for nearly three days. She was ready to eat, bathe, then sit down. She halted as her father stood, waiting, Byakugan active. She immediately went on alert at this sight, but was left confused when he simply walked away. Not knowing what was going on, she followed him.

  Emilia opened the tent flap to her family’s main tent and stopped dead. Inside was Masato, her mother, and the bandaged, laid out form of Niko. He was spread atop a cushion of blankets. She could tell he was conscious, because he was straining his neck to try and look at her. Something else bothered her.

  “Where is Kotetsu?” She demanded.

  Noone spoke. After a moment, she tried again.

  “Where is Ko-”

  “Gone.”

  Masato cut her off. Emilia’s entire expression went blank. After a second, her mind kicked into overdrive, and she turned around to leave. The clasp of steel fingers fell on her wrist and she spun, ready to fight. She froze again at the expression on her father’s face.

  “He left. He would have been killed otherwise.” Masato amended.

  She pulled on the grip to no avail.

  “Release me.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you will do something regrettable.”

  Emilia turned to her mother. Her anger cracked at the heartbroken look in Syuka’s eyes. It was only then that she understood this was the only way. She still thought she should do something, but relented for now. Only for now.

  —

  Kotetsu had a goal. After walking in the same direction most of the day, he stumbled across a particularly straight stick. He set up his sleeping bag properly, then promptly passed out. His bag held a variety of dried foods, which he kept adequately separated from his smelly socks. He munched on nuts and bits of meat that weren’t much better than leather in the early morning. He hadn’t felt much like eating the previous day. He picked up the long straight stick, and began his journey. Today, he would accomplish his goal: whack one hundred trees with this stick. If it broke, he would find another stick and start over. He began to march, humming a tune that grew discordant with each swing of the stick, cracking against the trees.

  —

  One year, two months ago.

  Aina Senju watched the body of the boy she followed for the last day fall limp from the sky. The branch he had been standing on had curved upward in a point, piercing straight through his chest and out his back. She was certain she heard the snap of his spine. It would have killed him instantly. There was no pain, she told herself. That’s what she always told herself. She felt the static feeling of numbness settle over her body, as it always does when she disconnects from her emotions. This was part of who she was. Aina held a unique position in her clan, being next in line for Matriarch. This was what she needed to learn in order to understand the magnitude of her status. That’s what her mother told her, at least. Even still, every kill felt just as horrific as the first.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Aina retreated quickly, only studying the body for a moment. The others would be here soon, and she did not want to kill more than she absolutely had to. She opened the bark of the tree like a blanket and let it carry her back down into the dirt, where she fled with speed. She traveled like that for almost ten minutes before allowing herself to break from the ground. Checking to make sure she had not been followed again, she began her slow trek back home.

  She took her time, travelling two whole days across the countryside. This was her favorite part of an assignment; the return. She would allow her mind to wander as her feet automatically found perches between the brush and roots.

  Her powers gave her the ability to grow and nurture life from the ground itself. It was a shame she used them to end the lives of others so often. That is what existence was like for those who bore Kekkei Genkai, abilities of the blood. That boy she had killed would have suffered the exact same fate. In a twisted way, she saw killing him as a mercy. He would no longer have to carry the burden that she carried, forced to use their gifts to wreak pain and torment.

  This line of thought was disrupted by the visage splayed out in front of her; a bright mountainside, covered in growing grass and grazing oxen. There lay a tiny farmhouse, undisturbed by the violent world. She imagined herself living within, unaware of the cruel existence outside. It only lasted a second before she forced herself to move on, meandering through a bed of flowers and bushes.

  She came to a forest of tall redwoods. The trees rose into the sky, threatening to pierce the clouds from her angle. She knew better. After walking for a while, a near imperceptible voice made itself known.

  “Name?”

  “Aina.” She responded.

  “Mission?”

  “Complete.”

  An old man, who she knew was almost 60, stepped from behind a tree. She couldn’t tell which direction his voice had come from. That happened sometimes, as the men grew more crafty in their later years. She dismissed the thought. The man approached her but kept a respectful distance. She wanted to get cleaned off and dressed, but the formalities needed to be met. She got bored as he took his time.

  “Is your son progressing well?”

  The old man did not respond for a second, gauging her reaction. She knew he was weighing giving an answer. With her mother, that would be more important. She got impatient.

  “You may speak, Touma.”

  Touma nodded. “He is moving fast through the exercises. Soon, he will replace me. For now though, Taisei is stuck washing the pigs.”

  She chuckled at the thought. The clan kept boars as livestock. They regularly rebelled against their coldhearted overlords. She would occasionally cheer them on, except for when her mother was watching.

  Finally, Touma was in formation and the pair began to move. The forest passed by quickly and they soon came to a sprawling scene of huts grown out of the very trees themselves. The huts spread upward into each tree, making the space inside a more vertical experience. Bridges were interlaced between trees seemingly at random, creating a strange patchwork that cast a webbed shadow on the ground below. Adults and children bandied about across the bridges and under the trees. Not all Senju had to endure the same fate as her. The pair made their way up a series of steps, rising slowly through the trees. They passed running children, the younger boys always stopping to give a quick nod. Older boys and men gave a more respectful bow. Aina ignored all of it.

  The two arrived in front of a larger hut. The entrance was draped with cascading reeds.Touma knelt down and dropped his head. He said nothing as Aina continued on, pushing the reeds aside. She strolled to the center of the room, looking up and down at the various pottery and peculiar crafts her mother was always working on. There was a new piece in the corner. As she eyed it, her mother appeared from behind a particularly large pot.

  “Daughter. What have you accomplished?”

  The voice of her mother croaked and crackled with age. Despite Aina’s own young 15 years of age, her mother was almost 80. Aina was not her first child. However, she was now her only child.

  “I have accomplished the task set before us. The requested target has been killed. The Hyuuga shall be suspected of treachery.” She voiced.

  “And witnesses?”

  “None.”

  “No one saw you, or no one left alive?”

  Aina did not speak. Her mother chuckled softly. “I told you, daughter. This world will not allow you to act with such lofty ideals. You will learn this lesson, just as I did, and my mother, and my mother’s mother.”

  Aina kept her mouth shut. She looked from the new art piece in the corner to her mother’s near decrepit form. The only real resemblance between the two were their white hair, her mother’s coming from age. Aina stood tall and stared at her mother. Something within those old eyes made Aina flinch.

  “You will not test me today, child. Leave me now, I must attend to my forms…” Her mother said, wandering over to an unfinished pot on the ground.

  Aina took a deep breath, and stepped out of the hut.

  —

  Kotetsu had broken three sticks already. The first stick had lasted him all the way to eighty nine, then tragically snapped after getting caught on a low branch. The second stick was too flimsy and barely lasted ten strikes. Kotetsu tossed the third stick in frustration. He picked up a fourth and began swinging. After barely getting past fifteen strikes, the stick snapped in two.

  “Oh COME O-”

  Snap.

  Kotetsu twitched. Had he heard that right? It took a second for the sound to register. Kotetsu turned slowly, expecting another squirrel.

  It was not a squirrel.

  There, peeking from behind a tree, looking at Kotetsu with a guarded expression, was a boy. His clothes were well kept, a simple shirt and pants that dropped to open sandals. His short dark hair was scruffy and fell around his head. Kotetsu thought the boy was maybe 15 or 16 years old. Suddenly, another snap brought Kotetsu’s eyes swiveling again, locking onto another boy. His hair was brown, slightly taller maybe. Just when Kotetsu felt that his luck had seriously fallen into a ditch, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

  And then there were three.

  “Well, well, well. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a trespasser.” The boy behind Kotetsu said.