The fog was thickening around him. A sepulchral silence took hold of the battlefield, broken only by the faint splashing of water under his feet. Bruhil narrowed his eyes, his Sharingan spinning intensely. He knew what was coming. A coordinated attack. A hell of blood and steel.
"Hide in the fog and take him out," a ninja whispered from the haze.
Bruhil sketched a cynical smile.
"You think hiding will save you?"
The first attack came like lightning. Raiton: Shiboshi. A flash emerged from the ground and raced toward him like an electric snake. Bruhil pivoted on his axis, dodging by a hair's breadth. The air smelled of ozone, his skin tingled with residual energy. Before he could steady himself, a liquid whip hissed in the darkness. Suiton: Suiben.
Bruhil raised his kunai, but the force of the impact forced him back. The fog hid the attackers, but his crimson eyes discerned blurry silhouettes within the white curtain. He had no time to defend. He attacked first.
He pushed off with one foot and hurled three shuriken in different directions. The metal spun violently, cutting through the mist. A gasp, a wet gurgle, and the sound of a body falling into the water. One ninja collapsed with a pierced throat.
"Damn you!" one of them shouted.
A deafening roar shattered the balance of the fight. Suiton: Baku Suishōha. From nowhere, a colossal wave rose up, sweeping everything away. Bruhil barely had time to push himself backward before being swallowed by the current.
The water enveloped him, dragging him like a hungry beast. He slammed against submerged rocks, his body tossed around like a rag doll. But then his gaze hardened. His lungs burned, but he would not die here.
He spun in the water, using the momentum to emerge violently. Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku.
A torrent of flames erupted from his mouth, evaporating the wave in an instant. The searing heat scorched the skin of several ninja, whose agonized screams pierced the mist. Their charred bodies collapsed onto the steaming ground.
Those who remained hesitated. Bruhil looked at them with a murderous smile, blood trickling from his forehead.
"If that's all you've got... you're dead."
The ninja gritted their teeth. A joint attack was their only option.
"Now!" one of the leaders shouted.
Dozens of water whips and hair spikes shot toward him. The rain darkened the sky. But Bruhil was already in motion.
He dodged one attack with an acrobatic spin, landing on one ninja and running him through with his kunai. His leg moved like a whip, breaking another's jaw. He turned just in time to catch an enemy's arm and, with a shout, snapped it at an impossible angle.
Blood splattered his face, but he didn't stop. The next one took a direct hit to the stomach that knocked the wind out of him before Bruhil mercilessly slit his throat.
The last ten retreated, their fear evident.
"We can't beat him!"
"Shut up! There are 150 of us! He's just one man!"
Bruhil ran his tongue over his lips, his Sharingan flashing.
"Then, come at me all together."
The survivors roared and charged like a wave of death. But in his eyes, their fate was already written. Bruhil would tear them apart.
And the battlefield would become a graveyard.
Bodies piled up in the red water, floating like broken dolls. Bruhil panted, his chest rising and falling rapidly. His arm was covered in blood—both his own and the enemies'.
The Kirigakure ninja had begun to surround him again, their numbers still overwhelming. But they no longer underestimated him.
"Don't face him alone! Attack as a team!" one of the captains roared.
The fog was still thick, but that didn't stop them. From within the mist, a swarm of water whips hissed through the air. Suiton: Suiben. Bruhil raised his kunai, blocking one, dodging another. But a third one caught him in the side, tearing his flesh with a wet snap.
Tsk!
Pain burned in his side, hot and sharp, but he had no time to lament. He rolled forward just as a burst of lightning struck where he had been. Raiton: Shiboshi. The ground exploded in sparks and rock fragments.
"We've got him!"
A ninja lunged at him with a long sword, aiming to pierce him from behind. But Bruhil turned at the last instant. His Sharingan spun like a crimson whirlwind.
Everything slowed down in his vision.
The sword's edge advanced, his attacker's expression frozen in time, the sweat on his forehead falling in heavy drops.
Bruhil moved his head just a few centimeters. The sword grazed his cheek, cutting the skin, but not enough to kill him. Before the ninja could react, Bruhil drove his kunai into the enemy's throat.
Blood gushed like a hot geyser, soaking his arm.
"Next!" he growled, pulling the blade out with a wet schlick.
But before he could move, a shout tore through the air:
"Suiton: Baku Suishōha!"
Bruhil only had a second to see a titanic wave forming before him. A tsunami of destruction.
The water hit him like a hammer, dragging him with monstrous force. His body bounced against the ground, crashed against a log, then a rock. The air was knocked from his lungs.
The current launched him into the sky for an instant. And there, in the air, his eyes saw death coming for him.
Six ninja were already waiting for him with hardened hair spikes, ready to pierce him like a pincushion.
Bruhil had nowhere to land.
But he didn't need ground to fight.
He twisted his body in the air, moving his one good hand with surgical precision. He threw two kunai—one straight into a ninja's head, the other deflecting a spike aimed at his eye.
He landed heavily on another enemy's chest, crushing him into the ground. His foot spun like a whip and snapped another's neck. Crack.
But he couldn't dodge everything.
A hair spike sank into his thigh. The pain was like liquid fire.
"Keh!" he grunted through clenched teeth.
He had no time to pull it out. Two more were coming.
He jumped backward, but one still managed to tear across his back. Blood ran hot down his skin.
The ninja surrounded his position. Bruhil took a deep breath. His vision clouded for a second.
His muscles burned. His body screamed for rest. But he couldn't stop.
"He's human... we've weakened him..." one of the enemies murmured.
"Then, finish him!"
Bruhil raised his head. He smiled.
"You are fucking mistaken."
He gathered all the air he could into his lungs. Fire chakra burned within him.
"Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku!"
Hell erupted.
A wave of blazing fire roared from his mouth, devouring the ground, the water, and the unfortunate ones who couldn't flee in time.
Screams filled the air. Burned skin, charred flesh.
Some managed to dodge, but the scene was brutal. The mist dissipated, replaced by black smoke and ashes.
Bruhil fell to his knees, breathing with difficulty.
Fewer than half of the enemies remained. But he was also fucked up.
His side burned from the whip wound. His thigh bled from the embedded spike. His back throbbed with pain.
And there were still at least 70 ninja left.
Bruhil forced himself to stand. He could not fall.
One of the enemy captains looked at him with both respect and hatred.
"You are a monster... but even monsters bleed."
Bruhil spat blood on the ground and looked at him with the red eyes of the Sharingan.
"And you will be the next to bleed out."
Bruhil burst out laughing, his voice echoing across the battlefield like a mocking thunderclap. He brushed the dust off his shoulder with his one good hand and raised his gaze to the Kirigakure ninja surrounding him.
"Come on, what are you waiting for?" he said with a fierce grin. "You're barely serving as a warm-up."
He glanced down at his own body, noticing how the blood from his minor cuts dripped slowly onto the earth. His breathing was heavy, his pulse raced, but his gaze, lit with the intense red of the Sharingan, showed not a hint of doubt. He took a step forward and raised his uninjured arm in a defiant gesture.
"My bones are warmed up now," he continued in a casual tone. "Now, show me what you've got."
The ninja exchanged glances. Some swallowed hard, feeling the pressure of those hypnotic eyes that analyzed their every move before they could even make them. The night breeze stirred their dark robes, and in an instant, the first group launched their attack.
Bruhil smiled with anticipation.
The captains gave the order to attack.