Hearing Haido's words, Temujin's mind exploded with a deafening "BOOM—," memories flooding back like a raging tide!
Back then, the village where he lived had been attacked by bandits.
The fire and bloodshed became a nightmare etched deep in his childhood.
After that tragedy, he met Haido-sama — the man who dreamed of creating an ideal nation.
He believed Haido-sama was his salvation, the one he should follow for the rest of his life.
So, Temujin devoted himself to the cause of building that ideal country, treating Haido-sama's words like sacred scripture, never doubting him for a second.
But now, in this moment, the face of the bandit leader who slaughtered his village overlapped with Haido's image in his mind.
Only now did Temujin suddenly realize — the two silhouettes were almost identical!
Haido saw the terror in Temujin's expression and burst into wild, unrestrained laughter.
That laughter had been suppressed for many years.
"So, you've been working for your enemy all these years. Must feel infuriating, huh?"
Haido mocked coldly.
"Today, you'll make your final contribution to our ideal nation. With your blood, I'll open the vein of the Stone of Gelel!"
As he spoke, Haido gripped the blade resting against Temujin's neck and thrust forward forcefully—
"SHING!"
But just as the blade was about to pierce Temujin's throat… it froze midair.
Haido's eyes widened in confusion as he raised his head — and saw that unmistakable fiery-red hair on the other side.
"You… you were supposed to be dead!"
Haido's voice trembled with fear.
Shinju extended a hand, pointing toward the spot where his "body" should have been lying — only a pile of wooden logs was there.
"Too bad you're not a shinobi," Shinju said with a mocking smile. "Otherwise, you'd know what a Wood Clone is."
Haido swallowed his shock and steadied himself.
"So what if you're alive?"
"You really think you few brats can stop me from opening the Stone of Gelel's mine?"
For years, Haido had been studying the Stone of Gelel and had gained incredible power — there was no way a handful of kids could compare to him!
Just as his words fell, a massive lion drawn by Sai suddenly lunged from the side and slammed into Haido's waist!
"BAM!"
Caught completely off guard, Haido was sent flying.
And that wasn't the end of it.
Naruto, who had been preparing his Rasengan for quite a while, leapt into the air, and in the blink of an eye, smashed the swirling sphere of chakra right into Haido!
A violent torrent of raging chakra exploded across Haido's body!
"BOOM!"
The impact sent Haido spinning violently through the air before he crashed into several ancient stone pillars, shattering them into rubble!
Shinju narrowed his eyes, looking toward where Haido landed, and muttered in slight surprise,
"Huh… still alive?"
A moment later, Haido strode out from the cloud of dust and debris!
Under the influence of the Stone of Gelel, his pupils had transformed into eerie, scarlet vertical slits — strangely sinister and unnatural.
"FWIP—"
Haido ripped away his long robe, revealing skin now twisted and mutated into a dark bluish-black hue!
"I told you before," Haido said with an arrogant smirk, "you brats can't defeat me!"
Kahiko carefully leaned closer to Shinju and whispered,
"The Stone of Gelel grants mysterious powers… maybe try attacking the stone in his hand instead?"
Shinju suddenly asked, "This Stone of Gelel… can it bring the dead back to life?"
Kahiko shook his head quickly.
"That… shouldn't be possible."
"That's good enough, then."
Shinju's lips curved into a confident smile.
"As long as he can still die, we can win."
The words had barely left his mouth—
"WHOOOSH!!"
A powerful gust of wind blew Kahiko's hat clean off!
By the time Kahiko reached to grab it, the red-haired boy standing in front of him had vanished!
...
Up ahead.
After a short series of hand seals, Shinju charged straight toward Haido.
Haido's expression twisted in horror when he noticed the crackling lightning surging around Shinju's arms.
Something told him that taking that strike head-on would have dire consequences!
Fortunately, he thought, this little shinobi didn't seem to be thinking straight.
"Kid," Haido sneered, "didn't your sensei ever teach you to have a plan in battle?"
As he spoke, a pair of black wings suddenly unfurled from his back.
"SWOOSH!!"
The wings stretched and transformed into massive, pitch-black pillar-like structures of unknown composition, blocking Shinju's path!
Shinju raised his left hand, smashing his lightning-charged chakra against the mysterious material!
Not even half a second later—
"CRACK CRACK CRACK—"
Fine fractures spiderwebbed across Haido's black wings!
With each step Shinju took forward, Haido's defense splintered apart further and further!
Using his Body Flicker Technique, Shinju closed the distance in an instant, appearing right before Haido.
The blinding glow of lightning danced across Shinju's arms, illuminating Haido's terrified, pale face!
"SWISH!"
With lightning speed, Shinju thrust both of his spear-like hands forward, each one cloaked in devastating lightning chakra!
"SPLURT—!!!"
Lightning chakra was naturally piercing by nature, and with Shinju's full-speed lunge, his strike easily penetrated Haido's mutated, reinforced muscles!
Both of Shinju's hands pierced clean through Haido's chest!
Even though Haido's body had been strengthened by the Stone of Gelel's power…
A pierced heart was beyond salvation!
Haido's body collapsed heavily to the ground.
Seeing this, Temujin's knees buckled, and he fell to the floor as though all his strength had been drained away.
Kahiko wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and sighed in relief.
"That was close… if you kids hadn't arrived when you did, I'd have been buried here along with these ruins."
"But didn't you say the royal blood was needed to open the treasure vault?" Naruto asked curiously.
Kahiko chuckled lightly. "Of course — but the formation I told Haido about? Injecting royal blood into it actually triggers the ruins' self-destruction. This place was sealed by our ancestors… it must never fall into outsiders' hands."
Naruto and Sai exchanged a glance, then silently raised their thumbs at the old man.
"Gotta hand it to you, Kahiko-san… that was pretty cunning. ❛‿˂̵✧"
Kahiko suddenly remembered something and asked,
"By the way… since you found this place, you must have run into the merchants' caravan earlier, right?"
"Did you manage to rescue them? How are they?"
Naruto lowered his head, his expression darkening.
"By the time we got there, it was already too late… Haido had already massacred them. More than half the caravan… didn't make it."
Kahiko's pupils trembled violently, his breath hitching as his body swayed.
With what little strength he had left, he asked hoarsely,
"M-my granddaughter…? Did my granddaughter… also…?"
Naruto quickly replied, "No. Shinju used medical ninjutsu to save her life. She just needs some time to recover, but she'll be fine."
That news, at least, was a small comfort amid the tragedy.
Hearing Naruto's words, Kahiko's old, weathered eyes welled with tears.
"When they took me away, they promised that if I helped them find the mine, the caravan would be spared… I never imagined they'd be so despicable!"
Meanwhile, Shinju walked over to Temujin, who was still kneeling on the ground, hollow-eyed and shaking.
He knew just how deeply Temujin had been deceived all these years.
"What are you planning to do now?" Shinju asked softly.
Temujin's eyes wavered, his beliefs shattered, his world in ruins. He looked utterly lost.
After a moment, his gaze shifted toward Kahiko.
Hesitating slightly, Temujin whispered,
"I… I was wondering… could I maybe stay with the caravan from now on? I don't care if it's just doing chores… I'll take any work, no matter how menial…"
Kahiko turned his head, his cloudy eyes studying the boy with mixed emotions.
Temujin had once worked with Haido, indirectly putting the caravan in danger.
But… he hadn't been there when the massacre happened.
And besides, he was a descendant of the royal bloodline, someone even Nerugui had recognized.
Allowing him to join the caravan wouldn't be inappropriate.
...
I recommend checking out my new fanfic about the Dying System (Getting Killed Makes You Stronger)!