Team Crow obeyed instantly. Samui and Mabui stopped mid-step, eyes alert as they looked around. Darui's hand drifted casually toward his blade, posture loose but ready. Kaien moved closer to Renga without thinking.
Then Renga saw it, around two hundred meters ahead, standing openly where moments ago there had been nothing, was a figure that did not belong to living person.
The skin had cracked the sclera was black. Reanimation.
At the figure's sides stood two boys. One wore a white kitsune mask. The other a monkey mask and a green jumpsuit.
Renga swore under his breath. "Reanimation jutsu."
He scanned the area quickly, calculating worst-case scenarios. "Damn it. We don't have sealing specialists in the team. Even with numbers advantage it is difficult, we don't know how strong that person is."
His voice hardened. "Darui. Kaien. Retreat immediately."
Kaien opened his mouth instinctively. "Renga-san, I can—"
"It's Captain Renga," Renga snapped, not turning. "And no. Your safety is my priority. Both of you are assets Kumo cannot afford to lose."
Darui glanced at Kaien, irritation flickering across his face. "He's right, kid. This isn't a game."
Renga turned to the others. "Mabui. Samui. You two kids handle those masked kids."
Samui stiffened at being called kids she was a mature lady how could he call us kids, but could only nod. Mabui also adjusted her stance battle ready.
Kaien clenched his fists, frustration burning hot in his chest. He hated retreating. Hated watching from the sidelines but this was not his call. He backed away with Darui, every step feeling like a concession.
As they moved, Kaien looked back once.
The reanimated man's eyes met his. Wait, isn't that Might Duy. And other green suit boy with monkey mask should be Might Guy, most likely the other one with kitsune mask is kakashi.
--
Damn it.
The word rang through Kaien's mind, retreating before even contributing anything even with all that training felt frustrating. He had come here because he wanted to matter, because he wanted to stand where he could finally step into action. And now, when danger finally showed its teeth, he was the first one ordered to leave.
Each step away from the battlefield scraped at his pride. Renga was still there. Mabui and Samui were still there. The retreat felt wrong to him as if he is being treated like a royalty.
Darui noticed the distress in Kaien. "Hey, boy," Darui said quietly, his voice low enough that it didn't echo through the terrain. "I know you're feeling useless right now."
Kaien clenched his jaw, as if this was not enough being consoled irritated him further, but didn't deny it.
"But listen," Darui continued tone steady without patronizing. "What we're doing matters just as much. One, if we stay, we limit how much power Captain Renga can use. He can't go all out while worrying about us. Two, if things go south, someone has to get back fast and call reinforcements."
Kaien understood all of that. He really did. The logic was sound. The strategy was great. He would do the same thing in place of Renga. That was exactly what made it hurt.
He had trained, planned. And now, when it mattered, he was being sidelined by his own value. This wasn't a childish tantrum. It was frustration born from... well he don't know.
The irony tasted bitter. Their opponent, the one Renga now faced, was not just dangerous. Might Duy was a nightmare in human form. If he opened the Eighth Gate, nothing short of death would stop him, and even that wouldn't stop him as he is reanimated.
And then there was the masked boy.
Kakashi.
Kaien's mind ran through the facts. Already a jōnin. If this timeline held true, then Obito's Sharingan had already been transplanted. That meant Kakashi was powerful, but unstable. His chakra control would be strained. His reserves would bleed away faster than before.
Kaien's breath slowed. What could he do? How could he utilise this information to turn it into a better outcome?
All this training couldn't be meaningless. There had to be something. Even if he couldn't stand on the front line, even if his body wasn't ready, his mind still was. His seals that he had been planning and developing from months were still there.
Wait.
Even if he couldn't help directly… he could still influence the battlefield.
He stopped walking.
Darui took another step, then noticed the absence beside him and turned sharply. "Kaien?"
Kaien was already reaching into his pouch.
"I'm not doing anything reckless," Kaien said quickly, before Darui could even open his mouth fully. "I promise. I just… I have an idea."
Darui studied him for a moment, searching for panic or desperation. He found neither what he saw instead was focus. The one that didn't come from reckless bravado.
Slowly, Darui relaxed his stance. "Alright. Talk."
Kaien took out several kunai, laying them carefully on the ground. They looked ordinary at first glance, but Darui immediately noticed the fine inscriptions carved along their surfaces.
"These are my special kunai," Kaien said. "I've been working on them. They're inscribed with polarity-based seals. One type positive. One type negative."
Darui raised an eyebrow. "Polarity?"
Kaien nodded. "They influence attraction within a limited range. Seal-based attraction."
Darui whistled softly. "That's… pretty advanced stuff you got there."
Kaien didn't smile. "It took me months to make the seals stable. And I still can't throw accurately from long distances. These are all prepared before, I can't make them now it takes too much at least a day and chakra exhaustion."
He paused, then asked, "Darui-san, from how far can you effectively throw a kunai?"
Darui considered it. "Normally? Fifty meters. With Storm Release reinforcing the throw… two hundred meters, maybe a bit more if I push it."
Kaien's eyes sharpened. "Good. Then we go back."
Darui frowned. "Back?"
"Not all the way," Kaien said. "Just close enough."
They moved carefully, keeping terrain between themselves and the battlefield. The sounds of combat grew clearer as they closed the distance. Chakra flares and sword clashing.
They stopped roughly two hundred meters out, hidden behind a thick tree trunk and broken stone.
--
A/N: Upto 20 Advance chapters available @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0
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