One team escapes a battlefield—only to walk straight into something far more terrifying.
In the forest, Adrian Voss's shadow clone sprinted hard with Shizune and Yuanhai.
The clone's face was calm—because it could feel the truth through the link.
The main body was fine.
But Shizune and Yuanhai wore tight, anxious expressions. Shizune kept glancing back as if expecting enemies to burst from the trees at any second.
Finally, Yuanhai couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Boss… are we really not waiting for Tsume-sensei and you?"
Shizune's voice trembled too. "Yeah… can you and Tsume-sensei handle them?"
Adrian's clone was quietly pleased.
They weren't the type to throw teammates under the blade. That alone made them worth saving.
He smiled lightly to steady them.
"Relax. Look—am I gone? If my main body were in trouble, I'd already disappear. The fight should be over. No one's chasing us."
He glanced toward the path ahead.
"Once we confirm it's safe, we'll stop and wait for them."
They'd followed Adrian for three years. Hearing him speak that confidently was enough.
Neither argued again. They lowered their heads and ran.
…
Meanwhile, Adrian's main body moved through the forest ahead, with Blackmaru carrying Tsume behind him.
For a ninja dog strong enough to tackle a wild bull, carrying a human wasn't difficult.
Adrian didn't rush to reunite with Shizune and Yuanhai. His clone was with them—meaning they were safe for now.
The priority was simple:
Find a secure place. Treat Tsume's wound.
As they ran, Blackmaru suddenly called out.
"Adrian."
Don't be surprised. Animals with chakra were intelligent. Toads could speak. A dog with the Inuzuka's bond and training? Talking was hardly strange.
Adrian had already gotten used to it.
"What is it, Blackmaru?" Adrian asked, turning.
Blackmaru's ears twitched. "Tsume… she's passed out."
"What?"
Adrian halted instantly.
"Tsume-sensei?"
He called softly, but Tsume's consciousness was slipping. Blood loss had blurred her awareness into something distant.
Adrian glanced at her leg.
Even with sanitary padding and bandages, blood was still seeping through—dark and relentless.
He scanned the surroundings, then guided Blackmaru behind a massive boulder and thick brush.
From his pouch, Adrian pulled several kunai.
His hands moved fast, carving simple sealing marks onto the metal.
He planted the kunai in a ring.
A basic barrier—meant to disrupt sensing.
It was probably overkill.
But Adrian was cautious to the point of obsession.
He didn't just fear the Cloud.
He feared the possibility of more.
"Blackmaru," he said quietly, "watch the perimeter. I'm treating her now."
Blackmaru nodded and disappeared into the trees.
Adrian opened his medical kit and moved to work.
…
Far away, Shizune and Yuanhai were running with the shadow clone—when everything went wrong.
Without Adrian's cultivated "innate breath," the clone's sensory ability wasn't as sharp. And with Shizune and Yuanhai slower than a full shinobi sprint, they simply didn't make enough distance.
The forest rustled.
Then—
Eighteen figures emerged from the shadows, surrounding them in silence.
They wore masks with ghostly patterns.
ANBU?
No.
The chakra they carried felt wrong.
Cold. Hollow. Like something filed down until only the killing edge remained.
Root.
Shizune's face drained of color. Yuanhai's lips parted, but no sound came out.
"Boss…?" Yuanhai whispered.
"Adrian…?" Shizune's voice shook.
The clone stepped in front of them, kunai already in hand.
"Don't be afraid," it said, though its grip tightened.
If this had been the main body, it would've been different.
But this was only a clone—and it was running low on chakra, holding a handful of kunai, without even a proper weapon.
The clone didn't fear death.
It feared what these people were.
Root weren't shinobi.
They were tools.
They wouldn't hesitate. They wouldn't bargain. They wouldn't even blink while sacrificing themselves if it completed the mission.
Fighting Cloud ninja was cleaner than fighting Root.
Because Cloud ninja still fought like humans.
Root didn't.
In the suffocating silence, footsteps approached from deeper in the woods.
Slow.
Measured.
And then a man emerged—half his face wrapped in bandages, one eye cold and exposed.
The shadow clone's mind screamed a single name.
Shimura Danzō.
The darkness of the shinobi world.
Danzō's gaze swept over Adrian's clone, Shizune, and Yuanhai.
The moment his eye touched them, Shizune and Yuanhai felt as if a poisonous snake had coiled around their spines. Cold sweat broke instantly.
The clone lowered its eyes.
Not from fear.
From disgust.
From humiliation.
From the urge to kill.
Because if it looked Danzō in the eyes, the murderous intent might leak.
And that would doom them all.
Danzō's voice was calm—too calm.
A voice that made "cold" feel warm in comparison.
"What mission are you executing?" he asked. "Where is your team leader?"
Shizune and Yuanhai froze completely. They wanted to speak, but their throats locked.
That was only because Adrian stood in front of them.
The clone breathed once, forcing itself to stay respectful.
"Danzō-sama. Our leader is Inuzuka Tsume. We completed an escort mission to Yusui Town. Afterward, we were pursued by a nine-man squad from Kumogakure. Tsume-sensei stayed behind to cover our retreat."
Danzō didn't react to Tsume's sacrifice at all.
Instead, his single eye narrowed slightly.
"You know who I am."
A pressure rolled outward.
The temperature seemed to drop.
Shizune and Yuanhai looked even more terrified.
The clone's anger flared like wildfire.
He's pressuring me? Here? Now?
If the main body were here…
Adrian would've cut him down on instinct.
But instinct didn't matter right now.
Survival did.
And Root absolutely would silence witnesses if it suited their goals.
So the clone swallowed its pride and chose the safest weapon it had—
Politics.
"We live at Tsunade-sama's residence," the clone said carefully. "Shizune and I both do. And we are also students under Kushina-sensei's team. We're… not ignorant of the village."
Inside, the clone's mind screamed.
Humiliation. Humiliation. Humiliation.
It was forced to name protection—forced to hide behind someone else's shadow just to keep them alive.
It carved the moment into its bones.
This debt would be repaid.
Danzō's expression darkened further.
Tsunade.
Kushina.
Names he didn't like.
Names that made things inconvenient.
And the clone realized too late—
Mentioning Kushina didn't help.
It made everything worse.
Because in Danzō's eyes, the Nine-Tails jinchūriki should've been locked away, not walking around with a genin squad like some ordinary kunoichi.
Hiruzen's "softness" disgusted him.
And now, Adrian had just reminded him of it.
The killing intent in the air thickened.
Even the Root shinobi around them seemed to tense.
The clone's instincts screamed—
Danger.
But it had already stepped into this pit. There was no clean exit.
So it did the only thing it could.
It leaned in harder.
"Danzō-sama," the clone said, voice low, "please send someone to assist Tsume-sensei. We've been chased for a while. My main body and Tsume-sensei… should be catching up soon."
Danzō stared at him.
The clone still held its kunai.
Its posture was respectful—yet its stance wasn't submissive.
It was hard to tell if the boy was threatening him…
Or if he was simply too stupid to understand what he'd just done.
Danzō recalled the file.
Intelligence: 4.
Talent: mediocre.
Nothing like Hatake Kakashi.
Not a prodigy.
And killing Tsunade's people? Killing Kushina's students?
That wasn't a small act. Even Danzō couldn't do it casually—not without consequences.
His eye narrowed.
"Lead the way," he said coldly.
The clone exhaled silently, then reached back to pat Shizune and Yuanhai—who were still stiff with fear.
It could only pray the main body had already moved.
Because if Adrian's real self collided with Danzō here…
The clone couldn't predict what Danzō would do.
Or whether he'd decide to erase Tsume too.
…
Adrian's main body had no idea Shizune and Yuanhai had just stumbled into something worse than the Cloud by orders of magnitude.
Right now, he was sweating for an entirely different reason.
In the shinobi world, you didn't hesitate over "male" and "female" when someone was bleeding out.
Survival came first.
Tsume had likely meant to treat herself later with a clone…
But blood loss had robbed her of the chance.
And her wound was in the worst possible place.
"Tsume-sensei… sorry," Adrian muttered.
Tsume's lashes trembled as she lay facedown on the paper Adrian had spread beneath her.
Adrian took a kunai and cut away the blood-soaked fabric cleanly, exposing the injury so he could work properly.
The shinobi body was built different—constant training, constant refinement. Even after childbirth, Tsume's physique remained strong and well-shaped, if anything more full and mature than before.
But Adrian forced his focus onto what mattered.
A deep gash cut across the upper thigh and into the hip area—dangerously close. It had likely clipped a major vessel.
No wonder she'd faded.
"Sensei—excuse me."
He adjusted her position slightly to see clearly, then moved with practiced precision.
Disinfect.
Clean.
Clamp.
Stitch.
Then Palm Sage—chakra flowing into the wound to accelerate closure.
He also used controlled chakra stimulation to support recovery and blood production.
It took under five minutes.
When he finished, Tsume could stand—so long as she didn't push hard or sprint.
Yet Adrian's breathing was strangely uneven, as if he'd just fought for his life.
Behind him, Tsume's voice rose—dry and irritated, but unmistakably awake.
"Done staring yet?"
Adrian froze.
Tsume's pale face had regained color, and now faint red was creeping into her cheeks.
She twisted her head slightly, glaring at him.
Adrian's mind short-circuited.
And like an idiot, he answered honestly.
"Tsume-sensei… you're… really beautiful."
Tsume's face turned even redder.
She didn't explode.
She just narrowed her eyes and snapped, "Brat. What would you know? Turn around. I'm changing."
"Y-yes!" Adrian said instantly, standing up too fast.
He gathered the tools quickly, heart pounding, and turned away.
A second later, he realized—
His body had betrayed him.
And Tsume noticed.
Their eyes met for a split instant.
Adrian's ears burned.
He turned and walked out of the barrier like he'd been chased by a tailed beast.
Outside, he drew in a long breath and forced the hot rush in his blood back down, circulating that inner breath through his body until his pulse steadied.
Behind him, Tsume sighed softly, half exasperated, half thoughtful.
I need to talk to him when there's time…
Then she startled at her own thoughts.
What am I thinking? He's a child.
A child who…
…was growing far too fast.
Adrian stood in the trees, face unreadable, breathing finally calm again.
He had no idea the real danger wasn't behind them in the Cloud ninja—
It was walking toward them from within Konoha's shadows.
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