Naruto : Blazing Legend

Chapter 48: The Beaten Stalker

The winter of Konoha's 39th year arrived with an ominous chill that seemed to seep into the very bones of the village. Snow fell in thick, heavy flakes that muffled sound and cast everything in a deceptive blanket of white—as if nature itself sought to hide the growing darkness beneath.

Rei pulled his cloak tighter as he walked through the village gates, returning from yet another mission. The intelligence reports were troubling: Sunagakure's military expansion showed no signs of slowing, while Iwagakure and Kumogakure matched their buildup weapon for weapon, soldier for soldier. Most concerning of all was Kirigakure's sudden aggression toward the mainland—the Blood Mist Village had grown tired of their island prison and hungered for the fertile lands beyond.

The signs were everywhere if you knew how to look. Women who had hung up their kunai years ago to raise families were now seen practicing forms in their backyards, muscle memory slowly returning to hands that had grown soft from domestic life. The weapons shops couldn't keep up with demand. Even the Academy had quietly extended training hours.

War was coming. Everyone could feel it in the air, thick and suffocating as smoke.

Rei had just completed a B-rank escort mission to the Land of Iron—alone, as was becoming his preference. The merchant had needed protection while purchasing raw materials, and what Rei discovered there only confirmed his fears.

The neutral nation was swarming with caravans from every major village, all desperately buying iron ore and commissioning weapons. Kunai, shuriken, anything with an edge was in demand.

The world was arming itself for slaughter.

Back in Konoha, Rei collected his payment. The Uchiha clan's scroll supply had run dry—everything was being requisitioned by the village now, including the specialized parchments he needed for his sealing research. Even explosive tags were becoming scarce, their prices inflating daily as paranoia gripped the populace.

He'd have to resort to the black market in Sukuba Town. It was a necessary evil—a place where taxes went unpaid and questions went unasked. The village leadership tolerated it because sometimes convenience outweighed principle, and in times like these, pragmatism was survival.

As Rei walked the familiar path, he noticed another figure approaching—a white-haired shinobi wearing a Konoha headband, clearly returning from his own mission. The man's appearance was unremarkable, even plain, and Rei dismissed him with barely a glance. He had more pressing concerns than cataloguing every face he passed.

But Hiruko—for that was the man's name—found himself studying the young Uchiha with growing interest. Nearly thirty years old and only recently promoted to jonin, Hiruko felt the weight of his mediocrity like a stone in his chest. While others his age had achieved fame and recognition, he remained anonymous, another face in the crowd of forgettable shinobi.

The bitterness had been eating away at him for years, festering like an infected wound. But he had a plan—a forbidden research project that would steal the bloodline limits of others and make them his own. With enough kekkei genkai absorbed, he could surpass even the legendary Sannin themselves.

The research required funding, however, and his recent missions had barely covered his basic expenses. As he watched Rei's retreating figure, a dark thought began to take shape. The Uchiha prodigy had a bounty on his head—fifteen million ryo, enough to fund his experiments for months. And those Sharingan eyes... they would make excellent test subjects.

The more he considered it, the more appealing the idea became. One quick kill, harvest the eyes, collect the bounty—it was almost too perfect.

Hiruko began to follow, keeping to the shadows as his target made his way toward the post town. He felt a twisted thrill at the deception, this reversal of roles where the hunter became the hunted. For once, he would be the predator rather than the prey.

Rei entered Sukuba Town after removing his dress and donning civilian clothes—the Uchiha fan would draw too much attention in a place like this. He pulled on a simple mask and disappeared into the crowded streets, unaware of the eyes tracking his every movement.

Within minutes, he emerged carrying a large scroll filled with blank parchments. The transaction had been swift and silent, the kind of business that flourished in the gray areas between legal and illegal.

Hiruko struck as soon as Rei left the town's borders, launching himself from a snow-covered embankment with a barrage of shuriken. His years of training and experience should have given him every advantage against a mere child, no matter how talented.

The weapons found only splintered wood—a basic substitution technique that every academy student knew.

"Don't think you can escape!" Hiruko snarled, forming hand seals for an earth technique to block potential retreat routes. Rock pillars erupted from the frozen ground, creating a crude prison.

But Rei's voice came from an unexpected direction, calm and mocking: "Where exactly did you see me running, idiot?"

The realization hit Hiruko like a physical blow. The fleeing figure ahead was merely a shadow clone, while the real threat approached from his flank. Hands already weaving seals with fluid precision, Rei unleashed a devastating Great Fireball Technique that turned the winter air scorching hot.

Snow hissed to steam around them as Hiruko barely dodged the worst of the flames, his clothes singed and smoking. Desperate now, he rushed forward to engage in taijutsu—his one remaining advantage over a young opponent.

He had gravely miscalculated.

The moment Rei's Sharingan activated, three tomoe spinning lazily in crimson irises, the fight was essentially over. Every movement Hiruko made was telegraphed, every feint transparent as glass. The enhanced perception allowed Rei to counter and attack easily, each strike calculated for maximum pain and humiliation.

"Lion Combo/Shishi Rendan," Rei announced almost casually, launching into the devastating technique. A rising kick sent Hiruko spinning through the air, followed by a series of brutal strikes that drove him back into the snow with bone-jarring force.

When Hiruko hit the ground, broken and gasping, Rei wasn't finished. Three shadow clones materialized around the fallen jonin, and what followed was less a fight than a systematic beating. Fists and feet rained down with cruelty, each blow precise and purposeful.

"I actually lost," Hiruko wheezed through split lips and swollen eyes, "to a child..."

The humiliation was almost worse than the physical pain. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. He was experienced, battle-tested, a jonin of the Hidden Leaf. Yet here he lay, beaten senseless by someone barely out of the Academy.

"How dare you attack me," Rei snarled, tearing off his mask to reveal features twisted with cold fury. "You picked the wrong target, you pathetic waste of space."

He didn't recognize his attacker—just another mediocre shinobi whose jealousy had finally driven him to desperation. Rei's hand moved to his sword, ready to end this permanently, when Hiruko's voice cracked with panic:

"Wait! Wait! I'm from Konoha too! You can't kill a fellow villager!"

Only now, with death inches away, did Hiruko truly understand what he had attempted. This wasn't some merciful child who would show restraint—this was a killer who viewed him as nothing more than a threat to be eliminated.

"Even if you're from Konoha," Rei replied with chilling indifference, "you're probably working with Danzo. I'd be doing the village a favor by sending you to meet the Sage of Six Paths."

"No! I know Jiraiya! Tsunade! I trained with the Sannin!" Hiruko's words tumbled out in a desperate rush. "I can give you anything you want—money, information, anything!"

Rei paused, studying the broken man with calculating eyes. He had seen this pathetic creature wearing a Konoha headband earlier, but that proved nothing. Danzo had agents throughout the village, and this could easily be another assassination attempt.

"You're lying," Rei said flatly.

"Take me to the village gates! They'll have records of my missions, proof that I'm legitimate!" Hiruko was beyond pride now, groveling in the bloody snow. "Please, I made a mistake. I just needed money for my research. I wasn't thinking clearly."

The admission only made things worse. This fool had attacked him for money—reducing Rei's life to nothing more than a bounty to be collected. The casual nature of the betrayal was almost insulting.

After several long moments, Rei made his decision. "Fine. But if you're lying to me, I'll turn you over to ANBU myself." His hands flew through seals, and Hiruko screamed as the Five Elements Seal burned itself into his flesh. "That should keep you docile until we reach the village."

The seal cut off Hiruko's chakra completely, leaving him as helpless as a civilian. He could barely stand, his left leg clearly broken, reduced to using a makeshift crutch just to walk.

"Thank you," Hiruko gasped, though his eyes burned with hatred. "I won't forget this kindness."

Rei almost laughed at the transparent lie. This broken creature would dream of revenge for the rest of his pathetic life, nurturing his resentment like a poisonous flower. It didn't matter. By the time the seal wore off—if it ever did—Rei would be far beyond his reach.

The journey back to Konoha was a study in misery. Hiruko limped and stumbled through the snow, his breath coming in ragged gasps, while Rei followed at a comfortable distance. The young Uchiha felt no sympathy for his former attacker's suffering—if anything, he found it satisfying to watch.

At the village gates, the chunin guards barely recognized the battered figure that approached them.

"State your business," one demanded, hand resting on his weapon.

"I'm Hiruko, jonin of the Hidden Leaf," the broken man wheezed, producing his identification with shaking hands. "Returning from a mission."

The guards exchanged uncertain looks. The man before them bore little resemblance to the unremarkable but competent shinobi who had left days earlier.

"Senior Hiruko? What happened to you? Do you need medical attention?"

"No," Hiruko replied through gritted teeth, very aware of Rei's presence behind him. "Just a minor complication during the mission. Nothing I can't handle."

As he limped through the gates into the village proper, Hiruko's mind was already turning toward darker thoughts. The humiliation would heal, as would his body, but the memory would remain forever burned into his consciousness.

He had been shown exactly where he stood in the hierarchy of power, and it was far lower than he had ever imagined. But that would change. His research would continue, funded by whatever means necessary, and one day he would have his revenge.

In the meantime, he would remember this lesson: in a world preparing for war, mercy was a luxury that only the strong could afford—and he was not yet strong enough to matter.