"What the hell did you just do?!" Enji's voice cut through the group, sharp and immediate, his expression tightening as he stepped forward. "Where is it?!"
Reiji barely reacted. He stood where he was, shoulders relaxed, the faintest shift of weight in his stance as if the question didn't warrant more than a passing thought. His gaze moved briefly across the group before returning to Enji, calm, almost indifferent.
"To fool your enemy…" he said, shrugging lightly, "…you have to fool your allies too."
A faint smirk pulled at the corner of his lips.
"Or something like that."
The reaction was immediate. A ripple of unease spread through the group, low voices overlapping behind Mikoto.
"That's not funny."
"Did he just lose it?"
"We're supposed to protect it, not hide it from ourselves—"
The complaints began to rise, tension building, but Mikoto lifted a hand slightly, not forceful, just enough to cut through the noise. The murmurs faded, though not completely, as her eyes settled on Reiji, steady and assessing.
"You decided to blind your own team?" she asked, her tone controlled, but sharper now. "And you made that decision alone?"
Her gaze didn't leave him.
"Who gave you that right?"
Reiji didn't even pause to consider it.
"Me, because I am better."
The words landed flat, without emphasis, without hesitation—just stated.
A few students stiffened. Someone scoffed quietly. The air shifted again, this time heavier, edged with irritation rather than confusion.
Enji's jaw tightened visibly, the tension in his shoulders rising as he took another half-step forward.
"You think that makes you the leader now?"
Reiji didn't look at him. His attention had already drifted past the group, toward the tree line ahead, where the match would begin. The wind moved lightly through the leaves, carrying distant movement—other teams positioning, preparing.
"Minato's on the other side," he said instead, as if that alone answered everything. "If you want to win…"
Only then did his gaze return to them, sharper now, more focused.
"…you'd better listen to me."
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Nawaki frowned, shifting his stance, clearly unsatisfied.
"And how exactly is this supposed to help us?"
Tsume behind him crossed her arms, weight settling into one leg.
"Yeah, what's the plan? Or are we just guessing the whole time?"
"We're wasting time," another added, glancing toward the forest, where the wind was beginning to pick up slightly. "It's about to start."
Aya's voice came quieter than the others, hesitant.
"…What if they figure it out before we do?"
Reiji exhaled slowly, the sound barely audible, more a release of patience than breath. His posture didn't change, but there was a slight shift in his stance—subtle, almost imperceptible, as his weight aligned forward.
"Then you were just that bad."
A brief pause followed.
"Can't do much with bad teammates."
A few expressions hardened at that. The tension didn't disappear—it sharpened—but no one interrupted this time.
"They'll waste time figuring out who has it," he continued, tone even, as if explaining something obvious. His gaze drifted back toward the trees, tracking movement that only he seemed to care about. "And while they do…"
His focus narrowed slightly.
"I'll go take theirs."
The words settled into the silence.
Then—
A sharp whistle cut through the field.
The signal.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
Reiji moved.
The grass bent under the force of his step as he crossed the first stretch of ground, already angling toward the trees.
Then, almost as an afterthought—without slowing, without turning back—
"The one holding it…" he added, a faint smirk threading into his voice, carried just enough for them to hear.
"…don't lose it before I win this for you."
He didn't wait for a reaction.
Didn't look back.
By the time anyone moved, he was already gone—his figure slipping into the forest, swallowed by the shifting shadows between the trees.
"—Hey!"
"Reiji!"
"Oi, get back here!"
The voices followed him, but they were already behind.
***
'They're fools.'
Reiji moved through the forest at full speed, his steps light and precise as he passed from branch to branch, barely disturbing the leaves. The wind rushed past him, carrying the distant echoes of movement and voices, but none of it mattered. His focus was already ahead.
They didn't understand the situation.
They were treating this like some kind of strategy exercise, something that required clever positioning, deception, or careful planning, as if hiding the scroll or misleading the enemy was the key to victory. Maybe it would have been—if there had been restrictions, if there had been conditions on how the scroll could be taken, or alternative ways to win.
But there weren't.
The instructions had been clear.
Take the scroll.
Nothing else.
Which meant this wasn't a game of strategy.
It was a race.
A test of speed and skill, of who could break through the opposing team first, identify the carrier, and take it by force. Everything else was secondary.
Reiji shifted direction mid-motion, pushing off a branch and cutting through a denser section of trees without slowing, his gaze scanning constantly, picking up small details, disturbances, anything out of place.
The other team would make mistakes. They wouldn't even realize it. No one could remain perfectly natural under pressure, not in a situation like this. They would cluster around the carrier without meaning to, or overcompensate and leave them isolated in a way that still felt wrong. Their reactions would give them away—subtle shifts, hesitation, protection, attention drawn too often in one direction.
It didn't matter how careful they tried to be.
Patterns would appear.
And he would find them.
Sooner or later.
His expression remained calm as he landed briefly on the ground before launching himself back into the trees, his speed increasing.
His own team, on the other hand, had no pattern. No one knew who held the scroll. There was no center to protect, no obvious behavior to analyze, no way to read them unless the carrier made a mistake—and that depended on whether they could keep their mouth shut and follow through.
Minato would understand that.
He wasn't stupid.
He would realize quickly that there was no clear target and would be forced to test them one by one, wasting time, breaking his momentum, searching without direction.
Unless he got lucky.
That possibility remained.
Chance was a variable Reiji couldn't control.
So he wouldn't rely on it.
His gaze sharpened as he accelerated again, pushing harder through the trees.
He would find Minato first.
And end it before it became a problem.
***
Reiji cut through the canopy at speed, his movement clean and controlled as he flowed from branch to branch. Each landing was brief, his weight settling just long enough to push off again, momentum carrying him forward without interruption. The trees opened slightly ahead, the spacing between trunks widening just enough to extend his line of sight.
Movement crossed it.
A boy from the opposing team.
Reiji adjusted his angle without slowing, dropping into an intercept. The distance closed almost instantly. The boy only began to turn, shoulders shifting as he caught the motion above him, his stance not yet set.
Too late.
Reiji read it in a glance—balance high, guard absent.
He rotated mid-air, hips driving the motion, and his heel struck the side of the boy's head.
The impact was clean. The body gave immediately as his consciousness dropped out. No resistance followed.
Reiji followed through without pause, descending with him. One hand caught the boy's collar before he hit the ground while his feet pressed briefly against a nearby trunk, knees bending to absorb the force and stabilize.
His free hand moved quickly—waist, pouch, back.
Nothing.
Not the carrier.
That matched what he had seen. The boy had been too exposed, moving alone without adjustment from others. No one watching him, no shift in spacing around him. If he had been the carrier, it would have shown.
Reiji released him.
The body dropped into the undergrowth with a dull thud, leaves shifting as it settled.
Reiji was already moving again.
He pushed off the trunk, snapping back into motion as he cleared the next branch, his gaze forward, scanning, already discarding the encounter.
Reiji didn't slow after the first encounter.
A presence ahead.
Slightly to the right.
Moving.
Reiji adjusted his line without breaking pace, angling to intercept.
The boy came into view between two trunks, running along the ground instead of the branches. Slower, but stable. His head lifted at the last moment, eyes catching the motion above him. This one reacted faster. His shoulders turned, weight shifting back as his hand moved toward his pouch.
Reiji dropped.
He didn't strike immediately.
His body angled as if to drive straight down, forcing the boy's guard up early. Arms came high to protect the head. Reiji noted the shift—weight settling onto the back foot, center opening.
He changed direction mid-descent.
His leg retracted. His hips twisted. He landed just inside the guard, slightly off-center, feet absorbing the impact without sound.
He stepped in.
His shoulder drove forward first.
The impact broke the boy's balance, forcing his weight further back than he could recover from. Before he could reset, Reiji's elbow came up in a tight arc and struck under the jaw.
The head snapped back. The body followed late. Knees buckled.
Reiji moved through him.
No pause.
His hand caught the back of the boy's collar, guiding the fall just enough to keep control. His other hand moved immediately, searching with quick, practiced motions.
Waist. Pouch. Back.
Nothing.
Reiji released him without interest. The body dropped into the leaves as he stepped past, already shifting his path.
***
He didn't go far.
Voices reached him next. Low. Urgent.
Two of them.
Moving together.
Reiji slowed just enough to listen. Their steps were uneven. One slightly ahead, the other adjusting to keep pace. No spacing. No awareness of a center.
He widened his path, circling through the trees to break their line of sight before cutting back in from the side. His steps went silent, weight distributed evenly, breath steady as he closed the distance.
They didn't notice.
He chose the rear one.
Reiji stepped in fast. One hand seized the shoulder while his leg swept low behind the knee, removing the support. The body dropped sideways before the boy could react.
Reiji was already turning.
The second reacted—too late.
His guard came up high.
Reiji stepped inside it and drove a straight punch into the midsection.
The air left the girl in a sharp burst. Her body folded forward.
Reiji followed through.
His knee rose immediately, striking the lowered head. The contact was solid. Enough.
The body went slack and dropped.
Reiji didn't stop.
He turned back to the first, who was still trying to push himself up, one hand braced against the ground. His posture was unstable, weight not yet recovered.
Too slow.
Reiji stepped in and struck the side of the neck.
The body dropped again.
He crouched briefly and searched them both but still found nothing.
He was about to release him when the air shifted.
The change was slight, almost lost beneath the rustle of leaves and distant movement—but wrong. Reiji's head turned a fraction, his body tightening before the thought fully formed. Something was coming. Fast. More than one.
Too close.
He pushed off the trunk, starting to rise—
"Fūton: Daitoppa!"
The technique hit before he could reset his footing.
Wind slammed into him from the side, sudden and violent. The force tore through the trees, ripping loose leaves and dust into a spiraling burst as it struck his body and carried him off the trunk. His balance broke instantly, his frame lifted and dragged with the pressure.
Reiji twisted mid-air, pulling his limbs in to tighten his center. His hand shot out.
Fingers caught bark.
The branch bent under the strain, creaking sharply as his weight and the lingering force pulled through it. His shoulder tightened, muscles bracing as he absorbed the momentum instead of letting it throw him further. The swing slowed, redirected.
He didn't hold it.
A shadow dropped from above.
Reiji saw it in the shift of light, the faint distortion in the air just before the strike descended. He released the branch and turned into it, arm snapping upward as the attacker came down.
His hand closed around the leg.
Firm.
He used the motion immediately, twisting through his hips and pulling with the momentum instead of resisting it.
The body was flung sideways.
The attacker lost all balance, crashing into a nearby trunk with a heavy impact. Bark cracked under the force.
Reiji didn't follow.
Another presence closed in.
He landed as the second strike came from his blind side. Reiji turned into it, arms crossing tight in front of his body as the blow connected. The impact drove through his guard, a sharp shock running down his forearms, forcing his arms back slightly as his feet slid across the dirt.
The ground tore under his sandals, loose soil shifting as he was pushed back a full step.
He let the force carry him, then settled.
His weight dropped. His footing reset.
Breath steady.
Reiji straightened, just enough.
His gaze lifted.
Arata was pushing himself off the ground, one hand braced against the tree where he had been thrown, his face tightening with the impact he had taken. The bark behind him was split where his body had struck.
Minato stood a few paces away, already composed. His posture was relaxed, but his weight was set properly now, eyes fixed on Reiji without distraction.
And in front—
Hiashi Hyūga.
The veins around his pale eyes stood out sharply.
The Byakugan was active.
Reiji's eyes narrowed slightly.
That changed things.
"He doesn't have it," Hiashi said, his voice even.
Minato didn't hesitate.
He nodded once.
Then moved.
A single step—then he was gone, disappearing into the trees with clean, controlled speed.
Reiji clicked his tongue under his breath.
His body shifted forward on instinct, weight already moving to pursue—
He stopped.
Forced himself to stop.
His gaze snapped back to Hiashi.
The Byakugan.
If Hiashi could see through clothes, then finding the carrier wasn't a matter of reading patterns anymore. No guessing. No delay.
Direct confirmation.
Reiji's jaw tightened slightly.
That made Hiashi the priority.
He had to go down first.
Reiji's eyes flicked briefly toward the direction Minato had taken, tracking the path he had chosen.
Then why leave?
Minato wasn't careless. Not here.
If he had stayed, it would have been a three-on-one. With Hiashi's vision and Arata supporting, the pressure would have been constant. Even Reiji couldn't guarantee breaking through that cleanly.
So why give that up?
'Was he the carrier?'
If he was, then avoiding direct engagement made sense. Staying would expose him to risk. One mistake, one opening, and it would end.
Or—
A bluff.
Draw attention. Force pursuit. Split focus.
If Reiji chased him now, he would be moving blind, leaving Hiashi free to sweep through the rest of the field unchecked.
And the real carrier could be—
Arata.
Or even Hiashi himself.
Reiji exhaled slowly, the tension in his shoulders settling as his stance lowered again, weight shifting forward, ready.
No.
Too many possibilities.
Thinking further would only slow him down.
The situation was already clear.
Hiashi was the immediate threat.
Remove him—
And everything else would follow.
Reiji's focus sharpened, his posture tightening just enough to signal the shift.
Reiji broke the silence first.
"Is it really acceptable to use your eyes like that?" he asked, voice calm, controlled. "I thought it was forbidden."
Hiashi's expression didn't shift, but the tension around his eyes tightened, the veins at his temples already raised beneath the strain of the Byakugan.
"How considerate," Hiashi replied evenly. "Perhaps you should have shown the same concern for my brother."
Reiji tilted his head a fraction, studying him.
"So he was caught."
Arata's reaction was immediate—subtle, but there. His gaze shifted away for a moment, guilt flickering across his face before he forced it down.
"Yes," Hiashi said. "Because of you, he is being punished."
Reiji didn't look away.
"I didn't force him," he said, tone unchanged. "It was his choice. What was I supposed to do—stop him before he used it?"
"You could have refused."
Reiji regarded him briefly, almost as if the answer was obvious.
"I'm not that selfless."
Arata stepped forward, tension rising in his stance, weight shifting as he prepared to move.
"That's enough. You'll—"
Reiji moved first.
His hand snapped forward, three shuriken leaving his fingers in a tight spread, not aimed to hit cleanly but to force a reaction. The metal cut through the air with a sharp whine, splitting their focus instantly. Hiashi shifted just enough to the side to avoid the line, while Arata dropped his center and deflected one with a quick motion.
The opening lasted less than a second.
It was enough.
Reiji drove forward, feet digging into the dirt as he accelerated, his body lowering as he entered Hiashi's range, weight transferring into a direct strike along the centerline—
He aborted.
A kunai sliced through the air from his blind side.
Reiji dropped immediately, his body folding low as the blade passed just over his head, close enough for the air to brush against his hair. His eyes flicked left as he stabilized, feet sliding slightly across the dirt.
A third student.
Positioned behind a tree. Hidden until the moment of attack.
Reiji adjusted without hesitation. His hand moved to his pouch, pulling a smoke bomb and driving it down at his feet. It detonated instantly, a sharp burst followed by thick smoke expanding outward, swallowing the clearing and cutting visibility to nothing.
The ground disappeared beneath the haze.
The trees became shadows.
Sound sharpened.
Reiji moved.
Low and fast, feet sliding lightly over the dirt as he shifted direction twice in quick succession, using the cover to break any line of approach. His weight stayed forward, posture compact, minimizing exposure—
Reiji's body reacted before the thought finished forming. He twisted sharply, torso shifting just enough as a palm strike passed where his chest had been. The air displaced against his side, close enough to feel the force of it.
Hiashi.
Reiji's gaze locked onto the pale eyes for an instant, the veins at the temples, the focus—
'These eyes are troublesome.'
Another strike came without delay, tighter, faster, aimed directly at his center. Reiji adjusted his footing, sliding across the dirt to change the angle, forcing the strike to graze past instead of landing clean.
Hiashi didn't stop.
His attacks flowed one into another, precise and continuous, each movement placed where Reiji would be rather than where he was.
No blind spots.
Reiji broke contact.
He pivoted sharply, pushing off his back foot to create distance, his body turning out of the line of attack—
Something cut through the smoke behind him.
A kunai.
Thrown without sight—or guided.
Reiji reacted instantly.
The blade struck—
Puff.
A log dropped in his place, the kunai embedding into the wood with a dull impact.
Substitution.
The smoke began to thin, the haze breaking apart as the air settled. Shapes emerged again, outlines sharpening into form.
Hiashi stood at the center, unmoving, Byakugan still active, his gaze steady.
Arata was no longer visible.
Reiji appeared off to the side, one hand briefly touching the trunk of a tree as he stabilized, breath controlled, stance resetting. At his feet, a student lay unconscious, unmoving.
Reiji straightened slightly, his eyes returning to Hiashi with a smirk.
"You're next Creepy."