Reiji's gaze settled on Hiashi. His posture remained loose, almost casual, but his focus narrowed entirely on the Hyūga's stance. The boy stood balanced, weight centered, palms open and aligned with quiet precision. There was no tension, no wasted motion. Reiji had already experienced what that meant—one clean strike, and a limb stopped responding.
Taijutsu against him would be troublesome.
The Gentle Fist was not something to meet head-on unless he accepted damage. And damage, right now, was unacceptable. Minato was still out there. If he reached him later, he needed to be intact.
His eyes shifted, scanning the treeline—the slight movement in the leaves, broken lines of sight, the quiet gaps where someone could hide.
Arata was nowhere to be seen, which meant he was waiting.
Reiji exhaled slowly, organizing the situation.
He's waiting for an opening. He'll act too soon.
Arata lacked patience. He would reveal himself.
Which meant they were expecting him to rush Hiashi, to lock the fight into close range and let the Gentle Fist decide the exchange.
Reiji's lips curved faintly.
Too predictable.
He moved without warning.
His heel pivoted sharply, kicking up dust as his weight shifted. In the same motion, he drove forward and leapt into the trees, his body compressing and releasing with clean efficiency. His sandals scraped against bark as he transitioned upward, momentum carrying him into the branches while his hands came together mid-motion, fingers locking as chakra gathered between his palms.
"You will not run away! I will put you on the ground!"
Hiashi followed immediately, without hesitation. His voice cut cleanly through the trees, controlled, closing the distance with each step.
Reiji didn't look back.
'So he's not the carrier ?'
Hiashi's reaction had been too direct, too committed to the chase.
A shift in the air.
Reiji tilted his head slightly.
A kunai sliced past him, close enough to graze a strand of hair. A second followed from a similar angle, but the trajectory was less precise, the timing just off.
His eyes flicked left.
Another attacker.
Arata… or someone else joining the fray?
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!"
Fire burst through the branches. Small, rapid flames spread in uneven arcs. The heat rolled outward, brushing against Reiji's face as he adjusted.
His footing shifted along the branch beneath him. Weight transferred from heel to toe, then forward again as he dipped under one arc, turned his shoulder through another, and stepped cleanly between two more. Each motion connected to the next. No pause. No wasted effort. The flames passed close—too close—but never touched.
Arata.
'He surely used the Sharingan to learn it… what a cheat.'
The control wasn't his. The pattern gave it away.
Still useful.
'Now I know where you are'.
He angled left, momentum carrying him across the branches. His hands remained joined. Chakra condensed between his palms, growing denser, colder. A faint mist began to seep outward, thin enough to disappear against the shifting light.
Through the trees—
Arata stepped into view, kunai raised, stance set.
"Be careful!" Hiashi called from behind. "He's preparing a jutsu!"
Reiji dropped.
The distance vanished.
His body aligned mid-descent. Hips turned. His leg snapped upward in a direct arc toward Arata's face, the strike carrying both speed and weight.
Arata reacted just in time.
His forearm rose, intercepting the kick. His hand closed around Reiji's leg, catching it.
For a brief instant, he thought he had control.
Reiji didn't pull back.
Didn't resist.
'Got you.'
He turned into it.
His body rotated through the captured leg, momentum carrying him forward. Both hands snapped down, locking firmly just above Arata's ankle. The movement was tight, controlled. No space to adjust.
Arata's expression shifted.
"What—?!"
Cold spread first.
Not the ice.
The cold itself.
It sank into the limb through contact, sharp and immediate, cutting through muscle before the technique fully formed.
Then the ice followed.
It surged outward in a single motion, sealing the foot to the ground. Frost spread rapidly, thickening as it locked the limb in place. Arata's breath caught as the cold deepened, the pain forcing a sharp cry from him.
Reiji held his position.
Balanced.
Unmoving.
"I advise you not to move," he said evenly.
His grip tightened just enough for the ice to creak.
"Unless you want your foot to shatter."
Reiji felt it before he saw it.
Fast. Direct. No attempt to conceal the approach.
Hiashi.
Reiji didn't turn immediately. His posture remained steady, but his focus tightened, attention shifting backward. He adjusted his footing by a fraction, weight settling through his hips, ready to move.
He's still coming.
No hesitation. No caution after seeing Arata fall.
Reiji's eyes narrowed slightly.
A mistake.
The cold was still there. It clung to his hands, thin mist drifting from his palms as chakra continued to gather and compress, the air around his fingers growing sharper, heavier.
He moved.
A clean pivot. His foot ground lightly into the dirt as his body turned, shoulders aligning with the incoming threat. Hiashi closed the final step, already within striking range.
Reiji raised one hand.
Palm open.
He stopped it just short of Hiashi's face.
Then he exhaled.
A short, controlled breath.
The mist carried forward.
It struck first.
Cold spread across Hiashi's face instantly, frost forming along his skin in thin, jagged lines, creeping toward his eyes and across his cheekbones. His expression tightened. His movement faltered—just enough.
His guard started to rise—
Too late.
Reiji stepped in.
His shoulder drove forward. His hips followed. The strike came straight, compact.
His fist slammed into Hiashi's nose.
The impact landed clean. A dull crack followed as Hiashi's head snapped back, his footing shifting as his balance broke for a fraction of a second.
Reiji didn't give it back.
He closed the distance immediately, stepping into the space Hiashi had lost. Both hands shot forward, locking onto his wrists before the Hyūga could reset. His grip tightened, controlling the angle, keeping the arms from moving.
Cold surged again.
Frost spread from Reiji's hands into Hiashi's arms, thin at first, then thickening as ice formed along his wrists and forearms. The surface crackled as it expanded, sealing the joints, locking them in place.
Hiashi tried to move.
Too slow.
Reiji stepped in once more, already aligned.
He drove his forehead forward.
The headbutt landed squarely.
A sharp impact. Solid.
Hiashi's body slackened instantly, the tension leaving his stance as his legs gave way.
Reiji released him.
Hiashi collapsed to the ground without resistance, the frost along his arms still spreading faintly as the last traces of movement left him.
The clearing went quiet again.
Reiji let out a slow breath, the last of the tension easing from his shoulders as the exchange ended. The cold still lingered around his hands, thin mist curling faintly from his palms before dissipating into the air. He turned back toward Arata, who was watching him with a conflicted expression—frustration held tight beneath something quieter, more uncertain.
Reiji stepped closer, his sandals pressing into the dirt with a soft crunch. The ground was uneven where they had fought, scuffed by movement and impact. Frost still clung to Arata's leg, the ice holding firm around his ankle, thin cracks forming along the surface as it adjusted to his weight.
"I surrender," Arata said at last. His voice was low, reluctant, as if the words themselves resisted coming out.
Reiji's brow lifted slightly.
"You're sure?"
Arata let out a short breath and shook his head, one hand lifting weakly to gesture toward Hiashi's body lying a few paces away.
"Are you serious? Did you see what state you left him in?"
Reiji glanced in that direction without turning fully. Hiashi lay still, his posture slack where he had fallen, frost still creeping faintly along his sleeves. Breathing steady. No immediate danger.
Reiji shrugged.
"He'll live. They said anything goes as long as it's not lethal." His tone stayed even, matter-of-fact. "And they would've stepped in if I crossed the line."
His gaze shifted back to Arata, sharpening slightly as he measured him again.
"You surrendering might lower your score. You're fine with that?"
Arata's eyes dropped to his leg, encased in ice, then lifted again. His shoulders loosened, tension slipping out of his posture.
"…I don't really care about my score right now," he admitted after a moment. "And I'm being realistic. I've already lost."
Reiji held his gaze for a second longer, weighing the answer. No hesitation. No attempt to stall.
He gave a small, indifferent shrug and stepped past him.
Hiashi first.
Reiji crouched beside him, movements quick and precise. His hands moved through the search without wasted motion—waist, pouch, sleeves, under the collar. The fabric was cold under his fingers, slightly damp where frost had melted against skin.
Nothing.
No scroll.
Reiji straightened immediately, attention already shifting.
If not him—
He turned back toward Arata, closing the distance in two short steps before crouching again. His hands moved just as quickly, checking the obvious places first, then less accessible ones, fingers pressing, sliding, confirming.
"I really have—"
"Shut up," Reiji said without looking at him, already finishing the search.
Nothing.
His jaw tightened slightly.
Neither of them.
Which meant—
Reiji rose in one smooth motion, his weight shifting forward as his attention snapped back toward the forest. The direction Minato had taken.
He didn't waste another second.
Arata started to speak again, something defensive in his tone—
"See, I really—"
—but Reiji was already moving.
He pushed off the ground, legs driving powerfully as he launched upward. His foot caught the side of a trunk for a split second before he redirected, body rising cleanly into the canopy. Branches bent under his weight, leaves rustling as he passed through, then settled back into place as his presence vanished into the trees.
The forest swallowed the movement almost instantly.
Silence followed, broken only by the faint rustle of leaves and Arata's uneven breath.
He stared at the space Reiji had just occupied, then let out a quiet, incredulous breath.
"…What an asshole."
***
He had to hurry.
The forest around him was alive with noise—steel clashing, bodies hitting the ground, sharp cries cutting through the trees—but Reiji ignored all of it. None of it mattered. His objective was Minato. Everything else was secondary.
'I can't let him sweep my team.'
Given enough time, Minato would find the carrier. That much was certain. Worse—there was a very real chance he was carrying the scrool of his team himself.
Reiji's pace quickened.
He followed the direction where he had last seen Minato disappear, his eyes scanning constantly as he moved. The signs were there if you knew how to read them. Broken branches at shoulder height. Twigs snapped under uneven pressure. A patch of grass flattened in a direction that didn't match the wind.
He dropped into a crouch, fingers brushing lightly against the ground. The imprint wasn't fresh, but not old either.
He veered left.
Reiji pushed off immediately.
He accelerated, feet striking the ground in short, controlled steps before he launched himself forward again. The terrain shifted beneath him—roots, uneven soil, patches of loose dirt—but his balance never broke. His weight flowed through each step, momentum carrying him forward without pause.
Ahead, movement.
Nawaki and Enji.
They were locked in combat with multiple opponents, surrounded but not overwhelmed. Their stances were tight, coordinated enough to hold the line for now, though the pressure was building.
Reiji didn't slow.
"Hey, Reiji—!"
"Help us! What are you doing?!"
Their voices followed him, sharp with urgency.
He didn't turn.
Didn't answer.
He was already gone, his foot catching the trunk of a tree as he drove upward, body compressing and releasing as he moved into the canopy. Branches bent slightly under his weight as he passed, leaves rustling before settling again.
Then—
He stopped.
Not fully. Just enough.
His body stilled against the branch, weight balanced, breath controlled.
He listened.
…fighting.
Ahead.
Faint, but clear.
Reiji shifted again, slower now. His movement changed, each step placed deliberately, minimizing sound as he closed the distance. The forest thickened here, the light breaking through in uneven strips, shadows shifting with the movement of leaves above.
Then he saw him.
Minato.
Three bodies lay scattered across the ground, unmoving. Aya stood alone in front of him, a kunai held tight in her grip. Her shoulders were tense, her stance slightly too rigid, but she didn't retreat.
Reiji adjusted his position, lowering himself onto a branch above them, his form partially obscured by the leaves. From here, he could see everything.
"Come on, Aya," Minato said, his voice calm, almost casual. "If you have the scroll, just give it to me. I don't want to hurt you."
She didn't answer.
Her grip tightened.
Reiji brought his palms together.
Chakra gathered instantly, condensing between them. The air shifted as a faint mist began to form, thin at first, barely visible against the filtered light.
"Sigh… sorry then, Aya."
Minato moved.
Fast.
Aya reacted, her kunai cutting forward in a sharp line, but her timing was off. Minato slipped past it with minimal movement, his body shifting just enough to avoid the blade before closing the distance. His hand struck her neck with precise control.
Her body went slack immediately.
He caught her before she fell.
Lowered her carefully to the ground.
Reiji's eyes narrowed slightly.
Minato crouched, already searching her.
Reiji moved.
No wasted motion. No sound.
His body dropped from the branch, the descent controlled, silent. The distance vanished almost instantly, his weight aligning as he closed in from behind. His hand extended toward the back of Minato's head—
Frost already forming along strands of blond hair as the cold spread forward.
Got you.
Minato disappeared.
The shift was instantaneous.
A sharp impact exploded across Reiji's jaw, snapping his head to the side as force drove through his balance. His body spun through the air, momentum carrying him outward before he forced control back into it. His foot struck the ground first, then his hand, fingers digging into the dirt as he absorbed the landing. Ice spread instinctively beneath his palm, stabilizing him as the ringing in his head settled into a dull throb.
He lifted his gaze.
Minato had one leg still raised, his body turned at an angle, back partially facing Reiji—the final position of the strike held for just a moment longer, as if the motion hadn't fully released yet. The line of his posture was clean, balanced, no strain, no excess.
Reiji's eyes tracked it instantly.
Low drop.
Rotation.
Upward strike.
Clean.
For a brief second, Minato didn't move.
Then the tension left his stance.
His foot lowered to the ground. His weight settled evenly. He straightened, turning fully now, his expression unchanged.
Calm.
Composed.
That same easy smile.
"Ah… so Arata and Hiashi weren't enough," he said lightly. "You're really strong, Reiji."
Reiji pushed himself upright, jaw throbbing, the dull ache spreading upward toward his temple. His balance was already back, his breathing steady, but the impact lingered.
One thought crossed his mind.
'This fucker.'