𝐊𝐎𝐊𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐈 | 𝐍.𝐔𝐙𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈

[13]

Breathing heavily, the shinobi ran through the forest, pushing himself through the leaves without hesitation. It felt like he had been running for hours, although it had only been a few minutes. He turned around and quickly threw shuriken towards her, but she dodged them with ease. The two engaged in a high-speed battle, exchanging attacks and evasions.

Backflipping towards a nearby tree, the fifteen-year-old Chunin was forced to use the Kawarimi technique with a nearby log to avoid being impaled. Four kunai embedded themselves in the wood as she made it to safety.

Regaining her footing, she phased into a soundless and smokeless Shunshin, reappearing to engage the rogue ninja with a flurry of taijutsu strikes. However, her strikes were skillfully blocked by her opponent. Reacting quickly, she grasped a kunai in her hand and attempted to slash at his throat, but he effortlessly dodged the attack and created distance between them.

She conjured a Suiton: Suijinheki to counter his retaliatory Gokakyuu no jutsu, despite the absence of a nearby water source. The two continued their intense battle, with the girl frustrated by her low Katon affinity. Her reverie was interrupted as a thick mist enveloped the area, obscuring her vision. However, she was pleased to feel her chakra-laden mist settle over the clearing and surrounding area, successfully concealing her presence.

Utilizing her mist's enhanced properties, she sought out the chakra signature of her attacker and discreetly adjusted his position for minimal acoustic amplification. This was a departure from conventional Silent Killing techniques, as it required the user to detect presences within the mist using acoustic amplification. However, she had found a way to bypass this limitation by using chakra waves to sense human bodies, rather than relying on sound.

Sensing her chakra rebound off a human-shaped presence, Asami swiftly charged through the mist, kunai in hand, and delivered a cross slash aimed at her assailant's throat. The attack proved fatal, and the lifeless body crumbled into earth, revealing it to be a clone. Asami allowed her mist to dissipate as her mentor approached her calmly.

"Well done, Tsukuyo," he praised her as he lifted his eyelid and stared into her eyes.

Tsukuyo—her new name in the Foundation. After being dismissed by Jiraiya, she had been taken in and trained by Danzo to reach her full potential. Within a year, she had proven herself and climbed through the ranks of the Foundation, becoming Danzo's favorite. She wasn't considered a genius like Neji or from a renowned shinobi lineage, but she had earned her skills through determination and hard work.

---

"Why? All of a sudden?" Asami asked, her eyes fixed on the bustling street outside, then shifting to Jiraiya in shock.

"Asami, you are going back, and that is final," Jiraiya said sternly, causing a frown to form on the corners of her mouth. "I-I can't leave him."

Jiraiya took a deep breath before facing her. "Listen, I brought you with us because I thought he would be able to control his chakra whenever he's around you, but I was wrong." Asami's eyes widened in shock as he continued, "Now that it's happened, you have no reason to be with us."

"After all this time..." Asami looked down, her lips quivering. "I was just a pawn to you... as always."

She looked at Jiraiya again, her eyes

hardening. "Turns out I was wrong. You renowned shinobi are all the same!"

Her eyes began to well up with tears as her body heated up with fury. She felt betrayed, not just by Jiraiya, but by herself. She was angry that she wasn't like Naruto, the son of the Fourth Hokage, Hinata, the heiress of the Hyuga Clan, or Neji, the prodigy of the Hyuga Clan. She was mad that she never felt good enough for anyone.

Before Jiraiya could say anything in response, she quickly walked away from him, holding back her tears and ignoring his attempts to call after her. "I hate it... I hate that I believed in you."

---

Asami let out a tired sigh as she pulled her wolf mask away from her face. She stared at her expression in the mirror, noticing the emptiness in her dull lavender eyes. Two years of training under Danzo had taught her to rid herself of emotions. She had thought she had succeeded, but she now realized that a slight trace of humanity remained within her. Danzo was aware of this and intended to eliminate whatever was holding onto her emotions, making her the shinobi he wanted her to be.

She stuck out her tongue and gazed at the cursed seal on the back of it. The seal forbade her from speaking about anything incriminating related to Danzo or Root, or else her entire body would be paralyzed.

"I owe Danzo-sama a lot," she thought before putting her mask back on and leaving the restroom.