Chapter 18: Despair
The branch beneath Kenzo's feet split apart with a sharp crack.
The brittle wood snapped like dry bone under sudden pressure.
Before the broken fragments could even begin to fall, Kenzo had already vanished from the spot.
He launched himself toward the ANBU like a thunderbolt.
The air burst apart around him as his body cut through the darkness with terrifying speed.
At that moment the ANBU's nerves were stretched to their limits under the weight of his monstrous killing intent.
The pressure felt suffocating.
Cold.
Like standing before an ancient predator that had already decided their fate.
One of the ANBU, standing in the center of the loose semicircle formation, gripped his blade tightly.
His fingers trembled slightly beneath the glove.
He knew he couldn't counter that monster—
the man who kept revealing his strength little by little like a deranged slaughterer who seemed to enjoy toying with his prey.
Yet instinct refused to allow him to freeze.
He could still swing first.
Predict the movement.
Strike before it happened.
With that desperate thought, he swung his blade forward with all his might toward where Kenzo was supposed to appear.
The blade sliced through the air with a sharp whistle.
But to his horror—
Kenzo was nowhere to be found.
The space before him was empty.
Only swaying branches greeted his desperate attack.
His eyes darted left and right frantically, searching for even the faintest glimpse of his opponent.
His heartbeat thundered violently inside his chest.
"Behind you!"
One of the ANBU shouted, his voice slightly hoarse.
But it was already too late.
The ANBU's body trembled violently.
A kunai protruded from his chest where his heart had once been.
The cold steel glimmered faintly in the moonlight.
A mouthful of blood splattered from his lips.
The crimson droplets scattered across the bark of the tree like blooming flowers.
Tears slid down his cheeks in broken streaks beneath the mask.
In his final moments, his thoughts wandered back to his family.
To his wife.
He had promised her he would return.
He had promised they would soon have a child.
She had even begun knitting the baby's clothes in advance.
He could still remember the quiet smile she wore when she showed him the tiny blue fabric.
Those warm memories surfaced like faint sunlight beneath a dark sea.
And with them came intense regret.
Why had he accepted this assignment from Root?
Why hadn't he listened to his wife and quit being a shinobi?
Why had he believed he still had time?
Unfortunately, regret had no medicine.
No amount of unwillingness could change the harsh reality.
The light in his eyes slowly faded.
His body went limp.
The kunai slipped from Kenzo's grip as gravity claimed the corpse.
He fell into the darkness below the forest canopy, joining the same fate as his fellow ANBU.
The sound of branches breaking echoed faintly before disappearing into the abyss.
Uchiha Kenzo stood silently, watching the corpse disappear into the endless darkness beneath the trees.
His expression remained calm.
Not a single ripple of emotion appeared on his face.
But, His mind moved quietly.
He looked at the regret frozen in the man's dying eyes.
Kenzo understood that expression well.
He had seen it countless times before.
But the truth was simple.
The man probably never realized he only felt regret because he lost.
If he had won this battle and claimed Kenzo's head—
he would be celebrating right now.
Perhaps even boasting about it to his comrades.
People were like that.
They let outcomes decide whether their choices were right or wrong.
Victory justified everything.
Defeat made every decision seem foolish.
Only when they lost did regret begin to grow.
Kenzo understood this clearly.
After living an entire lifetime, he had long since grasped this truth.
Regret only existed for those who allowed results to judge their actions.
Kenzo thought quietly to himself.
The reason he even reflected on such thoughts in the middle of a fight was simple.
His system demanded understanding.
Not only power—
but comprehension.
And what better place was there to comprehend such truths than the boundary between life and death?
Besides—
his strength had grown rapidly.
Each battle sharpened him further.
Each life-and-death moment carved new understanding into his mind.
Now he could say with confidence—
that he had taken a firm step forward into the territory of Quasi-Kage.
Still not truly at the level of monsters like the Hokage.
But close enough that ordinary elite shinobi could no longer threaten him.
Meanwhile, the remaining four ANBU were forming hand seals desperately, trying to release the genjutsu cast on them.
Their fingers moved rapidly.
Chakra circulated violently through their bodies as they attempted to disrupt the illusion.
By now they had realized they were trapped inside a genjutsu.
They had already tried to break it earlier while chasing him in shifts.
They had believed they succeeded.
It seemed they had been wrong.
The illusion had never truly disappeared.
It had only been layered deeper.
One of the ANBU stepped toward another, intending to disrupt his chakra flow and help him break the illusion.
Before he could even reach him—
Kenzo appeared in front of him like a ghost emerging from the shadows.
The ANBU, already paranoid about whether he was inside genjutsu or not, instinctively jumped backward to maintain
distance.
His feet landed on a nearby branch with a heavy thud.
But Kenzo moved like a specter.
Leaping from branch to branch.
Shifting constantly.
Never allowing them to predict his next move.
Never allowing them a moment to breathe.
The moonlight poured gently through the forest canopy, illuminating the battlefield faintly.
Silver beams of light slipped between the leaves.
But at that moment, the moonlight felt like a curse to the ANBU.
Because instead of revealing Kenzo's figure—
It only cast shadows.
Shadows that twisted and stretched across the branches.
Shadows that swayed with every movement of the leaves.
Shadows that could easily hide a predator.
As Kenzo continued to move, the tension in the forest thickened.
The ANBU's eyes remained unblinking.
His ears were fully alert.
Not allowing even the smallest sound to escape his notice.
The faint rustle of leaves.
The creaking of branches.
The distant call of a night bird.
Everything felt suspicious.
A single drop of sweat escaped his temple.
It slid slowly across his face.
Resting on the tip of his nose.
Time seemed to stretch endlessly.
The moment it finally fell—
he blinked.
Just a fraction of a second too long.
And that was all Kenzo needed.
In an atmosphere like this—
That fraction of a second was the difference between life and death.
The moment the ANBU's eyelids closed—
Kenzo moved.
To the ANBU it felt as if the forest itself had shifted.
One moment the branches were still.
The next—
A shadow slipped between them like a blade cutting through silk.
His instincts screamed in warning.
The shinobi twisted violently as he raised his sword.
But he was already too slow.
Kenzo appeared beside him like a phantom.
His arm moved with ruthless precision.
The kunai slid forward before the ANBU even realized what had happened.
The shinobi remained standing.
His body stiff.
His eyes wide beneath the mask.
Then the strength left his legs.
His weapon slipped from his grasp.
It vanished into the darkness below.
Then the body followed.
Tilting sideways—
disappearing into the forest abyss.
Three ANBU remained.
For several seconds, none of them moved.
The forest returned to silence.
Only the cold wind of the night passed between the trees.
The leaves rustled softly.
peacefully.
As if the forest itself had grown accustomed to the presence of death.
One of the remaining shinobi slowly turned his head.
His breathing had become uneven.
His hands trembled slightly.
Even behind the emotionless mask, fear had begun to seep into his voice.
"What… are we even fighting?"