(A/N)

Okay, so there's been some confusion about the last chapter 👀 so let me clear it up real quick:

1. Otis has been above chūnin since his promotion test.

2. We had a one-year time skip, so yes—he leveled up. Still not jōnin, but close.

3. Danzō went all out because this was literally his first real chance. In the village, Itachi & Guy block him. Outside? Maruboshi blocks him. This mission was Otis's first time truly alone, aka prime Danzō moment.

4. The enemies were bottom-tier jōnin, not elites. If they were elites, Otis would've been six feet under and this novel would've turned into a memorial 😂.

5. And finally—Danzō's hate for Otis does have a reason. (Spoiler: it's not just "Otis is taller than him"… though I bet that doesn't help 😏).

And yes—I know the fight scenes are getting a little longer than usual 😅 but I thought you guys would enjoy the detail. Don't worry, this is the final chapter of this fight, and after this we'll move on to the next arc.

--

"A lesson without pain is meaningless. That's because you can't gain something without sacrificing something else."

— Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

--

Cut clean.

My eyes widened. Wind release. His kunai was coated in it.

I pulled my neck back just in time. The blade grazed the skin—just enough to open a thin red line across my throat.

I stumbled back, gripping the ruined axe handle, trying to steady my breath. 

Thin warmth ran down my neck.

Blood.

Another inch and my throat would've opened wide.

He's coating his kunai with wind chakra.

Then I narrowed my eyes to the other two ninjas who backed off

One tiger. One snake. Then both — ram, dragon, boar.

A combined jutsu.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me—"

Their chakra pulsed together, I could feel it from where I stood. It was building into something massive—dense and destructive.

My arms burned. My axe was broken. Blood leaked down my side, my neck, and from my blistered arms. The kunai was still buried in my torso. My chakra was low. And these bastards were still pristine.

But I couldn't let them finish it.

They were forming something—a combined jutsu. I could feel the air shift around them. Their hands were moving in sync, fast and clean. Whatever they were planning — it was meant to end me. And the ninja in front of me wasn't letting me rest.

I slammed my foot into the soaked dirt.

A solid wall of earth and chakra shot up just in time as the wind-charged kunai came. The kunai struck the wall with a thud, and then embedded deep into it — but failed to pierce through the wall.

"Gotcha."

I didn't wait.

With a flick of both wrists, I launched two small spheres at the duo mid-jutsu.

They moved quickly, just barely dodging — rolling left and right as the spheres dug small craters into the mud where they'd been.

But it forced them to break the hand signs.

Then I felt it.

I turned. 

Shit—

Too late.

The ninja was already there. His kunai aimed for my neck from behind. I twisted just enough to stop it from being fatal. The blade embedded itself deep into the upper part of my left shoulder. 

I felt muscle the tear. Bone grind.

The pain was sudden and hot, like liquid fire spreading down my arm. 

But I didn't scream.

He tried to pull the blade free—to cut me again, to open me further—but I didn't let him. 

My left hand caught his wrist. 

His other hand came up. I caught that too.

His eyes widened behind the mask.

I grinned.

"Too late, asshole."

He struggled, tried to break free. But he was trapped—his own blade still buried in my shoulder, stuck with me holding both his arms. 

And his teammates were sprinting toward us, desperate now.

The sky answered my RAGE.

The spheres I threw into the sky earlier—five of them—came back down like death from above. Under the acceleration of gravity

They were nearly invisible in the storm. The rain and night masked their descent. And there was no sound — not over the rain.

The first one struck the ninja I was holding directly on top of his skull.

Crack.

Dead-center from above. The impact split his mask, his face, his brain—everything. It exploded in a wet crunch. Brain matter sprayed across my chest. His body spasmed—then went limp in my hands.

I let go of the corpse. It dropped to the ground like a broken sack of meat.

Three down.

But there was no time to breathe.

Pain surged from my leg. 

A flash of silver cut across the back of my right leg—

The tendon of my right heel was gone.

I dropped to my knee.

Shit.

My body screamed—

I caught myself with one hand in the mud, teeth clenched hard.

Then I saw them—

One rushing with a sword raised, the other with a kunai

I had no footing.

No strength left in my legs.

No time.

I was tired.

But I wasn't done.

"Even if I die here…" I growled, voice low and raw.

"…I'll take you bastards with me."

I slapped both palms to the ground.

The chakra surged from me—

Earth Release: Earthen Grasp.

The ground groaned—

A crude hand of earth burst upward, grabbing the sword-wielder by the ankle.

It wasn't strong enough to hold him for long—

But it threw him off balance.

I hurled a medium-sized sphere—not even aiming. Just trusting my training.

Crack.

It struck the side of his head.

Tore clean through—

Exited just below his eye socket with a wet, sickening pop.

His body went limp, nerves already gone before he hit the ground. 

He dropped face-first into the mud with a heavy thud.

Dead.

Four down.

A knee slammed into the left side of my ribs. 

I coughed blood instantly. The impact stole my breath. I tasted iron in the back of my throat.

Then another kick.

My vision blurred. The world started spinning.

Another.

Then another.

And another.

I curled and tried to protect my head. It didn't matter.

I couldn't see anymore. Only flashes of black and red.

The world was spinning sideways.

My head bounced off the ground. Mud filled my mouth. My ribs screamed. My right leg was numb, my shoulder gushing blood, my hands too slow to catch the next blow.

The next blow landed—

I don't know where.

Didn't matter.

They all felt the same now.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't think.

Just pain. Again and again and again.

Boom. Boom. Boom. 

Cold rain washing my blood into the ground

And then—

A foot slammed into my jaw.

Darkness.

The sounds faded. The rain, the boots, even the pain.

Just silence now.

--

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/pacifist01