Chapter 20: Ashes in the Night
Kenzo stood silently on the branch for a moment, allowing the final lines of the poem to echo quietly within his mind.
The forest around him had grown still again.
Only the faint rustling of leaves and the distant crackle of burning wood remained.
For a brief moment, he savored the calm.
Then he let the thoughts drift away.
Sentimentality had no place on a battlefield.
His crimson eyes shifted slightly.
More enemies were approaching.
He could not see them yet, but the faint disturbances in the forest told him enough. Branches moving in unnatural patterns. The subtle displacement of night insects. The quiet tremor of chakra signatures far beyond normal perception.
Shinobi.
Kenzo calmly analyzed the situation.
Two paths lay before him.
The first was to stay and fight.
The second was to leave.
He calculated the outcome in a matter of seconds.
Fighting now would be extremely dangerous. The earlier battles had already consumed a noticeable portion of his chakra, and more enemies would undoubtedly arrive soon.
More importantly, there was no benefit in staying.
Killing more pursuers would only increase the scale of the hunt.
So without hesitation, Kenzo made his decision.
He would disappear.
Kenzo moved swiftly through the forest canopy.
Time was tight.
Every second mattered now.
Below him, the bodies of the ANBU still lay scattered among the tangled roots and fallen leaves of the forest floor. Pale masks stared silently into the night sky.
His Sharingan spun slowly.
The crimson tomoe scanned the darkness one final time.
No movement.
No hidden chakra signatures.
But that meant very little.
Reinforcements would come soon.
They always did.
Kenzo dropped lightly to the forest floor.
The metallic scent of blood lingered heavily in the air, mixing with the earthy smell of damp soil and crushed leaves.
He walked past the nearest corpse, nudging it slightly with his foot and dragging it closer to another body lying against a broken tree trunk.
He did not bother searching for every corpse.
That would waste precious time.
Instead, he raised his hands calmly and formed a single hand seal.
"Fire Release."
Chakra surged through his chest like a rising tide.
A moment later he exhaled.
A roaring sphere of flame burst forward.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
The massive fireball slammed into the forest floor with explosive force.
Flames erupted outward in a violent wave.
Dry leaves ignited instantly.
Branches crackled as fire spread rapidly from tree to tree.
Within seconds the surrounding area was engulfed in growing flames.
The bodies of the fallen ANBU disappeared beneath the spreading inferno.
Under the pale moonlight, the rising flames almost looked beautiful.
Like a twisted work of art.
Kenzo did not linger to admire it.
Every second was precious.
He leapt back into the trees, moving swiftly from branch to branch.
Wherever he sensed lingering chakra residue from the battle, he released controlled bursts of flame.
Small fires began appearing across multiple areas of the forest.
To an investigator, the battlefield would become chaotic and difficult to read.
Smoke soon began rising into the night sky in dark spiraling columns.
After ensuring the immediate area had been thoroughly burned, Kenzo stopped briefly on a distant branch.
He observed the spreading fire one last time.
It was enough.
Normal trackers would struggle to piece together what had happened here.
Of course, truly skilled shinobi might still discover fragments of the truth.
But Kenzo had no intention of making their job easy.
Without further delay, he suppressed his chakra completely.
His presence sank deep within his body, becoming faint and nearly undetectable.
Behind him, the flames continued to grow.
Smoke climbed into the sky like a dark pillar.
To anyone searching the forest, the blaze would become the center of attention.
Exactly as he intended.
Kenzo's crimson eyes flickered once beneath the darkness.
Then he vanished deeper into the forest.
---
The forest still smelled of smoke.
Blackened trees stood like silent witnesses beneath the fading night sky. Ash drifted slowly through the air as the last flames crackled weakly among the fallen branches.
Silence hung over the ruined battlefield.
Then several figures appeared at the edge of the burned forest.
They moved without sound.
Their white masks reflected faint moonlight.
Root.
At their center stood a tall shinobi whose entire body was wrapped in dark protective clothing. Only a narrow opening revealed a pair of glasses.
Aburame Torune.
Behind him stood several Root operatives.
And beside him was another man with calm eyes and a composed expression.
Fū Yamanaka.
For several moments, none of them spoke.
They simply observed the battlefield.
The once dense forest had been reduced to scorched earth and broken trunks. The smell of charred wood and burnt flesh lingered in the air.
The tension was heavy.
Torune stepped forward first.
The ground beneath his feet crunched softly as he walked across the blackened leaves.
The faint remains of burned bodies were still scattered throughout the area.
The fire had destroyed much of the evidence.
But not everything.
Not with the limited time the attacker had.
Torune crouched slightly.
From beneath his sleeve, something invisible drifted silently into the air.
Microscopic insects.
They spread outward like a living cloud.
The Rinkaichū began searching the battlefield.
After several seconds, Torune spoke in his his usual calm voice.
"The target was here."
One of the Root shinobi behind him asked quietly,
"Recently?"
Torune adjusted his glasses slightly.
"Yes."
"The fire was used to destroy evidence."
Fū stepped forward slowly.
He closed his eyes.
For a few seconds, the forest remained silent.
The Root operatives waited patiently.
Then Fū's brows narrowed slightly.
"There's still faint chakra residue."
Another operative turned toward him.
"Can you identify it?"
Fū opened his eyes.
His answer was simple.
"Uchiha."
The word felt heavier than before.
Torune stood up again.
His insects continued drifting through the burned forest.
"They entered a battle here," he said calmly.
"Three… possibly more opponents."
"Ending quickly."
Another Root shinobi spoke.
"Direction of escape?"
Torune remained silent for a moment.
Then the cloud of microscopic insects slowly returned to him.
"The trail reaches the river."
Fū turned his head slightly.
In the distance, the faint sound of flowing water could be heard.
"He used it to break pursuit."
Torune nodded once.
"A logical decision."
For several seconds no one moved.
The forest had grown quiet again.
Then Fū spoke once more.
"But he didn't completely hide himself."
Torune looked at him.
Fū continued calmly.
"Even if the river erased the trail…"
"…he still had to leave it somewhere."
A faint tension spread among the Root operatives.
Torune slowly turned his head toward the dark forest beyond the distant river.
Behind his glasses, his eyes remained completely emotionless.
"Then we continue."
Without another word, the Root shinobi disappeared back into the darkness.
The hunt will continue.