The Iwa ninja retreated once again.
When the force on the other flank failed, the troops fighting at the front also received the news. To prevent further losses, they chose to withdraw.
In this battle they had sacrificed so much, yet gained nothing—instead losing six jonin. The Iwa commander was furious and heartbroken.
"The next attack from the Iwa will be even more ferocious," Crow said, standing beside Hyuga Akira and looking into the distance.
At this range, the Iwa forces were no longer visible.
They clearly had no intention of giving up. The next assault would certainly be fiercer.
Akira rubbed his chin.
"Next time… they won't bring Ōnoki with them, will they?"
"Probably not… I think," Crow replied uncertainly. "The Ino–Shika–Chō trio has been keeping a close watch on the Tsuchikage. He hasn't had a chance to support other battlefields."
In this generation, the Ino–Shika–Chō formation was the core of the Iwa front. Ever since Ōnoki appeared, the three of them had been tightly focused on him.
At present, only the three working together could hold him back. If he appeared anywhere else, he could change the entire battle.
But Akira wasn't so optimistic about their ability to keep watch on Ōnoki.
After all…
That short old man could fly.
Just to be safe, Akira took out a book and asked Crow, who looked puzzled:
"Want your fortune told?"
Angel's Automatic Writing.
One of the abilities recorded in Bandit's Secret. When used, one hand must hold the manifested notebook.
It didn't occupy a skill slot.
However, it had one drawback—it couldn't predict the user's own fate, only that of others.
"You believe in fate?" Crow asked, somewhat surprised.
Akira looked at him in return, equally surprised.
"How many ninja don't believe in destiny?"
Under the shadow of war, many believed that one day a savior like Hashirama Senju would appear again to bring peace to the world.
Jiraiya was the most typical example—though he might also have been fooled by those toads of Mount Myōboku.
"True enough," Crow nodded. Root members, however, were trained to suppress emotion. Without emotion, there was no hope, and without hope, no belief in destiny.
Still, he was curious about Akira's fortune-telling.
"I'll try it."
"Good. Name—even a fake one is fine. Date of birth. Blood type. And I need to see your real face."
Crow hesitated. Every Root member's identity was a secret, not something to reveal lightly.
But in the end, he removed his mask. He knew that as a member of the Hyuga clan, Akira could see his face anyway, so hiding it was meaningless.
Crow's face was utterly ordinary—the kind you could lose in a crowd without a trace. The mask almost seemed unnecessary.
Akira took out a sheet of paper. His eyes gradually became unfocused, and a phantom image of a grotesque infant appeared over his right hand.
"What… is that?" Crow stared wide-eyed at the apparition.
So this fortune-telling was real?
Akira's hand moved rapidly across the paper, line after line appearing until a poem formed.
He handed the paper to Crow.
"Read it for me."
"You don't know what it says?" Crow asked in surprise.
Akira's notebook vanished, and he shrugged.
"When I write it, I'm not conscious."
Crow found the ability strange but began to read aloud:
"On a windless plain, shadows coil around the roots of trees,
A phantom beneath white eyes conceals the groaning of stone.
A tongue licks the blade, blood unstained upon the clothes,
False peace—the cracks before shattering.
When twin moons trade places, a crown of earth descends from the sky,
Wings of stone blot out the sun, insects trapped in a prison of dust.
A reflection fleeing toward the abyss is pierced by a blade of light,
Beneath a shattered moon, flesh and stone lie buried together."
Akira fell into thought.
Crow put his mask back on and asked curiously,
"Well? What about my fate?"
Akira looked at the last line—flesh and stone lie buried together—and patted Crow on the shoulder.
"You should eat something good these next few days."
The crown of earth was obvious. Ōnoki would definitely attack this battlefield, and Crow would die in that assault.
And he would die while trying to flee… but failing.
"What exactly does that mean?!" Crow raised his voice involuntarily.
Several people nearby turned to look.
Akira pointed at the paper.
"Prophecies always need interpretation. This one shouldn't be hard for you."
Behind the mask, Crow's face turned pale. It was precisely because he understood it that he couldn't accept it.
The first stanza clearly described the present—today's battle.
The second suggested that although fighting would continue, there was no immediate danger.
But the third stanza was grim.
It meant the Tsuchikage would appear here and crush this battlefield utterly.
And the final line was his ending.
He would try to escape… and still die.
"How accurate are these prophecies?" Crow asked in a low voice.
If Akira had merely scribbled words, he might not have believed it. But the twisted infant that had appeared in Akira's hand—
That was clearly some kind of technique.
Crow already believed it seventy percent.
"Very accurate," Akira said firmly.
In the Hunter world it had never been wrong. He doubted it would be wrong here.
"…Good." Crow clearly made up his mind about something and vanished in a blur.
Akira rubbed his chin.
"If Ōnoki really comes… is there any chance I could hunt him?"
A Kage would yield at least a hundred thousand experience points.
After thinking it over, Akira decided he should just forget it and go to sleep. He had barely survived against six jonin—hunting a Kage was pure fantasy.
Better to think about how to escape.
Looking toward the trenches, he saw many ninja already lying on the ground asleep, while others kept watch.
It wasn't that Akira didn't want to warn them.
The problem was—people had to believe a prophecy first.
Ninja did believe in destiny, but if someone suddenly claimed they could tell the future, few would accept it.
Just look at Jiraiya believing the Great Toad Sage—there had been a long buildup before that.
Ninja were suspicious by nature.
He had even heard that some people in Konoha doubted the existence of the First Hokage.
…So convincing them would be difficult.
Still, judging from the poem, the coming days should be relatively calm.
"Oh right—I forgot to ask about battle merits," Akira muttered, rubbing his forehead. If the Hyuga main family couldn't take the credit this time, he had hoped to exchange it for some ninjutsu.
Now he had no idea what Crow had gone off to do, and he wasn't familiar with the other Root members.
"Forget it. I'd better figure out how to get out alive when Ōnoki arrives."
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/KuroTL