Underground Base – Moments After the Explosion
"B-Boss… what the hell is with this kid?"
Arima's eyes locked onto Johan, sharp and calculating. The flare of chakra, the collapse of bindings, the presence, this wasn't a frightened child.
He scowled.
"We've been tricked."
The room fell into stillness. Tension wound through every breath.
Kenma stepped forward, lips curled into a sneer. "Tch. I'll handle him."
But Arima raised a hand without looking. "No. Not yet."
He turned to Renji, the sensor, who stood near the entrance, face pale, eyes closed.
Renji whispered, "Only three."
A breath released across the room. Mercenaries exchanged wary glances, the fear shrinking just enough to be replaced by arrogance.
"So," Arima muttered, "It's not full force. Just an infiltration unit. We can deal with them."
He pointed sharply.
"Kenma. Kamikura. Take the best of our men, get to the surface, neutralize the Leaf operatives. No mistakes. We can't lose momentum."
Kamikura nodded. "Understood, Boss."
Kenma gave Johan a death glare. "Jinchūriki scum. Once I'm done up there, I'll come carve that look off your face."
He spat and left, dragging his squad behind him.
Arima remained, silent for a moment.
Then he turned toward the rest. "Do whatever you want to him. Break his arms. Cripple his legs. But don't kill him. We still need the brat breathing."
He grinned. vicious, teeth bared like a predator.
Laughter bubbled up from the mercenaries, ugly and raw.
"Heh, let's show this little freak what real pain feels like!"
Another cracked his knuckles. "Time to bleed, hahaha"
But Johan… didn't move.
His expression was void. Not fearful. Not even angry.
He raised one hand, forming a single seal.
"Summoning Jutsu."
Smoke erupted. thick, coiling, unnatural. It didn't vanish. It lingered.
Then came the screeching.
High-pitched. Piercing. Wrong.
Dozens, hundreds of bats swarmed from the smoke, their wings slicing the air, their red eyes like pinpricks of malice in the dark.
The lights shattered. The room plunged into darkness.
"W-what the?! What are those?!"
"They're… watching us...!"
The bats hovered in eerie silence, and then,
They screamed.
Ultrasonic echo bursts exploded through the chamber, rattling bones, cracking the walls, rupturing eardrums.
Mercenaries dropped to their knees, clutching their heads, blood leaking from their noses.
Chaos.
Arima roared, chakra bursting around him.
"USE JUTSU, YOU FOOLS! THEY'RE JUST SUMMONS!"
He inhaled and cast a wide-arc Fire Release: Flame Wave. The fire roared forward, incinerating a portion of the bats.
But the rest screeched louder, diving with fury, wings like blades.
Johan moved through the dark. silent, surgical.
Some shadow clones exploded into being, weaving through the enemy, cutting them down in a dance of steel and silence.
Arima's body flicker brought him straight to the center of the chaos, sword flashing, aimed for Johan's throat.
But Johan was ready.
CLANG!
Steel met steel, kunai to blade. sparks burst from the clash.
The force slammed Johan back, but he didn't falter.
They clashed again, blades blurring, each strike a heartbeat apart.
Arima ducked a roundhouse, responded with a sweeping leg kick. Johan flipped mid-air, landed in a crouch, fists raised.
A flurry of blows. Fists slammed into ribs. Elbows cracked against skulls. Blood splattered the stone floor.
Arima was fast. Brutal. Experienced.
But Johan? Johan was precise. Efficient. Merciless.
---
Above – Surface Battle
Tenzo's voice rang through the air, calm but deadly.
"We don't have time. Johan's holding back a nest of vipers down there."
His hands blurred into seals.
"Wood Style: Cutting Sprigs Jutsu!"
Thick roots burst from the ground, impaling enemies mid-charge, hurling others into the trees with bone-shattering force.
Ko's Byakugan flared. "Four more behind the ridge, flanking!"
"On it," Yugao snapped, slicing through them like silk with her blade, expression grim and focused.
The forest was soaked in blood and chakra smoke.
Tenzo snarled, "Push forward. We go underground."
---
Underground – Base Interior
Arima's breathing was ragged. Sweat and blood streaked his face.
Johan, silent, battered, a cut above his brow. stood like a phantom, eyes burning with calm fury.
Then, more mercenaries surrounded Johan, circling like vultures.
Johan formed another seal.
"Fire Style: Inferno Snap."
Snap.
Flames burst from his fingers, devouring them where they stood.
Snap.
Snap.
Each sound ignited flesh. Screams rang out, raw, choking. Limbs charred. Skin melted.
The air stank of burned blood and ash.
Arima attacked again, blade aimed for Johan's neck.
but Johan ducked just in time. The steel missed by inches, slicing strands of his hair.
Bodies burned. Limbs scattered. Some enemies twitched on the floor. others didn't move at all.
It was a massacre.
Johan breathed harder, blood running down his temple.
Arima, panting, shouted, "Almost got him! Don't back down now!"
Johan's head rose slowly, eyes gleaming like steel.
His voice came out eerily, almost serene.
"Time to try a new jutsu."
He made several complex hand signs, chakra flaring in waves.
"Bat: Crimson Drain."
The bats shimmered, glowing with a red hue.
Then they descended.
They latched onto the remaining mercenaries. biting, draining, feeding.
Screams broke out again. Terrified, desperate.
Some tried to burn them off with jutsu, but there were too many, crawling under armor, into mouths, beneath skin.
Arima cast another wall of fire, but as the blaze vanished…
He stood alone.
Everyone else...dead.
Their bodies were shriveled husks. Bloodless. Grey. Empty.
He stared in horror.
"You… you monster," Arima snarled, voice cracking with rage.
Johan was on one knee, drained but unbowed, breathing shallowly. His eyes still burned.
He reached for his kunai....
And then froze.
He felt it.
Something… someone.
He lowered the blade slightly.
Arima took the bait.
With a furious cry, he charged, sword flashing.
Then...
CHIIIIIIIIIDORI!!!
A deafening screech. Like lightning tearing the sky in two.
A hand burst from Arima's chest. crackling, blinding blue.
He gasped. Looked down. Blood pouring.
"This jutsu… I know this…"
His vision blurred. "…Copy Ninja… Kakashi…"
He collapsed.
Kakashi stepped forward, eyes scanning Johan. "Not late, am I?"
Johan didn't speak. Just stared, blood-spattered and silent.
Then Team Ro arrived. They stopped at the threshold, stunned.
Even anbu like Yugao and Ko paused at the carnage.
Burned corpses. Limbless husks. Shadows of the men they'd once been.
Kakashi looked at Johan, so still and for a moment, saw himself.
A younger version. Colder. Sharper. Broken.
Sensei… your son's grown strong. But I pray he doesn't become what I once was.
Yugao stepped forward gently. "Are you alright?"
Johan gave a slow nod.
Tenzo exhaled. "Good timing, Senpai."
Kakashi nodded. "Lord Hokage was worried a little. Sent me as backup."
Tenzo added grimly, "Didn't expect so many hiding in this town."
Kakashi knelt and performed Earth Style, burying the bodies beneath stone.
Then he stood, voice solemn.
"…Mission's done. Let's go."
No one spoke.
They all walked in silence, leaving the dark behind them, though none could shake the chill that clung to their bones.
And behind them…
The hall remained.
Empty. Cold.
And soaked in the silence of the dead.