Chapter 7: The One They Let Live
—
The mountain air was sharp.
Each step echoed under my boots, the burned body slumped across my shoulder—still, heavy, silent. It wasn't really Killer Bee. I knew that. I felt it the moment I saw the blood. But I didn't say anything.
Let them believe we completed the mission.
Let them think I won.
That was enough—for now.
""We're getting close," Karin said, squinting ahead through the fog. "I can feel Akatsuki's chakra—strong and creepy."
She turned toward Sasuke, her voice shifting. "Hey, Sasuke… are you okay? You've been carrying him the whole time…"
Sasuke didn't answer. His eyes were forward, steps steady.
"Tch, whatever," she mumbled, brushing her hair back. "You never listen anyway."
Suigetsu slung his blade over his shoulder and yawned. "Man, this guy better be worth it. I'm sick of dragging a wannabe jinchūriki through the woods like a delivery service."
He looked at Karin. "And you—you could've offered to carry him for your precious Sasuke, y'know."
"Shut up, fish boy," Karin snapped. "Unlike you, I don't enjoy whining every two minutes."
A grinned. "You're just mad he didn't let you hold his hand."
"Wha—!?"
Jūgo quietly stepped between them. "We're almost there."
They all looked at me.
I didn't respond.
Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "Figures."
We walked on.
The entrance to the Akatsuki hideout loomed like a carved wound in the cliff face. Cold air poured from the darkness, carrying the scent of old chakra and smoke.
Inside, two figures waited—Pain, towering and still, and Konan, folded in silence like paper.
The Gedo Statue stood behind them, humming quietly.
I stepped forward, dropped "Bee's body" on the stone.
No words.
The statue stirred. Chakra tendrils reached out and wrapped around the body, beginning the sealing.
Karin looked away, visibly uncomfortable.
Suigetsu gave a low whistle. "Creepy as hell…"
Jūgo simply watched.
Pain didn't speak. Konan didn't blink.
They didn't suspect a thing.
Neither did my team.
And I kept it that way.
We turned and left.
That night, we set camp in the woods. Far enough from the hideout. Far enough from questions.
Karin leaned against a tree, arms crossed.
"So…" she muttered. "We actually did it."
"No," I said in my mind. We didn't.
Suigetsu stretched his arms and dropped onto a rock. "I gotta admit, I thought Bee would wreck us. Guy was wild."
"He did damage," Jūgo said simply. "But Sasuke won."
"He got away," I whispered inside.
I didn't show it on my face.
I sat a little ways away, alone in the shadows, and opened my system.
[SYSTEM STATUS – ACTIVE]
Player: Uchiha Sasuke
Level: 64
Class: Avenger
[Post-Battle Reward: Tactical Victory – Killer Bee (Retreated)]
→ +2 Levels
→ +1 Amaterasu Control
→ +1 Clone Stability
Active Traits:
• Mangekyō Sharingan
• Kage no Sasayaki – Shadow Clone of Vengeance
• Flame Control (Kagutsuchi – Level 1)
• Resolve: 100 (MAX)
Not bad.
The shadow clone held its own. Took real hits. Adapted.
Amaterasu control's improving too. It didn't spread out of control. I held it.
But it still wasn't enough to kill him.
He let me see what I needed. And then he left.
I closed the interface.
"So what's next?" Suigetsu asked lazily. "Do we just sit around waiting for orders?"
Jūgo said, "We rest."
Karin narrowed her eyes at me. "Sasuke. What's our next move?"
I didn't answer.
Didn't need to.
That's when the air twisted.
Obito appeared, stepping out of space like it folded around him.
He looked straight at me.
"You completed your mission," he said. No emotion.
The others stood. Jūgo's stance tightened. Karin stayed still. Suigetsu reached for his sword just slightly.
Obito ignored them.
"There's a summit coming. A meeting of the Five Kage. In the Land of Iron."
I said nothing.
Obito continued. "One of them is Danzo."
My eye twitched.
That name again.
The rot inside the village.
He didn't say anything else.
He didn't have to.
He vanished the next moment—gone in a flicker of space.
Suigetsu sat back down. "Danzo, huh? Sounds serious."
Jūgo looked to me. "Are we going?"
I stood.
Karin sighed. "Of course we are. Right, Sasuke?"
I walked past them.
They followed.
That was the answer.
The next day, the air grew colder.
We crossed into snowy forests. The wind howled harder.
The trees thinned. Mountains loomed.
"Feels like we're walking into something big," Suigetsu muttered.
Karin nodded. "The chakra in this land is different. The iron in the soil reacts strangely…"
"Quiet," I said.
They obeyed.
That's when a figure rose from the ground ahead of us—half white, half black.
Zetsu.
He grinned. "Well, if it isn't the revenge team. Nice to see you still breathing."
We didn't stop.
"Got some juicy news for you."
I kept walking.
"Pain destroyed the Hidden Leaf," he said casually. "Flattened it. Poof."
Karin gasped quietly.
Suigetsu raised a brow. "No kidding?"
Zetsu's grin widened. "But then… Naruto Uzumaki showed up."
"He defeated Pain," he added. "Crushed him. Turned the whole village into his fan club. Everyone's calling him a hero."
"Naruto beat him," Zetsu said. "Crushed him. He's different now. Strong. Maybe even stronger than you."
The air tensed.
My Sharingan flicked open.
Karin looked away. Suigetsu exhaled. Jūgo didn't move.
I walked forward.
Past Zetsu.
Past the noise.
Stronger than me?
Then let him prove it.
To be continued.