The team rode silently in the jet. Kiyosuke and Saydaa refused to look at anyone, and none of the other members felt like talking. Cikizwa massaged her temples. Seriously, how hard was it for Bob to find a decent therapist?

She ignored the fact that she had been the one to scout a team of pure teenagers.

The grav-jet dropped off the team in a rainforest. The team took up formation and began to approach the target site. The comms were silent, except for the occasional report from Elise’s scans. Suddenly, Elise stopped.

“Warning: Lifeform detected!”

Just then an explosion rocked the group, sending them scattering. As they got to their feet, Kiyosuke caught a glance of a figure. His eyes widened.

He saw a grinning face he knew all too well.

And then the figure vanished.

“KIYOATSU!!!”

And Kiyosuke vanished with a yell.

The rest of the team rose to their feet and moved to chase after the boy when a paper talisman began to glow under a bush. The air shimmered ahead of them, cutting off Arvid, Elise, and Nana from Saydaa. Arvid ran head first and slammed into something in the air. He stepped back and swung his blade, only to fall to the ground with a cry as the blade bounced off. Arvid shook his head and looked up.

At least Saydaa ended up on the other side.

“Go! Follow after him! We’ll find another way through!”

Saydaa grimaced and nodded, then rushed after Kiyosuke. Meanwhile, Elise and Nana began to observe and analyze the barrier, looking for a way through.

Kiyosuke followed after Kiyoatsu, the two ninjas leaping on the trees until they came to an opening.

“KIYOATSU!”

Kiyosuke ran towards the shinobi as he stopped in the center of the clearing. He pulled out his blade and unleashed his Phantom Slash, the strike traveling through space to bisect his brother.

Who shimmered and vanished.

Kiyosuke grit his teeth and furrowed his brow as he heard his brother’s laughter from all around him.

“Come on now, little brother. Phantom Clone is one of the most basic techniques of our clan. Oh, that’s right, you never had those lessons, did you? Well, don’t you worry, big brother is here to help.”

A volley of kunai launched from the trees. Kiyosuke slashed them out of the air and unleashed a Phantom Slash to his rear. A white arc of light crossed through several kunai that had just appeared there.

“Well done, well done. Guess you wouldn’t be an Amano if you couldn’t handle a little Phantom Kunai, now would you?

Kiyosuke swung his sword over and over, sending Phantom Slashes all around him. He launched a volley of kunai into the bushes and trees around the clearing, but he hit nothing. As he did, Kunai continued to bombard him from all angles, forcing him to dodge and block.

Eventually he missed one, feeling a sting on his cheek as the knife grazed him.

He grit his teeth and ran for the edge of the clearing, the bombardment following after him.

A cut on his arm.

A scratch on his foot.

Small mistakes. Tiny errors leading to tiny wounds.

But they would add up over time.

If he could get back to the forest, the trees would give some cover, restrict some of the angles so he could triangulate his brother’s position.

And he was nearly there.

Just as he approached, a bomb exploded in front of him, throwing him back into the clearing. And another volley of kunai left several more scratches on him, some of them dripping blood.

Kiyosuke stood up and swung his blade over and over.

“PHANTOM SLASH STORM!!!”

The air lit up around him as countless slashes flew out in all directions. He heard the clang of metal colliding as the slashes knocked kunai out of the air.

But somehow one appeared behind the slashes, stabbing into his shoulder.

And again.

And again.

He swung his blade.

He sent out another storm.

He tried to break through.

But he was trapped.

And eventually, his sword fell to his side, his arm refusing to lift it. He breathed heavily, wincing as his sweat burned his cuts, mixing with his blood.

It was then that Kiyoatsu finally appeared before him, a massive grin on his face. Kiyosuke’s face twisted into a snarl. Unable to attack with his body, he began to shout, spitting out the fire from his chest.

“Why?! Why did you do it?! Why did you kill them?!”

Kiyoatsu tilted his head and placed a finger on his chin.

“Why?”

Eventually he shrugged.

“I dunno. Just came back from a mission one day and felt like it.”

“BECAUSE YOU FELT LIKE IT?!”

Kiyoatsu’s mouth curled into a wide grin.

“Eventually you stop questioning these things, little brother. Was it the Massacre at the Bridge? Was it when the whole team just died? Or that one cleanup job where we ended up hitting farmers instead of the enemy? It just…it all become meaningless…unless you give it meaning. I dunno, I just thought, maybe it would be fun? And, like, might as well have fun right? Like, what is the point of any of it, you know? So you know, let’s play some more!”

A kunai appeared in Kiyoatsu’s hand and he stepped towards Kiyosuke. Just then a cyclone appeared between the two, throwing both of them away from each other. Kiyosuke’s eyes widened as both he and his brother turned to the side.

Saydaa had entered the clearing, eyes glowing.

“What the heck are you doing, you jerk?! Don’t just run off out of nowhere and get killed!”

Kiyosuke’s stomach dropped. He felt his heart pound and leap into his throat.

“GET OUT OF HERE!”

“LIKE CRAP I WILL!”

But he was too late.

Kiyoatsu flickered behind her, kunai at the ready.

“Kukuku…I see you made a friend, little brother. Let’s invite her to play!”

Kiyosuke ran, pushing off the ground with all his might. Time seemed to slow down. Kiyoatsu’s knife began to move through the air. Saydaa’s eyes began to widen as she realized someone was behind her. Kiyosuke reached out.

He wasn’t going to make it.

He grabbed his sword. He stuffed it with all the chakra he could.

The Phantom Slash technique, a brute force application of the Amano clan’s Phantom style. A method to send a slash through space, to approach unseen from an impossible angle.

What if instead of sending a slash through space…he slashed through space itself?

Kiyosuke swung his blade and stepped forward, closing his eyes.

He heard a blade strike flesh.

Saydaa gasped.

His brother chuckled softly.

And fire shot through his back.

Kiyosuke stood over Saydaa, arms spread out, blood dripping from the wound on his back. Saydaa looked up at him, her eyes quivering.

“W-Why? W-What are you doing?!”

Kiyosuke grit his teeth through the pain.

“I…don’t know. My body…moved on its own…”

Kiyoatsu grinned.

“Huh, looks like you really care about this one. Guess it’s time to welcome her to the family!”

Kiyosuke’s eyes widened and began to quiver.

Just then a gunshot rang out and Kiyoatsu flickered, reappearing in the center of the clearing. A purple sphere surrounded Kiyosuke and Saydaa, blocking a volley of kunai approaching from their rear. Kiyoatsu pulled out another group of kunai but was forced to step back as Arvid landed from above, shattering the ground with a mighty strike of his blade.

Kiyoatsu was about to lunge at the man when a beam of light pierced through the clearing, forcing him to step back. He threw his kunai as he flew through the air, the kunai flickering and vanishing midflight. But a round of darts bounced off the trees, surrounding Arvid from all trajectories and blocking the knives.

Kiyoatsu’s grin dropped slightly.

“Huh, five on one? I guess that’s sort of fun? Maybe? Well, big brother’s gotta run, I’ll catch you again later, Kiyosuke!”

With that he flickered and vanished. Elise and Nana stepped out into the clearing. They waited for a moment, weapons at the ready, before Nana sighed and dropped her guns.

“Looks like he’s gone.”

“Confirmation: No life signs or energy signatures detected in the area.”

“Wait!”

The team turned around upon hearing Saydaa’s cry. But they were all too late.

Kiyosuke was gone.

Bob cursed as he ran. Sir Edmund laughed as he ran ahead of Bob. Bob cursed at him too.

Behind them a giant boulder rolled down the dusty stone hallways.

He got it. Relics like these were worth defending. People would guard it for a while but eventually there’d come a generation that didn’t know what or why they were doing. They would get lazy. Or greedy. Or curious. Or just bored.

So traps. Traps don’t get lazy or bored. Assuming they still worked when someone finally came around but if the structure collapsed that was just another trap. It made sense.

Still highly annoying.

Bob leapt around the corner just in the knick of time, the boulder crashing through a wall and falling who knows where.

“Please tell me we’re almost there.”

“I have no idea! I told you, already, Bob my boy, I have practically no experience with these people! I’m learning the same as you! How exciting!”

Bob cursed again.

And then again.

His phone was ringing.

“Cikizwa, what is it?”

“Bob! You need to get back here, now!”

“What on Earth for, Cikizwa? I’m in the middle of something.”

“It’s Kiyosuke! His brother ambushed Nemesis! They drove him away but Kiyosuke ran off!”

Bob swore for the hundredth time today.

“Tracker still good?”

“Yes, we’re following now.”

“Good. Form a perimeter but keep your distance. I’ll head over as soon as I can.”

“Please hurry.”

Bob put away his phone and heaved a sigh.

“Something’s come up, we’ll have to postpone this.”

“Well, Bob my boy, that’s a bit of a problem.”

“What is?”

“You remember what happened in the last few rooms, correct?”

“...”

“No way back but forward now.”

Bob heaved a massive sigh.

This day just keeps getting better.