The howling wind tore across the ice, but the tension around Team 7 was suffocating.
Kenji stood over Sasuke. He didn't offer a hand. He didn't offer pity.
Sasuke lay in the snow, clutching his shattered ribs. Blood stained his teeth. His pride was entirely broken.
"You saw the movement," Kenji stated, his voice flat and merciless over the wind. "You had the technique. You still lost. Remember that feeling, Uchiha."
Sasuke couldn't answer. The physical pain was blinding, but his ego was bleeding out faster.
Thirty yards away, Nadare Rouga dug himself out of the snow trench.
"You got lucky, brat!" Nadare roared.
The heavy mechanical core on his chest whined, spinning up to a blinding red. He channeled chakra into his boots, launching himself across the ice like a runaway freight train.
"I'll drain you dry!" Nadare swung a massive, armored haymaker aimed right at Kenji's skull.
Kenji didn't weave a hand sign. He didn't flare his chakra for the armor to absorb.
He just stepped into the strike.
[Armament Haki: Hardening]
Kenji’s right arm shimmered with an invisible, iron-hard density. He threw a brutal, compact hook directly into the oncoming armored fist.
CRUNCH.
Steel warped. The kinetic force traveled straight up Nadare's arm. The Snow Ninja's shoulder popped out of its socket with a sickening crack.
Nadare's eyes bulged. "What the—?!"
Kenji didn't stop. He pivoted his hips and drove a devastating uppercut straight into the center of Nadare's chest plate. The heavy armor dented inward.
Nadare gasped for air, his lungs compressing. The armor was built to eat ninjutsu. It wasn't built to stop a siege weapon.
"Your toy eats chakra," Kenji whispered, grabbing Nadare by the throat armor. "Cute. What does it do against pure violence?"
From the sky, a shadow fell over them.
Fubuki had recovered from Naruto’s tactical dropkick. She hovered high above on her mechanical wings, forming a dozen razor-sharp ice swallows.
"Die!" Fubuki screamed, launching the volley.
Before Kenji even looked up, three orange blurs intercepted the attack.
Naruto’s clones vaulted off each other, throwing a barrage of kunai to deflect the lethal ice shards. The kid was still in the fight, actively covering the vanguard.
"Kenji! Sky!" Naruto yelled from the ice below.
"I know, whiskers," Kenji said lazily.
One ice swallow slipped past the clones, hurtling straight for Kenji’s back.
He didn't turn around. A single, pitch-black tendril of Venom shot out from beneath his grey robe. It whipped through the air, snatching the ice swallow mid-flight. With a violent snap, the symbiote spun the projectile and hurled it right back.
The ice shard grazed Fubuki’s cheek, drawing blood. She cursed, banking hard to evade.
Kenji turned his attention back to Nadare.
[Observation Haki: Active]
The world slowed. Kenji stared at the glowing red core on Nadare’s dented chest. He watched the mechanical rhythm. Spin. Intake. Exhaust.
He waited for the exhaust cycle.
[Skill Activated: Steal (Targeted Component)]
Kenji’s hand blurred. Space warped for a microsecond.
A small, heavy metal cylinder materialized in Kenji’s palm. The external regulator.
Nadare’s chest plate instantly shrieked. The red core destabilized, sparking violently with chaotic, untamed chakra.
"No!" Nadare panicked.
Kenji slammed an open palm right over the sparking core.
BOOM.
The armor’s internal pressure exploded outward. Nadare was blasted through a massive snowbank, leaving a trail of shattered white armor and blood across the ice.
High above, Fubuki saw the leader fall. The mission was botched.
She activated her wing thrusters, diving down in a burst of white snow-smoke. She grabbed Nadare by his remaining armor strap and immediately pulled up, retreating toward the jagged cliffs.
Kakashi stepped forward, kunai drawn. "You let them escape."
"I let the delivery birds fly home," Kenji smirked, tossing the stolen regulator into the snow. "They'll lead us right to the main base."
Kakashi narrowed his lone eye but didn't argue.
Behind them, Sakura dropped to her knees in the snow. She reached out with trembling hands toward Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun... let me look at your ribs..."
Sasuke shoved her hand away.
He didn't do it cruelly. He did it reflexively. He couldn't stomach the pity.
Sakura flinched, pulling her hand back as if she’d been burned. The rejection stung worse than the freezing wind.
Naruto jogged over, looking worried. "Hey, Sasuke, you alright man? We got them on the run!"
"Don't," Sasuke snapped, his voice tight with agony and shame. "Just... don't."
Kenji crouched down in the snow, bringing his face level with the broken Uchiha.
"You are not losing because you lack hatred, Sasuke," Kenji stated, his voice a low, commanding rumble. "You are losing because you think hatred is a training method. Fix your mindset, or die a failure."
Sasuke glared at him, a raw, desperate fire reigniting in his dark eyes. The line landed deep.
A few feet away, Sakura watched Kenji speak to Sasuke with brutal, unapologetic authority.
She knew she should feel angry. She should want to defend Sasuke.
But her body betrayed her.
As she looked at Kenji's broad back, a heavy, wet pulse throbbed between her thighs. She remembered the suffocating heat of the tent. She remembered the dominant pressure of his knee spreading her legs.
She was disgusted with herself. The psychological rot had taken hold.
Why, Sakura thought, her breath hitching in the cold air, why does being protected and humiliated by him feel so much better than being ignored by Sasuke?
[System Notification]
[Battle Analysis Complete: Snow Armor Contact]
Results:
Sasuke Uchiha psychologically destabilized.
Naruto Uzumaki tactical growth confirmed.
Sakura Haruno corruption stress increased.
Yukie Fujikaze dependency deepened.
Snow Armor weakness partially identified.
Reward: +2,500 SP
Item Acquired: Damaged Snow Armor Regulator
Tech Analysis: 20%
Standing near the mouth of the ice cave, Princess Yukie watched Kenji walk back through the snow. He moved with a terrifying, absolute calm, as if the freezing wind itself obeyed him.
She clutched her fur coat tightly.
For the first time since she fled her kingdom, a dangerous, treasonous thought crossed her mind.
If he can break them like toys... maybe Doto really can bleed.