Escaping Death  

(Could it be that there was more than one snacker?)

Chitose felt like he was going insane.

When Yosuke, in a moment of recklessness, tried to grab the Cloud genin who would definitely be rescued by the proctor anyway, nearly causing both of them to fall off the stone steps and become fish food, Chitose hurried over, grabbed the red-haired youth by the collar, threw him and the Cloud genin he was holding to the side, and then tried to leap away.

But at the very moment he jumped, the soles of his feet, which had maintained good chakra control until then, suddenly slipped.

What—?!

He was stunned for an instant, with no time to ponder further. As he drew his sword, he spun and slashed, the sharp metal blade clashing against the beast's sturdy fangs, sparks flying from the impact!!!

In that crisis, Chitose could no longer hear the surrounding noises. His mind quickly realized that the layer of marble encasing the stone he had been standing on had shattered, and the piece he was standing on had slipped out from under him, causing him to lose his balance and ending up in this passive mid-air situation with nowhere to brace himself.

His sword strike in mid-air clearly had little effect on the man-eating fish leaping up from below. With almost no pause, Chitose felt an immense force transmitted through his blade. He could only grit his teeth to avoid biting his tongue, and in the next second, his back slammed violently against the stone wall. A sweet tang of blood flooded his throat, his internal organs seeming to tremble as if they would be shaken out of his body. The incessant cold seawater from above poured down, drenching him completely. He couldn't breathe, and excruciating pain radiated from his back throughout his entire body.

At this moment, Chitose was embedded in the rock wall by the powerful impact, while the ferocious beast that had bitten into the rock and not fallen had its massive three-meter-wide maw, opened wide to bite him, now completely encircling his entire body!

Chitose had not yet adapted to the sudden darkness, lack of oxygen, and agonizing pain in his back when his momentarily powerless limbs keenly sensed the movement of the man-eating fish's jaw muscles. It happened so fast that almost as soon as his hands instinctively tightened around the sword hilt, the beast's upper and lower jaws clamped shut around Chitose, shattering the surrounding rock and closing in on him!

"Chitose——!!!" Yosuke clung to a trapezoid-shaped stone, his eyes wide as he glimpsed the black-haired youth defiantly blocking the beast's sharp upper teeth with his sword while his feet directly stood on the dense array of needle-like lower fangs, one foot immediately impaled. However, such gruesome resistance seemed insignificant to the man-eating fish, which demonstrated extraordinary biting force. With a twist of its rock-hard, tusk-like fangs, the razor-sharp longsword snapped in half like a frail toothpick! And the youth defying it, Chitose, was swallowed alive into its belly!! Yosuke, about to rush over to help, could only watch as Chitose's snow-white profile and the streaks of red trickling from the corners of his lips disappeared into the fish's gullet.

The man-eating fish let out a bone-chilling swallowing sound and finally, unable to resist gravity, plunged back into the water. But before that, it cast a greedy glance towards the stunned Yosuke, which he clearly failed to notice. No, or perhaps he did notice but simply didn't care.

The youth's ice-blue eyes were now filled with emptiness and blankness. One scene after another of injured, bleeding, crippled, even dying boys and girls replayed before his eyes, and the moment when his beloved mentor died protecting him stabbed painfully at his nerves once more as he was surrounded by accusatory voices. He lowered his head slowly, the hand gripping his short sword beginning to tremble, followed by his arms, and finally his whole body. Disorderly electric arcs appeared uncontrollably around him as the red-haired youth gradually lost his senses, leaving only a hopeless, deathly stillness.

[The cursed one...]

[Don't go near the cursed one!]

[He's cursed, you'll die if you get close to him!]

[Cursed!]

[Cursed!]

[Cursed!]

[CursedcursedcursedcursedCURSEDCURSEDCURSEDCURSED!!!]

"Ahhh——!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A scream that pierced the eardrums suddenly echoed throughout the vast arena, filled with suffocating anger, resentment, pain, and despair! Everyone watched as the youth leapt towards the water in near madness, the blue-white lightning having turned into a pure blue, emanating a subtle oppressive aura and flashing a dangerous signal!

What kind of ordeal had this thirteen-year-old endured in just a year, what sort of life and death partings had he witnessed, how much hopeless separation of loved ones?!! And all of this, ALL of it, was because of him! All of it!!

He was the cursed one, never meant to team up with anyone from the start!!

The youth's suicidal actions didn't go through, as the red-clothed, red-haired puppet swiftly approached and embraced his arms from behind, dragging him to cower on a side stone step and avoiding another attack from the man-eating fish. However, the youth struggled madly, shouting, "Let me go! I'm going to fight that beast to the death! Let me go..." But those eyes filled with the determination to die clearly lacked any persuasive power.

Chitose had fallen into the fish's belly to save him, and this fact had driven him to collapse completely.

He seemed utterly unable to listen to anything now. The puppet could no longer restrain him in his despair, and as the youth was about to plunge into the water again, a white-haired girl embracing the light fearlessly collided into his arms, her flesh and blood obstructing his path despite the lightning coiled around him.

"Come to your senses, Yosuke!! None of this is your fault!!!" The girl's sobbing voice resounded like thunder in the youth's ears, jolting what little sanity he had left. His frantic steps forward faltered, and after a dazed moment, he lowered his head and stared blankly at Ruri's exquisite yet tear-stained face, at those mournful dark red eyes.

"And besides, Chitose isn't dead yet!" The girl's next words directly restored some clarity to Yosuke's hollow gaze.

The writhing lightning gradually subsided as his lips trembled and an inaudible murmur escaped, "...Not dead?"

Ruri nodded vigorously, smiling through her tears, "Yes! Chitose promised us, didn't he... that we'd all be fine!"

"So he definitely won't die either!"

"We have to believe in him!"

Yosuke stared blankly at her tearful yet smiling face, slowly clenching his fists as the corners of his mouth curved into a bitter smile. Chitose's sword broke... in the long-term oxygen-deprived environment, and after so long... how could he possibly still be alive...

However, before he could say anything, a collective gasp came from the surrounding stands. Yosuke's eyes widened in disbelief, a premonition kindling a daring guess and a glimmer of hope in his dead heart. He took a few quick steps to the edge of the rock he was standing on, but before his gaze could focus, his vision was consumed by a towering blaze. That fire, with its scorching, all-consuming range and heat, formed a blazing pillar that shot straight up from the water's depths, incredibly bursting through the surface and soaring into the sky! And within this expanse of flames, arrogantly flaunting its intense heat as if to scorch and devour everything around it, a black silhouette gradually emerged from the fire!!!

The brilliant flames lent a hazy quality to the surrounding mist. The ferocious outer fire threatened those around like a beast, still burning fiercely in this water-filled environment, enduring and spanning an immense area, its domineering presence proclaimed its terror, and the terrifying power of its caster.

At the center of the pillar, that black form wavered amidst the flickering tongues of flame, but as he slowly emerged, a wave of shock rippled through the observers.

Those brazenly dangerous flames moved docilely like lambs around the youth, gently licking at his clothes yet not igniting them in the slightest. Wherever the youth went, all the flames automatically parted to open a path for him, those unable to part in time condensed into low walls flanking his feet.

Everyone watched speechlessly, stunned by the sight.

Kagura's eyes widened as he gazed at the approaching youth. In this moment, the red became but a backdrop to the black, the flames born for him, commanded by him. This youth, handsome as a deity born of fire, his cold expression as if nothing could penetrate his eyes. He was the master of fire. He recognized this more deeply than ever before.

The flames gradually died down until only a few wisps coiled around him remained. But to those excited by his appearance, these were clearly no obstacle as they rushed towards their comrade.

"Chitose!!!" The white-haired girl flung herself into his arms, nearly knocking the startled youth back a step. But in that moment, the crack finally appeared in his cold facade as he inhaled sharply through gritted teeth, immediately noticed by the girl burying her face in his chest. She anxiously stepped back, flustered as she said, "Did I hit your injury? Is it serious? You should go to the medical room quickly..."

The flustered girl didn't notice the stiff youth following behind her. Yosuke's unblinking gaze was fixed on the person smiling at him. When he finally reached Chitose's side and heard Ruri's mention of the medical room, a strange grin spread across his face as he stared at Chitose.

"Wait, Ruri," he said softly.

The girl and Chitose both looked at him.

Yosuke fell silent for a moment, then suddenly lunged forward, gritting his teeth as he slammed his fist into the face of the death-cheating Chitose, knocking his head to the side and making his body sway.

"Who asked you to save me, you bastard!!!" He shouted loudly, but the last few words held a sobbing tone.

"You just... just had to stay alive!!!" He clenched his fists, head lowered as he spoke loudly, barely controlling his trembling. Then he took a step forward, fiercely embracing the resigned Chitose, hearing his muffled gasp before growling, "Bear with the pain!" However, his bravado quickly faded as he soon loosened his grip and finally murmured in Chitose's ear, "...I'm so glad you're alive."

The embraced Chitose smiled warmly, "Yeah. Sorry for worrying you."

Ruri watched them, biting her lip in a tearful smile.

"Then, with all Leaf squad members accounted for, they are confirmed to have advanced to the final exam!" The head proctor's voice rang out at this moment. Hearing this, Chitose glanced at the Night Pearl cradled by Ruri before exchanging smiles with his comrades.

"The next exam will take place in a month, location being..."

As the proctor's voice continued, Kakashi blinked slowly, only now releasing the railing he had unconsciously gripped ever since Chitose was swallowed by the fish. He scratched his head, looking at the bent railing with a sigh.

"You still need to work harder, brat..."

***

On the boundless blue ocean, a cruise ship sailed smoothly along.

In the kitchen, the chef was meticulously preparing today's lunch.

—This was the Hokage's lunch, after all, no room for carelessness.

Thinking thus, the chef left his workstation to retrieve ingredients from the refrigerator. But upon opening the fridge door, his brow furrowed. Taking what he needed, he muttered discontentedly as he returned to the counter, "...The pastries are missing quite a few again... Hmph, you little snack-stealing bug, you better hope I don't catch you!"

Murmuring thus, he tossed the ingredients onto the cutting board, then added in puzzlement, "But then again, if it was just snacking, that's rather too much missing, isn't it?"

"Could it be... that there's more than one snacker?"

Author's Note:

Who could the snackers be? Come on, take a guess!