Chapter 13 : Despair

With his gaze fixed on the kunai held by Sota, Izaya immediately grasped what he had narrowly avoided. As he looked at the other four Hyuga in his group, he noticed the terror and shame in their eyes.

While Izaya struggled to comprehend what had just happened, a profound anger grew within him. As he had been warned earlier, a member of the clan was meant to silently observe and evaluate them.

But even after nearly losing his life at the hands of a fellow clan member, the observer who had been watching them had not reacted. Worse yet, his own team members had distanced themselves from Izaya, leaving him isolated.

"Betrayed by his own clan," Izaya concluded.

Sota, seemingly oblivious to the tension he had caused, continued in a cheerful tone, "Did you hear that? The old man said the bandits should send men here. We can follow them to their camp."

However, as Sota turned, he caught the fearful expression in his companions' eyes and the smoldering rage in Izaya's.

It was then that he realized he was still holding the kunai.

Pretending as though nothing had transpired, he carefully sheathed the weapon in his belt and asked, "Did you all hear me? We need to prepare. The bandits will likely come today. We should find a good hiding spot and follow them."

Nodding with a mix of fear and determination, the four Hyuga split up to search for different hiding spots around the village. Only Izaya remained motionless, still observing Sota.

"What do you want?" Sota asked, a touch of displeasure and arrogance in his tone.

In the face of Izaya's gaze, Sota began to sweat and involuntarily stepped back. His usual confidence slowly gave way to palpable nervousness, a sense of being on edge.

And as the tension escalated, Izaya closed his eyes and slowly walked away to his own corner. This prompted a sigh of relief from Sota.

For Izaya, nothing seemed to matter anymore. His parents had died protecting members who saw him as nothing but a servant; his uncle repeatedly told him he was wrong and should accept his place; and now, a member of the main branch had just attempted to kill him, with seemingly no one disturbed by it.

The feeling of loneliness and betrayal grew within him, fueling his resentment for the Hyuga clan.

He was alone now, without any allies...

His perspective of the world had warped, leaving only room for revenge.

"I will kill them with my own hands," Izaya thought.

But to do that, he still needed his clan. He needed to grow stronger.

From that moment on, the Hyuga clan might have unwittingly created their greatest monster...

...

After more than five hours, as the team of Hyuga remained concealed on a hill at the village's outskirts, they spotted a group of about twenty riders in the distance, heading towards the village.

In the center of the group, a few carts could be seen, pulled by horses. The time for action was approaching.

While Izaya and the group hid, they watched as the bandits spread fear in the village and plundered the possessions of the innocent villagers.

No villager dared to resist, and none revealed the presence of the Hyuga team. After all, they knew that for these bandits to cease their torment, the team needed to succeed in eliminating them.

After taking whatever had value, the bandits turned back towards their camp, closely followed by the Hyuga. The real training was about to begin. Izaya and the group ran and leapt from tree to tree at a certain distance, making sure not to be detected by the bandits. Hidden in the shadows, they made no noise, left no trace, and most importantly, did not alert any birds or animals that could give them away.

After a long journey through the forest, the Hyuga finally caught sight of the entrance to the enemy camp. The camp was protected by wooden palisades and a few guards. The triumphant riders were welcomed with applause from the other bandits.

"Tonight, we feast!"

"Whoooouuu!!"

"Cheers, guys!"

Stopping at a moderate distance, Izaya and the group meticulously observed the camp's security and the number of people present.

"According to the information, there are about fifty people and maybe two low-level ninjas," Sota said.

But Izaya, who usually commented on everything Sota said, remained surprisingly silent. In fact, he had been like that ever since he saw the kunai in Sota's hand.

"We... we should attack when night falls," one of the group members hesitated.

"Indeed, we'll attack when they're asleep, drunk, and vulnerable," added Sota.

As the hours passed slowly, the group circled the camp, searching for a weakness in the enemy's defense, an optimal point of attack. Night had descended over the camp, and most of the bandits were becoming intoxicated and falling asleep.

"Get ready, it's time," Sota said.

The six Hyuga silently infiltrated the camp through its least secure point. Two Hyuga in the group used a rapid movement technique, appearing noiselessly behind two guards stationed on that side.

With quick gestures, they incapacitated the guards by pressing specific pressure points with their palms.

Opening the way for a smooth entry into the camp, the group advanced through the shadows of the campfires.

"Hic... We're rich!" a bandit near a fire exclaimed.

"Yeah! Cheers, guys!"

"Ahahahah"

As the bandits drank and laughed, the Hyuga took advantage of their drunkenness and sleepiness to eliminate the bandits in the tents. Using a transformation technique, they assumed the appearances of the ones they killed to blend in.

"Haruki! Come here, let's toast!"

But when Izaya emerged from one of the tents in the appearance of a bandit he had just killed, one of the men sitting by a fire gestured for him to approach.

"The last thing I needed," Izaya thought, feeling the pressure of not being able to mimic the voice of a man he had never heard speak.

With at least thirty bandits nearby, he couldn't afford to arouse suspicion. "I'll join you in a moment, just need to... you know, do something," Izaya said in a hoarse voice.

Fortunately, the bandits didn't pay much attention to him and continued to laugh and drink. Moving out of their view, Izaya continued to walk from tent to tent.

In less than fifteen minutes, everyone inside the tents was dead, and as planned, the Hyuga regrouped near the center of the camp.

But just as their plan seemed to be going perfectly, a deep voice resonated in their ears, "Having fun? Enjoying yourselves?"

Turning around, they found a man who had caught them off guard, infiltrating behind them without making a sound. It was evident to all that he was far stronger than them. The man looped his arms around two members of the group, immobilizing them. "Why the long faces? We're rich now! We just need to gather our things and get out of here," he declared, his tone becoming increasingly cheerful, and his smile growing wider.

Their minds snapped back into focus, and Sota forced a smile in return, feigning enthusiasm. "Of course, we were just thinking of celebrating with another drink."

"That's the spirit! Let the party continue!" However, his smile gradually turned into a darker expression, and his arms tightened around the two group members slowly. "Unless, of course, you're not part of my team..."

CRACK!

Under the man's pressure, the two Hyuga clan members had their necks broken and died instantly, breaking their transformation techniques and revealing their true identities.

Looking at the two children's corpses, the man showed no mercy, but rather a certain curiosity. Observing the white eyes destroyed by the seal on their foreheads, he could identify the group's identity at a glance. "The Hyuga clan, huh? Interesting, but what a fatal mistake."

Using smoke bombs, the rest of the group fled as fast as they could from the camp, seeking survival rather than confrontation.

"Damn it, Sota, who is this guy!?" Izaya exclaimed.

"Damn it, I have no idea. The information didn't mention anything about him!"

Leaving behind a few explosive tags along the way, they carved a path through the dust and the bandits' shouts.

But then, appearing in front of them at an unimaginable speed, the man in question cut off their escape.

"You won't get any further!" Launching a wind-release technique, he created a massive gust of wind that halted them in their tracks.

"Futon – Great Breakthrough"

While Izaya and Sota were thrown backward with staggering force, crashing among the tents, the other two Hyuga weren't as fortunate. They were propelled into one of the fires they had ignited with their explosive tag and perished in the flames.

Amid their companions' cries of pain, Izaya and Sota quickly regained their senses. As they prepared to fight to the death, a Hyuga ninja appeared in front of Sota.

However, instead of joining the fight, he grabbed Sota and hastily fled, leaving Izaya wounded and bewildered.

"Why? Why!? WHY!!" Izaya screamed, pouring all his despair into that cry.

And as if echoing his grief, rain began to fall softly, extinguishing the flames in the camp.

Izaya stood alone, his face wet with rain and his own blood, staring at the ground. Abandoned by all, left to die...