Chapter 27: The Beast

Sasuke stepped forward, taking the lead the way he always did when the talking turned serious. His voice cut cleanly through the lingering mist.

"Tell us everything you know about the beast."

Samui didn’t waste time. She kept her arms crossed, golden hair damp from the fog, eyes steady on the three of us.

"It’s massive. Bigger than any ordinary summon. Moves through the trees like it owns the forest. And it doesn’t travel alone—packs of smaller creatures stay close to it. Its structure looked like a snake. We’ve lost scouts trying to get a clear count."

Kael felt his mouth twitch before he could stop it. The description settled into place with an unpleasant click. A giant snake. Minions. Border territory. Only one name came to mind.

Samui noticed. Her gaze flicked to him for half a second longer than necessary, sharp and assessing. She knew he knew something. He offered nothing in return, just a blank look, then turned and walked a few steps away. A low branch hung within easy reach. He swung himself up onto it and sat, letting one leg dangle, putting a little distance between himself and the conversation.

Below, Sakura had already moved to Karui. The Cloud-nin’s arm was bruised from the earlier pin, and Sakura’s hands glowed with soft green medical chakra as she worked in silence. Karui still looked irritated, but she didn’t pull away.

Kael glanced sideways. Mabui had climbed onto a neighboring branch without a sound, the same calm professionalism she had shown when she dropped from the canopy earlier. White hair, dark skin, quiet eyes. He studied her for a moment longer than politeness allowed.

In the original timeline she had been the Raikage’s assistant—efficient, loyal, almost invisible in the background of bigger fights. She died during the war and still never got real screen time. Another side character the story treated as disposable. Up close she looked more real than any memory of a screen could capture.

She caught him staring.

"Hi."

"Hey," he answered.

"Do you want to say something?"

He shook his head once. "Nothing. Just... that was a good trick. Hiding through the whole standoff."

A small, almost invisible smile touched her mouth. "Thank you. But I think your trick was better."

They fell into a brief, easy exchange after that—nothing deep, just enough to fill the quiet while the others talked below. The mist drifted between the branches in slow ribbons. Somewhere farther off a bird called once and went silent again.

After a while Kael asked the question that mattered.

"How long has the beast been around?"

"A month," Mabui said. "It stays near the border most of the time, but its minions push closer to the village every few days. We’ve driven them back, but the main creature itself is careful. It never shows its full strength unless it has to."

Kael filed every detail away. A month. Snake. Minions. Border. It could only be one person. Orochimaru. The man who collected power the way other people collected scars. The man who turned living things into experiments.

He looked down at Sasuke, still questioning Samui with that same focused intensity. In this world the Uchiha massacre had never happened. Sasuke had never left the village. He had never sought out the snake sanin. A quiet, unexpected relief settled in Kael’s chest. At least one tragedy had been erased.

Sasuke’s voice rose from the ground.

"Come on. We can go now."

Kael dropped from the branch. Mabui followed a second later, landing without a sound. Sakura finished the last of the healing and stepped back. Karui flexed her arm once, testing it, then gave a short nod of thanks that still looked half-grudging.

The seven of them formed up without further discussion—Sasuke and Samui at the front, the rest falling into place behind. The mist parted reluctantly as they moved. Trees closed in again. The forest floor was soft with old leaves and damp earth.

Somewhere ahead, deeper in the borderlands, a massive snake and its swarm of minions waited.

They ran.

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Give me power!!!