Chapter 8

Izuki Valley.

"That's it; I can feel a lot of chakra coming from that cave."

Daikichi pushed a tree branch out of the way, pointing to the large cave where he could sense chakra.

"Be cautious; even if this is your first expedition, I don't want things to go wrong."

Daikichi reminded the three as he went fast towards the cave.

Aokiji and his teammates trailed him, as did the Client.

"I have a bad feeling."

When Aokiji looked at the cave in front of him, he had the uneasy feeling that something was wrong.

When he looked around at his companions, he noticed that they all had the same unfazed smile on their faces, as if they weren't terrified of their first mission.

"You should stay outdoors since it could be unsafe inside."

Aokiji said to the Client, who was waking next to him, that if a battle broke out inside, it would be difficult to protect him.

"No, I want to help everyone; I'm not going anywhere."

The Client, contrary to his expectations, was much braver.

Aokiji no longer persuaded, and he entered the cave quietly with Mei and Ichiro.

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Harumi!!!

As soon as they entered the cave, they spotted numerous women and children tied and helpless.

The Client appeared to have spotted his wife as he yelled her name and ran towards her.

"Stay where you are; don't make a scene!!"

Daikichi stopped him in his tracks as he gazed forward and said softly.

"There's no point in hiding; come out."

"KeKeKe.... like one would expect from you."

Aokiji and the others heard dismal laughter, which was followed by four persons drilling out of the ground and all looking at Daikichi.

"This voice...?"

Daikichi took a closer look at the figure in the middle as this voice, it's like he had heard it before.

"Hehe~ it seems you didn't recognize me."

As he proceeded to remove the mask, the figure in the center smiled, and a familiar face appeared in front of Daikichi.

"It's you, Kakushi... what__."

Puff...

Daikichi muttered, surprised, but he couldn't finish his sentence because everyone heard a flesh-piercing sound.

Aokiji, Mei, and Ichiro all had astonished expressions on their faces as they glanced at the Client.

"I knew it... something was wrong with him."

Aokiji, who had previously detected his unstable aura, realized he had disregarded this and made a severe error.

"Kakushi... he's back..."

Mei, on the other hand, was taken aback when she identified her big brother and stared at him with fear and wrath in her eyes.

Daikichi gazed at the Kunai that had pierced his abdomen, then at the Client, both with disbelief in his eyes.

*Poof...*

The Client immediately erupted into smoke, and a figure dressed similarly to the other four stood in front of Aokiji and the others.

"Why you!!!?"

Daikichi yelled, his face red with rage, as freezing ice appeared around his hands as he wished to end this imposter's life.

Cough...

But then he coughed up blood as he sank to his knees, and his entire body felt weak.

He couldn't even generate chakra.

"Poison... I was careless."

Feeling the weakness, Daikichi knew immediately that the Kunai was poisoned.

Even if the client was an imposter, Daikichi would have easily avoided his sneak attack with his experience, but seeing Kakushi unexpectedly caused his focus to waver for a second.

"Hehe... I have to thank you, Daikichi Sensei; not only did you bring someone here whom I had always wanted to kill, but you also brought a big bounty through your head."

Kakushi smiled as he taunted Daikichi, and he gazed at Mei with bloodthirst in his eyes.

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*Flashback*

Kaguya Clan.

The training area.

*BANG!!!*

"It's all because of you... You're the reason I lost everything."

Mei, who appeared to be around four years old and had grey hair and two red dots on her forehead, landed hard on the ground as blood poured from her mouth.

Kakushi, who appeared to be around 12 years old, looked at the girl who had taken everything from him.

He had always taken special care of her because she was frail and would often come to him crying for help.

But he had not expected his failure to awaken the Clan Kekkai Genkai at such a young age, and all the clansmen treated her as a trump card, and he was ignored.

"Onii-Chan..."

Mei gazed at her big brother, who had always loved her, with sorrow and confusion in her eyes.

Mei was unique among clansmen in that she awakened her Clan Kekkai Genkai at the age of three.

Her Father would always put her through difficult and painful training and lock her up; he would always remind her that she was the Clan's ultimate weapon.

The Clan as a whole treated her like a tool, but only her big brother Kakushi cared for her and attended to her wounds.

She had no idea why he was hitting her or where the kind brother from earlier had gone.

"It's time to die... only when you die will I be able to reclaim all."

Kakushi held a bone blade in his hands and drove it into Mei's heart.

"Wait... was it all a lie?"

Mei appeared to have lost trust in the world as she stared at the sword poised to pierce her heart.

Only big brother treated her lovingly in the entire Clan; he was the reason she preserved those feelings of kindness even after that hard training.

*Clang*

Just as the blade was ready to puncture her heart, it was stopped by another bone blade, and a middle-aged man who resembled Mei and Kakushi stepped between them.

"Just wait... old man, one day I will destroy both this village and this Clan."

When Kakushi saw his Father arrive, he took a step back and, after threatening him, ran outside.

"That failure..., I let him go... and so one day you must kill him, stop crying, a Shinobi never cries, become tough, and kill him yourself."

The middle-aged man muttered as he walked away from the horrified Mei laying on the ground, his hand behind his back.

Mei, who was lying on the ground, wailed for a long before stopping and stood up, wiping her eyes.

"I will never cry or trust anyone again; I will become the strongest and... kill everybody who stands in my way to being the strongest."

Mei's previously innocent eyes had a cold expression in them as she walked firmly back to her room.

(I will state that it will not be like the girl in distress, mc saves her, and she falls in love, since that is too cliché, and as I already stated, "no kids love.")

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"No... I can't back down now; he's the first obstacle in my quest to become the strongest."

Mei gazed at Kakushi, who had bloodthirst in his eyes, and tried to suppress her fear of him.

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