Conviction

Amidst the stillness, Ryohei's drop of sweat ever so slowly reached the ground, his perplexion reaching an all-time high as evidenced by his pale demeanor, and lips parted in dismay.

And finally, the fluid dropped upon the foliage of leaves, its form splattering into a thousand microscopic droplets.

At the exact point of contact, Ryohei's eyes unfurled, as though the vitality that had been seeping out of his body had returned.

Time returned to normal, and he halted in his tracks, a wry smile gracing his lips as he muttered, "You're his brother alright."

***

The exhausted Roshi pressed forth, yet inwardly, he too had given up. 

Though Aiko was formerly an enemy, they had cast aside their differences, and Konoha decided to aid Iwagakure in dispelling the evil force. 

In a show of conviction, Aiko had utilised a ploy to help buy time, where ultimately, she decided to be the scapegoat while the others merely stood by and blasted some flashy jutsu.

And it was from that very conviction that she had earned Roshi's respect. 

Besides, had it not been for the Konoha team's intervention earlier, who knows what could've happened? What if Moryo had successfully integrated with Roshi, and used him as a vessel?

The squad was already invulnerable as it was as they had fought multitudes of ninjas beforehand, and they certainly could've used the chance to take the scroll and return to their home, but instead, they decided to aid him.

But that was all he harbored; a level of deep respect, but unfortunately, unable to owe back the very ninjas that had saved him.

The tentacles intertwined into a hectic frenzy, flaring toward Aiko. This was going to be an inevitable bloodbath... The splatter of blood will dye the canvas in red, and limbs and organs will fly about as a result... Or so he thought!

Until...

Hayato, who was a step in front of him, had suddenly vanished!

Subsequently, a magnificent pillar of golden light struck the region of Aiko. Roshi's eyes widened in dismay at the abnormal velocity of the youth... He couldn't even see him move!

***

The demon cracked a twisted smile as his onslaught accelerated at the invulnerable Yamanaka. Today will mark his successful revenge, and he cared not for anything else at this point; all he wanted to do was plunder the cocky Yamanaka!

Everything seemed perfect, with no room for errors. She was pinned, everyone else was too exhausted. Unlike him, who could go on fighting hours on without cease, the rest were puny humans, a force that resided at the lowest of the food chain.

It was perfect... perfect... everything... down to the last... minute details!

*BZZZZZZZ*

In Moryo's vision, a magnificent pillar of light crashed before him, immediately dispelling his attack, signifying the high potency behind the jutsu.

***

Hayato's vision had suddenly warped, all in a mere second... No, even less than a second, but he was prepared. He understood he didn't have the leisure to cope with the sudden disorientation.

Before he had released the Flying Raijin, he had weaved multiple hand signs for another jutsu, as evidenced by the colossal pillar of light.

And with his entrance, came his declaration:

"LIGHTNING STYLE: THUNDER CLAP!"

Hayato roared, releasing a massive explosion of lightning chakra, generating a shockwave that immediately dispelled Moryo's vicious onslaught!

Aiko's eyes widened, staring at the back of her students who had saved her not once, but twice today.

Moreover;

"H-Hayato, that jutsu... Was that..." She paused, unable to voice her words.

Glancing back at the pitiful state of his sensei, the indifference on his face morphed into a delicate grin, and he replied, "Yeah, it is. I was kinda training it, but I'm still not adept at it."

Aiko's dismay subsided, replaced by her former optimism, as she said, "You're a crazy brat."

Hayato's vision suddenly became hazy, and his body became lethargic, which brought about his sudden action as he toppled forward. 

He was ready to cope with the pain of crashing his face into the ground, but... It never happened, no rather, he felt a sense of rejuvenation besieging his innards, restoring vitality.

Turning his head, Hayato met the gaze of Roshi, who wore a sly smile, a smile stemming from respect.

With an arm draped over Hayato, Roshi shared his chakra with the youth, understanding his upheaval was a result of chakra exhaustion.

"I'll deal with this for now," Roshi asserted, confidently striding in the direction of the demon!

Moryo's abnormal grin stretched across his face, as he muttered, "So, are we going to do that again?"

The clash of power of both entities sparked mass destruction upon the terrain earlier.

"That kid fought this hard, I ought to try harder," Roshi whispered, immediately becoming a blur.

*BOOM*

Both entities collided, before disappearing into the distance.

"Ugh!" Aiko whined, her leg pulsating violently from Moryo's earlier strike which had pierced her leg. 

*SPLATTER* *SHLUK*

In Hayato's vision, a flood of crimson pervaded his vision as Aiko's leg exploded into smithereens. 

Moryo had implanted an explosive mechanism, thus, replacing her lower thigh was a grotesque mass of wriggling flesh! Her entirety was bathed in blood as a result of the explosion.

"SENSEI!" Hayato called, rushing to her side immediately.

"ARGHHHH!" Aiko grumbled at the unbearable pain. 

"Damn it!" Hayato cursed, touching Aiko's upper trunk. The scarlet cloak provided by Roshi subsided, and his eyes took an emotionless grey, as grey as the clouds alerting an incoming storm. 

"Kkkk!" Aiko grunted. 

With careful analysis, Hayato could spot some residual aura radiating malice inside Aiko, and with his sharp focus, the malicious aura disappeared.

Had it not been for his current action, she wouldn't be losing merely a single limb!

Retaining their former sapphire, Roshi's cloak embraced Hayato once again. The youth had an expression of deep sadness as he stared at the state of his pitiful sensei.

"Sensei, I'm sorry," Hayato apologised.

Aiko returned a bitter smile, "You've saved me 2 times kiddo, I'm the one who should say sorry."

*THUD*

Before long, another individual landed beside Hayato, who was none other than his long time rival, Ryohei. In addition, a familiar female was cradled in his arms; Uchiha Kaede, who seemed to have a gaping hole through her abdomen!

"Kaede!" Hayato called, rushing to Ryohei who had placed Kaede down.

Hayato removed the rabbit mask, revealing a pale complexion with a red fluid exiting her mouth.

Ryohei placed a reassuring hand, and said, "I've sealed her wound, so it shouldn't be too devious."

He swept his gaze across the terrain with his amplified vision, and mumbled, "The situation is dire. We'll need to call reinforcements to tend to everyone's wounds."

Ryohei turned to Aiko, and muttered, "Especially sensei's."

Ryohei approached his sensei, and noticed with his vision that the majority of her leg was gone, and the blood was only building up in the skin.

Touching her thigh, he noticed it had bloated. It was literally like a balloon!

"Sensei..." Ryohei uttered, eyeing the mass of wriggling flesh, worry etched on his face. He turned his gaze to Aiko, and continued, "Bear with me sensei!"

Quickly, and expertly striking the chakra points around her leg, Ryohei managed to seal the wound and stop the bleeding.

"Ha, it feels better," Aiko sighed in satisfaction. 

Surprisingly, the process wasn't painful. 

Ryohei analysed the wound, and gazing back at Aiko, he noticed a sense of rejuvenation had returned to her. However, that doesn't change that her situation was still dire.

"It should be fine for now, but I'm sure the wound will reopen. We must tend to it."

Meanwhile, Aiko with a playful smile on her lips, whispered, "Are you gonna keep looking?"

Yet despite the severity of her predicament, Aiko was still Aiko.

Ryohei, his cheeks blushed, turned his head away.

"Hehe," Aiko chuckled.

"Pervert," Hayato uttered.

"Shut up Hayato," Ryohei yelled.

Before long, Kaede, cradled in the arms of Hayato, regained consciousness, meeting gazes with the sapphire eyed youth.

"Kaede," Hayato called.

Kaede wryly smiled at the youth, caressing his cheek and her eyes drowned in tears, "Thank goodness."

Clasping her hand on his cheek, Hayato advised, "Don't move too much, your wound will reopen."

However, Kaede didn't listen, sitting upright. 

"No, just one more time." 

The obsidian in her eyes was solid, indicating resolute conviction, and Hayato knew whatever he would say, it wouldn't stop her.

"Alright then," Hayato sighed in resignation.

And so, the duo stood their ground, gazing into the distance.

*BOOM*

Meanwhile, numerous explosions reverberated across the terrain as Roshi and Moryo engaged in a fierce clash.

Clenching and unclenching his fist, Hayato confirmed, "Alright, I'm fully charged."

"Don't count me out kids," a voice echoed in their ears, belonging to none other than Aiko who sat reclined to the tree bark. 

"Sensei, you can't -"

"I know I can't Ryohei. I doubt I can even continue as a Shinobi with this wound!" Aiko interjected, turning to Kaede.

"I still have some chakra, so Kaede, make sure you use... that! It will help," Aiko informed, keeping the suspense by signifying "that."

Kaede's eyes widened, and she replied, "Sensei, I have yet to try that jutsu. It's still in the experimental stages, and I'm also really bad with mental seal connections."

Aiko returned a smile, "And what would be a better lab rat than the enemy itself?"

Kaede grit her teeth, snapping back, "Sensei, with that logic, I shouldn't have had to depart the battlefield earlier. Instead, you sent me away to get the scroll to Konoha."

Unknowingly, tears had welled up in her eyes as she remembered her uselessness. While her friends were tasked with combating the Iwagakure forces, she was forced to leave the nation with the scroll.

"Kaede dear, none of us had enough chakra to share with you earlier, and then I wouldn't be able to use the mind transfer technique or even prolong a fight against anyone else. In that situation, I believed that was the best for us all... And I do believe I made the right choice..." Aiko paused, reminiscing of her minor battle against Roshi, the 4 tails Jinchuruki. 

Kaede's departing figure as she exited the nation was a major distraction which enabled Aiko to perform the Mind Transfer technique in the first place.

Additionally, she was only able to prolong her battle against Roshi because of the chakra she had in reserves. Had it not been for that, then she would've kicked the bucket the moment they encountered!

"... And Kaede, you can only use that on one person. It's not very beneficial in the long run. And after using the technique, you'll become a liability," Aiko continued.

Hayato placed a reassuring hand on Kaede's shoulder, "Sensei is right Kaede. But right now, the situation is different."

Hayato stared into the distance, observing a cataclysmic battle threatening to rupture the very forest.

"... Sensei is willing to share all of her chakra, since she can't fight any longer," Hayato summarised.

Aiko bitterly smiled, "I'm sorry Kaede. I didn't mean for you to feel that way when I sent you away. I did this in our best interests, and you too, agreed."

Kaede calmed down, approaching her sensei, taking a knee, and embracing her. Tears had started to trickle down her cheeks.

"I was scared that I would lose you... All of you sensei!" Kaede expressed her concern, her body trembling as she spoke.

Aiko tapped her on the head, "I'm sorry Kaede, I really am. But ya know, perhaps it's... fate..." Aiko chuckled at the end.

"Fate," Kaede sniffled.

Aiko continued, "It's as though fate wanted me to send you away, only for you to return to pull off that technique here and now, wouldn't you say so Kaede?" 

She grinned at the end.

Kaede removed herself from the embrace, wiping her eyes, "You wouldn't say this if all of you ended up dying sensei."

"Haha, I doubt that though, we were surprisingly winning," Aiko chuckled.

Ryohei concurred, "Well, the 4 tails Jinchuruki was actually still alive, so I wouldn't be too sure." 

Aiko replied bluntly, "Well, that's true as well. I can't really tell what would've happened. I guess you could say the demon was the saving grace in a way, haha, fate is crazy huh?" she wryly chuckled.

Kaede pouted, "Can you stop with the fate thing?"

Grasping Kaede's hand, Aiko spoke, "Sure sure. Now enough of that, I'll share some chakra."

A blue hue engulfed Aiko's hand, before traversing through Kaede's chakra channel, successfully injecting her remaining chakra.

Meanwhile, the red cloak around Hayato's body flickered, an influx caused by Roshi's struggle. 

"We must go fast. It seems he's struggling," Ryohei chimed in, his Byakugan activated as he stared into the distance.

"Yeah, you're right," Hayato agreed before placing a hand on Kaede's shoulder. 

"I'll share some too."

With this, Kaede embraced the sense of rejuvenation, and she stood up, nodding in affirmation, "Thank you guys."

"Ahh, Hayato, I've been meaning to say, when the hell did you mark me?" Aiko arched a brow, earning the attention of Ryohei and Kaede, talking about the Hiraishin mark.

"Ohh that, it should be on your back... when I was hugging you for so long earlier, haha," Hayato scratched his head sheepishly. 

Aiko remembered the moment when she had escaped the clutches of Moryo's puppetry, in which Hayato exercised the Chakra Dissipation Technique, Hayato hugged him for unnecessarily long. 

-----

Little Flashback:

However, Hayato still didn't stand...

"I SAID I'M FINE!" Aiko yelled. 

However, Hayato remained glued for a while longer before abstaining, allowing Aiko to stand.

"Tsk, you and your soft-hearted temperament," Aiko grunted.

"Haha, sorry," Hayato scratched his head sheepishly. 

-----

"Oh, I see, that's why you were latching onto me like a parasite," she murmured, staring at her back, yet... nothing was there?

"Strange, there's nothing," Aiko whispered.

"I'm sure I marked you there," Hayato replied.

Aiko's eyes widened, and she muttered, "Don't tell me... You marked my butt!"

"W-What?! No, of course not sensei," Hayato lurched back, feeling the ominous gaze of his girlfriend. 

"I felt like you touched it!" Aiko continued with a finger on her chin, dampening the atmosphere.

"Perverted actions even in a relationship... Despicable," Ryohei added, his face scrunched up in disgust, as though he were looking down on Hayato.

"You're one to talk," Hayato snapped back.

The nerves on Kaede's temple bulged, stemming from rage. 

Recomposing himself, Hayato discarded his sensei's silly notion and waved his hand nonchalantly, "Kaede, sensei, relax, let me check."

Hayato approached his sensei, examining her, and surprisingly, she was right!

"What?" Hayato sweated. Was his sensei right after all? 

Meanwhile, the rage Kaede emanated amplified ever so slowly.

Aiko asserted, "Ryohei, could it be because of that?" 

"Yeah, I suppose so," Ryohei supported.

Hayato alternated his eyes between the 2, dumbstruck at the fact that they seemed to know something he did not.

"Ryo, what do you mean?" Hayato questioned.

Ryohei turned to Hayato, "It's as I said, the moment you apply your Chakra Dissipation, every other foreign signature within them will disappear, including yours. In the case of Aiko sensei, I believe you used that technique just now to destroy Moryo's residual aura." 

Hayato immediately complied, "I see..."

It was when he had extracted the aura just now which prevented any further explosions.

"Wait, so sensei... I didn't do anything inappropriate!" Hayato clenched his fist in a fit of rage, though it was not like he could hurt her; he could only bottle it inwardly.

"Nope," Aiko shrugged.

"Phew," Kaede wiped her head. She had actually thought Hayato committed such a heinous act.

"Kaede, really? To fall for sensei's antics of all people," Hayato complained.

"Haha, sorry," Kaede gave an apologetic expression, clasping her hands together, before a playful grin graced her lips. Pointing at her cherry lips, she continued, "I can make it up to you, ya know!" 

However, it was then she realised her companions were around as she alternated her gaze between the trio, beads of sweat trickling down her face, and her face turning as red as a tomato. 

Hayato exclaimed, "Kaede!"

Kaede, embarrassed, hid her blushed expression behind her hands, and screamed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Haha, didn't expect you to be quite the feisty one, huh Kaede," Aiko mocked.

Ryohei merely hid his laughter, turning his head away. However, his body's uncontrollable twitching gave away his laughter.

"Ahhh, I want to die," Kaede spoke in a muffled tone as she leaned against the bark of a tree, shaking her head in embarrassment. 

Aiko laughed, turning her gaze to Hayato, and continued, "Jokes aside though, I'm surprised you're actually learning the jutsu."

"I'm just starting to learn the jutsu because of how efficient it is..." Hayato paused, reminded of the clash his squad had in the forest, and with the Iwagakure Jonins.

"... And when we get home, even though it's such a drag to learn, it's better if I start learning it," Hayato sighed at his new, treacherous path. Learning this, though beneficial, was certainly going to take a while.

Unlike him, Minato was a genius, excelling at anything and everything.

Hayato, though incredibly strong and agile, had a knack for slacking, and hated anything that would put mental strain.

His number one enemy was math.

Fuinjutsu was another one of those things. As such, he could only sigh in defeat at his inevitable suffering, though he must admit, that learning the Flying Raijin will assist him greatly.

Seeing Hayato disheartened, Aiko spoke, "Well, it's good to know you're learning. If not for that, I really would've died just now."

An air of seriousness returned among the squad. 

Hayato couldn't help but apologise, "Sensei, I'm sorry."

"Hayato, it's fine, it's none of your fault. Seriously, you need to stop blaming yourself all the time," Aiko retaliated. 

However, Hayato was still crestfallen at his sensei's severed leg.

Aiko continued, "You are not to blame yourself, that's an order, you got that?" 

Hayato gazed back at his sensei's eyes, reflecting solidified conviction.

"Aye," Hayato saluted.

Aiko took a deep breath, and yelled, "Alright ya punks. Go get that demon, and return alive. If you die, I'll kill you, ya hear me?"

The trio saluted, their solid eyes signifying their heightened resolve, "Aye!"