𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑳𝑳 𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼 | 𝑲.𝑰𝑵𝒁𝑼𝑲𝑨 [2]

The last living of Chinoike

Ruka's heart pounded as she faced Keiko, the Chinoike Clan member whose presence was both haunting and menacing. The girl's eyes, glowing with the blood-red Ketsuryugan, were filled with a dark, twisted joy. Ruka's own heart was a battlefield, torn between the pain of her injuries and the anguish of her memories.

"How..." Ruka whispered, her voice trembling. "How are you alive? I killed you."

Keiko's laughter was a harsh, derisive sound, echoing through the cold air. "Didn't Kakuzu tell you? Everything is an illusion!" Her eyes flared, the Ketsuryugan's ominous light casting eerie shadows.

Ruka's shock was palpable as she recognized the Ketsuryugan. "The Chinoike Clan," she murmured, her mind racing to reconcile the sight before her. This was a power that belonged to a clan she thought was extinct, a power that now stood against her.

"Looks like you're educated," Keiko smirked, her gaze flickering with cruel amusement.

Ruka blinked rapidly, trying to clear her head and focus on the present. Despite her weakened state, she had to act. Summoning her remaining chakra, she moved to confront Hidan, whose presence was as sinister as ever. Her father and Team 10 had arrived just in time, their concern evident in their faces.

With a surge of determination, Ruka hurled fire bullets at Hidan, creating a diversion. In a flash, she appeared before him, her katana slashing through the air. She grabbed Hidan's left arm and wrenched it off, a grim satisfaction flaring in her eyes as his enraged scream filled the air.

"Give me my arm back!" Hidan roared, his voice dripping with fury as Kakuzu hurriedly reattached the severed limb.

Ruka's defiant smile was quickly overshadowed by a sharp pain as she felt a stabbing sensation through her shoulder. She looked down to see her own katana embedded in her flesh. Her father's voice cut through the haze of pain. "Ruka!"

Before she could react, her father was at her side, pulling her to safety and attempting to staunch the bleeding. "Asuma, he got my blood..." Ruka gasped, her vision blurring as she turned her attention to Hidan, who was now enveloped in his ominous circle, a twisted smile on his face.

"I'll deal with him," her father said firmly, his voice edged with urgency. "You stay here. You're out of chakra."

Ruka tried to protest, but the pleading look in her father's eyes silenced her. "Ruka," he implored, his voice tight with worry, "please."

As the battle raged on, Ruka found herself witnessing a horrific scene. Her father was on his knees before Hidan, and Team 10 was struggling against Keiko and Kakuzu. The sight of her friends in pain and her father's desperate state was almost too much to bear.

"Do you know what Ketsuryugan means, Ruka?" Keiko's voice was a sickly sweet melody of malice. "Blood Dragon Eye."

Ruka's gaze was pained as she fought against Keiko's blood manipulation. "Why? What did I do to make you do this?"

Keiko's response was brutal and swift. She slapped Ruka hard across the face, causing her to spit out blood. "I was supposed to have Rokuro's dead wife's Sharingan! But you, being the princess, have everything I wanted—a family, power, popularity!"

The Chinoike member's smirk was chilling as she continued, "I'll be nice to you, Ruka. I'll give you a choice: kill your friends or kill your dearest father."

Ruka's breath came in ragged gasps as her emotions spiraled out of control. "No, no. Please don't do this to me."

Keiko's eyes rolled dismissively. "Okay, fine. I'll kill your friends," she said coldly, manipulating the blood of Team 10, causing them to scream in agony.

"No! Stop it! Stop hurting them!" Ruka screamed, her voice filled with anguish as tears streamed down her face. Keiko's cruel grin remained unchanged as she ceased her manipulation, leaving Team 10 gasping for breath.

The ringing in Ruka's ears was deafening as she looked at her friends, then at her father, Asuma. His face was battered, his breath shallow. "It's okay," he whispered weakly, his voice strained but filled with understanding. "Save them."

Shikamaru's anguished shout pierced the air. "No!" But his outburst only drew Keiko's ire, her eyes snapping toward him with a snarl. "Shut up."

In the midst of the chaos, Ruka slowly rose to her feet, her emotions numbed by the pressure of the situation. As she approached her father, she activated the dark power within her, the Daitou no Jutsu. A surge of dark energy enveloped her right arm, transforming it into a long, flaming sword.

"I wish I'm selfish," Ruka whispered to her father, her tears mingling with the blood on her face. "I wish I could just choose you and let the world die... but I'm not. I can never be selfish... that's my weakness."

Asuma met her eyes with a weak, understanding smile. "It's okay," he repeated, his voice a mere whisper against the backdrop of destruction.

Without hesitation, Ruka drove the flaming sword into her father's chest. The blade pierced through his flesh, impaling his heart. Asuma's eyes widened in shock and pain as he looked at his daughter, his face a mask of love and sorrow.

Asuma's life ebbed away, the light in his eyes dimming as he looked at his daughter from his prone position. The battlefield was now eerily silent, save for the distant, fading footsteps of Hidan, Kakuzu, and Keiko as they vanished into the darkness.

Team 10 rushed to Asuma's side, their faces etched with desperation and grief. "I'll use my healing ninjutsu!" Ino declared, her hands already forming the necessary seals. But Asuma's voice, weak and strained, cut through her resolve.

"Don't," he whispered, his voice barely audible.

Ruka's heart twisted as she looked at her father, her expression a mix of sorrow and detachment. She took a step back, her entire body trembling as she struggled to process the enormity of her actions. "I'm done for..." Asuma's words were a soft murmur, his gaze shifting from his daughter to his team.

Ino's pleas to heal him continued to echo, but the determination in Asuma's eyes silenced her. Ruka barely glanced at him as she began to walk away, her steps heavy with the weight of her decision. She stopped, her back still turned, as Asuma's final breaths drew closer.

"I need you to inform them that... he's not going to live long," Ruka said, her voice carrying a cold resolve. She gestured to Aoba and Raido, who immediately understood the gravity of the situation. Raido's eyes widened as he noticed the blood on Ruka's hand, a silent acknowledgment of the sacrifice she had made. The two ninjas swiftly moved back to Konoha to deliver the grim news.

As the dark sky enveloped them, Team 10 gathered around Asuma, their faces a portrait of despair and hopelessness. Asuma's eyes sought out Ruka one last time, finding her standing with her back to him, her posture rigid and unyielding.

He struggled to speak, his voice barely a whisper, "Ruka... please... I..."

But Ruka remained distant, her emotions locked away behind a wall of steel. She did not turn around, her silence a stark contrast to the turbulent grief that raged within her. The distance between them seemed insurmountable, a chasm created by the very actions that had led them here.

Asuma's final words remained unspoken to his daughter, the air heavy with the unspoken plea for reconciliation that would never come. The battlefield was silent save for the soft, labored breaths of a dying man and the distant sounds of a world that continued to move on, indifferent to the personal tragedies unfolding within it.