I awoke in pain. A crushing, suffocating weight pressing on every inch of my body. I felt as though someone had stomped on my lungs; my arms felt like lead, and my legs? I couldn't even feel if they were still there. My vision swam, blurred and hazy, and for a moment, I couldn't remember where I was.
Then it all came rushing back.
The fight.
The Sixth Gate.
The shuriken rail guns—Hanzo's knee to my gut...
Why was I still alive?
I groaned, trying to push myself up, but the second I shifted, agony lanced through my body like fire. Torn muscles, broken bones, ruptured veins—by all rights, I should have been dead or crippled for life. Again. But somehow, I was here. I was breathing. And as my senses came back, I realized I wasn't alone.
A deep chasm stretched before me, an abyss of jagged rock and swirling mist. At its very edge stood Hanzo, his imposing frame looking down on me. His armor glinted in the dim light, and his mask concealed whatever expression he wore. But I could feel it. The weight of his gaze. The cold amusement in his stance.
I saw them.
To his left, Shinichi. Bound, suspended over a ravine. His face pale and breath ragged, but he was awake. His eyes met mine, filled with frustration and shame.
"I'm sorry, Shirokumo," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I—I tried. I really did."
I shook my head—or at least, I tried to. My body barely listened. "It's not your fault." And it wasn't. No one could have escaped this.
To Hanzo's right, Yukino hung limply in her bindings, unconscious. Her face was too pale, her lips slightly parted as if struggling for breath. The poison. She wasn't in any shape to even stay conscious, much less survive a fall like that.
"Yet again, you remain impressive," Hanzo finally spoke, his voice a low rumble. "You survived opening the Sixth Inner Gate. Few can claim such a feat. You're even recovering as we speak! Amazing."
I tried to glare at him, but the effort nearly blinded me with pain. "What… do you want?"
Hanzo chuckled. "I want to see what you become. Shirokumo was your name, I believe? You have great potential. You fight with fire in your soul, but fire alone won't keep you alive. Strength—unfathomable strength is the only thing you must attain. That is what I seek. So, I shall let you go so you may yet grow more powerful."
I clenched my teeth, forcing myself not to react. My arms twitched as I tried to move, but my body refused to obey.
He was letting me go?
Just like that?
From what I remember—he did the same, or well, he was going to do the same with the Sannin.
Hanzo shifted slightly, gesturing toward my friends. "But I cannot let you walk away with both your comrades' lives intact. That would be too generous, wouldn't it?"
My blood ran cold.
"I am offering you a choice," Hanzo continued. "Save one. The other dies by my hand."
Shinichi stiffened, his breathing turning rapid. "W-wait, no—no, no, no, you can't—!" He struggled, the ropes biting into his skin. "I—I can't—! I still have so much to do! I haven't even honored my family yet—I—!"
I tried to speak, to say something—anything—but my throat was dry. My mind was a storm, racing for a solution. A trick. A feint. A gamble. There had to be a way out. There had to be.
"There is no time for hesitation, boy," Hanzo said. "If you do not choose soon, I will kill them both."
I...
I...
What do I...
Shinichi sucked in a sharp breath, then forced himself to still. His eyes met mine again, but this time, there was no panic—only quiet resolve. "Shirokumo…" His voice was steadier now. "Do the right thing. Save Yukino."
"Shinichi...!"
I stared at him, my breath catching.
"I can't say I lived a good life. I can't say I made anyone proud, either." He looked down at the depths of the caverns below him. "As it seems, I won't even be able to honor my late parents and brother. I'll simply meet them, having died not long after they did. Heh, quite pathetic, honestly. But I guess that's just how the life of a Shinobi is."
Shinichi looked up at the sky. "But... Amongst all the bad, I guess the one good thing that happened to me was when I met Yukino at the academy all those years ago." He turned to look at Yukino's unconscious frame hanging over the ravine not far from him. "Up until I screwed things up, at least, those were probably the happiest moments of my life."
I didn't know what to say to him, I just stared. Hanzo simply stood quietly, letting him finish talking.
"Shirokumo." Shinichi called out. "Please, tell Yukino about my feelings towards her. I'd been mustering the courage for a long while, but... I never got the chance and now I never will. But I want her to know."
"I... I will relay it to her." I barely mumbled out.
Shinichi was accepting it. He was choosing to die.
He didn't beg, didn't plead—he just… accepted it.
In that moment, I saw him in a new light.
Truthfully, I had already made my choice—Yukino.
She needed saving the most. She was one of my closest friends in this lifetime. And I even owed my life to her too, so the choice was obvious.
But hearing him say it, seeing his courage, his selflessness—it twisted something deep inside me.
I wish I could save both of them so badly…
I swallowed hard, then forced the words out as I looked at Hanzo. "I'll save… Yukino. The girl."
Hanzo inclined his head, as if pleased. Without another word, he stepped to the side and cut Yukino loose. Hanzo grabbed her before she could fall into the deep chasm and threw her my way. She crashed into my arms, and I nearly collapsed under the weight of the throw, but I held firm.
Hanzo turned back toward Shinichi. My heart pounded in my chest.
I couldn't move. I couldn't stop him.
And I couldn't look away.
Without hesitation, Hanzo swung his sickle. The sharp steel cleaved through Shinichi's arm in a single stroke, and he screamed as it fell into the ravine. Shinichi was left with a stump just below the shoulder. Blood spurted from the wound, painting the bindings that held him in deep crimson.
Shinichi convulsed in agony, and the sound of his ragged, gasping breath sent an icy shiver down my spine.
"Stop!" I shouted, my voice raw. "What are you doing?!"
Hanzo turned his masked face toward me, his posture eerily relaxed, as if this was nothing more than idle amusement. "I am strong," he said simply. "And so I do as I please. This is my playground."
I stared at him, my mind reeling. He wasn't even pretending this was about honor or necessity. It wasn't punishment, nor a lesson. This was cruelty in its purest form.
With a swift motion, Hanzo's blade flashed again. This time, he took Shinichi's leg.
Another scream tore through the air, raw and broken. Shinichi's body twisted violently, but the ropes held him in place, forcing him to endure every ounce of suffering. His breathing came in ragged, choking sobs, and tears streamed down his face, mixing with sweat and blood.
Hanzo tilted his head slightly, as if observing his work. Then, without hesitation, he stepped forward and swung his blade once more—first taking Shinichi's remaining arm, then his other leg.
Shinichi's cries turned to pitiful whimpers. His body, now nothing more than a limbless husk, shuddered violently against the bindings as blood seeped out of him and into the ravine alongside the rain. His mouth opened, but no words came. His pain was beyond language now.
"Stop crying," Hanzo muttered, his tone void of emotion. He reached out, gripping Shinichi's neck with one hand—then, with a casual squeeze, he crushed his throat.
A sickening crunch echoed through the ravine. Shinichi's body jerked once, twice—then fell still. He'd broken his neck as well.
Hanzo wasn't finished. With cold precision, he drove his blade straight through Shinichi's chest. The steel slid through flesh and bone effortlessly. He twisted the sword, ensuring the kill, before stepping back and severing the rope that held Shinichi aloft.
Shinichi's mutilated corpse plummeted into the abyss.
I could do nothing.
I could say nothing.
What...
What the hell happened...
How did this...? How did this happen?
Hanzo turned to me. "See that, Shirokumo? The strong make the rules," he said. "They decide who lives, and how they live. They decide who dies, and how they die. We, the strong, decide what will come to pass. If you wish to change that, to be the one making such decisions, then grow stronger. Seek vengeance if you dare!"
Then he turned away, walking toward the misty horizon.
As he did, his voice rang out one last time. "As a trophy for earning my respect and surviving your battle with me, I name you as the White Spider. Wear that moniker with pride!"
His voice echoed as he vanished into the shadows, leaving me with Yukino, just staring at what little remained of the rope that Shinichi hung from a mere minute ago. I didn't even know what just happened. I just stared at it for what might've been hours.
…