Eternal Yujin

TCoH—Chapter 3.34 [57]

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Chapter 3.34 [57]

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Revelry washed over me, bringing a literal warmth compared to the quickly cooling outdoors and the constant hum of conversation. My ears twitched at a familiar roaring laugh and the chorus of chuckles that followed. Jiraiya stood with a foot on the table, a saucer raised high, and half a dozen com...

TCoH—Chapter 3.33 [56]

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Chapter 3.33 [56]

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With the Hokage’s guard coming under the ANBU’s domestic branch, Sozen had spent three days and three nights patrolling the village and its surrounding land for signs of enemies lying in wait. His squad had captured the Ice-Release girl responsible for the Waterfall’s missing Jinchuriki. He�...

A Question... kinda

So, firstly I'd like to apologise for the late chapters this week—I'll do my best to get Ch. 56 out in the next few days, Thursday at the latest. I've been swamped with trying to translate Old English and am having a blast in my attempts to do so while reading Beowulf. Writing has been slow going not only because of that but also due to how I want to handle a certain payoff that I cannot spea...

TCoH—Chapter 3.32 [55]

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Chapter 3.32 [55]

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As a rule, Sasuke kept people out of the Uchiha Compound unless their presence was strictly necessary—like the man he’d hired to repair the jetty destroyed in his and Naruto’s spar. Even his team wasn’t exempt. If they wanted to share a meal or gather outside of training, it was usually at...

TCoH—Chapter 3.31 [54]

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Chapter 3.31 [54]

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I’d never felt guilt to the point of nausea before. The simple funeral garb lay splayed out across my bed. My throat scratched against itself each time I swallowed and each beat of my heart wracked my body with the force of a hiccough. Any grief or sadness I could feel was nothing in comparison ...

TCoH—Chapter 3.30 [53]

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Chapter 3.30 [53]

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Searching for people who didn’t want to be found was always difficult, but Jiraiya enjoyed the process. A generous tip here, a free drink there, and he had something to work with. If not, he at least got a good time out of it. He knew very little where this revived Akatsuki was concerned, though...

TCoH—Chapter 3.29 [52]

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Chapter 3.29 [52]

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The sharp tang of smoke hung heavy in the air, stubbornly clinging to Karin’s senses. Death pressed against her skin. Chakra signatures flickered, some fading gradually and others disappearing in the blink of an eye.

She coughed into the crook of her elbow as she led the group of villagers...

TCoH—Chapter 3.28 [51]

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Chapter 3.28 [51]

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Following the Third Shinobi War, some villages were better off than others. Despite its heavy losses, enough time had passed that the Stone was functional again. The Cloud never stopped preparing for another war since, flagrantly ignoring all treaties and spitting on the idea of peace. Consumed...

TCoH—Chapter 3.27 [50]

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Chapter 3.27 [50]

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“I-I’ll… kill you…!”

My gaze steadily fell from the purple barrier atop the Kage-only box sealing Lord Third away from the world. I clenched my fists. Jiraiya hadn’t come. Lord Third would die. Nothing I’d said or done had helped. I didn’t even have the luxury to come to term...

TCoH—Chapter 3.26 [49]

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Chapter 3.26 [49]

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Anger wasn’t new to him when it came to Neji. Lee had worked through most of it over the past year, and things had gotten better between them because of it. Neji, for all his unyielding beliefs about inescapable fate, had softened. He treated Lee with more respect as the gap in their abilities b...

TCoH—Chapter 3.25 [48]

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Chapter 3.25 [48]

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She couldn’t hear her thoughts, let alone whatever Kiba was telling her. Suffocating came from above and below, it encircled her, yet somehow, Shikamaru managed to doze off. Ino envied his ability to tune out the world when he wanted to, though the same couldn’t be said about other parts of hi...

TCoH—Chapter 3.24 [47]

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Chapter 3.24 [47]

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The courtyard of the Sarutobi compound was serene, its small garden vibrant with late-blooming flowers and carefully raked gravel paths. Only the slight scuff marks and damp patches on the stone hinted at the sparring session that had just taken place.

Hiruzen Sarutobi lowered his staff, its...

TCoH—Chapter 3.23 [46]

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Chapter 3.23 [46]

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I had a heart attack in the middle of the market—or at least, it felt like one. Half a second later, the sensation resolved into a sudden, overwhelming swell of chakra, only for it to rush back in a somatic flash. I stumbled, catching myself before hitting the cobblestones.

Karin, mid-bite...

TCoH—Chapter 3.22 [45]

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Chapter 3.22 [45]

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The waterfall behind Hokage Mountain roared and sprayed at me, giving the spacious cavern a permanent coat of water. Sunlight spilled in from the edge, catching on droplets and transforming the air into a shimmering veil. Humid wouldn’t quite cut it; the air here was heavier. I could feel the...

TCoH—Chapter 3.21 [44]

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Chapter 3.21 [44]

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Asuma had been more candid about our options than I’d expected—or well, my options. Choji was training with both his clan and Asuma. Our run-in with Gaara had finally pushed him over the edge on picking up some elemental ninjutsu; we’d suggested he take up Fire-Release to compliment...

TCoH—Chapter 3.20 [43]

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Chapter 3.20 [43]

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The incident with Gaara had left me too worked up to sleep, so the first watch was mine. No matter what I knew about Karin, there was no way any of us were letting our guard down until the exam was over. Karin flinched at almost everything I said to her—probably because of the lingering Tailed B...

TCoH—Chapter 3.19 [42]

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Chapter 3.19 [42]

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They didn’t see the snake coming—or rather, Sakura didn’t. Lately, she hadn’t seen a lot coming, and this snake was just the latest in a string of blind spots. Four hours in, her drive to get stronger had burned away, much like the motivation that had taken root after Team 7’s disaster o...

TCoH—Chapter 3.18 [41]

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Chapter 3.18 [41]

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As much as Hinata loved her friends, there was a part of her life that she kept separate from them, not through any maliciousness, but because she saw it as her responsibility, not theirs. So, she took the opportunity to break free from them for a few hours with open hands.

She...

TCoH—Chapter 3.17 [40]

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Chapter 3.17 [40]

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Rookie hunters were a thing across all stages of the Chunin Exams—especially when death reared its ugly head. See, the idea was to threaten rookies with it, or perhaps save them from it, and then demand something they’d never otherwise give in return. Of course, whatever rookie hunters demande...

NOTICE

I'm not gonna lie, the additions to Ch. 39 consumed my week, so I'm likely to take a break. However, if I do take this break, I'll most likely be able to write up a bit of backlog since I'm really just sprinting straight to the finish of this arc.

I've got around 900 words done for Ch. 40 and will be out pretty much all day tomorrow, hence the post. But to compensate, I'm thinking of pos...

TCoH—Chapter 3.16 [39]

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Chapter 3.16 [39]

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We arrived early to an almost empty room when a strange vertigo hit me immediately. The sputtering ceiling lights cast a dim orange glow over the aged wooden tables. I hadn’t been here in months—it was familiar, yet completely changed from my memories. Strangers filled the space, wearing symbo...

TCoH—Chapter 3.15 [38]

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Chapter 3.15 [38]

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“Who are we waiting on?” I asked.

Tenten straightened, finishing her stretch, and adjusted her grey tank top and red jogging bottoms. She’d only grown leaner since I’d seen her—but somehow, her arms looked bigger.

She snorted. “My sensei’s cool and hip rival, supposedly.�...

TCoH—Chapter 3.14 [37]

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Chapter 3.14 [37]

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As the forestry blurred past, I kept alert, counting the hurtling heads of my companions around me as we left the village walls behind. The cuts along the back of my hand and some of my right forearm gave slight twinges underneath their bandages, less so with each pulse. The only reason I hadn’t...

TCoH—Chapter 3.13 [36]

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Chapter 3.13 [36]

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It had only been a few days since I returned to the village—two if I didn’t count the night we arrived. I hadn’t left my house for the first couple of days, focusing on getting my apartment up and running instead. With a vacuum cleaner and feather duster in hand, I set out to eliminate the d...

TCoH—Chapter 3.12 [35]

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Chapter 3.12 [35]

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“How long are you going to make me wait, Hiruzen?”

Hiruzen kept his eyes on the paperwork despite his awareness of the person sitting across from him for the last fifteen minutes. It was a punishment of sorts—one they both knew the reason for—and it also let him get his...

TCoH—Chapter 3.11 [34]

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Chapter 3.11 [34]

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Haku woke with a jolt, gasping for breath. Darkness surrounded her, but the desperation from the battle still clung to her mind. Her heart pounded as she tried to make sense of where she was and she pushed herself up, her muscles aching but not injured.

She remembered the clash of weapons, t...

TCoH—Chapter 3.10 [33]

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Chapter 3.10 [33]

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“Zabuza Momochi, what business do you have with the Hidden Leaf?”

Asuma kept his students inside his peripheral vision, calming himself down by the time he finished his question. They had carried out their raid, knowing there was a chance that they would be ambushed. Knowing, however, wa...

TCoH—Chapter 3.9 [32]

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Chapter 3.9 [32]

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Sasuke was eager for combat—a test to match himself against. It was the next step on the long path to vengeance for his dead clan.

The village’s forehead protector gleamed in the sunlight, and he proudly displayed his clan’s sigil on his back as the only Uchiha worthy of the name. K...

TCoH—Chapter 3.8 [31]

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Chapter 3.8 [31]

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I couldn’t sleep.

The only light source in the room was the clear moonlit sky coming in from the slightly open window, but even that failed to illuminate the entirety of the room. I lay awake on the hard wooden floor, staring at the ceiling and sighed.

“Naruto,” Choji’s voice so...

TCoH—Chapter 3.7 [30]

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Chapter 3.7 [30]

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Breakfast in Yasuhiro Ohashi’s home was a deeply strange affair. He was welcoming to the point that it bordered on subservience and the long table in the dining room was piled with a dozen dishes; against the backdrop of the worn house, it looked… out of place. The old man sat stiffly in his ch...