Naruto : Infinite Buff!

The air between them thickened with silence. Higanbana followed closely behind, her steps uneven as she struggled to match his pace. She was trying, pushing herself to keep up, but he did not slow.

"Big Brother?" she asked softly, her voice trembling ever so slightly, laced with confusion.

He didn't respond. The silence was his shield, his distance an unspoken rule.

The rain continued to fall, relentless. The ground beneath them was slick, each step a battle for footing. Yet, despite her struggle, Higanbana pressed on, determination in her every movement.

"Big Brother, Please don't leave me behind."

Her words reached him, but they had no power to shift his direction. His steps were the only thing that mattered now. Her presence wasn't unwelcome, but it didn't change his course.

She nervously brushed the sleeve of her kimono, her fingers trembling ever so slightly as if seeking comfort in its fabric. Her voice wavered, cracking with effort, a fragile determination lacing her words. "I'm not giving up," she whispered, her gaze firm despite the vulnerability in her tone. "I'll make it."

The forest blurred, propelling him forward with each swift leap. The sound of Higanbana's pursuit softened, but it didn't falter. She was still there, still following. The distance between them remained—but not by much.

The iron wall loomed ahead, a dark, oppressive presence.

He allowed her presence, The game was too large, too complex to let emotions disrupt it, yet he understood her value. There was a certain clarity in knowing who you could depend on—who you could trust.

A flower in the storm. It was a fleeting thing. Fragile. Beautiful. Useless.

And yet, it held its place in the world, despite the weight of the rain.

---

A behemoth of iron and time, it stretched endlessly in either direction, as though the earth itself had given birth to it. The metal was old—pitted with rust, scarred with deep, jagged slashes. Cold rain struck its surface in a steady, rhythmic pattern, drumming like a funeral dirge.

The hills beyond the wall were jagged, steep, and appeared almost impossible to scale. Dark stone jutted out like the exposed bones of a fallen titan, slick with rain and treacherous to the touch. No paths wound their way through the wilderness. No trails marked the way forward.

The rain fell heavily, soaking everything in sight. A cold mist enveloped the surroundings, but it was the towering wall ahead that truly commanded attention.

Higanbana stood beside him, the gap between them vast despite the few feet that separated them. 

Higanbana stared up at it, her expression filled with disbelief. The structure was imposing—an unscalable iron barrier, cold and solid. her small body trembling in the constant downpour. 

He didn't need to look at her to know her thoughts. Uncertainty.

"It's too high," she muttered, her voice barely reaching Amatsu.

Didn't need to hear the words. His silence was enough of an answer.

The wall, the hills beyond, the steep incline—it all seemed impossible. A dead end. Yet Amatsu's mind moved relentlessly, each thought dissecting the situation, weighing the odds. It was a puzzle—nothing more. A challenge to be solved.

Higanbana shifted beside him, glancing at Amatsu, unsure of his next move. She could feel the weight of the situation, the walls closing in. But she didn't look for comfort in words. She knew his silence meant he was calculating, thinking, formulating. The moment he decided, the plan would be set into motion.

The world around them was still, constant drumming of rain. Amatsu didn't rush. His focus sharpened as he observed every angle, every crack in the environment. There was no hurry.

The wall, however imposing it seemed, was just another barrier. It wasn't enough to stop him. There was always a way out. It just needed to be found.

Without turning to her, Amatsu's thoughts cut through the haze. The wall wasn't the real problem.

He looked toward the forest, his eyes narrowing. There had to be something there, hidden in plain sight.

Higanbana finally spoke again, voice quieter, almost lost in the rainfall. "Brother. Is there no way to climb it?"

A pause.

In a tone like the rustling of dry leaves, Amatsu spoke, his words flowing like a river untouched by emotion. "Climbing... would be futile," he said, gaze fixed elsewhere, as if the very act of speaking to her was an afterthought. "It's never about scaling walls. It never was."

She didn't press him further. She understood enough. Amatsu would never rely on brute force when strategy could work.

His mind had already moved beyond the obstacle in front of them. They would find another way—his way.

Amatsu, standing still as if a part of the landscape itself, felt the shift in the air—a presence, something that wasn't supposed to be there. He had known long before the footsteps echoed through the silence. The subtle vibration of the earth beneath his feet, the change in the wind, all told him the same truth.

Heavy, unhurried steps—each one filled with an undeniable certainty—cut through the rain. No caution, no fear, just raw, unfaltering confidence.

And then, the voice.

It was a jagged thing, harsh, like a blade drawn through the dense, wet air.

"FUCKIN' HELL!" The shout tore through the rain, a guttural roar that could shake the very trees. "THIS PLACE IS EVEN WORSE THAN I THOUGHT!" His voice was like a storm itself, brimming with frustration, excitement, and a raw aggression that didn't care who heard it.

The words hung in the air, disrupting the calm, yet somehow blending into the rhythm of the storm. Amatsu did not turn his head, his gaze as unfocused as before, as if the interruption were as familiar as the rain itself. Yet, a quiet knowing curled in the corners of his thoughts. It was a presence he had expected. A presence that had no place, yet was here nonetheless. The forest swallowed the voice whole, the rain falling just as it had before, and the moment passed as though it had never been.

He stepped into the clearing like he owned it, rain rolling off his skin, red hair dripping like fresh blood. His grin was all teeth, wild and unbothered, eyes burning with something close to excitement. He stretched his arms, cracking his neck with a sharp pop, like a beast waking up after too long in a cage.

"Tch. Got caught on purpose, y'know? Thought I'd find someone strong—someone worth my damn time." He kicked a loose rock, watching it skid through the mud. "But this? This ain't a battlefield. This is just some twisted fuckin' lab. A place for experiments and corpses."

Ryojin let out a rough laugh, running a hand through his soaked red hair, looking almost amused. "Heh, still..." His voice dropped a bit, that cocky smirk crawling back on his face. "There's gotta be something in here worth fightin'... Something ugly. Something that won't just fold." He shrugged, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "And hey, if there's cash involved? Even better."

His fingers twitched, itching for a fight, for blood, for anything that would make his heart pound.

Amatsu didn't turn to look at him immediately. The figure's presence was noted—nothing more. A man, loud, brash, and ignorant of the world around him. He would be dealt with later, as all distractions were. He was irrelevant. But not yet.

The stranger's eyes found Amatsu, locking onto him as if Amatsu were the only person who mattered.

Ryojin's voice cut through the rain, loud and unrestrained, filling the space like thunder.

"Yo, black-haired guy! What's your name?"

Amatsu's gaze shifted, just for a moment, his eyes sharp and calculating. He didn't answer. There was no reason to.

Ryojin didn't care. His grin only widened, the kind of grin that came from someone who thought the world was his to command.

"My name's Ryojin! You heard me?" he called out, his voice booming, harsh, almost mocking. He threw his arms out wide as if the entire world should bow to him.

"And my ambition?" He leaned in, face lighting up with wild energy. "MONEY. MONEY!" His words rang out, exaggerated, full of reckless confidence, like he could summon wealth from the very air itself.

Higanbana stood by Amatsu, the contrast between them almost striking. While he was all edges and tension, she was soft, delicate, almost ethereal. Her eyes flicked to Ryojin, a slight frown tugging at her lips. It wasn't judgment, but something more... like she was watching a child try to play with a fire too big for them to handle.

She hugged her arms around herself, the rain slipping down her skin, and murmured, so quietly it was almost lost in the noise of the storm,

"Maybe... maybe the test did something to him," she whispered, her voice like a gentle breeze. "I don't know... he just seems a little... not right."

Her words hung in the air, soft and uncertain, like a thought that was barely formed. A kind of sadness wrapped in compassion.

Higanbana's voice broke through the tension, soft, but with a hint of something more—an edge of hope. "Do you know a way out? A technique to climb those hills?"

Ryojin chuckled, but it wasn't the kind of laugh that held any wisdom. It was hollow, brash, like the noise of someone who hadn't yet realized how far their words could fall. "Not even with chakra control under your legs. You'd burn through all your chakra before you made it halfway. And considering your age..." He glanced at them both, his eyes pausing just a fraction longer on Higanbana, as if evaluating something far more than just her physical appearance. "You've got small reserves left."

Amatsu's gaze didn't falter. Chakra? Chakra control wasn't the answer. Not this time.

The hills beyond the wall weren't to be climbed with chakra alone. Amatsu had already considered that. The solution lay elsewhere, buried beneath the surface. The problem wasn't physical; it was strategic. He would have to make use of the resources around him. Every piece had its role.

Ryojin continued, ignoring Amatsu's silence. "Hmm, a way out? Sure. We can always just break through the main gate."

Higanbana's eyes fluttered closed for a brief moment, a soft sigh escaping her lips. The sound was quiet, but the weight of it hung in the air like a soft storm. She was disappointed—not just by Ryojin's words, but by the way he seemed to not understand what was really happening here. He didn't get it. The words didn't matter. The false hope didn't matter. They were meaningless.

Amatsu could see it in her eyes, the quiet sadness that settled deep in her gaze. She had already seen through him. And Amatsu knew—this man's brain couldn't be helped.

But Ryojin wasn't finished. "It's impossible, sure, but I got a way. You know, with money, you can buy your life. Buy your way out. Thirty million is the price. Since you guys are my first customers, I'll offer a discount. Ten million, and you're free."

Higanbana's expression shifted from confusion to quiet disbelief. "Are you... Are you scamming us?"

Ryojin scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. "Scam? This is survival. You want to get out, don't you? Money gets you freedom. Ain't no one gets out without it."

Amatsu's lips barely moved as he considered Ryojin's words. Money. Freedom.

"We don't have money," Higanbana said softly, her voice barely above a whisper, but there was an unmistakable firmness to it. She had spoken the truth, but her words felt fragile, almost like they might be blown away by the storm surrounding them. The rain hissed in the background, the weight of her words settling heavily between them.

Ryojin smirked, turning to walk away with a casual swagger. "Tch, if you don't have money, then don't bother. I'm not here to give charity." He shrugged, his eyes glinting with irritation. "If I stick around too long, someone will just toss me right back into that damn cage. So, I'm out." His voice was low, laced with the threat of his freedom being taken away—but that didn't stop him. He wasn't one to back down from anything.

He turned to leave, stepping back into the shadows of the forest without a second glance.

Her eyes met Amatsu's, and for the briefest moment, the world felt still, even as the rain pounded relentlessly around them. She didn't need words. She didn't need reassurances. Amatsu's silence was all she needed.

No matter how impossible it seemed, she knew he would find a way.

Amatsu's gaze never wavered. He had been watching every detail—every movement. Ryojin's calmness, his pristine clothes, the way he carried himself, the way he had hidden his Amegakure headband beneath his sleeve. The slight glimpse of it had been enough.

Something was wrong. Ryojin wasn't who he appeared to be. He wasn't just another test subject, another broken piece of the game. There was strength in his presence, a power hidden beneath the loud arrogance.

Who is he really?.

He is not part of the test.

"Higanbana" Amatsu voice low and cold. "Move"

{A/N:

The journey begins.

Thanks for waiting, my friend. I will update extra chapters on the weekend. I resumed writing two days ago, but I must first upload for the family on Patreon. Thank you for your patience.

If you wish to support me or read advanced chapters, you can find them here:

Patreon.com/DEMIANLEON

}