Chapter 19 – Echoes in the Forest
The forest felt different this time.
There was no thrill of rebellion in their steps now—only heavy silence and worry. Ren walked with Aki and Taro behind Juro-sensei, their heads bowed slightly. The morning light filtered through the trees in faint streaks, the sun still hesitant to rise completely. It had been a few hours since they'd set out again, this time with permission and a jonin at the lead.
Juro's strides were purposeful, calm. But even Ren could sense the quiet tension in his shoulders. His sharp eyes scanned the underbrush, the dirt paths, the breaks in the foliage.
"His scent disappears here," Juro said, crouching near a broken patch of leaves. "Whatever carried him... it didn't go far."
"You think it was an animal?" Taro asked, glancing around nervously.
"Most likely," Juro muttered. "A young one, or else Kota would've been torn apart. This was more like dragging than hunting."
Ren swallowed. That wasn't comforting.
They pressed deeper into the woods. Birds called overhead. Insects buzzed. But all Ren could hear was the sound of his heart. He kept thinking back to that moment when Kota was taken—how brief it was. A blink, a distraction. Gone.
He couldn't help but wonder again: Why am I doing this? Why do I care so much?
He didn't know Kota. They'd barely spoken once. But something inside him wouldn't let it go. In his old world, a missing child would've sparked an entire town into action. Search teams. Flashlights. Police lines. But here… they were just war orphans. Disposable, forgotten.
That thought made him clench his fists.
Juro stopped suddenly.
They had reached a small clearing where broken branches lay in a spiral—drag marks etched clearly into the dirt, almost like clawed patterns.
"It stopped here," Juro murmured. "Whatever had him… dropped him somewhere nearby."
Then he did something unexpected.
He bit his thumb, formed a seal with one hand, and slammed it against the ground.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
Smoke exploded in a puff, swirling into a shape that made all three boys stumble back in awe. When the mist cleared, a tall, lean wolf stood at Juro's side—snow-white fur, piercing golden eyes, and a faint scar over one ear. She was beautiful, fierce, and radiated intelligence.
Ren had never seen a summon in real life.
The wolf's ears twitched. Her voice came in a low, calm growl that still held a strange warmth.
"Juro. It's been a while."
"I need your nose, Kanna," he said softly. "We're tracking a child. Injured."
Kanna sniffed the air, then padded forward, tail low, nose twitching. She barely made a sound as she moved, gliding over roots and undergrowth like water.
The kids exchanged wide-eyed glances.
"She talks," Aki whispered, awestruck.
"No way…" Taro murmured.
Ren didn't say anything. He just watched. So that's what real ninja are like.
Minutes passed. Then Kanna paused near a rocky incline.
"Below," she barked softly, pointing with her snout toward a deep hollow. "There's a drop. He's down there."
Juro knelt and peered into the pit—just narrow enough to trap a small body. And there he was.
Kota.
Half-covered in dirt, unconscious, face pale. His leg was twisted at an angle that made Ren's stomach twist.
"He's alive," Juro confirmed. "But barely."
Without waiting, he jumped down, landing gently beside the boy. His movements were precise—assessing the leg, checking the pulse, wrapping a temporary brace around the limb.
"Help me get him out," he called.
Together, with Juro lifting from below and the boys pulling from above, they hauled Kota carefully from the pit. He was cold to the touch, but his chest rose and fell with shallow breaths.
"We need to carry him," Juro said. "Back to camp. Slowly."
Kanna walked beside them the entire way, a silent shadow.
—
When they returned, the camp was already stirring. A few medical-nin rushed over, taking Kota gently onto a stretcher. Juro gave orders with quiet authority, and the kids stood in stunned silence as the wolf summon vanished in another puff of smoke.
Only when Kota was gone did Aki whisper, "That was… the coolest thing I've ever seen."
Juro turned to them, arms crossed.
"You disobeyed orders," he said flatly. "You could've gotten yourselves killed."
All three shrank back a little.
"But," he added, his tone softening just slightly, "you did the right thing."
Ren blinked.
"I'm not going to praise you," Juro continued. "Not for foolishness. But caring in a place like this? That's rare. Don't lose that."
He walked off without another word, leaving the boys stunned.
—
That night, Ren lay in his tent staring at the cloth ceiling, mind racing.
He still couldn't quite explain it. Why had he pushed so hard to find Kota? Why had he been the first to speak up, to lead the way?
It didn't make sense. Not logically. Kota wasn't family. He wasn't even a friend.
But Ren thought of the world he had left behind—the quiet streets, the warm homes, the people who never had to worry about war, or food, or vanishing in the woods without anyone caring.
Maybe that's what drove him. The idea that someone had to care.
"What if I had disappeared?" he thought. "Would anyone have come looking for me?"
Aki and Taro, maybe.
The rest? Probably not.
But today, Ren had helped make sure someone did come for Kota. That had to mean something.
He turned to the side and closed his eyes.
Maybe this world was harsh. Maybe it didn't make sense. But he could still try to do the right thing—even if he had to figure out what that was along the way.
And somewhere in the woods, a white wolf's howl echoed in the distance.