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Chapter 179: A Harmless Prank
🕑 Added 2025-12-22 09:03:09 +0000 UTCEarly the next morning
Sunlight slipped through the half-open shoji screens, landing right on the mess of tangled bodies and ruined sheets. The entire room reeked of sweat, sex, and, well… premium chakra fluids.
Kurenai was sprawled across the futon, hair a bird’s nest, face stuck somewhere between post-nut clarity and I’ve seen things. The pillow had a very suspicious wet patch—let’s just say no one’s washing that out.
Obito, ever the morning menace, was already sitting at the low table—fresh, perfectly dressed, sipping his tea like a gentleman who absolutely didn’t just wreck Kurenai’s life for ten hours.
He glanced at Kurenai who was still sleeping, expression blank as usual, but his eyes absolutely screamed, You can’t walk straight today, can you?
Still, leaving her like that would have looked far too suspicious... sooner or later, someone would notice. After stretching and quietly examining his masterpiece for a while, he turned and left.
The final surprise of the day still awaited them.
Naturally, he made sure to help her before departing.
The room fell silent for a long moment. Then... almost as if on cue—Kurenai woke up.
She tried to sit up.
Immediately, she regretted it.
Her thighs trembled, her lower half outright mutinied, and she collapsed back onto the bed with a small, pathetic whimper.
Panic flashed across her face as she looked around, and the memories from last night came flooding back.
“Yes… Master, fuck me… make me your bitch… ahhhnn~”
Boom.
Her face went bright red, heat rushing up so fast it felt like steam might leak from her head. Her eyes spun as shame and anger surged together, and she bit down hard on her lip.
“Damn it… and he just left like that. What an asshole… after what he did to me.”
She sucked in a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
Now isn’t the time to think about that, she told herself. I need to deal with this mess first.
As she clenched her fists, she suddenly noticed something strange.
She was recovering fast—shockingly fast. The speed of it was incredible.
Her body felt… different. Stronger. More responsive than it had any right to be.
“What in the world…?” Kurenai muttered aloud, staring down at herself with a stunned expression.
And in the next room…
Asuma’s face was buried in his pillow, haunted, dead-eyed, sweat-drenched. For some reason, every time he closed his eyes, he saw a tomato exploding in slow motion. The trauma was so deep, even his beard was reconsidering its life choices.
He let out a groan.
“I swear to god… if I ever find out who was responsible for this, I’ll make their life hell.”
--
But if Asuma and Kurenai believed nothing could surprise them anymore, what happened next proved them painfully wrong.
When both of them stepped out of their rooms—each lost in their own thoughts, intending to call for their teams—they froze.
Everyone was already there.
Their entire squads stood stupidly in front of the inn, staring ahead as if their brains had short-circuited at the same time.
Asuma’s heart dropped.
Only hours ago, after resorting to the Shinzo treatment—cutting away the very thing that made a man a man—he had seriously considered disappearing. Running. Vanishing completely.
He’d even thought about hiding from his team and going rogue, quietly investigating who had done this to him and why.
But reality had hit him just as hard.
Alone, he was powerless.
And even if he tried to vanish, he knew it wouldn’t last. With his father’s personality and the way his team was wired—they would find him down relentlessly. That would only make everything far more awkward.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered choosing death over this humiliation…
The only reason he hadn’t was simple.
Revenge.
Finding whoever had done this to him was now his sole reason for breathing.
Before he could stop himself, the words slipped out.
“What’s going on here?”
His hand instinctively moved, chakra blade sliding into his grip as he stared at his team, who looked just as shocked as he felt.
Kurenai glanced at him as well—surprised, clearly not expecting him to be standing there, alive and intact.
But she didn’t relax.
Almost immediately, she shifted into a guarded stance, chakra tightening as both of them slowly approached the group.
Shikamaru was the first to come out of his stupor. He turned his head toward his sensei and spoke in a hoarse, slightly trembling voice—nothing like his usual lazy tone.
“Asuma-sensei… I’m glad you’re okay, but take a look at this. I’m sure it’ll surprise you.”
Asuma and Kurenai exchanged a glance. Shikamaru and the others didn’t seem to be under a Genjutsu, so they followed him toward the team.
“…”
The moment they stepped out of the inn, they froze—just like their genin had.
What lay ahead was a sight they would never forget, a scene that would be forever etched into their memories.
There was...
Nothing.
All around them… there was nothing.
“What… what the hell is going on here?!” Kiba suddenly shouted, his body trembling as he spun around in panic, fear clear in his eyes.
“Kurenai-sensei… are we in a Genjutsu?”
Airi rushed to Kurenai’s side as if clinging to her last hope. She couldn’t even bring herself into a fighting stance.
“…” Shino remained silent for a moment before speaking calmly.
“…I don’t think there exists a Genjutsu capable of affecting even our jōnin teachers without any of them noticing.”
Everyone stiffened.
What Shino said made sense.
“Haaah… Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique.”
Asuma formed seals and released the jutsu, startling the others—if enemies really were nearby, that could have been dangerous.
“Calm down,” he said, exhaling slowly as he pulled out a cigarette, though his fingers trembled slightly.
“I think Shino is right. This isn’t a Genjutsu… and this is very much real.”
“Then what could—no, how could something like this even happen?”
Kurenai spoke aloud, her voice filled with shock and disbelief.
“The whole village… where did it go?”
Ino and Chōji were just as shaken. Both remained silent, swallowing hard as they stayed close to their sensei.
The wind swept past them.
Everyone flinched.
“Argh! Why did you pinch me, Ino?!” Chōji suddenly yelled, rubbing his side.
“It’s your fault, you fatty! You scared me!” Ino snapped back, her expression slightly apologetic despite her words.
“Alright, you two—what a drag,” Shikamaru said, rubbing his brow, looking stressed far beyond his years.
“We’re in a serious mess. Can you drop it?”
“Shikamaru’s right,” Asuma said, taking another deep breath, trying to sound casual—though his voice came out strained.
“Let’s check the area more carefully and look for any clues about what could’ve happened.”
The others noticed the oddness in his tone, but given the situation, no one lingered on it for long.
They began surveying the empty space around them.
--
They spread out instinctively, years of training kicking in despite the sheer absurdity of the scene.
There were no footprints.
No rubble.
No broken fences, no scorch marks, no signs of evacuation or battle.
Just… empty space.
Where the inns had stood, where shops and houses should’ve lined the road, where a whole village should’ve existed—there was only flat, undisturbed ground stretching out in every direction, like reality itself had been wiped clean with a careless hand.
“This… can’t even be described as destruction.” Shino said quietly, crouching and brushing his fingers across the soil.
“If the village had been razed, there would be lingering disturbances... massive chakra residue at the very least. But there’s nothing. And evacuation doesn’t explain this either.”
He stood up putting his hands into his pockets.
“There are none.”
Kiba swallowed hard. “So… it didn’t get blown up.”
“No,” Shikamaru muttered, eyes scanning the horizon, mind already racing through possibilities he didn’t like. “It’s like it was… removed.”
That word settled over the group like a bad omen.
Removed.
Ino hugged herself unconsciously. “You’re saying someone just… took a whole village?”
Asuma let out a slow breath, the cigarette smoke thinning as it vanished.
“Yeah. I don’t like this at all.”
“Whatever did this was very clean about it. And way above anything we should be running into on a routine mission.”
Kurenai spoke softly, but in her mind, responsibility had already found a face.
Is it really you…?
Her thoughts drifted back to the man who had shaken her entire night—body and mind alike. If it could be anyone, she was certain it had to be him.
But why?
What would he even gain from something like this…?
Airi glanced at her sensei, noticing the deep frown on her face.
“Kurenai-sensei…?” she called quietly.
Kurenai blinked, then straightened. “Everyone stay close,” she said, voice firm. “This area isn’t safe. Not because of enemies we can see—but because we don’t know what happened here anymore.”
That earned a nod from Shikamaru.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “And when the rules change without warning… that’s when people get hurt.”
--
That was what they told themselves—but before long, the strange place defeated them again.
“Damn it… is this town—no, this place—actually cursed?” Kiba snapped, his eyes narrowing as he shouted after searching for so long.
“First there was that… stupid infection,” he continued, his voice rising. The others stopped in place as his words hung in the air, heavy and sharp.
“And now this…”
Honestly, they were all terrified.
Then, all at once, the same thought surfaced in their minds.
Wait…
The infection…?
Their gazes slowly turned.
Asuma.
He noticed immediately. Veins bulged on his forehead as he realized why they were staring at him but he said nothing.
The entire area sank into an awkward, suffocating silence.
“…I think we should head back to the village,” Kurenai finally said, breaking the quiet.
“Now. I mean—right now.”
The others nodded without hesitation.
Shikamaru let out a tired sigh, glanced briefly at Asuma, then turned away, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Airi, however, remained still... watching them all with an unreadable expression.
--
Swoosh.
Swish.
Team Eight and Team Ten moved through the forest almost absent-mindedly—dangerous for shinobi, but after everything that had happened, they were too mentally exhausted to care.
All they wanted was to return to the village and rest.
And yet… something still lingered.
At least, Asuma could feel it.
From time to time, unmistakable gazes from his team members pressed against his back.
--
As the two teams disappeared into the depths of the forest, a figure emerged on a distant hill.
Obito.
The wind tugged roughly at his long hair as he stood there in silence, mask already gone... revealing a face that was, annoyingly, far too handsome for someone doing this much psychological damage.
“So you were here, huh?”
A voice suddenly sounded behind Obito.
He didn’t turn around.
Instead, the man revealed himself fully—hands resting behind his head, posture loose and careless as he walked closer at an unhurried pace, as if this were a casual stroll rather than a dangerous encounter.
If Asuma and the others had been present, they would have recognized him instantly.
The man now standing beside Obito was Nayarit.
The very one who had sold Shenzo out.
The one who had leaked everything—who Shenzo was, where he’d gone, and most importantly… how he had cured himself.
Nayarit and Obito both fell silent.
Then, suddenly...
“Hahahaha—”
“Kekekeke—”
Laughter burst out from both of them at the same time, sharp and unrestrained.
But even as the laughter echoed, Nayarit was already changing.
His features warped and blurred, his form melting away until the man beside Obito was no longer Nayarit at all—but Tobi.
He dropped down beside Obito, relaxed, legs dangling as he gazed out at the scenery like he was enjoying a pleasant afternoon.
“This… this was way too much fun, Captain,” Tobi said, still chuckling. “We haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”
“Well…” Obito replied lazily, his laughter fading as he exhaled, “it was entertaining enough. Though it ended a bit too quickly. It was starting to get boring.”
Tobi shrugged. “Ah, well.”
Obito straightened slightly, his tone settling back into calm indifference.
“Never mind that. The Chūnin Exams are coming up anyway.”
He watched them go with mild amusement.
Because really… all of this had just been his little game.
A harmless prank.
A minor bit of emotional trauma, carefully delivered before the Chunin Exams.
Nothing too serious.
The villagers? White Zetsu. Cheap, reusable, and excellent for unsettling ninja teams. The infection scare, the vanishing town—just seasoning.
But there was one thing he couldn’t allow.
He couldn’t leave Kurenai alone with Asuma.
After all, Obito was kind at heart.
He simply couldn’t stand the idea of Kurenai being deceived by a man who would get her pregnant, refuse to marry her, then die and leave her a widow for life. Truly tragic. Criminal, even.
So naturally…
Obito removed the tool responsible for such crimes.
A mercy, really.
He turned away from the hill, utterly satisfied.
Another lesson delivered.
And the Chunin Exams were going to be so much more interesting now.
“Still, Captain… did you see how Asuma actually went through with it?” Tobi snickered. “The guy was shaking all over... sweating buckets. For a second, I thought he was sending his kid off to war or something.”
Tobi tilted his head, clearly enjoying the memory.
“He even muttered something like… ‘I’m sorry, Dad. The clan ends with me.’”
“…”
Obito was silent for a moment.
Then he let out a low chuckle.
“…How emotional,” he said calmly. “Cutting off your future while apologizing.”
He glanced sideways, tone dry and merciless.
“At least he was considerate enough to end the Sarutobi bloodline himself. Saves a lot of troubles for the world. And more importantly... no more fatherless behavior.”
“That’s so true, Captain,” Tobi said.
“But things are about to get more interesting,” he added at last, his eyes narrowing.
A slow grin spread beneath the mask as he watched a figure from one of the teams moving through the forest below.
