2026-03-14 19:57:43
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
No safe side
The first shot missed him by inches.Uzumaki didn’t flinch.The bullet cracked past his ear and shattered glass behind him, the sound echoing down the empty street like a signal.He stopped walking.Slowly.Deliberately.Then he tilted his head slightly, listening.Wind direction. Distance. Angle.Rooftop.Three buildings behind him.He exhaled once.“So it begins,” he murmured.⸻The First HuntersOn the rooftop, the sniper cursed under his breath.“Target didn’t drop.”“Adjust,” a voice crackled through his earpiece. “Take the second shot.”The sniper steadied his rifle again.Crosshair locked.Uzumaki still hadn’t moved.That was what made it unsettling.Most targets ran.Panicked.Broke formation.But this man?He just stood there.Waiting.The sniper pulled the trigger—But the shot never landed.Because Uzumaki moved.Fast.Too fast.By the time the bullet reached where he had been, Uzumaki was already sprinting toward cover, vanishing into a narrow alley.“Target is mobile!” th
The cost of loyalty
The corridor was silent again.Too silent.Uzumaki stood there for a long time after Blake’s body stopped moving. The dim light above flickered softly, casting shadows across the concrete floor where blood slowly spread outward in a dark pool.For a moment, Uzumaki didn’t move.Didn’t breathe.Didn’t think.He simply stared.Blake Morgan—one of the few men Uzumaki had ever respected—lay motionless at his feet.A man who had fought beside him. Trusted him. Saved his life more than once.Now gone.By his hand.Uzumaki closed his eyes briefly.“Stubborn to the end,” he murmured quietly.He crouched beside the body and gently lowered Blake’s head flat onto the floor. The blade in Uzumaki’s hand was still warm, still wet.Carefully, he wiped it on Blake’s jacket.Not out of disrespect.Just habit.But the motion slowed halfway through.Uzumaki paused.Then he quietly placed the knife beside Blake instead.For once, he chose not to keep the weapon.A small gesture.But it meant something.⸻
Blood between brothers
The corridor smelled of dust, sweat, and iron.Blake and Uzumaki circled each other slowly, both breathing harder now. Small drops of blood dotted the concrete floor beneath them—Blake’s from the cut on his arm, Uzumaki’s from the punch that had split his lip moments earlier.Neither man rushed.Both understood what this moment meant.Blake flexed his wounded arm once, ignoring the sting.“You know,” he said quietly, “if someone had told me a few years ago that we’d end up like this… I would’ve laughed in their face.”Uzumaki’s eyes never left him.“We all end up where the road takes us.”Blake shook his head.“No,” he said firmly. “We end up where we choose to go.”The words hung between them.For the first time, Uzumaki’s expression flickered.Just slightly.Blake noticed.“You don’t even believe what you’re saying,” Blake continued.Uzumaki stepped forward slowly, blade still in his hand.“Belief doesn’t change orders.”Blake let out a breath through his nose.“Damn it, man…”His v
Shady move
The corridor outside the operations room was quiet again, but the silence no longer felt peaceful.It felt heavy.Blake leaned against the cold wall, arms folded, his mind racing faster than his heartbeat.He knew something was wrong.When Uzumaki had looked at him earlier, there had been something different in his eyes.Not anger.Not hatred.Something worse.Conflict.Blake had seen that look before—in soldiers ordered to do things they didn’t want to do.And that realization made Blake’s chest tighten.They sent him…Blake pushed himself off the wall slowly.His instincts, sharpened from years of training and surviving dangerous missions, were screaming at him now.Something was coming.And it had Uzumaki’s name written all over it.⸻Across the compound, Uzumaki moved like a shadow through the dim corridors.No footsteps.No sound.Just controlled breathing and focused eyes.In his hand was a slim black blade, its surface catching faint reflections from the hallway lights.He hate
48 Hours
The clock was no longer symbolic.It was mechanical. Relentless.Forty-eight hours until Cole Brady stepped into a courtroom and dragged the city’s darkest secrets into daylight.And somewhere out there, Uzumaki was deciding how much blood that daylight would cost.⸻The Pressure TightensBy the next morning, security around Cole had doubled. Not official, not government-issued—just loyal men who understood the stakes.Eden reviewed routes again. “We rotate vehicles. No predictable patterns.”Mendes added, “We sweep every building within a three-block radius of the courthouse.”Shane looked at Cole. “You should relocate tonight. Unknown location.”Cole shook his head. “No disappearing.”Fiona stepped in quietly. “They’re right.”Cole met her gaze. “If I vanish now, it looks like fear.”“It is fear,” she said softly. “And fear keeps people alive.”He walked closer to her.“Not this time,” he replied. “This time fear feeds him.”She hated that he was right.⸻Uzumaki’s SilenceOddly, Uz
Echoes before fall
The press conference fractured the city.Some called Cole reckless. Others called him brave. But no one called him irrelevant.By sunrise, the announcement of his public testimony had ignited a second wave of shock. Commentators debated motives. Officials scrambled. Former allies quietly distanced themselves from old signatures and forgotten transactions.Cole stood in the warehouse office, tie loosened, eyes tired but sharp.Mendes paced. “You just made yourself the most valuable witness in the country.”“And the biggest target,” Eden added.Cole nodded. “Good.”Shane frowned. “Good?”“If Uzumaki wants to stop this,” Cole said calmly, “he has to act. And when he acts, he exposes what’s left.”Fiona watched him closely. “You’re betting everything on him not being able to resist.”Cole met her gaze. “Men like him don’t resist. They escalate.”⸻Uzumaki’s CounterstrokeUzumaki watched the same headlines in silence.Cole Brady — Willing to Testify Publicly.He set his phone down with unu
You may also like
Legend of Oasis : A tale of magic and mystery
Ramutshatsha Arikonisaho31.6K viewsI AM BEYOND HUMAN
South Ashan20.1K viewsHero In The Cultivator World
Shin Novel 78.0K viewsGame of the Destiny
Yahya_I22.2K viewsPatient Zero: Messiah of Thorns
Rose Lumiere136 viewsNaked BONES OF THE BETRAYED
Ibechi415 viewsMy Infatuation With Death
Untethered one2.8K views“Reborn with the Violet Bloom”
Humaira786318 views