Auzhai pulled his standard-issue blue tracksuit jacket over his mesh armor. "I didn't see it," he replied, his voice calm and low. "I felt the displacement of the air."
He didn't walk toward the main exit like the others. Instead, he looked up at the narrow ventilation shaft near the ceiling. With a fluid, explosive motion that defied gravity, he leaped. His fingers caught the edge of the vent with a sound no louder than a cat’s paw hitting silk. Ninja Auzhai - After Physical Education Class
Outside, Kaito and the others were walking across the courtyard, laughing. They didn't notice the blur of dark fabric moving across the rooftops above them, silhouetted against the orange sky. Auzhai pulled his standard-issue blue tracksuit jacket over
"Dude, Auzhai," panted Kaito, wiping sweat from his forehead with a gym towel. "Coach Tanaka almost clipped you with that training star. How did you even see it coming?" Instead, he looked up at the narrow ventilation
As the locker room emptied, a heavy silence settled. Auzhai finished his maintenance and tucked the blade away. He adjusted his headband, the metal plate gleaming under the fluorescent lights. He glanced at the clock; he had exactly four minutes before his next briefing with the Elders.
The afternoon sun slanted through the high windows of the Shinobi Academy gymnasium, catching the dust motes kicked up by two dozen pairs of scurrying feet. For most students, the end of Physical Education meant the end of the day’s struggle. For Ninja Auzhai, it was the start of a different kind of battle: the transition back to the shadows.
One second he was standing by the lockers; the next, there was only the lingering scent of ozone and the faint vibration of the vent cover clicking back into place.