It turned out that the brat was surprising well adapted in forests, if the ease and speed he was going at was anything to go by. She gave him a ten minute heard start, but it looked like she would have to get moving if she want to have some fun.
At first, his steps were slightly clumsy, probably due to the size and weight of the sword, since his trail was quite visible: A dented bark here, a crushed sapling there, a foot print elsewhere. These things made it quite easy to follow him and she only had to use the bare minimum of her tracking skills to gauge his path. The signs grew less and less as time passed however, and it appears that he has gotten used to it.
He stayed on the ground instead of on the trees, unlike most ninja. Does he not know how to? Hokage-sama did say his charka control was terrible.
Anko leapt from tree to tree with an ease that only came with experience. She wondered if he'll run away with the sword, with it being so valuable and all. That is, she thought, if Konoha actually have such sword.
The truth was that there was no sword called Zangetsu. They only made it up to see if Yusuke was trustworthy and reliable enough with 'Konoha's treasure.' Of course, it's also to see how well he can survive in the wilderness. The difficultness of holding the sword was also on purpose, to test his physical strength. Anko's presence was to understand his personality. To know whether he would underestimate woman or not, was he susceptible to seduction, and if he would fall to prey and be afraid of another's bloodlust.
The other part was true though. His rank does depend on how well he did to reach the end of the forest. Anko suspected he was somewhere her level, if not higher. Doesn't mean I can't have fun, though.
Xxx
Yusuke was getting annoyed and bored. He was honestly looking forward to this, since there were little people to spar with. Back in Demon World, although many love to fight, few were up to his caliber. Those who were would fight him, but not as often as he would like, since they have business to take care of. Only Hiei was as bored as him, so they spared often. Sadly, they spared so frequently that it came to the point where they could normally predict each other's movement. Therefore, the two adversary spent most of their time dodging attacks that they could already predict instead of their desperately want of punching the daylight out of each other.
Now, Yusuke was by no means a sadist or a masochist but he hardly could consider it a brawl without at least a few bruise. The point he was getting at was simply that he was disappointed that no one came to fight him yet, especially after all this high expectation.
He sighed as he jumped over a fallen branch, the sword he swung over his bag scrapping yet another tree trunk. Hopefully that won't leave a mark on the sword. It if does… well, no one ever said Yusuke wasn't a vindictive bastard.
Suddenly, he was aware of something was heading towards him. He leaned back a slightly, dodging it was the minimum of effort on his part. It would have looked so much better if he didn't almost topple over, failing to factor in the sword's weight on his back.
"I found you," Anko sang out, almost giddy.
"Hey," he called out when he regained his balance. "I thought you use senbons. What are these?" he inquired, holding up a kunai.
Her lips curved to a nasty smile. "You don't think I'll reveal all tricks I have up my sleeve, do you?" Her eyes sharpen to one of a predator, and without any preamble, threw a barrage of kunai at the teen.
Yusuke hastily dodged, but speed was never his forte and he was hit by quite a few of those weapons. All he could say was they hurt a hell lot more than senbons. On the bright side, I can finally fight.
Suddenly, the air was getting hotter and hotter. What?
"Katon: Ryuka no jutsu," was all he heard before fire rushed at him.
Anko stood there watching impassively as the fire head towards him. The brat won't even know what hit him. Her eyes then caught a flash of blue. Water jutsu?
"Spirit gun!" Yusuke shouted, the force of his energy splitting the ball of fire in half. He quickly followed, coming out unscathed. In Anko's surprise, she wasn't prepared when he rushed at her, throwing a quick jab. Reflexively, she dodged, only for him to throw his other fist at her.
She slid off the branch at the force of the punch, flipping over to land on her feet. As soon as she did, he was there again. She danced back, realizing he probably prefer close-combat, something she wasn't good at. She needed distance between them.
It didn't work. She heard another "Spirit gun," although it was much smaller than the one before. She did another Dragon Fire Technique, making the necessary hand signs, purposely matching the amount of chakra he used, and blew. Not waiting to see the outcome, she then took out a few kunai and threw it after the fire so Yusuke-chan would be pleasantly surprised. This was getting more interesting.
Xxx
"Crap. Again?" he asked, watching his spirit gun collided with Anko's technique. He impatiently waited for it to clear up, not one to back out of a fight. However, by the time he could see after they canceled out each other, Anko was nowhere near. "Damn," he said as he dodged the 'knifes.'
He slid out of his fighting stance, but remained alert. Briefly, he considered chasing her, but his sense at sensing energy was so bad that he'll probably get lost. With a sigh, he pulled out the 'knifes' that actually got him. None of them were bad, not that he could do anything about it, of course. So with no other option, he simply continued his way.
Xxx
What the…? He have been running for what seemed to be hours but no matter how long or fast he ran, he didn't seem to be getting any closer to the end. It's like he was walking in circles…
"Nii-san, help me with this. I don't get it!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Get what?" Yusuke asked, sitting next to Naruto on the coach. He sipped his cup of coffee.
"This," he answered, pointing at the page titled Genjutsu.
"Genjutsu techniques manipulate the flow of chakra in the victim's brain, thus causing a disruption in their senses," he read out loud." They are created when a ninja extends their chakra flow through the cerebral nervous system of their opponent to control their mind's chakra, thereby affecting their five senses. While this is often used to create false images or to cause pain from trauma, there are plenty of other uses depending on the situation."
The last few words echoed through his mind. Could this be… a genjutsu? But… he would have felt it, right? As soon as he thought that, he wanted to slap his head. He did feel something. It felt unusual and everything, but he dismissed it since he was used to it. He blamed Hiei. The Shorty hates talking and everything, so sometimes he used his Jagan to 'talk' directly to him. People also won't over hear their conversation that way.
Yusuke have gotten used to Jagan's intrusion and as a result, didn't think much of the much smaller ones. Especially since Hiei always use Jagan to 'poke' his mind to know he was there, respecting his privacy. Times he doesn't, well… he still remembered the time when Jaganshi rummaged through his past thoughts because "he was bored."
Years of living didn't cure Hiei's insensitivity and his action left a tear in his mind barrier when Yusuke desperately tried to pull Hiei's intrusion out of the deep inner parts of his mind. After that, for weeks he was plagued by nightmares of everyone he killed or failed to save. During the day, doubts remained on his mind. He became afraid to fight, because he never thought through his actions while enjoying a brawl and with his new found power, killing a being was sometimes as easy as snubbing out an ant. He went through a period where he stopped fighting just as Raizen stopped eating.
When Hiei found out, he paid him a visit. That was probably the only time he have seen the fire demon so apologetic and truly regretful. He promised to give him a 'poke' whenever he goes into his mind to talk telepathy and taught him the proper way to push unwanted intrusion out. He also used his Jagan to guard his mind whenever he sleeps. Yusuke stopped having nightmares, but the doubts remained. That was when his other friends stepped in.
Those who he can fight against with full strength went and made him fight them one by one, each reminding him that he can always find them if he wants a brawl. That day, he lost to each one of them badly, even to Chu when he was sober.
"Don't get cocky," they said after beating him up, "there's no way you can kill us even if you want to." Then, they extended their hands out, and Yusuke gratefully took it. That was one of the few times after being a half-demon that he cried, and never before had he felt so light. After that, he rarely thought about the past mistakes and soon went back to the brawl loving Yusuke that they all know.
Hiei probably never forgot the incident though, every time he 'poke' his mind and Yusuke never forgot the things he learned.
Who would have ever thought it would be useful one day? He mused. Yusuke shook off his somber mood and grinned, trying to remember Hiei's instruction.
"If you want someone out of your mind, you have to force them out. Your mind is your own, so you are in control of it. If you want someone out, they will get out if your mind and will is stronger than theirs. If not, disrupt your flow of energy. It can be anything from stopping it for a second or speeding it up. If it still doesn't work, a physical sense of pain should get them out."
Yusuke concentrated intensely. Controlling his spirit energy was never his forte. He put an imaginary block, cutting his flow of energy and making him feel incredibly uncomfortable, like someone cutting off the flow of blood. Then, he gathered the spirit energy and gave a heavy push, causing his energy to rush through him for a second. His finger tingled like a pre-spirit gun. When his energy finally flowed at a normal pace, he looked up and knew something was different.
Xxx
Anko's eyes eventually went back to Yusuke-chan. This is so boring. It has been five hours since she trapped him in that genjutsu. Just how long does it take for him to realize he is walking in circles? She wished she could just stop it so she could draw some blood but no... she had to see how well rounded he was.
He apparently had no knowledge of shinobi's weapons whatsoever, if his reaction to senbons and kunai wasn't a big neon sign. He could use a ninjutsu, she guessed, if that 'spirit gun' counts, although she honestly couldn't figure out what affinity was that. His taijutsu was great, since he prefers close combat and had a terribly strong punch. Her stomach still sports the bruise, so his strength was also great. Intelligence, not as much and neither was genjutsu, since he still didn't escape. Great stamina too, and okay speed for a civilian…
Then a terrible thought came to her. He's not originally a ninja so he might never realize he was in a genjutsu and with his stamina, it was going to be a while before he tire out. And she had to stay and observe. No…! I want dango…
She came out of her bemoaning when he suddenly stopped. She leaned forward in great anticipation. Did he finally realize? She stared and stared, but he only stood there. Birds were chirping, squirrels were running, centipedes were… right behind her. She spun around, kunai already in hand and was faced with two crazily large centipedes. Crap.
She jumped back, not wanting to confront since that would alert Yusuke-chan of her presence, but they attacked. She threw five kunai at them just as she heard "spirit gun." She turned her head slightly to see a blast of pure blue energy heading towards her.
She cursed. She didn't know how powerful those 'spirit guns' are and didn't really want to find out. It was her fault for getting distracted, though, and now she pays the price. She braced herself for the impact.
She could imagine and hear it so clearly: The blast of energy hitting against skin and it exploding. Wait, what? She opened her eyes, only to be greeted with exploded remains of the centipedes. She quickly used Body Flicker but was a second too late, and the corpses, green goo and all, fell on her.
Xxx
Yusuke tried resisting the urge to chortle. He really did. But the look Anko had on her face when she finally climbed out of the mess was as funny as hell. He thought his face was red from trying to hold back the mirth, and honestly believes that at that rate, his face would also explode. That would do any good, right? So he doubled over and laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more at her even more tomato-like face.
He only stopped when she threw a 'knife' at a very, very dangerous and off limit place. Somewhere near the lower region. Then, he saw the Devil. It was truthfully one of the scariest things he has ever seen. He had years of experience of fighting demons, but at that moment, the Devil in front of him was more demon than anything else. He did a reasonable thing. He ran, with a variety of weapons flying behind him. Oh, and don't forget about fire and plenty of snakes.
For all the Toushin that Yusuke was, he never thought through his action and consequences. That just happened to be one of them. But on the bright side, he got out of the forest at a record of time… from the location of the centipedes to the gate, that is. With a very green looking Anko at his tail.
Double the usual update in terms of words! I feel so proud of myself. Sorry to say Zangetsu is only an one-time appearance. I love him, but the story would be all messed up if I threw him in, cause I'll try to throw other people in as well.
And the information about genjutsu once again, as you all know it, came from naruto wikia.
Notes:
"Everyone he killed or failed to save": If you read the YYH manga, you would know that Koenma's father was brainwashing weak demons to make them attack humans and portray the Spirit World as the Human World's protectors. Yusuke's feeling guilty because those who he killed in the past might actually be innocent. The "failed to save," as everyone know, refers to the Human World ending episode.
Centipedes: "She threw five kunai at them just as she heard 'spirit gun.'" Anko could have easily taken care of the centipedes, but Yusuke just happen to like saving people. If I didn't make it clear enough, Anko thought Yusuke was shooting at her, being the pessimist that she was.
