Chapter 3: The Dark Truth
Date Posted: 20-May-2021
Author's Note: Another chapter! I've been busy with exams and packing up out of my dorm, but I won't use that as an excuse to not even try to be consistent. Once this chapter is posted – hence you are reading this, I'll have chapter 4 at least halfway or almost done. My aim is to have at best 7 chapters out before Saturday or in the worst-case scenario, have them all but unpublished.
FoamPip: Hopefully this chapter clears up anything with why he was given that order to do what he had to do in his mission.
Stay blessed and have a good week!
After murdering his teammates and leaving Yuina alive, Yorukō was seen dashing through the forest, hoping not to run into anyone until he was a good distance away from the scene. He decided to leave the sword he didn't use with the girl, thinking to himself that being the right thing to do. Secretly, he wanted to just take her along with him especially after her confession, but ultimately decided against it, not wanting to drag her in anything she didn't want to do.
Oh, how wrong that thought will end up being.
As he continued dashing through the forest, his stomach began to rumble. Cursing to himself, he took a soldier pill out and ate it, continuing his journey.
"At this rate I'll pass out if I keep running and relying on soldier pills," Yorukō thought to himself, "I'd best find somewhere to eat soon."
"Now that I think about it," he said out loud to no one in particular, "why would a leader order me to kill my teammates, let alone take such a drastic measure just to leave the village?"
That caused him to stop and really think about what he said out loud. It didn't really make much sense. If a shinobi wants time off, he or she could just ask their leader for said time off, or even ask to be laid off duty.
"No sense dwelling over it now," the boy said before taking off once more, "I still killed my own comrades, and while a little part of me enjoyed it, I'm still going to be hunted eventually."
Again, he did not know how right he was at that declaration.
"I just hope Yuina-chan is alright."
With Yuina…
A four-man squad of Frost Shinobi were sent to check out the SOS they received from the elder shinobi before he was slain. It was unclear when he did it but he managed to send out a subtle type of signal just before he was eventually killed. As the group got closer to the sight, all of them could not help but revolt at what they saw. Pushing those feelings aside they went closer to the bodies, each of them pulling out scrolls. With each of them doing a ram sign, body bags appeared out of the scroll, each shinobi preparing to put the remains in each one before sealing them back into the scroll.
One of the shinobi went to place Yuina into a body bag when they realized she was holding a sword. Thinking she was dead, they tried to remove it from her clutch when she made an unconscious attempt to keep ahold of the sword.
"Guys! One of them is alive!" the shinobi exclaimed, the rest of them running over to the girl.
"Perfect," another shinobi commented, "with her alive, she's the key witness to the murders. Let's pack it up and bring her back." The other shinobi nodded in agreeance.
"Let me carry her," a female member of the squad spoke up, "I don't trust you perverts enough, especially the one with a lecherous grin on his face."
Said shinobi turned away in embarrassment. The others shrugged; glad they do not have to carry her back to the village.
"Just don't lag behind us, okay?"
Nodding, the female shinobi of the group took the sword she held and placed it inside a blue scroll before placing Yuina over her right shoulder. Soon after, they all dashed back into the direction of the village, eager to tell the Taiyōkage of their findings. The group made the journey to the village in a day, which is rather fast considering it took the first group two days to get to that forest they were found in.
Upon arriving to the village, the female shinobi took Yuina to the hospital for her to recover. The other shinobi began making their way to the Taiyōkage's office. As the trio walked in silence, it was not until they were close to the office that they began talking amongst themselves.
"So, who do you think did it?" one shinobi spoke up.
"I have no idea," one responded, "from what I was told, it was a squad of five people. We only recovered – if you want to call it that – four people."
"You're right, that shouldn't even be considered a recovery. It was more like a massacre." The last shinobi spoke up, "Oh well. I'm fairly sure we'll get our answers soon. I just hope we can capture the one who did this!"
As the three entered the building, they greeted the receptionist at the front, wishing her a good day in the process. It was not long until they arrived at the Taiyōkage's office, one knocking on his door to which he beckoned them to enter. Upon entering, each of them taking a knee, their heads bowed down.
"I see your retrieval mission was a success," the Taiyōkage spoke up, "I don't see all of you here though. Where is the other shinobi I dispatched?"
"We found a female who was unconscious, my lord," said a shinobi, "she offered to take her to the hospital to check on her vitals, just to make sure she is alright."
"So, he spared Yuina," thought the Taiyōkage, "that'll be an interesting story to hear from her."
"Alright, thank you for the report. You will receive payment for this mission, which will be between the end of the day to tomorrow. If there is nothing else, you are all dismissed. Let the other shinobi know that she needs to report to me and have her bring Yuina."
"Understood, my lord," said one of the shinobi as they all stood up at the same time, "we'll make sure the message is delivered." With that declaration, each men walked out of the room, making their way to the hospital.
At the Hospital…
Upon arriving with the unconscious girl, Yuina was placed in a room where they checked her vitals and made sure she was still breathing properly (you know, the standard bed stuff in a hospital). The female shinobi who brought her to the hospital decided to stay behind and wait for the girl to wake up, partly to ask her what she saw and why she had that sword, but mostly to make sure she was alright. Looking at the girl, she wondered who would put their hands on such a beauty in such a harmful manner.
Some time passed and Yuina finally woke up from her pain-induced slumber. Sitting up, she took the time to look around slowly and scan her surroundings, it did not take the girl long to realize that she was back in a hospital room.
"Where am I?" Yuina asked out loud.
"You're back home in the Frost Village, dear," the woman replied, "we found you unconscious and brought you back here. Your comrades weren't so lucky as you are though."
That comment reminded Yuina why she was unconscious in the first place. Immediately jumping out of the bed, she made a dash for the door to escape, only to be stopped by the more experienced woman.
"Let me go!" Yuina exclaimed, "I can't afford to be here when Yorukō-kun is out there!"
"Yorukō? The same boy who joined the ANBU unit here?" the woman asked.
"Yes!"
"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to leave until we see the Taiyōkage, and with you awake it'll make it much easier."
Resigned to her fate with not being able to escape, Yuina walked back to her bed, sitting on it in the process. Noticing her defeated expression, the older shinobi decided to try and ask her about stuff in an attempt to lighten the mood. Remembering she had something belonging to him, the woman took out the blue scroll containing his sword.
"Here," said the older woman, tossing the scroll to Yuina who caught it, "Inside that scroll is that sword you were holding. I didn't want to carry it and you at the same time."
"Thank you," Yuina said appreciatively, "That reminds me, what is your name?"
"Just call me Anna." The older woman, now Anna, replied. Yuina nodded and focused her attention on the scroll.
"You'll need to release it by pumping some chakra into the scroll and using the ram sign." Anna said.
The girl did just that, pulling the scroll open, pumping some of her chakra into it and releasing it using the ram sign as she was told. Taking some time to look at the sword, there was a scabbard attached to it, which she used to place on her back.
"I gotta say, that sword looks good on you." Anna complimented.
"Thanks," said Yuina, "Which reminds me, weren't we supposed to go to the Taiyōkage?"
Almost on cue, there was a knock on the door; the three other shinobi arriving to check if Yuina was awake. "Come in!" said Anna, the door opening, revealing said shinobi.
"Looks like we got here just in time, Anna-san," one shinobi said, "time for us to go."
"Right," said Anna, who turned to face Yuina, "let's go, we don't want to keep the Taiyōkage waiting. Faster we report, the better." The four shinobi walked out of the room, each heading back to the Taiyōkage's office.
"Y-Yeah…" said Yuina as she got up from the bed and made her way to the door herself. "Now that I think about it, nothing in Yorukō-kun's 'mission' makes any sense." Shoving that thought to the back of her mind for later, she continued with her journey to the office.
Arriving last at the office due to taking a slower route, Yuina was surprised to see no one in the Taiyōkage's office upon her arrival.
"Yuina," the Taiyōkage spoke, "So good to have you here. I hope you are doing well."
"Doing a little bit better, Taiyōkage-sama, thanks for asking. I'm confused – where is everyone else?"
"They weren't needed for our little chat," said the kage, "so I sent them to handle their own business until they're needed again." The girl nodded at his response. Looking at the sword over her back, he realized that it belonged to Yorukō, which confused the Taiyōkage tremendously.
"Why do you have that sword? You do know who it belongs to, right?"
Yuina nodded. "Yorukō-kun gave it to me before he knocked me out."
"I see. That brings me to the next point. You witnessed him murder his comrades, right?"
Remembering the fear she felt last night, she slowly nodded, not being able to process any words at what she saw.
Seeing this as a sign of confirmation, the Taiyōkage continued, "Unfortunately, because of that he will be placed in the bingo books as a missing ninja with an A-Rank threat and a bounty of 20 million ryō, many shinobi from this village, bounty hunters, and even enemy ninja will try to kill him or capture him for his bounty."
"You can't do that!" Yuina protested.
"And why not?" countered the Taiyōkage.
"Because you gave him that mission!"
The Taiyōkage froze. Did she hear the full details of the mission he gave to Yorukō? Quickly regaining his composure, he placed his arms on his desk, placing his head on his hands.
"You actually heard that, huh?" the Taiyōkage inquired, "Normally I would have eavesdroppers barred from duties for a while, but in your case, I won't do anything…providing you give me that sword you're carrying."
Yuina couldn't believe what she was hearing. Why would the Taiyōkage be interested in a sword? Stepping closer to the door, he tried to make a move capturing her, but she got to the door in time to run away before using a shunshin to flee the scene when she was a safe distance away from the office.
Soon after she left, the rather peeved kage pressed a button on the desk which summoned the four shinobi he sent to retrieve Yuina and company. Noticing his demeanor, no one dared say anything lest they risk his wrath as well.
"I need you four to capture Yuina and bring her back to me," the Taiyōkage finally spoke, "we never got to finish our chat. Go." Without wasting any time, the four shinobi vanished from the office to try and capture said girl. Sighing to himself, he pressed another button on his desk, summoning three masked shinobi in the process.
In almost no time, said three shinobi appeared in front of the Taiyōkage, each wearing animal masks.
"Remove your masks," instructed the Taiyōkage, "I have a special mission for you three."
Complying with his order, each shinobi removed their mask, revealing two males and one female underneath. The first male codenamed Shū had a lean figure, his toned muscles around his body being brought out more by his ninja gear, a blue long-sleeved shirt and matching pants. His silver eyes were prominently shown as he had his hair neatly placed in a ponytail, some of it being left out which went down to his neck. The second male, Zankoku was much larger and more muscular than Shū, his towering 6.5-foot frame being enhanced by his large muscles. His right cheek was scarred due to a mission he was on years ago which happened to be the only injury he received on that mission, while murdering his enemies in cold blood. Citing hair as weakness, he shaved it completely bald, which somehow brought out his raging red eyes more. The female member of the squad, Kori, looks to be around the same age as Yorukō, her petite frame covered up mostly due to the baggy gear she wore. She had her blue hair done in braids, placing most of them on the right side of her face, giving people a better look at her matching blue eyes. To complete her icy look, her lipstick was a similar color, something that she valued dearly.
"I have a mission for the three of you. You are instructed to kill – not capture – Yorukō Hasegawa."
"Yorukō-kun?" Kori said, "I haven't heard that name in forever!"
"If I may ask, my lord," Shū began, "why do we need to kill him? What did he do?"
"He murdered three men in his squad before fleeing. We can't have someone of his caliber out there unpunished now, can we?"
The three shinobi did not show any sign of emotion following that revelation. Each of them remained silent as the Taiyōkage continued his speech.
"You three are a part of the Frost Village's Hunter Squad, considered to be one of the best hunting units in the entire shinobi world. I trust that you will get the job done?"
"Yes, Lord Taiyōkage," said Zankoku as a sick grin formed on his face and cracked his knuckles, "We'll make sure he gets his punishment!"
"Sadist." Both Shū and Kori thought at the same time while looking slightly creeped out at the more muscular man.
"When do we leave?" Shū asked.
"Within an hour. It's been almost two days since this happened, which means he won't be far from the scene."
The three shinobi vanished after hearing that bit of information as they wasted no time in leaving the village in pursuit of killing Yorukō.
After those three shinobi left the office, the Taiyōkage began to laugh to himself. It went on for a couple of minutes before he wiped some tears from his eyes and began to change into another being completely.
"The plan is going as smoothly as it could be," the now-imposter Taiyōkage said, "killing that old bag was the best thing I could've done. No, scratch that, sending that boy to do that was the best thing I could've done. If he stayed in this village long enough for when our truth is spread to the people, he would definitely try to oppose me, or even see through this transformation. As for the girl, she's too liable to try and do the same thing as he would; it's clear as day she has feelings for him and would support him." Pulling a cigar from his drawer, he placed it in his mouth and lit it up.
"Now, once these idiots do what I tell them to do, there will be no one brave enough to challenge Okiri-sama's truth…"
The imposter turned back into the Taiyōkage, making sure there would be no one seeing his true form.
Chapter 4: The First Showdown: Hunter Ninjas vs. Yorukō
And boom! Finished with this chapter. It may get a bit confusing in the end parts, but I promise you, *excuse my French*, shit's gonna go down in this next chapter, and I mean some shit is really gonna go down.
Remember to R&R, stay safe, and stay blessed!