Chapter 4: The First Showdown: Hunter Ninjas vs. Yorukō
Date Posted: 23-May-2021
Author's note: Another chapter out? Nani? Now that I'm done with exams, my aim is to finish a few of these chapters so we get to the part where our main character meets the ones that are listed on the fanfiction, as well as the eventual meeting with Kazuma, something that'll be epic in and of its own right.
Remember to R&R! I'm getting a bit more excited writing this story, really brings out my ability to write stuff of this nature.
And as always, stay blessed, be happy, and have a good day!
As the group of hunter ninjas went in pursuit of Yorukō, the other group were tasked to find Yuina and bring her back to the "Taiyōkage" for him to continue 'speaking with the girl.' With the second group pursuing the girl, Anna was feeling confused with the order. With the way he ordered them to capture the girl, it was more of punishing her than just having a friendly chat with her. While she was thinking about this more, she began to space out and leer from her journey, something one of her teammates caught onto.
"Anna!" her teammate called, which caused the girl to return to reality, "Keep it together!"
"S-Sorry," said Anna, "what were you saying?"
"I was saying that we need to split up," her teammate remarked, "that way if we find Yuina, we can bring her back to Lord Taiyōkage."
He pulled out three pieces of blank paper, something like the chakra paper used to check one's affinity and handed it to the others, much to their confusion.
"Use this when one of us finds Yuina, it'll alert the others of your location and it'll help us to capture her with little to no problems." They all nodded to themselves before scattering across the village to find the girl.
With the Hunter Ninjas…
Within the Taiyōkage giving them the order to kill Yorukō, the three hunters wasted no time in leaving the village, each carrying their own special equipment. For the much larger Zankoku, he had a completely silver broadsword from the hilt to the blade which was sheathed and placed on his back. Shū had two tantō blades, one white and the other red. He had these placed on opposing sides of his hip which allowed him to retrieve them with ease. Kori had a unique sword unlike her teammates, the blade having diamond cutouts running down the middle of the blade. She kept her sword in a similar fashion to Yorukō and Yuina, placing it on her back in a diagonal pattern.
The trio did not talk to each other much during their journey, only relying on Kori's sensor skills to try and track the now wanted ninja down. Hating that they only talk when she's updating them on his whereabouts, Shū caught up to Kori and decided to try and spark up a conversation with the girl.
"Kori," he began, "I couldn't help but notice you addressed Yorukō as 'Yorukō-kun'. I'm guessing you know him personally?"
"Oh that," replied the girl, "I guess you could say I knew him personally."
"What do you mean?" asked Shū, wishing to know more. It was no secret that when he was off-duty, Shū was known to be a bit of a gossip amongst the village, knowing any information to spread was his joy.
"Well," Kori said, a tiny blush forming on her face, "he was my boyfriend."
That caught Shū off guard, causing him to almost fall. "Boyfriend?! You mean to tell me that Yorukō, who stays home almost all the time, had a girlfriend?!"
"Yep!" Kori replied.
"How? When?" Shū asked, his curiosity at its peak.
"About a few months after he became an ANBU. I mean, he didn't really know we were together until a year into our relationship."
"What do you mean, he 'didn't know'?" Shū asked, getting confused.
"Well, I may or may not have used genjutsu on him…" an embarrassed Kori replied.
"I'm sorry, what? Genjutsu?"
"Yeah, genjutsu." Kori answered, "You see, I was afraid that he wouldn't like me back, so I may or may not have found his records and saw that he was MASSIVELY weak to genjutsu, something I excel at, so I hit him with one and made him more receptive to me."
"And I thought Zankoku was the crazy one," Shū inwardly cringed, "Wait, he's weak to genjutsu? That's helpful to know."
"How did he find out?" Shū asked.
"His dad. He saw that he was under a genjutsu and released it from the outside and revealed that it was me who had him under control."
"How did Yorukō's dad know it was you?" Shū curiously asked.
"Turns out he's a master at sensing, one of the best in the elemental nations. It's said he can figure out the specific person's chakra amongst multiple others."
"What did Yorukō do when he found this out?" asked the man.
"He found me and told me to stay away from him." Kori said, her expression turning into a sad one. "All I did was make him think he loved me!"
"What you did was wrong on so many levels, Kori," Shū thought to himself, "but I'm not going to say anything on that one. At least he's away from a crazy like you."
"You two done yapping back there?" Zankoku asked, his tone coming off as more demanding than normal.
"Y-Yeah," said Shū, "we're done."
"Good, now look over there." Zankoku said, pointing at the scene of the murders, more specifically the ice left behind.
"Seems those guys who recovered the bodies did a shitty job bringing the evidence back," Zankoku remarked, "At least it'll make it easier for us." Glancing at Kori, the girl understood what he wanted her to do and went to go examine the ice. At first, she only placed her right hand on a shard as she began sensing the stray chakra. After a few moments, the ice completely melted, Kori's right hand encased in chakra.
Flashing through some seals with her left hand, she kept her right hand steady so that the chakra on it wouldn't be agitated.
"Hunter Art: Radar Search!" Kori incanted, the chakra in her right hand began to fuse into it, turning into a small sonar in the middle of said hand.
"Thank them for leaving it, and thank Yorukō-kun for being so sloppy," said Kori, "At least we'll know where he is now; this jutsu takes stray chakra from anyone and turns it into a tracker that can be used to guide us in the direction of the person of interest, which then goes away when that person is found, or if they suppress themselves."
"Good job Kori," Zankoku said, a grin forming on his face, "You lead us to him."
Nodding, Kori looked in the middle of her hand, noticing that Yorukō hasn't suppressed his chakra, and took off in the direction the sonar gives, her teammates following soon after.
With Yorukō…
The young boy kept hopping from tree to tree in search of a nearby village to get food. He started to think he was being followed and strayed off-course, finding a nearby cave to camp in. Once he was situated inside the cave, he popped yet another soldier pill and lowered his chakra as to not be detected.
"Damn it, why can't I shake this feeling?" Yorukō asked to himself, "There's no way I'm being followed, at least not this fast. What was the Taiyōkage thinking, telling me to do something like that? Better yet, why did I even do it?"
"No sense in dwelling on it now. I need to leave and find shelter in a village so I can eat some good food, I was told if I eat three soldier pills on empty stomachs, I can die on the third one."
Quickly exiting the cave, Yorukō took to the trees, hoping to increase his speed by hopping on the branches. The missing ninja stopped at different branches he hopped on, taking a paper bomb out of his pouch and placed them on the tree before continuing to dash through the terrain. Suddenly, before he could put another bomb on the tree he landed on, a kunai was thrown directly at him, barely missing the boy but managed to graze his cheek a little. Yorukō did not have much time to respond to this as more kunai knives were thrown at him, causing him to jump off the tree and take cover. After the rain of kunai knives ceased, he left his cover and went into the open forest.
"Who's there? Come out!" he beckoned.
Suddenly, three shinobi emerged from the high tree branches and jumped down to face Yorukō head on. Two of the shinobi were unmasked, the third one opting to keep her mask on.
"Hasegawa Yorukō-san," Shū spoke up, "We are tasked with killing you. Please don't take this personally."
"Kill me?" Yorukō replied, "By the looks of it, you three are all part of the hunter unit in the Frost Village. Humor me, who gave you this order?"
"You deserve to learn nothing, boy!" Zankoku snapped, answering before Shū. "Traitors deserve only death!"
"Now, now, Zankoku-san," Shū calmly said, "It's only fair we answer his question, right? It's not like he's going to outlast all three of us."
Looking back to Yorukō, he said, "The Taiyōkage ordered your execution. Such a shame, really – you were one of the best shinobi this village ever had to offer. Kind of weird to want to kill such talent, but a job's a job, right?"
Shū's last comment caused Yorukō to snap. While he expected to be pursued by hunter ninjas, he never expected it to be the Taiyōkage, the same man who told him to kill his comrades and flee to be the one to send the hunters. Taking his forehead protector from his belt and placing it on his head, he took one last glance at the three shinobi facing him.
"Why put on that forehead protector?" Shū asked, "It's not as if it will help you any."
"It's not that it will help me," replied Yorukō, "it's mostly for the fact that this'll be the last time I'll ever be associating myself with the Frost Village."
"Touching," said Shū, "A job's a job, so why-"
"Let me fight him alone." Zankoku cut in, much to Shū's annoyance. Before he could retort, Zankoku placed his hand in front of Shū's face, silencing him.
"This kid's so arrogant it won't even take all three of us to kill him and destroy his body. I'll do it alone."
Both Shū and Kori stayed silent, opting to retreat to the tree branches they emerged on.
Looking at Yorukō, Zankoku cracked his knuckles, back, and neck, removing all tension in his body. He took a deep breath, taking in the intoxicating scent of the forest in the process. Without another word spoken between the two, Yorukō and Zankoku dashed towards each other, beginning a fight where one has everything to lose and one with everything to gain…
Reader: Cliffhanger?! I thought it'd go down, like what you told us in the note!
Ancient: Sorry about that, if I were to do the complete fight scene in this one chapter, it'll DEFINITELY be too long, y'know?
Reader: I-I guess, but you better give us a jolly good show!
Ancient: I gotchu, homie!
Remember to R&R! It gives me joy reading your comments, I mean it! And as always, stay blessed, be good, and be happy! Peace!
Next Chapter: Zankoku vs. Yorukō – Endurance, Part 1