Ch. 4 Patrol Mission

(En Route to Northeast Border)

Thank god I'd been prepared for this mission.

With the maddening pace that the chunin had set from the get go, it was really testing everything I had to make sure I stayed on their heels.

Once again, I was reminded of the fact that even chunin shinobi in this world had physical abilities that were inhuman compared to my old world.

We had been in a dead sprint for nearly four hours, and if it wasn't for my Anti-Gravity Seals and chakra enhanced movement, I would have collapsed a quarter of the way in.

At first, I was hesitant to activate the Anti-Gravity Seals that I'd sketched onto my torso – having just begun to test the functions, I wasn't sure how it would hold up after a long period of use. But the choices were either improvise with the seal, or lag behind like the other genins had.

The seal itself was a rather simple arrangement. It utilized the same array as those Weight Seals, but with a negative gravity modification. The only complication with the seal was that it required a constant flow of chakra to maintain active. The more weight reduced, the more chakra the seal siphoned. At my current level, a 10% gravity reduction was the most that I can activate while sustaining the seal for more than a few hours.

Combined with the amount that I was expending with my chakra enhanced movements, my reserves were depleting at a decent rate. From my estimate, I would still be able to continue at this pace for a good few hours, which I hoped was enough to last until our designated lunch break.

It was far from ideal, but without question it was preferred over the alternative of slowing down. Judging by the way Nanami was beginning to lose his cool, I was more than happy to avoid the tongue-lashing that those other genin were no doubt to receive.

I could tell that the chunins were already holding back from moving at their normal pace; this speed which was at a near sprint for me was almost like a leisurely jog for them.

Hana and her ninkens took point in our formation, while Nanami navigated from the second position. I was somewhere in the middle, trailing closely behind a pair of my squad mates. One of the other veteran chunins, Tekki, brought up the rear. But with the way that the other three genin were falling behind, they'd slowly begun to disappear from view.

Seeing Nanami's signal up ahead, the group slowed to a halt as we awaited his orders.

"We'll take a break earlier than scheduled." Nanami announced, as I let out a silent sigh in relief. "You have twenty minutes; make sure you stay within sight of one another."

I deactivated the Anti-Gravity Weight Seals and nearly felt my knees buckle from the added weight. Sagging against the tree branch I'd been standing on, I took a second to catch my breath, hoping to regenerate what chakra I could while we rested.

(Nanami POV)

"We're behind schedule." Nanami grumbled as he discussed their current situation with his second-in-command. "With the speed at which we're going, it's going to be midnight long before we ever make it to the first checkpoint."

"Well we can't go any faster can we?" Hana asked rhetorically as the other three genin finally came stumbling into the clearing, immediately collapsing to the ground. Tekki, the chunin bringing up the rear, followed closely behind as he sported an annoyed look on his face.

"Tch. What kind of kids are they allowing to graduate these days?" Nanami shook his head before glancing towards Yuji. "Only one of them seems remotely capable."

"We must get to the border before nightfall." Nanami continued as he studied the map. "If we're late to the check-in with the Land of Iron's patrol team, and who knows how long it'll take to get that report scroll from them again."

"What are you suggesting?" Hana asked.

"We'll have to split the team here. I'll take one group at double speed and try to make up some ground, and you take the second group with the rest of the brats at whatever pace they're capable of."

"Are you sure that's the best choice?" Hana questioned with a hint of concern. "There's always a chance of running into something, and with a group of genin…"

"I've already made my decision." The squad leader declared. "We're way behind schedule as is, and we can't afford any more delays."

With the way that the other genin struggled to catch their breaths, there was no doubt that their pace was only going to slow down even further as they went.

"There's no villages or remote settlements along the path that we're taking." He continued. "The chances of running into hostiles or civilians in general are extremely low. I'd rather make up some time than stay back to babysit a group of genin. If anything happens, our group will likely come in contact with them first anyway. "

"You, Tekki, and Udo will stay with Todoki, Noemi, Iwazuki, and I'll take Yuji with my group." Nanami continued. "We'll rendezvous at the chosen location where we'll set up camp. Understood?"

With a nod from his second-in-command, Nanami set off to inform the rest of the team.

(Yuji POV)

I closed my eyes in grimace as I swallowed half of that bitter black capsule, the taste – a mixture of wet mud and tree bark.

What the hell do they even put in this thing?

Pushing down the bile with a large gulp of water, I instantly felt a jolt throughout my body as the soldier pill took effect.

It was close to midday, and it seems we have much more ground to cover after this break. The gravity seal, despite being set to a relatively low setting, was still siphoning a good amount of my chakra every hour.

And with me being placed in the first group, who knows what this increased pace was going to be?

Hopefully, half a soldier pill should be enough to last the remaining portion of this sprint; I could only pray that the side effect doesn't hit me until later tonight.

"Two minutes!" The squad leader announced as the rest of the team began preparing for the second leg of our journey.

I pushed my sluggish body off the ground as I activated the Anti-Gravity Weight Seal once again.

By the time we finally made it to our checkpoint, I was ready to collapse into a pile of mud.

Miraculously, I had not been left in the dust despite the insane blitz speed that was set. They weren't lying when they said they said double-speed; my sheer stubbornness was the only thing that kept me from lagging behind.

We arrived by the border with just a shred of daylight remaining, and just in time too, to receive whatever documents that scroll contained from the Land of Iron's team. If they were annoyed by our late arrival, they hid it well behind those samurai masks.

In any case, we scouted out a nearby area and set up camp soon after. The four of us worked efficiently in what daylight we had left, and I had to push through the withdrawal symptoms that were slowly setting in from the chakra exhaustion.

It had taken all that I had and more just to make sure I stayed on their heels. The remaining half of the soldier pill had been consumed as well, seeing as I was forced to increase the Anti-Gravity Weight Seal to 15% in order to keep up.

I'm not stupid. I know a test when I see one.

There was little to no reason for Nanami to include me in the first group. If anything, I was a liability that risked slowing them down if I couldn't keep up.

But for whatever reason, Nanami saw fit to test whether I had the mettle to maintain a pace that no regular genin was capable of. Maybe Sasuke or Naruto could have pulled it off, but I doubt anyone else in my year would be able to achieve that feat.

Was this maybe a test to see if I could qualify for the chunin exams?

Regardless, I knew it was important that I performed well on this mission. I'm not sure how many pairs of eyes were focused on my progress – whether the Hokage kept tabs on all the Reserve Genin or not – but if I wanted to grab the notice of some higher ups, this was the best chance to do so.

For however stupid my stunt might have been, it was definitely worth it if I managed to gain Nanami's attention, as well as the respect of the few chunins in my group.

They certainly seemed surprised that I was able to keep pace.

But for all the good that it did, I was going to pay the price tonight and probably in the upcoming days as well.

My chakra was nearly depleted by now, and the soreness in my legs was only worsening as the after-effects of the soldier pill were beginning to kick in.

I had better get some sleep soon. The next few days were not going to get much easier, and I couldn't keep sustaining myself with soldier pills. Hopefully a night's rest was enough to regenerate most of my chakra.

However, before I could collapse on the spot, I turned to find Nanami calling out my name as he waved me over.

"Not bad for a fresh genin." The squad leader appraised, a hint of intrigue in his voice despite the stoic face. "I was fully expecting to have to leave you with the other group."

"Thank you, sir." I replied. "I'd hoped to not be a burden to the team."

"You're certainly doing better than the others." Nanami mentioned, seeing as they had yet to arrive at the campsite three hours later.

"Tell me about yourself, kid."

Huh?

He gave me a once over, before seeing my look of confusion and adding: "Tell me what you can do — fighting styles, techniques and all that… Beyond what your academy file stated, of course, I don't need you to tell me what I already know."

"Oh, um… I'd say that my strength right now is ninjutsu – my natural affinity is Water Release, but I also know some jutsus in Fire Release and Earth Release. My taijutsu is above-average for my class… and I have some knowledge in fuinjutsu, but…it's not something I would rely on at the moment. Ninjutsu would still be my go-to."

"Hmm… Seals huh?" He asked contemplatively. "What can you do with them?"

"Oh… not much at the moment." I responded hesitantly. "It's still a work in progress, but like I said, not something I can really use in a fight."

"Well, don't be shy now." The man insisted. "I'm going to need to know what you're capable of if worse comes to worst. You never know with these border missions; things can go south quickly. And I saw what you were doing with those weight seals, you seemed like you knew what you were doing."

I scratched the back of my neck in slight embarrassment at the man's appraisal. How can I answer this without giving off any red flags? I doubt typical genin were supposed to know this stuff… let alone civilian graduates…

"Just some of the basic stuff, you know — storage seals, weight seals, suppression seals." I answered. "But most of them take a long time to set up, so they're probably better suited for traps or ambush scenarios rather than for offensive capabilities… I have a barrier dome seal that could be useful for stalling purposes. It's extremely difficult to penetrate if you don't understand the array, but it requires a lot of chakra to activate, and would be really difficult to maintain from a distance."

Nanami nodded as he took in my words with interest. "How does a genin like you get into something like Fuinjutsu?"

"I… just stumbled into it, I guess?" I shrugged as I made up a quick reason. "Read a book about it when I was in school, and it was more interesting than what we were learning in class. Plus, we had more than enough time to spare in the academy, reading helped with the boredom most of the time."

"Can't say I've met many genin like you." Nanami admitted. "Most are probably like your friends, taking none of it seriously until it's far too late."

Speaking of which, I pity the chunins who had to stay back with them. It was probably going to be closer to sunrise by the time they were going to arrive at the campsite, and if these chunin were anything like me in my old life, I was going to have to deal with a bunch of sleep-deprived, grumpy chunin in the upcoming days.

"Well, it's getting dark." Nanami said as he pushed himself to his feet. "Get some sleep while you can, we have an early start tomorrow morning."

With a nod of 'yes, sir', I was left alone to my thoughts.

It was getting late, and not even the cold hard ground I was sleeping on was enough to disturb the drowsiness that was slowly settling in.

Well… for a first day out of the village, things could have gone considerably worse.

(Border at the Land of Rice)

By the third day of our patrol mission, my body had recovered for the most part. The soreness in my legs was definitely still lingering, but my chakra reserves had been pretty much restored.

The first day after the departure had been pure hell — the after-effects of the soldier pill had hit me like a drug withdrawal, and I could feel the chakra within my system howling like nails scratching across a chalkboard. The brittleness and flaring pain in my tenketsus made my entire body scream in agony.

Now I see why the soldier pills came with such a lengthy user warning.

Even portioning out a single pill was enough to nearly wipe me out the entire day afterwards. Luckily though, nothing we'd done since had been as strenuous as that first day.

After we'd arrived at the border, the actual patrol route had been rather simple business. There wasn't much ground to cover each day, and all that we were required to do was to check in on a few remote settlements along the border. So far, nothing had been out of the ordinary, despite my constant wariness in fear of the metaphorical shit hitting the fan.

I'd done my best to act as normal as possible, but knowing that Orochimaru was only a few miles away, conducting whatever sick experiments in his farce of a village, was unsettling to say the least. There was a constant tingling feeling of discomfort within my bones — almost as if someone was watching every move that we made.

There was no doubt that the Sannin had eyes all over his hidden village, probably along the borders as well. I knew he wouldn't just outright attack a chunin patrol squad; that would pretty much guarantee a declaration of war from Konoha. Not to mention that Orochimaru had much more sinister things planned; he couldn't risk blowing his cover before the chunin exams.

But still, the thought of that pale, slithering monstrosity was enough to send chills down my spine.

It still blows my mind that no one in Konoha saw Orochimaru's attack coming. I mean, someone had to have been keeping tabs on him, right? How could a spymaster like Jiraiya be uninformed on everything going on in the Land of Rice?

Regardless, the chunin exams were going to be crucial if I wanted to make an impact on the future of this world. Not only in terms of my own progress, but there was a significant amount of lives at stake. It was the first major arc in the original plot, and a whole series of story-altering events were going to take place.

Sasuke's curse mark, Gaara's transformation, the Third Hokage's death… These were pivotal incidents in the story that, if I could improve in my favor, or at least in Konoha's favor, we would be far better equipped for the catastrophe in the coming years.

But with the chunin exams still so far away, there were too many intangibles to account for. Not to mention all the things that could be thrown off kilter with Tsunade being in the village. Who knows how that could affect the original timeline? However, one thing that I did know was that Orochimaru was going to be at the center of it all. Figuring out a way to thwart his plans was going to be key in stopping him.

Of course, I wasn't stupid enough to think that I was capable of doing so on my own. But perhaps, if I found a way to tip his plan to the Hokage, then maybe there was a chance.

Regardless of whether I end up being allowed to join a temporary team or not, there were contingencies I had to plan for in case of the Invasion following the Finals.

Things would just be much simpler if I could participate and affect things from within the chunin exam rather than from the outside.

Fingers-crossed that I perform well on this mission, and hopefully Nanami will be able to put in a good word when the chunin exam comes around. While I'm not yet at the level of those elite genin to be participating in a few months, I was clearly leagues ahead of the average graduate, especially the other Reserve Genin on this mission. That should be obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes.

Speaking of them, I'd be surprised if any of them make it much further as a Reserve Genin. From the way they looked, I doubt they'd be willing to go on any more missions after this.

Todoki was by far the worst one of the group – the brat had been whining non stop until Nanami had threatened to gag him for the rest of the mission. Evidently, even the reduced pace for their group had done a number on the other genins and if anything serious were to really happen, they'd be easier pickings than sitting ducks on a pond.

Surprisingly, Noemi was the only one still hanging on by a thread, carrying on most of her own business in silence. But even then, I could tell she was only a day or two from collapsing.

I wasn't sure if there were any other qualified genins to take the exams with me. Perhaps there was some lifetime genin willing to try the test one more time… but even then, my chances with them weren't great.

I sighed. Why couldn't I just have it the easier way…

Once again, I lamented the unfortunate team placements; it would've been so much easier if I'd been placed with the Konoha 9. They were pretty much guaranteed a spot in the chunin exams, and if the second stage remained the same, a competent team was going to be necessary to pass Anko's test.

Well… there was no use crying over spilt milk.

I'd long accepted by now that whoever plopped me into this world just wanted to make my life as difficult as possible.

Shaking my head of those thoughts, I refocused my attention to the mission at hand. There were still a few miles until we're clear of Rice Territory, and I'd rather get as far from Orochimaru as I could before I had to officially confront him.

(Border at the Land of Hot Water)

To my relief, the patrol route passing by the Sound Village had been uneventful, and we were finishing up our last day of the mission along the Land of Hot Water. From there, the trip back to the village would be much shorter than the departure on the first day.

Even the chunins looked like they wanted to get this mission done as soon as possible. I guess it's been a while since they took on an additional team of rookie genin, and after a few days, the incompetence was begining to drive them nuts.

Thankfully, there was only one small village remaining on our patrol route, and it was a remote settlement of about a few dozen fisher-folk along the coast bordering the Land of Hot Water.

Most of the small towns have gotten used to the sight of shinobi by this point, having a Konoha patrol team pass through the same route every few months or so. Nanami seemed to know some of the people in those settlements too, no doubt having led the team numerous times himself.

Despite the strenuous nature of the mission, it had been about as monotonous as expected. I could see why they included Reserve Shinobi in these chunin squads – without any real levels of danger, it allowed genins to get some field experience while also weeding out the weak.

For a first mission, 'monotonous' is as well as it could have gone when you consider the luck that most characters had in this series. As much as I respected the chunins in this squad, I doubt that they were any match for someone like the Demon of the Hidden Mist. Even Kakashi had struggled against him, and I wasn't taking my chances with a group of chunin, regardless of how experienced they might be.

Luckily, it seems I wasn't going to have to face anything like that until the later points in the story. But without a legitimate team backing me up, I was going to have to be much more prepared—

My thoughts were cut off as Nanami signaled the group to a stop with his fist held over his shoulder. The sudden halt nearly made me collide with the chunin in front.

It seems Hana's ninken were onto a scent as they sniffed the air warily.

The settlement was less than a mile ahead, sitting on top of a small hill overlooking the sea cliff. There was a quiet serenity as the light ocean breeze brushed through the thick grass hills. The late afternoon sun was dipping low on the horizon, sending an orange hue across the hillside.

It was a peaceful scene, almost like a painting.

The only thing breaking the illusion was Nanami's frown as his eyes strained to catch any details of the small town above the hill.

"It's too quiet." Came his concerned observation. "The villagers should be returning from the fishing post at this time of day, but there's not a sound coming from the settlement."

A low growl came from Hana's ninkens as they raised their hackles in alert. Whatever scent they'd picked up was definitely setting them on edge.

"Hana, take your group and circle south, around the backside of the village." Nanami ordered as he split the squad into the same groups as before. "Hayashi, Irumi, Yuji and I will sweep through the Northside and converge with your team at the village center. Alert the others if you encounter hostiles, and you have permission to engage if the subject is a threat."

"Yes, sir." With a quick nod, the second-in-command led her group around the hill with her ninken guiding the way. Even Todoki followed the command without a word, the group obeying in silence as they fully grasped the seriousness.

Nanami motioned for the remaining group to follow as we fell into formation – Nanami spearheading the squad, Irumi and I in the center, and Hayashi bringing up the rear. The small path winding up the hill towards the village was narrow but well-traveled, the dirt packed tight and hard.

We moved at a cautious speed, making as little commotion as possible as we approached the town entrance.

It was an eerie scene as the atmosphere shifted. A cold wind blew from the sea, while the waves crashed into the jagged rocks below. The orange hue had slowly turned into a gloomy gray as ominous clouds began to cover the sky.

If there ever was a signal for disaster, this was it.

(Nanami's 3rd Person POV)

His suspicions had been confirmed when they stumbled upon the chilling silence within the village.

It wasn't a large town by any mean; but there had to have been at least half a hundred settlers in this small village, for it to be dead silent at this time was causing alarm bells to go off in Nanami's head

The stench breezing through the village only added to his concerns. It had that slight metallic tinge to it – not that smell of newly sharpened blade, but blood, still fresh before it's had time to dry.

Nanami reached a hand into his kunai pouch, ready at any notice of danger.

He thought back to the last time he was in any serious action. It had to have been months since then.

The long periods of inactivity may have dulled his senses, but Nanami sure as hell wasn't going to let it dull his mind.

He knew full well what situations like this meant. One slip up could cost not only his life, but his team as well. Not to mention there was a group of rookie genin with him this time around.

He could only hope that whatever happened here was the act of some organized bandit group. Anything beyond that, and it would not bode well for their squad. Rogue ninja are likely to be chunin level or above; if that was the case, they would need to consider retreating and requesting back up immediately.

"Nanami-taichou!" Hayashi called out from his side, pointing his attention towards one of the huts.

A dark pool of blood flowed from the straw cabin like a slow river stream, bending and winding its way down the wooden steps and staining the ground a dirty crimson.

Nanami hurried his way into the cabin with a cautious urgency, that familiar stench of gore and carnage invading his nostrils like a smoke bomb. Even with his lengthy tenure as a field shinobi, nothing could have prepared Nanami for the sight that greeted him within.

A pile of mutilated bodies laid across the ground, the heads and limbs decorated in ugly demonic symbols. Sprays of blood covered the walls as it dripped down its side like rain.

The bodies were still fresh, giving off a wave of warmth from within the room while the blood flowed a deep dark red.

This couldn't have happened more than a few hours ago, which means that—

A faint barking grabbed the attention of everyone in the room as a loud commotion began to stir in the distance.

"Hana…"

They raced out of the cabin as another panicked scream pierced the air. Nanami threw a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure that Yuji was following before turning around and locking his eyes on the opposite side of the village.

Hana's group had clearly encountered the culprit first as half her group was already decimated by her feet.

Two of the genins had been cut down like straw dummies, the shocked looks on their faces the only reaction to their swift end. Udo, too, laid motionless on the ground. Still alive, judging by how Noemi was trying to administer medical jutsu.

Hana along with Tekki were locked in combat with the assailant, while her ninja hounds formed a formidable trio by her side.

But it seemed the rogue shinobi had no trouble fending all of them off at once. His triple-bladed scythe swinging like a whirlwind from a thick metal cable. It was as if it had a mind of its own, spinning to block a thrown kunai while deflecting Tekki's sword at the same time.

The man was a rogue shinobi for sure. He was in a black overcoat with a furred collar, his platinum gray hair slicked back and a scratched out forehead protector donned on his neck.

He laughed maniacally as he wielded the triple-bladed scythe with ease, his voice touched with a tinge of insanity.

"This is more like it. Finally, some worthy sacrifices for our Lord!"

Another clash of steel snapped Nanami out of his daze.

This guy was good. A low-level jounin at the very least. Fleeing doesn't seem to be an option if he's looking for confrontation. The only choice was to engage, lest he allow any more of his comrades be cut down.

A distant cry from Yuji was lost on deaf ears as Nanami jumped into action.

(Yuji POV)

I cursed every god I knew at how I managed to jinx this mission. It had all gone down hill so quickly, and before I even knew it we were waist deep in trouble.

I wasn't even sure how I was still maintaining my composure.

The sight of Todoki's bloodied corpse cleaved from shoulder to hip nearly made me hurl, but somehow I had shut down that part of my mind that was screaming at me to panic.

Hidan.

What the fuck was he doing here...Was this his pre-Akatsuki days?

My mind tried to wrap around the fact that an S-rank shinobi was literally cutting down the people around me.

Forget Zabuza… This was way fucking worse.

Todoki and Iwazuki had already died by the time our group reached them. Udo wasn't faring much better considering the little success Noemi was having in closing the gaping wound in his side.

Three members were already down, albeit two of them being genin. That left only five other chunin, who I seriously doubt will be able to handle this immortal fanatic.

My warnings had been ignored, of course. Not that I even managed to get out a coherent sentence before they jumped into action.

A strangled scream brought my attention back to the fight as I watched the blade of Hidan's scythe pierce through Irumi's neck like a fishing hook, blood splattering like paint as she was tossed aside like a rag doll.

"Irumi!" Hana cried out before she was kicked square in the chest and sent flying backwards.

"Don't you see how GREAT this is!" Hidan's wicked laugh sent chills down my spine. "The whole world shall bow to Jashin."

Seeing the tide of the battle shift dangerously, Nanami lept backwards before speeding through a set of hand signs.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough." Nanami blew a strong gust of wind from his chest, pushing Hidan a few feet back and putting some distance between them.

Tekki and Hayashi remained by his side, doing their best to support him despite being collectively outmatched.

"Hahaha. You think that weak-ass wind is enough to stop me?" Hidan mocked as he let out an evil chuckle. "You're going to have to try much harder than that. I've been thirsting for a good fight, and Lord Jashin demands punishishment on all you faithless heathens. Now! Let's savour this violence together!"

I have to find a way to tell them. They were gonna get themselves killed trying to take this guy down.

I ran to Hana who was slow to get up, the kick must've knocked the wind out of her.

"Are you alright Hana-san?" I struggled to pull her to her feet, checking for any sight of blood on her.

"...Yea… I'm fine."

"I need you to distract him for a few minutes." I pointed towards Hidan, who was still in a standoff with Nanami, Tekki, and Hayashi. "I have a way to stall him for a few minutes, and hopefully that's enough to provide an opening to escape."

"What are you talking about?" Hana asked incredulously. "I'm not letting a genin put himself in that situation. Did you see what that man did to us? You don't stand a chance."

I pulled out a scroll from my pack before laying it by my feet. I didn't think that I'd need this on the mission, let's just hope I had enough practice with it.

"Just trust me, Hana-san." I insisted, leaving no room for argument. "Let Nanami-taicho know that at my signal, pull back immediately and make a beeline back to the Village. I won't be able to hold him for long."

"..."

"GO!" I repeated, seeing her still hesitate at what I said. "We don't have much time, this is the only way."

Reluctantly, Hana dragged herself back into combat, leaving me to my devices.

I could only pray that this was going to work. If Hidan knew how to deactivate this seal, then we were absolutely fucked.

I unfurled the scroll upon the ground as I made a few alterations to the array. Once I was satisfied, I overlaid 10 additional paper bombs on top, the detonation set to be triggered once the original seal was activated.

Would this be enough to disable him for a while?

"It's too late! You're already under my curse." Hidan called out as he developed an insane glint in his eyes, his tongue running along the metal blade as he licked the blood off his scythe.

My eyes darted around as I tried to find the victim of his curse.

Hayashi laid kneeling to the side, clutching his right arm which had been cleaved from the bicep as the blood stained his entire sleeve red.

Using the pool of blood by his feet, Hidan drew the Jashin symbol upon the ground, the blood mark glowing faintly before a black skeletal layer formed over his skin. The transformation was nearly complete as he took over the appearance of a Grim Reaper.

This is bad… this is really fucking bad…

"Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood"

I tried to call out a warning, but it was already too late.

I watched in horror as Hidan slowly aimed a spear towards his heart, ready to inflict the damage onto Hayashi. But before he could, Hana and Tekki closed in on Hidan and impaled him with a sword from each side, the killing blows criss-crossing the heart, and piercing his chest clean through.

The pair let out a relieved sigh before their eyes widened in shock.

"Ha… That fucking hurt you bastards." Hidan growled as the pair of chunins jumped back bewilderedly.

A loud cough drew their attention as Hayashi spat a mouthful of blood onto the dirt, clutching his chest in pain as he fell face-first into the ground. The group watched disbelievingly as their comrade laid lifeless on the ground while the wounds on Hidan began to regenerate at inhuman rates.

"W-what in the world are you?" Hana whispered as she pointed her blade at him shakily, her eyes darting back to Hayashi's body.

Fuck… It was now or never…

Pulling out the bag of soldier pills from my pack, I took a deep breath before shoving the handful of soldier pills in my mouth. Five… Hopefully that was enough for what I was about to do.

Immediately, I felt my reserves flood from the chakra stimulant, making my tenketsus flare from the overflow.

There was only one shot at this. If I screwed this up, our whole team will likely get wiped out.

"Now!" I yelled towards the group.

To his credit, Nanami dragged the group back by their vests without a second thought, if he was fazed by the situation at hand, he didn't allow it to slow down his actions. Hana and Tekki, on the other hand, were still shell-shocked at the fact they'd seemingly dealt the killing blow to Hayashi.

"Where the fuck do you think you bastards are going?!" Hidan yelled incredulously. "I already promised Lord Jashin your blood, and I will have it. One way or another."

The demonic immortal began to approach our group, the black skeletal outline fading from his skin as Hayashi huffed his last breath.

Nanami looked shell-shocked as he dragged the pair of chunin back to my position, Noemi huddled to the side, her eyes glancing towards the approaching enemy in fear.

"What the hell do you think you're doing kid?!" Nanami whispered furiously.

It was just the five of us left – the other half of the group was already dead, and if my plan failed, we were all going to be cut down by this psychotic monster.

"Just run!" I urged before turning towards Hidan. "I'm going to try to trap him, but I won't be able to stall him for long."

Nanami's eyes widened in shock, but before he could stop me, I was already racing off, charging straight at the future Akatsuki member.

"Hana, Tekki, you guys take Noemi and head full speed back to the village." Nanami ordered. "Don't look back, and don't wait for us. I'll stay back with Yuji to provide cover."

With a reluctant nod, the pair of chunin sped off towards the distant forest, with Tekki carrying Noemi on his back.

I took note of Hidan's appearance as I sprinted towards him. He looked the same as he had in the show, minus the Akatsuki cloak.

"You've come to get a taste of the Great Jashin's power?" The religious zealot questioned with a maniacal grin as I closed in on him quickly. "The Lord does not discriminate against women or children. Let's enjoy the suffering together!"

Weaving through a series of hand signs, I gathered a large amount of chakra before releasing the Jutsu from my mouth.

"Water Release: Liquid Drill Jutsu"

A powerful whirling vortex of water smashed into Hidan, sending him flying backwards before he stabbed his scythe into the dirt, rooting him in place.

I circled around him quickly, not letting up the advantage that I had gained as I forced him on the defensive.

It was a mismatch in reach as I tried to match his scythe with a pair of kunai, but I didn't need to defeat him. I just needed to lure him a bit further away.

Being extremely careful around his bladed scythe, I knew that one small cut on my skin could mean my quick demise. Hidan was one of the weaker Akatsuki members in terms of physical prowess, but even then, compared to me, I was no match for the S-rank shinobi.

I was slowly getting pushed back, overwhelmed by his heavy weapon and narrowly deflecting his strikes with my kunai. I dodged one final swing of his scythe before I lost my footing and was sent tumbling with a kick.

"You're mine now!" With a wicked glee, Hidan lept towards me with his scythe pulled back in a high arc.

Time seemed to slow as I watched his descent towards my position – sprawled on my back.

Finally seeing my chance, I performed a quick Substitution Technique, and with a poof, I appeared next to Nanami as his eyes widened in surprise.

Without even a second thought, I raced through the 15 hand signs at lightning speed as I slowly felt the connection establish between the sealing array and my chakra network.

"Sealing Technique: Barrier Dome."

I activated the sealing scroll which I'd performed the substitution with and now sat right beneath Hidan.

Just as his feet touched the ground, a transparent yellow barrier erected around him, forming a dome shape as it trapped him within.

"What the fuck is this—" Hidan yelled in outrage as he swung his scythe at the yellow dome.

But before his blade could meet the barrier wall, the pile of paper bombs strapped to the seal detonated, setting off a series of explosions bouncing within the barrier dome.

I stumbled backwards slightly as I watched the shockwaves shake the entire hillside.

The barrier dome had remained intact despite the enclosed explosions, and the fire and smoke trapped within blocked any vision into the dome. There wasn't a hint of sound or movement from within the barrier, but I knew better than to loiter around and wait for disaster.

Nanami grabbed my arm, and we high-tailed out of the small town.

I won't be able to keep that barrier up for long, especially from afar, so we need to put as much distance between us as possible before I would be forced to deactivate the seal.

Hidan was obviously far from dead; that damned immortality — if he was able to survive getting his head chopped off, a few explosions wasn't going to do anything.

I just hoped that it did enough damage to prevent him from pursuing us. Even with his insane regeneration or whatever it was that kept him alive, it should take him a while to recover from a stack of paper bombs exploding from right beneath him.

Regardless, we ran for our lives as Nanami and I raced through the treetops, with me activating my Anti-Gravity Weight Seal to keep up.

It wasn't until fifteen minutes later when we'd been absolutely certain there was no one in our pursuit that Nanami had finally cracked a word.

"Were you out of your fucking mind?!" Nanami cursed as we raced back towards Konoha. "What type of suicidal lunacy possessed you to do that? There was a hundred ways in which that could have gone horribly wrong and–"

"There was no other choice…" I retorted weakly, as I slowly felt my body crumble under its own weight. Even after ingesting the five soldier pills, I was running out of chakra at an extreme rate. "It's the only idea I could come up with… but still… if I could have just been a bit quicker…"

I was the only one with the knowledge of what Hidan was capable of. Half the team died because I wasn't fast enough to react.

"Listen to me, Yuji." Nanami said seriously, sensing the guilt in my voice. "You're the only reason we're still here right now. However bat-shit crazy your plan might have been, you have nothing to be ashamed of. It's my fault we ended up in such a shitty scenario. I'm the mission leader. I'm supposed to be responsible for keeping us alive. But I underestimated the situation, and our team paid the price."

My stomach churned at the image of our fallen teammates.

I thought that with my adult mind, I would have been capable of withstanding the sight of death, and even comrades falling beside me. But there was really nothing that could have prepared me for that panic that grips your entire body in fear, screaming at you to run.

I had known… even prepared for it, that I was inevitably going to encounter this at one point or another. And yet, when faced with the first shred of danger, I still couldn't help but freeze at the situation.

We continued on a bit further in silence until I finally hit the bottom in my chakra reserves. It almost felt as if a poison had taken over my system, forcibly shutting down my motor functions as my brain slowly lost conscious.

"Nanami-taicho… I can't go… further." I slurred as dark spots danced in my peripheral vision. "The barrier seal… won't hold up any longer…

Nanami glanced over his shoulder in confusion as his eyes widened at my delirious state.

"Yuji!" I heard the cry echo before I felt my body slump and my vision tunnel out of focus. I looked up to find Nanami and the treetops falling away from me as my body slammed into the ground, finally passing out from chakra exhaustion.

Authors Note:

Happy New Year.

Hope you enjoyed the fourth chapter.

Please leave a review to let me know what you think.

Thanks.