"Aha! I've got you now, you little bastard!" The hulking figure finally backing his opponent into a corner grinned murderously as he raised his great sword up high.
"Yep. You've got me." Hikaru replied with a smile and a helpless expression as he held his arms up in mock surrender. Before the enemy could even respond to such mockery, he was caught in an explosion originating from Hikaru.
The Uchiha's body turned into a puff of smoke, as his opponent's was shredded to pieces.
"Is it not weird? Having the memory of dying?" Kurenai asked the original Hikaru as they stood thousands of meters away.
Panting, Hikaru wiped the sweat from his pale face. He had thoroughly exhausted his chakra, forcing him to resort to such costly tactics. Although he had raked in quite a haul from the bandit loot four years ago and from all the missions since then, it didn't hurt his wallet any less to use so many paper bombs. "It's not like I actually experience death. They just cease being."
Thankfully, with the return of his shadow clone, he had recovered some of his chakra.
"Hmm, like falling asleep?" Kurenai could barely perform the shadow clone jutsu but had never actually used it in combat. Hikaru himself could only use it a couple of times.
"Iโฆ Guess you could say that." Leaning against a tree, his hazy mind tried to focus. The return of so many memories and feelings always left him slightly dazed for a little while.
Their situation wasn't good. After performing a strike behind enemy lines, they found themselves encircled, only managing to break through on account of their combined strength, yet that was only the start of their worries. After breaking through their encirclement, they were then relentlessly hunted.
"Asuma's been gone awhile. Do you think he's been captured?" The girl asked worriedly as she rested against the roots of a tree, suffering from wounds on her legs.
"I-I'm sure he's-" Eyes narrowing, he stopped talking and signaled Kurenai to be silent with hand gestures.
He felt chakra signatures approaching. Several of them. Strong genin. Giving his teammate a nod, he left her sitting there and found a place to lay in wait.
๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ
๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ
Hikaru's heart thumped loudly in his ears. He didn't have much strength left. The only way they could survive would be if he managed a successful surprise attack.
"Well, what do we have 'ere?" A scrawny Iwagkure shinobi wearing a flak jacket called out as he discovered the injured form of an enemy kunoichi.
His team had been hunting her and those with her for several days now, losing many members along the way.
Eyeing her pleasant features, he couldn't help but think of the things he could do to her now that he had finally captured her. However, his lust did not cloud his mind so much that he completely forgot his training and experience. Nodding to the teammates on either side of him, they quickly took action, searching the area for any potential ambush.
"You've given us quite a lot of trouble, bitch of Konoha." He spat, not moving from his spot.
Turning her disinterested eyes onto the man, a flash of confusion covered them. "Do I know you?"
The look of surprise on Youta's face was instantly replaced with boiling anger. "You-You made me kill my own friend! Gave me nightmares so bad that I still can't sleep properly! How can you not remember me?" Despite himself, he began treading forward in rage.
"Sorry. I've done that a lot recently, can you be more specific?" Her mocking tone contrasted her lifeless expression.
"Oh, I'll make sure you remember! You'll regret everything soon enough." Glancing to either side, he saw both of his subordinates signal that they found no one nearby. But before doing anything else, he checked his body for signs of any foreign chakra. After confirming that he was clean, a grin spread across his face.
Taking another step forward, he found himself right in front of the wench. "Nowโฆ Why don't we do this the-"
A wave appeared out of nowhere, crashing into him and slamming him against a tree after taking his body for a ride.
At the same time, one of Youto's subordinates pulled out some strange device that fired dozens of kunai in a second, turning the other subordinate into a pincushion.
Coughing out some brown liquid, the completely drenched man began uncontrollably puking his guts out.
"Ugh. Did you have to give me one of those scrolls?" Turning her nose up at the smell, Kurenai hurriedly threw the scroll away and shakily got to her feet, moving as far away from the now feces-covered ground as she could.
"Hey, don't blame me. I've used up all of the other ones, those are the only scrolls I have left."
Dispelling the transformation, Hikaru smirked weakly. Honestly, it was so silly, she was able to kill people, but she couldn't withstand a little sewage?
It was a trick Hikaru was quite proud of. He had originally just stored water in scrolls, which he could use as a sudden attack, but after some more thought, he also began including sewage in his tactics.
It was brilliant. It made any opponent marked with it easy to track based on smell. It gave enemies diseases that would put them out of commission and place more burden on their medical supplies. Most importantly, unless one was a hardened veteran, most people would be unable to prevent themselves from puking after getting a good mouthful of the stuff, rendering them vulnerable.
Placing the kunai launcher on his back, Hikaru took a shuriken from his pouch and flicked it toward the still struggling, shit-covered enemy, ending his life.
"Well, next time, bring some more scrolls." Kurenai said, pouting.
"Haha, I'll keep that in mind." Saying this, the Uchiha began checking the gains he had made from the fallen foes. "Ah, I was out of shuriken and down to my last kunai. What generous guys. Helping us out in our hour of need!" Of course, he didn't bother looting Youto.
"Ugh. Do you think anymore will come?" The girl groaned as she closed her eyes and imagined herself to be somewhere else, anywhere else but there.
"Well, thankfully my shadow clone exploded far away, so most pursuers will converge on that location." Patting his now bulges pouches, Hikaru stood with a satisfied smile. "Butโฆ There's no telling how many are even still after us."
"Ughhh." She was tired, she was hurt, and most of all, she was sick of having to fight for her very life. "Why were we even given this mission? This is way above our ability."
"Hmm, why indeedโฆ." Hikaru had some ideas as to why, but he wasn't about to reveal them to Kurenai. While he was impressive for his age, and both Asuma and Kurenai were no slouches, they certainly weren't best suited for such a dangerous mission. Thus, he could only conclude that it was Senju administrators trying to screw him over or Danzo testing him. Maybe both.
Not long after the Clan Honor, he had just so happened to come across the shadowy leader of Root. It was a short meeting but a memorable one. Scrutinizing the boy carefully, Danzo asked Hikaru several questions pertaining to his ideals and his assessment of the Uchiha clan and village. Knowing that he could never hope to lie to the man who had easily seen through even Itachi, the Uchiha answered earnestly. After giving his answers to Danzo, the man left as quickly as he appeared, and that was it. No coincidental meetings had taken place since.
A week ago, Hikaru had been pulled from Team 5 and assigned to a makeshift team along with Asuma and Kurenai. Their goal? To destroy an Iwagakure supply depot behind enemy lines. The war was slowly coming to an end, so Konoha increased the pressure put on its enemies tenfold, doing its best to force them to the table sooner rather than later.
A crow flew down from the sky and perched itself on Hikaru's shoulder, having a note tied to its leg. "It seems Asuma's made it back to friendly territory." He said after reading its short message.
"Thank god." Kurenai sighed, feeling the knot within her untangle as she deflated from most of the tension leaving her body. "It seems like everything's gone wrong. First we get ambushed during our strike on the supply depot, then we get forced deeper into enemy territory and here we are, barely holding on."
After being hounded for days, the team finally decided to split, with Hikaru and Kurenai leading the enemy away while Asuma made a break for it. At first, Asuma insisted on staying behind with Kurenai, but since Hikaru was in charge of the mission, he had to obey orders.
The way Hikaru figured it was that he was the strongest of the three, and since Kurenai was the weakest, she couldn't be the one who was sent out, so rather than leave her with Asuma, the best chance of them all surviving was if he stayed with her.
Stroking the crow, the bird nuzzled its beak into Hikaru's neck. They shared a special bond, after all. Not only had he raised it since it was a child, but he had also imprinted it with his chakra, making it a summoning animal.
After giving the bird a treat and a new order, Hikaru and Kurenai moved locations, finding a good hiding place further away.
After ensuring his network of crows was keeping watch over the area, Hikaru slumped down beside his teammate.
"Those birds are amazing." She expressed with genuine awe.
"That they are. Are you considering getting your own?"
"Honestly? Yeahโฆ" Kurenai was impressed with the value of having a small murder of crows at your disposal. "If not for them, one of us would have had to keep guard while the other slept, slowing us down and making us more tired."
"They are a good early-warning system. It's a shame I still can't use them to scout properly yet." Saying this, Hikaru was unable to conceal the frustration he felt due to his tired state.
"You complain too much."
"Maybe."
"You can never be satisfied. Even with your bag of a thousand tricks, you always need to have more, need them to be more perfect."
"Ha. That's a fair analysis."
"Why?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Kurenai just shook her head, but after a second, she decided to speak up. "I mean I get it, you wanna do everything you can to survive, to become stronger. But why?"
Hand on his tanto, Hikaru spent a minute considering what to say. "Iโฆ want to be the strongest I can be. I couldn't live with myself if I stopped trying, stopped improving."
"So you don't wanna be Hokage or anything so grand as that?"
"Me? Ha. No, I'm no Obito." His voice turned solemn at the mention of their comrade. I๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ.
The girl put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. We were all friends with him, but he's more than that for you, he's family."
Shaking his head, Hikaru offered a smile. "No, don't be. This is war. We are shinobi." He decided to change the topic. "Your genjutsu study is coming along really well. I'd wager you're probably among the best in the village by now."
"Well, I can only thank you for that. With all the help you've given me. Besides, aren't you also among the best?"
"Of course, but I didn't want to be rude." He replied playfully.
"Ah, I forgot to add you to the most humble among the village, too."
"No worries. It's just the way I am, so don't focus too much on it."
Rolling her eyes, Kurenai took her hand away from his shoulder and stared past the trees into the murky sky.
"How long until another team comes to extract us?" She asked, losing the mirth in her voice.
"Who knows. I sent them our current position, but it might be better to start heading toward the border."
"After some rest." She said, broking no debate.
"After some rest." He reaffirmed.
Following a short nap, both chunin woke up, knowing they couldn't afford to say in one place for too long.
Doing a little bit of reconnaissance before they moved out, Hikaru then returned to where Kurenai was waiting for him.
"First, eat." He threw a pouch to her containing food pills, the nutrient substitute for shinobi that couldn't afford to pack any real food. Shoving a bunch into his own mouth, he swallowed as quickly as he chewed. "How's your condition?"
"The blood pills I took before sleeping seem to have helped a lot." Although she was still injured, her lost blood had been replaced, which was a massive improvement.
They spent the next two hours traveling in the general direction of friendly territory to make extraction easier. That is until they stopped for a brief rest and were interrupted by the sudden cawing of crows.
"Ugh. Can't they give it a rest?" Kurenai moaned, instantly becoming alert.
Staring out toward the direction of the cawing, Hikaru soon spotted a crow heading his way. Holding his arm out, the bird landed on it and began tapping its foot.
"They're at least five kilometers away." He informed his teammate.
Tapping his finger on his arm, Hikaru prompted the crow to give its next report. Tapping its foot four times, it then quirked its head to the side, expecting a treat.
"Four people." He iterated for Kurenai's sake while feeding the crow a treat. "My chakra's still not fully recovered, but unless they're all chunin, it should be fine."
"Why would you even say thatโฆ." She muttered under her breath pessimistically.
They could hide or run, but the fact that people were heading in their specific direction meant that they had already been discovered. It was better to deal with their pursuers there and now rather than run themselves ragged first before finally having no choice but to face them.
"Alright. You hide this time. Try to catch the weaker ones in a genjutsu. If you can, turn them on their comrades."
"Got it." Kurenai disappeared from view without hesitation as the Uchiha jumped atop a branch.
Dangling his feet into the air casually, Hikaru considered which method he should use this time. He only had two more scrolls of water left, both of them containing sewage. His kunai launcher was only half full; since most shinobi didn't carry more than 3 kunai, it was difficult to resupply using his enemies' corpses. His oil had all been used up. His paper bombs were all gone. All in all, his supplies were in a sorry state.
"I guess I should use that jutsuโฆ." He muttered while sending one crow to either side of him with the order of consistently positioning themselves relative to his current location. Thankfully, crows were among the most intelligent animals, so training them to perform certain functions wasn't hard.
A minute passed as all four chakra signatures approached before splitting up and encircling Hikaru's position.
"You aren't going to fight me face on? What ever happened to honor?!" He exclaimed sourly, seemingly upset by their cowardice.
"We've seen the bodies you've left behind. We're not stupid enough to join them." One voice spoke.
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong." Hikaru's face transformed from its hurt expression into one of cold malice. "By coming here, you were stupid enough to join all of the other bodies."
"I suppose we'll see about that."
"I suppose we will."
An awkward pause lasted only a second before the previous voice spoke up again.
"Where's your girlfriend? We know she's with you. We already killed the other guy, idiot tried crossing the frontlines."
๐๐ฉ, ๐ต๐ณ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ? The fact that the enemy continued to speak with Hikaru already said volumes about their confidence in their own ability. Nothing demoralized soldiers more than passing the broken bodies of fellow soldiers, that is, unless it enraged them.
"Is that so? That's a shameโฆ." He replied disinterestedly while propping his head up with an arm. "So, when are you going to attack? Or would you rather keep circling around like vultures?"
Silence ensued. Neither party making a move. The Iwagakure shinobi were wary of making a move, especially with how nonchalant their opponent was, even while surrounded. Furthermore, they had still yet to locate the Uchiha's partner.
Thankfully, they were all low-level, save for their chunin leader.
"Are you really going to make me come to you, after you chose to chase me?" Talking down to the squad, Hikaru sighed after finishing his sentence. "Fine. But don't complain later."
Hopping off the branch, he hit the ground with a thud. Waves of killing intent rolled out from him, making his already anxious opponents sweat even more.
Damn it, where is that woman?! The Iwagakure chunin cursed internally. Maybeโฆ Maybe she had really left. They couldn't risk making a move with her unaccounted for. They would be playing right into their enemy's hands. But, they couldn't just continue dancing around the Uchiha all night, either.
"You two! Keep an eye out for the girl. Be mindful, she's a master genjutsu user." He decisively ordered two of his subordinates. Pointing to the final member of his team, he gave another order. "You and I, we'll attack the mocking bastard."
"Finally!" Hikaru shouted with a hint of impatience. Unsheathing his blade, he gave a slight grin.
Ignoring their opponents' taunts, both shinobi performed jutsu.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"
"Earth Release: Rock Gun Technique!"
Simultaneously the ground beneath Hikaru transformed into rock skewers intending to impale him, and several small rocks shot toward him, turning into boulders as they whistled through the air.
๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ช๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด. Hikaru thought as he jumped into the air, pumped chakra into his left arm, and obliterated the boulder that flew toward him. It may have looked easily done, but the truth was that it had cost him a large amount of chakra, making his state even worse than it already was.
However, his opponents weren't done with just that. They also threw dozens of shuriken, forcing him to deflect and block as many as he could with his blade. Falling back down, he balanced himself on the tip of a newly erected earth spike, only a little worse for wear.
"Aren't you going to come any closer?" It was obvious why they tried to attack from a distance; they must have heard about his close-quarters prowess.
The only answer he was given was a spray of earth bullets from both opponents.
This time he not only leaped into the air but so high that the giant boulders were of absolutely no threat. Luckily for him, too, since paper bombs were concealed in the boulders, causing a chain of explosions and small sharp pieces of rock to fly in every direction.
Luck wasn't the right word. After all, he was a cautious individual. He always tried to see beneath the first layer of things. Hikaru refused to believe that his enemies could be so stupid as to just repeat the same jutsu again with no change in tactics.
While in the air, he finally gave in. Crunching down on the Military Ration Pill that he had kept in his mouth the entire exchange. He had refused to use it the entire mission, all too aware of the after-effect, an effect that could kill him if he were still in enemy territory. However, he didn't have any choice right now.
Suddenly brimming with newfound energy and chakra, he caught sight of his two opponents through the dust. Fortunately, the dust kept them from targeting him while he was vulnerable in the air.
Kicking himself off a tree, he flew straight toward his opponents. Naturally, both of them panicked and jumped away, trying to keep some space between them.
Idiots. Now I have you exactly where I want you. Hikaru landed on the ground and just stood there, making no move except to whistle. Before the whistle even finished leaving his lips, two separate brown waves rushed forth from trees above the two opponents, completely drenching them in sewage.
However, that wasn't the end of it. "Fire Release: Flame Bullets!" He spat small bullets the size of a human head from his left to his right, instantly causing two large explosions that consumed the bodies of his enemies.
It was simple science, after all. Sewage meets flame, boom, explosion. Hikaru found great pleasure in creating such combination jutsu and successfully pulling them off.
Earlier, he had sent two crows out with his scrolls, carrying small vials of his blood to activate them, which they would do upon hearing his whistle.
"Anywayโฆ" Disregarding the two roasted corpses, he turned his attention to the other two who were ordered to keep an eye out for Kurenai. This carelessness almost cost him his life as kunai whistled past his face, slicing his cheek only because he managed to dodge in time upon sensing a presence.
Spinning around, he blocked the two follow-up kunai and sent a slash of chakra at the attack's source.
"Argh!" A spray of blood flew through the air, followed by the sound of a body crumbling to the ground.
"How careless of me," Hikaru remarked as he wiped the blood off his cheek and looked at it. He didn't believe there was any way for either of them to survive, and his senses told him as much, so he didn't bother double-checking.
A quick check of both bodies confirmed that they were indeed dead this time, so he once again turned his attention to Kurenai's situation.
Needless to say, she was also done with her opponents. Both Iwagakure shinobi helplessly struggled in vain against invisible opponents, eventually mortally wounding one another in the process. Kurenai only needed to finish them off at this point.
"Looks like you're all done. Good!"
Cleaning her kunai, Kurenai glanced up at him and noticed how different he was.
"Youโฆ You took a Military Ration Pill, didn't you?" Biting her lips, she couldn't help but be worried.
Hikaru waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, I wouldn't worry. It just means we have to sprint for the border before I crash."
"Crashโฆ?" She asked in confusion before shaking her head. "But I can't. My leg is-"
"It's fine. I'll just have to carry you."
Kurenai's eyes widened at this response. "I uhโฆ"
"Come on. We need to start moving now." Disregarding her concerns, he pressed her with the urgency of the situation by pointing at the recent explosions.
"F-fine." Blushing slightly, she stepped forward, letting Hikaru pick her up and throw her over his shoulder. "H-hey, what do you think you're doing?"
"What? This is the easiest way to carry you." He said as he began leaping northward from tree branch to tree branch in the direction of Konoha. With a teasing tone, he spoke up again. "Were you expecting something else?"
"N-no, of course not!" She stammered out.
Like this, they quickly made their way back to friendly territory, encountering only the occasional patrol, most of which they managed to hide from. It took them two days before they actually got close to the border, which presented a new problem entirely.