Second chapter of the double upload. Enjoy!
"Ne, skewer-kun, ready for this?" Narisa asked with a grin on her face.
Ry glanced over to see Narisa with her hands thrown back behind her head. It wasn't an unusual pose for her, though it looked awkward as they traveled along. Ry certainly wouldn't be imitating it.
"Yeah, actually." Ry said.
He was. The last three days, after the incident with Kina, Ry was looking for a way to bleed out some of his stresses. Taijutsu training with Kazune had helped a bit, but she'd used his distress as a lesson. Ry had learned the hard way how to reattach the optical nerve when his eye had been popped out of its socket. Hirana had coached him through it, but it had not been a pleasant process, even with prior knowledge of previous head injuries he'd been forced to treat.
Hence his hope that the survival exercise would be more cathartic. His first round of survival exercises had taught him he'd likely have a few good punching bags sent his way. He had mostly avoided them last time, but this time, he planned to try his luck.
"Ha, there's a shinobi in you somewhere, skewer-kun." Narisa snorted.
Ry furrowed his brows. "Why do you say that?"
"Because I think I felt a bit of killing intent, just now." Narisa said, still grinning. "That, or maybe it was a strong breeze from Iku-hime."
"Ugh, I can't believe I got stuck with the dead last and her best friend." Ikuhito grumbled. "Stop calling me that, dead last."
"What was that, Iku-hime?" Narisa asked, grin twisting ever so slightly.
Ry knew better than to get involved. The group dynamic wasn't great, but it was better than the first survival exercise. That one had partnered him with Ikuhito and Satoshi. The group had been nonexistent, as both boys refused to work together for anything.
At least Narisa would stick with him.
Probably.
"Alright, you three." Iroha-sensei said, turning a stern gaze on them. "You all know the drill. Stay within five miles of this spot, for a week. Survive with only the tools you brought with you. Don't expect a rescue if you get yourself in trouble, there's no one out here."
Liar. I'm no sensor, but there's zero chance I just happened to have an angry pack of boars sent my way during the first exercise. Four times.
Not to mention that the Kyubi Jinchuriki is in my group this time. I'd bet there's an ANBU squad hanging out, outside of detection range. It'd explain why we went in a completely different direction than the rest of the groups.
Iroha left. Ry had about five minutes with cooperative partners before things broke down.
"Are you an idiot, or just brain dead, dead last?" Ikuhito growled. "Nin don't sleep in tents!"
"People sleep with roofs over their heads!" Narisa snapped, hands on her hips. "I'm not going to sleep and getting woken up by rain!"
Which is why you sleep under cover. Or throw up a small tarp.
Regardless, the noise you two are making is already going to get us docked more points than the tent.
Ry didn't intervene. If he played peacemaker, they'd find something else to argue about within ten minutes. Narisa had been spoiling for fights ever since her prank on Kina had failed. Ikuhito had been spitting mad after Satoshi ended up in the same group as Saneko.
Conflict between them was inevitable. Ry only planned to get involved if they drew weapons, or started flinging jutsu at one another.
Rather than wait for them, Ry brought his hands up. His Kage Bunshin popped into existence standing next to him. It spoke to how involved both blondes were in their argument that neither noticed.
The clone nodded, jumping off into the trees. In the meantime, Ry began pulling supplies out of his satchel. He couldn't use all of them to alarm the small clearing they were in, but he could put in some precautions. Any nin sneaking up on them would have no trouble, but Ry wasn't worried about nin. The alarms had saved him from getting caught napping the first time the boars came around.
"Ugh!" Ikuhito stalked over towards Ry. "Shiranui! You convince your friend that if we put up a tent, the instructors are definitely going to dock us points!"
Apparently I'm not the only one who realizes we're being watched at all times.
"They will dock us points." Ry said.
Narisa sniffed, crossing her arms. "Don't care. I want a tent."
Ry held back a sigh. After nearly four months of being friends with Narisa, he had a fairly good read on her. She was playing up her poutiness, fishing for a reaction from Ikuhito.
"Fine, go set up your own stupid tent!" Ikuhito shouted. "Just don't whine when you fail. Again!"
Narisa smirked, winking at Ry when Ikuhito stomped off into the woods. The blonde brought up her hands, only to stop when Ry shook his head. He mouthed the words 'long-term' at her. Narisa huffed silently, walking to the far end of the clearing. By the time Ikuhito returned, Narisa was in the middle of setting up her tent.
Setting it up extremely poorly.
"Should make you punch yourself in the face." Ikuhito grumbled.
Ry glanced his way sharply. "Don't."
Ikuhito looked over at Ry in surprise. "What?"
"Doesn't your Clan have a rule against using Clan jutsu on allies?" Ry asked.
It was an on the fly excuse. Ry just didn't want him plunging his mind into Narisa's. Presumably, the Kyubi lurked in there, and unless things were very far from the story Ry remembered, the Kyubi was currently a seething mass of hatred that would gain great pleasure from mentally breaking someone stupid enough to wander into its restricted grasp.
"Fine." Ikuhito snarled. "You would report on me, wouldn't you? My sister's probably got you in her pocket, sucking your dick after school."
Ry's eyebrow rose. "Yes, I would report you, but not for the reason you're using. You'd likely thank me, afterwards."
As much as his imagination and fantasies agreed that having Tsugumi doing something like that would be incredibly pleasant, it hadn't happened. Both students had looked rather chipper over the last few lessons, but Seong-sensei had been increasingly feisty. Ry didn't know what was getting under her skin, but she'd taken it out on the three of them in a series of taijutsu lessons that left everyone bruised and aching by the end.
"Yeah right." Ikuhito snapped.
Ry watched the Yamanaka visibly calm himself. "In the end, separating from the two of you will probably lose me less points than trying to stay with the dead last. Don't get yourself killed out here, dumbass. I'd hate you not being there to keep kicking Satoshi's ass in taijutsu."
Ry blinked. Ikuhito walked off.
"Thanks for having my back." Narisa said, walking over. "Those jutsu creep me out. Ugh."
"Right." Ry shook his head. "Think that might be the first compliment he's given me."
"Well it's true." Narisa shrugged. "The only shinobi student you lose to anymore is Junji, even if half the kunoichi still kick your ass."
Ry shrugged. He was still restricting himself to only using Leaf Style. It prevented him from truly testing himself against most of the kunoichi.
Though I suspect quite a few of them are subconsciously leaking a bit of chakra into their bodies, minuscule infusion, as it were. Or the extra chakra throughout their lives has just improved their muscles and nerves to the point that I wouldn't be able to keep up unless we're both actively infused. Maybe not even then.
His efforts with Junji had also been lackluster, as he had no desire to seriously compete for Shinobi of the Year. He knew where that would get him placed, team-wise; Ry was willing to derail quite a bit of the plot he was aware of, but Team Seven wasn't a dynamic he wanted to mess with. Not if he could help it. Narisa forming a simultaneous friendship and rivalry with Saneko was critical, and she wouldn't do that if Ry was there for her to fall back on.
That being said, the extra practice with Tsugumi and Bitai was showing fruit. Going through the fundamentals so many times had worn them into an easy, familiar groove. The kata, and the resulting usage, would never be as comfortable as Sandstorm or Strangler Styles, but they didn't need to be. Even restricted to Leaf Style, Ry felt decent about his chances actually going up against Junji.
"Heh, now we can relax." Narisa said. "I wasn't serious about the tent. Iroha-sensei used her Big Head Jutsu last time I did that. I just wanted Iku-hime gone."
"Was it worth getting docked points?" Ry asked.
Narisa snickered. "Annoying Iku-hime is worth a lot. Doesn't help that I still haven't gotten to prank Inu-baka."
"You heard the sensei." Ry said. "Whatever it was that you grabbed, it triggered Kina's and Akahana's bond. She might not be back until after the fourth years graduate."
"Stupid." Narisa grumbled. "How was I supposed to know that was what it did? It looked like they were talking about a laxative. I was gonna use it on my minions' babysitter next."
"If it's targeted to make ninken trigger their bond, I don't think that's going to work as planned." Ry said dryly. "But, we should get this area set up. I already sent my bunshin out to scout around."
"Right." Narisa smacked her fist into her palm. "I can't help with that, but I'll set up our fire. I'll go get the wood."
Ry was in the middle of using Earth Molding when Narisa returned.
"Can you show me that?" Narisa asked, setting down her bundle.
Ry glanced over in surprise. "It's not a flashy attack. You're sure?"
Narisa stuck her tongue out. "That's mean, skewer-kun."
"The only jutsu I've ever seen you interested in were flashy attack jutsu." Ry retorted.
"Meh." Narisa waved her hand. "If I'm ever out on a mission, I could use it to build a shelter. Or a hiding spot."
"Exceedingly practical of you." Ry said.
Narisa gave Ry a searching look. "Is this payback for calling your fire jutsu wimpy?"
One hundred percent.
"No." Ry replied.
Narisa huffed. "You're a bad liar, skewer-kun."
"Mm." Ry hummed. "Do you actually want to learn this? I can show you, but you won't be able to use it now."
"Why not?" Narisa asked. "It's a survival exercise, setting up a shelter that's difficult to spot would earn us points."
"Two reasons." Ry said. "One, it takes time to control it so that you can mold the ground into the shape you want. All you'd be able to do is create lumps."
Narisa frowned.
"Two." Ry smirked. "You have too much chakra and I don't want to kill these poor trees."
Narisa's frown vanished, replaced by confusion. "How is having too much chakra a bad thing?"
"When I'm using the Earth Molding Jutsu, I'm sinking my chakra into the ground." Ry gestured at the ground. "For about five feet in every direction. That's because I'm still new at sensing the earth through my chakra, so I need a large sample to ensure I'm creating something the ground around me can support."
"And while some of the earth that I'm molding is created by my chakra, most of it is being drawn out of the ground." Ry continued. "That'll change as I get better, and more efficient, but right now I'm rearranging the earth underneath this spot."
He could see Narisa was completely lost.
Change tack, slightly.
"The first jutsu I taught you." Ry said. "You went a bit overboard. Remember, in your apartment?"
Narisa grinned. "That was so cool."
"Which was due to you having so much chakra." Ry said.
In all honesty, I don't think it's actually possible for you to create a true shadow clone. You'd need absurd chakra control to portion half of yours, and half of the leaking Kyubi chakra, correctly and in the correct ratio. You're using shadow clones the same way other nin use elemental clones. Just shaving off a chunk of your chakra.
A chunk that happens to have more chakra than most jonin. And you can do it at least a couple hundred times without breaking a sweat. Or will be able to, in all likelihood.
"Now imagine that much excess, except for fifty feet in every direction." Ry swept a hand around them. "Where you accidentally start rearranging the earth all around, likely with clumps shooting out of the ground."
Narisa's eyes widened. "Oh."
"Yeah." Ry smirked. "I'm sure you'll get there with practice, but for the moment we don't need to kill this part of the forest for no reason."
"Aww." Narisa pouted. "It'd look so cool though."
"You can still learn the seals." Ry said.
Once they had the fire going, Ry walked her through the twelve hand seals. To his relief, Narisa didn't immediately contradict his request not to use the jutsu.
We'll need to find an unoccupied training ground when we're done though. Because I can already see the eagerness in her eyes.
Setting up their campsite didn't take too long. With Ry's use of Molding Earth Jutsu, they had an easy spot to build a fire that kept it almost completely hidden. The real trick was building a shelter that wouldn't stick out.
Thus, the end result was both lumpy and lopsided, partially wrapped around a single tree.
"Ha, I really need to learn this jutsu, skewer-kun." Narisa said. "So much better than last time."
Ry snorted. In all likelihood, these types of shelters wouldn't last long after they graduated. Ry knew they'd be more likely to create shelters up in the trees or below ground.
More importantly, Ry was pretty sure Narisa would struggle with this particular jutsu. Provided she had the same elemental affinity Naruto did in the show – which was hard to forget, given that it was his signature attack – Doton was likely to difficult for her. Not as bad as Katon or Suiton, but challenging. In combination with the dexterous chakra manipulation necessary to go beyond basic lumps, Ry expected to deal with a very irritated blonde for the next few weeks.
"Ne, skewer-kun." Narisa said from where she was laying. "Thanks for sticking with me."
"As if I'd do anything else, whiskers." Ry replied.
Narisa rolled over, blue eyes narrowed. "What was that?"
"What was what?" Ry smirked.
"Don't call me whiskers." Narisa growled.
"Would you prefer blondie?" Ry asked with a quirked brow. "If you get to call me skewer-kun, I feel like I should get a nickname for you too."
Narisa bristled. Considering blondie was her nickname for one of the more aggravating fourth years, he imagined she didn't care for the moniker.
"Not whiskers or blondie." Narisa said after a moment.
"Fine, I'll think of something else then." Ry shrugged.
He tossed a few suggestions out, but none of them felt right. It wasn't like they had anything else to do for the moment. They were stuck waiting until nightfall to go foraging and hunting.
While Ry was tossing around suggestions, Narisa was working through the sequence of hand seals he'd shown her. She wasn't infusing her chakra, but Ry knew the procedure well. Associating a series of hand seals with muscle memory was a precursor to using a jutsu without thinking.
For the moment, Ry only knew a few jutsu, so he hadn't had much chance to practice. Kazune had taught him a single jutsu of each element, to practice with. None of them were combat oriented, but that was fine for Ry. Eventually he'd learn his elemental affinity, but having a solid understanding of the five elements would give him a much firmer foundation as a shinobi.
In some of the conversations they'd had, Kazune's mastery of all the elements stuck out. Ry knew he wasn't likely to achieve the same degree of mastery – Kazune was unquestionably a genius – but knowing the ins and outs of jutsu his enemies might use was exceedingly helpful.
All three of his sensei had given practical demonstrations, only reinforcing that reality.
Shouldn't hurt for Narisa to have the same base knowledge. She does best with practical applications anyways.
Saber's eyes flitted back and forth.
Chakra flared, bright orange and vibrant, behind a tree.
By the time the yokai lunged, Saber's blade was already in motion.
Raiton did little against fire, but infusing her blade with her elemental affinity kept the weapon from being completely useless. The yokai screeched as it was thrown backwards, bark smoldering at its impact point.
Dagger appeared in a blur of motion. A pair of shuriken left her hand, each coated in a tightly compressed spiral of water. The blades cut rents in the yokai, drawing yowls out of it.
Suiton: Fifty Quills, Five Pinions.
Expelling violently, Saber unleashed a volley of water spikes at the yokai. Most of them did damage before evaporating from the intense heat of the yokai's inner body. The five pinions stuck around, firmly pinning the yokai to the tree.
Even as the tree itself burst into flame, Dagger was there. She shoved a water coated kunai through its head.
The yokai let out a howl as it bloomed outwards. Saber traced Dagger's path as she retreated from the death throes of the yokai.
"How many more?" Saber asked.
"Too many." Dagger replied tersely.
Saber grimaced under her mask.
The testing of the Bound's power had been projected to be dangerous. The first official test, nearly six months ago, had clearly indicated that.
No one had been ready for how much of a difference six months of further growth on the Bound's part would change things.
Lady Jiruya's seals had performed masterfully. Even now, ANBU and Root operatives were busy handling the yokai within the bunker. Hundreds had been released, only to be immediately imprisoned in the traps laced throughout the bunker.
The traps simply weren't enough. Sheer volume had let at least fifty yokai escape confinement in addition to the dozens waging a fierce resistance within the bunker itself. Rather than the controlled release that would allow ANBU and Root teams to seal the yokai for future use, the test had shifted, focused solely on limiting damage and preventing the yokai from escaping fully.
Up ahead, Shiv danced between three yokai. His movements looked more like floating leaves between gusts, rather than the heaviness of a man. The yokai were snarling and growling in frustration as they tried to slaughter him.
Dagger fell upon one while Saber ran the other through. By the time they finished their specific opponents, Shiv had bisected the third.
"They've split." Shiv announced. "Most have scattered, heading away from the village itself. I'd guess they still remember the Hokage's chakra signature. ANBU and the numbered Root squads are pursuing."
"The ones that haven't split?" Saber asked, following her teammates as Dagger and Shiv used shunshin.
"North." Dagger said grimly. "From what I remember of the initial chaos, it's the pack of Heart Eaters. Following a weakened Guardian that presumably donated some of itself to seal the rift, but that might be coincidental on both parts."
North? There's nothin-
"Kyubi." Saber growled.
"Enough hatred to draw all of them." Shiv agreed as they leapt through the trees. "Likely to overwhelm the ANBU squad on guard as well, at least for long enough to potentially harm the seal."
Saber grunted. Yokai were difficult for most nin to sense. Heart Eaters were worse. The ANBU squad would no doubt have a sensor with them – they were guarding the Kyubi jinchuriki after all – but that would only give them little warning.
In which case, their priorities were clear. Daki-sama had made it crystal clear how important the jinchuriki was to the village's security.
"Help the ANBU squad." Saber ordered. "I will extract the jinchuriki."
"They are on a survival exercise." Dagger said. "The status of the other two students?"
"Expendable." Saber replied immediately.
The Yamanaka might get angry about their new Clan Heir dying, but they could be reasoned with. As for the Shiranui boy, Shiranui Ginna was part of the Hokage's cadre of jonin. There would be no remorse amongst Root if her nephew died.
The sounds of combat drew them in almost immediately. Dagger and Shiv went straight in, moving to assist the two ANBU struggling against a trio of Heart Eaters. Heart Eater yokai in particular were resistant to most affinities, along with naturally superior strength and resilience. Even for elite jonin, finishing them without taking dangerous injuries was time consuming at best.
Saber threw out a pair of Raiton jutsu as she continued on. She trusted her teammates to survive, even as three more Heart Eaters converged.
The third ANBU she found standing over the Yamanaka heir, expelling fire from his mouth. Saber analyzed for a moment, taking in what she could sense further away, and the likelihood of the remaining Heart Eaters converging on her once they wore down the ANBU in front of her. Probability made the decision easy.
The Heart Eaters, despite their size, chittered in high pitched tones. The initial fire washed over them without much effect, though they shied away from the blazes cropping up. Saber tracked their movements as she landed behind the closer one.
Up close, the Heart Eater stunk. It was a physical smell, but also a foulness to their chakra that burned at Saber's nose and eyes.
The only chakra elements known to be effective against Heart Eaters were ice and wood. Natural Hyoton users were practically extinct, even in the Bloody Mist, and Saber had never been fortunate enough to encounter one. Nor could she use Mokuton, despite extensive attempts to create combinatory jutsu after observing Tenza.
Katon: Thirty Quills.
The slivers of fire struck the branches above the Heart Eaters, setting them alight. Saber cut her connection to the jutsu, letting the quills expire in small gouts of flame.
The Heart Eater turned around, snarling at her. Its breath alone was enough to make Saber's eyes water.
She surveyed her opponent as it focused its full attention on her. Everything was of potential use: the interplay of its muscles underneath its sleek crimson skin, the odd cant of its head and the positioning of its singular eye, the distance its tongue stretched out of its mouth as it snarled, the way its front claws sliced through the earth with no discernible effort.
The Heart Eater lunged. Saber stepped aside, ducking as its serrated tongue slashed outwards. Her blade severed two feet of it, briefly locking up the Heart Eater as the lightning coursed along the remainder of its tongue.
Spinning around, Saber stabbed outwards as she dropped the Raiton aspect on her chakra infusion of her blade. The second Heart Eater's skin parted as her blade sliced in, the angle and pressure near perfect as it was in the middle of retreating from the fires the ANBU was fanning with Fuiton.
Leaving her blade in, Saber leapt upwards. The first Heart Eater's claws sliced through the air below her.
Landing upside down, on a burning branch twenty feet overhead, Saber surveyed the scene.
The ANBU drew a katana off his back, slashing at the second Heart Eater trying to bite the blade buried in its side. Without more than a whisper of parting air, the katana bit deeply into the front leg of the second Heart Eater.
He picked up on it. Good. Reports on Neko indicate he is well deserved of his reputation as a master of the sword.
Kicking, Saber snapped the branch she stood on. She flipped it around as she fell, grabbing where the flames had yet to spread. Her fall aimed right at the first Heart Eater.
It reared back, only to let out a choked growl as Saber's improvised weapon punched straight into its chest. With a piteous groan, the yokai collapsed on its back, pawing at its chest. As Saber brought her blade up, she could see the flames consuming the Heart Eater from the inside out. It would die in time, if left alone; Saber knew better than to leave it alive for that long.
"The rest got by me." Neko said as he withdrew his blade from the other yokai. "Samon is defending the other two students."
Saber absorbed the information. "Extract the Yamanaka, then return to assist your team and mine. I will move to assist Samon and extract the jinchuriki."
Neko stiffened for a moment, before nodding. It made sense, objectively. Neko had clearly expended a large amount of chakra, even if he had only delayed a number of the yokai. Saber had passed a number of charred or still burning trees, often with the grass blackened. Neko had used Katon extensively, which bought time, at the expense of chakra. The ANBU operative would not be of much use in a fight with four more Heart Eaters and a Guardian.
Time that Samon was to use to extract the jinchuriki, according to protocol.
Saber's eyes told a different story for Samon's actions. One she would address in a moment.
A quick glance showed both her teammates still alive. She was less familiar with the chakra of the ANBU and given the difference in her eyes, she could not perceive at great distances with the same clarity as her teammates.
"Move quickly." Saber said. "They're avoiding the village, so return once you deposit the Yamanaka at the gatehouse."
Neko slung the Yamanaka onto his shoulder. With a nod, the ANBU operative disappeared in a shunshin.
Saber moved towards the chakra signature of Samon and the jinchuriki.
She took in the scene calmly upon arriving.
The jinchuriki was insensate, laying on the ground while clutching her head. Flecks of foam were visible in the corners of her mouth even as she lay limp. Blood ran down her face, the visible skin of one of her cheeks split open. That damage was of secondary importance. Saber's eye immediately moved to her stomach; the seal was straining, but intact. The Heart Eaters riling up the Kyubi weren't enough to majorly stress the seal.
The other student had one hand on the jinchuriki, the other holding a strange blade in a one handed grip. It took Saber a moment to identify it as the same kind of blade that Seong Akena wielded.
More importantly, the boy's hand on the jinchuriki glowed green. It was seafoam, far from the neon green of Root's iryo specialists, but it was certainly Mystical Palm. Assessing his hand position and the lingering chakra leaking out of the blonde's mouth, Saber knew the boy had prevented the jinchuriki from choking to death on her own blood after biting her tongue. His current efforts appeared to be trying to mend the jinchuriki's face.
Standing in front of the boy and the jinchuriki was the Guardian. Saber didn't know why it was defending the jinchuriki, only that it was. More so, it and the boy were the only ones doing so.
Samon was nearly fifty feet away, fending off a pair of Heart Eaters.
Samon was a renowned Doton user. Had she wanted to, it was well within her abilities to entrap her current opponents, hinder the ones held off by the Guardian, and then extract the jinchuriki.
As Daki-sama suspected. There was a sympathizer amongst the ANBU sent to replace Tenza and Fox. With Neko away, she must feel confident in risking this.
Saber used shunshin, landing directly behind Samon.
"Good, get to the-" Samon's words cut off as Saber's blade punched through her back.
Raiton: Twenty Quills, Ten Pinions.
Releasing her blade, Saber turned, exhaling violently. Her cloud of projectiles caught Samon as the kawarimi completed. The ANBU dropped, jerking spastically as the lightning chakra coursed through her.
Another shunshin brought Saber near the jinchuriki. She had to dodge immediately, as the Guardian swung a paw her way.
Unfortunate. The Guardian saw Samon as an ally.
"Boy, keep the jinchuriki alive." Saber shouted as she landed on top of a Heart Eater.
Her blade scored a shallow cut as another Heart Eater swiped at her, forcing her to abort the attack.
Saber darted between the two Heart Eaters, jumping up into the tree branches. Her next attempt to land near the jinchuriki was met by another swipe from the Guardian.
Unlike the distinctly alien appearance of the Heart Eaters, the Guardian's physical appearance was settling into something relatively familiar. Saber had seen statues posted at houses across Konohagakure, all depicting the form this Guardian was morphing into.
Midair as she was, Saber could only block with her blade, riding the momentum backwards.
She landed and spun, expecting an attack from the Heart Eaters. Only to find them gone. Her eyes traced the disturbances they left in the ambient chakra.
Twisting, Saber found them. Just not where she'd expected.
Both Heart Eaters were held in the claws of a much larger Heart Eater. It casually chomped down on one. The smaller Heart Eater collapsed, its form turning to a slurry that the larger Heart Eater consumed.
Glancing down, Saber saw Samon's body. It was a dried out husk, utterly devoid of chakra and with its chest ripped open.
What is this? I've never heard anything like yokai consuming others of their own kind to grow.
The Guardian let out a bass growl as the Heart Eater consumed its fellow yokai.
The growth rate doesn't make sense. Unless consuming Samon's remaining chakra and her heart was far more impactful than the last time we ran the tests.
Leaping away, Saber's eyes scanned the Heart Eater in more detail as it retracted its tongue, leaving a furrow in the ground.
Behind it, she saw the broken underbrush. It was in the direction of her team and the ANBU pair.
Pushing her vision outwards, Saber grimaced. She wasn't sure what happened, but both Dagger's and Shiv's chakra signatures were missing.
Which makes this one of the other yokai, presumably one that consumed them and wound the ANBU I can still see. To get here that fast-
Saber leapt away again, the Heart Eater's tongue splintering the tree she stood on.
A fractional glance showed the boy still knelt near the jinchuriki, along with the Guardian standing defensively.
They won't move, not while the boy is healing the jinchuriki.
I'll need to kill this myself. Neko won't be back in time. If he got away at all.
Katon: Hundred Quills.
Saber unleashed fire at the ground and trees. Not near the Heart Eater; as she cut the connection, the fire caught on the grass and one of the trees.
Katon: Hundred Quills.
Katon: Hundred Quills.
The Heart Eater screeched as the fires began hemming it in. Saber landed in the ground, to one side of the gap she'd left in the flames.
When it moved, Saber grimaced. Her blade sparked, chakra infusion rippling as she deflected the yokai's claws. The strength and speed of the blow were higher than her own, by a significant margin. Her eyes would be evening the battlefield, rather than giving her a decisive advantage.
Before she could form more hand seals, the Heart Eater's tongue shot out. Saber ducked, then leapt backwards as the tongue lashed, cutting through the air as it pursued her.
Raiton: Jagged Pinion.
Saber spat out the small bolt of lightning. It caught the yokai in the eye, drawing out a howl of pain. Saber's blade flicked out with two hands on the hilt, crackling as she cut into the Heart Eater's tongue.
Damn, the growth toughened its tongue significantly.
Saber pulled her blade out partway through the cut, rather than trying to force a clean severing.
Her eyes widened when she saw the chakra around the Heart Eater's eye and mouth.
Releasing her grip with one hand, Saber formed a half seal.
Kai!
A bolt of lightning the size of her leg smashed into the burning chunk of wood Saber had swapped with.
As the Heart Eater paused in confusion, Saber stabbed into its back. Her blade bit in a few inches before she leapt away. A tail that hadn't existed a few moments prior swept through the area she'd just occupied.
Not sure that will be as effective again. If it's looking for Kawarimi again, or it keeps mutating.
The Heart Eater's head whipped around, its eye finding Saber where she stood on the trunk of a tree. She used shunshin, dodging another bolt of lightning spat her way.
Where did that ability come from? Developed through growth? Doesn't seem right-
Running along the branches of the trees above the yokai, Saber slashed out with her blade. In her wake, the weakened branch toppled, flinging embers when it crashed into the ground. The Heart Eater hissed, opening its mouth again.
Saber used Kawarimi while the yokai was distracted. She didn't like seeing it spit water to douse the flaming branch, but the opportunity to remove herself from sight was useful.
The Heart Eater glanced around repeatedly, head swinging as it sought her out. It spat more lightning, striking a tree trunk closer to the jinchuriki than Saber.
Suiton and Raiton. I don't expect it to use Katon, but it's possible.
Saber brought her hands into a single seal. A clone crackled into existence beside her, leaping away immediately. The yokai lashed out with its tongue.
Saber moved, even as her clone dodged the tongue. One of the shuriken it threw embedded itself in the Heart Eater's eye.
The sounds of sizzling and popping preceded Saber's blade sliding between the yokai's ribs. This time, it sunk in at least six inches. Saber yanked it out even as she flipped over. With the blade clear, she flicked a kunai into the gap. The Heart Eater's tail whipped towards her, and Saber could only partially raise her blade in time to block. Her flight path took her straight into a tree.
As she rolled to her feet, Saber saw the Heart Eater orient on her. Then it paused, turning to its side. Right where she'd embedded her kunai.
Traditional explosive tags were efficient, effective, and relatively cheap to make. They also sizzled loudly for any nin using their ears.
Saber didn't utilize traditional explosive tags. They were based on the concept of mixed Katon and Fuiton, compressed into a small area and then released. While effective, it also threw out a plume of vibrant, burning chakra that could obscure her vision. The first time Daki-sama had demonstrated that to her had been a painful lesson.
Instead, her explosive tags were created by the fuinjutsu experts in Root. Two, linked seals. One containing a large amount of rapidly expanding, very combustible gas. The other containing a tiny bit of her own Katon. They released in tandem, sparking the gas. The resulting explosions were less damaging to structures, but the concussive forces and heat created were much higher.
Their sizzle of the tags activating was four times louder.
The yokai was blown off its feet, black blood spraying as the explosion plumed outwards. In a testament to the Heart Eater's physical resilience, it looked more like a plume of fire, rather than the multi-directional explosion it was supposed to be.
Saber launched herself forwards.
Raiton: Jagged Saber.
Her blade caught the yokai's eye cleanly as it howled in pain. She had a moment of satisfaction before using kawarimi to replace herself again.
A much smaller Heart Eater launched itself out of the wound, even as the larger Heart Eater deflated. Saber was certain they were the same creature, as the smaller yokai was equally blinded. She reoriented herself as she dropped to the ground, ready to finish the yokai. Strange transformation or not, it was clearly weakened, blind and sporting a smaller gouge where her explosive tag had hurt the larger version.
The Heart Eater paused for a moment, head swinging towards her. Saber brought her blade up, gripping it with both hands. She could see its muscles tensing as it readied. With a much better feel for its movement, and awareness that it could throw basic, ranged versions of Suiton and Raiton, her plan of action was clear.
"Behind you!" The boy called.
Saber's decision making process froze for only the slightest of moments. The boy was of the Leaf, and calling a warning to an ally, while healing a vital asset.
On the other hand, she hadn't detected any other chakra signatures. She didn't know this boy, didn't know his allegiances beyond his aunt. Didn't know if he knew what Root was, if he could distinguish between Root operatives and ANBU operatives.
In the nin world, hesitation was death. Saber's hesitation was fractional. It cost her as a heavy mass slammed into her pivoting form.
She was bowled over, using her legs to thrust her thrashing attacker off of her.
A second yokai. This Heart Eater looked distinctly different, with three eyes and closer to an ape. Its attacks didn't lacerate her skin, but the pounding fists resonated past her armor. Her sword slapped onto the ground as she continued into a roll, hands flashing together as she righted herself.
Suiton: Deluge Raises the Shallows.
Water exploded out of her mouth, and she leapt as it continued. The pillar of water smashed into the ape-like Heart Eater, keeping it from recovering. Saber flashed through more hand seals, even as the cat-like Heart Eater bounded towards her. Blinded or not, it clearly knew exactly where she was while airborne.
Suiton: The River Provides.
The water pooling around her sword congealed, lurching as it tossed her weapon into the air. The arc would put it within arm's reach of Saber where she landed. She wove more hand seals.
Suiton: Thirty Ambush Quills, Ten Standing Pinions.
The small water missiles struck the flank of the cat-like yokai, aimed directly for the wound. The Heart Eater lurched away from the quills being launched from the water beneath its feet, only to be clipped by five spikes of water that foiled its gathering leap.
A screech was all the vindication Saber needed that the ape-like Heart Eater had been inconvenienced by the other five pinions. Saber wove more seals.
Raiton: Thirty Quills.
Reed sized bolts of lightning struck the water, causing both Heart Eaters to spasm, especially the cat-like yokai. Saber's eyes tracked the way her Raiton jutsu traveled along the water from the ground, up the rivulets from the Suiton ambush jutsu, and into the exposed wound. It was effective enough to pause them for a few moments, which was all Saber wanted.
As she landed, feet planted against the trunk of a tree, Saber reached out, snatching her sword by the hilt. She spun it around, taking a moment to assess herself for injuries. What she found equated to a cracked rib and likely internal bruising, possibly light internal bleeding.
Used over half my chakra reserves. I need to end this quickly, to still be in fighting shape to defeat that Guardian and to defend the jinchuriki if any more yokai head in this direction.
Both yokai howled at her as they regained their feet and complete control of their muscles.
Tossing her sword for a moment, Saber separated off a fifth of her remaining chakra reserves, her Katon bunshin catching the blade as it leapt into the trees. Fire leaked from its feet as it bounded overhead. Saber wove more hand seals.
Katon: Five Quills.
The cat-like Heart Eater yowled, leaping up into the trees to follow the sounds of the bunshin's feet amongst the treetops. The ape-like yokai barreled towards Saber, swatting away the needles of flame shooting its way.
Possibly also tracking the bright signature of Katon chakra, in both cases. Something to think about.
Pulling her backup blade from her back, Saber leapt down to meet the ape-like yokai with a crackling wakizashi in hand. It came in with fury and impressive strength behind its fists. Saber's precaution to create a Raiton cloak for her blade proved wise when the Heart Eater's fists lit up with burning Katon. Lightning sparked out from her blade, vanishing in small pops as it clashed with the tongues of fire coming off the yokai's strikes.
Dancing backwards, Saber used her blade to parry the yokai's strikes. It had power close to a strong jonin behind its attacks, but it was all brute force. Animal instinct, or perhaps spiritual instinct, ruled its movement. With her eyes, reading its patterns was child's play. Only its supernaturally tough body prevented her from decapitating it within the first three seconds.
Stepping aside, Saber let the yokai throw itself into the trunk of a burning tree. She slashed upwards at the same time, severing the burning branch above it with an extension of her Raiton chakra cloak. The ape-like Heart Eater's recovery was interrupted when the foot wide, nearly ten foot long branch crashed down on top of it. Its snarls of rage quickly became howls of pain as it sought to escape the naturally burning fire and weight pinning its limbs down.
Saber didn't give it that time. Her blade slid forward smoothly, dropping the elemental alignment of her sword's chakra cloak as she stabbed into the ape-like Heart Eater's mouth. She felt what was left of her bunshin's chakra return to her as it was dispersed.
For good measure, she stabbed the ape-like Heart Eater again. She didn't want another yokai bursting out of its body, even pinned by the still burning branch.
Saber turned, striding towards the jinchuriki and the Guardian standing defensively in front of it. The boy was watching her with wariness in his features, even as his hand still glowed green. His usage of the Mystical Palm was by no means quick, but it appeared steady to Saber's eyes. Saber was uncertain if the special properties of jinchuriki prevented them from being healed at a normal rate, but the boy's control was excellent.
When the Guardian's gaze shifted ever so slightly, Saber launched herself to the side. She was rewarded with a torn jacket and the familiar feeling of a kunai glancing off her armor. Saber didn't stay still, bringing up a half seal to shunshin away.
A kunoichi, wearing a hitai-ate with an unfamiliar marking, landed in the makeshift clearing. A large blade was held in both hands, looking much like a jagged and stylized version of a dragon's fang, in blade form. The kunoichi didn't hesitate, lashing out at the Guardian yokai standing in front of the jinchuriki.
Saber ignored that byplay. Unless she was singularly talented, or possessing a trump card like Saber herself, a single kunoichi wasn't going to get past a Guardian. Silently, she created another Katon clone as she scanned.
Her landing angle was wrong for where and how the kunai glanced off my armor. She's no bunshin, so either one is out there pretending to be real or there's at least one other kunoichi with her.
Plan as if all are happening. Neko is the only possible backup, if he got away at all. High probability of these unknowns being responsible for the death of the ANBU and my teammates.
Either they took their time at that site, suppressing their chakra so that I couldn't distinguish it at that range, or they used my previous actions as a scouting opportunity. Likely the former, as I would've seen foreign chakra signatures in that direction much sooner.
High probability they attempted to remove Dagger's and Shiv's masks. The seals on them should've prevented their eyes from being stolen, but it would certainly be worth the time for another village's squad to check on the possibility. Even in the face of danger, Sharingan and Byakugan are prizes worthy of having.
Within moments, Saber's eyes found three chakra signatures hiding amongst the flames and smoke of the canopy. One was similar to that of the woman swiping at the Guardian yokai.
Saber's preliminary planning was interrupted before it began. Much further south, in the direction of the hidden bunker, a massive chakra signature stopped suppressing itself. It was a signature Saber recognized instantly. So did the enemy nin, judging by the momentary stiffening of the kunoichi playing at attacking the Guardian yokai. Saber rearranged her plans.
Saber's first bunshin shifted into position a moment later.
"Shiranui, that's the Hokage." Her bunshin said.
It ducked back behind a tree, a trio of kunai embedding themselves in the trunk.
The sound of a tree exploding cut off all sound for a moment. Saber's chakra returned, the bunshin having dismissed itself the moment it ducked back around the tree.
"Take Uzumaki and run." Another bunshin said.
This time one of the enemy nin responded personally. He appeared in a shunshin, impaling the bunshin, along with the tree it was using as cover, with another overly large sword. The bunshin exploded outwards in a ball of fire.
"Survive five minutes." Saber's third bunshin said, even as it leapt down onto the exposed shinobi. A pair of senbon lanced through it a few feet over the shinobi's head. The bunshin was forcibly dispelled from the damage, exploding again.
Saber used a shunshin, appearing behind the still reeling shinobi. Rather than go for a lethal strike, she clipped the muscle of his thigh, using kawarimi on the fourth bunshin she'd positioned for the moment.
The long range attacks had already been launched before the enemy nin registered the kawarimi, embroiling the shinobi in yet another fireball. Saber had been quite conservative with her chakra for each bunshin, packing each with little more than enough to speak a few sentences and explode violently if forcibly dispelled. The strategy had succeeded enough that the shinobi was rolling on the ground, trying to put out the flames burning on the cloth portions of his armor.
Raiton: Ten Quills.
Firing the bolts of lightning, Saber was already moving. The kunoichi in front of the Guardian swayed to the side, avoiding the volley. Her back foot was within the leading edge of the slowly spreading water and she locked up for less than a blink when the quills impacted behind her.
The Guardian unleashed a roar in that time. It was likely coincidental, meant to buy time for its self-assigned charges, one of whom was being hoisted onto the shoulder of the other. Coincidence or not, it worked well, toppling the kunoichi into the pool.
Saber's hands were in motion even as she bounded off of several tree branches in rapid succession, evading a nasty line of fire that sliced through the canopy where she'd just been.
Suiton: Formless Binding.
A yowl, along with a muted curse from off to Saber's left, announced the return of the cat-like yokai. Saber was content to leave it to play with one of the enemy nin. Her goal was to buy time. Surviving until the Hokage arrived would be ideal. Her immediate reality was extending the lifespan and freedom of an unconscious jinchuriki by five minutes.
The Guardian will help.
Saber readied herself for a vicious fight. She would give no quarter, and ask none. Root protected Konohagakure. Whatever was necessary, she would do.
Daki-sama would do the same, were she in the same place. She expected the same of all her operatives.
Saber would honor Daki-sama.
"Skewer-kun?" Narisa's voice was groggy as Ry turned to run.
"Narisa, Kage Bunshin." Ry barked. "As many as you can make, now!"
"Wha?" Narisa replied in a dazed tone.
Ry wasn't surprised. Narisa had started screaming when the first strange creature, looking like a gigantic cat with one eye and crafted from blood, showed up. Screaming and flailing, her chakra flaring obscenely. She'd turned to run away, which had caught Ry off guard. Fortunately, she'd run straight into a tree, stunning herself for a moment. Then she'd passed out.
After that had come the giant lion made of shadows, the ANBU operative, the other crazy cats. All in about half a second. The next two minutes had gotten even crazier.
Somewhere deep, deep down, Ry had shoved his gibbering panic. In its place was a crystallized focus on not dying.
Even with that focus, Ry was still having a hard time processing, and his head had been throbbing since the cat creatures had appeared. Narisa even regaining consciousness impressed Ry.
Ry made it about thirty feet before an enemy nin landed in front of him. As Ry skidded to a stop, he noted the hard look in the kunoichi's eyes as she glanced at Narisa.
Capture, not kill? Gotta hope so.
Means they'll off me-
Ry saw a silvery glint. There were sparks in the air ten feet in front of him, along with a blur of motion. The kunoichi in front of him disappeared, with more sounds of clashing metal echoing from above.
Just gotta run towards that chakra. Fuck that's massive, and I'm no sensor.
"Narisa." Ry said as he started running again. "Kage Bunshin."
"Buh secret, skewer-kun." Narisa replied.
"Not the time for secre-" Ry jumped upwards, barely seeing the tripwire laid out on the ground.
Idiot. Of course she put a trap where she landed.
Jumping over the tripwire gave him nowhere to dodge. Which was when another silvery glint caught his eye. Ry tried to twist, the kunai slicing through his shirt and punching into his shoulder. Ry flared his chakra instinctively; all the practice with Aoba paid off, his adhesion keeping Narisa glued to his shoulder even as his arm went limp. He hit the tree he'd aimed for with a grunt, kicking off and putting himself on another angle.
I can't tell if that was where they were aiming or not.
Damnit, I'm going to die here.
Blood was already welling out of Ry's shoulder, leaking off the kunai scraping against the bone. Ry gritted his teeth; the weapon's embedded point caused fresh waves of pain every time Narisa's weight shifted. He shifted his good arm, deadening the nerves in his shoulder with a brief flare of Mystical Palm. He knew better than to try actual healing while so harried.
The kick off the tree brought him into the lower branches. Fire crackled in various spots, the ANBU with the strange mask having thrown enough Katon around to start a real forest fire. Trails of smoke drifted and twisted through the treetops, creating pockets of vision and obscurity.
Without warning, something sliced through Ry's thigh. His next kick off a tree branch turned into a fall as his leg gave out, thigh muscles no longer responding. Ry stretched out with his left arm, briefly adhering his hand to the tree branch to alter his downward momentum. His one working leg let him deflect off of the tree trunk he'd aimed towards, coming to a rough landing that left him on the ground and Narisa tumbling off to his side.
Shit. Kazune's tags don't hurt this bad. They cut off functionality more though.
Narisa sat up, looking around as Ry scrabbled sideways. Ry saw her eyes widen when she took him in, weapons sticking out of an arm and leg.
"Ry!" Narisa shouted in alarm.
Ry's continued motion meant that the next kunai only sliced through the left side of his scalp, rather than punching through his eye.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Narisa yelled, the area around them filling with white smoke that contrasted sharply with the trickles of grey and black seeping down from the canopy.
Ry blinked in surprise. He'd expected a good number of shadow clones, but at least fifty were present in his immediate view. One, standing protectively over Ry, popped a moment later. The kunai that hit it dropped to the ground a foot away from Ry's stomach.
The rest of the shadow clones split off, charging into their surroundings. Narisa hadn't mastered the leaf concentration exercise, let alone tree walking. What she did have excellent control of was her jumping and parkour. Ry had seen it in action several times as she ran from the sensei and ANBU tracking her down after a prank.
Narisa's clones had the same ability, and no fear of death to boot. They swarmed upwards, kicking off of tree trunks and using each other to launch themselves into the canopy.
Ry himself was lifted up, a pair of shadow clones dragging him over to the trunk of a tree. They deposited him on the ground, before joining a cordon around him.
Next to him, Narisa grimaced. "What's happening?"
"I have no idea." Ry replied. "Some crazy thing looking like a one eyed cat made of blood showed up, you knocked yourself out running into a tree, and then things got crazier. There are enemy nin out here, and a kunoichi with a weird ANBU mask.
Narisa stiffened for a moment, holding her hands in a familiar seal.
Five more clones popped into existence inside the cordon. They all jumped out, running and shouting as loudly as possible.
"Some of my bunshin found the cat thing." Narisa replied. "And the others are being picked off by the enemy nin. I haven't even gotten a look at them yet, but the bunshin are forcing them away, at least."
With a thud, the shadowy lion landed in the clearing.
"That one's good, I think." Ry said, before Narisa or her clones could react. "It was protecting us earlier, from the blood cats."
"Woah." Narisa's blue eyes were wide, the contrast greater than normal given the blood caked on one side of her face. "It's big."
The lion stalked over. Through the small gaps in the cordon, Ry could see the way it evaluated them for a moment. Then its head flicked off to the right. With a roar, it leapt away, its movement little more than a shadowed blur.
"That's where my bunshin keep popping." Narisa said.
More clones appeared a moment later, leaping out to follow the lion.
"Your chakra reserves okay?" Ry asked, seeing Narisa's grimace grow.
"Yeah." Narisa growled. "Just…every time they pop, my headache gets a little bigger. They must've popped fifty or sixty of them by now. And that's with the blood cat thing attacking one. And the weird ANBU mask kunoichi. Saw her too, just now."
Ry bit his tongue. His instinct was to tell her not to overdo it, but he certainly couldn't do anything to help their defenses. Narisa could, even if it was only with her clones serving as body blockers.
Need to teach her offensive jutsu. Which means I need to learn a couple offensive jutsu.
Don't think Kazune will be opposed to teaching me after this. Or auntie.
Further conversation was cut off as a kunoichi landed in front of them. Half of Narisa's visible clones, all the ones on Ry's side, had popped before Ry even realized she was there. Her eyes flicked to Ry, kunai in hand.
Panic and instinct had him flip his hand into a half seal. Kawarimi wasn't his favorite, but enough sparring with his sensei, especially Aoba, had taught him the virtues of being able to use it with only a half seal.
Ry's world view distorted as he fell to the ground where the clone furthest from the enemy nin had stood. Narisa's clone managed to move her leg enough that the blade intended for Ry's neck dug into the ground instead.
Thank fuck we've practiced that.
It had been intended for helping Narisa make clean getaways from pranks, but the reality was, Ry would be dead if Narisa's clone had resisted his jutsu. It was only with its willing cooperation that the switch had happened so seamlessly.
Three of Narisa's clones leapt at the enemy nin. The kunoichi popped one, dodged the other two, lunging towards Ry again.
She wants me out of the way. Not good.
If Ry had both his arms and his legs, he might've stood a chance at avoiding death. Prone, on the ground, with half his limbs rendered useless she had him dead to rights.
Another Narisa lunged towards the kunoichi, at an angle where it cut off the kunoichi's advance. The nin's kunai lashed out, cutting through a cheek and into the eye. The kunoichi's eyes never even left Ry, her steps not slowed as she dealt with the shadow clone.
Then the Narisa continued forward, howling in rage and pain as she tackled the kunoichi. Ry's eyes were as wide as the kunoichi's as the two went down in a tangle. The enemy kunoichi recovered almost instantly, but her kunai was no longer in her hands as she grappled with Narisa.
It was clear the enemy kunoichi had far superior experience when it came to grappling. She worked Narisa into a chokehold in seconds. The two shadow clones moving to help Narisa popped. Narisa was flailing at her, not making it easy, but she'd never been effective at getting out of Ry's grappling. This woman was definitely better than Ry at groundwork and the panic she'd induced had caused Narisa to accidentally dismiss her most effective means of escape.
Shit!
Wait, why am I not healing myself?!
Grimacing at both the pain and his stupidity, Ry used his good hand to rip the kunai out of his shoulder. Flaring his chakra, he brought his green coated hand to his shoulder. He'd healed enough stab wounds from his lessons with Akena that he knew what he was doing. Akena's immaculate control of her technique and strength meant that he'd never been stabbed to the point where she'd hit bone, but Ry would make do.
It wouldn't be pretty, but it would be roughly functional. Hirana, or another iryo specialist, could fix any long term problems he accidentally created as he flooded the wound. It sealed shut with a hiss, Ry biting his lip as he endured both pain and impatience.
Narisa hadn't managed to get free, but she had rolled so that the enemy kunoichi had her back to Ry. He grabbed the kunai he'd discarded while healing his shoulder. It was the work of a few moments to create a basic chakra cloak for his weapon.
Ry had understood the concept within seconds of Akena showing him and he'd practiced every day, seeking to create it quicker and quicker. Long term, he planned to create a more stable version, but repeated sparring with his sensei had shown him that jutsu and techniques that took time to set up would probably get him killed; he wasn't skilled enough to buy the necessary setup time. For the moment, his technique was far from perfect, and wouldn't stand up to an enemy using a more stable chakra cloak for more than a second, but it didn't need to. It just needed to last long enough to at least partially nullify the strengthening effects of an enemy nin infusing their body with chakra, enough for the blade to sink in.
The blade sliced through the air, sticking into the enemy's lower back. No more than an inch, but it did its job. She arched in pain, letting out a snarl of surprise. Then her head jerked and Ry could see Narisa's elbow at an awkward angle. He didn't know what the blonde did, but it was effective enough to draw a howl from the kunoichi's lips.
Ry extracted the other kunai from his leg. This one hadn't gone as deep, but it had severed the top half of his thigh muscle. Repairing it to functional took him nearly a minute, in which time the kunoichi reestablished her control of the grapple and appeared to be choking Narisa out. She hadn't managed to roll back around.
The kunai sticking out of her back probably has something to do with that.
Ry threw the other kunai at her, this one sticking into her left shoulder.
"Umari!" The kunoichi shouted. "Stop fucking around with that yokai already!"
At the same time, she flipped herself over. Both the kunai were flung out of her by the motion, and she had Narisa locked down on top of her. Narisa's face was red, her hands flailing as she tried to reach around to gain some sort of purchase. Her fingers tearing at the kunoichi's sleeves did nothing, the fabric too strong for Narisa to rip through. Her legs were completely pinned, wrapped by the kunoichi a moment after they landed.
Ry grimaced; his leg was in working shape, but he wasn't going anywhere fast. With her strength, and the leverage she had, any attack Ry made was likely to hurt Narisa instead.
A yowl caught Ry's attention and he saw the cat-like creature land in a tangle of limbs. It rolled onto its feet immediately, lunging back up towards the trees.
Fire bloomed out from the trees, washing over the creature. Then it was gone, amongst the burning canopy.
In its place was the ANBU from earlier. The featureless mask was unnerving, in the brief moment it was in view. Ry blinked and the kunoichi was gone, along with the one grappling Narisa. In her place was a burning branch that Narisa scrambled away from.
Ry helped her to her feet, eyes swinging around wildly.
We are so out of our league here.
Narisa's face was grim, and Ry could see silent tears streaming down from her left eye. Her right was a gory mess, along with the slice that had clearly cut a deep gouge in her cheek.
"You have chakra for more bunshin?" Ry asked as he pushed chakra through himself.
His chakra infusion had dropped after his leg had been taken out while leaping through the trees. Ry could only blame a mix of panic and inexperience for that. He blamed his own stupidity for not reestablishing it immediately after.
Narisa nodded. She didn't need any further prompting. It was unnerving, seeing all the clones with missing, bleeding eyes, but they sprang into action immediately as Ry limped away with Narisa. Ry was vaguely aware of a burning sensation in his arm and leg that had been hurt earlier. He chalked it up to miswiring the nerves he'd put back together. A concern for after they survived.
Damn. We need a way to distract them, or get them off of us. That ANBU and the lion are still alive. I hope. They're the only reason I'm not dead yet. Not sure what these nin want with Narisa, but she'd definitely be dead if that's what they were after.
"Skewer-kun, you said kage bunshin can use any jutsu I can, right?" Narisa asked as they staggered along.
"Should be able to, as far as I'm aware. Other than other Bunshin." Ry said. "Why?"
Narisa grabbed Ry, pulling him behind a tree. She threw up another Clone hand seal, with dozens more clones rushing away from their position.
"What are-" Ry's words stopped as he drew his sword.
The blade barely caught the first shuriken aimed for his head, even as he shoved Narisa over, two senbon burying themselves in the tree they stood in front of. The second shuriken he deflected with the pommel of his weapon, the third gashing his chest as he turned to minimize his profile. Some of the nearer clones popped, though none of them stopped spreading out.
Fast!
The same kunoichi from earlier was in Ry's face between blinks. Instinct, from training that had beaten responsiveness into a bruised and broken body for months, brought his blade around. The kunoichi's kunai scraped off of Ry's blade, nearly ripping it out of his hand if not for instinctive adhesion, the knife's point cutting a line of fire along his rib. Ry dropped one hand from the hilt of his blade, palm finding the kunoichi's other arm. He stiffened his arm as best he could, riding her prodigious strength backwards.
Ry bounced off the tree behind him, his chakra infusion guttering out again. The kunoichi's eyes held the slightest bit of surprise in them as she pivoted.
Between blinks she was gone again, a trio of shuriken burying themselves in the ground where she'd stood. Ry hit the ground on his knees, scanning frantically. Narisa created more clones, groaning in pain a moment later. Kyubi Jinchuriki or not, there was clearly a limit to what she could take. She'd made at least two hundred clones that Ry had witnessed and Ry could see her consciousness wavering in her good eye.
Then she grinned as two of the clones grabbed her, another pair grabbing onto Ry. With no warning, they leapt, carrying both of them towards the canopy. Ry reestablished his chakra infusion, in case the enemy nin came out of nowhere again.
What is she-
There was an audible rumble and the trees around them started shaking. Ry saw the ground below them buckling, trees swaying and toppling everywhere around them. Splintering and groaning, deep bass breaking, drowned out the hissing and crackling of the fire all around.
"Hehe." Narisa rasped. "You said it would break stuff if just I did it."
Holy…she just had all those fresh clones go out and use Molding Earth. Without holdi-
Pillars of earth shot into the air, branches and trunks snapping like a fusillade of gunfire and artillery. The two clones carrying Ry kicked off of one as they approached, reangling them towards the ground. Glancing behind him, Ry saw the pillars forming a vague line. Narisa had clearly intended to wall off their rear. Some of the pillars were thinner, closer to stone slabs, seeking each other out at strange angles.
Then the shadow clones carrying Ry popped. Glancing over, Ry saw Narisa's eye roll back in her head, clones near her popping as well.
Fuck!
Ry brought both his hands together, grimacing in anticipation. His chakra reserve groaned as he created a shadow clone. It braced, letting him use it as a platform to launch himself off of. The clone dispelled from the force, but it let him launch over to catch Narisa.
Their landing wasn't pretty, but he managed to keep either of them from cracking their skulls open.
Ry staggered to his feet, pulling Narisa up onto his shoulders. His leg screamed in protest as he staggered along.
A few seconds later, there were three individuals and a lion in front of him. Ry's attempted halt turned into a barely controlled fall.
The strangely masked ANBU had a sword through her gut, and one arm hung limp by her side. Ry couldn't see her face, but there was a large fragment of her mask hanging down from its strap. Still, she stood with a defiant posture.
Next to her stood the shadowy lion. Ry couldn't see any sort of visible injuries on it, but it was noticeably paler, as if its inner shadows were fraying.
Opposite them were the kunoichi from before, along with a much bulkier shinobi. The kunoichi didn't look injured, other than the small wounds Ry had given her trying to free Narisa, but the shinobi looked like he'd been put through a shredder. Ry was impressed he was on his feet at all, given the remaining rags of his clothes and the gashes along one leg and his stomach. One of his eyes was gone, and it looked as if he'd been half-scalped, his hitai-ate nowhere in sight.
"Fuck." The kunoichi said. "Umari, we're pulling out. Hokage's too close, and I don't like those eyes."
"Thought that missing nin killed all the Uchiha." The shinobi said. "Stupid fucking cats."
The two vanished with shunshin. Ry dragged Narisa closer to the lion. He wasn't sure why it was protecting them, but it was clearly the defender in the best shape. Given Ry's guttering chakra, teetering on the brink of depletion, he was in no state to fight. Neither was Narisa; she was lucky she was a jinchuriki, or Ry was pretty sure she'd have just hard boiled her brain.
The ANBU kunoichi turned to regard Ry. Her eyes, hard and cold, examined him dispassionately.
Ry's own widened in surprise.
Those are Sharingan! Aren't the Uchiha all dead?!
"You are learning iryo ninjutsu, yes?" The kunoichi asked.
Ry heard the wet sound of her voice. Judging by the angle, the sword in her abdomen had at least nicked a lung. Likely popped one entirely.
He nodded slowly.
The kunoichi sagged to her knees. "Come here. Bring the jinchuriki. She is to be a weapon for this village. I am dying, but one of my eyes can be of use still."
The lion growled in a low tone. The kunoichi turned to look at the creature. The two of them had a silent conversation, one that lasted maybe five seconds. Then the lion let out a snort, tail flicking.
Ry took that for acquiescence. He had an idea of what the kunoichi wanted to do.
I mean, I've reattached my own eye, but that's about it. I'd be relying heavily on the fact that Narisa's a jinchuriki, with the potent regeneration associated with that. Going to put myself into chakra depletion too. That's supposed to suck.
When he brought Narisa close, the kunoichi pointed to Narisa. Ry brought a hand up to her forehead, chakra flaring green as he deadened the nerves in the area. When he pulled his hand away, the kunoichi's own flashed out. A moment later, she held the mangled ruin of Narisa's right eye. With a squeeze, she popped it in her hand. Ry's stomach lurched slightly.
With her bloodied hands, the kunoichi flashed through a series of seals, ending by plucking out her own right eye.
"Put it in." The kunoichi said, her voice ragged, even as she swayed. "The suppression on the seal will not last long, even using the jinchuriki's potent blood. The Hokage and Daki-sama will preserve the other. Hurry."
Ry glanced at Narisa, who hadn't even stirred. Looking back up, he delicately took the eye out of the kunoichi's hand. His heart lurched when he heard a death rattle and she slumped back. He didn't recognize her, nor did she look at all like Saneko. If she was an Uchiha, Ry had no idea who she might be.
But she had a smile on her face, as she died.
First death of a perspective character. Not in their perspective, but still. Wrote Saber knowing she was going to be a minor character that died and still didn't want to kill her off. I have that problem as an author, getting attached to characters and not sending them off to their planned endings. Which, uh, *cough cough, ahem* is difficult in a story where almost all of the relevant characters are magical assassins, as Ry would say.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed. I'm having a blast writing this, so I plan to continue for quite a while. I wasn't planning to write over sixty thousand words and still be more than a year off before "canon" but so it goes. There's a long way to go, but we'll get there.
Onwards!