Good shinobi outpost, Okinawa - Three weeks after Yumi's graduation, Night
Yumi has become a proper shinobi. Thus, she has been assigned to a good shinobi squad, led by a kagura rank shinobi named Rumiko.
Yumi has never seen any other kagura rank shinobi except for Jasmine. Rumiko is six feet tall, and has long green hair, matching her emerald eyes. Her shinobi outfit composed of a helmetless brown Ō-yoroi armor worn over a black female business suit.
She looks pretty young for a kagura, about as old as Rin or Daidouji.
It was composed of eight members, including Yumi herself. All of them are far more experienced than Yumi herself.
The former Gessen student was astonished when her superior told her about her future partners. Indeed, Yumi wasn't expecting to join a Yôma hunting squad right after her graduation.
However, the good shinobi chief immediately stated that Yumi would meet difficulties fitting in her future squad. She was aware of that, or rather, she thought she was.
She thought that her superior was referring to how hard and bloody a Yôma hunt is, but she was wrong.
The issue lied in Yumi's heritage.
Indeed, her new allies have been informed about Yumi. Her skills, her rank, her school… And her past.
Yumi forgot it for a while, but the surrounding whispers quickly reminded her how infamous Kurokage is.
Even if Yumi is clean, her new partners still bear suspicions about how she would react if they were to encounter evil shinobi.
Of course, Yumi claimed she's not like her grandfather and even admitted that she was in good terms with certain evil shinobi.
But that did not convince anyone in her team. But her presence was their superiors' order, so they have no choice but take her with them.
She's not happy with this situation, but can't really blame her new teammates. Kurokage earned his reputation, she's even the first one to admit it.
Now, all that matters for her is to prove she's trustworthy.
"We have an emergency, we found several savage Yôma hiding in the forest close to inhabited areas. We already have twelve victims, you must stop them at any cost!" The squad leader Rumiko explains.
"Yes ma'am!" The seven squad members exclaim.
"Okay, we're heading out now! Everyone comes!" Rumiko adds.
Twenty minutes later
The Yôma hunters are looking for the Yôma, all together to prevent any ambushes.
However, this forest is nothing but the noises of them crushing vegetation and sticks with their feet…
Not a single cricket's song, not even a bird's call.
Yumi noticed this, same for her partners.
"Something is wrong…" Yumi says, her fans ready to fan out.
None of her allies react to her statement. Then Ataru, one of the oldest team members with his gray beard, bald head and a traditional blue Japanese farmer outfit, speaks up.
"The newbie's right, it's too calm…"
Yumi doesn't really like the way he just called her, but she's glad at least one person replied and agreed with her.
The slow walk continues, the weight of their feet crushing leaves, grass, and sticks sounds heavier and heavier.
Yumi is so focusing on the environment that those noises sound way louder than they actually are which is starting to play with her nerves.
She can feel the sweat dripping all over her body and her heart racing.
Now, even the sounds of walking are making her face twitch.
Yumi is tired of this situation, to the point she'd almost like that something attacked them.
And…
"Wait." Rumiko orders in a low voice.
But she didn't have to say anything, everyone heard an unusual and very quiet noise. Enough to put the eight of them on guard.
The entire squad is frozen, not a single movement. They look more like statues than actual human beings.
Then…
"There!" One of the shinobi calls out while pointing her finger in the direction of the sky.
The entire team looks there, witnessing a human looking form about to fall on the ground.
"It's not a Yôma…" Yumi thinks.
The new presence falls on her feet, perfectly balanced, right in front of the squad leader.
"Evil shinobi…" Ataru says. Yumi can feel a few quick glances toward her. The evil shinobi emits a powerful aura and looks pissed off. She's five feet tall and has a pretty long yellow-haired ponytail, her head additionally adorned by a green and white cap. Unlike Rumiko, her hair color isn't matching those of her eyes, which are blue.
She was clad in sportswear, her chest exposed to present a tight green sports bra while her bottoms were covered by a pair of loose dark green sweatpants, finished off by pair of high-end running shoes upon her feet.
"Guess you're good shinobi… What the hell are you doing there?!" She asks.
"Yôma hunting. May I know the reason of your unwanted presence? And who are you?" Rumiko asks in a derisive tone.
"Like you, but better. My name is Shinobu, an evil shinobi kagura and chief of the Shinobu's Lotus Squad!" The evil shinobi answers.
Suddenly, Yumi feels five other presences coming.
Then, other evil shinobi show themselves, ready for battle.
"Don't play fools, we're more numerous than you are." Rumiko chided the evil shinobi.
"Maybe, but since you're good shinobi, you'd need more than two extra shinobi to balance the odds." Shinobu says in return.
"You!" One of the good shinobi says, snarling.
"Oh? Wanna check it?" One of the evil shinobi adds in a taunting voice.
Yumi sighs. Even if the tension palpable, she can't help but feel annoyed by this conflict.
"And they were the ones expecting me to lose my mind in case of an encounter with evil shinobi…" Yumi thinks.
But…
"Eh?!" Yumi thinks, feeling something very threatening and dangerous not far from here.
"Eh, I think I…" Yumi says
"I can tear you apart anytime, stop testing me! I won't let a midget disrespect me!" Rumiko yells.
"What did you call me?!" Shinobu screams while blushing.
Yumi sighs again, they're not listening to her.
She knows she shouldn't do that, but she decides to investigate that presence all by herself. Fully aware that, even if she screams, none of the shinobi would listen to a just graduated shinobi in such a situation.
So, Yumi leaves, not even trying to hide her running.
But she's not the only one annoyed by this situation…
"I guess you felt it too." Ataru says.
Yumi quickly looks behind her, surprised.
Ataru isn't alone, another female shinobi with brown hair is following him.
"I am sorry, I went alone because I thought no one would have listened to me. This is a huge disrespect toward you…" Yumi says in a regretful voice.
Ataru sighs in return, then says:
"Don't worry about it, it's understandable. Unfortunately."
Yumi smiles when she hears those rather friendly words.
"Thank you. Shall we go after this presence?" Yumi politely asks.
"Sure." Ataru answers.
The small to a place located about two hundred meters away from where the rest of the shinobi are likely still arguing.
Thanks to their shinobi speed, they arrive in mere seconds.
But once at the location where they felt something, none of them see anything but grass and trees.
"It was here, I'm sure of that…" Yumi thinks, feeling that something is about to happen.
Ready to strike anytime with her fans, the young girl focused both her eyes and ears on her environment.
Yumi still feels something, something very bad…
"Right there, I think I…" Yumi tries to say before hearing a loud noise.
Then, a giant form emerges from the shadows, jumping at the girl.
The thing tries to smash Yumi on the ground, but the shinobi dodges.
Following the shock, two more beasts emerge and join the ambush.
"Yôma!" Ataru yells.
Those Yôma looked like giant saber-toothed bears with six legs. They have a single purple eye and a giant jaw on their torsos.
The first monster immediately tries again to lunge at Yumi. The thing is fast, Yumi barely dodges.
"Fast…" Yumi murmurs.
Her two teammates are already dealing with the other Yôma, which mean she's on her own.
The impact crushes the ground and makes a pretty deep hole.
"And strong, there's no time to lose with it!" Yumi says.
The shinobi focuses on her Shinobi Force in order to use her best ability.
"ICE QUEEN!"
Yumi yells, turning into her ice form after summoning a blue and powerful tornado.
The Yôma doesn't feel fear and attacks Yumi again.
This time, the ice shinobi easily dodges and immediately counterattacks.
In a single quick and fluid swing, Yumi beheads the monster with her ice blade.
The head falls, the rest of the body following behind it. The beast is dead.
Yumi, still on her guard, looks around her to check if her allies need assistance. Hopefully, they defeated the other monsters.
The brown-haired female shinobi is nowhere to be found, which worries Yumi. Marks of clashes in the area suggest that Ataru took his fight away from Yumi, likely to not let the Yoma gang up on any of them.
"I don't feel any other presence like it. I should save my energy for now." Yumi says before removing her Ice Queen form.
Then, the ice shinobi decided to look for her comrade.
But…
"Yumi! LOOK OUT!" Ataru screams out, emerging from behind the bushes.
Yumi looks behind her and sees the head of the Yôma she thought dead, still living and floating in the air like a ghost.
The thing is about to crush Yumi in its jaw, as the young shinobi is still processing what's happening.
A sound of soft squelching flesh permeated through Yumi's head.
"Eh?" Yumi reacts, confused, her body still untouched.
A javelin just stabbed the living head, which falls on the ground, definitely dead this time.
Ataru joins her shortly and the two shinobi look at the direction where the javelin comes from.
The person who threw it is one of the evil shinobi who stayed behind. A male shinobi in a classical black ninja outfit, only his blue eyes are visible.
The rest of the shinobi quickly join too. All of them, good and evil, came together.
"What are you doing?!" Rumiko asks.
Ataru doesn't dare to answer.
Yumi however looks at the other shinobi with a judgy face.
"Our duty, just the three of us, since you were busy arguing with each other instead of performing our duty…" Yumi says in an annoyed voice.
All the shinobi look stunned, but Yumi hasn't said everything yet.
"Seriously, the situation regarding the world is getting worse everyday, and you keep acting as if we're not nearing the end of the world by the minute! If you want a chance to win this war and save humankind, it's together we have to fight, not against each other!" Yumi adds. Her daring words and attitude shocks both evil and good shinobi facing her improvised group.
"You said you were fighting Yôma there too? That means we are allies, so the best thing to do is to let us come with you." Yumi specifically tells the evil shinobi leader.
After a long moment of reflection, the evil shinobi who saved her respond.
"That gal's right, we have nothing to lose…" He says.
"I agree, I don't like it, but it's less risky." One of the good shinobi adds.
The resignations go crescendo, the two leaders also concede.
'I shouldn't have yelled at you, guys. I apologize and thank you for focusing on the mission." Rumiko admits.
Yumi smiles, but not Ataru. Rumiko notices his defeated face and immediately knows what it means.
"Ataru, where's Haruna?" The leader asks, knowing the answer already.
"She… didn't make it, the Yôma she was facing was stronger than the others. She had to take it down with her." Ataru explains.
Hearing that sends chills across Yumi, who immediately feels bad.
Not only bad, but also regretful. Perhaps if she waited for the rest, they could have beaten all those Yôma without suffering casualties.
However, something is about to put an end to those questions…
"Anyway, I think the rest are joining the party!" Shinobu exclaims, pointing at the moving greenery.
Immediately after her words, seven other Yôma similar to the ones Yumi's group just killed arose in their place.
Yumi is ready, same for all of her fellow shinobi. Determined not to let anyone else die, regardless of their faction.
"Grandfather Kurokage, I hope you will not scowl at me when I will join you in the afterlife." Yumi thinks before charging in on the Yôma.
Special thanks to NeoDingleBat for his proofreading and suggestions to improve this chapter
Sorry, but my proofreader will be busy for the rest of the month. I refuse to publish a unchecked chapter so, no chapter during until he's free.