Chapter 26
Not a sound could be heard as the owl circled above the clearing, its flight eerily silent despite its large size. Kakashi leered at it from behind a tree with narrow eyes, his Sharingan tracing its path. A little under four minutes had passed since they'd been forced to take shelter in the trees, and while it hadn't moved to dive at them or tried to hit them with feathers again it showed no signs of leaving anytime soon.
The situation had become highly unfavorable for them. Genma couldn't reasonably use his poisoned senbon with its defenses, and the only long-range jutsu Kakashi knew would require a lot of chakra expenditure—chakra he'd rather save for when they caught up to Amagiri. The only other one with long-range techniques was Tenzo, but they couldn't risk him using the mokuton in front of Sute.
He turned to look at Genma and Tenzo, finding the two watching him expectantly with kunai and senbon in hand. They gave a small nod, and he then turned to Bisuke and Urushi, the pair standing tense and ready. At his nod the two dogs burst into the clearing, running as fast as they could towards another section of trees.
The burst of motion drew the owl's attention, a loud shriek sounding as it dove towards them. At the same time Kakashi and Genma took off to the side while Tenzo and Pakkun stayed behind, moving within the cover of the trees while the owl was distracted. As he ran Kakashi saw the glint of the owl's sharp talons stretching towards Urushi, the tips grazing the back of his vest. The canine dove and slid forward, the momentum just barely carrying him to the safety of the trees alongside Bisuke.
Its quarry out of reach, the owl ascended once more with an enraged screech, and Kakashi could see feathers lodge into the trunks near his two ninken. By this point he and Genma had taken up positions on opposite points along the ring of trees circling the clearing, the other man's pale face barely visible in the shadows when he peeked out. Kakashi pulled his head behind the trunk and took a deep breath as he palmed several shuriken, steeling himself for the next part.
He gave a low whistle, the sound barely carrying through the clearing but more than audible to the dogs and owl. Moments later Pakkun and Tenzo both burst out of their hiding spot, Tenzo rushing forward and lobbing his kunai at the giant bird. It deflected the blade with a single beat of its mighty wings, the resulting gust of air sending it plummeting back to the ground before it dove towards the young ANBU.
Kakashi and Genma reacted instantly, throwing their preferred weapons of choice right at the owl's eyes just before it could reach Tenzo. Caught mid-descent, it couldn't use its wings to deflect them, and it screeched as the shuriken and senbon both hit their marks. Tenzo ducked to the side as it abruptly drew up and nearly crashed into the ground, head shaking wildly with its eyelids squeezed shut and leaking blood.
With a final, agonized shriek it swiped a wing at the spot Tenzo occupied, the boy narrowly managing to dodge the barrage of feathers save one that merely tore his sleeve. Then it vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the clearing in dead silence.
For a long moment all was still, the only sound Tenzo's heavy breathing as he stood in the center of the clearing. Pakkun gently pressed a paw against his leg as if to support him, and almost as one everyone else emerged from their hiding places, converging next to the pair. "Good job," Kakashi praised with a nod, and Tenzo offered him a shaky smile, wiping his forehead.
"Th-thanks, senpai." He sounded a bit winded and shaken, not that Kakashi could blame him. They'd faced plenty of shinobi and situations far more dangerous than the owl, but there was a certain instinctive chill that even the most hardened veterans had trouble shaking when faced with giant predators. Darting into the open as bait went against every instinct, both as humans and as trained shinobi.
"It shouldn't have taken us that long to come up with that strategy," Genma groaned, picking up one of his fallen senbon, and Kakashi silently agreed.
To be fair, they'd identified the eyes as the ideal weak point early on, but the issue had been figuring out how to actually strike them. The owl's eyesight would be more than sensitive enough to pick up on projectiles being tossed its way, and its wings allowed it to easily deflect them. Those sensitive eyes also made it harder to reposition themselves to more strategic locations for a pincer formation, until they decided to use the ninken as a distraction.
"You two are getting extra steak when we get home," Kakashi promised Bisuke and Urushi, checking over the latter to make sure the talons hadn't actually done more than rip the vest. The two canines perked up at the promise, their tails wagging eagerly as they yipped while Kakashi withheld a breath of relief at finding nothing wrong. Rationally he knew they'd be fine and could just unsummon themselves if the owl got too close, but it was still a bit nerve-wracking to watch.
If Pakkun was bothered by not being included in the promise he didn't show it. Instead the pug had turned his attention to the edge of the clearing, sniffing at the ground with a distinct frown. "Bad news, boss," he said, glancing back.
"Sute's gone," Kakashi guessed tiredly. Her lack of action hadn't gone unnoticed, it had been part of the reason they'd waited before putting the plan into action, just in case she'd do something to contradict their strategy. He'd already surmised she had probably fled since she hadn't come out even after the owl had been unsummoned. It didn't surprise him.
Frankly, he hadn't put much stock in the alliance. The only reason he'd relented to it was because it would be better to keep an eye on her than let her operate independently. He knew from the scent of blood in the cave behind her that she'd been telling the truth about her injured companion, so he knew she would search for Amagiri as well. While he didn't trust her to not double-cross them if the opportunity arose, even a false truce would be smoother than the risk of her interfering with the search. So really, the fact she ran at the first chance didn't surprise him.
Pakkun nodded, still looking grim. "Yeah, but it gets worse. Amagiri was here too—and they went off together."
The three Leaf ninja went rigid at the news, the atmosphere growing heavier. Shit. The situation had just elevated to a worst-case scenario.
Sute followed Amagiri in silence as they ran atop the river towards his hideout, the trees lining the banks passing by in a rapid blur. He'd used a series of hand seals she'd never seen to make the water move even faster, using it as a sort of extra spring for their steps. Between that and their long strides she estimated they'd managed to travel more than two kilometers in the short time she'd been following him. A shame she didn't have the Sharingan to copy that technique.
Suiton must be his natural element, she thought idly as she studied his back. So far they hadn't spoken much, choosing to focus on covering as much ground as possible over conversation. It gave her plenty of time to analyze him, not that his appearance gave her many hints. He wore rather basic black clothing, no obvious hints to a specific country of origin, and she didn't know enough about culture to place if the blue oni mask had a regional origin. His hair, while visible, was an unremarkable shade of dark brown that seemed to be common across all the countries in this world.
Except the Land of Lightning. Kumo's existence still threw her for a loop.
She pushed the thought aside as Amagiri's pace slowed, prompting her to slow as well. He hopped onto land easily, the artificially hastened current slowing to its original pace as Sute followed him. "Not much further," he told her, walking at a brisk pace. "We'll be there soon." She hummed and nodded absently, idly examining their surroundings. She hadn't been to this area before, so everything was unfamiliar to her.
As she casually catalogued their current direction she commented, "You sure your owl will be able to hold them off? They had Kakashi with them you know, and he's pretty smart."
"Chairoha will at least be able to buy us some time," Amagiri replied dismissively. "Even if they manage to get past her, the river will dilute our scents enough to make tracking difficult. By the time they find our trail, we'll have had more than enough time to pack up and get another owl to help us move."
Sute hummed, accepting his words at face value for the time being. She doubted the others would expect them to traverse two kilometers in such a short time, and even then they wouldn't know which direction they went. "They'll probably split up to search each direction," she remarked thoughtfully. "Regrouping once they find the trail would take time."
"And even if they find us, we should be able to handle them fine," Amagiri finished smoothly. "After all, I doubt Kiri's 'Bloody Butcher' has let her skills diminish since her last major appearance."
Sute scoffed at the moniker, her features twisting in distaste. "Ugh, don't use that one," she groaned. "It makes me sound like I'm just a violent bloodthirsty tank, totally doesn't match up with my style at all. If you want to use one, then 'Poison Apple' would be a way better fit."
"Or perhaps, the 'Bloody Oracle?'" Amagiri suggested wryly, a hint of amusement creeping into his tone. Sute huffed through her nose, eyes narrowing slightly at his back.
"...Yeah, I guess that works too," she allowed after a moment, silently marking him as a Leaf ninja. She'd only seen that nickname scrawled in the margins of Leaf-issued bingo books after all. That's one mystery solved at least.
Amagiri hummed, not bothering to look at her. "I'm quite curious about the accuracy of that particular moniker. I never fully understood the origin of it, as it doesn't seem like you've made many major predictions. The closest I've heard is you predicting the rise of Namikaze Minato as the Fourth Hokage."
"Yeah, I don't really get the origin of it either," Sute admitted easily. While she never tried particularly hard to hide her foreknowledge, she also didn't have many opportunities to shove it down people's throats either. Most of the series followed a bunch of Leaf ninja, and she'd encountered very few people she recognized from canon during the war.
At this point, the title amused her more than anything, given just how limited her knowledge really was. Most of it wouldn't be relevant for nearly ten more years, and by that point she suspected her presence would muck up the timeline enough to render a good chunk of it moot, if not all of it. "I wouldn't put much stock in that particular moniker," she added. "Believe me, I'm not actually psychic."
"I assumed as much," Amagiri chuckled. "Your 'Oracle' status isn't why we approached you anyway, so it doesn't matter to me. I, for one, am much more interested in you as a fellow child of Uzushio."
Sute eyed him silently for a moment before slowly nodding. "Uzushio, huh," she murmured quietly to herself. Hearing the name brought back memories of a dark cave and agonized screams echoing off stone walls, of warm brown eyes filled with fear and sadness in equal parts.
Sute had learned a little more about Uzushio since that bloody day—it was impossible not to come across it at some point when one chose to study fuinjutsu. Uzushio was infamous for its prowess in the art, feared enough that Kiri had opted to strike the village and slaughter everyone there.
Even without looking beyond the most superficial information about the village, Sute knew she almost certainly hailed from there. That giant book of storage seals and its contents obviously came from someone well-versed in fuinjutsu. Looking back she suspected that even Ameyuri had made the connection, given the way she'd insisted on hiding the tome when they returned to Kiri.
Yet despite knowing this, she never pursued it further. While it might be part of her genetic heritage, in the end Sute was not of this world. She had no reason to feel attachment to a village or family that she never knew, no reason to feel anger on behalf of her ancestors or pride in some unknown lineage. Uzushio no longer existed, so researching it wouldn't provide any immediate advantages for her situation.
So to meet someone who could apparently identify her heritage on sight, and expressed a sense of kinship over it, made her feel... strange. She eyed Amagiri thoughtfully, silently mulling over the mysterious masked man. "You come from Uzushio too?" she asked, and he hummed in affirmation.
"Yes, my parents were refugees, as I suspect yours were."
"Then, your hot water jutsu...?" Sute trailed off so he could fill in the blank, and he did not disappoint.
"Fuinjutsu." She could imagine a sly grin spreading across the man's face behind the mask, his tone carrying a faint hint of smugness that reminded her of a snake. "I am not a master by any means, but I've dedicated much research to how to combine it with ninjutsu. Altering something as simple as the temperature can have quite fascinating results."
"That's pretty creative. I dabble in fuinjutsu myself. Do you have notes on it?"
"Of course. I'll set them aside for you to read later, seeing as we're here." Even as he spoke he came to a stop, facing a nondescript clearing near a cliff. He performed a hand seal and the air in front of them began to shimmer, a wooden hut seeming to fizzle into existence in front of them. Sute let out a hum of admiration as she watched it take shape.
"A genjutsu? Clever." She hadn't seen many genjutsu actually in use, as Kiri had very few specialists and during the war most of their enemies tended to focus on more direct tactics to fight against the Seven Swordsmen. She didn't let herself admire it long though, continuing in a nonchalant tone, "But Kakashi has the Sharingan, so it's kind of pointless."
"It won't matter for long, we'll be gone soon," Amagiri demurred smoothly, peeling a paper seal off the door before striding inside with Sute close behind. She could tell even before looking he'd set up base here for some time, noting the air lacked the copious amounts of dust that accompanied long-term abandonment. For the most part the room lacked furniture, a hammock set up in the far corner in place of a bed.
Bottles of unknown liquids and piles of books and notes lined the lone table, and as Amagiri approached he removed his mask to set it next to an unlit lantern. His face looked utterly average and unremarkable, his eyes on the narrower side and his most defining feature a thin scar jutting from the corner of mouth. Overall, the kind of man who could be found any country. Perfect for espionage, but also a bit of a letdown compared to the colorful canon cast.
He picked up a lighter on the desk and used it to light the lantern, the warm glow illuminating the hut's interior more clearly. Sute could now read the labels on the various bottles on the desk, idly noting the names of various poisons. "Are those the ones you used on my team?" she asked, and Amagiri made an affirmative sound as he carried the lantern towards a back corner.
"Yes, though I can't take credit for their creation. They're quite useful though." Sute hummed absently, casually swiping and pocketing one of the bottles as she trailed after him. Amagiri had crouched and set the lantern on the floor so he could lift a tatami mat, revealing a trap door locked with a paper seal. With a quick flare of chakra he peeled it away and lifted the door open, grabbing the lantern and beckoning for her to follow as he began descending the steps.
Sute followed behind silently, and as she neared the bottom she briefly paused when the light caught on a figure. A boy with dark hair and clothing sat huddled in the far corner of the cellar, posture hunched and distinctly defensive. He looked rather pitiful at the moment, arms bound behind his back and legs tied at various points, preventing him from stretching out his limbs or even standing.
His head lifted slightly as Amagiri approached, the light reflecting off the dark fabric of a blindfold and gag, and she suspected he would've glared at them if his eyes hadn't been covered. Even with so many of his features covered, she could tell he was even younger than her.
"So this is the prisoner?" she asked aloud, tone light and casual even as she automatically began cataloging his visible injuries in what little light the lantern provided. Breathing's shallow, potentially broken ribs. Heavy bruising visible around right eye beneath blindfold, could be swollen shut. Overall coloring is pale, natural coloration or blood loss? Some Leaf ninja she'd seen had obscenely pale complexions, and the bad lighting made it hard to tell if that was the case with this boy.
Either way though, he was not in good shape.
"He's quite the special one," Amagiri noted as he set down the lantern and reached for the boy. He flinched and shrunk back against the wall as the man grabbed his arm, roughly dragging him towards the light and forcing him to half-stand. "Recognize the curly hair?"
"Not particularly," Sute denied with a head shake, and Amagiri offered her a thin smile, eyes glinting in the lantern light with malicious satisfaction.
"Shisui of the Body Flicker," he told her, and the name tugged at her memory—not from her past life, but this one. Without thinking she slipped her bingo book from the pouch on her hip, flipping through the pages until she found the entry.
Uchiha Shisui. The details accompanying the name and picture made her eyebrows arch in surprise, the only indication of her shock as she glanced up at Amagiri. "He's eleven?" she asked, silently congratulating herself for keeping her incredulity out of her voice.
"And already on track to become Jounin," Amagiri commented with a quiet chuckle. "He's one of the top prodigies in Konoha. Activated his Sharingan even before the war ended—and according to some rumors, his eyes are quite unique even among the Uchiha." The boy in question released a frustrated growl, trying to wrench free of his grip. Amagiri responded by shoving him back to the ground, and he made a muffled but clearly pained yelp as he landed on his ankle.
Sprained ankle, Sute absently tacked onto her mental list of injuries. "Why keep him alive?" she wondered aloud. "Wouldn't it be easier to just take his eyes and eliminate him as a threat now?"
"It would be, but his Sharingan is highly valuable. And besides..." Amagiri's smirk became vicious, his tone a little more gleeful. "Lord Orochimaru made it clear he preferred a living specimen over mere eyeballs."
Shisui notably stiffened at the name, while Sute merely nodded in understanding. "I suppose that makes sense," she allowed. "You can gather a lot more data from a complete specimen than just a mere part of one after all."
A pleased smile spread across Amagiri's face, friendly yet exuding an undeniable air of sinister intent, a serene sort of evil shown only between like-minded collaborators. "Ah, I knew you'd understand. You and Lord Orochimaru really are cut from the same cloth in that regard, aren't you?"
"Perhaps," Sute responded, allowing a small smile of her own to slip through.
Amagiri just nodded at her, stepping away from Shisui and picking up the lantern. "I need to go upstairs and pack," he informed her. "While I do that, would you mind taking a look at him for me? I'm afraid I had to be quite rough with him, and I want to make sure he'll survive the trip. And perhaps you could... persuade him, to cooperate with us more," he added almost as an afterthought. "After all, it would be much smoother to travel with a willing guest than a defiant and struggling prisoner."
"Of course," Sute agreed, pulling her knapsack off her shoulder as she strode to over to the boy. Crouching down next to him, she reached into the bag and pulled out several candles and matches, followed by her first aid kit. "I'll come up when I'm done or whenever you come grab me. Whichever comes first."
Satisfied by her compliance Amagiri headed towards the trap door with the lantern, lingering just long enough for her to strike a match just before it closed and sealed them in total darkness. As she went about lighting the candles Shisui scooted back towards the wall, clearly recognizing the ill-intent present in the room, though for the moment she ignored him.
Lighting the final candle, she quickly arranged them to provide adequate lighting before turning her attention to the captive Uchiha. Shisui had pressed against the wall during her preparations, the furthest he could get from her, not that it would do him any good. She grabbed his arm and pulled him over towards the light none too gently, spinning him around and untying the knot on his gag.
"I'm not going to go peacefully," he said the second it was removed, his voice steely and cold in sharp contrast to the high prepubescent pitch. "I don't care what you do to me, I'm not joining you guys."
"Is that so?" she asked, dropping the gag to the floor as she grabbed his blindfold. She tugged the knot loose and tore it away, and his eyes blinked a few times in surprise at the sudden exposure to light. Just as she suspected his right eye had an ugly bruise swelling it shut, his other eye only half-open. His head twisted to look at her, defiance clear on his face, but it quickly vanished as he nearly fell in shock upon spying her.
"Ringo Sute," he whispered, his face rapidly draining of color. Sute smiled sweetly and waved, fully aware of the menacing shadows cast on her face by the candlelight.
"Yo."
Meanwhile far away in the forest a trio of Leaf ninja and three ninken stood next to the river, the atmosphere grave and filled with dread. "The river?" Genma muttered, squinting at the stream cutting through the trees in front of them. "Shit, that's not good. I doubt they just crossed to the other side."
"Water dilutes scents, doesn't it?" Tenzo muttered to himself with a frown, and glanced at the ninken. "So if they walked on it and got out far enough away, you guys won't be able to pick it up, right?"
"That's how it generally goes," Pakkun confirmed with a grim nod, while Kakashi mentally cursed. Amagiri and Sute both had rather subtle scents, too weak to linger if they ran across the water. Splitting up to search either direction would be near-suicide against Amagiri and Sute's combined skillsets; he couldn't think of any configuration that would give one team a significant enough advantage to win without suffering significant harm.
Beyond that, they lacked the necessary equipment for long-distance communication. Their best option would be to send a shadow clone with each team to summon backup if they found them, which would be a massive drain on chakra. And that didn't account for the time it would take for the other team to catch up—time which could easily turn the tides of battle, or allow their quarry to escape.
And if they got away now, then it would be a near-guaranteed death sentence for Uchiha Shisui, and an even more devastating force added to Orochimaru's already immense power if their suspicions were correct.
Teeth gritting in frustration, he tugged his mask down just enough to fully expose his nose. His sense of smell wasn't any better than his ninken, but if they were lucky and the breeze was just right, he might be able to pick up a trace and give them a clue on which way to go—
He froze as one scent instantly jumped out at him, at the same moment Pakkun added almost casually, "But in this case, I think we've had a lucky break."
Almost as one the three humans turned to see a kunai lodged deep into a nearby tree, a trail of deep gashes visible in the trunks of the trees beyond it lining the river. Wrapped around the handle was a scrap of dark green cloth, a perfect match for Sute's shirt.
So. Absolutely NO ONE guessed Amagiri worked for Orochimaru. Genuinely surprised. Funnily enough some people DID guess Shisui would appear... just, not as a prisoner. Also, we're getting some more info on Sute's connection to Uzushio, and a little bit about Amagiri too.
Big news: Bloody Oracle has reached 3,000 followers on FF! Just. Wow. I am so excited to reach this milestone! And we'll probably pass 1,000 reviews pretty soon, which is just... amazing. I think I should have some sort of reward/prize for the 1,000th review. I did something similar with Echoes of Light a long time ago (and that will FINALLY come into play with the next chapter I post of it), so... yeah. Right now the only thing I can think of is to ask for a name for some characters who will appear in the future. Two would not appear for quite a while though, and might see if I can figure out a good comparative contest for AO3.
Thank you so much for your support! Next chapter is going to have some fun info-reveals about Sute's backstory.