The Poisonous Flower of Kumo - Chapter 5
Faster than Wind and Lightning
The next day
I received bad news and good news.
Bad news; I had gotten another suicidal assignment. We needed to go rescue a team with vital intel. The problem was that said team was currently surrounded by enemy nin. We would attack the enemy, breaching the encirclement, allowing our allies to escape and deliver the intel while we fought off Konoha, buying enough time for our troops to leave.
Again, the leaders were painfully truthful, they told us some of us were certainly going to die, though this time we were not all expected to die. It mostly depended on how fast the team with the intel could be, as when they would be gone, we wouldn't have to fight anymore. After a certain point, they obviously would stop sending precious shinobi to their deaths.
We were three whole troops assigned to this, to a total of a hundred and fifty shinobi; thirty Jonin, sixty Chunin and ninety Genin, most of them fresh out of the Academy, all of the experienced shinobi were fighting on the frontline, where the need for ninjas who wouldn't die quickly was greater. They used those missions to build experience for the new Genin.
Good news; this time, I was fairly confident in my ability to survive, as long as I didn't meddle with the Jonin I'd, I hope, be fine. I had restocked on supplies yesterday, spending all of my hard-earned money immediately. I had gotten myself a metric fuck-ton of weapons, explosive tags, pills, a couple of poisons, and storage scrolls to transport this all. I had enough weapons to arm an entire academy class without problems. I also had Swift Release and the tricks the Jonin had taught me, I was more confident than on my first mission by a mile. As long as I didn't fight anyone I couldn't handle, things wouldn't go south, but since my first priority was to stay alive, I obviously would not do that.
Another utility I had bought was a bingo book, just so I knew exactly when to get the fuck out of there.
Because, I'll be honest, no matter who I saw that was featured inside this book, I'd die under a second.
So I had memorized it.
We had five days before arriving, in the land of Frost, so I decided to experiment with my Kekkei Genkai. Before channelling into myself directly, I decided to do it inside weapons, just to get a first-hand idea of what it'd do.
Mixing my lightning and wind chakra, thus creating swift chakra, I put a good amount of it inside a senbon and flicked it at a nearby tree, like a normally did.
The needle disappeared. I looked around, where could it be? Then, I saw it. It was stuck inside a branch, off my target by a mile, I had not seen it move at all. And it seemed deep inside the tree.
How had that happened?
I retrieved it, it was stuck a good three inches inside the tree, I normally had trouble even sticking on a tree, I was physically weak.
I had an idea about what was going on but just to be sure, I put a minuscule amount of Swift chakra inside another senbon, and, aiming carefully and the tree, I threw it again.
It went so fast I had trouble following it with my eyes, even Chunin could not throw senbon like this, and I was only using a minuscule amount of chakra. Not surprisingly, it went quite deep into the tree, but I had missed my target, something which normally never happened, especially not with an easy unmoving target like a tree. It was unbelievable, imagine what would happen if I used more chakra...
I understood how it worked, the effect of my bloodline, it didn't take a genius to figure that one out. True to its name, swift release had made the senbon faster, that I had no trouble understanding, but it had also amplified any inaccuracy in my throw exponentially depending on the amount of chakra I had used.
Well, my accuracy was shit now. I had to work on that.
And so I did.
For the next days, I mostly worked on my accuracy, targeting smaller and harder targets to keep challenging myself. I also worked on my chakra control at the same time, putting fixed amounts of chakra into my weapons, trying to minimize waste, as my reserves we abysmally small. Multitasking at its finest.
I would be ready for anything.
We arrived near the extraction zone late in the evening, which was perfect for us, we were all relatively well rested, we would do a surprise attack to allow our fellow shinobi, those with the intel, to escape.
It was in the land of Frost, which, true to its name, was quite cold, but covered in forest. I had hoped for snow this time, as I had never seen it, but it did not happen.
From what our sensors had told us, there were a little bit less than two hundred Konoha shinobi, a little bit more than us, but our goal wasn't to kill them all, only to stall, so we would be fine. The ones we had to rescue were numbered at a bit more than fifteen, out of the troop that was originally fifty. I didn't know any other details; I was only a Genin, and even what I knew, I had mostly overheard it when Jonin had been talking amongst themselves.
After a few minutes of tense silence, I received my orders, most of the Konoha shinobi were sleeping, so I, along with a small number of allies, would attack and take them by surprise. Of course, it wouldn't be as simple as that, they had sensors and vigils, but since I could very effectively suppress my chakra, I would be part of the group tasked with the assassination of the sentries.
Suppressing chakra was quite a rare skill, not many ninjas could do it and even fewer could effectively do it, as it was harder the bigger the chakra reserves one had and higher ranked ninja generally had a lot of chakra. It was only easy for me because I had minuscule reserves and I had been taught it by a competent Jonin. But mostly due to the pitiable size of my chakra reserves.
I jumped from tree to tree, subconsciously suppressing my chakra; it was not very hard for me, seeing as I had so little of it. I finished to cross the last kilometer that separated me from the first sentries.
Of course, I wasn't assigned to kill Jonin or Chunin, but all the Genin, as I was the only Genin who could mask their presence well enough. It would most likely be a piece of cake, but I'd still be careful, ninja died by underestimating their opponents. Well, my opponents died like this, and I did not want to end up like them.
I zeroed on my first target, a Genin, I'd give him thirteen years old, maybe a bit less. He obviously was very inexperienced, as despite being extremely on guard, he was making a fatal mistake, he was not moving, he was still. Every ninja knew that when you were guarding something, it was a very bad idea to be unmoving, it made you way too easy of a target. Of course, you shouldn't be running around either, but just small movements were often enough.
Otherwise, you could be sniped, even if you were looking for enemies.
Just like this Genin. He never found any clue of an ennemy.
I moved, slithered, from branch to branch, getting increasingly closer, without making any noises, nothing hinting my presence. Once I judged I was close enough, I took a senbon, not poisoned, channelled a little bit of swift chakra through it and, aiming extremely carefully, threw it, I now could aim well enough to do this, but only on still targets.
As I expected, the weapon vanished, the only thing suggesting that I had thrown it was the hole through the enemy Genin's head. The, now dead, shinobi never knew what had killed him, he never knew he had been killed in the first place. It had been instantaneous, immediate. One moment, he was alive, carefully assessing his surroundings, the next he had a hole through his head, a bit of brain matter leaking out.
I was almost disgusted by how easy, effortless, it had been.
Almost.
After his untimely death, my target began to fall backward, but I flickered behind him and smothered his descent, laying him on the ground without a single sound.
First target eliminated.
I moved on to my second target, another Genin, this one also fresh out of the Academy, inexperienced, weak.
I didn't need Swift Release to kill him.
For the next hours, we progressed methodically through the forest, burning through the sentries, getting closer to the main camp, undetected. Well, I didn't know for my fellows, but no one had detected me, I was almost certain of that.
I finally saw the amalgam of tents and I started my second task, remembering the words of my superior.
"Your ultimate goal is to get into the camp. If you get there, you task will be to plant those" -he gestured to some weird contraptions in his hands- "near each tent. Don't get seen, it is not necessary to kill the sleeping ninja, the bombs are for that."
The weird devices were in fact unstable lightning chakra bombs that would explode with even the smallest contact with foreign chakra. I had been given five inside a storage scroll.
I sneaked past the guards and entered the camp, it was almost too easy, I felt something was wrong. My trustworthy instincts, honed in life and death situations, were screaming at me. Still, I followed my orders, placing my five bombs near some tents for maximum damage and chaos.
It was definitely too easy, I had not sighted anyone so far, except for the guards, it looked like a ghost village. Something was wrong, I was certain of that…but what?
Even if my mission was completed, I stayed a bit longer, hidden in the shadows, again not catching sight of anyone or anything alive.
Determined to discover what was wrong, I slipped inside one of the tents, one that housed Genin by the looks of it.
It was empty, pillows vaguely imitating bodies.
FUCK.
It took me a moment to realize what was happening.
We had been played like fiddles, they knew from the beginning we were going to go here and they knew that their camp was too far away to allow our sensors to sense them. They had probably sacrificed some shinobi to give us the illusion that we had the surprise.
The whole troop was probably being attacked at the moment…
I made no illusion about our survival chance. I had to go help, whatever help I could provide. If I did not, I had no way of returning home, I would be stuck in the Land of Frost, alongside multiple hundred Konoha shinobi running amok. It meant death.
But then I remembered what our mission was, it was not the kill the enemies, but the rescue the ninja that had the intel.
The intel would provide more useful than my help. And maybe I would be able to escape alive.
From that point on, I did not waste a single moment, I stealthily left the false camp and went further into the forest, moving toward the trapped team, or the reminder of it. I hoped they were still there.
I ran as fast as I could, the faster I could get to them, the more of my countryman's lives would be saved, and I would be able to escape this hell-hole quicker.
After some time, I caught a glimpse of a camp in the distance, I was close to my target. I accelerated even more, I had no time to spare. No time to lose.
Moments later, I finally got there, landing in the middle the encampment.
As soon as I arrived, I realized that it probably was not the best of ideas to arrive there, unannounced. I was proven right almost instantly as I had to dodge a kunai that would've most likely made me lose any feelings in me legs.
"Wait, I'm an ally! We were sent here to rescue you," I shouted, trying not to get myself skewered in the process.
The attacks stopped, a dozen tired, bloody and injured shinobi showing themselves, relief evident in their faces. They were still not totally trusting me, but they were ten times more than me and I was only a little girl, I coud not harm.
One of them, apparently the leader, addressed me, still cautious.
"Who are you? Who is "we"? Where are your allies?"
"Well, that's the problem, there were three troops went to retrieve you, but we were duped by Konoha. I managed to slip past them and come here, but I think I was the only one. At least I was the fastest. I need you to follow me and leave now that the enemy is distracted, it's your best chance to get out. If you don't this whole operation will have been for nothing and everyone else sent will die," I explained in a hurry, we needed to leave as fast as possible.
It seemed to satisfy him, as, a couple of hand signs later, the shinobi were ready to leave. They took less they could, everything to be faster, which was appreciated, we all knew we did not have time to lose.
We started to run and I did not bother hide my chakra anymore, they couldn't all do it, so there was no point in me doing it, it would only strain me uselessly. To my surprise, despite their injured state, there were all very fast, I had trouble keeping up and I could tell that they normally would be way faster, my only saving grace being their miserable condition.
The rare shinobi that crossed our path were all disposed it a quick fashion, but they were rare. I was not sure if they had not detected us yet or f they were planning to send a bigger team.
My question was answered when a team of five appeared in front of us, without even stopping, we changed our path, two of us staying behind to delay them.
We heard shouts explosion behind us, but we did not stop, we had a mission, and the mission took priority.
No one made any illusions to themselves regarding what would happen to them, they would die. It was their duty as Kumogakure shinobi. The only unknown was how long they could delay them.
From this point on, our escape grew progressively more tedious, ninja teams stopping us quite often, we sometimes got rid of them, but more often than not one of us sacrificed himself, always the slowest and more injured first.
I could see the battlefield in front of us, near the horizon, the lights and echoes of war clashing with the ambient darkness. We were almost done, but we all tired. We had been running at a fast, too fast, pace for too long, those who were remaining functioning on adrenaline and willpower only. There were four others still there, the rest had been needed to allow us flight.
They had all been injured during one of the many fights we had encountered, the opposition was strong. Only my inhumanly sharp instincts and luck, along with my small stature, the fact that I wasn't as tired as them in the beginning and that I was not as targeted as them, explained why I was spared from serious or debilitating injuries. But I don't know how long I would be able to last, I was also starting to get tired, we needed to leave fast.
My prayers were answered, the forest stopped just as we entered a small clearing, not slowing. I could see our escape path, just in front, only a few meters and we would be there.
Crushing this measly dream, earth spikes suddenly emerged from the ground, aiming for us. Always quick on my feet, I dodged without effort, only for a spike to sprout from first spike, forcing me to painfully twist myself to avoid it. Most of my teammates were also unharmed, having dodged similarly to me, though the Chunin had been hit in the waist.
We slowed down for a fraction of a second, searching who had cast the jutsu, he revealed himself we could find him. Of an average height, he was decked in shinobi battle armour, had short, spiky brown hair and eyes of the same colour. He reminded me of something…I'm sure I knew, but it would not come to my mind. Then, I recognized him.
Fuck…SHIT.
My eyes widened as I remembered from where I knew him from, he was in the bingo book. I effortlessly recalled who he was now. The man was Hiruzen Sarutobi, student of the Hokage's brother, one of the strongest Jonin of Konoha.
This was bad, very bad. We were three Jonin, one Chunin and one Genin against him. Yeah, we were dead. So dead, it was said that he was able to vanquish entire troops alone.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you leave with that intel. Nothing personal," he ominously announced, blurring through hand signs.
As he was speaking, the Jonin holding the intel turned toward me, I was behind him, and subtly gave me a small scroll, whispering.
"This is the intel, deliver it to the Raikage as fast as you can. We'll buy you time. Now leave!" He shouted the last part.
I did not wait for him or Hiruzen to change their minds, immediately leaving, detouring to avoid the monster of a Jonin in front of us.
Immensely thankful of his brave deed, I heard the same ninja that had just given me the intel speak again, in a pleading tone, he sounded tearful, almost begging.
"You'll have to get it on our dead bodies! But let my daughter go, she's not even five, she had nothing to do with this. Please…"
He took another scroll out, showing it to his opponent. I understood what he had just done, a good deception. But I doubted it would work. Still, Hiruzen did not show any signs of stopping, but just in case he changed his mind, I tried to go even faster.
I couldn't.
I heard sounds of violent fighting behind me, but I knew they wouldn't last long, injured and against an overwhelmingly strong opponent.
I had to be faster.
I had only one way to do this, I needed to channel some Swift Chakra through my legs like I had done with my weapons. I knew it was dangerous, I had not practised that technique enough, I could seriously injure myself, but I had no choice. The choice between injuries and death was an easy one.
As soon as I did, though, my speed more than doubled, and I was not using a lot of chakra, just enough for it to be sustainable. I had trouble controlling myself at this speed, and had a mild case of tunnel vision, but I managed. My legs hurt like hell.
I kept running, getting deeper into the forest, expertly bypassing the trees. I chose not to return into the battlefield to signal to them that I had the intel, now that Hiruzen Sarutobi was here, they'd probably all die anyway, he was that frightening of a ninja.
As I continue to flee, I had this weird feeling again, that something was wrong, and that put me on my guard.
Good thing, because I sensed something coming fast toward me just in time for duck under it. It was a small ball of metal. I did want to know what it did, I continued my escape.
It exploded, but I was unaffected, already far from it.
He's getting closer…
I heard a voice, coming from in front of me….How is he there?
"Give me the scroll, girl. I don't want to kill you. But I will have to if you don't listen. If you give the scroll, I'll let you go, nobody will ever know what happened here."
It was Hirzuen, I was dead. He hadn't been fooled after all.
I did an abrupt turn, going to my left, not listening to him in the slightest. I did not want to die, but I did not trust him, he would probably kill me anyways, this Konoha scum. I did not trust him in the slightest, and those that betrayed their village deserved to die, they died. Kumo would be able to know if I betrayed them, I was sure of this. At least this way I had a chance to escape, no matter how measly it was.
Alas, I knew this was the end for me. One could not simply outrun Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"I'm sorry kid…Fire Release: Flame Spear."
From the corner of my eyes, I caught him doing a few hand signs, spewing three huge blazing spears, as the name of the jutsu implied.
In the blink of an eye, the three projectiles were right behind me, the scorching heat nearly insufferable even at the distance. I automatically started to sweat, my face reddened and tears forming at the corner of my eyes. I think my hair had caught fire.
Desperate, I did the only thing I could think of and flooded my entire body with the most Swift Release Chakra I could, burning through my reserves instantly, drawing even more chakra from...somewhere that was probably not healthy.
The world slowed down to a crawl, the formerly almost invisible spears now slower than a turtle. But I could feel my time trickling down, I could not use this technique long.
So I did the only thing I could think of at the moment, and I was thinking very fast. I had to make him believe I was dead. I took an empty scroll, a couple of weapons and a spare of my uniform out of a seal, my headband and my flak jacket and threw them on the ground, where his jutsu would impact, hoping it would fool him. To finish my subterfuge, I teared off a batch of hair and also dropped them.
I then, with my remaining time, ran as fast and as far as I could, my speed was unreal, I did not even think it was possible to be this fast. And, for some reason, I had no tunnel vision… I was faster than wind and lightning, faster than I thought possible.
Then, my time ended and I realized my mistake, I had used too much chakra. All of it, not a single drop remained.
I fell of chakra exhaustion, my world darkening, something that happened unusually often to me, though this time I was sure it'd be worse, I had almost no chakra left.
With a bit of luck, I'd survive.
"Give me the seal, girl. I don't want to kill you. But I will have to if you don't listen. If you give the seal, I'll let you go, nobody will ever know what happened here," I threatened her, trying to be menacing.
I hoped she would accept, one this young did not deserve to die. They should not even participate in the war in the first place, dammit, she was so small, she must not have been even five years old.
What was Kumo thinking by sending her to war!
She looked at me with wide open, frightened, blue eyes, that would've probably been adorable in another context, and I was almost certain she would accept, but she just abruptly changed direction, going to her left, her wild dark hair flying behind her. She was surprisingly fast, I could understand why she was a Genin. But I still condoned it with all of my being.
I sighed, I had to do this, no matter how much I hated it, and how much I would hate myself after.
"I'm sorry kid…Fire Release: Flame Spear."
I truly was sorry.
She turned toward me, sensing the attack, her eyes opening even wider, more than I thought possible. She had remarkable reflexes, she would've made an impressive Kunoichi had she lived.
In her big, doe eyes, in her last moments, behind all of her fear, I saw resignation, and it broke my heart.
I closed my eyes and turned my head away just as the jutsu hit her, instantly reducing her to mere ashes, I did not want to see it happen even if it would take less than a moment. I had chosen this technique because of this, it was instantaneous.
I reopened my eyes and watched her remains, only a half-melted headband, a burnt flak jacket, and a tuft of hair. There was also the scroll, also burnt to a crisp. It would be unreadable now. The rest of her had been annihilated, reduced to mere ashes.
I immediately tore my gaze away. She was dead, my sensor abilities did not pick her chakra anymore.
I returned to the battlefield, with a heavy heart. I had no problem with fighting adult or even teenagers, but children like that I could not. They had no idea why or what they were fighting had no place in war. They were innocent. We fought to protect them.
When I would be Hokage, I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, would prevent this from happening. Children did not deserve to die.
Trying my absolute best to forget everything, especially the child I had just murdered in cold blood, I returned to the battlefield, immersing myself fully in it, letting my newfound fury take hold of me.
Pain.
That's all I felt when I woke up, pain on a scale I had never been close to feeling before, it was worse than the time my right arm had been burnt. It was worse in my head and legs, but even on my other members, it was insufferable.
Weakness.
I felt weak, I doubted I could do as much as move a finger, and my chakra reserves were still completely empty, I wondered how I was even alive, I knew that being totally chakra less was fatal for everything alive. I had to have a little bit remaining, somewhere.
With herculean effort, I managed to retrieve a couple of Soldier Pills from my pocket, swallowing them, it would help me regain energy, I hoped. But just this simple action caused another wave of suffering to come, my dry throat painfully protesting.
While I was stuck on the ground, I had plenty of time to retrospect on what had happened.
I had been tremendously lucky, Hiruzen had not detected me after my escape. Probably because my body was practically void of chakra at the time. Also, I needed to keep the last technique I had used for emergency scenarios only, if it left me in this state after its use, I was chakra-exhausted and my whole body hurt; it was not used to going this fast. Still, it was undoubtedly effective, I had moved so fast even he had not seen me. I had to find a way to build up my body's strength and resistance, it would augment my chakra reserves. I had been too dependent on chakra so far to augment my body's capabilities, I was in need of pure physical training. But too much would stunt my growth...
But before all of that, I had intel and had to deliver it to the Raikage before it was too late.
Was it already too late?
I looked at the sun and, no, I had barely been unconscious for five hours, I still had plenty of time. Nevertheless, the faster I'd be done, the better for the village as a whole.
With that in mind, I forced myself to stand, ate another three Soldier Pills, a big gulp of water, and started to run, pushing the pain and everything else at the back of my mind. I did not even have to suppress my chakra, I had less chakra than birds at the moment, most sensors would not be even able to sense me.
I ran…and ran.
A few hours of doing solely that activity, I found the battlefield, or rather the remains of it. It had been a massacre, I don't know which deity we had angered, but it had taken it out on us. The trees, those that were left, and the ground, what remained of it, were covered in crimson stains, no doubt blood. Corpses, in various states, littered it, I could count three dead of Kumo of each deceased of Konoha, most of them had been burnt, reduced to coal.
I stayed at a respectable distance of it, only picking up a Kumo forehead protector I knew I would need to go back into the village. And even then, I heavily suppressed my chakra, so much that I could not even use it.
After that, I left it, not wanting to spend another moment in this wretched place. This was war, and it was not pretty.
For two days, I ran without stopping.
For two days, I ran only with Soldier Pills and water powering me.
In two days, I ran a trip which was supposed to take five days…for shinobi.
In two days, I ran all the way back to the village.
When I arrived, I must've looked like had come back from hell, I had not slept in two days, I had not stopped in two days. This was becoming a trend for me.
At the gates of the village, I was received by a shinobi who took the intel scroll and told me to give a mission report the next day at a location, he gave me a slip of paper with the address, he could tell how tired I tired.
I did not wait more, I crashed into a hotel, threw the owner some Ryo, and went to sleep.
I woke up the sun was starting to set, feeling infinitely better, I was thankful for my body's strangely fast metabolism and regeneration rate. I don't know why I had stamina and a recuperation rate this good, but I had a hypothesis, that it was because of my Kekkai Genkai, which made my whole metabolism faster. It would explain why I could fight or run for days without collapsing or why I, without chakra enhancing me or any training, was unnaturally fast. I was resilient.
As I thought about this, I was stretching my still pained body, preparing myself for my mission report, trying to recall everything in order.
I walked toward the Jonin Headquarters, where I was supposed to give my mission report. Normally, I'd have gone to the Chunin Building, but the mission I had completed was an important mission; I had to go here instead.
I entered the building, the people here giving strange looks, but I was more than used to them, I continued, confident.
No one stopped me.
I walked up to the office where I would give my report, stopping in front of a door that looked like all others, door number 66. It had "Jonin Commander Shinrai" written on it.
Wait, haven't I already met with him? He greeted me after the Eight Days of Hell.
Seeing as it was closed, I respectfully knocked on the door.
A few seconds of later, I heard Jonin Commander Shinrai answer in his slimy voice.
"Enter."
It still gave me shivers.
Without making him wait more than I already did, I entered, only to find myself in front of a desk where two people were looking at me.
The two had tanned skin, but that's where their similarity ended. One of them was short, with white hair and black eyes, Jonin Commander Shinrai. The other, even though I had never seen him in person, I could recognize. He was tall, close to two meters tall and muscular, with black hair and similar eyes. But the real giveaway was the Kage hat sitting on his head. He was the Raikage.
I immediately got on a knee, the proper conduct in front of the Raikage.
What was he doing here?
"Ah, Hana, good to see you again, we were waiting for you. Give your mission report," Shinrai hissed.
And so I did, I told them everything, from the beginning, when we had travelled from the village to recover important intel. How I had been assigned to murdering the sentries because I could suppress my chakra, how I had entered the camp and planted the lightning bombs, how I had found out about their subterfuge, how I had chosen the mission over going back to help, how I got out of the forest with the same shinobi possessing the intel, how we had ran into many shinobi, until Hiruzen himself, how I had ended up in possession of the intel, how I had been found by him, how I had faked my death, how I had ran all the way back to the village in two days to deliver the intel in time.
They mostly kept quiet, except for the expected questions, for example why I had chosen the mission over my countryman, after all I had disobeyed direct orders. I had told them how I felt my skills would not make a difference if I had gone back, instead doing what was obviously better for the mission overall and the village.
Finally, after an exhausting hour of me retelling the mission, I had finished and they had no more questions. After a moment of silence, it was the Raikage that spoke. He had a voice that commanded authority and oozed charisma. I could easily see how he had managed to create Kumo.
"Well…congratulations, Hana. That was an S-rank mission, this intel will be vital for the war against Konoha. You have done your duty exemplarily and are the youngest shinobi to have ever accomplished an S-rank. I can say I don't think this record will be broken soon…I have high hopes for your future. Dismissed. You will receive a new flak jacket, headband and your pay and the Genin building, along with your future assignments."
After bowing one last time, I left, satisfied and in dire need of a bath.
I hoped I wouldn't have to meet with Hiruzen ever again, I'm not sure I was ready for another experience like this.
Sorry for the late chapter ): Hope you liked it, it's a bit longer than the others.
