I know I said, 'Expect the next chapter fairly close' and I still took almost a month to finally upload it. And there is no excuse, it was mainly because I am lazy. But slow or not, I WILL be updating this story.
Now, before I start with the chapter, I want to inform everyone that the chapters from 1 to 17 will be edited and revised to make the story a good read. BUT there will NOT be any new content that will be added. So, my readers who are resuming from this chapter, do not need to re-read those chapter again. Only the writing will be improved (I hope so). You are obviously free to re-read them again, if you want (though I don't think anyone does.)
Well, now onto some reviews, this time more negatives than positive,
Darth Tenibris2 : Cliché? Yes, Naruto having a sister, cliché. Both having a part of Kyuubi, cliché. Civilian Council. Big cliché. They wanting to kill Naruto. Biggest cliché. Not telling Naruto about his parents. Cliché again. Yes, I already know these are clichés. I also know that the first four chapters are almost identical copies of Physcho G's Neo Yondaime Hokage. As a matter of fact, I stated that in all four chapters. I also know that the first chapter is basically the anime episode written in words. And that it deters almost 60 % of my readers from even moving onto the next chapter. But you know what. I don't care. I am writing this story because 'I' wanted to. And I am writing it as I see fit. Is getting ideas from the canon wrong? If it was, fanfiction wouldn't exist, since we are all just riding on the coattails of people like Kishimoto-sensei. Kishimoto-sensei himself probably got inspired from someone else's work. Every writer takes inspiration from somewhere. And as you wrote in your bio, (Yes I read it.) I will re-iterate those words again, 'Well you've not written anything so that makes your voice invalid.' Sorry for being un-original over there, again. The fact of the matter is, fanfiction writers are not those professional writers whose books you buy. They take their time to write, from their schedule, the story they wanted to have but didn't quite get it from someone else, instead of completely devoting themselves to the story like professional writers do. It is easy to think up all the different scenarios in your head, but when it comes to put it on a paper, or in this case screens, you realize that what was enough in your head is not enough when you write it for someone else. Other people don't know what's in your head, so you have to explain everything. And that's where every fanfic writer either lose their 'muse' or just give up on writing. The reason I used the clichés or Kishimoto-sensei's original work without much altering them is because I think they are good enough and don't need much altering. Also, I admit a small part of me being lazy too. But if I wanted to write a completely original story, then instead to writing it on the fanfic for free, I would rather try and earn my hard work.
So yeah, you can take your 'Everything wrong with Fanfiction today:' and shove it up your ass, because just like me, nobody on this website cares about your opinion.
TheWateringWizard : Yeah sorry about the mess that was chapter 17. But now I have divided them up, since most of the missions are coming to their end. And for your reference, the mission that team 10 is on is indeed a filler episode 195 from Naruto Shippuden.
Guest (Not the happy one) : Don't want to waste much words on you, but if you have the time to write that on a story that you searched on the internet, you seem like a bigger loser than me. That was still too many words on you.
Happy Guest (I guessing you are the same one.) : Anko received a different model of cursed seal than Sasuke. Hmmm. But it still had Orochimaru's soul shard in it. It was still a collection of Nature energy. I don't see how that is different. Itachi could have killed Sasuke along with Orochimaru when he took over, he gave the last of his life force to form his Susanoo and seal Orochimaru away. While he still would have died, he could have easily killed Sasuke there, even if he wasn't perfectly healthy. And all this strength without going to Orochimaru to train. Indra was never influencing anyone. Atleast completely. The root cause of Indra and Ashura's fight was Black Zetsu's manipulation. But enough with arguing about a fictional character, who could have been changed anytime Kishimoto-sensei wanted. But I will never believe that Sasuke had a more tragic life than third other Shinobi out there. He was just a kid throwing tantrums all over the world.
Enough with that, onto the story and obviously I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 18: Struggles Continue
With Team 7 and Zabuza
Kakashi and Zabuza were at a standstill, with the former holding the later at the edge of his kunai.
But Zabuza was nor intimated neither fazed. Instead he chuckled, "As expected of the Copy Ninja. You copied my Jutsu while you were giving your little speech. You made your clone do all the talking while you hid in the mist." He said before again dissolving into water signifying it as a water clone while the original was already behind Kakashi, "I'm not that easy to fool." The original Zabuza growled before swinging his massive sword.
Kakashi ducked just in time to avoid the sword swing but Zabuza used the momentum of the sword and spin kicked him into the air. He grabbed his sword again and ran after the still airborne Kakashi but was stopped by one of most underrated shinobi tools.
"Makibishi spikes! Trying to slow me down. As if that would work." He said before turning around and backflipping towards the lake.
Opposed to Zabuza's claim though, the spikes did help Kakashi avoid whatever attack he was going to do and allowed to him escape into the lake. But that turned about to be a bad idea too. As Kakashi surfaced from underwater he noticed too late that the water was denser than it should have been. Zabuza appeared behind him, already halfway through the handseals for his jutsu, "Fool! Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu." He yelled. Kakashi couldn't do anything to stop the ball of water from surrounding him and ended up getting caught in the jutsu.
Satisfied by his work, Zabuza chuckled, "This prison is made of water but its stronger than steel. So much for the great Kakashi." He said before looking at the remaining members of Team 7 and Tazuna and continuing, "I'll finish you off later. But first your little friends will have to be eliminated."
He made another single handseal, "Water Clone Jutsu." Several figures, namely 3, started forming from the water, slowly into the exact replicas of Zabuza himself. The clones stepped up to solid ground before one of them said, "You think wearing a headband makes you a shinobi? When you hover between life and death so many times that it doesn't even faze you anymore, then you may be called a shinobi. When you become so deadly that your profile is entered in my bingo book, then you may have earned the title of a shinobi." He casted the Hidden Mist Jutsu again while continuing, "But to call you upstarts shinobi, is nothing but a joke."
One of his clones prepared to attack using the mist but it didn't get enough time to even show a surprised expression before it was dispelled. While water clone did not have the nifty feature of transferring its memories back to the original, Zabuza and his remaining clones didn't need that to know that one of the clones was taken out.
"For someone as knowledgeable about Konoha and its shinobis, you seemed to have forgotten that a four-man cell is comprised of THREE Genins." Came Shino's monotone voice through the mist.
Zabuza's surprise didn't stop there when one his clone had to dodge an oddly silent windmill shuriken and almost bisected it. It was aimed at the first clone, who jumped over it to avoid but the shuriken changed course mid-air making an almost impossible 90-degree turn taking the clone that was standing behind the first with it. That was followed by a blast of chakra not unlike what Kakashi had done earlier, blowing away the mist again, showing the surprised and enraged look of the lone surviving water clone as well as the original Zabuza.
"Sure, we may not be in any bingo book. For now. But you won't need it from now on anyway. Cause these bunch of upstarts are gonna kick your ass." Namiko, the source of the chakra blast, declared.
"Tch! I underestimated them and let my guard down. Not happening again." Zabuza thought before he rushed at Namiko at high speed. Namiko jumped back to avoid him, but miscalculated Zabuza's total reach due his height and the massive sword and ended up being the victim of the sword.
But instead of the horrified expression that Zabuza was aiming for, the Namiko he split in half smirked and puffed into a cloud of smoke. That cloud of smoke soon turned bright before it was pushed aside by the difference in the air pressure caused by the fireball that came through it. If he was any lesser ninja, Zabuza's clone would have turned into ashes – or vapour in this case. But Zabuza was not that and managed to avoid the fireball by leaping back. Unfortunately for him as soon as his feet touched the ground it got surrounded by numerous black bugs that immediately started eating away at him. And since the bugs ate chakra and the clone was a chakra construct, it could not hold its form anymore, causing it to dispel as well.
Now left alone while holding the water prison, Zabuza gritted his teeth. He never expected the idealistic village like Konoha to train Genins strong enough to take on his clones. Granted that he seriously underestimated them and that resulted in two of his clones getting destroyed, add in the fact that the clones only had 20 percent of his strength, but he still could not deny the fact that these brats were stronger than he thought. Moreover, he trapped himself by using the water prison on Kakashi. He could make some clones to distract the brats while another kills the bridge builder, but he was very angry at being proven wrong in his assumption.
He still went to make more water clones, but Namiko had already sensed the chakra build up, "I won't let you!" she yelled before punching the ground hard effectively breaking the ground apart as well as destabilize the water surface preventing Zabuza from making any clone.
"Now, Sasuke!" Namiko signalled.
Sasuke had already prepared the jutsu he wanted to cast, "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu." Unlike the Great Fireball where a big fireball was shot at the enemy, Sasuke fired several small balls at high speed at Zabuza.
"Foolish Genin! Fire jutsu won't work against someone like me!" Zabuza declared, "Water Style: Water Wall." He was able to cast due the water stabilizing.
The small balls of fire hit the water wall and naturally got extinguished. But Zabuza didn't anticipate the shurikens that were hidden inside the fireballs. They broke through the water wall and continued towards Zabuza. His survival instincts kicked in and he jumped away to save himself from the speeding ninja stars.
But the consequences of doing so was now standing once more, freed due to Zabuza taking his hands off the water prison.
"Nicely done team. Now leave the rest to me." The now free from his prison Kakashi said.
Zabuza glared at the white haired Jounin, "Hah! I got distracted and lost my grip on the water prison." He claimed.
Kakashi glared back, "Don't flatter yourself. They forced you to let go." He rebutted.
Both stared at each other for a moment before starting a long chain of hand seals. Zabuza was shocked to see Kakashi perform the same handseals as him at the same time. Both did the last seal simutanesimult and yelled, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu."
The water between them swirled a little before two big dragons made of water formed and started a fight of dominance causing water to overflow onto the land. The two dragons collided with each other showering everyone with water while Kakashi and Zabuza were locked in a fight of a single kunai versus Zabuza's huge sword.
"There's something wrong. The Sharingan can copy and replicate the enemy's move. But both jutsu occurred simultaneously. But how?" Zabuza thought. He jerked his sword pushing Kakashi away while he himself stepped back. He ran around and did another handseal. To his surprise, Kakashi copied him to the T without any delay.
"It's as if he knows what I'm.."
"Going to do next?" Kakashi completed Zabuza's thoughts shocking him even more.
"What? Is he reading my mind as well?" He thought looking at the spinning tomoes of Kakashi's Sharingan, "He looks at me with that eye.."
"It makes you furious, doesn't it?" Kakashi finished Zabuza's thoughts again making him furious.
"Hah! All you are doing is copying me. Like a monkey." "You can't beat me with cheap tricks. I'll crush you." Kakashi and Zabuza declared the last part at the same time infuriating Zabuza even more. He started making handseals faster than before, "Argh! When I'm finished with you, you'll never open that monkey mouth again."
Kakashi copied him again, but this time instead to finishing the handseals together, he finished them first, "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu."
A ring of water formed around Kakashi before shooting towards Zabuza.
"What? Impossible!" Zabuza was able to blurt out before he was swept by the strong vortex. "But how? I was just going to create a vortex, but he did it first!"
The scale of the jutsu was such that water spilled out of the lake in great quantity uprooting trees with its mass. Zabuza could not hope to stop himself from being washed away with the current. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, he was slammed into a tree stopping him from being swept away any further.
Kakashi fired a few kunais at Zabuza's joints to stop him from moving. But before the kunai could find their mark, a white blur shot out and grabbed Zabuza before disappearing into the forest.
"Shit! I didn't concentrate on the others during the fight." Namiko cursed preparing herself to give a chase but was stopped by Kakashi, "Stop Namiko! It's no use."
"But Sensei they- " Namiko wanted to argue.
"Let them go. We may know they were there, but they are still unknowns to us. Also, they are still fresh while we are already worn down from our fight. It may be disadvantages for us to chase them. Plus, our mission is the guard Tazuna, not to hunt them." Kakashi explained.
Namiko hesitated before nodding. She could still sense whoever it was that took Zabuza. They were very fast as they were already almost out of her sensing range.
Kakashi pulled his headband back in its place covering his right eye before saying, "Okay. Let's move out. We need to bring the bridge builder back to his bridge."
Tazuna rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly, "Sorry I caused all this trouble for you. But as compensation you can rest up in my house when we get to the village."
Kakashi nodded and started walking. However as soon as Kakashi took a step, his whole body cramped up causing him to fall flat to the ground.
"Kakashi-sensei!", Namiko yelled in worry but her sensei was already out of it.
With Team 3 at the Katabami Gold mine
When Team 3 reached the 'Burial Ground' the old man told them about they found close to ten people surrounding a casket. There was no doubt in what or who the casket held but to make sure, "Neji, you're up!" Guy asked his student to check.
"Alright! Byakugan!" Neji used the penetrative ability of his Kekkei-Genkai to see inside the casket. "It's alright. He is still alive." He informed.
"That's good news, but we don't know how long he has inside, so we shall show these goons our youth as fast as possible and rescue him. Okay team, let's go!" Guy ordered.
Immediately his team went into action. Tenten, being a literal walking armoury, threw a few smoke bombs to distract the bandits. The bandits were alarmed by the smoke bombs.
"We are under attack!" One of them said. Three claw-like blades came out from the back of the gloves he was wearing. Every bandit seemed to be armed with the same thing.
"Tenten, take care of two those on the right!" Guy ordered.
"Right!" Tenten agreed. She unsealed a Three-part staff or a Sansetsukon. She joined the three parts to turn it into a solid staff and hit one of the bandits in the face. She immediately spun around turning her staff again into three parts again, before hitting the second bandit in the ribs effectively neutralizing both of them.
Neji, with his Byakugan, saw two enemies approaching from behind him. He hit one of them directly on the chest with a chakra powered Palm Strike while kicking the other one in the face following it up with a similar Palm Strike in the midsection, since unlike his cousin, he still couldn't block chakra points using his feet.
"Dynamic Entry!" Guy yelled and kicked a charging enemy in the face, making him go airborne before coming down and slamming into two other bandits taking out three of them in a single strike.
"Sensei, there are three more of them." Neji warned just as another one jumped from a tree behind them. Guy easily stepped back to avoid him and kicked him away.
Another bandit burst out from the ground and rushed at them but was also taken out by Lee.
"Do not forget the Handsome Green Devil." He exclaimed. He saw the last one of the bandits hide behind a tombstone and charged at him. He cocked his arm back for a punch, but he stopped his fist right before he hit him. He recognized that face.
The terrified bandit couldn't stand any longer and fell back, knocking off the hood covering his face back.
"It is really you." Lee said. His team joined him moments later. Guy recognized the person on the ground, but the other two of his students didn't.
"Who is this guy?" Tenten asked.
"He is… this is Karashi." Lee answered.
"So, this is the guy grandma Sanshou told us about." Tenten said.
On hearing his mother's name, Karashi folded his arms and looked away.
"Karashi, is it true what grandma Sanshou said? You chose to join the Kurosuki family?" Lee inquired.
"Well, so what if I did? What of it?" He replied making Lee scowl, "What? Sure, I did. Their leader is a great man. He took the entire gold mine back from those evil men. And he liberated the whole village." He explained.
"How can you do this to her? That poor old woman worries about you all day long, while she stands there cooking that curry!" Tenten yelled at him.
"Wait Tenten, let me handle this." Lee requested. Seeing this unprecedented seriousness in him made Tenten relent to his request.
"Karashi, that was more than just a delicious curry you used to make. It literally saved my life. You have a gift. You would give that up to join this people, who do not care about human life? How can you?" Lee tried to reason with him.
Karashi though was not fazed, "Hmph! What did I ever get for sweating over that stupid pot all day? Nothing. Joining the Kurosuki, I became a part of something bigger. Something powerful and feared. I'm important now. Not some nobody stuck in the kitchen of a stinky little curry shop."
This enraged the whole team, but not anyone more than Lee. He punched Karashi in the face and knocked him back.
"Karashi, not only did you bring me back from the brink of death with your curry but taught me a lesson I've never forgotten. You taught me that if you put your heart and soul into something, anything can happen, you can change the world. I learned that even someone like me can achieve great things if I tried hard enough. That was your gift. You say you want to be powerful and respected. You were a better man then." Lee told him while reminiscing their first meeting.
"Turn back Karashi. You must turn away from this path you have taken." Lee warned.
Karashi already looked like he was on the verge of crying. He got on his knees and looked at the ground, "Y-you are right. I've been a fool." He admitted, "Forgive me."
"Good. Glad to have you back on board." Lee said.
Everyone was startled by some knocking coming from behind them.
"Help! Please get me out of here. It's dark." Came Rokusuke's voice from the casket.
"Oh man. We completely forgot about that Rokusuke guy!" Tenten yelled.
They hurried and opened the box to free Rokusuke. As soon as the lid came off, he sat up and took huge gulps of air. He looked at the ninjas assembled around him and noticed the Leaf Village insignia on their headbands. "You are from the Leaf village. I'm so happy to see that the village responded to my request so fast. I left as soon as I registered the request. They already had my friend and the thought of him buried alive... I just had to try and save him."
"Yeah, we know how you feel." Lee said.
Tenten noticed that Neji was not paying attention to their conversation anymore and was staring in a different direction. Guy noticed it too, "What is it Neji?" He asked.
Neji though didn't respond. "What is this feeling? This sudden sense of danger." He thought worryingly. He tried to peer at a far cliff, but a sudden vision made him jerk back alarming his teammates.
"What's wrong Neji? What happened?" Guy asked him again.
"We are being watched. I think it's Raiga." He replied this time.
"Where?" His sensei inquired.
"From the top of that cliff." Neji answered.
Guy nodded, "We have completed one of our objectives and rescued Karashi. It's time we complete the mission. Let's go, Team. Karashi, you take care of Rokusuke and bring him to the curry shop."
They left on Karashi's affirmative.
Raiga Kurosuki, a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, watched his men being taken out one by one by the Leaf Village Ninjas. Presently those ninjas were heading towards him after they interrupted the magnificent burial he had arranged for Rokusuke.
"What do you think, Ranmaru?" He asked seemingly no one.
"It seems someone among them has eyes that can see at long distances. I think he has a Kekkei-Genkai." Came a voice from his back.
"You mean, he can see us?" Raiga asked again.
"No. My powers are still stronger than his." Answered the voice.
Raiga saw the team of shinobis reach the cliff he was previously overlooking from. He smirked before casting the signature technique from his previous affiliation, "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu."
The whole cliff started to get covered in a thick mist. He saw the team look around, before oldest one, probably Jounin, explained them about his jutsu.
"Amazing. That person also has the ability to see chakra network. But don't worry, he still cannot see us." The voice from Raiga's back said.
Raiga nodded, "Good."
With Team 3
"Neji, you really can't see anything?" Tenten asked him.
Neji was trying his hardest to see through the mist, "I've never seen any Jutsu stronger than the Byakugan." He answered.
"The Hidden Mist Jutsu…" Guy thought out loud before snapping his fingers, "Aha! I remember now." He exclaimed happily before turning serious, "Raiga Kurosuki. I finally figured out his identity after seeing this mist. He is a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist Village."
All his Genins were shocked. That meant they were fighting a very high-level opponent. But before they could rethink any strategy, a beam of lighting went up into the sky which somehow ended up summoning even more thunderclouds. With that many thunderclouds gathered in one place, a bolt of lightning came crashing down on the surprised Team 3.
"Hahahaha! Blew 'em to bits. Blew 'em to bits and I'm not sad in the least. I knew I can't hold a funeral for them, not when I'm feeling like this!" Raiga madly exclaimed while looking at the dust that was slowly clearing from the crater formed by his lightning attack.
"Raiga, all of them are still alive." The voice that was with Raiga informed.
"Impossible. Not after my Lighting Fang hit them. No, sorry. If you say they are alive there can't be any doubt about it."
Indeed, all of Team 3 was successful in avoiding the lightning bolt of death.
"Hah! My training to fight against fast lighting attacks to best my Eternal Rival has finally borne fruit." Gai exclaimed happily.
Meanwhile Neji was in deep thought, "The enemy was close, but I couldn't see him. I know it's the hidden mist jutsu but my Byakugan should be able to penetrate it." He activated his Byakugan again to try and find the cause of the interference.
"I see them now." He thought when he was able to see the enemy's chakra network again. "Sensei, I see more enemies. Two enemies to the South-west, three to the South-east, one in the same direction but further at the back and a last one to the North-west." Neji reported his team.
"Right, let's take out these unyouthful people before we take care of Raiga." His sensei said before leaving their hiding position towards wherever Neji said were three enemies. His team followed suit.
"Dynamic Entry!" Gai yelled performing his and Lee's signature flying kick, aimed at one of the bandits, hopefully, since he couldn't exactly see anything in the mist. When he did hit it something, he was surprised when it gave away and he found himself standing on a rubble which, before he kicked it, was a complete rock. He looked around to find two more rocks beside it.
Tenten went for the pair of bandits that were on the South-west direction. She took a few Shurikens and threw them with as much accuracy as she could. The thunk sounds of the Shurikens hitting wood would have made her happy in the training grounds. But here she was expecting much more muted ones. When she came to check, she found her Shurikens stuck to two trees.
Neji himself was bewildered to find the enemy he just used his Gentle fist on not being an enemy at all. He was fighting a tree as well. "What? Impossible." He turned his Byakugan on again and saw the chakra network of a person holding a kunai. But as soon as he turned his Byakugan off, the person changed back to a tree. "Why?"
"Somebody help me!" Came Lee's voice from somewhere on the cliff. Neji looked towards the voice and saw Lee hanging from a tree branch. He turned his Byakugan back on and again saw a person holding onto Lee's leg.
"What is this? Chakra networks running through illusions?" He bewilderedly thought.
Suddenly an electric shock ran through the ground and hit the whole team except Guy. He indeed had trained to avoid any and all kinds of lightning attacks and sensed the electricity oddly running through the ground and jumped up before it could shock him. He though had to immediately block a sword strike from the enemy who had finally decided to show himself.
"Finally, you show yourself, Raiga Kurosuki." Guy said as he eyed his cloak covered opponent.
"Hmm, something tells me you have some memories of me. Sadly, I do not have any memory of you to think about. So, there will be no funeral for you, I will just dice you up." Raiga said as he charged at Guy with his swords. He imbued his blades with chakra, making them emit lighting.
Guy had to dodge all of Raiga's sword swipes. The fang like pronged swords had visible lightning running through them and Guy knew it wasn't a good idea to block them with of kunai or by his hands. But he couldn't win by just dodging, so he dodged a straight down swipe from Raiga by rolling sideways on the ground to get behind him and gave a high kick to his back.
Raiga, on instinct, shifted slightly forward to avoid the kick, but it managed to tear off the back to his cloak, flinging off what looked like zip-up bag away from him.
"RANMARU!" "RAIGA!" yelled both Raiga and whatever or whoever was inside the bag.
By this time Neji as well as Tenten had already recovered from the numbness due to the shock they got.
"What is that?" Tenten asked.
Neji used his Byakugan again to see what was inside the bag, "I see chakra network. I would say there is someone in there, but in light of recent events we should make sure properly." He replied.
"RANMARU!" Raiga yelled again in panic. Guy noticed the concern he had for whoever was in that bag but couldn't let this chance go. Since Raiga was still facing away from him, he kicked him in the back again this time successfully hitting him and flung him across the field.
Unfortunately for Guy, Raiga was flung very close to the still unconscious Lee. Without wasting any moment, Raiga crouched close to Lee's prone figure and aimed both of his blade over his head and heart.
"Stop! Give Ranmaru back to me, or I kill this one." He threatened.
But before his threat could affect the others, he was kicked aside by Lee himself, somehow managing to do it with getting cut by the blades hovering so close to him.
Raiga got up after being kicked and gritted his teeth. He was in a very bad position. And more importantly, Ranmaru was taken away from him and was now in danger. He had to do something. That is when he saw it. Lee was indeed standing, but he was doing so sloppily, and his eyes were still closed.
"Is he fighting in his sleep?" He thought before blocking a kick from Guy again. In his worry for Ranmaru, he had forgotten about the main problem.
"It seems you have gotten weaker over the years. Or your dependence on whoever it is in the bag has made you so. No matter, I shall use my youth to finally end your tyranny on the people of this village." Guy said before crossing his arms in front on him.
"Eight Inner Gates: First Gate: Gate of Opening: Open!" He yelled before an intense pressure blasted out of his body, blowing away the remaining mist.
Raiga took a step back, "That technique," He started with wide eyes, "I remember that technique. An old guy used that technique against our squad during the Third Ninja War. Yes, I remember it. He had already killed four of us before we were able to take him down."
"Indeed. That person was my father. Might Duy. But don't misunderstand. I do not blame you for his death. We were at war and the only thing to blame is the war. This is not my revenge. I am just finishing a mission given to me by my kage. Just as you were doing back then." Guy said before he disappeared from Raiga's view. The next thing Raiga knew, he was flying through the air courtesy of a kick to the chin. Guy appeared behind him in the air and grabbed him with both his arms and legs. They then started spinning and plummeted straight towards the ground head first.
"Front Lotus!" Guy yelled and released Raiga just before he collided with the ground with a loud boom. The technique ended up burying Raiga head first into the ground, unmoving. Unfortunately, the edge of the cliff couldn't take the beating and ended up breaking and crumbling away down into the valley taking Raiga's body with it.
"NO!" the person in the bag yelled in vain.
This finally woke Lee up, "huh? Uh? I had a very strange dream, where I was fighting the enemy."
"You were fighting an enemy, Lee. In your sleep." Tenten sighed.
The main problem being taken care of, Guy walked to the discarded bag, "So, who is in there Neji?" He asked.
"I believe this is one who was being Raiga's eyes." Neji answered before kneeling and unzipping the bag.
Even though everyone already knew that there was a person inside, they were still shocked to see a boy who looked no more than 10 years old.
"So, wait a moment. The person who I was fighting in my sleep, was it you I fought?" Lee asked.
The boy shook his head, "No. It was me and Raiga. Together. We have always been together from the moment Raiga found me. I was an orphan in the village and was born with a weak body, so I couldn't move much. I survived because the villagers took pity on me and brought me food every once in a while. But after they became aware of my powers, they started hating me and I was left alone." He explained shocking the team.
"That night, Raiga came for a mission for his village. He had already killed all the villagers and had come to kill me. But when told him how him and I are the same, he took me in. Since then we have been together, with me being Raiga's eyes. He took me to see many places, he became my legs. We were trying the find the meaning of our lives, with each other. And we were convinced that we had found the answer. But now that Raiga is gone, there is no meaning to my life anymore. So please kill me as well." Ranmaru requested.
His request put the whole team in a sombre mood. Technically he was an accomplice of Raiga and thus was a convict of similar crimes. At the same time, he was so young that killing him now would take away his chance to atone for those crimes.
"Ranmaru, was it?" Neji started, "I don't know how close you were to Raiga, but I can tell you this. When someone close to you dies, it is your responsibility to live for them and move on instead of sticking to the past. There are lots of reason to why we are given life. A dear friend told me this a few years ago." He finished with a nostalgic smile.
Guy looked at his student with a smile of his own. He had heard how Neji used to blame his father's death on fate and used to use it as a crutch for everything. But thanks to a pair of twins, he had changed.
"Our mission was to drive out the Kurosuki family from the gold mine. With Raiga out of the picture, little Ranmaru here won't pose any problem." Guy declared making his team smile before he became serious, "Unfortunately, with their leader gone, it will be difficult to predict what the remnants of the Kurosuki family will do. Neji what is the status of the rest of them."
Neji nodded. He activated his Byakugan again and relayed what he saw to his sensei.
With the rest of the Villagers
Karashi was waiting with Rokusuke and the other villagers for any news on the Konoha team. That's when he saw someone limping down the cliff. He strained to see who it was and saw a bloodied Neji limping down with quite a difficulty, holding one of his arms.
"So, sir Raiga was able to take out most of them. He truly is powerful." He thought.
Rokusuke got up to warn the incoming ninja but Karashi stopped him, "You will keep your mouth shut, if you know what is good for you."
"Karashi, I thought you had repented." The old man from before said.
"Hah! Like I would go back to that stinking curry shop." Karashi huffed out before signalling someone.
Suddenly, rocks came rolling down the hill at Neji. Because of the combined effect of being taken by surprise as well as his injuries, he could not move away from the rocks and ended up getting buried under them.
"Haa! You see that. Even without sir Raiga's awesome might the Kurosuki family is everlasting." Karashi declared confidently.
His confidence was shattered though, when instead of his comrades joining him on their feet, mostly joined him by falling from the cliff on their backs or front or even on their heads. He looked up in surprise to see what happened and saw Team 3 standing triumphantly.
"Good work Neji! That was a most youthful show of your mastery of the Shadow Clone technique." Guy exclaimed.
"Yeah well, I didn't really like the memories of being crushed by boulders though." Neji complained but with a smile on his face, "And those two get this kind of feeling on daily basis. As useful as this jutsu is, it comes with some heavy costs which are not necessarily related to chakra." He thought additionally.
Tenten giggled, "It was your idea though, so you can't complain."
Below them the other villager were now tearing into Karashi.
"Well Karashi, what do you have to say for yourself?" Rokusuke asked angrily.
"uh, it was uh… just a joke." Karashi weakly whimpered.
"You think, we'll believe this was just a joke? You have tormented this whole village." The old man accused.
"Bu…but I didn't have any other choice. If I didn't do what they told me, I would have been killed by the Kurosukis." Karashi tried to excuse.
"Well, instead of the Kurosukis, I'll do the job with a blow from my hammer." Another villager yelled angrily at him, others following suit.
They prepared to start beating him before Lee showed up and stood between them and Karashi.
"Please Lee, out of our way." Rokusuke requested.
Lee kneeled on the ground and bowed his head, "You should strike me instead, until you are satisfied." He declared.
"But why would we punish you?" The old man asked.
"At one time, Karashi was a kind hearted innocent young man and I am partly responsible for him joining the gang of thugs like he did. It is because of my words that he came to think that power is everything." He explained.
Karashi, trying to save to himself, agreed to whatever Lee said, "R…Right. That's what it was. I knew it was wrong, but I had to do it anyway."
He though was shot down by the others. Lee meanwhile continued, "It is true, Karashi was naïve. But even so, he has a rare ability to make life saving curry. Please let Karashi atone for his sins. And also, if Karashi ever goes astray again, there will be consequences." He declared raising his fist dangerously close to Karashi's face making him flinch, "I swear, I will punish him with my two fists."
With his declaration the villagers started to discuss between themselves. Some where of the mind to punish Karashi themselves, while a few were okay with leaving him to Lee and others. But after some time, they came to their decision, "I guess, we can leave Karashi to Lee and grandma Sanshou to deal with."
Happy with their decision, Lee pulled Karashi to ground making him kneel as well, "Thank you all very much." Lee said with Karashi doing the same albeit weakly.
"And with that our mission is pretty much complete." Tenten said.
"No, not just yet." Neji stated.
Before coming down to check on the villagers, Team 3 had decided to imprison Ranmaru after tying him up, mostly to keep him from killing himself. And now that the villagers were safe and the remaining Kurosuki family thugs taken care of, they came back to decide what to do with Ranmaru.
"You alright?" Neji asked, entering the shack in which they had kept Ranmaru.
"What does is matter, if I'm feeling alright or not? I can't go on living all alone like these." Ranmaru said with a sad smile, "I was his eyes and ears and he was my arms and legs. But without Raiga there to care for me, its same as losing my own body."
"I see. So Raiga was able to become one of the Seven Swordsmen, because he was able to borrow power from Ranmaru." Neji concluded.
"But that means that Raiga was just using him!" Lee exclaimed.
Guy shook his head at that, "No Lee. Remember I have encountered Raiga as a part of Seven Ninja Swordsmen before, and I know for sure at that time Ranmaru-kun wasn't with him. And the way he was worried about Ranmaru-kun during our fight, I can say that Raiga wasn't using Ranmaru-kun at all."
"It doesn't matter to me, whether Raiga was using me or not. Because I'm just a tool to sense things out anyway." Ranmaru said.
Guy looked at him with pity in his eyes, "Ranmaru-kun, it is true that Shinobis are just tools to be used by the villages or anyone superior. But that doesn't mean they cannot have feelings. In fact, the feeling to protect someone or something is what makes a Shinobi strong. It was same with Raiga as well." He said surprising Ranmaru, "If you have the same feelings for him, then instead of giving up on your life, you should strive harder to survive, not only for yourself but also for Raiga."
Lee was crying anime tears while writing everything thing Guy said in his notes, "Guy-sensei. You are so full of wisdom." He gave a thumbs up to the surprised Ranmaru and said, "Guy-sensei is right. And if you want to survive on your own, you have to give it your all. And you can start by having some of the curry of life. It saved my life after all."
While Ranmaru had no idea what 'curry of life' was, Lee's teammates instantly got horrified expressions. "Wait a sec. Won't spicy curry hurt his body." Tenten more stated than asked. While Neji just trembled at the memory of it.
Lee and his sensei didn't pay them mind though. He released Ranmaru from his bindings and hoisted him on his back, "I swear, till the day you can walk on your own, I, Rock Lee, will be your body." Lee claimed shocking Ranmaru even more.
"That's it, Lee. That is the most youthful thing I've heard this whole day. I'm so proud of you." Guy stated giving his signature thumbs up to Lee.
"Alright, but I have a favour to ask." Ranmaru relented.
Team 3 and Ranmaru were on the cliff overlooking the valley Raiga fell into after he was defeated by Guy. They were asked by Ranmaru to let him check on Raiga for the last time.
Neji used his Byakugan to check any signs of life in Raiga, "Nothing, I sense no life in Raiga."
"Can you see anything, Ranmaru?" Lee asked.
Ranmaru used his own Doujutsu, making his eyes glow. He looked at Raiga and smiled, before changing his expression.
"Is everything okay?" Lee asked him again.
Ranmaru just nodded.
"Okay Team, let's go back to Grandma Sanshou's shop and get some of that curry of life in Ranmaru-kun." Guy told his team who followed him.
With Team 10 in Baji's citadel
Shikamaru with Chouji and Ino were currently surrounded by the numerous bandits commanded by Baji. Baji himself though was quite perplexed by their infiltration of his citadel despite all the security measures.
"Why didn't the forts warn us?" Baji asked the bandit who brought him the news.
"T…the shinobi just showed up out of nowhere, that's all I know." The bandit answered.
"Those three forts are there to prevent just this sort of thing. It's impossible to get past them." Baji said disbelievingly. He turned to Tofu and grabbed him by his collar, "Are you a double agent? Did you conspire with the men of those forts to let these ninjas in?" He asked angrily.
"No, no way. I swear I'd never do that. You gotta believe me." Tofu said while squirming in Baji's grasp.
Baji let him go, making him fall to the ground, "Talk is cheap."
"W…wait! I know. They still think that I have been captured, right? If you can convince them to give up one from their group for me as a hostage exchange, then I'll be able to stall them and feed you inside information." Tofu suggested.
Baji thought about it for a while before saying, "Not a bad idea. After all, keeping you here does me no good. And if I can exchange you for their leader, I can crush 'em along with their plans. After all, the more cards that I have to play in this game the better."
Meanwhile, Shikamaru and his two teammates were waiting for Baji's next move, all the while Shikamaru was planning their next step in his head.
"The most likely move that Baji would play now will be a hostage exchange. That will allow me to get close to the village elder's granddaughter. But Ino and Chouji do not have enough fire power to stall the bandits long enough for me to make the rescue. We need Asuma-sensei for that."
"Shikamaru, what's the plan now?" Ino asked him breaking him from his thoughts.
"We'll take advantage of their next move." He answered her. Ino waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, she got a tick mark on her forehead.
"And that will be?" She asked again.
"My guess is, a hostage exchange." He replied.
"A hostage exchange. Y-you mean one of u-us have to be those bandits' new hostage." Chouji said scared of the idea.
Shikamaru looked back at his friend and assured him, "Don't worry, they'll most probably target me. And that is what we want."
"B-but how will we get you out then?" Chouji was still worried about his best friend.
Shikamaru smirked, "I'm sure you'll figure it out. You just wait for sensei." He said confusing both his teammates as they didn't exactly know where their sensei was at the moment.
At that moment the door to the citadel opened showing the bandit leader Baji holding Tofu by his scuff.
"Shikamaru!", He called, "If you want to save him, then you would choose to take his place and become my captive instead."
"Hmph! Just as I was expecting." Shikamaru said stepping forward.
Baji saw the pineapple haired Genin step forward and guessed he was Shikamaru, "So Shikamaru, what's your answer?" He asked while making a unique handseal with both his hands behind his back.
"Okay. Sounds good." Shikamaru answered while walking forward.
Baji smirked internally, "He answered my question. Ninja art: Muting Jutsu, mutes anyone who answers my question."
Surely after taking a few steps, Shikamaru felt something in his throat.
"What th…? My voice is gone." He panicked inside.
Tofu got up and walked forward towards the rest of Team 10, while Shikamaru was contemplating on what to do.
"I cannot speak." He thought looking back at his teammates, "I just have to have faith in them." He looked forward again and continued walking.
Ino and Chouji saw him looking at them before turning. This confused Ino, "What? What now? He didn't tell us anything." She said.
Chouji though had a serious expression, "Ino, Shikamaru will never take a step like that without a plan. We have to believe in him." He said before putting his hand on her back. Ino looked at him nod and got what he was implying.
She formed the handseal for her family's secret jutsu and pointed at Shikamaru, "Mind Transfer Jutsu." She whispered before her body relaxed on Chouji's support.
Shikamaru felt a jerk to his body before he smiled just as he crossed Tofu.
When Tofu reached the two remaining genins he saw the girl standing with her eyes closed almost like she was unconscious while the fat kid held her up. He nonetheless kept his act up. He rubbed the back of his head, "I'm sorry for all the trouble that I've caused."
Chouji was thinking, whether to call Tofu on his act or keep it going. But seeing as Ino wasn't still back in her body, he decided it would be better to prolong the act a bit longer, "Don't worry. I'm sure Shikamaru and sensei will be able to think of something." He said.
"But Shikamaru is now with Baji, I don't think there's anything he could do now." Tofu said.
Suddenly Ino's body jerked and she opened her eyes and stood up on her own. She saw Tofu standing with them while the other bandits still surrounded them. Looking at Tofu she could see that Chouji had to still let him know that they were onto him. Since they needed to wait for their sensei anyway, she decided to wait as well.
Baji took Shikamaru to the where he had kept the village elder's granddaughter.
"How did you get past the forts?" Baji asked Shikamaru.
Shikamaru's body jerked but he didn't say anything. Baji misunderstood this as his try in speaking.
"Oh right, you are still under my Justu." Baji said before making a handseal, "Release!"
As soon as Shikamaru got his voice back, he looked at the captive girl, "Hey, it's going to be alright now." He assured her.
Baji got irritated when he was ignored, "I asked, how did you bypass the forts?"
Shikamaru looked at Baji and smirked, "That part was easy. All of us were suspicious of Tofu all along. So, we placed a mini-wireless on him. And as we expected, he said the password, not knowing we were listening on him."
"But I've never trusted passwords. Those men have strict orders, even if someone gives the correct passwords." Baji stated.
"Maybe. But it seems they are not as suspicious as you are. All we had to do was tell them, 'A spy who knows the password should have come through before us. We are after him.' And just like that, they let us in." Shikamaru explained.
Baji was shocked, "What!?"
"It was a childish trick, but it worked so who cares." Shikamaru taunted.
Baji was furious. His impenetrable forts were taken down by childish pranks. Still he smiled, "Well, you're definitely no child, I'll give you that Shikamaru. But still even if you are a smart tactician, you are just a prisoner now. And I have my own strategy, that will wipe out the rest of your genin friends."
Baji's confession scared the girl with them, but Shikamaru reassured her, "Don't worry. My friends will be here any minute now to save us."
Baji scoffed at that, "Don't bother trying to put on a brave act. Ninjutsu may be powerful, but there is no way to destroy this place without harming the hostage. That's the whole point of having a hostage." He said before he realized something, "Hold on! If you knew Tofu was my spy, why did you agree to a hostage exchange?" He asked.
Shikamaru's smirk never left his face, "Who knows?"
As if answering his question, the whole citadel started to shake. Baji went to the window to look out and was shocked to see another ninja join the ranks of Genin.
"What? Who is that?" Baji asked quite surprised.
"Hmm…I think Asuma-sensei has just arrived." Shikamaru answered him.
Baji stepped back in fear, "I completely forgot about the Jounin." But he controlled himself, "Is this an assault or is this a divisionary tactic? Either way as long as there are hostages involved, a full-on attack is impossible. And your friends still lack the jutsu to pinpoint our location. So I still have the upper hand here. There's no way you can win."
Shikamaru's smirk though seemed to be quite stubborn. The little girl noticed this, "You look so calm. You even seem to be enjoying this."
That changed Shikamaru's expression into a surprised one, "Really? I do?"
"Aren't you scared of what might happen?" She asked.
"No way." Shikamaru answered, "Because I have faith in my friends."
Baji sneered, "Don't get cocky, kid. I still have the upper hand here. I can escape by using my hostage as a shield. You see, as long as I have the village elder's granddaughter with me, I can negotiate my way out. And if I can escape before your teammates come here, your plans won't mean a thing."
Shikamaru looked affronted, "You would abandon your men like that?"
Baji grinned, "Those men down there? What a laugh. You just don't get it. Once I escape, I can form a new gang anytime I want." He said before he had to jump back to avoid getting caught up in the blast that came from below them.
Shikamaru too jumped back and shielded the hostage girl from the blast.
"Shikamaru!""Shikamaru!" both Chouji and Ino yelled, emerging from the blast.
"Are you alright?" Ino asked when she spotted him.
"Yeah, just barely." He answered lazily.
"Well, how do you think we feel? You sure scared us." She spat back.
Baji got up from the debris and was surprised to see two other genins in the room, "H-how did you find us?" He asked.
"She is from the Yamanaka clan of the Hidden leaf and they have a very powerful hidden jutsu called the Mind Transfer Jutsu. I'm sure you've at least heard of it before." Shikamaru replied.
"Mind transfer Jutsu?"
"During the exchange, Ino used the jutsu on me to take control of my body. Then she looked through my eyes and located our position." He explained further.
"Oh, give me a break. You act like we already had everything planned? You are just lucky that I figured out what you had in mind." Ino said.
"Yeah, it was touch and go there. And thankfully Asuma-sensei arrived just in time to help us and make a diversion." Chouji added.
Baji was getting angry at the careless banter happening in his presence and also at being out witted, "But that's crazy. How could you possibly know that I would call for a hostage exchange and trade Tofu for you?" He asked.
"Well, when a player loses a card, he wants to replace it, doesn't he?" Shikamaru replied.
That infuriated Baji even more as well as confuse him, "A card?" He questioned.
"Well, in this case, the card you lost were actually those three forts that we bypassed. Once they were out of play, you needed to replace them as quickly as possible. And the easiest and the fastest way to do that."
"Was through an exchange of hostage." Baji realized incredulously.
"You are a tactician. You analyse every bit of data you get, and your top priority is figuring out your enemies' strategy. Because of that I knew right of the bat you would target me." Shikamaru finished his explanation.
Baji was gritting his teeth during this all. He couldn't believe he was outwitted by a mere genin. But he had another trump card. He grinned, "Simply amazing. And you beat me, I've got to hand it to you." He said while slowly backing away.
Shikamaru scowled at him, "Nothing I did was amazing. What is really amazing is that my friends believe in me no matter what."
"Shut up!" Baji yelled while shrugging off the overcoat he was wearing, showing big paper bombs all over his body. He gave a mad chuckle, "Try to make a move against me and I'll set these off and blow you up. You hear me, make a move and I-" He stopped abruptly as his body froze up.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu complete." Shikamaru said.
Asuma had already neutralized all the bandits when his team came out of the citadel with the village elder's granddaughter beside them as well as who he guessed was Baji caught in the Nara clans Shadow Possession Jutsu.
He took Baji and peeled off all the paper bombs from his body, before tying him up with rest of his men.
"That was quite a risk you took Shikamaru. Taking actions without relaying your strategy to the others. Despite that, the mission ended successfully. So nice job." He told his genin.
"Thanks, but it really wasn't a risk. You see, I knew what Ino and Chouji can accomplish and I had faith at what we can achieve together. I didn't have to tell them a thing, I knew these guys will know what I was thinking." Shikamaru explained.
Asuma just nodded, "Well Team. We have secured the village elder's granddaughter and neutralized the bandit camp. I would say for your first C-rank mission, you performed phenomenally."
Sadly, only Ino was interested in the celebratory cheer. Chouji was refilling the chakra he spent fighting the bandits and Shikamaru was…well everyone knows how Shikamaru was.
OMAKE 8 (Continued from Omake 7)
Zabuza looked on at the catatonic Kakashi, checking for any reaction. But when he didn't get any he sighed, "So that's it, you kill one of his brats, and the copy ninja is reduced to this. How pathetic. I should jus-" He was interrupted when a vile chakra filled the whole area. The potency of the chakra even sent a chill down his spine. He looked around to find the of source of it, which wasn't so hard. The blond brat was literally emanating red chakra.
"A Jinchuuriki huh. Looking at how fast the beast is taking over, he probably has no control over it." He thought. In trying to eliminate the Fourth Mizukage, he had looked into Jinchuurikis a bit. So, he knew the weakness when it came to an untrained Jinchuuriki.
And just like he knew, Naruto rushed at him directly in blind rage. But Zabuza did not anticipate the speed at which Naruto came at him and because of his unpreparedness he was barely able to dodge Naruto's claw strike.
Naruto was already covered in cloak of red chakra which vaguely resembled a fox with two chakra tails. His nails had grown sharper along with his fangs, which were now protruding out of his mouth. His whisker marks had become thick and jagged as well.
He rushed at Zabuza again intending to end him. But this time Zabuza was prepared. He swung the blunt end of his sword and hit Naruto directly on his head, hard. In an instant Naruto went unconscious while all the red chakra dissipated.
"Hmph! As expected, a rampaging beast is all what you are unless you train to control the beast. Just that brute strength will not be enough against a seasoned Shinobi. But I will let you live. You will be a pretty useful tool for me." Zabuza said before turning to the last remaining people.
But he had to jump back quickly to avoid a spear of lighting. After Zabuza retreated, Kakashi cancelled his technique and he too retreated taking Naruto with him. When Naruto released Kyuubi's chakra, it had snapped Kakashi out enough to realize that the enemy was still there, and his other students were still in danger. He didn't hear what Zabuza had planned for Naruto, but he had to take him back anyhow. So, he decided chakra was not an issue here and should go full power on Zabuza.
As soon as he landed, Zabuza started making hand seals for a Jutsu strong enough to take everyone down in one go. To his surprise, Kakashi copied him at every step, but started to pick up speed. Zabuza couldn't state his surprise fast enough before Kakashi casted his Jutsu, "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu."
Kakashi really had pulled all the stops here, as the scale of the Jutsu was so big that the spilled water threatened to uproot the surrounding trees taking Zabuza along with it.
Zabuza himself was shocked to see Kakashi finish the jutsu even before him. That shock made him be swept along with the water vortex, before he was slammed into a tree. Even though his body was quite battered, he tried to move out of the way. Unfortunately, a few precisely placed Kunais halted his moments.
Kakashi wasn't going to let him take even a single breadth, so he dug as deep as he could in his chakra reserves and managed to form one of his only original Jutsus. Lighting formed around his hands, screeching all the while. Kakashi ran at Zabuza at full speed intending to end him as soon as possible.
Sadly, all he was able to hit was the tree behind Zabuza. He looked at retreating figure of the one who took Zabuza, with the said swordsman slung on his back. He sighed and took his hands out of the tree. He looked back at the team and all the guilt came back on his shoulders like a ton of bricks.
Naruto was still unconscious, Sasuke was shook up staring at Sakura's severed body while Tazuna was off to side crouching and holding his head. He gave a heavy sigh. It was supposed to be a simple C-rank escort mission. He should have turned back when the Demon Brothers showed up. He knew they had to be working for someone, someone stronger. He was supposed to train this team, so he knew what their level was at. It was undeniable to him, he had failed the team.
He walked up to Sasuke, thankfully because of the rather short fight he still had chakra, even through his use of two lightning blades. He looked at Sasuke and said in a sombre tone, "Sasuke, Take Naruto. We are going to Tazuna's house." Sasuke and Tazuna looked disbelievingly at Kakashi, but both for different but also similar reasons. Sasuke, because he thought his sensei was just abandoning Sakura, and Tazuna, because he couldn't believe that even after all that had happened because of his lie, he was still helping.
Kakashi didn't say anything else though. He took out a scroll from his belt pouch and rolled it open besides Sakura. With a few handseals, both halves of Sakura's body puffed away, probably into the scroll. Kakashi shakily rolled the scroll close and said, "After we drop Tazuna to his house, we will give Sakura a proper burial, back in her village. Her body will be preserved in this."
Now that her body was out of the view, Sasuke got out of his stupor and nodded. He walked up to Naruto and hoisted him in a piggyback carry.
Seeing that he was ready, Kakashi nodded to Tazuna and started walking in the direction of wave. Tazuna quietly followed with his head down. Like Kakashi, he was also feeling guilty for what happened to Sakura. So, the rest of the journey was done in morbid silence.
(To be continued)
AN:
Wooh. 10K words. Well 8.7 if you only count the main story. But still that is the longest chapter I've ever written. But well that's that. Team 10 was the first to complete their mission. Granted theirs was the easiest. And it feels like another story running with this continuing Omakes.
Now as I said, I would be editing the previous chapters to make them more readable. Every one of those chapter will have an update date in the beginning of the chapter and may be a changelog, if it's worth mentioning, which I don't think they will.
So, next time will be the Kunoichi led teams. Till then. Auf Wiedersehen!