(Thanks for coming back to read the next chapter of the series! Hitomi, Kuroda, and Yovestu won their fight in Tao Village, but the mission in the Land of Panthers is not over yet. Will they be able to defeat Hatsu, Jishi, and their Commander? I love feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave a review so I can improve my writing and storytelling skills. Enjoy!)
Hatsu and Jishi arrive at a large wooden gate and are stopped by man in a long, black cloak and a hidden face. "Hello, Katashi," greets Hatsu.
"We need to speak to the leader," says Jishi.
"Where are the others?" inquires Katashi.
"As I said, we need to speak to the leader," repeats Jishi, impatiently.
"Very well, open up the gate!" calls Katashi. He escorts them in and they join with a few other guards. Inside the barrier there is a number of wooden shacks and tents set up to house the warriors of the gathering force. The camp is populated by mostly males, but a number of deadly-looking females are mixed in. Some of them peek their heads out or look over when the group walks by, but then immediately look away when they spot the brothers.
They come to a large, red tent and stop before entering. "What is it?" says a raspy voice from inside.
"Hatsu and Jishi have returned from Tao Village," replies Katashi.
A moment later the front flap of the tent flips open and a man emerges. He is tall and skinny and has a nice dark tan. His eyes are green, but not as dark in color as his slicked back hair. He wears a long white coat with red flames at the bottom, along with a white shirt and black pants. "What is going on?" he asks.
"The brothers returned and requested to see you, Suizaki," says Katashi.
The apparent leader looks them over then demands, "Explain yourselves! Where are Rizuki and Shinmaru?"
"They are no longer with us," answers Hatsu.
"They have been killed. Too bad, we really liked Rizuki," adds Jishi with a devious smirk.
"Killed? Where? By who?" inquires Suizaki.
"We were in Tao Village when we encountered a group of new recruits," explains Hatsu. "They turned out to be Leaf Ninja," says Jishi, "Strong ones, too."
"They killed Shinmaru first, and then Rizuki died from her injuries before we could make it back," says Hatsu.
"I doubt that," interrupts Katashi, "Your lies are easy to detect. You killed Rizuki yourselves."
"A bold accusation," says Hatsu.
"Do you have any real evidence to back it up?" asks Jishi.
"I know your ways," replies Katashi, "You have had your devil eyes on her since the moment you arrived. We should punish them for their betrayal, Lord Rengaku. Rizuki was a valuable asset."
"You are just jealous, Katashi Masaki," accuses Hatsu.
"You are just mad you didn't get inside her first," adds Jishi.
"How dare you accuse me of such a thing!" replies Katashi.
"Did you say Leaf Ninja?" asks Suizaki, apparently not paying attention to the other parts of the conversation.
"Yes, that is right," answers Hatsu.
"Where are they? Did they follow you? How many are there?" demands Suizaki with an obsessed look in his eye.
"We didn't detect them tracking us here," responds Hatsu.
"They are most likely still in Tao Village," says Jishi, "They seemed to be operating in a standard three man team, two males and one female."
"Katashi, gather twenty men and meet me at the gate," orders Suizaki.
"But what about the punishment for…" argues Katashi.
"I gave you an order!" shouts Suizaki with a deadly glare.
"Right away, Lord Rengaku," says Katashi before he bows and runs off.
"You two stay here and rest," orders Suizaki before going back into his tent.
"What is going on?" says a figure hiding in a corner of the tent.
"It looks like I am going to get some of my revenge a bit early," replies Suizaki as he gathers some ninja tools.
"There are Leaf Ninja in the country? What are they doing here?" asks the shadowy figure.
"I don't know and I don't care," replies Suizaki as he heads for the exit, "I'll kill them first and ask questions later."
"Do you want me to come with you?" asks the figure.
"No, Reizo, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on the brothers," replies Suizaki, "Make sure they don't kill anyone while I am gone."
"So, let me get this straight," says Hitomi, "You are telling us that all of the people of Tao Village are safe and are hiding in a secret underground compound?"
The young, blonde boy who they are talking to nods his head.
"And Yanagi, the Village Elder, Lady Hokage's friend, and our contact, sent you to meet us?" asks Kuroda.
The boy nods his head again to confirm the statement.
"How far exactly is this hiding place?" inquires Yovestu.
"It is about five kilometers away," says the young boy, "I can take you there as soon as you are ready to go."
"I'm not sure if I want to go," replies Yovestu.
"What? Why not?" questions Hitomi.
"I have a feeling that something is coming this way," explains Yovestu, "I cannot really explain it. I just feel like if we stay here then we will learn what is going on and who is behind all of this."
"But what about Yanagi?" asks Kuroda, "He might have some additional information that could be of value to us. We should send someone to meet with him."
"That is true," agrees Yovestu, "But I really don't want to divide the team. Remember, we can't call for backup and expect it to arrive in a reasonable amount of time. So if any one of us is lost then we are really in trouble."
"If we had a four man team this might be a little easier," speculates Hitomi.
"I think I may have a solution," announces Yovestu.
"Really, what is it?" asks Hitomi.
"Well, it all depends on Kuroda's abilities," he explains.
"My abilities? How so?" asks Kuroda.
"Those Shadow Clones of yours were very useful before," says Yovestu, "How long can you maintain one for? I have a specialty clone, but it has a time limit of only ten minutes."
"If I am not in combat I can make one clone last for about 30 days. During combat it is considerably less," reveals Kuroda.
"I assume a day or two would be no problem then?" inquires Yovestu.
"Yes, no problem," assures Kuroda.
"Good, then send a clone along with the boy back to Yanagi and the village hideout. This way we can get information from him and deal with whatever is coming this way," says Yovestu.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" announces Kuroda as two clouds appear next to him and reveal two clones.
"Lead the way, kid," says a clone. The boy nods and then runs off with the two clones following him.
"Why did you send two clones with him?" asks Hitomi.
"Don't you know why Shadow Clones are special?" replies Kuroda.
"Not really," admits Hitomi, "Other than the fact that they have a physical existence."
"Some clones have an attachment to the elements and gain special properties from their given element. Shadow Clones however have a different ability," explains Kuroda, "They can transfer knowledge and experience. Anything that happens to a Shadow Clone will instantly be transferred back to the ninja who made it once it is destroyed or the Jutsu is ended."
"Wow, that is really cool," remarks Hitomi.
"And useful," says Kuroda, "The second clone I sent will disappear once it makes it to the hideout. That way if we need to retreat for some reason we will be able to make it there without a guide."
"Good work, Kuroda," compliments Yovestu, "An excellent idea."
An hour later Suizaki and his forces arrive outside of Tao Village. "Katashi, are they still in the village?" inquires the leader.
"There are three of them. One female, two male," replies Katashi as he closes his eyes and brings his hands together.
"Good, then let's move in," orders Suizaki.
"Wait! There is something else," warns Katashi.
"What is it?" inquires the leader.
"They planted bombs around the perimeter of the village," explains Katashi as he opens his eyes and moves ahead of the group, "I'll go on ahead and deactivate them."
"It looks like they are here," announces Kuroda as he sits up on the big, blue couch.
"How do you know?" asks Hitomi who is staring out the window from on top of a large crate.
"I set up my traps so that I would be notified if anyone was trying to tamper with them," reveals Kuroda.
"Can you tell how large of a force there is?" inquires Yovestu as he checks his weapons pouch.
"They are being deactivated slowly so that means it is only one person, probably a sensor type. However, if there is anyone else with him I can't tell," states Kuroda.
"Well, unless it is some random person that has nothing to do with the current situation we can assume that there will be a pretty large number," concludes Yovestu.
"So what are we going to do?" asks Hitomi. Yovestu brings his hand up to his chin and thinks for a moment.
"We don't have a lot of time," reminds Kuroda.
"Here is the plan," announces Yovestu, "I want you two to go and confront them head on. Your main target is that sensor ninja. He or she should be easy to identify. I need you to at least injure him so that he can't track us if we need to retreat. Hitomi, since you are the senior member I will leave it up to you to decide if you deal with all the enemy forces. Just send up this flare if you are going to retreat," says Yovestu as he tosses her the flare.
"And what are you going to be doing?" she asks as she jumps off the crate and stores the flare away.
"I am going to exit the village and circle around to surprise them from behind," he divulges, "That is the other reason I want you to go after sensor ninja. If everything goes well then good for us, but if things go badly then I will meet you at the underground compound."
"How are you going to get there without a guide?" asks Kuroda.
"Just leave that to me," says Yovestu, "Now, let's move out."
Kuroda and Hitomi exit the house they were using as a base and run towards the infiltration site. "What is wrong?" asks Kuroda when he notices Hitomi seems irritated.
"This plan is lame," she says, "The sensor is going to know we are approaching, where we are coming from, and he will know that there are only two of us."
"Well, I can fix two of those problems," says Kuroda.
"And how exactly can you do that?" she asks. Suddenly he hops over and sweeps her off her feet and then jumps on top of the nearest building and then high into the air.
He slips one of his special kunai out and hurls it in the direction of the enemy force. "What the hell are you doing?" she screams, "Put me…" Before she can finish the pair is to the edge of the village. Kuroda catches his kunai as they drop down from the sky. He sets her down and then scans the faces of the surprised enemy.
"What the hell? Where did they come from?" yells one of the men. Kuroda spots one of the men that looks even more confused than the rest.
"The one in the black cloak is the sensor," he says, "You take him and I will handle the others."
"What an arrogant jerk, you think you can handle all of us?" shouts one of the men. Kuroda dashes forward and slices into the man's neck before he can even react. Two others quickly move in to attack him from both sides. While they are distracted Hitomi circles around the group and heads for the sensor ninja.
A fighter moves to engage her, but the sensor ninja calls him off, "I will take her, you go help with the guy, and watch out for the other one; he must be around here somewhere."
The man replies, "Okay, Katashi, I will keep a…" but he is cut off when a kunai hits him in the back and it explodes.
Katashi covers his face from the blood and guts of his ally. "That one is strong," thinks Katashi as he keeps one eye on Kuroda.
"You should keep your eyes on me," warns Hitomi as she slashes down with her kunai. He manages to slip out of the way and then backs off a few steps.
"That guy is stronger than he is letting on. I can tell what his power level is. Only a fool would take their eyes off him," he responds.
"You won't have to worry about that," she says, "He won't interfere in our fight. Once he is done playing with your friends he will go and assist our leader with his attack."
"You must be very confident if you think you can take me on by yourself. I'm not like the other ones in the group, I used to be a ninja from the Hidden Forest Village," warns Katashi.
"You would have to be a ninja in order to diffuse the traps we laid around the village," she replies while she leaps back into the air and forms hand seals, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu." Heat builds up inside her chest and then she channels it up through her throat and forces it out of her mouth.
The scorching flames burst from between her lips and explode into a ball of fire. Before the blaze reaches him, Katashi switches places with the body of his dead ally.
"So you use fire jutsu? That explains why you gave the twins so much trouble," says Katashi as he prepares his own jutsu. Hitomi quickly draws another kunai and flings it at him hoping to prevent him from completing the seals. "Earth Style: Earth Riser!" shouts Katashi as he plants his arms in the ground. A mound of rock rises up from the ground and the kunai hits it and falls away harmlessly. The rock continues to rise in an ever increasing triangular shape relative to Katashi. Hitomi moves into a series of backwards hand springs until she pushes herself high into the air. As she flips in the air she prepares to throw an exploding kunai at her enemy, but he has vanished.
She scans the area wondering, "Where did he go?" Katashi appears behind her with his sword in hand and slashes at her midsection. The blade cuts into her vest, but luckily it does not penetrate her skin. He brings the sword around for a vertical slash and she moves to block it with her kunai. They land on the ground and break off from the engagement.
"Strange, I definitely thought I hit you," he comments as he examines his blood free sword.
"You should probably get your eyes checked then," she says coyly.
Meanwhile Suizaki waits impatiently for his forces to report in to him. "What is taking them so long?" he asks the grunt next to him.
"Maybe they have encountered the Leaf Ninja," suggests a soldier.
"You three, go and check on their status," Suizaki orders a trio of his minions. The men jump into the air, but they seem to get tangled in some invisible force.
"It is some sort of net, who put this here?" questions one of them.
"Who cares, just slice it so we can move on," says another.
Suddenly the nearly invisible net wraps around the trio binding them tightly together. A voice from the shadows whispers, "Fire Style: Fire Net." A line of wire becomes alive with fire and then the net bursts into flames. The trio screams helplessly as they are eaten alive by the flames.
"What the hell is going on?" yells another soldier just before he is hit in the throat with a kunai and chokes to death on his own blood.
"It is the Leaf Ninja! They must be here already!" screams a woman before a batch of shuriken slam into her body.
"Impossible! How could they have gotten past Katashi and his team already?" yells another warrior before there is a large explosion above him. He and the group of men around him are crushed by large pieces of trees falling from above.
"Stop playing games, Leaf Ninja! Show yourself!" orders Suizaki. The last few remaining warriors cluster in a circular formation with their backs to each other. A figure drops down in between them. With a kunai in each hand he nimbly strikes each warrior in a vital spot, taking the whole group out before they can even react. To complete the sequence he spins around and releases his left hand kunai straight towards Suizaki.
Suizaki doesn't even flinch as the kunai flies by him, centimeters away from slicing his cheek. "You missed, Yovestu," he states.
"Who said I was trying to hit you?" replies Yovestu.
"A paperbomb!" realizes Suizaki when he hears the fizzing sound behind him. He leaps forward and throws something at the explosive kunai before it explodes. Smoke blankets the area, but Suizaki shoots out of it seemingly uninjured. He twists around in mid-air and meets Yovestu's lunging kunai attack with his own knife. They break off from each other and land on opposite sides of the grove.
"So it really is you after all, Suizaki Rengaku," states Yovestu, staring down his enemy with fierce determination.
"Yovestu, it figures the old man would send you after me," replies Suizaki.
"The old man? Your information is seriously out of date, my friend," the Leaf Ninja responds.
"You would dare call me your friend after what you did to me?" counters Suizaki.
"So you still won't admit to your crimes?" says Yovestu, "I don't know exactly what you are trying to do here in the Land of Panthers, but now I have one more reason to stop you."
"You think that you can defeat me?" laughs Suizaki, "You have never even come close before. You are out of your league."
"I see you still have a bad habit of underestimating your opponents," counters Yovestu, "I'm not a weakling anymore. I am a lot stronger than I used to be."
"I don't care how strong you think you have become. You don't stand a chance!" yells Suizaki as he forms hand signs, "Ninja Art: Poison Vines." Twelve vines covered in a purple liquid spring up from below Yovestu and entangle him. The begin to tighten their grip and squeeze him to death, but then his body poofs into white smoke and is replaced by a log. He appears above Suizaki and comes down with a deadly slash.
"What in the world is going on? How is she able to see all of my attacks?" wonders Katashi as he leaps out of the way of a burning inferno, "It doesn't make any sense. Only another sensor type ninja should be able to read my Jutsu. She most definitely is not a sensor type. If I had a water source for my water Jutsu it would make this a whole lot easier. Whatever, I will just have to deal with it."
"Stop hiding and come out already," calls Hitomi, "Kuroda is almost done with your friends. I don't want him to move on without me, so that means I need to defeat you quickly."
From his hiding spot behind a large boulder he made earlier in the battle Katashi is making a complex combination of hand seals. "I don't think it will be as easy as you believe," says Katashi as he finishes the seals, "Earth Style: Stone Redwood." The ground begins to rumble and then a huge object bursts from below. An enormous tree composed completely of stone shoots up from the ground. As it rises Katashi hops onto one of the branches.
Hitomi watches as the stone tree grows to over 100 feet tall. "That is a pretty impressive Jutsu you have there," calls Hitomi, "But what I want to know is, just what exactly do you plan to do with it?"
"To be honest my clan didn't really develop this Jutsu for offensive purposes. Most of the time it is used for scouting or to help get over a high wall, but we can make it topple over and crush any troops gathered below," replies Katashi, "However, I myself have designed several special Jutsu that feed off of it. I only use them when I find myself up against a strong opponent."
"I guess I should consider myself lucky then," says Hitomi sarcastically.
"You are very lucky, but your luck is about to run out," predicts Katashi before he forms hand seals, "Earth Style: Diving Eagles." The stone tree begins to shake and small figures begin to grow on its branches.
"What are those?" Hitomi thinks to herself, "There are so many of them." The formations mold into stalactites about a foot long each, with razor sharp points. "I'd like to examine your corpse afterwards so I will start out with only a small wave," says Katashi. The tree rumbles again and 20 of the stalactites launch off of their branches and rocket towards Hitomi.
"Shit, he can fire them off!" exclaims Hitomi as she swipes the kunai in her right hand across her face to deflect the first projectile, and then back to the other side to deflect another. She quickly does a back handspring to avoid three more and dives to the right making two more miss. Next, she heads into a sprint duck and weaving to avoid the remaining ones. She smartly slips behind a large pile of rubble to rest. "Well, that wasn't very fun," she thinks, "At least I learned a few things. First, he can adjust the path of the weapons after he fires them but only limitedly, second, the weapons are deadly but I can still block them with a kunai, and finally, he can fire them in large groups. If I want to beat him I am going to have to get in close." Hitomi hears some whispers in the air and rolls to the side right before five stalactites could impale her.
"You can't hide behind anything," calls Katashi, "I can fire the ones from the top branches over any obstacle. Nothing is out of range for me with this Jutsu."
"If I can't hide, then my only option is to attack," thinks Hitomi as she starts sprinting towards the base of the tree.
"So you were able to outrun 20 of the stalactites, but how do you think you will do against 200?" shouts Katashi, "Go, second wave!"
Hitomi slides to a halt, just staring at the hundreds of weapons about to rain down upon her. She quickly regains her composure and then her eyes turn a lighter red and her pupils gain the two black tomoe around them. "Sharingan," she whispers, gazing at the incoming weapons. The first batch speed towards her and she crouches down as five of them streak over her head. She quickly dives to the left as a few stab into the ground where she had just been standing. Her right leg shoots high into the air to repel a stalactite and then she moves into a backspin kick with her right leg followed by a regular spin kick with her left to knock two more of the projectiles down. She jets forward before ten more of the stone rockets hit. As more head towards her she bats them out of the way with a kunai.
"Impossible!" thinks Katashi, "How did her reaction capabilities increase so dramatically? Was she holding back earlier? Whatever, I will just use a concentrated attack so she can't dodge." Hitomi is running around the area using sharp cuts to make the rockets miss by a narrow margin. She soon realizes that a dark shadow is coming towards her. She looks up to see about thirty of the stalactites nearly molded together in a large, wide cylinder of death.
Katashi watches as his attack falls down upon his victim thinking, "Now that I finished her, I have to deal with that guy in the black. What the hell?" The mass of stalactites suddenly bursts into fiery red flames. The flaming debris crumbles apart into small groups and falls to the ground. Hitomi bursts through the center unscathed and resumes her sprint towards the rock tree. "Impossible! There is no way she had enough time for a Jutsu and besides that a fire attack should have had no effect on my rock Jutsu," thinks Katashi, "Just who is this girl?"
Hitomi is about twenty meters away from the tree when she knocks away the last of the stalactites that were fired. "I am not going to let you get any closer!" yells Katashi as he shifts his hands again, "Go, third wave!" More stalactites fire off of their branches, this time not even aimed at Hitomi but at the path she is taking towards the tree. The leaf ninja dashes forward and springs up onto the base of the tree before any of the stone rockets reach their targets. Without even needing to think, she gathers chakra on the soles of her feet and starts to run up the tree.
"Ha ha ha, Yovestu, you are a fool," taunts Suizaki as he lands on the side of a tree, "I will admit you have improved, however you have always had the natural advantage over me with your fire style and yet you always fall to me. You are a weakling with no talent at all. That is why I became a Jonin so quickly and you barely even managed to become a Chunin." Yovestu slides back on his feet until he comes to a stop. He glances at his left arm which now has a small gash in it and is staining his clothes red.
"And because you rose up so quickly all the power and respect you gained went to your head," counters Yovestu, "You thought that because you were so strong that you could just do whatever you want including breaking the rules of the village."
"Those stupid rules were beneath me!" yells Suizaki, "They only applied to weaklings like you. The strong get to make their own rules!"
"I figured you might say that," responds Yovestu, "It sickens me that someone born and raised the Leaf Village would say that."
"I am sick of your talk," says the rogue, "I am going to do what I should have done a long time ago."
"You stole the words right out of my mouth," replies the Leaf ninja, "Fire Style: Fire Net."
Hitomi tilts her head to the left and a stalactite passes right over her shoulder. As she makes her way up the tree, a line of stalactites starts to form and stab into the tree seconds after she passes. She finally makes it up to where the branches begin forming. She takes a left when she arrives at the first branch wide enough to run on. "Go, fourth wave!" yells Katashi desperately as he launches more of his stone rockets. This time, after launching the stalactites combine together into groups of about five to become stronger and deadlier.
Hitomi springs up, grabs the next branch, and flips over on top of it. She runs back towards the base, kicks off it and gets up to the next branch. Using this basic method she makes her way up towards Katashi. "Shit, I can't keep letting her get closer," thinks Katashi, "But it is dangerous for me to use more powerful attacks this high up." He dives to the side as a small ball of fire scorches the branch he is on. "How can she even get off an attack while she is dodging all of mine?" he thinks as he jumps up to the next branch and then runs to avoid more incoming mini fireballs.
"Go, wave five!" yells Katashi as he runs up the tree, dodging attacks. Hitomi sidesteps a group of five stalactites and twirls around when a lone stone rocket rips though the bottom of her pants and pins her to the tree. "You are mine now," thinks Katashi, "You are not going to dodge this one." A group of fifteen stalactites comes together and rockets toward the leaf ninja. Hitomi is trying to free herself when she looks up and is impaled by the stone warhead.
Her body explodes into white smoke and reveals a single stalactite. She reappears a few branches above, almost directly opposite of Katashi. "When did you…?" he questions. She darts forward to stab him with a kunai, he quickly draws his sword bringing it up and then slices at a downward angle. He watches in disbelief as she halts her attack and leans back so the sword slices a mere inch in front of her. Before he can bring it back up for another attack she pierces his chest with her kunai.
Katashi drops his sword and clutches his chest as she withdraws her kunai and blood begins to pour all over. He staggers backwards, struggling to keep consciousness. "Don't...don't…don't fight the twins," he warns before he reaches the side of the branch and falls off.
Hitomi watches as his corpse slams into the ground wondering, "What did he mean by that?" Suddenly her foothold begins to shake and she looks down to see the tree collapsing upon itself. "Oh, crap," she says as the branch drops out from under her and falls helplessly to the earth.
Hitomi is twenty feet from her death when Kuroda jumps in to catch her and brings her safely to the ground. "You should think about how you are going to get down the next time you decide to climb up a 100 foot tree," Kuroda comments.
"Sorry, I just didn't think it would collapse so easily," she says, "Thanks for catching me."
"Just make sure you don't become dependent on it," he says.
"How do you think Yovestu is doing?" she asks.
"I'm not sure. Let's go and find out," suggests Kuroda.
"Did you honestly think that weak attack is going to work against me?" says Suizaki sarcastically. He rips off a piece of his clothing that is on fire and tosses it to the side.
"No, I was just using it as a distraction," says Yovestu as he appears to the left of the rogue ninja and uses a sweeping leg attack. Suizaki hops over it and puts his hands in an x position across his chest to block against the follow up kick. He slides back in the dirt a few feet and then hurls his kunai at the opponent.
Suizaki retreats deeper into the woods, planning the next stage of his attack when a spot of pain shoots up his arm. He rolls up his sleeve to reveal a four branched tattoo that seems to have a fifth branch missing. One of the remaining branches begins to fade away, reducing the pain. "First Rizuki and now Katashi?" thinks the rogue ninja, "I thought I surrounded myself with a few strong individuals, but I guess I overestimated their abilities. I'll have to take care of this guy quickly and then move on to his teammates."
"I'm not going to let you run away this time," says Yovestu as he appears a few yards away and charges.
"Who is running away?" replies Suizaki, "I was just setting up a trap. You walked right into it. Ninja Art: Poison Vines."
"That won't work on me," says Yovestu as he springs up into the trees before the vines that shoot out of the grounds can entangle him.
"Too slow!" yells Suizaki as he appears above smashing his leg into Yovestu's face and propelling him into the base of a tree.
"Damn, he is faster then I remember," thinks Yovestu.
"I have wasted too much time on you already, so now I am going to finish you off, " calls Suizaki as he makes hand seals, "I think you will like this next Jutsu, it should bring back some old memories. Ninja Art: Grass Senbon!"
"Shit!" yells Yovestu recognizing the Jutsu and struggling to get back to his feet. All the grass in the surrounding area becomes completely still and gains a sharp tint. Then they simultaneously fire off of the ground and all head towards the Leaf Ninja. Yovestu falls to the ground with a thousand green needles sticking out of him.
"Just as I thought, you are still a weakling just like you always were," comments Suizaki as he jumps down to taunt his dying opponent. Suddenly Yovestu's body starts to glow a bright red. Suizaki recognizes the danger and promptly jumps away.
He is barely able to escape the huge explosion centered on the Leaf Ninja. Suizaki lands a safe distance away to watch the fire die down. "Suicide? Only a weakling that knows he can't win would resort to that," comments Suizaki.
"What makes you think it was suicide?" yells Yovestu as he bursts from below and slashes his kunai up across Suizaki's chest.
The rogue ninja jumps back clutching his bloody chest with his hate filled eyes trained on his opponent. "Damn that bastard," thinks Suizaki before he senses something, "And now his friends are approaching. I need this healed before I can think about taking all of them on at once.
"Don't think you will be this lucky the next time we meet," he warns before tossing smoke bombs all over and retreating back towards his base.
Yovestu coughs from the smoke and waits in a defensive stance until it clears. When he sees that his enemy is gone he relaxes his position. A few seconds later Kuroda and Hitomi drop down on both sides of him. "How did it go?" inquires Yovestu.
"We took care of the sensor and all the rest of the guys that came to the village," says Hitomi.
"Did either of you sustain any injuries?" asks Yovestu.
"Nothing other than a few scrapes," replies Kuroda, "What about you? We saw all the corpses a bit back."
"They were all just grunts. I was just fighting the leader of the entire group a minute ago. I managed to get a good hit on him before he noticed you two coming and decided to retreat."
"Oh, sorry, we didn't mean to get in your way," says Hitomi.
"It is not a problem, because we are going to go after him right now," announces Yovestu.
(That is the end of the chapter, what did you think? The Leaf Ninja have pushed back the enemy for now, but how does Yovestu know the enemy leader Suizaki Rengaku? Will the team be able to complete the mission? As usual, if you want more information on my characters you can see their bios on my profile page. Be warned, there may be some spoilers. Also I'm in the process of getting pictures drawn for the characters, but I have no idea how long that will take. If you're interested in drawing and have a DA account then send me a Message. Enjoy the next chapter, and please review.)