Bellicism Arc: In the Woods

Shikaku could tell that Yuina was trying to piece together why she was brought along even if she was subtle about it. Why she didn't openly question he didn't know, but if he had to guess then he had a hunch that she deferred to others. Perhaps that was the reason she wasn't nominated for the chunin exams. Asa, Touma, and Haruto were oblivious as they were excited to 'go on an adventure.'

"What do you think it is? I bet it's a tiger. I'm gonna be the one to get it," said Touma tilting his head upward.

"Why would it be a tiger? I bet it's a bear. They eat a lot." Asa threw her hands in the air.

Haruto thought about it. What kind of animal would consume that much food but be problematic for the village? "Are we sure it isn't just a thief?"

"No way," countered Asa. "Shikaku-sensei, how far is the village anyway?"

"We could reach there in an hour or two if we run. It's your first time out so I'm letting you walk a bit, but we should pick up the pace soon unless you want to get back late."

"It's really that far?" Asa's eyes widened.

"On the contrary Mennaka is relatively close."

Asa thought back to the maps she's seen. Everything looked so tightly compacted. Maybe she should have paid more attention to scaling than the visuals. She hadn't thought much of it. A place was a place. Who care how far it was? Now she did.

"What do you think, Yuina?" asked Haruto.

Touma crossed his arms and looked to the side so he didn't have to look at Yuina, who was walking next to sensei.

"Traitor," muttered Asa in a low voice.

Shikaku observed their interactions. Yuina gave no reaction as proof that she heard Asa. Just like he witnessed at her home with Sakumo. If Haruto was level headed, then Yuina was acquiescent – accepting without protest and willing to do what others wanted.

"About the scenery or the mission?" Yuina asked but she didn't stop for clarification. "The scenery isn't anything new. I may have never been to Mennaka, but I have cut through Akuaku Forest. There's a lot of dense woodland. It would be best to get more details from the locals than idly speculate."

"How old are you anyway?" asked Asa.

A minute pause. "I'll be seven in September."

Asa's eyes narrowed. "It's only June."

Touma coughed. He thought Yuina was young, but thought she was on the short side or something. Like eight or something. Stupid considering his brother was eight and would probably tower over her, like a carrot taller. "No way you're six." It wasn't the age he disbelieved, but how early she had graduated.

Shikaku cut in. "Yuina is indeed six. She graduated last year with her brother who's also graduated at five. As it is now she is more capable than any of you three." His students clearly didn't appreciate being told there was another one just like her. It got his point across but Shikaku didn't blame them. He had been among those skeptical of the motives of graduating two five-year-olds. They were working well with Minato and Orochimaru respectively so they really were their own special freaks of nature. He was even more sure of that with the way Yuina spoke and held herself. It's a wonder Sakumo hadn't been pushed to have more children by the Clan Council if this is what they were like.

Thankfully, Shikaku didn't have to deal with all the politics yet even if his dad was pushing more and more responsibilities on him.

They picked up the pace. Shikaku made sure to go slow enough to not leave them behind. They eventually reached Akuaku forest, so it wouldn't be much longer until they arrived.

They were getting close to Mennaka when Yuina stopped. Shikaku stopped on a branch and Asa, Touma, and Haruto steadied themselves on other branches, still adjusting to using their chakra in such a way.

"Why'd we stop?" asked Asa. She looked around looking for anything out of place.

"Yuina decided to stop running. Is she tired already?" Touma glared.

Haruto knew Touma and Asa weren't happy with Yuina's inclusion. He too didn't want to have others tackled on to their first 'big' mission, but he also wasn't letting his anger blind him. They had to know deep down that Yuina didn't stop for no reason. She didn't look tired and she was looking around the forest. It put him on edge the way she scanned the vicinity. Sensei kept bringing up that she was more advanced, so Haruto tried to keep his jealousy in check to learn what he could from her. She was a little anti-social though.

Shikaku was happy someone picked up on it. Names didn't always mean anything, but other times they were deceptively telling. Shikaku knew from his years that these names mattered.

"It's quiet."

"So what? It's the middle of the forest. Not exactly much to do out here," said Touma.

"This is Akuaku Forest approaching Mennaka," said Yuina. She closed her eyes and seemed to be focused on something.

"Do you have to say it like that?" asked Asa. The way Yuina emphasized words made Asa feel like she was being spoken down to.

"The further inwards we go the quieter it's been getting." Yuina opened her eyes and her lip twitched downwards in dissatisfaction. Whatever she did didn't get her the results she wanted. "The forest is named Akuaku after the chirping sounds the birds make. A theme the village took when naming themselves Mennaka. Men is from the kanji in menban and naka signifies their position as the centre of the forest."

"That's true. For now we should continue to meet up with the village leader." Her vocabulary and kanji knowledge was beyond what Shikaku would ever expect from someone her age. Naka he could understand. It's one of the easier kanji and introduced early but knowing the word menban instead of koe was unusual for a six-year-old. If she transformed herself to look like someone older he would probably believe it. Even if he could see through the disguise he still wouldn't assume it was someone so young.

Shikaku guided them a little further before descending them back on the ground to enter the village. Asa, Touma, and Haruto went back to talking among themselves while Shikaku questioned Yuina. "What were you trying to do back there?"

"I extended my chakra into the tree's. The roots are intertwined with the trees close together, so I was hoping to note some kind of disturbance in the earth. No luck, whether it's too far that my chakra thinned too much or whether there is no disruption of that kind. Most birds don't live on the ground but if they've moved out then so it might be effecting the other animals too."

Shikaku agreed with the potential disturbance in the ecosystem, but was a little lost on the earlier claims. Chakra through the roots? Sakumo came to mind. More specifically his tanto, said to give off a white streak of chakra. He'd never seen it personally, but one of his cousins had. A product of either the smithing itself or a product of chakra being conducted through it. An inanimate object was one thing, but to project it through nature made him question many more things.

They navigated through the village receiving a few stares as they walked by.

"It's likely that man over there is Ueji."

Yuina walked forward while the other three looked to him for guidance. This was part of the reason Shikaku didn't think they were ready. They were each individually motivated and would immediately act if there was an adversary in front of them, but when there wasn't a clear evident path they struggle to find the starting point.

"Yuina's going to get all the credit at this rate." Haruto's the first to notice and rushed off with Touma following after him. Asa took a few more moments to clue in before she rushed off too.

Shikaku had wanted an opportunity to better measure Yuina, but having her act as a guide was working in his favour. Less work for him.

"Large wings?" Touma's face scrunched as Shikaku reaches them. "Like a condor? An ostrich?"

Ueji leaned on his walking stick. "Wings longer than my arms. Donbei swears he saw a long nose too, but I'm not convinced that wasn't a beak. He's not all there in the head, and it was hard to see since it only showed at. It makes a mess and destroys property if needed, but it's almost always food and sticks to night time."

"Leave it to us!" cheered Asa. They separated from the old man but Asa didn't know where to start. There was forest in every direction. They could split up and each take a direction. No, Yuina was with them. Sensei wanted her here so she could stick with him.

Shikaku analyzed the situation as his team decided a plan of action. Something was wrong. Being enclosed by forest meant that this village has had a few problems before with the wildlife. Even one of his missions when he was a genin was to deal with an animal getting too used to a human society. Haruto's guess was likely right in this case. "Let's ask around before getting hasty."

Asa grumbled, but Shikaku believed this was the best course of action. The nuisance has been ongoing for a month. A little more time to be cautious was in their best interest.

Asa and Touma made it a game to see who could find the best intel. Haruto played along because he didn't have much of a choice. Yuina had already wandered off after the suggestion was made.

The three reconvened, hopeful to prove to Shikaku they could handle it.

"Whatever it is, it's smart and has a good nose. Even when taking extra measure to lock things up, they get broken into, like it knows exactly where it is," explained Touma.

"There's a few families confused because they've had things go missing too with no sign of damage or break-ins. It's learning and adapting," added Asa.

"I found Donbei. He claims it's a demonic spirit. Long nose, long wings. The only person that could give me any description beyond 'it has wings'."

"It doesn't sound like any animal I know." Touma tilted his head to the side as he looked up to the sky. "No one has ever seen it fly though." He wanted to circle back around to an ostrich considering the reported size, but he doubted an ostrich was intimidating enough to clear out a section of the forest.

"They're east east north from here."

"Gah."

Shikaku watched his students flounder. "Report."

"Niji, eight years old. Reina, 16 years old. Akira 32 years old. They've confessed to be helping the 'spirit' out in the woods. Niji idolizes him. Reina has been cooperating in spite of her family. Akira is fearful and has been helping as tribute. They've been acting on their own, on orders, and collaborate pillages while the 'spirit' causes a distraction." Shikaku noted that Yuina confronted them if she received confessions. She worked fast. "I don't have the name, but he lives out in the woods and has a sword."

Shikaku thought about how to proceed. A single person taking advantage of a small isolated community was likely to be a minimum threat. Something within the constraints of the mission. Instead of a wild animal it was a person. Doubtful that it was a shinobi so it was something those three could handle.

"If I may speculate?"

"Permission granted."

"It's likely that the wings are fake made from killing and plucking what is likely hundreds of birds, and a mask to make himself look less human. There's been a bandit problem north of here for months. It wouldn't be out of scope for him to be a former member of a bandit group. His activity is too coordinated to be a first timer and he thrives in lording power over others. The issue will persist if he isn't eliminated. He's taken up a den as his cove."

"Our task is to eliminate the problem. Permission to dispose."

Asa's head spun as she tried to understand. So it wasn't a creature? "I'm glad we didn't bet," said Asa as she tried to disguise her frustration at being beaten again. At least they had another opportunity to prove themselves. Asa was glad she didn't say that out loud as Yuina took control of the situation once more before they had the opportunity to do anything.

A large being with a red face, ridiculously long nose, short snow-white hair, and large wings was pinned to the ground by Yuina. A hand was on his sword but he was unable to remove it from the sheath in that position. What Yuina previously described as a mask was twisted but from Asa's view it looked like his neck was broken and out of place. He resisted Yuina indicating it probably was a mask and not his face.

Yuina stood on him with that same bored face that made Asa both unnerved while also wanting to punch her.

Yuina looked at Team Shikaku and finally blinked after holding her stare. "Right, I should do it."

Yuina twisted her foot slightly. She had to be doing something because that cry was much too painful than some added force. More telling were the convulsions before Yuina stabbed his heart and snapped his neck for good measure.

Asa shivered. She would have rather killed him in action, in the heat of battle. Like a predator and prey battling it out. Being pinned down and killed so methodological didn't categorize in her head as a needed action. It somehow seemed wrong. The village would be calm again, though.

Shikaku sighed. That was that. "Yuina, you've done enough. Touma, prepare to report to Ueji."

"Me? I mean– yes, sensei!" Touma stood straighter.

The mission had been insightful to Shikaku. Both for areas of growth he should help guide and his analysis on Yuina though there was still a gap that bothered him. Talent also requires fostering. How many hours would Yuina have had to practice to be as competent as she currently was, talent or not. All that work to achieve things she didn't show pride for nor was she ambitious to climb the ranks. He ruled out familial expectations but the answer to why remained unanswered. He had a new list of theories but it didn't appear he wouldn't be getting his answers today.