Chapter 18: Land of Whirlpools (4): The Three Bandit Leaders.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.
A/N: Thank you to Michel Smith for being my first patron!
Foooo—wooooshh
Menma opened his eyes, using his hand to brush off the hair that blocked his eyes. It was unnecessary, the wind blew off his hair for him. After putting his hand down, Menma looked around, watching thousands of bandits slowly surround him like ants surrounding their prey.
The bandits were wearing a variety of clothing. Nearly all the female bandits were wearing very revealing clothes as if they wanted to seduce all the other male bandits. Half of the males were wearing dark clothes that hid all of their skin. The remaining half of the males were wearing simple white clothes. Some of them weren't wearing anything but white pants.
Menma couldn't recognize two-thirds of the bandits, but he could recognize the bandits who wore white clothes.
While watching the bandits surround him, Menma was deep in thought, his mind itching to yank Ichiro from wherever he went and stab him with wooden stakes, 'Where is Ichiro? What the hell happened to him?'
After Ichiro left to spy on the bandit base, Menma waited for a whole week but Ichiro never showed up. Not even his ghost could be seen… 'Do puppets have ghosts?'
Either way, at first, Menma debated whether to sneak into the White Bear bandit's base or to raid it. However, he decided to watch them first. He was confident in Ichiro's survival and his stealth.
Because he wrote seals on Ichiro's body before he woke him up when they arrived at the land of fire. Those seals would make Ichiro have the presence of a ghost. In short, unless a bandit looked him straight in the eye, they wouldn't be able to see Ichiro or sense his presence.
Spying on the enemy takes time and a great deal of patience. As a spy, being impatient is taboo. If you were impatient, the best-case scenario is that you don't get any useful information, and the worst-case scenario is that you get caught and killed.
That's why Menma remained calm and waited for Ichiro's return, but when he saw countless bandits pour into the White Bear bandit's base to fortify it, he was convinced that Ichiro had somehow been caught. Now, Menma had no reason to hide.
If Ichiro had been caught, then his presence was known to the enemy as well. The bandits were in the dark, while he was out in the open, foolishly hiding behind a bush when his enemy was behind him all along.
"WHERE IS SHIROKUMA?!"
Menma's roar thundered across the forest like the call of a mighty lion. The hyenas all jolted, but they didn't back down. They had confidence in their numbers. No matter how mighty, a single lion can't defeat a hundred hyenas, let alone thousands.
"RAAAAA!"
The bandits roared back, waving their swords and knives high in the air like rebels fighting against a tyrant.
"CHARGEEEEEE!"
Seeing the tide of bandits rush at him like hungry wolves, Menma scoffed, disdainful of ignorant ants trying to kill a human.
"Fools."
WOOoo—
Menma raised his arm, throwing a two-foot-long scroll high into the air. The bandits were only 300 meters away from him.
Then, Menma took out three small bottles of ink and spilled their contents into the air.
"Fuuinjutsu: Nagareru Onmyō (Flowing Yin Yang)"
Strangely enough, the ink didn't fall down, and instead, the ink floated and danced around the scroll like an onyx-black silk cloth. The pristine white scroll and the dark-as-obsidian ink circled around Menma like two snakes dancing together. One was white, and the other was black.
Raising the phoenix brush on his right hand, he coated it with chakra, making it glow a warm orange. Then, Menma's hand darted around the scroll, using the airborne ink to write sealing formulas. His hand flowed smoothly like water running down the stream, and when the bandits were only a hundred meters away from him, Menma finished writing a sealing formula.
Looking at the flawless seal formula, the corner of Menma's lip cured upward and he pressed his left hand into the scroll, channeling chakra into the seal formula and activating it.
The seal formula glowed in a golden luster, and small embers appeared on the seal formula.
"Fuuinjutsu: Fire Dragon Guardian."
ROAAAAR!
As the seal activated, an enormous fifty meters long, golden dragon crawled out from the scroll like a slumbering deity and roared into the heavens, spewing out hot, golden flames. Then, the dragon set its gaze upon the charging bandits.
"Shit, avoid the fire dragon!"
Despite the dragon's overbearing presence, the bandits barely flinched. They weren't used to seeing ninjutsu before, so they didn't understand how dangerous these chakra weapons were. Truly, ignorance is bliss.
"They're going to ignore my fire dragon?" Menma sneered. "Well, my fire dragon has a bad temper. He doesn't like being ignored!"
ROAAAR!
When the bandits moved to avoid the fire dragon, the fire dragon only moved faster to burn the incoming bandits.
"AHHH!"
"HOT! HOT!"
"WATER! GIVE ME WATER! SAVE ME!"
The burning bandits rolled on the ground, trying to put out the fire burning their skin, but they only made the bandits behind them step over their bodies, making them howl in pain while coughing up blood.
The bandits didn't care the slightest about their fallen comrades. When the three bandit leaders offered a lot of gold in exchange for Menma's head, their minds turned blank. The only thought they had was to kill Menma and bring back his severed head.
Unfortunately for them, when they bypassed the golden flame dragon, Menma had finished writing another seal.
The Whisper of the Dream Goddess and Door to Fantasy seal formulas were derived from the Four Repeating Nightmare seal. Menma downgraded the Four Repeating Nightmare seal so that he could put others in a genjutsu without directly touching them. Now, Menma had created another genjutsu-type sealing formula based on the two seals.
"Fuuinjutsu: Gates to the Dream World!"
Crrrrkkk—
The ground beneath shook and cracked. From between the cracks of the dark, rich soil, thousands of green stems grew outward like wild grass growing a hundred times faster. Then, when the stems grew to the height of two feet, flower buds bloomed into magnificent flowers of all colors, painting the ground as if a rainbow had fallen.
The flowers emitted a sweet, intoxicating scent that attracted the bandits like bees and butterflies, turning their worlds into a mirage, swirling into oblivion and passing out like a helpless caterpillar who ate a poisonous leaf.
In one breath, all of the bandits fell to the ground, their knees chapping as they hit the ground without the slightest bit of caution, and their blood seeping into the ground as if to water the hungry soil under them. They were all wide-eyed, their dazed eyes fanatically looking into the unknown as a kunai passed through their necks, killing them in a swift manner.
Menma stood straight, looking down on the dying bandit army with disdain written on his face as he wiped his shoulder and covered his nose as if disgusted at the sight in front of him.
"What bandit army? They're just useless fools inside a well who don't know about the world beyond. Alas, a bandit is a bandit. Even if there are a thousand bandits, they're just mindless savages in the end."
Menma spat out and turned to leave. He was heading toward the White Bear bandit army's base.
"That they are."
Suddenly, Menma heard a cold, hoarse voice whisper into his ear.
Menma didn't dare slack, jumping out of the way just in time to avoid a kunai to the heart. Instead, he was stabbed in the abdomen, giving him no small amount of pain.
Thankfully, he had covered his body with chakra beforehand, so when he took out the kunai on his abdomen and threw it out, the wound had already stopped bleeding. Despite that, he could still gut-wrenching pain as if the kunai hadn't been removed from his abdomen.
'I couldn't sense him at all!'
Menma screamed in his mind as he looked at the man who suddenly appeared behind him. The man was a ninja, no doubt, evident by his stealth and the dark clothing he wore. There was some grey hair that managed to slip out, making Menma assume that the ninja was fairly old.
Meaning, he was stronger than the old ninja. The problem is, the old ninja was far more experienced than him. In terms of skill, the old ninja was leagues ahead of him.
'He should be one of the bandit leaders. I'll have to be careful.'
Menma thought as he readied himself for a bitter, arduous fight.
"Prince of the Uzumaki clan, you have excellent reflexes. Allow this old man to give you some tips."
The ninja said before vanishing into thin air. Menma didn't even blink and immediately used a substitution jutsu.
POOF—BANG!
Looking at the log he substituted with, Menma couldn't help but have cold sweat. The log had been crushed and blown into tiny bits like someone hacked the poor thing with a dull axe.
"Oh? Impressive indeed. For a young man like you, you have a bright future," the ninja said, "Unfortunately, you met me along the way."
POOF!
The ninja said before disappearing. Menma used another substitution jutsu, but this time, a trail of blood came from his left hand. Menma didn't need to look down to know that a kunai was embedded into his left hand.
"Ah, old age really catches up fast. That was supposed to kill you."
Poof…
The ninja chuckled, but this time, before he could disappear into thin air, Menma had already performed the substitution technique.
"HAHAHA! A bit of a scaredy-cat, aren't you?"
Poof! POOF—Poof…
The ninja teased as he disappeared into thin air. Because Menma was constantly using the substitution technique in an irregular manner, the ninja didn't appear again.
Despite this, Menma kept his vigilance up.
The substitution technique is a low-level jutsu, and it barely required chakra, but a ninja can't use it too many times or their body will be left crippled by the strain the jutsu causes.
Thankfully, Menma was an Uzumaki, so his body was excellent. He could keep using the substitution technique for a few more hours. After such a long time, that ninja would surely appear again.
Of course, Menma didn't dare bet on this and threw out four Explosive Scrolls.
BOOOOM!
Menma threw one scroll to his left, right, front, and back. Everywhere around him was scorched, dust and soil flew around and formed a momentary fog. Finally, after throwing out four Explosive Scrolls, the ninja reappeared again, just outside the explosion's range.
"A bit hot-headed. Oh well, I guess isn't effective anymore."
"Told ya, old bastard! I'll deal with that brat!"
Before Menma could even relax his nerves, another person appeared. It was a tall woman with dark brown hair that was tied up into a ponytail. She was wearing tight clothes that highlighted all her womanly features.
She crouched and flexed her legs like a bull charging onward.
BAM!
Under Menma's shocked expression, the woman had already reached Menma and threw a swift kick.
BANG!
"Bleugh—?!"
'What the fuck, so strong!'
He coughed up blood with just one kick to the chest. Menma couldn't help but curse. He was sure that that kick gave him a couple of broken ribs, evidenced by the sharp pain in his chest.
Menma could barely keep two feet on the ground. His abdomen, despite having already healed, felt like a hot steel rod was impaled into his innards. His chest felt heavy and painful, each breath he took was exhausting and excruciating. And his left palm still had a kunai embedded in it.
"Tsk."
Menma's face scrunched like he had eaten a can of worms. He wanted to curse out loud and throw profanities, but he could only bite his tongue and gulp down his anger.
"Oi, oi, oi! What's with that look, ah?! Want me to pummel you up?"
"Rose, be quiet. We aren't in a hotel, save your yapping when a thick—"
"Shut up, you disabled bear!"
Menma looked to the side and saw a man wearing a white cloak. It was the White Bear Emperor.
'Great, three bandit army leaders. Wait… where's that ninja?!'
Menma didn't bother looking around. Instead, he took out a scroll and channeled chakra into the scroll without even opening it.
"Fuuinjutsu: Earth Guardian Seal!"
As soon as Menma activated the seal, he was instantly covered in rocks. Now, he looked like a rock golem.
CRRK–CRACK! Crumble…
Menma's cold sweat dropped when he saw a senbon come out of nowhere and pierce his rock golem's neck, nearly penetrating it. He thanked his lucky stars for his decisiveness.
"Sigh… he has rock armor too, what am I supposed to do in this battle? I better leave, good luck to you two."
Menma heard the Phantom Senbon's voice, but he never saw his figure.
"Damned old man, you're so weak!"
Blood Rose cursed.
'Yeah right, you're leaving.'
Menma didn't believe the old ninja in the slightest. If he did, he may just die without knowing it.
'Naruto, leave this forest now. I've got a bad feeling.'
'Fox? It's been a long time… I have a bad feeling too, but how am I supposed to leave? Stretch my name and beg for mercy?'
Using the substitution jutsu required that your stealth is higher than your opponent, so they won't be able to track your location after using the technique. He couldn't use the substitution technique and substitute himself with a log one kilometer away because that old ninja would surely notice and follow him.
"Uzumaki prince, this will be your burial ground. Think of it as your payment for this severed arm."
Shirokuma said, his tone even and flat as if his arm wasn't worth anything more than a grain of rice. Truth be told, Shirokuma was seething inside, but he didn't see any reason to vent it out before they killed Menma.
"No thanks, I'll pay you with your severed head."
Menma sneered and took out a two-foot-long scroll.
"Fuuinjutsu: Fire Dragon Guardian!"
"Fuuinjutsu: Gates to the Dream World!"
Menma didn't play around anymore. He yanked out the kunai on his left palm and used the flowing blood and the rest of his chakra to activate the two seal formulas on the two-foot-long scroll.
ROAAAARRR!
ROAAARR!
ROAAAAAAARRR!
In an instant, three giant golden fire dragons emerged from the scroll, and flowers began blooming on the ground.
"Genjutsu and ninjutsu. Dispel it the genjutsu quickly."
Shirokuma warned but to his surprise, the genjutsu didn't dispel even after he roused his chakra.
"What's this?"
Instead, after he roused his chakra, the blooming flowers turned into blood tentacles and red spider lilies.
"This genjutsu is a bit special."
Phantom Senbon said before reappearing next to Blood Rose and Shirokuma. He roused his chakra multiple times, but the result was the same. The flowers would only revert back into the beautiful blend of colors, or into these red tentacles and spider lilies.
"Let's leave and activate the explosives. This genjutsu, I believe, will never stop unless that Menma runs out of chakra."
"Okay."
"God damned old man, I couldn't even enjoy the battle! It lasted for less than a minute!"
Phantom Senbon glanced at Blood Rose before shrugging his shoulders.
"It was your idea to blow this place up. Don't you remember your words?"
"Ha! Let's blow this shit up to dust."
Blood Rose laughed. The three didn't argue any further and quietly left the area.
"Where are they going?"
Naturally, Menma could see this. However, he couldn't move yet. The earth guardian was still wrapped around him, and he didn't want to take it off. The stealth of that old man was too deadly.
'Naruto! I sense a massive amount of chakra… Naruto, you're trapped! Quick, defend yourself!'
"What do you mean?!"
Menma yelled, looking around and trying to see what the fox was talking about when suddenly, the ground shook.
BOOOOOOOM—!
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