Smirking at the three tied-up men Masako looked to us for answers as to what happened.
"What happened here?, for sure I wasn't gone for that long". Masako asks again.
"These three ambushed us", Ayumi says while leaning against the tree the men were tied up to.
"I see..." Masako exclaims as she gets closer to them.
"From the looks of it the men are ninja, but then we don't know exactly where" I explain crossing my arms, turning my head to look at the headbands once more.
"Masako, you travel; have you ever heard of or seen these types of headbands?" Tobirama questions as he gets closer to the tied-up men.
She tilted her head to look more closely at the headbands. Masako then shakes her head making a no-like gesture.
"No, I haven't, I'm sorry"
The headbands were imprinted with an engraved flower symbol.
"Since I've been away." "Have they spoken, or have you guys questioned them?" Masako inquires, turning away from the headbands and back to us.
"No, we haven't; we were about to begin when you returned," Tobirama explains.
"Did they do anything specific when they attacked?" For example, did the men go for someone or something?
I let go of my arms to remember what had happened. Then he started to explain.
"One of the guys was doing a transformation of you when they first arrived," it was the one in the middle. I explained pointing to him
The one in the middle, between the other two, appeared to be the youngest. He seemed to be around Ayumi's age.
"For the time being, all we know is that they must have been keeping an eye on us. Because they were aware of the code. I explained whilst also sighing and resting my hand on my hips.
"To be honest, if this kid hadn't messed up his transformation, I would've thought it was you."
"Your voice, clothing, manners, and chakra nature it all felt the same." "At the time, I was grateful for the scar on your right eye. It was the one thing he got wrong."
Masako receives a smile from me.
After you've finished speaking and explaining what happened. As they were listening to us discuss them, the boy in the middle let out an irritated "tch" sound.
When we heard the sound, all four of us turned to look at the bound men.
"Ooo, it appears that someone wishes to communicate," Masako smirks, gently placing her hand on the boy's knee.
"I think we should start asking some questions."
"And you're giving us answers," she says, her gaze darkening and her smirk fading.
The three yelp in pain as their bodies jolt back, causing their heads to bang against the tree trunk to which they are confined.
To be honest, it caught both Ayumi and me off guard. Except for Tobirama, who was paying close attention diligently to every word and interaction.
"What exactly did you do?" Ayumi asks, quickly moving away from the tree, having felt a jolt as well.
"Oh, sorry," Masako said.
"I had just prevented them from performing any Jutsu." "It was just for safety." Standing up and removed her hand from the boy's knee.
Tobirmam raises his brow, "Precaution?"
"Yes, as of right now, we don't know what village they are from or what types of Jutsu they can perform."
"Except for the boy in the middle, we know he can transform, but there could be more," Masako explains with a nod.
"Moving on, we should start questioning the men since we don't have all night." She says this while cracking her knuckles.
We began questioning the captives after ten minutes. We got nowhere in a short period of time.
They wouldn't budge no matter what we tried. The only thing that could be heard was their anguish.
"This isn't working," groans Ayumi.
"I'm afraid I have no choice but to agree with you there," I sighed.
"So, what should we do now?" Ayumi inquires.
Masako responds, "We should let them go; we don't have all night to deal with them."
Tobirama agrees, "We should."
"Look at them, they're not even recognizable from when we first caught them."
Tobirama was correct. The three men used to have pretty attractive faces, but now they're just sore. It's all black and blue. In addition to blood and missing teeth.
"So let's just get this over with," Masako explains. Then she put her hand on the rope that was holding the captives together.
"I didn't want to use it now; I was saving it for something more important, but we can't afford to be careless with these men."
"It's going to drain me completely, but here goes nothing," she sighs.
Her deep sigh escapes her lips just then. All three men's heads jerked back as if their bodies had been jolted by lightning yet again, with an indescribable screeching sound of pain. The forest is full. Awakening the nearby sleeping animals. Masako then let go of them. The men's heads dropped forward, hanging low, with gasps for air coming from their mouths.
Masako then smirks and stands up again.
"What exactly did you do?" Ayumi inquires, intrigued.
"Nothing special, I just checked their memories," Masako yawns tiredly.
"Wow, amazing," Ayumi exclaims, her face lit up like a child anticipating dessert.
"Can she behave any more like a child?" I sigh. But, to be fair, that was pretty incredible. It was almost as if I could see the Yamanaka clan performing.
What kind of Just, more importantly, does Masako use? Curiosity drove my thinking.
"Did you learn anything useful from them?" As I approached her, she was still kneeling in front of the men. Masako then takes a deep breath in and out. As a result of exhaustion. She then looks me in the eyes. As a result of her legs giving out, she falls into a sitting position.
I quickly wrapped my hands around her arms to grab hold of her and make sure she was okay.
"There's nothing we need to be concerned about," Masako says, huffing slightly.
"Are you all alright?" asking out of concern.
"Yes, I'm fine; I'm just tired." "As I said, Jutsu drains me quickly," she laughs a little. Making her gentle voice even gentler.
"At least you're not dying," I joke.
Soon after, my smile faded a little thinking of the expression with her eyes that replayed in my mind.
To be honest, I felt a cold shiver run down my spine the moment she looked into my eyes. Her expression conveyed a sense of anger and frustration to me.
What was up with that sinister expression she gave me? I have strong suspicions about it now.
Then, looking ahead, I could see Tobirama with an even scarier expression in his eyes.
Tobirama's POV
Something isn't right here. Masako bends down to place her hand on the rope that is holding the attackers together. Then, shortly after, I notice a smirk on her lips. Not just any smirk, mind you. One tinged with suspicion and deception.
Not only that, but she has a widening in her eyes that quickly fades. I watch as Yuno asks if there's anything else we should think about. Then I watch inadvertently as Masako takes deep breaths out of exhaustion and looks Yuno in the eyes.
It was a piercing stare as if aiming daggers straight into her soul. Why do I sense such evil tension emanating from her? I asked myself as I stared at them. I need to pay more attention to her.
"There is nothing to be concerned about."
As they continue to speak, Masako leans into Yuno's arms. When their interaction was finished, I shifted my gaze from Masako to Yuno. Looking.
I notice Yuno. Returning the look. She was looking at me as if she was worried about something.
By the look on her face, there's something we should be concerned about.
We should be concerned based on the expression on her face. I'm sure I'll find out what it is. I'm sure of it.
"Yuno," I called out.
Yuno pov
I'm getting lost in my head again, with a million questions running through it. It was cut short when I heard a voice.
When I realized it was Tobirama's voice calling out for me, I gently let go of Masako so she didn't just fall back and help her up.
"Are you able to stand?" I inquire of her.
"Yes," she says, nodding.
"I'm going to let them go now," she says as she walks over to the rope to untie them.
"Are you sure you're not exhausted?" "Ayumi is capable of handling it," I reassure my teammate.
"No, it's fine", she insists, slowly but steadily rising.
"All right," I say, nodding.
She then departs with the men after they have been untied from the tree but are still tied to each other.
Finally, I returned my gaze to Tobirama.
"Um... Yes," I replied as Tobirama called out to me.
"Come over here," Tobirama says, his voice solemn.
"All right," I say as I approach him.
"What exactly is it?"
"I have a question". "Did it seem suspicious or anything when Masako spoke to you"? Tobirama inquired.
"Well"... "When she spoke to me, I got a shiver down my spine," I responded
"But I'm sure it's nothing to be concerned about," I said, trying not to be.
"I'm certain it's nothing." She was exhausted after using that Jutsu, shrugging my shoulders.
"I see," Tobirama perceives.
"However, don't let your guard down." "We still don't know much about this woman."
"I suppose you're right," I say, turning my head to see Masako return.
"Looks like the men have finally left," I say to Tobirama.
He didn't return Masako's gaze or respond, instead of remaining motionless.
"Everything is in order." Tobirama inquires.
"Hmm," Masako says, her face softly smiling. in exchange
"Phew"... "I'm glad that's over." Ayumi yawned and then collapsed to the ground.
"We should still be able to sleep." "Before we leave again in the morning," I say relieved.
"I can keep watch," Masako says softly and sleepily.
"Are you sure because you left your post, then we were attacked by bandits?, Ayumi asked, her gaze fixed on Masako.
"Nature calls," Masako says, embarrassingly rubbing the back of her head.
This amused me for some reason.
"Instead, I'll keep an eye on things." Tobirama comes to the forefront.
He's correct; you've produced far too much chakra. I motion for her to sleep.
"I guess you're right, okay," she says as she starts walking to her sleeping bag.
You can feel the tension between Masako and Tobirama as they pass each other to switch shifts.
Tobirama was on watch once everything had quieted down for the night, and the rest of us drifted off to sleep.
To continue our journey to the Hidden Sand Village.