Tsugi moved with purpose, swinging his blade as he hacked through the vegetation, leading the way. As they moved forward, sweaty, bloodied, and exhausted, still hyper alert, Yuko continued to monitor their surroundings. The chakra was fading in and out, her Sharingan glowing brightly. There were massive life forces everywhere, it was as if the land was warning them in whispers.

An impact punched through the earth. It smacked into his hands and knees, ripping through his marrow. It shook his toes and almost brought him down to his knees. It sent massive ripples shimmering across the surface of the water nearby. Sweat dripped onto his chest as he held still, ready and alert.

The hell can that be?

Another impact smacked, closer, and a shadow fell over him, blocking out the sun as effectively as any of the mountains here did. The surface of the tree rippled so bad bark fell off, then slowly settled, Tsugi seen what had to be a mountain standing behind him.

Monster!

A choking gasp caught Tsugi's attention, and he turned to see Yuko being wrapped tight by the monster. In the time it took him to look, the monster wound several necks around him and he found oxygen was scarce. The beast was coiling around them, its whole body shaking, trembling, almost like it was in a resonance with himself and Yuko.

It was trying to constrict them, and it was working! He couldn't breathe. Yuko's mouth was gaping open as she sucked in air, struggling to get loose. Her arms lodged by her sides.

The beast reared back, mouths gaping.

Souji and Usagi howled in fury, ripping their blades through two skulls. Himari and Shin tore through three more skulls. Blood and gore sprayed, and they were showered in both. In response, the monster thrashed in a rage. Shin could barely hear Yuko and Tsugi croak out as they were smashed into the cliff, while Tsugi and Souji shot ahead, smashing through a half rotted tree.

Souji wheezed painfully, lifting himself out from the debris.

Shock swept over Himari as she was met with twenty heads, all trained on her.

"Himari! Use an earth jutsu!"

The beast shook once, entire body curling as it sized her up.

The whole cliff began to tremble.

"Yuko!"

She struggled to move. Her vision was blurring. But, she could still function. She could move. She took a deep breath, the best she could, and sent out shredding blades of fire. They hacked and slashed away at the slick scaly skin of their predator, cutting through its muscly body. She swiped, cutting off a head, and lunged away to the side. Souji's hand grabbed for purchase, and his fingers ripped into a vine.

He lunged away from the massive body, striking the surface, his hands raced and flashed, his finger nails clawed.

"Himari!"

"Watch out!"

They scrambled for purchase. Hands and feet clawed into rock, it forced them to adjust, but they curled into a flip, stopping their descent just barely. Their heads banged against the solid rock, and Yuko let out a loud grunt. She watched with a strange sense of dread as the monster's body continued to plummet, roaring in pure fury. Half of the cliff went along with it, and it was like thunder to her ears. It shook her bones all the way down to her marrow.

Yuko waited until a heavy, meaty, earth shaking thud reverberated through her feet into her body and traveled all the way into her finger tips. It had taken nearly an hour for the beast's body to fall to the very bottom. It was already lost to the undergrowth below, but it likely struck every sharp edge on its way down. She doubted that would be enough to kill the beast, but it was better down there than up by them.

Unlike the snake she had encountered before, this monster was far more durable and a lot meaner. It would probably slink off, ripping whatever heads or parts of its body that were limp.

The very thought made her cringe.

Shin moved towards Yuko, crouching in front of her. "You okay?"

She nodded, still out of breath. "Thanks to you guys."

Souji grunted, helping her up. "You created the opening."

"What about you, Tsugi?" Himari asked.

"Yeah...I'm okay."

Usagi squeezed his shoulder. "Don't be that way. We are a team."

Once Tsugi deemed there were no more threats he began climbing again, a few minutes later he reached the ridge line. Yuko rolled onto her back, breathing heavily, keeping her arms spread to her sides. Tsugi brought himself into a crouch, taking deep breaths, keeping himself secluded in shade to add some relief.

He rubbed at a cut on his forearm, and Yuko grabbed his arm before he could yank it away.

"Let me heal it."

"It's not your duty-"

"Let me..." Yuko trailed off. "Let me heal it."

Tsugi nodded, sighing as the healing energy flooded into his body. "You're a stubborn woman."

He took a breath, standing, and looked ahead. Just as he had expected. He got to see the entire landscape, and the landscape that surrounded the very landscape itself. He could see their respective compounds, seas, rivers, lakes, streams and that same huge mountain range in the far distance. He swore he could even see a part of the ocean. But, all around him was only land and water, the mountainous horizon was as prominent as always. He spotted rivers and streams. They were visible in some places, he was able to follow their course on the valley and along the mountainous paths losing them in the far distance.

Yuko finished healing his wound, relinquishing her hold of his arm. "Sorry about that back there."

Tsugi nodded, giving her a grunt of respect. "Don't apologize."

Shin added. "I'm just happy we're okay despite what that beast did to us. Your kenjutsu and Himari's earth jutsu saved us."

Yuko nodded her head, rather than ducking it shyly, and turned her focus onto the scenery before her. Tsugi kept much of his focus on his surroundings, and the background around them.

"We can take a break, if you would like." Shin said, hands still shaking from before.

"Twenty minutes."

"Thanks for being sensible." Himari said in relief, offering Yuko a smile.

Yuko shook her head. "I don't want to stick around here for too long."

Tsugi moved swiftly after their brief period of rest, swinging his gleaming blade as he hacked through the jungle vegetation, leading the way. He moved forward with purpose, wet, sweaty and dirty, but determined. Yuko swept their surroundings. Chakra faded in and out, growing closer and further. There was no noise, save for the rain that would come and go every so often. Dragonflies and other flying insects darted and buzzed around them, distorting the air with the sounds of their wings.

Yuko kept her eyes active. She monitored every inch that they stepped. Nothing was stalking or attacking them—that much she knew. At least during this moment in time, they weren't. But, that didn't mean something curious or hungry wasn't observing them at this very moment. She moved down the valley side and towards a river. Tsugi could feel his body tensing like before. His heart hammered, his hands clenched, and his eyes narrowed. Danger was within an arm's reach, and he didn't want to run into pack hunters.

They moved across the treacherous terrain, making their way towards the ridge line. The trek was difficult, but remained consistent enough. They made headway through dense undergrowth and beneath the shadow of the jungle's canopy. They remained alert for dangers known and unknown, they had to be prepared for everything. They remained quiet, the only communication being eye contact or just a whisper between them. When the slopes got steeper, they used their hands to pull on roots and dangling plants.

Sometimes they remained motionless, eyes trained above and below. They changed positions from climbing to guarding one another. They were making good progress, and soon they would be nearing the ridge line. Close to the ridge line and the fallen trees, Tsugi saw some monster pinned to a tree just a few feet away from their trail. He worked his way across, glancing to his side, and behind him at Yuko, making sure she wasn't straying too far.

Himari caught his eye, and he nodded.

He knew what was pinned before he could ever get close enough.

He pulled the claw from the creature and let it fall to the ground.

He took the rear, glancing back every so often to make sure nothing was following them. He never cared for bringing up the rear, but knew it was a position they had to switch off. During one mission in his youth he had been on reconnaissance patrol with sixty other men and his father. Weeks out, heavy rain blurred their vision, supplies and rations had been running low, his father had been trying to lead them to back to the compound. As night fell, Tsugi had been in the middle of their group, helping to carry an injured man.

By the time they reached their destination the next morning, and heard the footsteps of reinforcements coming to meet them, Tsugi, his father, and fifty eight others had been the last men in that patrol unit, and two vanished.

The forest had swallowed them.