Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve

[Captain Usoland]

Thanks for the chapter!

Well now, that was an interesting speech from Danzo! Probably one of the best ones I've seen the character say imo.

Time to see how this goes! Will Hiruzen kill him? Will Danzo escape through Akatsuki intervention? Will Itachi snap and do something reckless?

Edit: Huh, looks like Obito got to him in time, AND Itachi revealed Mangekyo. Plus, looks like Itachi has Shisui's other eye like in Canon, so he let Shisui die for nothing, considering Danzo was removed from power shortly after.

Fun times abound!

 

[OCEC0101]

As Hiruzen took a step to push off the ground to dart toward Hiruzen, multiple ROOT-nin appeared from within the walls. Unfazed, Hiruzen ignored them all, aware of their presence all along. They had a Hyuga and a sensory-nin; an ambush was nigh impossible.

Click to shrink...

Sudden mirror match?

 

[The Radiance]

Uchiha Shisui had escaped from his ambush alive

Click to shrink...

Danzo had brand new opportunities to exploit and new threats to thwart. The man might be dangerous, but with his current situation, he needed to take the risk if he wanted to make his goal come true.

Click to shrink...

Uchiha Shisui is still dead? The Uchiha clan as a whole surviving and Danzo leaving the leaf is a big AU with many ramifications. We are entering uncharted territory right now where it's pretty much impossible to follow the normal storyline.

 

[J.I.M.S]

"Power corrupted you, Danzo. I imagine our teacher saw this coming, so he made me the Hokage rather than you. He was wiser than both of us combined…"

Click to shrink...

Damn he really went there

He even had the jinchuriki under his control. A truly shrewd hand to marry the jinchuriki just like the First Hokage; I'm still surprised that Jiraya was the one to train him."

Click to shrink...

HA!

---

Don't think I didn't catch some of what Danzo spin doctored to throw in Hiruzen's face.

Tobi came in clutch. Danzo's money was well spent.

Uchiha are alive, have the support of major clans, Danzo's a future threat, someone claiming to be Madara is lurking about, Itachi revealed his Mangekyo, a proxy war is going on, and Hiruzen is left to deal with all that. I haven't even finished listing the number of plates Hiruzen has to juggle, what a comedic tragedy it is to be 3rd Hokage.

 

[Golden Eyed King]

Man I thought someone would call Obito/Tobi/"Madara" out for his tomfoolery.

Either Sarutobi or Danzo coulda been "I met the real Madara and boy you don't even get close"

Either way I really like this Sarutobi, just straight baller from beginning to end, the only blows he took were from Danzo's verbal jousts because he wanted to. Danzo flees down tunnel Sarutobi says the sun rises inside the tunnel.

Now that Saru knows there is a dude out there with some good Space/Time ninjutsu I bet he will dedicate some time to developing counters, either telling Jiraiya to do it or train up Itachi so when this dude comes back suddenly his shit isn't so reliable.

The mechanics of his phasing already help reveal his weaknesses every time he uses it so his "Trump Card" gets less useful with every data point.

On the other hand though what a great showing for Red Cloud gang, one dude was all that was needed to exfil a guy under direct assault from the Hokage and his ANBU and he pulled it off in seconds.

 

[Fiction]

On the other hand though what a great showing for Red Cloud gang, one dude was all that was needed to exfil a guy under direct assault from the Hokage and his ANBU and he pulled it off in seconds.

Click to shrink...

Akatsuki is probably one of the most terrifying organizations in this world. People who are willing and confident to go hunt jinchuriki knowing that they might have to fight tailed-beasts stand atop the world—and they work in pairs—no huge numbers as backups.

When their time comes, I'm going to make Akatsuki as terrifying as I can.
Not "amazing" or "powerful"— just simply terrifying.
Terrifying fits them the best I think.

 

[MrRobot]

Making a group terrifying is, in theory, simple, but definitely not easy. Good luck with that endeavor

 

[Fiction]

Fourteen teams gathered in the town hall of Camp Banana. The building wasn't meant to handle fifty people, much less the over ninety crammed into that hall. Only a few secured actual chairs, more sat on the floor, but most barely had enough space to stand comfortably. But they had to, as the town hall was the largest building, and it was raining buckets outside.

Takuma stood somewhere in the back, leaning against a pillar. As they had arrived separately, the team was separated because of the crowd. He looked around and could see them scattered around the hall.

"Shuffle to the side, will you?"

He was not alone, however.

He looked to the side at Kameko, who didn't look very pleased to be touching shoulders with him.

"There's no space," he replied.

"Then make some," she rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you jump up to the ceiling and hang there like a banshee," he said. Then he looked up, and seeing the flat, wide ceiling, began to think his taunt wasn't a bad idea.

Kameko only scoffed.

The chatter simmered down when the two jonin walked into the hall. Toridasu sat on the chair reserved for him beside Tokubetsu Jonin Benzou from Hidden Steam while Shirakumo took center stage, facing the gathered shinobi.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gents," Shirakumo greeted as he took the center stage. "Seven days from now, we will be mounting an assault on the Gojiro Gold Mines. All of those gathered here will be participating in the operation. The rest of this camp will remain here, defending the camp."

He pulled the sheet behind the big boards behind him and revealed a huge wall-wide mission board. His assistant rolled in a cart and passed on the individual mission packets to everyone in the room.

Takuma flipped through the pages as Shirakumo began speaking.

"The first problem to solve is the miners working in the mine. Before we attempt anything, we need to clear out the civilians. With them around, we won't be able to operate freely—so getting them out is the first priority because we don't want to get caught up covering for them in the face of an enemy attack."

He used a large stick to point at the board.

"The mining operation shuts down with sunset, and the miners live in the dormitories," he pointed at a map, "it's in the northeast corner, which is to our advantage as we can go in and shepherd them out. But we will have to do it carefully… While the miners sleep at night, the shinobi keep an eye all day round. Security will be tight around the dormitories.

"We would need to be stealthy; one mistake could lead to the entire mines being alerted before we clear them out." He looked towards the chunin spread among the crowd. "Jonin Toridasu and I have our preferences, but who wants to volunteer who wishes to take on the evacuation components."

A lot of the chunin raised their hands. Among them was Anko.

"Do you want to do it?" Takuma asked her.

"Of course," said Kameko, "we will be the first ones in, the first one to make contact, and we get to rescue people—those four teams are going to have the most important job."

"Sounds about right," Takuma smiled. "Do you think we would get selected?"

Kameko pursed her lips; she looked like she didn't want to say it.

"If… If Anko was assigned under Shirakumo, we would have a higher chance… but under Torirdasu, it'll be difficult if we get selected with how many chunin want to do it."

They were standing so close that he didn't need to lean in as he whispered. "Really? I mean, I know other chunin don't like her very much—but Jonin Toridasu? I didn't know he had a problem with her."

She whispered back. "He doesn't show it openly, but it's clear from how he's treated the team that he has something against her. You were not here for two months—two months of our team being incomplete. He could have allotted someone from the quartermaster's crew or the medical tent so she could at least have a complete team to go on missions, but he didn't. What does that tell you?"

"… That he doesn't like her," Takuma sighed.

Shirakumo nodded and continued,

"The second problem and the most dangerous is the enemy shinobi. After the civilians are evacuated, we hit them hard. Now, I realize that the gossip has been going around for a while here, and gossip tends to grow out of proportion. Until very recently, the pit was occupied by five jonin, thirty chunin, and eighty-something genin. But most of you are aware of the new base we have built in the nearby valley—that has put pressure on the enemy, and they have moved their troops around.

"The mines only have three jonin, twelve chunin, and fifty genin."

The chatter grew in the room as they heard the numbers. The troops involved in the operation outnumbered the enemy on the genin and chunin level, but they had one more jonin, which was a very significant advantage. That single jonin, given the proper opportunity and time, could eliminate the numbers advantage they had.

The plan Takuma had once suggested, thinking it wouldn't turn into anything, had now become a reality. The open valley was now home to a new base, which had caused the enemy to counter and move troops to the other side of the valley. It was an expensive move on both sides, and very difficult to coordinate, but they had made it happen.

"That puts us at even with the enemy at the mines. With enough preparation, we are confident we would emerge victorious and retake the mine." He pointed at another spot on the wall. "The pit itself is an open area, having its obvious advantages and disadvantages—the point of concern is the mining tunnels. It's safe to say that once the attack starts, some or many of the enemies would head inside for cover or to hide until the conflict's over, and they can sneak out afterward.

"Engaging them in those close, dark, narrow spaces would be a challenge and a danger. I advise every team here to take note of that and prepare accordingly."

"You can sense them, right?" Kameko said to Takuma.

Takuma nodded. The Earth Style: Earth Tremor Sense Jutsu made that possible. "Exposed earth like that of the pit makes it easy; it might get a bit overwhelming with people running around, but I think I'll be able to focus. I just hope no one pulls a suicide bomber and cave in the tunnels while we are in there."

Kameko gave him a dirty look with a click of her tongue.

"You couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you? You jinxed it, you bastard," she cursed.

"I don't believe in that bullshit," he said.

Takuma looked down at the mission packet. There was a lot of information from routes and timing, to protocols, terrains, and weather, among other things. Clearly, the jonin and chunin had already done the lion's share of planning for the operation.

"I will make this clear. No one here is to give a deep chase. Our objective is to shutter the mining by destroying the infrastructure beyond recovery. After we clear out the enemy, we will bomb the entire place and then leave. If everything goes well, we will be back within a few days," said Shirakumo.

'And we will have to relocate all the miners,' Takuma thought. Returning to Camp Banana as quickly as possible was extremely important as they couldn't leave the camp with less than half capacity for long—and with the miners in tow, their travel speed would slow down considerably, and leaving as soon as possible was a requirement.

The meeting went out for an hour before the group was dismissed. As everyone was leaving, Anko gestured for the team to gather on the side.

"We aren't meeting today. Us chunin are going to meet with the jonin and Hidden Steam people to finalize team responsibilities." Anko pointed at the mission packets in their hands. "I want everyone to become familiar with the packets. I expect everyone to at least know the big strokes when we meet tomorrow."

Anko nodded before leaving the town hall.

Iori faced everyone on the team and asked, "Should we meet later and go through it together?"

"Sounds good," said Takuma.

Everyone agreed and decided to gather at the girls' house after an hour to read the mission packet.

"Genin Takuma, may I talk to you for a moment."

As Takuma was leaving the town hall, he was called up by Tokubetsu Jonin Benzou. Takuma gave a nod to his teammates to tell them it was fine and told Daiki to go ahead when he asked if he should wait.

"Good day, sir," Takuma greeted the man. He held up the mission packet. "A lot of work to do, sir. I can't believe it's actually happening."

"Walk with me," said Benzou. Takuma tucked the mission packet within his clothes to protect it from the drizzling rain that still fell. "This is happening because I decided to take your suggestions… It was as you said: it wasn't a popular suggestion. They shut me down and out completely until they one day told me that the plan was approved."

"They must've slept on it only to realize it was a viable option," said Takuma.

"That they might have… I want to thank you for suggesting it to me," said Benzou.

"Please, I didn't do anything. It was your effort."

Benzou smiled before asking, "Are you nervous? I'm assuming this would be your first time with something like this?"

"Something of this scale; yes, this will be my first time," Takuma said, cracking his knuckles. He glanced at Benzou for a moment. "I'm worried about the operation."

"Of course, you are. It's dangerous; no matter who you are, it's normal to be worried," said Benzou.

Takuma shook his head. "No, it's not about that. I'm worried about the miners; I'm worried that they are being looked at as liabilities. Get them the fuck out of the way so they don't end up being a burden. They might be criminals, but they're still civilians of this country. I think the evacuation teams need to be extremely careful how they approach their part."

Takuma felt Benzou's gaze on him. He looked at him and noticed how the look had changed.

'Okay…'

"If you're so worried, how about getting your team into the evacuation unit," said Benzou.

'Excellent!'

Takuma laughed bitterly. "I don't think that's going to happen."

"Really, why?" asked Benzou.

Takuma looked at Benzou, smiled, and shook his head. "I can't say. It's an internal problem." Benzou was a Hidden Steam shinobi; they might be an ally, but he was still an outsider to the Hidden Leaf. There were things no Hidden Leaf shinobi would share with him, no matter Benzou's rank.

And that worked to Takuma's advantage.

Benzou furrowed his brows but nodded in understanding.

"It doesn't matter anyway. The evacuation unit is the first one into the enemy territory. It's the most dangerous; thus, the most glory. The mission will go to the jonins' favorites. I just hoped that it would go to someone who actually cares," said Takuma, pretending that he didn't notice what he had given out from his words.

There were two possibilities: Benzou noticed and thought that Takuma's words were a genuine slip-up, or Benzou noticed and realized what he was trying to do. It was good for Takuma either way. He didn't mind as long as he had a chance to get what he wanted.

"Anyway, I must take my leave, sir. I have a lot to prepare," Takuma patted his chest where the mission packet was taking cover. "Let's continue this some other day."

"Of course," Benzou smiled. "I must thank you once more."

"I was just trying to help," Takuma replied before leaving. He didn't look back and jogged until he was in his home.

"What was that about with Hidden Steam's Benzou?" Daiki asked as the first thing as Takuma closed the main door behind him.

Takuma removed his shoes and put the mission packet on the table. He looked up at his teammate and roommate and answered,

"I was getting a return on investment."

Daiki looked confused. "I don't understand."

Takuma leaned against the table and smiled,

"I'm curious if it will pan out. You know, everyone likes good people—especially when they're trying to help them."

Daiki's confusion didn't improve, but Takuma hummed a tune, satisfied with himself.





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[Fiction]

In the building designated as the 'War Room,' Toridasu and Shirakumo, along with one of their chunin each sat with Benzou and two of his Hidden Steam chunin. The meeting was to finalize the responsibilities of the teams for the Gojiro Gold Mines operation. Finding the right people to execute the operation was just as important as planning it.

"These are the recommendations from our side," Shirakumo said to Benzou, sitting opposite him on the large circular table.

Benzou was reading a file with the Hidden Leaf team profiles and their recommended positions and responsibilities in the upcoming operation. Camp Banana being controlled and staffed entirely by Hidden Leaf shinobi meant that the entire planning for the Gojiro gold mine operation fell entirely on them with Benzou and the Hidden Steam having minimal involvement.

"The teams are going to follow these responsibilities," Toridasu said as he fanned himself with the folding fan. "We know what's best for our shinobi; it would be wise to go with the recommendations."

Benzou glanced up at Toridasu.

It wasn't as though Benzou and Hidden Steam didn't want to be involved. The Hidden Leaf simply "insisted" they could handle the operation independently without input from the Hidden Steam. Benzou was given the orders to leave it to the Hidden Leaf—he had to reluctantly obey as the Hidden Leaf (in turn, Camp Banana) was using their own resources for the operation without an ounce of investment from the Land of Hot Water and Hidden Steam.

But it wasn't as though Benzou was completely shut off. He had the last call and could cancel the operation if he didn't like what was going on—and his position as the Hidden Steam liaison for Camp Banana meant that the Hidden Leaf jonin had to respect his opinions and suggestions as they were operating in the Land of Hot Water.

The message was clear from Toridasu. He wanted Benzou to give his approval straightaway and not interfere with the operation.

Benzou didn't like the Toridasu one bit.

"I see no problems with the plan," Benzou said, and the corner of Toridasu's lips lifted, but Benzou continued, "and I would give it the approval after one small alteration."

Toridasu's smile faded; wrinkles creased on his face as he narrowed his eyes.

"…And what may that be?" he asked.

Benzou tapped on the file with team profiles. "I want this Team-9 headed by Chunin Mitarashi Anko to be part of the extraction unit." He looked up at Toridasu, "I'm sure you don't mind. This team is under your command; I'm sure they're competent."

Toridasu responded with a flat smile. "Of course, every Hidden Leaf shinobi is a tier above their peers. However, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. The responsibilities given to Team-9 were based on their skill set."

"I feel like the extraction unit suits their skill set better." Benzou turned to Shirakumo. "I don't feel my suggestion as the representative of the Hidden Leaf is too heavy. Do you think so, too, Jonin Shirakumo?"

Shirakumo gave Toridasu a look. The latter frowned for a moment before sighing unpleasantly.

"As you wish… Team-9 will be part of the extraction unit," said Toridasu before taking his leave from the War Room with his chunin.

The meeting, for all intents and purposes, was over with Toridasu's leave. Benzou stood to leave as well. Before he could exit, Shirakumo asked, "May I ask why Team-9? Yes, I can see they're suitable with two members able to mask their chakra—but the teams in the original line-up would be just as good as the new line-up."

Benzou answered while he gathered the files and documents. "I didn't doubt the competency of your original suggestion. I simply wished to have someone. It was purely based on personal preference."

"Is that so? Are you acquainted with Chunin Mitarashi?"

"I can't say I am." Benzou smiled, "However, the idea of destroying the mines came from Team-9. I firmly believe that the team will perform better."


———
.


"I expect all of you to be on your best behavior," Anko said to her team.

Takuma hid a smile. The evening after the initial briefing, Team-9 received the confirmation that they would be in the Evacuation Unit. Anko hadn't hidden how elated and excited she was about the assignment. While Takuma had not known Anko for long, it was easy to tell that being on the excursion unit meant a lot to her. He could only imagine her struggle with the stigma known as the Snake's student attached to her—and how it must have been a hindrance every step of the way.

Benzou hadn't disappointed, and now Team-9 was part of the Evacuation Unit. Takuma wasn't sure if his ploy would work as Benzou was from Hidden Steam and Camp Banana was a Hidden Leaf base—but it seemed that the Tokubetsu Jonin still had some weight he could swing around.

They were about to meet the other three teams assigned to the Evacuation Unit. They assembled in one of the abandoned buildings reserved for meetings as the outdoors were soaking wet from the rain. Two of them were from Shirakumo's ranks with Anko, and the last one from Toridasu's ranks. Team-9 was the first to arrive as Anko wanted to arrive early; they waited ten minutes before the first team arrived.

"Mitarashi," the chunin greeted.

"Ikeda," Anko nodded back.

Ikeda was a slender man with long limbs. His tall stature made it look like the man had been stretched lengthwise. Ikeda was from Shirakumo's ranks. Ikeda's team had the function of advanced reconnaissance. They were tasked with moving deep into active battlefields to survey and explore points of advantage, enemy movement, and inspect the combat situation so the base could prepare and plan accordingly for relevant operations.

It made sense for them to be involved as the team specialized in stealth, which was required for the operation.

There was an awkward silence between the genin of both teams. The chunin made small talk with each other, doing nothing to break the ice between their teams. Seeing that, Takuma drew close to Kameko to whisper,

"We should take the lead to introduce ourselves."

Anko was the chunin lead of Team-9, but Kameko was the unofficial "leader" among the genin. She moderated the discussions; if the team had a shared opinion, she relayed it to Anko. It was only proper for her to approach the other team first and get a conversation started.

Kameko nodded and initiated the conversation without hesitation.

Camp Banana was small enough that everyone knew everyone. They might not have talked, but everyone knew each other's name and teams. Takuma recognized all five genin from seeing them in the mess hall or roaming around the village. He had even been on the same shift as one of them on guard duty. Once Kameko initiated, the ice shattered, and the two teams started chatting. The four teams were going to work together as the Evacuation Unit and needed some resemblance of cooperation to get the job done.

During his time in the Police Force, Takuma had collaborated with other departments and teams for information, competencies, and on-ground operations. The key to a functioning relationship was to ensure that the other party never felt like they were being taken advantage of—there were simple steps to accomplish that—transparent and proper communication about requirements, a pleasant collaborative environment, and giving credit where it was due.

Because the Narcotics Taskforce was such a young team, Takuma had done many things to create positive ties with other teams. He had credited people on official reports even when it wasn't necessary, taken people to lunches to express appreciation, and doled out praise by the bucketload as long as he got what he wanted.

It was exhausting and consumed time he didn't have, but Takuma understood its importance.

As they were talking, the other two teams arrived. With the four teams assembled, they immediately started the meeting. Everyone sat down with additional mission packets, especially for the evacuation with necessary information. The one to lead the meeting was Chunin Oeda from Shirakumo's ranks.

Oeda started, "The Evacuation Unit is in-charge of evacuating the mine workers safely before the battle starts in earnest. We have to ensure that they are clear before the assault starts." He asked everyone to flip to a page in the mission packet. "From the collected intel, the mining operation is only live during the hours of sunlight. They start at sunrise and retire to their dormitories at sunset. As you can see, all workers stay in the same dormitory building."

There were a few maps in the mission packet with extensive legends that marked the points of interest. Everything from active tunnels to rail tracks, everything was properly marked on several maps to make it legible.

"Because workers only return to the mines after the day's work, we can only evacuate them during the dark hours. That also means the entire assault will occur before dawn," Oeda said, gazing at the entire group.

Takuma exhaled deeply. Fighting in the dark was never optimal. He had personal experience during the assassination attempt—at least, there were street lights in the Hidden Leaf. According to the mission packet, the lighting infrastructure was scant in the pit.

'A large-scale battle makes it worse,' Takuma mused.

With more than a hundred shinobi involved, the darkness would make it difficult to observe the surroundings. With sight hindered, the danger would jump up several levels as the two shinobi fought against each other.

The thought of dying from an unseen attack was terrifying.

Oeda swiftly moved on, "The dormitory is nearer to the edge, which is to our advantage. However, the scouts were able to verify that there is a sensory-nin in the enemy ranks—but we don't know their range or sensitivity. So, only those capable of chakra-masking would first proceed to the dormitory and clear out the guard before escorting the workers, while the remaining will hang behind as backup."

Out of the four teams, all four chunin knew how to mask their chakra; it was a pre-requisite for the chunin to mask their chakra for their team to be part of the Evacuation Unit. Other than chunin, nine of the twenty genin knew chakra masking. The entirety of Ikeda's team was capable of chakra masking because of their sub-role, but chakra masking was uncommon among genin.

While Takuma was learning chakra masking, he wasn't one of the nine genin.

Oeda then asked the room to turn to another page.

"These people in this section are our priority," he said.

The section in the mission packet had several people's profiles with portrait photographs. Takuma's brows furrowed as he wondered what made these people special—but then he read the short profiles below the images, and he realized what made the people priorities.

'Of course…'

The miners were all criminals who were serving their punishments in the mines—but a gold mine couldn't be run by criminals. The people declared as a priority were the ones in charge of managing the mines. The people who weren't criminals.

Takuma raised his hand.

"Yes?"

He asked, "Is their living status verified?"

Oeda replied, "From what we know, the shinobi were all killed. The remaining people are high-ranking, important civilians, who hold valuable technical knowledge regarding mining operations. The Land of Hot Waters doesn't want to lose these people, so we have to make sure that they get home safely."

'The civilians in the know-how were left alive so the mines would remain operational,' Takuma thought.

"Moving on..."

Takuma turned more pages and saw many more photographs… but all those people weren't the priority.





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[Fiction]

Moving just shy of a hundred shinobi stealthily was a logistical nightmare. Positioning them around an enemy territory in the dead of night with purposefully limited lighting while avoiding the constant risk of detection was a hellish experience.

"This is itchy!" Rikku said in frustration as she pulled on the collar of her undervest.

She was wearing standard shinobi gear under her flak jacket and a fully-equipped weapon cache strapped to her in pouches—the only peculiarity was that it was the Hidden Steam's headband and jacket instead of the Leaf's. In fact, everyone involved in the Gojiro Mine Operation was dressed in Hidden Steam gear.

Officially speaking, the Land of Hot Waters and the Land of Frost were at war with their shinobi villages involved in the conflict. But behind the scenes, both nations were being supported by the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning and their respective shinobi villages. At first, the aid was through financial support and equipment/weapons—but as the conflict escalated, the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Cloud sent in their own shinobi, which was the turning point in the war. The moment the two got involved, the scale of war changed drastically.

Even with their limited forces, the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Cloud had just as many shinobi in the war as the Hidden Steam and the Hidden Frost. However, the official involvement of theLeaf and Cloud was limited to indirect aid—but all the involved parties knew they were actively participating, but they couldn't make it public. If two of the five Great Shinobi Hidden Villages were in direct warfare against each other, the situation could escalate to the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Cloud declaring war against each other, which wasn't something either village could be careless about. Even the Hidden Steam and Hidden Frost and their respective Daimyo didn't want to a full-scale war between the two superpowers because their war would be fought on the their land(the Land of Hot Waters and the Land of Frost)—and that was something neither nation wanted—which was why for an operation as big as the retaking the Gojiro mines, the Hidden Leaf's forces were dressed in the Hidden Steam's colors.

"Bear with it," Anko replied as she sat cross-legged in a meditative pose.

The four teams of the Evacuation Unit hid among the bushes under the cover of the night sky, waiting for the signal to begin their operation. The mining had released enough particulates and pollutants in the air that obscured part of the natural moon and starlight, making seeing in the dark even harder.

Takuma knelt beside a tree like a statue with his communications radio before him.

*Beep*

"I'm getting a transmission," he whispered.

All four teams in the Evacuation Unit became alert at Takuma's words. As Takuma decoded the message, everyone began checking their gear and equipment. A silent tension hung in the air as everyone waited for Takuma's words.

"The operation is a go," said Takuma to his comrades. "Execute Stage-1."

Without any further communication, thirteen members of the twenty-four-person unit got up and paced towards the mining pit. Four chunin and nine genin capable of chakra masking were responsible for Stage-1 of the entire operation, which was to infiltrate the workers dormitory, take out the enemy guards stealthily, and begin the evacuation of the workers.

Takuma quickly packed his radio. "Let's go," he said.

The remaining eleven members of the Evacuation Unit got on their bellies and crawled towards the pit silently. They couldn't go down to the dormitory as they had no way to avoid the sensory-nin's detection, but they had to be ready to assist in case the situation soured at the dormitory, ringing the alarm bells.

"Stop," said another genin.

Everyone did. They couldn't get too close but had to be in range and ready to take action.

Takuma took a deep breath and began concentrating.


———
.


Anko and the others jumped down the pit. Entering the pit wouldn't have been possible during the day, but with no light, it turned into an advantage as they could do it without real complications; they just needed to do it silently.

As they got down the step-like carving that made up the pit, the multi-floor dormitory stood a distance away from them. They had no idea about the floor plans of the dormitory or how guarded it was on the inside—all they knew was that seven shinobi guarded around a hundred people.

With their numbers and abilities, getting rid of seven guards wouldn't have been difficult—but Anko and others were masking their chakra—which meant they couldn't use chakra, which was a huge handicap.

The primary goal of the Evacuation Unit was to get the workers and people with priority status out of the mines—but they had a secondary objective that could only be accomplished if they retained their stealth.

It was to cause chaos.

Not much was known about the sensory-nin except for the fact that at least one existed among the enemy forces that occupied the Gojiro Gold Mines. But that knowledge made a surprise attack impossible for Camp Banana. The sensory-nin would detect the presence immediately and sound the alert.

If they had an insight into how many sensory-nin there were, things would've been easier—but they didn't have that information—and that information gap limited them.

Thus, a conditional plan was hatched.

If the Evacuation Unit was able to come out of Stage-1 with their stealth intact, the members capable of chakra masking would further proceed into enemy territory and place explosives all around the mines.

It was obvious that the enemy would be prepared for an invasion and would have a quick-response action plan prepared. Camp Banana itself had a contingency plan in place to combat an assault—there was no reason to believe the enemy didn't have one.

But what if something unexpected threw them off?

The element of surprise was an extremely strong advantage, and the conditional plan was to gain that. By installing explosives around the mines and setting them off, Camp Banana wanted to gain the element of surprise and mount an assault using that advantage.

However, the sensory-nin created a problem.

One mistake is all it would take for the plan to fail—which was why it was a conditional plan. Camp Banana was ready and prepared for a straight-on assault if the Evacuation Unit failed.

Anko looked up at the other three chunin. She knew all of them wanted the conditional plan to work—because it was good for them and added to their achievements. Of course, she was no different. She wanted the conditional plan to go well—she needed to work twice—thrice— as hard as everyone else to get the same result. The plan going well would be extremely positive for her.

They silently approached the dormitory building from the backside. Oeda, the leader, raised his hand and snapped his finger; immediately, the group split into two. The two groups hugged the walls of the building and proceeded towards the front side from opposite sides.

On their way, they checked the windows to see if they could open them silently, but metal bars were blocking the way, making the infiltration through the windows unfeasible.

The front side of the dormitory and the entrance were lit brightly by a single bulb. There was a single guard sitting on a chair, reading a book. The entrance to the dormitory was barred by a locked accordion metal gate. They needed to get the gate open. Doing it with the awake guard was not feasible.

Oeda raised his hand and signed to stop the group. He looked up; there was a ghanta (hanging dome bell) hanging above the gate. He threw a kunai at the wooden block from which the bell hung. The kunai went through the block, cracking the wood.

The bell fell down on the wet and muddy ground, immediately attracting the guard's attention. The guard shot up from his chair and warily walked to the gate as the two groups slowly backed off.

"What the fuck?" The guard muttered from behind the gate as he looked down at the bell. He sighed and turned back to get the keys that jingled. He opened the lock on the gate and pulled the accordion gate open to step out.

"Did the wood rot—"

The moment he took a step outside, Anko, who was leading the second group, surged ahead and snapped the man's neck before he could even sense her presence. She didn't let him fall and dragged him to the side before dumping him outside sight.

And the moment Anko broke the neck, she stopped masking her chakra.

It was to deceive the sensory-nin in case they decided to do a head count—which was unlikely, but it was a safe precaution. The person who landed the killing blow would stop masking their chakra to replace the dead enemy. There was the matter of chakra signature, but that wasn't something they could replace.

Oeda nodded when Anko returned to her line and signed again. This time, Ikeda and his five genin separated from Oeda's line and proceeded into the building. Unlike the other three teams, the entirety of Ikeda's team was involved in Stage-1, and with their background, they were the best team to do the initial scouting.

Sometime later, one of Ikeda's genin returned and signaled them in. Using signs, the genin directed the teams into different parts of the dormitory.

Anko patted Daiki on his shoulder, signaling him to follow her closely. Ikeda's genin, who had directed, joined Anko and Daiki as they were only two people. Anko nodded to him and let the genin lead. They reached a long corridor that had a dark room with workers sleeping on one side and a room with light leaking out on the other side.

Silently, they moved beside the door. Anko took out a small mirror and looked at the reflection. There were two guards inside the room, sitting at a table, playing cards. She turned to the genin and signaled two people.

After thinking about it a bit, she decided on a plan.


———
.


The two guards inside suddenly heard the sound of footsteps in the corridor outside.

"Huh? Is one of the fuckers roaming outside? I guess I wouldn't mind another thrashing," one of the guards cackled.

"Go check." The other guard didn't remove his eyes from his cards.

"Don't cheat," said the guard as he stepped out of the room.

The guard in the room stared at his cards for a moment before looking over the table to peek at the other guard's hand of cards, but found that he had taken his cards with him. The guard clicked his tongue.

"Why bother warning me?" he grumbled.

He picked up the cup with tea and downed it in one gulp. He made a face as the tea had gone cold long ago. He got up to make some more, only to find that they had ran out of water.

He looked at the door.

"What's taking him so long?"

As he turned away from the door, the guard thought he saw something in the corner of his eye.

"Hmm?"

He walked to the door and peered out in the dark corridor to see nothing. But as he pulled himself back, something wrapped itself around his neck and pulled him up.

"Ack! Gck!"

He looked up to see a woman standing on the ceiling, looking down at him. She pulled on the rope she was holding, and the loop around his neck tightened. He tried to claw at his neck. By the time he was able to peek through the panic and went for his weapons pouch, someone hugged him—trapping his hands—and pulled him down, putting more pressure on his neck. He looked down to see a burly man but could do nothing but hang to death.





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[uri]

"The second problem and the most dangerous is the enemy shinobi. After the civilians are evacuated, we hit them hard. Now, I realize that the gossip has been going around for a while here, and gossip tends to grow out of proportion. Until very recently, the pit was occupied by five jonin, thirty chunin, and eighty-something genin. But most of you are aware of the new base we have built in the nearby valley—that has put pressure on the enemy, and they have moved their troops around.

"The mines only have three jonin, twelve chunin, and fifty genin."

Click to shrink...

Hmm… how far is the valley base form the mines again? Because switching their forces like this means that the valley base only has 2 jonin 18 chunin and 30 genin and might allow camp banana to defeat them in ditail.

Like sure the gold mine is valuable but if a surprise attack can be carried out to defeat the forces stationed there you not only bring the numbers of the forces in this front to about parity you can then just intercept the gold shipments and as such either force the enemy to stretch their forces even thinner which might allow to further thinning them down or force them to try and attack or just hole up in the mines doing nothing.

 

[MrRobot]

"There's no space," he replied.

"Then make some," she rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you jump up to the ceiling and hang there like a banshee," he said. Then he looked up, and seeing the flat, wide ceiling, began to think his taunt wasn't a bad idea.

Click to shrink...

Once again Takuma starts the ninja courtship ritual with a girl tha nominally hate his gutts.

 

[Zippogun]

Thanks for the chapters. Looking forward to the next update.

 

[Captain Usoland]

Thanks for the chapters!

Damn, that's frightening! Imagine getting hanged in the dark by a ninja on the ceiling - Shinobi can be a nightmare!
Let's hope the rest of the battle goes without anyone on Takuma's team, or Jonin Benzou dying.
It wouldn't be good if the 1 higher up connection Takuma made died on him.

 

[KarmaA]

I'm generally enjoying the story and the ramping power. I would really hope he tried to get access to the shadow clone technique as part of being paid off by the Uchiha. Not as a portable scroll but as access to notes sort of thing, really anything to help with time management. The war should be good for the MC.

I will say that the MC's early interactions with Benzou feel off to me. There's next to no reason why they would interact and strategy basics like asset denial are the bread and butter of their whole world. Anyone builds strong infrastructure and enemy ninja are sent to blow stuff up. A general talking to his own troops to see how they're doing makes sense for a chance meeting but a general getting advice from a foreign private is weird. Closest I could imagine would be Benzou trying to get Anko's team's impressions of the area to confirm the scouting report but they were in the area for like two hours so they don't actually bring much to the table.

I think another way to present the information and give the MC (limited) agency would be for Takuma and the team discussing stuff with Anko on how they'll approach any mission. From Takuma's perspective I'd expect more mushroom treatment (kept in the dark, normal shit rolling downhill) from higher ups and then the team speculating with the pieces they have. Sprinkle in a few very short interludes and the reader has context. Definitely don't give us full information and then have us read a bunch of team speculation. The guys at the top don't need to be corrupt or biased to delegate as much as possible since their time and mental energy is more valuable than any genin's would be and operational security means you can use a lighter touch on details and context until afterwards. The enemy having one guard that comes out to investigate the bell falling also made my eyebrow twitch.

Anyhow, this story was billed as a more realistic take on an SI and it delivered. I'm also glad you specifically noted his police bosses knowing about his after work activities. Guy had too much going on to be able to coordinate all his time tightly and avoid someone following him.

Spoiler: Possible typos

Benzou turned to Shirakumo. "I don't feel my suggestion as the representative of the Hidden Leaf is too heavy.

Click to shrink...

It seems like Benzou is speaking and represents Yugakure. He wouldn't tell hidden leaf he's a representative to hidden leaf since he's been a camp regular so orange text might need changing.

The civilians in the know-how were left alive so the mines would remain operational

Click to shrink...

I've never heard this expression the two I'm familiar with are:
with the know-how = that have practical knowledge of
in the know = person with access to limited information

An earlier thing that also threw me was Chakra Extensive. I'm not sure if this is a UK or Chemistry/technical language thing but it read like Chakra intensive (requiring a lot of chakra).

I'd never heard of an invigilator before reading this story, I'm not sure if I like it more or less than proctor. Both sound a bit like alien probe devices.

 

[solobrus12356]

Love this, Your writing only seems to get better and better
I would love to read a HxH fanfic or even an original story of yours after this story

 

[Fiction]

As Anko and Daiki hung the guards, the lights in the corridor flickered on. They looked at each other and nodded. They dropped the dead guard at the guard room's threshold so he would be visible and headed inside the worker's sleeping hall opposite to the guard room.

The lights coming on was a signal to wake up the guards.

Stage-1 was planned to start half an hour before the worker's wake-up time. They could deceive the sensory-nin by replacing the guards—but it was impossible to replicate the chakra signature of a hundred or so workers; they could hope that the sensory-nin's chakra sense wasn't sensitive enough to detect civilian's paltry chakra, but they couldn't take the risk—which was why they designed for the infiltration to be executed at a specific time. So, if the sensory-nin could detect the workers moving around, they would think they were heading out to start their workday as usual.

"Wake up!" Anko shouted in the room.

The workers lacked urgency as they shuffled under their thin covers before sauntering out of their beds. But a few noticed how the voice ordering them differed from their usual guard. They looked to the head of the room and found two people dressed in Hidden Steam shinobi gear.

"H-Hey, you—!" one of the workers uttered in shock.

The entire room was surprised, shocked, and confused to see Anko and Daiki. They clamored out of their beds, their eager eyes shining in hope as they recognized their country's shinobi colors.

"Shut up!" Anko ordered sternly, setting the tone. "All of you are leaving, and we have no time. Drop your belongings. Form a line and stay silent. On it!" They had time before anyone would get suspicious, but they aimed to be quick so that they could place the explosives around the pit before the darkness of the night lifted.

Daiki stepped forth and listed some names, asking those people to step forth. The names were from the priority list. As Daiki did that, the genin from Ikeda's team called for Anko. The genin appeared in shock as he stared out the window in the guard room.

"What?" she asked.

"I-I just saw Chunin Hideki and his two genin dashing away." He stuttered in shock, "I-I'm not mistaken; I truly saw them."

"Pardon?"

Anko stilled in confusion as she stared out of the barred window. The night darkness prevented her from seeing at a distance. Her mind raced to find a reason why a chunin would abandon his post, and the answer hit her like crashing into a wall.

"Fucking, can't believe it…"

Hideki must have gotten a side mission he was asked to complete. Like Anko, Hideki was from Toridasu's ranks. She wasn't blind to the jonin's dislike of her, but nothing could be done to improve that situation, so she stuck to her work and her genin. But Hideki was one of Toridasu's favorites. Anko was sure the jonin had given Hideki secret orders because abandoning the given mission without reason was a one-way ticket to a ruined career.

"Relay the information to the others." Anko ordered the genin.

They had to remain focused on Stage-1. As Anko turned back to walk into the worker's sleeping hall, she was struck with the realization that Hideki had proceeded to Stage-2 of the Evacuation Unit's mission—he was setting up the explosives. Toridasu must've wanted the conditional mission executed regardless of the circumstances.

But in doing so, he had altered the planning for Stage-1.

To get the workers to a safe location, they had to get out of the pit. The climb out of the pit was a steep wall. A long-turning road went out of the pit, but it was at a distance from the dormitory, and it would take at least thirty minutes to exit the pit through it. They didn't have that kind of time—and thus, the only remaining option was the steep climb.

The plan was for each shinobi in the dormitory to take two workers on their back as they climbed. With a shinobi's strength, the weight of two people was nothing, and they could get the workers out quickly in a few trips without breaking much sweat.

However, the original thirteen-member team had been cut down to ten because of Hideki's deviation from the plan. The original four trips had increased to five trips. The risk and danger jumped significantly from the one-trip increase.

Anko shook her head and focused on the present as she entered the worker's sleeping hall.

"No belongings! Drop them!" she yelled, her irritation leaking through her voice.

When she informed Daiki, he immediately started pushing the workers to move quickly.


———
.


Naoko was a Hidden Cloud shinobi posted at the Gojiro Gold Mines in the Land of Hot Waters—or was it Land of Frost, as the Hidden Frost had declared the gold mines as the property of the Land of Frost?

Whichever it was, it didn't matter to Naoko. She was the sole sensory-nin responsible for keeping a watch on the pit through her senses. Due to her being the only one, she was assigned to the night shift—from dusk till dawn, she was to keep the gold mines safe from the enemy.

However, working a twelve-hour shift was incredibly difficult as using her sense expended chakra, a limited resource. Naoko's specialty was her sensitivity; range, though, was her shortcoming; she couldn't even cover the entirety of the pit. As such, she deliberately dulled her sensitivity to stretch her senses to cover the pit—it was a delicate balance between sensitivity, range, and chakra consumption.

It was a tough and tiring job, but it had its perks. She got to see the sunrise every day, her sleep was deep and sound, her food was delivered to her, and she didn't have any other duties except for her long shift.

Her shift ended when the workers were transported to their respective stations, which was soon. Naoko got up from her thick cushion on the floor and breathed in the morning air. The air quality was terrible at the mines. As she looked at the sky—before it was red, the sky was blue. Her eyes went to the dormitory, which was covered in a deep shadow from the steep mass behind it.

She frowned as she sensed the guards moving erratically. Their movements didn't make sense, differing widely from the usual. Why did it seem like they were going up-and-down the steep climb behind the dormitory? Seeing that her shift was almost over and the situation was strange, Naoko burned the chakra and bumped up the sensitivity.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the workers who were never not detectable to her due to her dulled sensitivity became detectable to her. She took a moment to do a second check and confirm that the workers were leaving her range of detection. Moreover, now that Naoko knew what to look for her, she could see the faint figures scaling the steep wall.

Naoko ran.

She ran and rang the emergency bell.

She picked up the radio receiver that was connected to the speakers. "Intruder alert! The workers are escaping from the dormitories! Enemy presence confirmed! Enemy presence confirmed!"

Naoko could feel the people moving around the pit, following the contingency and taking their predetermined posts. They didn't know the size of the enemy's forces— and every response was to be against the worst-case scenario.

She simply hoped it wouldn't come to that.


———
.


Takuma looked down at his radio, and the constant beeping tones told him all he needed to know. The stealth was broken; the enemy was aware of their presence.

"Get ready for combat," he announced to the group.

Hideki and his two genin had left their post, which had led to an increase in the number of trips. Three more trips remained.

As the group came up with more workers, Takuma turned to the group. "Free the chunin from the evacuation duty. It's better if they're part of the fighting force." He turned to Iori. "Please take Anko's place."

From a combat perspective, their height was a tactical advantage; however, they had to gain time for the evacuation, which meant blocking the enemy before they reached the dormitory. And being the first team in the pit, the situation was dangerous and delicate.

He looked back at Kameko and Rikku. Both nodded.

"Let's go then."

Takuma walked towards the edge before breaking into a sprint. He leaped out from the edge, heading straight down into the pit. He was airborne for a couple of seconds before his feet hit the slanted ground, and he slid down the pit at full speed.

The sky was lightening by the minute, but the pit was still dark. He squinted his eyes and saw enemy shinobi dashing towards them. Right off the bat, he counted ten, and he was sure more would head his direction soon. Takuma looked up where the pit started—the rest of the forces would invade soon.

They had planned a three-pincer attack. The Evacuation Unit attacked from the 'front' while two other teams invaded from the sides. Surround the enemy, box them in a while forcing them to divide their focus on three different forces. It was a simple strategy.

As the bottom came closer, Takuma jumped again. He broke into a run towards the dormitory where the workers were standing in a crowd, clamoring, pushing each other, trying to be the next person to be carried out of the pit. When the workers saw him and others coming their way, the workers thought they would take them out of the pit.

"Please take me!"

"No, take me! I have money. Please take me first!"

They tried to appeal with money, and some simply begged while crying—but Takuma ignored them all and ran right past the dormitory without giving them a second look. His job was to buy time, draw the enemy out, and set up the situation for the pincer attack.

He stopped a good distance away from the dormitory and glanced back briefly to confirm that his peers were with him. Kameko and Rikku were just behind. The reason he had run ahead was to get himself established in a good position instead of having to adjust around others by coming late.

"We should start with some tags," Kameko said beside him.

"Agreed," he nodded.

He took out a few of his kunai with explosion tags tied to the tails. He narrowed his eyes at the incoming enemy.

"Try to place them ahead of the crowd," Takuma said to his teammates. "I will make sure those guys won't stop…"

He cocked his arm and whipped out his handful of kunai into the air. As the kunai exited his hand, the tags began burning almost immediately. The kunai arced in a shallower trajectory and landed just behind the group.

"Throw now."

He had taken Iori's advice and researched the catalog of explosive tags available with the quartermaster. All of his weapons were provided by the base, and he personally thought he had gotten the most of his allocated weapon allowance. The explosive tags he had just launched had a slight delay on their trigger; as such, even though it was triggered while throwing, and he put an arc on the throw, the tag wasn't going to explode during the flight.

The kunai struck the ground behind the enemy group.

*B-Boom!*

Three tags exploded within a gap of half a second. Takuma didn't need a lot of explosives. Just enough to put the thought in their mind.

If the explosion was behind them, and more were surely to come, they needed to keep running forward to avoid getting caught.

But that's where Kameko and Rikku, with their different targets, came in.

*Boom!* *Boom!*

Their kunai landed right in front of and in between the enemy group and immediately exploded, making very good contact.

"Boom," Takuma whispered as he watched a smoldering body flying through the air.





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[Fiction]

Takuma weaved hand seals for Water-Style: Eight Tentacles and water from the wet mud and dirty puddles formed from the monsoon season showers rose and collected behind his back. With a flex of his shoulder blades, eight tentacles burst out. He equipped a kunai in one hand as he skipped forward toward the enemy in disarray.

As Takuma dashed ahead before realizing that he had reacted without taking his teammates into account, he glanced back and was surprised to see Kameko and Rikku following him closely. He looked ahead and picked up the pace.

Normally, the obvious choice was to stick with teammates in a chaotic situation. However, teamwork wasn't Team-9's strong point. Perhaps it was due to Anko's hands-off style of leadership, they didn't work together as a team often. She would hold infrequent team exercises; they weren't enough to foster functional teamwork.

Takuma locked onto the nearest enemy affected by the explosive tag.

But before Takuma could reach his target, a shinobi from the back of the enemy group took to the air with a tall leap. The man had a handful of senbon between his fingers that sparked with lightning currents which he flung towards Takuma's group. The lightning jumped between the senbon as though they were resonating, charging the current on each individual needle.

Takuma dug his feet into the wet mud to stop and merge the tentacles into a shield in front of him—but just a moment before Kameko shot past him, her feet skidded on the ground and she released a burst of wind from her sword in a swing that blew away the senbon and neutralized the lightning chakra in the needles. The next moment, Rikku sent mud flying everywhere as she shot into the sky towards the enemy.

Seeing they were handling it, Takuma returned to his original target. The delay had given the target time to recover; the man raised his guard as he saw Takuma sprinting towards him. However, before the last second before their clash, the target side skipped, and a kunai shot forth from behind him. There was another man behind the target. It was dark, but Takuma caught the glimmer of the burning explosive tag fluttering past behind the kunai.

Takuma jumped high as the tag exploded as it passed below him. He braced for the shockwave that did its best to disrupt his balance, albeit unsuccessful.

The two enemy shinobi worked together and positioned them around his land location.

The wind fluttered in his ears as Takuma landed on the ground. All eight of his tentacles slammed on the ground, dragging themselves in the mud to fling it towards the two enemies. They raised their hands to prevent the mud shower from getting into their eyes.

Chakra flowed through Takuma's dominant arm as he propelled the kunai toward one of the enemies by using his brand of chakra augmentation. Despite him blocking it, he froze, the power behind the kunai evidently startling the man. That bought Takuma another moment; he darted towards the other man and socked him with an augmented punch. He tried to dodge, but the tentacles shot forth like snakes, holding him in place as Takuma moved the man's organs with his fist.

The tentacles slithered around the man's body, restraining him from moving. Takuma pulled the man in front of him as a shield as he turned towards the first man, who was weaving hand seals. But seeing his comrade being used as a meat shield, his hands stilled The reaction turned into a stunned astonishment when Takuma started running towards him.

The enemy took a solid stance with a kunai each in both hands.

While Takuma closed in, the man restrained in his tentacles began to struggle. Takuma didn't mind the struggle as the moment he was close enough to the other man, Takuma threw his captive into his comrade—but not before stabbing him in the back with his kunai.

The tentacles threw the captured enemy with force, not giving his comrade any time to dodge.

The two men crashed into the mucky ground.

The man pushed his comrade off of him and shot to his feet, and at that moment, he heard his comrade's cries and pained moans from his comrade and stared at the kunai sticking out of his back.

He didn't see Takuma's flying knee until it smashed into his chin, shaking the brain in his skull. He stomped the man's chest with an augmented kick before crouching. Takuma grabbed the man's hand when he fumbled for his weapons pouch and gave the man a pretty red necklace, granting him eternal peace..

He croaked as lifeblood sputtered out of his mouth and met the trails oozing through the gash along his neck. Takuma left the spasming man behind and walked to the wailing man with the kunai on his back.

He was crawling away in hopes of escape and each time he dragged himself on the wet ground, he let out an involuntary moan. Takuma grabbed him by his mud-caked hair and yanked his head up. Two quick stabs with his kunai into the throat and the man was put out of his misery. Takuma freed the kunai from the man's back, wiped the blood on the dead man's clothes, and slippedd it into his weapon's pouch.

He looked around for Kameko and Rikku and found them fighting against three people. He immediately headed in their direction.

But then he noticed the strange movements of the enemy.


———
.


Rikku rolled to the side to evade a cluster of senbon charged with lightning chakra. She dug her foot into the ground and shot forward. The loose mud made for a lousy foothold, not allowing her sufficient leverage to push against.

The annoying enemy immediately jumped back to make some distance but then took a sharp turn to the side when Kameko charged him with her sword. It looked like she missed until an oozing gash appeared on his outer thigh.

The man stumbled as he screamed in agony. He drew more senbon in his hands, aiming for Kameko butRikku shouldered him into the ground so hard that loose, wet mud enveloped half of his body.

The man slipped as he tried to get up and Kameko moved in for a kill. She positioned her sword, ready to deliver the killing blow but at the last moment, two frothing blasts of water targeted her and Rikku. They jumped away from the fallen man and saw two more shinobi in Hidden Frost colors arriving to help their fallen comrade.

"Go in," Kameko said.

Rikku nodded, and the two teammates immediately jumped toward the three enemies.

Rikku weaved hand seals in the air, and as she came down to the ground near the enemy trio, she slammed her fists into the ground. Chakra seeped into the ground, and it started to shift and revolve, turning into a quagmire with Rikku as the epicenter

One of the three jumped at the last moment, but the other two sank into the quicksand-like ninjutsu.

Earth Style: Quagmire Jutsu

Kameko dropped into the quagmire, but she didn't get trapped. She channeled to the soles of her feet, running on it as if it was a wall or surface of water—it was a weakness of the jutsu—it was easy to avoid if you saw it coming. Kameko simply used it for the team's advantage. She released a wind cutter so strong that the blade almost vibrated to its breaking point.

However, she wasn't the only one to take advantage. The one who avoided Rikku's sinkhole put himself between Kameko's wind cutter and his comrades and weaved hand seals for a lightning jutsu. It dulled the wind cutter, but it wasn't able to stop it—however, it was enough that the trapped pair could defend against the cutter.

As the man dulled Kameko's wind cutter, Rikku came behind him and smashed a kick into the side of his head. Rikku didn't relent and struck the fallen man's nape, cracking his backbone and spine, instantly paralyzing him. Rikku finished the job by driving a kunai through his back, piercing through his heart.

Kameko moved to her next move without wasting a second and went for the next kill.

One of the trapped enemies weaved hand seals, and arcs of lightning zapped into the quagmire.

"Give me cover," the man said to his comrade.

They were already waist-deep in the mud and still sinking, but the moment the lightning touched the mud, it solidified and turned cakey. They pushed their hands against the semi-solid surface and pushed themselves out.

Kameko raised her sword emitting a shrill shriek.

"H-Hey, what—wait! YOU—!"

The shinobi that was evidently supposed to stall until his comrades freed themselves leapt away the moment he got the chance, leaving the other one alone and unprepared in the face of Kameko's attack. He screamed, going from weaving hand seals to hastily switching to wielding a kunai while trying to get out of the neutralized quagmire—all while staring in horror at the comrade who betrayed him.

"Silence," said Kameko as her sword cleanly beheaded the shinobi. The head rolled with the horror still etched on the man's face, eyes glassy.

Rikku and Kameko surrounded the last remaining enemy. Kameko raised her sword and slowly pulled the blade against her sleeve to clean the blood off. The man flinched in nervousness before jumping in fright when he heard Rikku move in his peripheral vision. He jumped back away from Rikku, and Kameko took the chance to close in.

The two Hidden Leaf shinobi closed in at the lone enemy, but before they could move in for the kill, a large bolt of lightning hit Rikku square in the chest, blowing her into the air.

Kameko's instincts moved faster than her eyes, and without looking, she raised her sword in front just in the knick of time for another thick lightning bolt to crash into the sword. Kameko didn't move and threw the sword down, and the lightning-charged blade dug into the mud, essentially grounding it.

Kameko screamed with her mouth jammed shut as a sliver of lightning jolted up the arm that held the sword. She shook it while jumping away as another enemy shinobi appeared beside the man they were about to kill. The latest arrival was older; the man's mere presence exuded experience and danger.

"Naughty, naughty intruders," he chuckled as he looked at Kameko gleefully. "Naughty girls like you must be punished, no?~"

Fear and disgust painted Kameko's face as her eyes drifted to her sword. It was out of reach, and the blade was still sparking. Whatever jutsu the man had used, was powerful. Her eyes then glanced towards Rikku. The girl was glaring at the older shinobi, but her entire body was shuddering and shaking and she pressed a hand to her chest.

She was the one who took that jutsu head on and while she had gotten up, she didn't look well.

"Do you know how it feels to have a flood of current course through the nervous system? It's one of my favorites to see—the expressions people make are just delightful," said the perverse man. "I shall honor you with the privilege—"

Kameko froze in momentary dread when a shadow appeared behind the man. It took her only a split second to identify—and when she did, it brought out a primeval fear from within her.

It hissed.

The smile fell from the man's face. He turned his neck and caught a glimpse of a forked tongue before he saw its face. The human species had extremely high pattern recognition skills. And through the ages of evolution, they had learned to quickly recognize a certain species that put extremely high predatory pressure on them.

The red and yellow snake, as thick as a telephone pole, slithered behind the man. The serpent's movements were slow, deliberate, stealthy, with a dangerous elegance—the movements of a prime predator. The golden-slitted eyes shone in the dark as the snake's head rose above the man, who was unaware of its presence until the snake emitted a deep and rich hiss.

The prey and the predator were still until they weren't. The man tried to run, but the moment his feet ever so slightly moved, the mud betrayed him, squelching. The snake opened its maw, revealing a set of fangs on the top and a row of sharp teeth below.

Before the man could even move, it struck down, chomping his head off in one vicious bite. The snake raised its head, and the protrusion in the snake's long form due to the man's head sunk steadily into its stomach.

The last remaining enemy screamed in dreadful horror at the sight and presence of the snake so close to him—but the wails were silenced by Anko, who drove a short sword through the man's heart.

The red snake slithered to Anko, coiling around her feet, and resting its bloody face on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, she's not going to bite," Anko said to Kameko with a smile as she lovingly patted the large snake that hissed as though pleased.

Anko looked at Rikku. "Do you need medical assistance, Rikku?"

Rikku took several deep breaths. She was trembling pretty badly, but then she yelled loudly as she flexed every muscle in her body, and suddenly, the shaking subsided like it was never there.

"I'm good now," Rikku patted her chest with her fist.

'Unbelievable,' Kameko thought. Rikku's freakish durability continued to surprise her.

Kameko walked to her sword to pull it out, and Takuma suddenly landed between them and yelled in haste,

"Everyone, to me! Attack incoming! Quickly!"

She was confused for a moment before she felt the quick and abrupt rise in temperature. She looked down and suddenly saw the ground bathe in a yellowish light, and turned her head to the sky to see big balls of fire descending towards them.




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[Fiction]

A strange permeating silence covered the pit; even with an ongoing invasion from one side and a defensive effort from the other, the silence hung over Gojiro Gold Mines. However, that strange silence made the sounds of steel clashing steel, explosions, words and shouts, footsteps in the mud, and everything else more audible.

As Takuma ran towards Kameko and Rikku to assist them, he took in the greater landscape to ensure he was aware of the battlefield. Only a few moments ago, the enemy forces were rushing towards them to kill—but now, as he watched the movements of his allies and the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Frost shinobi, both dressed in the latter's colors, it was clear they were moving away.

He wondered why.

The sound of his heart in his ears was distracting. He stopped in his tracks, which only worsened it, but he observed with renewed focus. The enemy's second wave of the enemy, which was larger than the last and was due on their heads and most likely would have posed a real, life-threatening pressure on them, was backing away.

Why?

He looked around for clues, but the sun was still not high enough to peer through the abyss that was the sunken pit. But then it hit in an instant. The enemy wasn't running away, they were making space—clearing away—and his mind just barely arrived at the reason why he thought they were doing it. There was only one reason why a force would suddenly move away when they were on the cusp of putting on real pressure.

They didn't want their people to get caught in something.

"A fucking AOE attack," Takuma muttered.

The enemy was going to bomb them—which was when he saw the flickering light of a fire in the distance.

Takuma stopped caring what it was and sprinted as hard as he could towards his team while flying through hand seals.

"Everyone, to me! Attack incoming! Quickly!"

By the time he reached them, there was a rain of fire descending on them from the sky.

Kameko, Rikku, and Anko all moved, but they did it after spending a moment staring at the blinding rain. That wasn't quick enough, so Takuma followed his instincts. The eight tentacles combined into three, and the thicker appendages shot toward his teammates and leader. They wrapped around the three and forcibly pulled them towards him.

"What the fuck?" Anko yelled at Takuma—but she released the Summoning Jutsu at the same time, showing that she understood the situation.

Her snake disappeared into a puff of smoke.

Takuma slammed his palms onto the ground, pouring excessive amounts of chakra into the jutsu and letting the chakra seep deep below them. The muddy soil made for poor structural material, so he put in more chakra. He wanted to make it stronger so he poured in more.

The situation brought up a past fright which only made him pour in even more chakra.

The last time he had been in a similar situation was also against the Hidden Frost mission, and an enemy chunin had released a Lightning Release jutsu that covered an entire area. That single jutsu had ripped away his defensive jutsu, and he barely came out of the attack, avoiding getting hit. And he could instinctually feel that the Fire Release jutsu was much more dangerous than what he had faced all those years ago.

Earth-Style: Earthen Dome Jutsu

The mud rose around Takuma and the other three, quickly forming a dome around them. It solidified, hardening into a solid structure with chakra coursing through the soil to increase its defensive power.

The moment the dome formed, Takuma felt something slam into it. A cloud of fire made direct contact with the dome and then it exploded.

"Brace yourself in case it tears through," Takuma said through gritted teeth.

Outside the dome, he heard the fire hit a large area in front of the dormitory where the majority of the Evacuation Unit was standing. The clouds of fire exploded when they met the ground, creating a sea of flames.

Almost immediately, the intense fire burned through the dome. Intense heat burst into the already smoldering crevice they had packed themselves into, causing everyone to gasp. Takuma huffed as he shoved the tentacle mass against the gap. The water began turning into steam, creating a hissing noise, but was enough to close the gap.

"It won't hold," Takuma warned.

Before the dome crumbled, he retracted the tentacles that burst so everyone was doused in water.

"Jump!" Rikku yelled.

When the dome crumbled, everyone jumped high up in the air before the fire could stick to them. While in the air, Takuma weaved hand seals as quickly as he could, almost making the wrong seal while doing so.

Water Release: Wild Water Wave

He aimed below and moved his neck to spread the water around, which extinguished enough area for the team to land safely.

"Good work," Anko patted him on the shoulder.

The danger wasn't over yet. While the Hidden Leaf struggled from the large-scale jutsu, the enemy's forces that had backed away to escape its range began charging towards them with an even larger number than before.

Just as the situation seemed bleak, a chain of nearly a dozen explosions went off on the opposite end of the pit. They were big enough to send a brief and faint tremor through the ground. Everyone stopped for a moment and turned to look at the explosions.

"That's… Stage-2," said Kameko.

Chunin Hideki and his two genin, who had broken off the Evacuation Team to forcefully complete Stage-2—which was to plant explosions around the pit—had finally come into play. If that was all, it wouldn't have been a big change on the battlefield; however, Stage-2 was simply the opening play for the real deal.

Sharp horns pierced through the air as the remainder of the Camp Banana forces split into two and appeared on the two sides of the pit before jumping down, raiding the pit with full force. Battle cries filled the pit as shinobi ran down the slopes with their weapons drawn.

Both sides of the conflict now had their complete forces in play.


———
.


As the Camp Banana forces came down the sides, Anko turned to Kameko. "Go find Iori and Daiki. Bring them to the front."

Kameko nodded and sprinted toward the dormitory, making her way around the large fire puddles.

"Both of you follow me," Anko said to Rikku and Takuma. "Pick your fights sensibly, remember to protect each other's backs… and our troops pose just as much danger to you as the enemy, so don't overlook them."

Takuma and Rikku nodded, and they dashed forward towards the enemy. As planned, the Camp Banana forces pressed the enemy from three directions. As the Evacuation Unit was the weakest side, the enemy moved in their direction to cover more space.

As he ran, Takuma weaved hand seals for Water Style: Eight Tentacles, and the water from the environment and surroundings gathered behind his back.

Takuma called out to Rikku and pointed ahead.

"The group right there," he yelled as more explosions from ninjutsu recked the field, "I'm going to disrupt them; you start picking off those who stumble."

"Understood," Rikku nodded.

Takuma pushed the chakra into his legs and feet and launched himself into the sky. He traveled long, skipped the frontlines, and landed right in the middle of the enemy forces. Immediately, there were eyes on him, and he was surrounded by more hostiles than he had ever faced. Several of them stopped and surrounded Takuma.

'They're killers, not trained assassins,' he thought. The thought made him chuckle, but it was true—shinobi could be killers, but not all were trained to be in the art of killing. Even Takuma wasn't trained to kill—he simply had capable tools of killing.

However, he had practical experience.

He ran towards the nearest enemy, a brawny woman. She had a polearm that she immediately stabbed toward him with a battle cry. Takuma side-stepped and a tentacle shot forward, wrapping itself around her polearm. The tentacle pulled on the polearm, but the woman was more than powerful enough to resist its pull.

Takuma threw an augmented kunai and she gasped and ducked her shoulder at the last moment, but it still left a gash, spurting blood. Takuma rushed in at that moment. The tentacle around the polearm slipped off and latched onto the woman's leg and pulled.

She wobbled and Takuma kicked her unstable leg and destroyed her balance. The tentacles grabbed her arms for partial restraint, and then he grabbed her open torso and tossed her into the nearby swarm. Some rushed to dodge her, others stepped in to catch her in haste.

As they did, Takuma chucked a burning explosive tag towards them. They couldn't use explosive tags because of their allies, but Takuma had no such problem. The tag exploded in the brawny girl's lap while the others scrambled away with the explosion at their backs.

He weaved the hand seals for Water Release: Wild Water Wave and assaulted another line of enemies with a strong water blast that hit like a shipment of bricks and forcefully drowned them under a wall of water.

His senses sizzled. From the corner of his eyes, he saw crackles of lightning. Takuma immediately shed the water tentacles off his back and leaped to the side. Water conducted lightning and he would be fucked if even the weakest lightning jutsu hit him while he had water tentacles around him.

Nenro had done that once and his nerves burned for half a day. He didn't want a repeat of it.

Rikku burst into the circle like a wild bull with her arms swinging at anything that moved. She hit a stout man with heavy armor in the chest. It looked like he wasn't used to wearing heavy armor and tripped on his feet. Rikku caved in the man's throat with a punch as he fell, finishing him instantly.

She then jumped onto a man like a beast. Someone pulled her off, with another one moving in to stab her. Rikku kicked him once, and it sent the man flying through the field before smashing the back of her head into the nose of the man holding her. The hold loosened, and she reversed the situation and pummeled him into the ground, blood splattering from his dented skull.

The people who were moving toward her stopped in the face of her overwhelming strength and turned cautious.

Takuma, while weaving hand seals, landed on the ground with his back to Rikku.

Genjutsu: Mist Servant Jutsu

He didn't have the preparation time to spread the genjutsu to everyone in his vicinity, but it was enough that it latched onto enough people.

The targeted folk started seeing multiple Takumas writhing out of the ground like a zombie horde. With only a few trapped, it would not be long before the unaffected ones broke the genjutsu on their comrades—but it was enough time to do damage

Takuma weaved hand seals and dipped into the ground using Earth Style: Hiding In the Rock Jutsu

One of the enemies released a jolt of lightning towards a group of genjutsu apparitions of Takuma but hit her own allies instead. The jolt jumped twice and crawled over their downed bodies tohit three people who weren't expecting their own ally to turn on them.

It was as Anko had said—the people on the same side were just as dangerous as the enemy.

Takuma emerged just a little while away from his circle of genjutsu and immediately headed back inside to take advantage of the chaos. He immediately stopped and jumped back. All of his senses barked like a guard dog seeing a trespasser. A short blade made of pure lightning impaled the patch of ground he would've landed on if he hadn't stopped. It crackled and burnt the earth, turning it black with embers.

His eyes darted around to find the source, but it was difficult to find the attacker in the chaos of the battlefield. He pulled up his guard and switched to defense—someone had very deliberately targeted him.

"I'm right here if you're looking for me."

The voice whispered from behind him. It was so close that Takuma could all but feel the breath on his ear.

Takuma turned back and swung with an augmented fist without looking. A man with a fake, thin-lipped smile that didn't reach his eyes caught Takuma's augmented punch like it was nothing. Takuma pulled his arm back and launched another augmented punch from his free arm. Before it could make contact, the world slammed to a sudden, jarring stop. He felt the taste of iron in his mouth, and pain shorted the thoughts out of his mind.

The enemy had hit him before his punch could reach.

He couldn't even react when a second attack—a palm strike—hit him flush in his chest. He felt his ribcage bend as though his bones were elastic—a fracture or two were the least of his problems.

This wasn't someone he was supposed to fight.

This wasn't someone he could fight.

Takuma fell to the ground and coughed out blood-stained vomit. He couldn't breathe and for a horror-filled moment his lungs refused to expand. With the sharp pain, and lack of air, he felt like a fish dying out of water.

The dark-skinned, light-haired enemy, wearing just a tank top, yanked Takuma to his feet by the hair.

"You must be one of those geniuses," said the man in a plastic-sounding merry tone. "So young and so deadly—caught my attention right away. How about you play with the grown-ups?"

"…L-Let me g-go," Takuma said.

"Pardon me, I didn't catch that."

The man pulled Takuma closer and turned his ear towards Takuma's face. It was a mistake as Takuma immediately bit it as hard as he could. Surprised, he punched Takuma in the chest once again. He choked up more blood and bile as the man let Takuma go in surprise before kicking him away furiously.

"You fucker," he cursed, the fake voice vanishing for a moment before it returned. "No worries about the ear. I'll get it checked out once this is done and capital punishment will teach you not to do that again."

The man stepped forward. A low crinkle led his gaze down at his abdomen—four explosive tags lined his tank top and cargo pants.

"Fuck—"

BOOM!





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[Fiction]

As he struggled to get up, Takuma knew he wouldn't eat properly for at least a week. The bastard with the fake smile had done a number on his stomach—all of him, really. He flinched and whimpered in pain. The pain was simply a symptom; the main problem was the cause:strenuous movements with cracked or broken ribs could further damage his body, and strenuous was the only way to move his body currently.

When his swimming vision settled, Takuma took a score of his surroundings before looking for the designated location at the edge of the pit where iryo-nin were stationed for emergency care. He needed to get there or catch the attention of a roaming iryo-nin—he was practically useless in his current condition.

Takuma finally looked at the bastard he had blown up. The man was kneeling on the floor, his body burned and bloody. He was trembling like a leaf in the wind, with his mud-stained face twisted in agony. He looked up at Takuma with fury burning in his eyes—that was the realest thing the man had done in the two minutes they had known each other.

They stared at each other momentarily before Takuma started to move away. The blonde bastard didn't chase or throw a kunai towards him. Takuma kept an eye on him, but he wasn't worried; neither of them wanted to fight each other in their condition—it was a mutual decision to leave the fight and get themselves patched up.


———
.


Imamura of the Hidden Cloud dragged his feet through the battlefield. His skin had suffered high-degree burns and he was losing blood at an alarming rate. He wasn't in danger of dying, but the "Hidden Steam" boy had done a number on him with the explosive tags—if not for the quick action of ripping his tank top off, his body would've been torn apart by the explosion.

He had underestimated the boy. He hated to admit it, but misdirecting him by biting his ear to plant explosive tags on him was a smart move.

Imamura had noticed the boy when he dropped himself between a group of their forces without any support. The boy started to pick off the grunts one-by-one. If that wasn't bad enough, the chaos the boy caused allowed the Hidden Steam side to take out more grunts. Things became ridiculous when he watched them get caught in a genjutsu and start taking each other out.

He isolated the boy before he caused more trouble. Imamura couldn't allow the pit to be taken away as his career depended on Hidden Frost's, and therefore the Hidden Cloud's, hold on the pit to extract the gold out of the mines. He would be promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin if he kept the pit safe until the Land of Frost had pushed their border significantly into the Land of Hot Water so that the gold pit wasn't in immediate danger of attack.

Imamura should have already been promoted to a Tokubetsu Jonin a couple of years back—but a mission under his leadership had gone south and a jonin's kid on his team had died. It wasn't his fault that the kid couldn't do his job as a decoy but the old jonin took it out on him.

Imamura's promotion was pulled and he was stuck indefinitely as a chunin despite the mission's partial success. They said it was his fault for not preparing properly and assigning inappropriate responsibilities to members who weren't equipped for it.

No one wanted to go against an old jonin with lots of influence, and suddenly, Imamura found his career in the gutter with no possibility of a promotion. So, when the war between the Land of Frost and the Land of Hot Waters came along, with Hidden Cloud supporting Hidden Frost, Imamura saw it as an opportunity. He pulled in all of the favors he had, persuading those who owed him, and somehow netted himself a post at the Gojiro Gold Mine.

It was an important asset for the Hidden Cloud as they were taking fifty percent of all output for protecting the mines for Hidden Frost. As long as Imamura did a good job, he would be promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin—his career would have a second wind, and if he leveraged his situation right, the old jonin wouldn't be able to obstruct him anymore.

He wanted to make jonin one day and this was only a tiny obstacle to overcome, a bump in the road.

While he made his way through the battlefield, Imamura felt a cold flash across his nape.He jumped ahead in a forward roll to evade a flurry of shuriken that covered the spot he was standing at.

Two Hidden Steam shinobi dropped from above and surrounded him on either side.

Imamura clicked his tongue and raised his hands in defense. He moved to the side in an attempt to put his two assailants in front of him, but they moved with him, keeping themselves on either side so that he wouldn't be able to see them both simultaneously.

"What, scared of facing me alone?" he spat.

They chuckled and one of them unsheathed a pair of short swords. He immediately weaved hand seals. His focus was broken when he heard the sound of clinking metal and looked toward the other man to see him release a swinging chain sickle. Imamura ducked to evade the sickle coming for his head—but in doing so, his focus scattered and he lost the progress he'd made on the hand seals.

Before he could restart, the sword-wielding man charged. Imamura threw a volley of shuriken at him before turning away with a kunai in his other hand to thwart a second throw of the chain sickle. The sharp clang of metal against metal echoed. Imamura's chest throbbed from the impact. He wanted to spit to get rid of the taste from his mouth. His condition wasn't great and fighting two opponents wasn't the most ideal thing for him to be doing right now

'I can defeat them—'

Imamura caught a glow of yellow and red around his shadow on the ground. He jumped to the side to dodge a searing pillar of fire—but it followed him, forcing him to keep moving despite the pain assaulting his body. He could see them coordinating, forcing him to move according to their plans.

His plan of making quick work of the two men changed to fleeing to a position where backup would take the load off his back.

When the fire ninjutsu ended, the two enemies dashed towards Imamura with their weapons held out. He bit the inside of his cheek and flew through hand seals. Chakra filled him before turning into concentric waves of lightning that danced between him and them. It was a desperate ploy to gain some time so he could put some distance between them, which he did, but it was for naught.

"AaH—!"

The chain sickle cut clean through his thigh, only nearly missing the bone. Imamura sagged to the ground, but he desperately rose to move ahead. Before he rose his head properly, the other enemy slashed his short sword across his chest. He stiffened when the pain registered.The jingle of a chain rattled behind his head. He barely felt the cold prickle of the blade before the sickle removed his head from his body like grass from its roots.


———
.


Takuma lugged himself across the battlefield. He took the shortest path he could afford while resorting to stopping occasionally and even crawling near bodies to avoid attention. It was slower than he liked, but Takuma continued to work his way towards the iryo-nin, hoping they were able to follow the plan and were in the pre-decided spot

"Oh, fuck!"

He ducked under a stray stone boulder that almost took his head off and broke into a run, knowing he was in a danger zone with high activity.

His eyes followed a building-sized lion made entirely of lightning ramming into the place where, assumedly, its target stood, ripping everything around it to loose debris. Takuma stood frozen in his place, a shaky breath escaping him. The jonin were finally picking up the pace. He watched a car-sized bird fly into the lion before exploding in a mass of fire that created a shockwave so strong that it knocked Takuma off his feet—and he was nowhere near the two chakra monstrosities.

'I need to hurry!'

He returned his eyes to the corpse-littered path ahead where a woman crashed a few meters in front of him. He recognized her as an ally shinobi, having seen her in passing a few times in Camp Banana. She struggled to her feet and jumped to the side— a wise decision as another woman flew down and dug her feet into the ground with force. She wore Hidden Frost colors like everyone defending the pit—just as their side donned that of the Hidden Steam.

Takuma watched the two women fight, and his ally was clearly losing the fight. She was injured; there was a gash in her left shoulder, and from the looks of it, she was left-handed. It was never good to have one's dominant taken out.

He silently took out a scuffed golden bell from his weapons pouch and carefully inched towards them while ringing it. He made a point to move slowly, and stay out of their vision. Even though they were on flat ground, a battlefield was an assault on the senses, making it common to miss out on things.

He spread his chakra through the bell, layering it within the shockwaves.

Ding!

The bell rang while the two women wrangled against each other, too consumed by the fight to notice his genjutsu. The shoulder injury was clearly bothering his ally; she was being pushed and forced on the defensive.

'Come on, just a few more moments,' Takuma thought. He could hear his breathing in his ears, impatience bubbling underneath the surface.

The enemy kunoichi stabbed the Hidden Leaf kunoichi in the side and kicked her in the abdomen. Shefell on her back, with the enemy kunoichi dashing towards the prone woman with a dripping kunai in her hand.

'Fuck!'

DING!

The enemy kunoichi froze up with her kunai pulled high above her head, ready to strike. She trembled as though struggling against invisible bindings. Her body trembled as an expression of fear and anger twisted her frozen face.

Genjutsu: Golden Bell Jutsu

Takuma broke into a full-speed sprint, bearing the pain and risk. He had to be quick as he hadn't applied enough chakra, and genjutsu was already fragile. It wasn't particularly strong anyway but now, it could break at any moment without her releasing it. He took out a kunai but as he reached the two women the genjutsu broke, and the enemy kunoichi blocked his kunai with her own. She forcefully pushed Takuma back and tried to turn that into a lethal heart stab—which Takuma barely side-stepped.

He charged his leg with chakra and swept the enemy kunoichi's leg out with an augmented kick. The kick pulled on Takuma's abdomen, sending pained lances racing across his torso. He bore through it and mounted the fallen woman, pinning her hands above her head to stop her from resisting so he could put her down.

The kunoichi struggled and managed to free one of her hands and punched Takuma in the face. Takuma held on—but then she punched him in the side, which made Takuma crumple and drop his kunai. She hit a place that sent spikes across his entire body. The enemy kunoichi noticed her progress and went in for another punch, but before she could swing, the Hidden Leaf kunoichi grabbed the arm and pinned it back to the ground.

"Hurry!" she yelled.

Takuma fumbled for the fallen kunai as the woman below him thrashed to get free and pierced her neck. He freed the kunai and stabbed her again, dragging it across her throat. He waited, alert, watching her face, feeling her body below him—and only after she went limp did he let go.

Takuma fell to the side, breathing heavily, while his hands lightly rested on his stomach. Blood dribbled down the side of his mouth and his face was twisted in pain.

'One moment, just one more,' he said to himself. After taking deep breaths to prepare himself, Takuma got up, swaying so much that he almost fell. He walked to the Hidden Leaf kunoichi and put his arm under his shoulder.

"Get up, come on," Takuma said as he pulled her up.

"Thank you," she barely managed.

Takuma didn't reply and continued to move forward one step at a time. The 'medical station' was just a small distance away. Even though he was considerably slower than before—he had already covered most of the distance on his own.

A sound entered Takuma's ear, and he looked up to see a massive sphere of fire, larger than the building-size lion, soaring through the air above his head, which then slammed into the pit's walls. It exploded, sending huge debris airborne. A cluster of boulders flew right in their direction. Not only that, but the explosion also caused a landslide, and Takuma was close enough to get buried under a mass of rolling rocks.

"Fuck me!" He put the kunoichi down and started weaving hand seals for Earth Style: Earthen Dome—he didn't know if the ninjutsu would work, and if it did, they might still get buried.

However, halfway through, Takuma felt something slither around his stomach, which sent more pain up his body—but in the next second, he was streaking through the air and weaving around the debris.

He looked down to see a snake's body wrapped around him. The kunoichi also had a snake thicker than his arm wrapped around her torso. Takuma looked up to see the snakes disappearing into the wide sleeves of one Mitarashi Anko.

"What a terrible time to get injured," she said.

---

NEW FANART
—By Jim.el
[It's Jim.el's vision and hope that one day Takuma would make ANBU]


​

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[KarmaA]

Conflict is heating up and it feels like there's a lot of battle and retreat left before they're safe.

 

[Captain Usoland]

Wow, that was a great set of chapters!
Takuma definitely stood out in this encounter - He took out, or assisted in, taking out a bunch of enemy nin, including some major threats! And he saved a Leaf Jonin's Life! If this doesn't get him on the fast track to Chunin, I don't know what will.

 

[ZubScore]

Man Takuma really can't ever catch a break can he?

 

[MrRobot]

Paradoxically he being injured early after taking ou a toku jounin equivalent out of the fight and a lot of genin is the safest way to go about it specially since the jounin only start to go dragon ball just before he reached the tent

 

[CHOSEDEATH]

TFTC