The next morning, we started for the market the moment we were ready. When we were ready to leave, it was around noon. Ureru-san and Mifune-sama saw us off at the gates. After a few short goodbyes, we jumped off to begin running back. It was about five hours later when we stopped to rest for a bit. As we passed around the soldier pills, the ground suddenly shook and we jumped onto our feet.
“What’s going on?” Chouji asked while readying himself for anything. “Is it an earthquake?”
The ground began to shake more violently and crack beneath our feet. We stepped back into a circle, all of us facing outwards with weapons drawn.
“Earth Style: Earth Shattering Technique!”
We immediately jumped out of the way as the ground cracked before regrouping on solid ground. It was in a matter of seconds when five rogues circled us, each one with a different weapon.
I didn’t have to think much to know that I knew these guys. “This mission is just full of reunions, isn’t it?” I growled, glaring at the large shinobi with his black-hilted katana.
“Do you know these guys?” Asuma-sensei asked, though he didn’t look over when he addressed me. All of us were focused on keeping our attention on the rogues before us.
I nodded. “These guys are some of the rogues who tried to attack the Land of Iron when I was there. I supposed I’m not very friendly with them.”
“Looks like we meet again, kid.” The leader of the bunch scoffed, pointing his black katana at me.
His name is Kedamono Shinrin, and was once a master swordsman of the Land of Iron. He attacked the land because Mifune-sama banished the guy for dishonoring the samurai code. I heard that he abandoned a comrade, but learning those details wasn't as important as helping them defend the land. He's a pretty heartless guy, but somehow managed to round up so many underlings to fight for him anyway. I guess people with the same sort of asshole-type personality stick to each other.
“Seems like you’ve joined a village. Too bad for your teammates; they’re going to have to go down with you!”
“Alright, I’ll bite; why do you need to pick on me specifically?" I asked while narrowing my eyes.
"That arrogant little air about you is enough to make me want to kill you. Helping out those samurai like you could even compare against us; it pisses me off! Isn't that enough?" He snapped back while pointing his katana at me. See? Asshole, and apparently one whose ego needed constant petting. “Besides, I can’t kill Mifune yet, so I’ll have to settle for your blood for now.”
Before I could ask how he could possibly interpret my neutral expression for being arrogant – the one that was also covered by a mask, no less – the rogues lunged in to attack. Right as the enemy began to move, the four of us put our ninjutsu to action. I first replaced my body with a snowy log as I hid to prepare a genjutsu to stall them. Chouji was already using his kekkei genkai to separate the rogues from each other by rolling into them and having them dodge his attacks while Ino and Asuma-sensei were using taijutsu to fight against the rogues.
“Cover me!” I shouted as I retreated a bit to prepare my genjutsu. One of the rogues was already coming after me, but I sighed in relief when Asuma-sensei blocked his path so I could focus.
After a few moments of concentration, I was ready to perform my genjutsu and made the hand seals. I breathed out slowly while letting my chakra to flow into those of the rogues. “Demon’s Grip.”
Disproportionate shadowy figures appeared on the battlefield. I grinned in satisfaction when I saw the fear in their eyes as the figures reached out towards the rogues, grabbing onto them to hold them in place.
“We won’t fall for the same trick twice, you little brat!” Shinrin shouted angrily while dispelling the genjutsu a lot sooner than I thought he would. He ran towards me with his weapons drawn as I whipped out a kunai in each hand in defense. “I’ll take you out first and end those annoying genjutsu of yours!”
“Bring it on.” I growled while pushing against his katana when he swung it at me. He sliced the other one at my side, but I jumped up and pushed off against him just in time to dodge his attacks. I jumped back to get myself away from the bastard, only to run into a tree. Shinrin sneered and jabbed his weapon towards me but only sliced my shoulder, since I managed to spin away just in time to avoid being stabbed. I winced and threw my kunai at him for a short distraction as I climbed up the tree, shaking it so the snow would fall to momentarily impair his vision.
The entirety of the distractions only bought me a few seconds of time, but it was enough to get me back in focus and on guard. With ease, Shinrin located me the moment my feet touched the ground and slashed at my heels. Thankfully, I managed to jump to the side and avoid getting any tendons sliced, but I still felt a shallow cut stinging my left calf. There were too many close calls for my comfort, and his pace never slowed. My heart races as adrenaline made it possible for me to keep moving fast enough to avoid severe injuries.
After tumbling, I fell straight into the snow and struggled to get up. Shinrin was already getting ready to stab me once more, but I bought myself just enough time to get onto my feet by throwing my arms up, which threw snow into his face once more. I could feel my hands going numb from the cold but ignored it while I prepared myself again. It'll be harder to form hand signs, but it was better than getting diced.
Left, right, above, right, block, push. His movements were so fast that I could barely keep up. Shinrin landed a few painless scrapes on my body as he forced me towards the rogues on the other side. I growled and charged back with my weapons in hand, pushing against his two katana. I slipped to the side and let him fall forward a bit before landing a lucky shot to his gut.
“Don’t take me for a fool!” I growled while trying to kick him again, but he grabbed my ankle with his left arm and prepared to slice with his katana.
“She’s not your only opponent!” Another voice shouted. My eyes widened when I saw Shinrin get knocked to the side. Asuma-sensei stood in his place before giving me a reassuring look, but turned his attention back to the rogue just as quickly. "I don't appreciate attempted murder on my students."
“Next time it won’t be just an attempt.” Shinrin growled while getting onto his feet. I prepared myself for another round of fending him off since there was no way I could take him down as it was. I figured I could at least hold out against him, but that complacent look in his eyes threw me off.
Before I knew it, somebody had grabbed my arms and pinned them behind me. I growled and saw another rogue holding me in place. Damn, I had forgotten about them.
“Let her go!” Ino shouted, charging towards the rogue with her kunai pointed dangerously at him. Chouji backed her up, his hands having inflated to an enormous size. The rogue leaned away to dodge Ino while I took advantage of his inattentiveness, breaking free of his grip in time to see Ino receive a gash on her arm.
“Ino--!” I started, but cut myself off midway to help Chouji regain his balance. He was worn out like the rest of us and although he was panting rather heavily, it still seemed like he could put up a fight. He never really did come off as the kind of guy who would give up easily, especially not when his comrades were involved.
"We may be genin, but to us, this is nothing!" Chouji declared boldly and despite having to catch his breath, smiled all the same. Out of the corner my eye, I saw that Ino was struggling against the rogue, and her wounded arm wasn't making things any easier. Chouji had taken on another rogue, but he was reaching his limit as well. Asuma-sensei was holding Shinrin back so he couldn’t attack me, but there was another rogue breathing down his neck as well. I was dealing with the last of the rogues, but it was clear we couldn’t keep this up for much longer.
As I pushed against the rogue's blades with a kunai, a sharp scream pierced my ears and I saw Ino collapse onto her knees. Before I could react, another cry of pain came afterwards as Chouji was wounded and knocked down as well. Finally, an irritated roar came from Shinrin as he began to try and force himself past Asuma-sensei.
"Don't get in my way!" He growled while nearly breaking past the jounin. There was little time left, so I knew I had to at least try and make things easier. In a blink of an eye, I ducked down and removed my kunai so that my head wouldn't be sliced off before head butting the rogue right in the stomach. With the few seconds I had, I quickly made several hand signs before casting a genjutsu that would immobilize the rogues, hopefully long enough for us to recollect ourselves.
“A Thousand Hands!” As my chakra flowed throughout the clearing, several shadowy hands rose from the ground to grab onto the rogues.
As my genjutsu came into effect, my teammates pushed themselves onto their feet and savored the time to catch their breaths. However, Shinrin broke free of the genjutsu in a matter of seconds, which caught Asuma-sensei off guard.
"Your head is mine!" He growled while breaking past the jounin and straight towards me.
I jumped back, throwing a series of weapons at him as quickly as he could. He blocked them all with ease and charged towards me, sending me back into a tree once again. I winced from the impact and coughed a bit while trying to push the bastard off. The hands were still trying to slow him down, but I knew I needed a stronger genjutsu for him. As I prepared myself to cast a new illusion, he sneered and suddenly spun around, pinning me to the tree by stabbing a kunai into my right shoulder and left thigh. I cried out in pain and watched as he drew his katana, ready to finish me off.
“You’re finished!”
“Riku, no!”
I don't want to die.
I saw the dark blade glistening in the sunlight, ready to take my life.
I've only just started figuring things out...!
His smirk only widened, full of bloodlust.
I need to survive!
Adrenaline rushed through me as he drove his katana towards me. Time seemed to slow down and I felt my breath hitch, but I knew I couldn't let myself die so easily. As terrifying as this was, it was also so... exhilarating, but that may only be due to the adrenaline. Something feels... off. I found myself realizing as the blade grew closer by the second, but I was soon snapped back to reality, andtime went back to its regular pace.
Before he struck, I crossed my arms in front of me and let the weapon stab my forearms. The pain felt like my arms were set aflame but as long as I could still make hand signs, it didn't matter how deep the wounds were. I swung my arms to the side, causing the katana to stretch the wound as Shinrin violently pulled it back out, which only worsened the searing pain in my arms. I breathed heavily while forming another series of hand seals. Thankfully, I managed to put my genjutsu into action before Shinrin could strike again. Anger came over me as I shoved him away, the adrenaline numbing the pain that was erupting from my new wounds.
“Get away from me!” I shouted as a rain of needles shot down at Shinrin.
Although they weren’t real needles, the pain felt real to him and he groaned from several senbon needles piercing his skin. “Rainfall of Needless.” I gasped for air, ignoring the blood that was dripping from my arms. Still high my adrenaline rush, I didn't stop there. No, it was more like I couldn't seem to stop myself.
“You really shouldn't have hurt my comrades." I growled while beginning to form the hand seals of another genjutsu. "I'll make you experience their pain by tenfold!"
However, before I could finish, the sharp pains from my wounds suddenly returned and my legs grew weak.
"What the--" Instead of finishing them off, my genjutsu was dispelled and I fell to my knees. The rush was gone and the over-exertion I had put my body through hit me like a ton of bricks. It suddenly felt although I had no bones to support my body and the pounding in my ears made me nauseous. All the while, my heart continued to race and it felt like everything around me was pulsing to its frantic rhythm.
The rogues got ready to fight against us once more, but stopped when Shinrin steadily got onto his feet.
"Tch... We're retreating." He snarled while throwing something into the snow. My eyes widened when I saw that it was the needles I had created with my genjutsu.
When I looked back up, I saw that he was staring right at me. What threw me off wasn’t the fact that he was staring at all, but the kind of look he was giving me. For once, it wasn’t one of anger or hatred, but rather… hesitance. I wondered if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but one of Shinrin’s subordinates spoke, causing him to draw his attention away almost immediately.
"But--" One of the rogues started. He was silenced with a single glare from Shinrin.
"We’re done here. Retreat." He spoke again, this time in a much more demanding tone. While his gaze was as hard as ever, I caught a glimpse of that bizarre look once again, as if there was something more behind the reason for the sudden retreat. Rather hesitantly, the rogues departed. Shinrin readied himself to retreat as well, but glanced back as us now with his usual enraged glare. "Just one more reason to go after your head.”
I wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by those words, but with that, he left.
A few moments of silence passed before it fell like all of us let out the breath we had been holding in. I tried to get back onto my feet, but my knees were shaky and Asuma-sensei had to steady me before I fell over.
"Damn it all..." I sighed while giving an apologetic look towards my sensei. He smiled back and was ready to reply with something, but stopped as his eyes narrowed. "Is there something wrong?"
As Ino and Chouji approached me, I glanced over and saw that they had similar expressions as well.
"Your eyes..." Ino started, lips slightly parted in shock. “They’re… different.”
I blinked in confusion, having no idea what she was talking about. “What do you mean by ‘different?’” I asked while glancing away, not really liking this attention. It was then when I saw the needles Shinrin had left behind as well.
Those... I already dispelled the genjutsu, so are they still there? Just as the thought crossed my mind, the needles flickered away like any other genjutsu would.
Asuma-sensei approached me and gently turned my head to him so he could take a look at my eyes. His eyes suddenly widened in surprise.
“Impossible…” He whispered in shock. “These eyes… it’s the Youkugan.”
“What?!” Chouji, Ino, and I chorused. I pinched the bridge of my nose with furrowed brows. This makes no sense. If I had the Youkugan activated...
“Riku, I think...” Asuma-sensei started before giving me a serious look. “…I think you’re a Shurikane.”
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Chapter notes: Riku discovers something we all saw coming.
Chapter end notes: Thanks for reading = u=b