‘Yet another pond.'
Ren found himself snorting at the situation he was facing. A situation some of them in the group found beyond hilarious.
These people really are making it way too obvious. Sure, they are proficient on the art of transformation, but this laughable at best. I literally could feel my foot contact with flesh earlier before.’
The four or so rogue ninjas who had decided to ‘ambush’ them at one point during their travel were easy to notice when he put his passive sensory-abilities to work. They were waiting until it was the sky was dusky and light was slowly being reduced to act.
‘Three ponds in a distance of roughly 10 meters away from each other, the ground isn’t even muddy. They’ll probably try to attack before it becomes even more obvious.’
And so, Ren’s words came to an ultimate truth as the ponds suddenly rose and the water turned into people. Shinobi armed with clawed arms and other armaments which you wouldn’t typically find elsewhere.
Two of them did not waste any time and shot towards the strongest of the group; Kakashi who was still pretending to not have noticed any of them.
Chains covered in tiny sharp thorns which resembled shurikens launched out from their body and quickly entrapped the jounin tightly.To no one's surprise with a little tightening Kakashi’s body burst into an amalgamation of blood, flesh and organs.
It was a disgusting sight that would undoubtedly make many novices vomit out whatever they had eaten beforehand.
The two ambushers who had not participated in the earlier attack unsheathed their weapons, those being a saber and a sword and the scabbards flew on the air.
It served as a moment of distract which cost Naruto a lot. A blade pierced through his palm and earned an immediate groan. Not one to let pain get the best of him, the blond gripped the blade of the sword with his other hand and pulled a hidden kunai from his sandals.
He proceeded to lunge his foot forwards as he acrobatically leaped into the air and stabbed the kunai onto the opponent’s head. The sheer surprise at the fact the just-out-of-the-academy genin had endured that pain was enough to make him lose his focus and ultimately fall onto the ground - or it could have been the speed, but Naruto preferred the former.
Sasuke was under the attack of the two who had ‘killed’ Kakashi. So far, he hadn’t been impressed by their abilities in the slightest, he found them lacking compared to their teacher who had beat every single of them to the ground in many of their earlier spars.
‘He must be trying to test our skills to fight without a higher-up to command us. I’m not going to let this end with just a taijutsu stir though.’
He leaped backwards, gaining some distance between him and the two combatants he was facing. To an outsider’s glance, his hands were barely visible and just seemed to move randomly, but to a shinobi they’d realize he was doing hand-seals.
Fire Style – Great Fireball Technique!
Sasuke puffed his chest out as he let out an enormous orb of orange-red flames out of his mouth. The surroundings quickly got evaporated, and Tazuna despite being out of the way still flinched at the sheer temperature the orb emanated.
The two who the technique was aimed at desperately tried to dodge, but found themselves unable to, looking down they noticed thin but durable wires tying them down to the corpse of their death ‘comrade’.
They tried to use their very own chains to pull their bodies away only to realize that Sasuke had masterfully blocked them using kunai’s and shuriken’s.
That moment of distraction cost them their life. Their bodies evaporated as the flames hit them. The last thing the group saw of the two were black figures rolling on the ground.
Ren was not to be left outdone as he disarmed the last opponent who let out a scream of incredible pain. To put a point forward, Ren broke his arm rather viciously and without a care. Noticing what had happened to the three others, he suddenly was overcome by a sense of anger.
“You morons, why did you go and kill the others?! What if this one doesn’t have the necessary information we need?” He let out his frustration at his team with a shout which made both of them flinch awkwardly.
“There’s no reason to worry about that.”
A chuckle resonated across the road as Kakashi emerged from some bushes nearby. With no visible wound on him, Ren rolled his eyes at the antics of his new teacher. He was dragging two unconscious people along with him.
Sasuke instantly recognized the two as the ones who were supposed to already be nothing more than ash and dust on the sky.
“Now, Tazuna-san. I believe you are hiding something more from us. Something which is affecting our performance for this mission. Why were a group of Kiri Chunins waiting here for us?”
“…”
xXx
A few dozens of miles away from Team 7’s location was Konoha. It looked just like any other day, covered with the warm sunlight of the sun and the blooming business of the streets which gave birth to a smile on most people’s faces.
Underneath all of this booming happiness and light lied darkness better left uncovered. Even the most beautiful of trees had a shadow.
Danzo smiled underneath the many layers of bandages his body was cursed with. Some on purpose, some earned through a lifetime of being on the battlefield.
Konoha had grown weak. Konoha was no longer the strongest of the five. Konoha needed new blood, a new leader.
And he knew exactly who deserved to lead Konoha to this new golden age. Who better but himself, who had always wanted the best for what was Konoha, he who had been with Konoha for decades and was almost just as old as the village.
“Danzo-sama, the white snake is here.”
A voice which contained nothing but hollowness rang out and made him turn around. His ever-loyal agents – puppets – were as subservient as ever. A cruel smile emerged on his face as he realized what he was about to do would change Konoha like never before.
“Orochimaru.”
His voice rang out coldly as he stared into the distant but dark layout of the cave they were inside. The conditions of the place the meeting was commencing was all but a result of the fear Hiruzen had towards him.
A cold sneer left his mouth as the familiar image of the white-skinned snake made itself visible for everyone to see.
“Ah, the years have left their mark on you Danzo Shimura.” A chuckle which if Danzo didn’t know Orochimaru as well as he did, would’ve sounded like he was happy to meet an old friend.
“Traitor, have you brought what I asked you of?” His eyes narrowed like a hawk in disgust at the man who had brought years of chaos to Konoha simple due to Hiruzen’s weak mentality!
“There, there, no need to act as if I am a parasite when you consider your previous wrongdoings, Danzo. Ah, do need fret, as I have indeed brought the poison you asked me to retrieve for you. It was a bit of a hassle to get it from the one produced by Ryuchi Cave. The White Snake Sage almost killed me heh.”
Danzo tilted his head as a sign to get one of his people to retrieve the poison.
“Kabuto, be a dear and show them it will you?” Orochimaru’s eyes pointed at his companion who nodded and showed them a jar filled with green liquid.
“This is poison produced through the one of Ryuchi Cave’s most venomous snakes. I’d suggest you hastily use it for whatever use you have for it, as it won’t last that long. So, where is the DNA I need?”
“Hmph, no need to worry about that.” Danzo retrieved a cloth from the inside of his kimono and passed it to Orochimaru while Kabuto gave the jar to a ROOT member.
“While I’d like to ask you why you want to use that poison for, it would sit right would it? After all you didn’t question why I want The First’s DNA. Goodbye then Danzo.”
Orochimaru and Kabuto lurched into the shadows of the cave and soon enough the ROOT group realized they were gone.
‘To think I’d have to go as low as to sell Hashirama’s remnants just for this poison. Rejoice Hiruzen, for you shall be reunited with everyone soon enough. Konoha is mine.”
And So, the latest of many meetings between Konoha’s Shinobi of Darkness and the Banished Sannin came to an end.
xXx
“Kakashi-sensei, I’m not really that knowledgeable, but these two are on the Bingo Book. Last time I looked, they work under whoever pays them the most.” Ren added as he looked at the two chunins who were struggling hopelessly under the ninja wires.
“Hmm Tazuna, normally I wouldn’t let my team be in danger like this, but I am confident in their ability and we will complete this mission to the best of our abilities. Still Gato is not someone we can trifle with, he’s the richest man in the world after all.”
“I beg you, please help us!”
