The island's eastern side

"Yōton¹Lava Style?! For real?!"

"Apparently so"

After rejoining his team, Rei conversed with Suzu and Tai while ensuring Etoro and Metoro Konjiki respectively, remained constrained and unconscious

Spending the time recollecting on their battles, naturally the subject of him awakening his Kekkei Genkai²Bloodline Limitwas a hot topic

"How exactly did it happen?" (Suzu)

"My chakra and his connected via physical contact. The fight was getting pretty intense by then, and the proceeding reaction was very...violent" {My body still aches from the explosion} (Rei)

"There's still a lot we don't know about Kekkei Genkai...or how they manifest" {Damn...I'm so jealous!} (Tai)

"Motoi once told me it typically emerges when one undergoes significant physical and/or mental trauma. The former in my case?" (Rei)

Resting to recover strength after a series of draining fights, the trio passed the time trying to figure out exactly how Rei came to be a Yōton user. Tai brought up the subject of parents, particularly his mother, wondering if she had the same ability

Rei denied this, stating she was noted only to have substantial skill with Katon³Fire Style. Suzu theorized this was due to her coming from Ishigakure⁴Hidden Rock Village, a land right next to the great nation of Iwagakure⁵Hidden Stone Village

Iwagakure possessed a plentiful amount of those with Kekkei Genkai, many of whom were Yōton users. One of her ancestors marrying such a user seemed to be the most reasonable conclusion in Rei's mind

"Kekkei Genkai are really tricky, easily skipping generations. Even if you're a member of a prominent family, that doesn't imply you'll receive the same gifts" (Tai)

"Skipping generations...you're talking about recessive genes right?" (Rei)

"It would make sense considering you don't know of any family members that have the same power" (Suzu)

"Hmmm..." (Rei)

"Well, no worries. We won our battles, and you walk away with a bonus! That's a win in my book" (Tai)

"Yeah, if I knew how to control it. The best I can currently do is block other Yōton attacks" (Rei)

Rei recalled Notitia stating several years ago that the original "Rei" had no Kekkei Genkai, just moderate skill with Katon

The cause for this new power, Ōtsutsuki cells, the Black Scroll, his soul, Kisshōten⁶Auspicious Heavens, Etoro Konjiki, or any other factor...he couldn't find the answer

"One step at a time. For now, let's discuss next steps. Soon as we've recovered, we'll take these two to the others, I'm sure our senpais would love to have a chat with them" (Suzu)

"They're not the only ones-?!" (Rei)

"?" (Tai & Suzu)

Rei immediately stood up from his spot, focusing on the direction behind him. Familiar with his role as a sensor-type ninja, the others knew something was wrong

"What are you sensing?" (Tai)

"Reinforcements have just arrived on the island" (Rei)

"And that's...a problem?" (Tai)

"No. The group of enemy ninja edging towards us is the problem. But for some strange reason, they've stopped...standing in place?" (Rei)

{Are they waiting to attack?} "Which direction?" (Suzu)

"Several meters north of our location" (Rei)

"North of our...oh?! I remember spotting several of the sand pits Kintarō-san told us to avoid in that area!" (Suzu)

"Are they planning to do something with it?!" (Tai)

"I don't know...and I don't want to wait and find out" (Rei)

Rei grabbed Etoro and Tai held Metoro as the group left to engage the enemy. Arriving on the scene not far from them, they remained in the bushes and observed the payed mercenaries digging 

Suzu noted one of them was carrying a large, white object, getting ready to plant it into the ground. When said object caught Rei's attention, he instantly knew it was one of Deidara's clay bombs

{Is that a mine?! Can't let them plant it!} "We have to stop them!" (Rei)

"Eh?!" (Tai & Suzu)

DASH!

"What the-?!" (Tai)

"Rei!" (Suzu)

"HEY! THE ENEMY IS HERE!"

The opponents before him were nothing compared to Etoro and Metoro, Rei had no trouble evading attacks as he blitzed towards the one holding the bomb

Suzu attacked the others distracted by him while Tai prepared his Ninjutsu. Everything seemed to be going their way until...

"S-Shit!"

"Ah?! No! You dumbass!!" (Rei)

The one holding the bomb panicked and threw it, sending it directly into the sandpit. Rei knew what was coming next and ran with all his might to grab Suzu and Tai. A light began to emerge from beneath...

"What did I just-?"

"Oh god..."

"R-RUN!!!"

BOOM!

...followed by a massive explosion!

WOOOOO!

Dust spread throughout the air, Rei could be seen covering his team. He successfully managed to get them out of harms way, and surprisingly, none of the mercenaries gained any fatalities

{I've had enough f**cking explosions for one day!} (Rei)

"All these close calls are bad for my heart" (Tai)

"We're ninja. Comes with the territory" (Suzu)

"Does it though?! I feel Genin teams aren't supposed to have as many exciting missions as us!" (Tai)

"Heads up guys, they look pretty pissed" (Rei)

The mercenaries picked themselves off the ground, all eyes focused on the Genin. Irritated for almost dying due to their actions, they drew their weapons and prepared to attack

But before either side could make a move, the ground started to rumble

"What the hell?"

"Earthquake? Or...aftershocks?"

"From what? The bomb?"

"No, that's not...HEY! BEHIND YOU!"

"Huh?"

SPHHHLT!!

Before anyone could even react, one of the men was pierced from behind by what appeared to be a black blade protruding from the sand pit...

"Uugh! H-Help...mueeee!!!!"

No one dared to moved as the one who pleading for help was dragged beneath the surface. For several seconds that felt like an eternity, no one, including the Genin, moved so much as an inch

Trying to understand what exactly just happened until someone finally broke the silence

"Hey...what the hell just-?!"

"How am I supposed to know?! We were told to plant the bombs and leave BEFORE detonating them!"

"No. Shit! Shit! Shit!"

"WHAT IN THE ACTUAL F**K?!"

"I gotta...I gotta get out of here!"

RUMBLE! SPHHHLT!!

"GAH!"

"?!"

When another attempted to flee, the black object once again emerged from the ground, stabbing and dragging him beneath the surface. Everyone stood in place, quickly realizing whatever it was attacking them responded to movement

"H-Hey...you guys saw that too right?" (Tai)

"Yeah, it's not a blade" (Suzu)

"No way. Under the sharp object...it was definitely a metasoma! The thing attacking us is a-?!" (Rei)

BLAM!

The sandpit suddenly burst! Several large, dark figures followed suit and crawled out. Every could finally see what was attacking them

"Well...shit!" (Rei)

SCREEEE!!!!

 

♦♦♦

 

"Giant...Scorpions?! Seriously?! That's what I'm sensing right now?!" (Funsui)

"I'm afraid so" (Kintarō)

"This island is just a bundle of fun..." (Funsui)

"I don't understand how they could be our village's so-called shame as you put it earlier" (Toroi)

The sensor-type ninja Funsui led Toroi and Kintarō as they raced to Team Tango's location while the latter explained what they were in for

"Kumogakure didn't start in the far east mountains of the continent. For a long time, your countrymen desired the lush fertile fields that Konoha now monopolizes" (Kintarō)

"But that was a long time ago, during the Warring States Period. Before the era of the 1st Raikage" (Funsui)

"During that time, everyone was trying to come up with a magic bullet to win the war. And the people of the Land of Lightning began taking...drastic steps" (Kintarō)

"What does that have to do with these creatures, and this island?" (Funsui)

"Drastic...Kintarō-dono...you don't mean-?!" (Toroi)

"Yes...experimentation. On both humans and animals" (Kintarō)

Though the younger Funsui couldn't even fathom the idea of his country committing such crude acts, the more experienced Toroi knew all too well what his people were capable of in times of desperation

He thought back to the time Kumogakure began the practice of consuming flesh from Tailed Beasts to increase the powers of its troops. This Orochimaru-like behavior was something he could believe had occurred

"One particular scientist of your country began to focus on the aftereffects chakra had on animals. Particularly, how they're able to grow to such massive heights" (Kintarō)

"But why scorpions?" (Funsui)

"During his experiments, he noticed scorpions exhibited very strong reactions. Growing up five times faster than other animals...along with a fierce aggression to all other life. The reason this place is so secret is because if word were to get out that your ancestors condoned this kind of work..." (Kintarō)

"Our very reputation would be tarnished to incredible levels. We may never get a single shinobi contract again" (Toroi)

Kintarō went on to explain about his long history with the previous Raikage. The 3rd trusted him enough to ask that he guard the island. Believing it better for an outsider like him know about this secret than risk rumors spreading in the village

"The altered scorpions were uncontrollable, and Kumogakure had a hard time trying to kill them. So they opted to seal them somewhere else" (Kintarō)

"Why even bother making more if they were uncontrollable? And what happened to said scientist" (Toroi)

"The head scientist left soon after, though no one knew his reasons. Some believed it was due to him getting ready for his first child, others say he was traumatized by his own work, some believe he was killed in order to keep the project under wraps as he was never seen or heard from again" (Kintarō)

"We lost all contact? Guess that's why this project couldn't continue if the one who pioneered it left" (Funsui)

"As for the scorpions themselves, they were kept due to their potential war value, despite how uncontrollable they are" (Kintarō)

"?" (Toroi & Funsui)

"You've yet to comprehend just how dangerous they are..." (Kintarō)

 

♦♦♦

 

"Katon: Karyū Endan⁷Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bullet!" (Rei)

"Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku⁸Wind Style: Giant Vacuum Bullet!" (Suzu)

"Ninpō: Dokugiri⁹Ninja Art: Poison Fog!" (Tai)

SCORCH! BOOSH!

Team Tango unleashed their respective Ninjutsu to stop the rapid scorpions, but to no avail. No matter what they did, the absurd arachnids didn't appear to slow down at all

"Are you kidding me?!" (Rei)

"MOVE!" (Suzu)

The scorpions were tearing everything apart! The ground, the forest, the people, they were completely erratic! Nothing seemed capable of stopping them. The scorpions took every attack thrown at them, without any signs of stopping!

Anyone who tried to flee was immediately killed on the spot, forcing everyone to stay and fight a losing battle

"Tsk!" (Suzu)

"How?! How are they not hurt at all?!" (Tai)

 

♦♦♦

 

"Their skins are insanely strong, comparable to steel. Nigh-invulnerable to most damage, they can survive not only extreme hot and cold temperatures, but even substances with low pH levels like acid. Go without food for years, survive underwater for months, acute senses to everything around them, immune to every fathomable poison..." (Kintarō)

"Sounds like a real handful...no wonder we couldn't get rid of them" (Funsui)

"Speaking of poison, to this very day...there's no known remedy for the poison they produce. The smallest exposure is near-guaranteed fatal. And that's not even half of what they're capable of" (Kintarō)

"Geez!" (Funsui)

"I can see the appeal now, just summon one in the middle of a battleground, and let it loose on the enemy" (Toroi)

"That's right, and for a time, it was effective. Foreign countries desperately tried to discover their origins, and how your predecessors managed to procure them. You guys did a real good job keeping a lid on things" (Kintarō)

Toroi glanced at the now knocked out Kajūra in his custody. The one in question somehow displayed prior, in-depth knowledge of the island. Most likely from whoever hired him for this attack

The more he learned, the more dreading thoughts Toroi had

{So how does this kid...or rather his employer know about them? Could someone have leaked the intel...or do we have a traitor in our midst. I must report this to Raikage-sama as soon as possible!} (Toroi)

"Guess that's why we made so many of them" (Funsui)

"Actually, your country only made a couple" (Kintarō)

"Huh?" (Funsui)

"The main cause for shutting the project down was the discovery of their incredibly fast reproductive rate. The quantity of them grew too big to control, even after they were made genetically made infertile later" (Kintarō)

"So we placed them on this island where they couldn't bother anyone else, waiting for them to die out" (Toroi)

"Trying to kill them is incredibly difficult, risky, and always comes with casualties" (Kintarō)

They finally understood the true purpose of this island. Kumo thought it best just to let them die here than go to the trouble of losing more soldiers. Especially if you consider it was time of war, the last thing they needed was the loss of more soldiers

Unfortunately, they underestimated how resilient these creatures were. Living to the age of nearly a century, only several of them had died since the era of the 4th Raikage

"Why did we put the other animals here? I know they're very feral but..." (Funsui)

"Compared to the scorpions, the others might as well be docile. It didn't take long for them realize who the real masters of this place were. My job here wasn't just to protect them from themselves or outside threats, it was to keep them away from the sand pits" (Kintarō)

"No wonder you can maintain this island all by yourself" (Toroi)

"Hehe, well don't forget this helpful fellow" (Kintarō)

Kintarō smiled and patted his partner Pochi, who was tailing right behind them

"Fortunately, the scorpions typically never rise to the surface unless provoked. They're nocturnal, and most of the island's inhabitants are either asleep, or put in the bunker by me for protection" (Kintarō)

Toroi reached for the radio on his neck

"But that's precisely why the situation is bad. They're angry enough as it is, they get even more crazy when someone wakes them during the day, like now" (Kintarō)

"Oh that's cute, they're cranky sleepers...sigh!" (Funsui)

"Did you get all of that Musai?!" (Toroi)

BZZZT!

"[Only the important parts, relaying it to our back-up now. I've already rendezvous with them and we're heading to the same location! The others are securing the island!]" (Musai)

"Good! We'll see you there!" (Toroi)

"Funsui-dono! Let's pick up the pace!" (Kintarō)

"Right! This way!" (Funsui)

WHOOSH!

 

 

 

 

 

 

{I pray the Genin can stay alive until then!} (Kintarō)