Chapitre 161: CH_5.18 (161)
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———
.
Takuma turned around to look at the three assassins who stood around him at a distance. No#1 and No#2 looked injured and hobbled—it seemed his Water Release: Wild Water Wave had done a good job. While No#3 looked tired, his cloaked body had lost the sharpness it possessed before.
Takuma dug into No#4's weapons pouch and realized he only had one kunai left. He brandished the final kunai, wishing they wouldn't notice it. He still had shuriken, but Takuma's mind was too tired to make a plan to create an opportunity—he was moving purely on willpower at this point.
But even his addled mind realized that he wasn't getting to the precinct. The fall, while not something serious, had broken Takuma's motivation to continue on. He knew that he was going to die—it would either be on his way to the precinct, or it would be here.
He looked around. They were on a commercial street. It was already late at night, and the heavy rain had the street without any people. Takuma and the three assassins were the only ones left. There was a chance here that someone would contact the Police Force unlike his neighborhood where no one would even think about doing anything even close to that.
If he was going to lose his life, it would be while taking the three assassins with him instead of trying to make a run for the precinct and allowing the assassins a chance to escape after they kill him.
However, as Takuma raised his arms up, he noticed how none of them moved forward. It was strange. Until now, the assassins had been more aggressive than him. They had pursued, surrounded, and attacked him like hunters going after a prized prey. That aggression was now missing. With one of his legs not working, which Takuma was sure they had already noticed, it was the perfect opportunity for No#1 and No#2 to cast a combination jutsu and take him out for good. They even had No#3's support this time around.
"You… You don't have the chakra, do you," he muttered.
Takuma didn't know if they heard him over the rain, but he assumed they did. The realization made him chuckle. No#3 probably had exhausted himself after the Fire Release jutsu from just before, and No#1 and No#2 were perhaps running low since Takuma's genjutsu had them use ninjutsu against an illusory army of clones.
Takuma wasn't any different, but he felt he could go on for a few more C-rank jutsu. Before Minoru had praised him for his chakra volume, Takuma had never really noticed that he possessed the ability to produce a high volume of chakra. Because he never had to worry about chakra, he never paid any attention to it—even now, after he was cognizant about the fact, he still didn't care about it as it wasn't a problem, and Takuma was busy juggling with real problems which needed solving.
Today was the first time he really felt the advantage that trait provided him.
But as Takuma's hopes were rising, he noticed No#3 reach for his pocket and retrieve something. It was barely visible in the faint lights from a lamp outside a shop. Takuma couldn't figure out what it was for a moment, but then No#1 and No#2 followed suit, and all three popped the thing into their mouths.
Takuma's breath hitched when he realized what it was.
"… Soldier pills."
The faint hope in Takuma's heart shattered when he realized they had taken the miraculous combat drug. The soldier pill nourished the body and replenished the user's chakra. It was made up of powerful stimulants and nutrients that were near-instantly absorbed into the in-taker's body. It was said that a soldier pill could allow a shinobi to fight for three days and three nights without rest. At the end of the three days effect, the user is brought to the point of complete and utter exhaustion.
The three-day fact was misinformation. The soldier pill was surely effective, and it could keep a shinobi in combat-ready condition for an extended period of time; the efficacy depended upon the shinobi who ingested it and the subsequent combat they participated in.
But none of that mattered because unless they collapsed in the next couple of minutes, Takuma's fate was sealed off. If the situation was dire before, it was impossible now.
At least the triple dose of Sango's painkillers was working in full effect.
The soldier pills worked as advertised, and Takuma saw the three assassins perk up almost immediately. No#1's and No#2's injuries were still there, but now it looked like they weren't bothering them as much. No#3, on the other hand, looked much better from a single glance.
Takuma felt a bitter taste in his mouth. The feeling of unwillingness rose from deep within, threatening to spill out, but Takuma kept it in check—until he could not.
Chakra made its way to Takuma's voice box, and he projected his voice.
"I killed your friend," he yelled over the rain. "I murdered him like the pathetic dog he was. He died on the side of a filthy road with a gutter below him where he belonged. He should be grateful to me because I gave him a better death than he deserves. After I'm done with all of you, I'm going to go back to his body and piss on it… just for the fucking fun of it—and I would enjoy every single moment of it. I'll make sure that the iryo-nin open every single part of his body when they do an autopsy so that by the end of it, his body isn't recognizable from before—and then I'm going to dump the bloody mess into a ditch, never to see a grave or a funeral…."
Takuma felt his elation rise as he spat out the venomous words. It was clear from how well the four assassins worked that they had trained together for a long time, and it wasn't a reach to assume they were close. The camaraderie was built easily when people shed blood, sweat, and tears together.
He felt the burden on his heart lift with every single jibe. He noticed a movement from No#3. His body language had visibly changed—the man was holding back his rage, but some of it was leaking out.
Takuma pointed at No#3 with his kunai. "And all of it will be because of all of you. You couldn't protect your iryo-nin; you let him die. You're a pathetic excuse of a shinobi, a scum who couldn't protect his friend—or maybe he was just a tool for you to use—a disposable pawn ready to be exchanged by another one…. What a pathetic way to go, and yet so fitting."
No#3 charged Takuma with the anger of 100 bulls with his sword-bearing. Takuma could barely stumble back a step when No#3 invaded his personal space and swung his sword. The blade sliced through Takuma's lower torso, leaving a deep gash in his side.
Takuma screamed in pure agony but grabbed No#3 by the shoulder before punching out with a chakra-augmented fist that sent No#3 flying in the air, but the trained assassin landed on his feet like a cat and charged back in immediately.
"Sho!" No#1 suddenly yelled. "On your shoulder!"
No#3 didn't seem to hear No#1 or directly ignored his call, his hate-filled eyes focused solely on Takuma.
Boom!
An explosive tag on No#3's shoulder went off, and the man's head and upper torso exploded like a watermelon. Chunks of blown-up human hit Takuma on his face, but he ignored it and began laughing through the coldness spreading through his body.
"It looks like they were friends," said Takuma. That was Takuma's last explosive tag. "At least now they're together. Aren't I a generous assassination target?"
No#1 and No#2 were staring at No#3's remains, shocked, so they didn't react when Takuma was weaving hand seals, and by the time they looked up, it was already too late.
Genjutsu: Mist Servant Jutsu
All but three tentacles retreated behind Takuma's back. Two of them remained around Takuma's leg while the final one traveled along the road to retrieve No#3's sword. He then slowly dragged himself around the two assassins as they moved around as though fighting a horde of enemies, even though there was nothing in the vicinity.
After No#3's final attack, Takuma was in no condition to physically run. His control over the tentacles was slipping, and he knew that if he tried to push it, the genjutsu would break. The chances of that happening were even higher as No#1 and No#2 were under the same genjutsu a short while ago. He had to be nearby and focused on keeping the two under the genjutsu.
He observed the two. It only took a moment for No#2 to use an Earth Release jutsu. The moment that happened, Takuma slowly sneaked behind No#2. There was a high probability that No#2 wouldn't follow up with another ninjutsu immediately after the first one, and No#1 was fighting his own imaginary horde.
By the time Takuma made his way towards No#2, his vision was blurred, he could no longer even hear the rain properly, and his body had gone numb from the cold. The sword in his hands felt like a heavy warhammer, but his fingers had lost all sensation, so his sight was the only way to tell that he was still gripping the sword.
Takuma clutched the sword, and summoning all of his strength, he swung the sword for No#2's neck, putting his body weight behind it. The sword sliced through 3/4th of No#2's neck but got stuck because Takuma didn't even have enough strength to swing properly.
But that was enough to end No#2. His body fell to the ground. Takuma tried to pull the sword out, but it refused to budge. After a pull or two, Takuma let the sword go and moved towards No#1, but one step was all he could do as he lost all control over his body and fell down next to No#2 on the road as the rain poured down at him. The Eight Tentacles immediately failed, and with it went the genjutsu over No#1.
No#1, the sole remaining assassin, snapped out the genjutsu and hurriedly looked towards No#2 to see his partner dead on the ground with Takuma lying down beside him. For a moment, the assassin stood there in silence, staring at No#2, but after a long ten seconds, No#1 walked towards Takuma with his sword in hand.
He silently stared at Takuma for a moment before kicking him face up. No#1 changed the grip on his sword so that the sword point was facing downward at Takuma's chest before stabbing down. But before the metal could reach the body, Takuma's arm moved, and the blade pierced through it, but in doing so, changed the trajectory, causing the sword to enter the wrong side of the chest.
No#1 hurriedly pulled out the sword for one more strike, but before he could stab it down, a kunai struck the sword. Startled, he looked in the direction of the kunai to see a group of shinobi running towards him.
No#1 turned to run away, but he unexpectedly stumbled to the ground. He looked towards his legs to see Takuma's shaking hands had grabbed his legs. No#1 kicked Takuma's head before running away, but before he could escape—
"If you have come, you better stay."
A figure appeared behind No#1, and before anyone could do anything, the figure snapped No#1's neck.
On the ground, Takuma weakly looked up to see a middle-aged man in casual clothing staring down at him. He had no energy to speak or do anything—so he did the only thing he could do and closed his eyes.
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
Chapitre 162: CH_5.19 (162)
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
In a hospital staff room, Ai worked on a report that needed to be submitted the next day. Her day had started at seven in the morning, and she was in the hospital for her classes by eight. She looked up at the clock, which was about to turn eleven. She sighed, knowing it would already be midnight by the time she tucked herself in bed.
It had been a couple of months since she had joined the Medical Corp after passing her exams and had started her training under Taro's father, Dr. Oishi. Her days began with classes from eight until one in the afternoon, after which she would get a half an hour's worth of break before she had to volunteer in the public clinic until three— she couldn't do much, but Dr. Oishi had told her to volunteer a set number of hours every week, so she did whatever the clinic had for her.
Then, her apprenticeship under Dr. Oishi started, and she tried to heal fish for three hours before Dr. Oishi left at six in the evening. After that, Ai would practice for another hour before going home—but today, she was feeling tired and knew that if she returned home, she would fall asleep, but that wasn't an option as she had a report to turn in first thing in the morning. So, here she was, working on her report in the hospital.
Her only reprieve was that tomorrow was a Saturday, and she only had her morning classes, leaving the rest of her day free. She completed her report and packed up to leave, but as she walked through a hallway, the double doors on the end pushed open, and a stretcher unit with nurses and night-shift doctors rushed.
She immediately hugged the wall to clear the way for them.
The person on the stretcher was wet from head to toe with so many wounds that he looked like he had been bathed in blood. The sight was so horrifying that Ai couldn't move her eyes away from it despite the sheer discomfort and shock, and dreadfulness she felt
As they rushed past her, Ai wondered what sort of incident the person had been to be in such a condition because, from the direction the nurses and doctors were heading towards, they were going for an emergency surgery.
Even though she was now stationed in a hospital that dealt with many shinobi cases and had been a shinobi for a few years, Ai wasn't used to the amount of blood and gore she had just seen, so the scene remained in her mind.
Ai stopped in the middle of the hallway.
It would be too busy during the morning, but at night, it was completely opposite. So, Ai was alone in the hallway with her thoughts—which were suddenly focused on the second of time when her eyes followed the patient's face.
It couldn't be, she thought.
Ai turned back to the double doorways on the other end of the hallway. Hesitantly at the start, she walked towards them. She reached the part of the hospital that had the surgical suites, and the electronic board showed that only one of them was in use.
More people rushed past her towards the surgery suite.
Her heart began to beat faster as she followed after them with a brisk walk, stopping herself from breaking into a run.
She must've made a mistake, Ai told herself. Her mind was playing tricks.
Nenro and Masaaki, her roommates, had told her much about their mission with him. She was horrified when she found out they had faced an experienced chunin and infinitely relieved that they had survived the ordeal without any deaths.
Ai reached the surgical suite, and the iryo-nin and nurses were already in surgery, and she could only peek through the glass of the door. Four iryo-nin sat in the designated places around the large fuinjutsu inscribed on the floor, which focused their iryojutsu on the patient in the middle who was currently being prepared.
She couldn't see the patient's door from the glass, but the worry in her heart made it so she had to resolve the knot. Ai then remembered that the patient's belongings, which would contaminate the sterile room, be dumped outside
Ai quietly walked into a side preparation room where a set of bloody clothes, ruined chain mail, scuffed shinobi boots, and weapons pouches sat on a table. Just seeing the gear only a shinobi would wear made Ai hurry up.
She dug through the belongings and found a soiled Police Force armband, which made her sift through the stuff with panic until she found a wallet. She almost ripped it apart as she opened it to find what she feared.
In her hands was a shinobi identity card with Takuma's face on it.
The horribly injured patient was her close friend.
What had happened? Who had done this to him? A hundred questions passed through her mind.
She rubbed a drop of blood over Takuma's picture and ended up smearing a blood stain over his face. She clutched the card and wallet in her tightening grip. Her feet absolutely took her to the surgery suite's door, and she stared through the glass. In the room, Takuma's body was covered in a translucent glowing green as his unconscious body lay limp on the ground.
She couldn't hear what the iryo-nin and nurses were saying, but words were being exchanged, and everyone had tense expressions on their faces. And four iryo-nin charging the fuinjutsu seal itself showed how critical the situation was. The fuinjutsu seal was only used in most critical situations when the patient was in immediate danger of death—and even then, in most cases, only two iryo-nin joined to operate the seal—but Takuma's condition demanded four iryo-nin.
And all she could do was stand on the outside and do nothing.
'I have to do something,' she thought as she stepped away from the door and ran to a reception area on the floor to make some calls.
The first call she made was to her teacher.
"Hello. Mrs. Oichi? It's Ai speaking. Yes, sorry to call you so late. Can I talk to Dr. Oichi? Please, it's urgent," Ai said, anxiousness dripping in her voice. "Yes, Dr. Oichi. I-It's Takuma—I-I was in the hospital when they brought him in. He has horrible injuries all over his body. They took him into surgery as soon as they brought him in. They're using the fuinjutsu seal with four iryo-nin. I-If you could come in, please."
On the other side of the call, Taro's dad tried to calm her down.
"No, no, I don't know what happened to him. I don't know if he was on a mission, but he could've been on a raid for the Police Force. B-But he wasn't wearing his shinobi uniform. I-I…" Ai paused before nodding, "Yes, please come soon. Thank you…."
Ai ended the call, and after taking a deep breath, she dialed one more number.
The phone rang four times before the other side picked.
"Ms. Kano? Ai this side, Takuma's friend. We met once last year; Takuma introduced us. I wanted to talk to a kunoichi iryo-nin—yes, that was me…. Takuma just came to the hospital, extremely injured as though he had been in a fight," Ai told Uchiha Kano, Takuma's supervising officer in the Police Force, what she had said to Taro's dad.
Takuma had introduced them last year when Ai wanted to talk to a kunoichi iryo-nin to know what it was like to be a female iryo-nin. They had met for lunch and had a discussion, which had cleared up a lot of things for Ai.
"No, he was brought in alone," said Ai. "Yes, I will be waiting for you."
Ai set the receiver down and leaned against the counter. Her eyes were squinted close, and her brows joined together. There was another kunoichi iryo-nin Takuma had talked about, but that went nowhere. Ai tried to recall if Takuma had told her anything but realized she knew nothing about Takuma's other iryo-nin friend, whom he considered to be his personal doctor.
"Shit!"
She was new in iryojutsu training, but she knew that the iryo-nin operating the fuinjutsu seal would eventually tire and could potentially need other iryo-nin to replace them. It was night, and the hospital wasn't operating at full capacity, but she also knew that the hospital would arrange another iryo-nin and that she didn't need to do anything—but the patient was her close friend, and she would do anything in her power to help.
So she called the two chunin iryo-nin she knew who would come to the hospital in the middle of the night. Taro was close to Takuma as she was, so his dad would come—and Ai knew Kano would come if she told the Uchiha that there was no one with Takuma, meaning he wasn't on a mission—and from the picture Nenro had painted for her, Takuma was in an important position in the Police Force.
Finally, Ai picked up and called home. Nenro picked up, and Ai told him everything about Takuma. Nenro then told her and Masaaki were coming to the hospital.
Even though it had been less than fifteen minutes since she had seen Takuma being pushed past her, Ai felt it had been hours. She felt absolutely exhausted and wanted to sit down, but her anxiousness made her pace along a hallway.
Barely ten minutes had passed when the doors on the other side of the hallway (opposite the doors to the surgical suites) opened. Ai looked up, hoping it was someone she had called, only to see an old man enter the hallway.
Ai sighed and leaned against a wall.
The old man stopped in front of her. "Young lady, is your name Ai?" he asked.
Ai looked at the old man in surprise. He wore a navy blue samue (Japanese loungewear) and wore geta sandals that clicked loudly against the marble floor.
"Who is asking?" asked Ai, suspicious.
"My apologies. My name is Maruboshi Kosuke. Your friend Nenro called me a few minutes ago to tell me that my student Takuma was admitted to this hospital. I came as soon as possible. May I ask how he is," said Maruboshi.
"I… I don't know, he is in surgery," said Ai and told him the same she had told everyone else.
She had called Nenro at last, who in turn called Maruboshi, but the old man was the first to arrive. Ai knew of Maruboshi. Takuma talked a lot about him, and his words were always full of praise. She could tell that Takuma held Maruboshi in high esteem.
"I see," Maruboshi looked towards the doors that led to the surgical suite. "You looked tired, young lady. Would you like to go home and rest? I will be here in case anything needs to be done."
"No, it's okay, I will stay," said Ai.
"Very well. Then let me go make some calls," Maruboshi said with a comforting smile.
———
.
The surgery lasted a full thirteen hours, during which Takuma came close to death multiple times as teams of iryo-nin worked hard to keep his broken body stable through extensive iryojutsu. As Takuma's friends came to know about it later, Takuma's heart had stopped by the time he was brought into the hospital, and it was a miracle that he was resuscitated.
He had lost too much blood, his body was in a horrible state, and his chakra reserves were low, which crashed his body's natural ability to keep itself alive.
The iryo-nin who had started operating on Takuma could not improve his condition and could barely keep him alive in his fragile state. When Dr. Oishi and Uchiha Kano showed up, they couldn't immediately help due to Takuma's fragile state and had to get familiar with Takuma's condition. Dr. Oishi was added to the second team when the first team couldn't continue, but Uchiha Kano was refused outright as her expertise lay in fieldwork and her inexperience with the fuinjutsu seals used in the complicated operations.
Takuma's condition didn't improve for the first two hours; instead, it began to deteriorate. For a moment, it seemed that Takuma wouldn't make it out of the surgery alive.
It was then two jonin iryo-nin came into the picture, especially invited by Maruboshi, who then took over Takuma's operation at the three-hour mark. Dr. Oishi joined them, marking a turning point in the operation.
While Takuma's condition remained unstable for the next several hours, the highly experienced and skilled jonin began to piece his body together one piece at a time. The problem lay within the organs which were "butchered" during the fight.
Sometime during the night, Takuma's friends were told that an assassination attempt was the reason behind Takuma's condition. Kano reassured them that the entire Police Force's resources would be devoted to finding who targeted Takuma as the Police Force didn't take aggressions against their officers lightly.
However, by the time Takuma's thirteen-hour operation ended with Takuma finally stabilized enough to survive without the constant treatment by iryo-nin—the situation outside had changed drastically without anyone knowing.
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
200+ Classement
Power Stone 
109 Power
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