Chapitre 204: CH_6.33 (204)

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———

Anko dumped him and the kunoichi at the location away from the battle where the iryo-nin were treating the injured. She said a few words to them about being careful before dashing away back into the battlefield. Takuma watched her disappear into the pit. He glanced up at the sky. The sun was now clearly visible over the pit's walls, pouring down ample light into the hole, illuminating everything clearly.

The iryo-nin had their hands full, and after doing a quick visual check on him to judge that he could wait for a moment, they left him alone and went back to the more critically injured.

In the waiting time, Takuma unzipped his flak jacket, pulled off his shirt, and chainmail undershirt to bare his torso. He looked down. His chest was littered with red blotches, and his abdomen was covered in black-and-blue spots. His lungs burned; every breath hurt and his mouth was overflowing with the taste of blood and iron.

After a few minutes, a middle-aged iryo-nin with thinning hair arrived beside Takuma and began patching him up. When he saw Takuma had removed his clothes, he paused for a moment, seeing the scars, but then praised him for his foresight while checking his injuries.

"Good, very good," said the iryo-nin, touching and pressing Takuma's torso with his fingers and palm, causing Takuma to gasp sharply. "Okay, this isn't bad; we can work with this. You will be fine; don't worry," the iryo-nin spoke comforting words, thinking Takuma was panicking. But Takuma was already thinking of the near future.

The iryo-nin's hands began to glow green above Takuma's abdomen. A sharp, burning pain clutched Takuma's body before a hot comfort made him slack and relax. It was a sensation very similar to a high fever breaking. Takuma took out his water canteen and drank in small sips as the iryo-nin fixed the damage.

"I think my ribs are cracked," said Takuma.

The iryo-nin checked, nodded and moved one of his hands to Takuma's chest. There wasn't an instant relief like before, but he breathed a little easier with some of the pressure lifted.

He lay there looking at the sky, listening to the explosions, the clash of metal, the screams and shouts. The smell of smoke hung on his nose, and his skin prickled from the oversaturation of chakra in the environment from several dozen shinobi throwing jutsu around, pumping chakra into the environment.

After a few minutes, the iryo-nin removed his hands from Takuma to bandage some nicks and cuts. "This is good enough for now. Rest here for—Hey! What are you doing!?"

Takuma grunted as he got up and put his gear back on. "You said this is enough and I feel alright so I'm going back out. Don't worry, doc, I'll be here again if something happens" he said, putting on his chainmail undershirt with a little stiffness.

It was the best course of action he could think of.

The faster the battle ended, the lesser the casualties. There was also the fact that if people just retired after injuries, their side would weaken. They needed more bodies out there doing the work. He wasn't arrogant enough to think he alone could change the tide of battle. Only the jonin from either side had the actual power to do that—but if he could kill one more person or take two more out of the battle, injure three others—he would've done enough.

Takuma zipped his flak jacket. He looked behind at the iryo-nin, who didn't stop him. It was solely his decision to go back into the battle. He then looked at the kunoichi. She was still being treated and was swaddled in bandages more bloody than his.

She raised her hand and shot him a thumbs-up.

Takuma chuckled and gave her a nod before jumping down into the pit.

———

Kameko couldn't catch her breath. Her legs were little more than deadweight, they felt like someone had injected lead into her muscles; her arms and shoulders were the same. She couldn't lower her sword because there was danger in every direction and her sword was the only thing between her and it. Kameko couldn't see her face, but she was sure it was matted and tangled with blood.

None of it was hers—she was pushed down to the ground, and ended up landing in the pool of blood surrounding a body. It was awful, gross, and she had vomited after the fact from the thought. She was sick of the rainy weather going on because of the humidity, but she wished it would rain now so she could wash herself.

Too many people had died, both ally and enemy.

She saw two enemies cornering someone she'd seen around the camp. As tired as she was, she gripped her sword and forced her protesting body forward to help an ally.

"Hey, listen to this…"

Kameko turned around in a flash with her sword ready to cut her enemy down. She came to a sudden stop when she saw Takuma behind her, looking worse for wear. A gust of wind hit his face from her kenjutsu, but Takuma looked unbothered that she could've sliced his head off.

"C'mon, I need your help," he said quickly before turning away, expecting her to follow.

Kameko turned away from Takuma to look at the man she was about to help, only to find him dead on the ground with the two enemies absent. She stared at the dead body for a moment, her mind blank, without any thoughts. The man had been alive just a few moments ago, and she had just turned her attention away for not even half a minute, and he was dead…

"Kameko!"

She was snapped out of her stupor by Takuma's voice. Without giving it any thought, she turned away and followed him. She was too tired to think about anything else. Kameko glanced at Takuma, who was moving through the battlefield, but quickly shot toward any movement or sound near her. Her nerves were frayed from panic that a sharp blade was always only an inch away from stabbing her.

She took deep breaths to calm herself down. It wasn't good for her to be this prickly.

'Control… you're in control,' she repeated to herself.

Kameko brought herself down and found the composure to stop jumping at everything. She eased her grip so that the sword's handle didn't dig so painfully into her palm and even though the exhaustion slammed into her all at once, she felt much better.

She returned her attention to Takuma, wanting to ask what he wanted to do, and noticed him talking to a chunin from Toridasu's ranks. She listened to their conversation and was shocked at what she heard.

"I'm going to attack their iryo-nin at the medical station. I need some help," Takuma said to the chunin, shouting as the surroundings were too loud.

"What?" She stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder and shook it violently. "What are you talking about?"

The chunin's face was thoughtful. He asked, "Do you know the location?"

Takuma nodded. "They've set up inside a mine—just near the entrance. It's a bit troublesome location-wise, but I think it's doable. What do you say?"

The chunin nodded. "Alright. What do you need?"

"Get two or three genin, and meet me there." Takuma pointed at a point on the pit wall that was cut into steps for easier access to the mines in the walls.

He turned to her and shouted, "Let's find Anko! We have to be quick!"

Kameko wasn't able to say anything as Takuma dashed away. She hurried after him, the gears in her mind turning at Takuma's plan. She couldn't believe Takuma developed a plan like that in the middle of a bloody battle. Not to mention, he had managed to convince—and some people would even say that he had ordered—a chunin to do his bidding. Were they experiencing the same battle?

"Anko!" Takuma yelled. His chakra-modulated voice pierced through the noise and reached their team leader, who was spewing a river of angry flames at a group of enemies, trying to burn them alive. She looked at them after her ninjutsu was over and reached their position with a single high jump.

Anko smiled at Takuma. "You're already back. Very good," she gave him a nod of praise.

"We are going to attack the enemy's iryo-nin. Chunin Ito has agreed to join with a couple of genin of his choice. I think that combined, we can do enough damage to hinder if not outright take out their healing capabilities," said Takuma.

There was a moment of silence from Anko, where she stared at Takuma before her quick agreement came. "Let's get a move on then," she nodded.

Takuma led Kameko and Anko to the meeting location. They were there first. Takuma took out some of his kunai and quickly began looping explosion tags on the rings at the ends of the handles. He did it with surprising nimbleness and speed.

"Make more," he said to Kameko.

Kameko followed his lead and tied some tags to her kunai. By the time she was done, Chunin Ito had arrived with three genin; they were all under his command. As far as Kameko knew, Ito and Anko didn't have much interaction with each other—but she had seen them exchange nods on the streets, so she knew that they weren't adversarial to each other.

'Did he think about that when he chose him?' Kameko wondered as he looked at Takuma.

"It's your idea; you lead it," Anko said to Takuma. She gave Ito a look, saying that she didn't want any resistance from him.

Ito gave Takuma a nod. "We're fine with that," he said.

Takuma didn't hesitate as he asked everyone to huddle. He wasted no time in revealing his plan to the gathered people.

"There are guards in front of the mine who need to be drawn away for this to work; the two chunin are going to do that. You two will start alone, and we will move in only when the guards are occupied. The point is to overwhelm them. When they see us appear, after a moment, they will try to hastily re-adjust—that will be the window for the rest of us to slip in.

"When we're inside, don't worry about anything else; just cause as much damage as possible." Takuma held up a kunai with an explosion tag. "Chuck them in before you attempt any ninjutsu. Don't try to ration your tags. If you want more, scavenge later."

Kameko felt a cold hand close around her heart at Takuma's suggestion of pulling tags from the bodies of not only their enemies… and their allies as well. She nodded stiffly when he looked at her.

As everyone got ready to move out, Takuma addressed the team one final time. He said, "If something unexpected happens. Remember: Improvise— Adapt—Overcome. Now, let's go!"

Kameko hadn't heard that one before, but it hit deep. She had no time to contemplate his words as they stealthily proceeded towards the target mine. They took the long route so as not to attract any additional attention from others. As they neared the mine, they arrived at the last bend that gave them cover. Takuma raised his fist, signaling everyone to stop. He then looked at Anko and Ito and motioned them to go in.

The two chunin first peered around the bend to study the situation before they charged and disappeared; the sounds of battle reached their ears a few moments later. Out of the assembled genin, Takuma peered ahead while everyone else waited for his command.

"Go!"

The moment he said those words, the ground of scuffed shinobi burst around the corner and dashed towards the mine with bloody weapons in their hands.

Kameko saw Anko and Ito fighting against three guards who had surrounded her and Ito. Kameko was overcome with worry momentarily before steeling her heart and focusing on her task.

As they approached the mine entrance, a couple of enemies stepped out. At the front of the group, Takuma weaved quick hand seals before spitting out a torrent of water that startled the enemy group. Kameko and the rest took advantage of the successful water ninjutsu and charged the enemy group.

In the chaos of battle, Kameko slipped into the mine. She noticed how Ito's genin weren't very keen on following after her out of fear of who was inside. What if there were injured chunin still capable of combat—they could also quickly be outnumbered by a number of genin so their hesitance was understandable. The fear of unknown was strong, and this was Team-9's mission, they didn't feel particularly

Takuma, however, kicked one of the enemies down the wall before rushing inside after Kameko.

"The moment you see them, throw the kunai," he whispered to her.

"Understood," she whispered.

It only took a few seconds of running until they saw a makeshift camp. There were a few injured shinobi with iryo-nin working on them. The scent of disinfectant mixed in with the smell of blood and the cave's natural earthen dampness and lingered in the air. However, the camp wasn't as defenseless as Takuma's plan suggested. It seemed that the sound of fighting and rushed footsteps had alerted the camp, and they were ready.

Unfortunately for them, Kameko and Takuma weren't looking for close combat. They took out their explosive-tag-equipped-kunai and immediately threw them towards the camp. The able-bodied people and the iryo-nin tried to run further into the mine. The tags exploded faster than they could move and caught those who tried to run. Takuma moved further inside and threw a few kunai deeper into the mine, setting off more explosions.

Kameko followed his example and did the same. But then, as she was about to follow Takuma, she caught the mine's craggy roof sinking inwards, releasing a dusty shower. She gasped in realization and yanked on the back of Takuma's collar. And this time, she didn't stop until she had his attention.

"What?" he asked, utterly surprised.

"It's going to collapse! We have to leave!" Kameko urged, going as far as to drag him with her. He tried to ask the specifics, and she just pointed at the top at the cracks and crevices.

Takuma looked up at the ceiling, and, at that moment, a big chunk of rock fell just a few feet away from him. He didn't need to be told anymore and ran out with her. But as they ran out, Kameko noticed Takuma throwing tagged kunai into the wooden beams that were reinforcing the collapsing ceiling.

He was trying to make the mine collapse faster.

"Fuck you, Takuma!" she cursed and ran faster.

A string of explosions erupted behind them. Kameko could feel the heat and force behind her back as they exited the mine, which had collapsed behind them, completely blocking the entrance.

Kameko looked at Takuma in shock.

And then the madman had the gall to say something other than an apology.

"I think we can count them out," said Takuma.

There was a possibility that the innermost portion of the mine hadn't collapsed and there were survivors—but they had meters of rocks in their way to escape. They could get out, but they would either have to dig out by hand or risk using powerful ninjutsu that could trigger a collapse.

Whatever the case, she realized that Takuma was right.

The enemy's iryo-nin were not a problem anymore.

———

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Chapitre 205: CH_6.34 (205)

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———

While Takuma was lugging himself across the battlefield, trying to get himself to an iryo-nin to get himself healed, in another part of the battlefield, two opposing jonin faced each other.

"I didn't think I would meet you here, 'rainy cloud' Ogata." Toridasu smiled at the bear-bellied man while he fanned himself gently with his folding fan. "I didn't know the Hidden Cloud was involved in this war. I must say, I'm unpleasantly surprised to see someone like you."

Ogata of the Hidden Cloud was a large and hairy man with a wide frame, big, meaty arms and legs, and a broad torso. He had been a resident of the top-level Bingo Books issued by villages other than the Hidden Cloud. There was a large bounty on the accomplished jonin's head and no one wanted him alive.

Ogata scratched his scruffy beard. "Color me surprised to see your bald head here. This isn't a place for old bones like yours; go home and have your nanny tuck you in. I don't want to be accused of abusing the elderly."

Toridasu laughed behind his elaborate folding fan with metal tips. "But I'm not here, Ogata. None of us are," he said. "And you are going to be nowhere after today."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Ogata sighed as though finding the conversation utterly dull. He had a heavy gauntlet around his left hand, and he put on another on his right hand as he exchanged words with Toridasu. "You made a mistake coming here, old man. All of your men will perish here because of that. Worry not, I will give all of you a proper burial. Unlike you Hidden Leaf folk, we are honorable people."

The two jonin stood facing each other with bloody chaos around them. Dozens of shinobi from each side fought around them, but no one dared to approach the two men, leaving a wide berth for their own sakes.

"Really? Kidnapping a toddler from her home to steal her bloodline is honorable?" Toridasu shot back.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. All I know is that you people killed one of ours on the day we visited your filthy village to sign a peace treaty conference," Ogata said in counter.

The infamous incident, now known as the Hyuga Affair, was an episode between the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Cloud, who were in conflict with each other. However, because of the prolonged fighting, the two villages sought to end it and came to a mutual decision to cease fire and sign a peace treaty. Both villages sent an envoy each to the other village.

However, the treaty was soon revealed to be nothing more than a cover when the Hidden Cloud envoy in the Hidden Leaf village kidnapped Hyuga Hinata, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan head, Hyuga Hiashi, on her third birthday. The envoy was killed during the attempt by Hiashi before he could leave the village with the little girl.

However, the Hidden Cloud denied all accusations of the kidnapping, and demanded the body of Hiashi as compensation for the death of their envoy as per the stipulations of the signed peace treaty.

Ultimately, the Hidden Leaf conceded as they didn't want to break the peace treaty. The Hidden Leaf had suffered from the Nine Tail incident a few years prior and desperately needed time to recover. The continuance of the war with the Hidden Cloud would only drain the village's already dwindling resources, and the Daimyo had tightened his purses.

The Hidden Leaf village sent the body of Hyuga Hiashi to the Hidden Cloud, but everyone involved knew that the Hidden Leaf had sent Hyuga Hizashi, Hiashi's identical twin brother, instead. The Hidden Cloud didn't say anything—rather, they couldn't. They too wanted peace, and it didn't matter whose body they got; they weren't getting anything of use because the Hyuga's cursed seal rid the body of all the Byakugan secrets—and anything else would be removed surgically before the body was sent out.

Toridasu snapped his fan shut, and the landscape changed drastically. The wet, muddy ground cracked, and bubbling lava flowed from between the gaps below. A series of cracks appeared around Ogata, and harsh lava in the shape of large monster claws snapped towards him. They grasped at the empty air with Ogata nowhere to be seen. The large man was much faster than his heavy frame suggested and shot forward Toridasu like a whistling arrow.

The cracks in the earth deepened and more lava burst to the surface. A dozen more claws burst forth, grabbing for Ogata, who evaded with agility and precision beyond what his frame suggested. More than his physical prowess, his mind was more impressive as he calculated the locations of a dozen moving lines on the fly.

He finished his hand seals and stomped his foot on the ground that cracked under his force. Cobalt sparks crackled around his leg before the stomp forced the concentrated lightning into the ground. There was a split second of silence before the earth groaned. Chunks of earth were sent hurtling in every direction and the cracks widened, and the ground shook as though struck by a mid magnitude earthquake. The lands shifted, displacing in every direction, making the cracks bigger. The lava surged, engulfing the claws in wide pillars that roared angrily.

They were on the same plane at the start of the fight, but Ogata's stomp had altered the landscape through pure force that resembled natural calamities. He looked down at Toridasu from a height and weaved hand seals with his metal-gloved fingers. His gauntlet-covered fingers sparked but just as he was about to leap toward Toridasu, the fiery claws burst out of the pillars—dripping and brighter than before— to surround him from all directions, jumping at him akin to starving wild wolves.

Ogata changed direction in the blink of an eye and leaped up high in the air to avoid certain death and looked down at Toridasu's smiling face.

"Aye, you tricky old bastard," Ogata scoffed.

The false world around him, constructed by genjutsu, shattered, and in the next moment, he was standing in front of Toridasu, taking a step forward. Toridasu looked surprised before taking a step back and standing upright.

"So there is a tiny bit of brain behind all that brawn," he said.

"I think it's good to have that tiny amount; it means there's less for your kind to play around with," said Ogata.

The two jonin smiled at each other and simultaneously flew through hand seals. Ogata finished first, a second earlier than Toridasu. A spark of lightning rose up into the air before the arcs and currents grew until a humongous lion made up of lightning stood behind Ogata. When Toridasu finished, he moved his hands apart for a growing ball of fire to mold itself into a bird akin to a phoenix.

As the lion roared and thrashed, jumping towards Toridasu, the tiny phoenix flew into the lightning lion and ballooned from within it. The two ninjutsu melded together, creating a dangerous flux of high volumes of chakra and a kaleidoscope of flashing light and color before resulting in an explosion that disrupted more than half the battlefield.

When the dust settled, the two jonin, who were deep in the blast's territory, hadn't moved an inch from their spaces. Toridasu was covered in a deep shroud of gentle winds while Ogata had erected a dome of chained lightning that snapped angrily.

Ogata dropped his defensive jutsu first and immediately went on the offensive. He appeared before Toridasu and punched the wind envelope. A crackle of lightning sparked around the wind before lighting lit up the surface. Within a moment, the wind defense broke down, already weakened thanks to the explosion the two had caused.

"Get hit by my honorable fist, old timer," Ogata roared in laughter.

Ogata smashed Toridasu with a lightning-charged gauntlet but it passed through Toridasu as though he were an illusion. A cold chill shuddered down Ogata's back, and he turned to see Toridasu hurling gouts of sweeping fire in his direction—but in the exact moment before they collided against him, Ogata flexed his chakra and the fires vanished, but the danger wasn't over. Toridasu vanished in the distance and appeared beside him with a different, fully metal, folding fan in his hand. Ogata sensed chakra flowing through that metal.

At the last moment, Ogata brought his other arm up to block the sharp edges of the folding fan with his gauntlet. The two metal weapons screeched and scratched against each other as both jonin channeled their strength through the instruments, putting their best behind them.

"Your little tricks are annoying, old geezer," Ogata spat. "Why not face me like a man?"

Toridasu beamed, taking Ogata's words as praise. "Treating genjutsu as tricks in this day and age? What an old-fashioned belief. I worry about the Hidden Cloud's future if they let someone like you crawl up to jonin."

Ogata snarled the beginnings of a response but was cut off by an ear-shattering explosion in another part of the battlefield. He and Toridasu briefly turned part of their attention to see a cluster of fire—large enough to see from where they were—crashing into the side of the pit, causing a wide-spread landslides.

"Worried about your friend?" Ogata asked.

Toridasu shook his head. "My colleague is a proud jonin from my village. He will never be in danger against mere Hidden Frost jonin. These little Hidden Villages have no standards—they allow anyone to become jonin, as I'm sure you're aware."

The snide-mockery against the Hidden Cloud was not hidden in his tone or voice.

While Toridasu and Ogata were fighting each other, Shirakumo was fighting two Hidden Frost jonin alone.

"He can take care of himself," Toridasu continued. "You worry about yourself… You're bleeding, you know."

Ogata looked down at his body and saw that he was bleeding from his lower abdomen above his thigh.

"This is a genjutsu," he scoffed and disrupted his chakra to lift the genjutsu.

Ogata felt the genjutsu shatter. However, his eyes widened when the wound didn't appear, and instead, two more injuries—shoulder and calf—made themselves known to him.

'D-Did he place a genjutsu on me so that I would not notice my injuries, so I would continue fighting?' Ogata thought.

"Are you thinking that I hid your injuries with genjutsu?" Toridasu's words snapped Ogata out of his thoughts. The smile on Toridasu's face grew as he said, "Or maybe these injuries are genjutsu to deceive you into thinking that you're injured."

Ogata once again disrupted his chakra.

Toridasu laughed, full of amusement. "Are you trying to break the genjutsu? Maybe it's not genjutsu, and this is reality. Or maybe every time you try to lift the genjutsu, it's not you, but me tricking you into thinking that you disrupted your chakra? Try it again; perhaps it will work this time," he chuckled.

Ogata felt a distinct fear settle into his heart as he disrupted his chakra. Once again, he felt the genjutsu shatter, but nothing changed. The wounds on his body remained and Toridasu still stood in front of him laughing.

"And so… are you in a genjutsu, or are you not? What is real and what is not?" Toridasu asked. His lips then flattened, and his voice dropped a few notes into a menacing laughter that echoed in Ogata's ears, "This thing you call a trick will kill you today, my thick-skulled foe."

———

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