บท 33: Desperate Struggle
"AMBUSH!"
That one word summarized everything.
Souei knew that whatever this was did not involve Konoha at all, because his Hyuga opponent also looked surprised at the sudden turn of events.
It was only pure luck and their unique powers that allowed them to survive the first sudden attack.
Souei had limited his use of Seismic Sense all throughout the battle to preserve his chakra. He learned his lesson since last time, in the previous battles in the Land of Stone, he activated the ability with each and every step. Although useful in painting the battlefield around him into his mind's eye, the chakra it took to constantly fuel it was too much.
So now, he instead would activate it in even intervals of ten seconds. Enough to allow him knowledge of everything around him, but also sparingly enough to prevent over extended chakra use.
It was when he pulsed his chakra to the ground that he noticed the slight shift in the earth beneath him. A foreign chakra had seeped into the earth, one he noticed belonged to an Iwa Shinobi.
Because only an Iwa shinobi could manipulate earth to that degree. Not even Ishito Sensei could do so.
He saw how the Hyuga ninja also noticed the same thing with his Byakugan. They both wasted no time in jumping up to dodge whatever technique that was coming. It took them both by surprise when a massive wall of earth covered the entire battle field in a square. It was so huge that it towered over the outpost they were supposed to protect.
Their shock rose up even higher when a veritable crack in the earth appeared and swallowed hundreds of shinobi from both sides before closing shut.
Hiashi himself looked mournful, and that was when Souei noticed that his twin brother's body must have been swallowed up by the chasm. 'He must've missed the chance to grab the corpse. Poor guy.'
Putting the thought of the Konoha Shinobi out of his mind, Souei's mind ran a mile a minute. He gritted his teeth at the slaughter happening right in front of his eyes as squads of Iwa Ninja started to appear left and right, killing any of the survivors.
The only thing he could do right now is to save as many people as he can while making his way towards Aunt Chiyo, the leader of their contingent here in the field.
Easier said than done, considering his right arm and left leg still felt numb, but he could make do.
One of the main highlights of the Thread Release is that it allows him to conjure strings from any part of his body, not just his fingers. So to Souei, mobility is never an issue.
Strings immediately extended from his body towards the surrounding landscape, connecting to all kinds of rocks and boulders as he's now held up in the air. He pulled back his spider legs, only to notice there were only three left now.
'Right, one of them was stuck in that Hyuga ninja's leg when he got swallowed.'
Sighing at the loss of one of his prized creations, Souei conjured more strings to pick up the survivors that he could see. Thin threads, barely visible under the moonlight, flew towards all the Suna Shinobi. Picking them up from their individual fights as most if not all found themselves surrounded by Iwa or Konoha Ninja.
"Souei!"
"Thanks for the save!"
He ignored his allies' cries of gratitude as he continued on his way, flying through the air with his allies towards the hill he knew Aunt Chiyo was on.
Plenty of the enemies on the ground tried to stop him, balls of mud and rock spears being sent to the air to try and skewer him out of the sky.
But the Suna shinobi he picked up ran interference, unleashing all kinds of techniques to protect Souei. Any that passed through their defenses, Souei simply redirected back with his strings.
Far in the distance, Souei could make out a gargantuan snake being summoned. 'Must be a summons of some kind.'
Souei then knew the allegiance of said snake when it annihilated a squadron of Iwa ninja. 'Snake summons from Konoha, must be Orochimaru then. The guy Rasa said was part of the Sannin. He's here too?'
Knowing he was here was both something to be glad and worried about. He would prove to be a devastating enemy to the Iwa ninja sure, but the same could be said for their own forces.
"Souei!"
Aunt Chiyo's voice greeted them as Souei landed with the rest of the people he managed to bring with him on the hill. He stumbled a bit as his balance was still wonky from the paralysis, but he could feel the effects starting to wane.
It seems that Chiyo had created a pseudo safety zone, with her four puppets guarding the perimeters at the peak of the hill; it served as a location where all of the remaining forces could rally.
"Damn Iwa scum! How did no one from our side or Konoha manage to detect this ambush?! Those tree huggers have the Byakugan don't they?!" An irate suna Jonin screamed, voicing all of our thoughts. Seriously, this ambush was unprecedented. Over three-quarters of their forces are gone, either died in the earlier fights against Konoha, or swallowed up by Iwa's opening move.
"Chiyo-sama, your orders?" Another more level-headed ninja asked his aunt that got all of them to look at their current leader.
Chiyo's eyes narrowed as they trained on the current slaughter happening at the center field. All over the land and even in the outpost, the still fresh Iwa forces are finishing off any and all survivors from Suna and Konoha like fishes in a barrel.
"We escape. Everyone pair up and work as a unit. Suffice to say, the outpost is lost. Sound up the horn so everyone remaining knows to retreat." She started, her face stoic even at the worst of circumstances. "Souei, you're with me. Tsumari, do something about that wall. Everyone else, run interference, protect each other and buy time for our forces to escape."
Everyone leapt into action the moment Chiyo gave her orders. Souei saw how a woman with orange hair, Tsumari, nodded at the order before unleashing orbs of fire that glowed a bright orange and released an intense amount of heat towards the wall closest to them.
"Scorch Style: Extremely Steaming Murder!"
Souei noticed how the explosion barely dented the wall as he followed closely behind his aunt. Her puppets already lashing out at the closest group of enemies in front of them, skewering them before they could react.
At this point, his numbness had gone to the point he could move somewhat normally. But he still couldn't manipulate chakra properly from those limbs. Still, he's far from helpless in this state.
He gathered his chakra and rained sharp strings with his still usable hand, pinning them down long enough for his aunt's puppets to finish them off. Right now, they need to conserve as much chakra as possible. But Chiyo has more of a leeway since she has higher reserves than him.
What followed after could be akin to a bloodbath and complete pandemonium. Unlike the fights he's experienced before, the one here seemed to just never end. Droves and droves of shinobi just kept coming in their attempt to kill them all and none of them were given a chance to breathe.
An explosion marked another of Tsumari's attempts to punch a hole through the wall which again ended in failure. Another huge rumble made Souei whip his head around to find the source of the noise, there in the distance he saw the giant snake earlier break through one of the walls on the other side.
Everything passed by in a blur as Chiyo and Souei were steadily forced to use bigger and bigger jutsu's in order to handle the assault. There's no time to think, no time to act other than survive. Habits honed from countless training sessions kicked in and he felt his body just move on autopilot.
It was after he shot another cluster of strings did he catch a small breather. Without further ado, he used the brief respite to activate one of his techniques. One that he had tried his best to hone, but felt not yet ready to be put in the field. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
"Thread Release: Parasite"
Strings extended from his fingers that connected to the spines of a few Iwa Shinobi. All who were affected immediately froze, as they completely lost control of their own bodies.
Sweat poured from Souei's head as he could feel the strain from taking over established ninja. With his reduced chakra reserves and having only one usable arm for techniques, Souei could only control the bodies of three Iwa Ninja.
But it was enough. Because the shock of having their own allies attack them was a move that severely struck the morale of the Iwa forces.
One who wore a standard Iwa uniform, a red outfit with one sleeve and a brown flak jacket, screamed as he stabbed the neck of his friend with a kunai.
"W-What's happening?!"
Another one who was a blonde woman, who had covered her hands with solid rock, bashed the head of another iwa ninja, sending him to the ground. She kept on punching until the body beneath her turned to an unrecognizable pulp.
"NO!"
One of the other ones he controlled was a big burly man, with muscles rippling all over his body. His body visibly strained as he picked up his ally beside him by the throat and crushed it.
Everyone watched what happened with eyes wide in shock. The fight found a momentary pause as they all saw the massacre happen. The Suna shinobi however cheered at the sight, their spirits renewed, especially once they realized that their resident blue-haired prodigy was the source of it.
Chiyo just shook her head in fondness and disbelief as she used the time to pull back her puppets. 'I can't believe he did it.'
Souei moved his fingers intricately, the reactions to his personal technique ignored now that he finally decided to show it to the world.
Chiyo took the chance to unleash a devastating storm of poison. All four puppets breathed out a massive cloud of venomous fog to act as a smokescreen. It also helps by the fact it created a pseudo barrier that deterred the iwa ninja from passing through.
"Good job, Souei." Chiyo complimented before taking a quick look behind her. It seems that Tsumari had finally succeeded in breaking down a large section of the titanic wall blocking their escape route. Most of their remaining forces started gradually pulling away from the battle.
"Are we pulling back too?" Souei asked, exhaustion clear on his face. He kept panting hard as he tried his best to control the three Iwa ninja and cover their flanks.
"Yes, it's time to retreat." Chiyo agreed as Souei followed her lead and started to make their way out of the battlefield. Chiyo's wooden, and his human puppets covering their retreat.
It was when they were getting close to the hole in the wall when Chiyo's instincts screamed at her. She grabbed Souei by the back of his shirt and did the hastiest shunshin she was capable of.
When they reemerged, all that greeted them was an empty and circular hole where the land once was, as if someone had gouged and erased everything within it.
Souei showed open shock at the wanton destruction. The only thing that came close was the crater caused by Han back in Kamino.
"The Dust Release. So he's here…" Chiyo said in a resigned tone.
"Who?"
"Not many shinobi can fly, and there's only one person in existence who's capable of doing this. The Fence Sitter, Ohnoki. The Tsuchikage"
They both looked up at the sky to see a short and stout man wearing a split apart green coat divided into four sections with yellow trimmings, and a red collar. He just stood in the air, with his arms extended. Looking down at the remains of his jutsu.
They both saw him building up another large amount of chakra, and Souei and Chiyo were forced to dodge to different sides just as a white beam of light struck the ground between them. That same piece of ground now nothing more than a circular hole of nothingness.
But as Souei landed on his feet, he sensed a bigger threat lying in wait just below them, as his Seismic Sense detected another presence near them.
"Below us!"
Molten lava erupted beneath them like a fiery volcano. Souei didn't have time to see what happened to his aunt as he was forced to conjure strings and levitate up in the air. He immediately noticed the lava coated figure shooting towards him like a comet.
Souei tried creating strings in his path, but they simply burned off the moment the man came into distance. It didn't stop his charge a single bit. This must be Roshi, the Yonbi Jinchuuriki.
He could hear the clacking of Aunt Chiyo's puppets in the distance, telling him that she was still alive. But the deadly beams of white light were still sniping at her from the skies and he could do nothing but place his trust in her that she'll be alright.
He couldn't spare her and the least bit of attention anymore towards her or the Tsuchikage. He has his own opponent to deal with. The thought of fighting a jinchuriki genuinely filled him with dread, considering his last experience with one of Roshi's kind. But he immediately shoved that feeling to the deepest box in his mind and locked it. He couldn't afford any distractions.
According to the massive amounts of heat emanating from Roshi, any strings he could conjure would burn up immediately. Fire chakra would also most likely do nothing.
So Souei sent his spider legs at the man to try and distract him while he tried to think of something, anything.
He then summoned a few string clones to try and further grab his attention. He needs all the advantages he could get right now.
A stream of flames suddenly blanketed the sky that forced him to return back to the ground. He then immediately jumped away as a lava coated fist crashed down on his previous position, he hissed as the debris and shrapnel from the strike dug into his skin.
That was when the owner of the fist appeared from the dust and smoke. He wore a long-sleeved magenta kimono shirt and pants along with a brown breastplate. Looking behind him, Souei saw the melted remains of his golden spider legs and burnt up bundles of string that definitely used to be his clones.
It seems that Roshi had entered his infamous Lava Release Chakra Mode, one tail of chakra jutting out from his back that told Souei exactly where he got this power. Iwa really was pulling all the stops here.
"Sorry about this kid, it's nothing personal." His would be killer said as he launched boulders of magma at his location that forced him to dart around the battlefield and dodge.
He barely skirted around them, his reserves already dipping into dangerous levels as he utilized his strings to pull him to the sides. They barely appeared for half a second before completely burning up.
But the definite worst of it all was the heat. Souei landed roughly on his knees after another attempt to dodge a lava meteor before he wiped his forehead, his sweat pooling around him as he forced himself to dodge yet again from a large flaming boulder coming in his direction.
"You're a slippery one, that's for sure." Roshi snorted as he watched the boy's attempts at dodging. "No hard feelings, kid. Just doing my job is all."
Souei panted in exhaustion as he felt the last of his energy leave him. He was sitting on his last legs and he felt desperation creep inside him for the first time in his life. His body was covered in second degree burns, his left leg and right hand still incapable of molding chakra.
For the first time in 14 years he's been in this world, Souei Matsuri feared for his life.
'Am I…gonna die..?'
______________________________________
AN: Yikes, looks like things aren't looking good. This chapter was FUN to write. Souei has had a pretty lowkey time so far in his ninja career. But now he's faced with severely overwhelming challenges. And trust me, things will only get worse from here.
I hoped you liked that bit with Parasite. I can't wait for the day he's able to force an army to kill each other.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Advanced chapters on my pat_reon page! Make sure to check it out! You could read up to chapter 36 by the time this was posted.
Leave a review and some power stones! I'll drop an extra chapter if we manage to get 100 stones by the end of the week.
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