章節 48: Chapter 48: Encounter
As we stood on the edge of the forest overlooking the lake, we watched as a large group of women exited the forest a long distance away from us, carrying many animal corpses as they made their way back to the village.
"That's quite the haul... All that meat could feed over two, maybe three dozen people for a week..."
Hearing Anko, I nodded in agreement.
There were six corpses being carried back, each one needing three or four people to transport it, and considering they were almost three times larger than normal animals, they could easily feed many people.
"Of course, we don't know how many people live in that village, nor if the food consumption is larger due to their higher average strengths. After all, shinobi require more nutrition than a normal person, but usually not by a lot."
Kurenai also made a good point, making me sigh.
"Unlike a normal shinobi village, we can't exactly infiltrate it using Henge... which means we either scale the wall or just ignore it altogether. After all, the outpost was discovered..."
Anko and Kurenai nodded, looking at the village with narrowed eyes.
"Why don't we just ignore it? We're so deep in potentially hostile territory, and we know nothing about these people. Let's just grab some animals, watch from afar, before going home."
I looked over at Anko, nodding. This was turning into more of a risky mission with every passing second.
Animals that had tough hides and ability to use chakra.
A village filled with who knows how many people, with the only encounter we had being a small squad of Chunin girls and a Jonin woman.
Not only that, but if the Hawk was to be trusted, these people had access to summons as well, which were much more dangerous than the wild animals. After all, they had better chakra control and had a much higher intelligence.
"Alright, lets make our way to the other side of the lake. I want to see if I can find that buck..."
After seeing Anko and Kurenai nod at that, I made my way to the left, away from the village, keeping to the tree line.
Surprisingly, few animals ventured out to the lakeside, preferring to stay at the few small rivers and streams that branched off from the lake instead.
As we traveled we saw many different animals, with the most impressive being a large wolf with crimson fur, a bear with deep blue fur, and a large snake that was coiled around the trunk of a tree.
All three had looked towards us, their eyes narrowing slightly before turning away, ignoring us.
Each time we held our breaths, praying they would ignore us, and breathing sighs of relief when they did. However, we noticed that if we stayed for too long they moved towards us, their chakra fluctuating slightly as a warning.
Reaching the other side of the lake, we looked towards the village, noticing that their was no dock or pier, and that the villagers didn't seem to interested in traveling over the water.
After making sure no one was nearby, we continued deeper into the forest. The trees and brush quickly thickened, and we noticed that the animal population was growing steadily as well.
I kept my eyes out for any deer, hoping to be able to find it quickly, however like any hunt it seemed like I would require a large amount of patience to be able to locate it.
As we explored the forest, we found a large clearing, roughly thirty or so feet wide with a small pool in the center. Scattered around the clearing were boulders overgrown with moss and lichens, and various herbs sprouted from the forest floor.
Stopping at the edge, I extended my senses, trying to see if anything was nearby.
Nothing.
"Do either of you sense anything?"
Hearing my whisper, Anko flicked out her tongue while Kurenai looked around. Moments later, they both shook their heads.
Frowning, I silently dropped lower, taking a loose leaf used my wind chakra to float it into the clearing.
I watched as it gently swayed in the air, going deeper and deeper into the clearing until it landed in the pool.
After landing, it floated in the water, and I waited and waited, only for nothing to happen.
As I climbed back up to Anko and Kurenai, I watched their eyes widen as they stared into the clearing. Turning, I almost slipped off the branch.
Rising from the pool was a woman with pale green skin, her long black hair slowly filling the pool. As she rose, a breeze blew through the clearing, sending the grass and herbs rustling.
Her hair covered her eyes, but as she held the leaf up in her hand we watched as she gently brushed her hair aside, looking straight at us.
A singular black eye stared at us, an unblinking void.
Taking the leaf, the woman let her hail fall back before slowly lowering herself into the water, her hair sinking until only clear, crystal blue water remained.
Even after the woman had disappeared, we stood rooted to the spot, shaking.
The amount of pressure she had exuded was immense, and it felt like we were standing in front of someone stronger, and older, than the Third Hokage.
Taking a shaky breath, I quickly pinched both Anko and Kurenai before turning and jumping away from the clearing.
After getting a good distance away, we went further up into the trees before collapsing on a branch, panting.
"What in the name of the Sage WAS that?! A demon? How could something like that EXIST?!"
Hearing Anko's voice, I shook my head, still to shocked to speak.
"It radiated such... evil as well..."
Kurenai's voice was small, and I saw her ruby eyes were shaking as she looked at her clenched fists.
We took a few moments to rest, eventually calming our nerves.
"If the forest is filled with... creatures like that... hell, we should probably go back to the true edge of the forest... grab a few animals and get back to Konoha..."
Both my girls nodded, still shaken up from the encounter.
To see some... creature... that was stronger than the current God of Shinobi?
My heart felt like it could burst.
Getting to my feet, I looked up towards the sun, positioning myself accordingly and heading east.
Anko and Kurenai were right beside me, and we eventually reached the lake again.
"Do you think the reason they don't dare to travers the lake is because something like that thing lives in the depths?"
Hearing Anko's theory, I shrugged.
"Most likely. If not a creature like that, then probably some strong fish or aquatic animal lives in the depths."
We all fell silent, before resuming our journey towards the forests edge.
Reaching the river, we were making good progress when we heard a shout.
Turning, we all paled when we saw a group of women chasing us, weapons in hand as they nimbly jumped between the trees.
Before we could react, we had been surrounded, each woman releasing Jonin level chakra.
Stepping forwards, the woman with the most tattoos leveled her spear at us, growling as she spoke.
"Why have you come, outsiders?"
Her voice was low and guttural, and when we didn't answer quickly she coated her spear tip in water and wind chakra.
Thrusting it towards the tree next to us, we blanched as the chakra flew off the spear, before carving a deep gouge in the tree trunk.
"I will not ask again, outsiders. Why are you here?"
I swallowed, looking between Anko and Kurenai.
Seeing them biting their lips as they returned my gaze, we heard the woman snarl before shouting "Etane! Detain them!"
Another woman stepped forwards, her eyes flashing a cold blue before...
My vision tunneled, and I heard two thumps behind me. Running chakra through my body, I tried to resist the Genjutsu, just for the woman called Etane to jump to my branch, chuckling as she jabbed her fist towards my skull.
I fell to the ground, darkness shrouding my vision.
---
Ahem...
So...
Look forward to next chapter, yeah?
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