Red Riot - Chapter 43 - Red Wolves (Patreon)

Matsu Uzumaki:- Jonin of Kirigakure. Medical/Taijutsu/Ninjutsu/Sensory speciality. Chief Medical Officer of the Kiri Medical Program

Gengetsu Hozuki:- The second Mizukage and trickster Lord of Kirigakure. Master of Illusions and torment. Defeated Mu, the Second Tsuchikage in combat. Lost his left arm and left leg in the fight. Matsu healed him.

Hanahime Terumi:- Genin of Kirigakure and member of the Terumi Clan. Daughter of Nezda Terumi. Matsu’s ally during his years in the Academy. Led the Terumi contingent. Upon the success of the Red Graduation, she was ordered to kill the weakest shinobi in their respective groups. She had to kill her cousin and best friend. She is now a trainee in the Kiri Medical Program’s first intake of students. 

Maka Inuzuka:- Jonin of Konoha and Leader of Squad Thirty-two. Tried to give her Genin some experience leading a mission only for things to escalate quickly beyond their scope.

Aoi:- Maka’s Ninken, a giant wolf-like dog. 

Kira Inuzuka:-Genin of Konoha. Has four ninken. Loud, and brash but looking to advance her career aspects.

Sumire Hyuga:- Genin of Konoha and a member of the Branch family in the Hyuga Clan. She was a participant in the Hotsprings Chunin Exams

Uroko Kurama:- Genin of Konoha, Genjutsu specialist as per her clan’s training. 

________________________

If I wanted to be cocky, I’d say something like they weren’t a threat to me. 

If I wanted to be nice, I could even approach them and challenge them for what they were doing so close to Kiri.

But both of those choices would end horribly.

It would just be me and Hanahime against a squad of Konoha nin. One of which would most likely be a Jonin.

From their chakra size, I knew that to be one of the Inuzuka, due to how they constantly gambolled around with the other ninken. They were too casual with their movements.

The five ninken were also a consideration with how they’d take some of my attention.

There was an unusual split going on here with either one of the Inuzuka having multiple partners, or what was more realistic which was that they both had multiple dog partners.

The other chakra signature was definitely a Hyuga.

I hadn’t said anyhting to Hanahime about it, but I actually recognised them from the Chunin Exams in Hot springs.

Sumire Hyuga, a girl my age who was trapped within a role by her clan. A branch member who bore the caged bird seal.

A seal that I potentially knew how to activate, thanks to the careless actions of one of her cousins during the war.

The last of the group was an unknown to me, but judging by the feel of their chakra, they were a genin. 

“So!” I turned to Hanahime, “How are your stealth skills?” I asked.

When she grimaced, I felt my heart sink a little. So, no close observation.

“Right, well, nothing beats learning in the field in a potentially life-threatening situation. Just be aware that there might be some reinforcements, or even potentially ANBU, around if these shinobi are in any way important,” I stated, heaping the pressure onto her.

She stiffened and glanced around. “Is that likely? And I thought that you were good enough to sense ANBU!”

“Whatever gave you that idea?” I responded, knowing that she likely had read a file on me. 

Post-graduation analysis of my actions leading up to it might have revealed that, but it was never a bad idea to obfuscate.

It was a habit that all shinobi needed. Even if most of the time it didn’t matter for anything, sometimes those small doubts on the validity of intel could make a world of difference.

With shinobi, you couldn’t work with certainty all that often. It was mostly abstracts, with a scope of possibilities.

Most of the situations where true certainty kicked in were only when you were facing an overwhelming force. 

Like one of the Sannin.

Who, I wasn’t sensing at the moment, but considering the trickery Jiraiya and Orochimaru displayed, I wasn’t putting it past Tsunade to be just as cunning.

Which was to say that I wasn’t about to go wipe out a group of foreign nin or try anything with them until it impacted me.

No need to borrow trouble.

I started to coach Hanahime on specifics of stealth and things she needed to account for, like how much chakra she was using, or where she stood in terms of being upwind or downwind of a target.

“We’re also going to have to get rid of our scent and make sure to leave no markings as we move,” I stated, leaning down to tighten any straps or bindings I had that might have loosened in the last few hours of running.

My student copied me and glanced around. “So, on top of keeping Konoha in our sights, we need to find the bandit camp, yes?”

“Indeed,” I replied. 

A howl went up, causing me to stiffen. That was fairly informative.

In my past life, I’d watched several documentaries on wolves, and all of them agreed that a wolf’s howl could travel great distances while conveying specific information.

What that would mean for a chakra-enhanced ninken I didn’t like to consider. 

Still, the Konoha group hadn’t moved from my sensory range. 

“Matsu?” Hanahime asked, shifting on the spot. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied, deciding honesty would be best in this situation. “Let’s just assume that they’re not alone out here.” 

That got Hanahime to glance around again. 

“Best practise those stealth techniques,” I suggested.

Hanahime swallowed loudly, earning herself a chuckle from me for how much this bothered her. Had she always been this nervous? 

“We have a general area to search for our bandits, so some things will be narrowed down, but let’s think about things rationally. Normal bandits are scrappy bunches that aren’t all that threatening. We’ve established that there is shinobi threat with Konoha, but I doubt they’d be acting so openly to work with a group of bandits.”

“They wouldn’t?” Hanahime asked.

“Nope, it’s bad for their name. If they’re impacting trade and word gets out, they might have issues with getting more missions from nobility in future. Which isn’t the same as saying shinobi can’t be involved, but it’s usually something they disguise themselves for or leave to ANBU. Who would, again, not announce themselves or their allegiance.”

“Right,” Hanahime said. “If they’re successful, then they must have sympathisers who make them harder to find. Locals, or ties with nobility.”

“Excellent!” I complimented. “So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to saunter into the town where the person who created the mission and let them know it’s being handled. What do you need to account for?” I probed.

Hanahime sighed. “Come on Matsu, we covered most of this in the Academy!” 

“Humour me, refreshers are good,” I replied easily.

“We watch the client— who in this case is a minor noble related to the Daimyo— for any reactions while also monitoring those around them for abnormal reactions. For that purpose in this situation, we’re going to be observing the client for a day to establish who they interact with and why. If any noticeable deviation occurs, we know something more is at play.”

“Textbook answer!” I complimented. 

We spoke through a few other variables, such as ways to make the client more at ease, which in this case required us to appear older than we were as civilians never understood that a child could be just as much a threat as an adult.

With her rattling out an acceptable plan we moved back a few kilometres before I created my clones for her to take away. 

She gave each of them a long look as they adopted various henges.

“Matsu… do you use these back at camp?” she asked.

It was hard not to smirk as realisation set in for her. She was starting to see behind the curtain. “Oh? Now and again,” I commented idly.

She stared at me, likely starting to understand a few oddities she’d encountered while back at base.

I waved her off with a flick of my fingers, and she shut her mouth and departed. With her occupied, I settled in to monitor the situation while staying between Konoha and Hanahime. 

This situated me within range to observe her as she slunk around, documenting the various goings on, only for her to settle down and begin a stakeout of our client.

Sometimes missions could be straightforward and exciting, like a story.

Other times, there was a lot of waiting around. 

I settled into my tree, hoping it would be the second situation, as the first would mean something had gone wrong. The worst part of this situation was that I couldn’t work on too many of my skills.

But that wasn’t the same as none of them.

With my sensing skills, I started to push myself to greater and greater acuity and range, wondering if I’d be able to work out when Sumire was using her byakugan.

I really hoped I didn’t have to kill the poor girl. She looked like she’d had a hard enough life.

Somehow, my gut told me that conflict was inevitable.

Time, as ever, would determine if I was right.

______________________

We got two days’ respite from Konoha making any moves.

During that time, they’d run around in the forest and trained a bit in formations and sparred, which seemed very odd to me. 

Why do this in a foreign nation? 

Unless they felt particularly safe…

Which raised all sorts of red flags in my mind.

The howling at night had also continued, which was enough to set me on edge. I slept only in small bursts and usually with a ring of clones around my position. 

Then their sensei had formed a water clone, which ran off before breaking apart for some reason. What game were they playing now?

Hanahime had just approached our client with my clones, henged as other shinobi. She was gathering intel on the mission and the client’s perspective when the Konoha group broke camp and began to move towards the town.

“Shit!” I cursed as I faded back, forming and dispersing a clone to keep Hanahime in the loop.

Four shinobi, five ninken…

If I wanted to, I could ruin their today and tomorrows for the rest of their lives if not stopping them outright.

A plan formed in my mind. Use the hiding like a mole jutsu, while a clone stalled them, use another clone to hit two of them with a Rasengan, then murder the ninken…

It was a bloody plan and would see them turned away. 

It got me nothing but dead bodies and more blood on my hands at best. 

For some in Kiri, that would be enough to start digging in, but I wanted more. 

For myself, and from myself.

So I disengaged, allowing myself to slip into town and henge as an older shinobi. Then I fell into a small out-of-the-way position overlooking the talk with our client.

Hanahime spotted me straight away, which earned her a nod while she started to watch other points of interest. I gave a light shake of my head, while flashing a handsign, indicating that we weren’t about to fight anyone.

Not if I could help it.

Tracking the Konoha team was relatively simple. They came straight to the front gates and announced themselves rather than slipping in. They caused a slight stir among the civilians with their ninken, and I heard a scream that carried on the wind.

The precise moment that Sumire activated her byakugan, I knew, observing through my Mind’s Eye of the Kagura how the nodes in her eyes lit up.

Then she went perfectly still.

Her companions all twitched, and their attention turned towards us.

For my part, I pretended like nothing was wrong, allowing them to march through the town and towards the manor’s guardhouse.

While they stepped up to the guards who barred their passage, I stepped out to make a show of observing them.

I was in perfect view of the entrance, and when the guards stopped the Konoha nin they all watched me more than the guards who questioned them.

Interestingly enough, while my eyes told me there were six ninken, my chakra senses informed me that there were only five, along with the fourth shinobi.

The ninken were all black and white, which told me less than nothing. 

What was more impressive was their size. The pups were already the size of medium-sized dogs from my past life, but they looked like they had a long way to go. 

The fully grown ninken stood at the guard’s chests, causing the guards to shift and track them warily. They were like wolves, and not the cute versions in cartoons. The proper, hunt you down in the dark of night kind.

The ‘sixth’ ninken was obviously their Jonin, and from watching the group interact with each other it was easy to determine. A henge is just an illusion that a shinobi needs to maintain.

For a proper shinobi, it wasn’t all that hard to see through it.

It did make me wonder if Kakashi ever pulled the same trick with his students in the story. Was Pakkun always the one leading the group around? Or Kakashi in disguise?

Or was this some Inuzuka specialised henge?

I nodded at the ninken, who was, in truth, the Jonin sensei disguised. Their nose twitched in annoyance before they bared their fangs in silent warning.

The Inuzuka Genin leading the group had the typical red markings under her eyes, while her hair was little more than a buzzcut.

Her nose twitched and she glanced up at me, only to bare her fangs. Both the student's and the teacher’s chakra had spiked towards the nose before they’d glanced at me, letting me know they’d done something.

Sumire Hyuga was much like she’d been at the chunin exams. She was wearing her clan’s typical robes with long hakama pants that would allow her to flow through her gentle fist formations. As her eyes locked on me her lips twitched upwards slightly. 

I could feel her chakra twitch towards her eyes, only to falter as she saw the way the guards flinched at any fast movements. 

She correctly guessed that activating her bloodline limit here would be inviting trouble.

Even if the guards didn’t stop her, I’d have to call her out on it, as I didn’t want her able to lip-read what Hanahime and our client were discussing.

I slipped Gengetsu’s anti-byakugan jutsu into her coils with barely a flex of my chakra, watching for any of the others to react.

If they did, I’d know if they were chakra sensors. None of them, not the genin or the hidden Jonin, or even the ninken reacted. 

Good.

Standing next to Sumire, was another kunoichi with hair that came down to her shoulders, with dark hair that held a few silver strands throughout, like she was going prematurely grey. 

Who was the mystery kunoichi?

“You can go through,” declared the gateguard, only to stiffen when they spotted me and realised they were in the middle of a shinobi stare down. 

They swallowed loudly.

The crewcut Inuzuka growled. “You‘re in our way!”

“Yes,” I replied blandly.

That pulled her up. It took her a moment to adjust to this situation. “Get out of our way! We have business with Lord Tsuki!” 

“As do we, and we were here first, so wait your turn. I’d rather not have any… incidents while we’re both on the job, but…” I held out an open hand in invitation. The implication that if they wanted to throw down, I’d be more than happy to hung in the air.

Crewcut stepped forward, and I let my hand slide to my kunai pouch.

They got as far as opening their mouth before the disguised Jonin emerged from their henge.

“That’s enough Kira!” she snapped, her long ponytail swishing over her shoulder while her hand reached out and snatched the genin back a few steps. 

She did all of that while keeping her eyes locked on me.

The guards, who’d been twitchy before, jerked in surprise. 

A moment later, they locked their spears onto the older kunoichi who had revealed herself. “H-halt!” they ordered.

“Urgh!” groaned the woman. “Knew trying to be clever with this was going to bite me in the ass.” She rubbed her forehead. “I’m Jonin Maka Inuzuka! She declared to the guards. 

They kept their spears fixed on her causing her to scowl, eyes still locked on me. “The Jonin for this team. I was trying to give my niece a chance at leading her team. I had nothing nefarious planned I assure you!”

“Says you shinobi!” snapped one of the guards. 

I hummed, watching as a runner departed to summon more guards, who were quick to arrive. A pair of them levelled their spears at me. I flicked my eyes to the Konoha team. 

“Wrong shinobi,” I informed them.

They blinked and half twitched their spears away, only to bring them back a moment later.

“W-we need to secure you all!” the young guard wailed. 

Hmmm, interesting. The household guard were all fresh-faced recruits, barely trained. That matched up with some of the information that we’d collected over the last few days.

The guards shouted commands at all of us, and whatever they were trying to convey was lost in the wake of all the noise. I wasn’t sure if they wanted me to stay where I was, get down, or back up. There might have been someone shouting for quiet, but it was lost over the sound of someone else hammering an alarm bell. 

It was so loud I felt a mild headache forming.

Luckily, I could sweep my brain with medically aligned chakra, getting rid of the issue.

The Konoha nin didn’t have any such benefits and looked thoroughly done with this situation, having barely gotten into it.

Jonin Maka rubbed her forehead in frustration, while Kira slumped like a puppy caught out. Sumire shifted nervously while the other girl just… stood there, like none of this bothered her.

Mildly concerning, but then again, shinobi cultivated weirdness, so not that unusual.

In fact, if I found her playing with a corpse using their organs, or writing in someone’s blood she’d only just be starting to edge into the ‘possibly’ unhinged/would-fit-in-Kiri.

I sighed as Hanahime and my clones followed the nobleman out to the front to see what the issue was. 

Hanahime stiffened upon seeing all the guards with their spears pointed at all of us.

Huh, weird how this just seemed like another day for me.

“Hmmm,” murmured a tall man wearing a robe with his torso exposed. “Guard Captain? What do we have here?” he asked, turning to one of the initial guardsmen.

The man stepped back and saluted his lord. “Sir! Konoha shinobi wished to speak with you but this Kiri nin told them to delay! Konoha nin took issue with that but before any fighting could break out, one of the dogs revealed themselves to be the lead Konoha nin! I was calling for order, but it was lost in the din, sir!”

Lord Tsuki nodded. “Yes, I heard that. And it’s my Lord, not Sir.”

The guardsman coughed and nodded, allowing Lord Tsuki to continue. “I think we’re going to have to run some more drills for this sort of situation in future,” he declared with a sigh.

Well, that explained why they weren’t currently using these men to root out the bandits. The guardsmen sucked and would probably cause more harm than good.

If I were a gambling man, the older, ‘veteran’ guards had been sent out on a policing action only to wind up dead.

Resulting in Lord Tsuki hiring us on while he replaced his armed forces.

“What business did you have with me Konoha nin?” asked Lord Tsuki.

Maka Inuzuka shot me a look. “If possible, we’d like to discuss it privately.”

“Hmmm, denied, you’ve created something of a spectacle, and I don’t have all day,” he replied with a hint of bite in his tone.

“I really must—”

Lord Tsuki raised his hand. “You will speak now! Or not at all!” he commanded imperiously.

Jonin Maka’s nostrils flared before she grimaced. “We… have a mission to investigate a… rumour surrounding the use of wolves as part of a fighting force. We’re worried that someone is impersonating Inuzuka clansmen!” she declared.

I whistled lowly. She would not have liked having to announce that. To a shinobi she was all but saying that they’d tracked a missing nin of their clan here and were investigating.

Still, odd that this wasn’t solely an Inuzuka mission, and that she’d allowed a genin to take lead, even if it was while hiding… The only reason I could think that they’d be here like this was if it was personal…

Ah, she’d said just investigation, hadn’t she? C rank at most depending on the skill level of the shinobi in question. Still well within a Genin’s remit.

Before I could conjure any more theories out of the limited information I had, Lord Tsuki smiled widely, like he’d just had a brilliant idea.

I already felt my hackles rising, and Maka Inuzuka must have felt the same as her eyes widened in worry right before Lord Tsuki said, “Well! That is fortunate! These Kiri Shinobi have been hired to deal with a group of bandits that have been utilising wolves. Perhaps you could join forces?” he said mildly.

“Fuck that!” snapped Kira Inuzuka.

Mara’s fist lashed out and thunked into her Genin’s skull, sending her sprawling. “My apologies, Lord Tsuki,” she said through gritted teeth. “My ni… Genin is still young and dumb,” she swallowed. “However… two groups such as ours don’t really work together. It’s bad for—”

Lord Tsuki raised his hand. “I’m sure you can be professional. As I see it, it serves both parties interests. You wouldn’t want Mist shinobi to be the ones to take in your charge, just as Leaf shinobi stealing a mission wouldn’t be their desire.”

He smiled, blandly. “Or is that going to be an issue that I should mention to my grandfather, the Daimyo?” he said.

Maka exhaled through her nostrils. “It won’t be a problem for us,” she stated, not wanting to cause issues with a ‘big fish’ like the daimyo of the country.

Lord Tsuki turned to Hanahime whom I’d allowed to take ‘lead’ on this mission. “Well Kiri?” 

Hanahime glanced at me before bowing her head. “It will not be an issue but we will be filing this as an A rank mission, seeing as the parameters which govern missions have advanced with known Shinobi involvement, Lord Tsuki.”

He clicked his tongue, and I shot her a nod, proud that she’d caught that. He was trying to get away with being cheap, but in doing so, he’d activated certain clauses in a standard agreement that allowed us to ask for more.

“Do we get any of that?” asked the girl who’d been standing at the back blandly.

“No,” Hanahime replied easily. “Your mission is something else.”

Lord Tsuki chuckled. “Well, it’s good to see you’re all getting along so well. The last known location of the bandits was the road to the east of here, where they were spotted occupying a village. That’s all we have heard in the last two weeks.” 

He flicked his fingers to the gate. “I’ll bid you good day. I’m sure you have other things to handle…elsewhere,” he said pointedly.

Wow, this guy was a bit of a bastard and far too sure of his safety. Being related to the Daimyo had not done him any favours. Still, he’d be worth watching, as a man who enjoyed a little power might get the idea that they’d enjoy a lot.

And he was related to the Daimyo. In some nobles’ minds, that meant they were merely a few ‘unfortunate’ accidents away from donning new headwear and living it up.

I locked eyes with Maka Inuzuka and splayed my hand to the side. “After you,” I offered blandly.

She inclined her head. “We’ll discuss our… plans elsewhere.”

Hanahime walked up to me and shook her head, indicating she hadn’t spotted anyone suddenly departing. I flashed her a sign that I’d keep the clones in position to monitor the situation while nodding. “Sounds good!” I replied to Jonin Maka while inwardly hating everything about this.

Fuck Lord Tsuki, give it a few months, and I'll be coming back and looting this place.

Hanahime and I followed the Konoha nin closely out of the town and into a nearby field where we could talk. We weren’t going to let them linger there and potentially set any traps, just like they didn’t want us to suddenly run off.

Jonin Maka made a show of sniffing the air and glancing around while her ninken shifted, chakra flooding the nose, ears and eyes. Her eyes flicked from me back to the town, aware that I’d left two behind. 

Hmmm, so she could tell that, but could she tell they were clones? They didn’t have scents initially so that might have flagged as odd to her. She must expect them to be reinforcements.

Kira Inuzuka shifted about, her face scrunched up as she glared at her sensei, then Sumire, only to settle on us as the ‘most dislikable’ group and therefore most justified in giving her ire to.

“So are we going to fight them?” she growled.

Maka didn’t even blink, she swatted her niece’s head. “Forgive her. She’s still a far too eager pup who doesn’t know any better.”

“Yeah, you get genin like that,” I replied easily. 

Kira growled at me even as her own ninken, all four of them, chuffed in laughter. 

Maka grunted. “Gonna drop the henge?” she asked.

I shrugged and let it fade, revealing that I was much shorter and younger than I appeared.

“Eh? You’re just a brat!” Kira shouted.

“Hmmm, so it seems,” I replied blandly, still watching Maka. “We going to have any issues?”

Maka shook her head. “I’m not going to try my hand at your bounty.” She flicked her eyes to Sumire. “Hope that’s alright with you Genin.”

Sumire shook her head. “No, that is fine I… don’t think I wish to risk it.”

Kira scowled. “You never do. I think that’s why you’re still a genin,” she grunted before glancing at me. “So who’re you?”

“That’s Matsu Uzumaki. Jonin of Kirigakure and a B ranked threat. He has an active bounty due to being in the vicinity of a mission involving a captured Hyuga thus the bounty,” Maka stated with a small nod to me. “Tough luck kid, usually you gotta really piss someone off to get a bounty.”

“Hmmm, I always thought of it as a sign of recognition rather than a burden,” I mused.

Maka barked a laugh. “Ha! Just wait until you cross paths with a Ronin! They’re so desperate for ryo they’ll take any mission! One against a kid? They’ll charge in and cause all sorts of problems for you, mark my words, it happens.”

“You’re probably correct,” I replied before tilting my head. “So…” I offered a hand. “Truce?”

Maka nodded. “Truce. We’ll operate under the first Hokage’s mandate.”

That got a scoff from Hanahime, which caused Kira to bare her teeth. “Something funny about that?”

“Just how ridiculous it is that you assign so much to your blessed First Hokage. The articles of Truce between ninja working a similar mission were something developed in Kiri!” she snapped back.

I made a show of rolling my eyes, which was actually just an illusion of me doing so, while sighing. “Yes, yes, both our First Hokage and Mizukage were wonderful people who got all the local shinobi to work together and all that, but for now let’s just agree that we’re together and not going to kill each other.”

Maka snorted. “Sounds good, I don’t like the thought of getting into a tussle with you.” Then her expression shifted into a smirk. “But I guess the same could be true for you neh?”

Around her, the ninken shifted, and I chuckled. “It would be rather bothersome,” I replied neutrally, not rising to the threat.

Inuzuka, such passionate people. 

Sumire shifted. “Uhmmm sensei, are we going to follow Lord Tsuki’s recommendation of heading east?” 

Right as she said it, a memory formed of one of my clones watching a servant scurrying out of the manor on an errand, they happened to slip into a house near the wall. A few moments later a pigeon soared up into the sky with a small message scroll on its leg.

I turned my head and observed said pigeon in the air. “About that,” I stated, eyes tracking the bird. “Think you can track that?” I suggested.

Maka smirked and snapped her fingers. “Genin Kira, take the lead! Genin Sumire, stay in front of me. Genin Uroko, on my left.” She glanced at me. “You good with travelling on my right?”

I merely nodded and joined her. As we ran, I flicked a message to Hanahime telling her to observe how the konoha nin moved through the trees and overland. 

I wasn’t going to be able to teach her like I’d planned, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t learn anything.

Honestly, I was hoping to pick up a trick or two.

As Sumire’s byakugan activated, I adjusted my illusion on her so she’d see what I wanted her to see. No need for her to see how my brain chakra nodes were almost constantly lit up these days.

While she was restricted, I had to watch out for the others. Just because we could learn from them didn’t mean the reverse wasn’t just as applicable.

Still, I counted it a win that we weren’t currently at each other's throats.

As long as we limit the time actually interacting with each other, we should be fine. Running along near each other was good enough to keep everyone focused forwards. 

It wasn’t like we were going to make camp any time soon with Konoha. We weren’t allied with them, and this wasn’t an extended mission where we had to be together.

Or at least it kept the Genin with their eyes forward.

Mana and her ninken, I noted, created a pair of earth clones that were shadowing us when we ran across a plain. It had been so smooth that if I weren’t a chakra sensor, I might have missed it.

I didn’t give any indication that I had noticed the trick, instead continuing to run along an easy pace thanks to keeping pace with a pigeon. 

We still ran through the night in a slightly east-northeast direction. 

None of the genin voiced a single complaint or asked for a break, instead leaving it to me or Maka to announce a break to our groups while one of the ninken continued to track the pigeon.

The breaks for food and water were tense affairs with us chomping down on ration bars or jerky in the Inuzuka’s cases while watching each other.

During one of the breaks, Maka’s Ninken sniffed the air for a while only to throw back its head and howl.

Hanahime and I both reached for kunai, which had Maka cuffing her dog. “Stop howling the moon you idiot!” she grunted.

Her ninken gave her a long glare but held its tongue. I suspected it was old enough as well as skilled enough to speak if it desired, but it chose to stay silent.

I also didn’t buy the story that her ninken was simply howling at the moon for a second.

When Maka had her earth clones circle us in the trees, and I knew Sumire’s byakugan wasn’t active, I created an illusion of a noise right underneath one of Maka’s clones, giving me a reason to look in that direction.

I gave them a slow look before glancing at Maka and raising a single eyebrow in question.

Did she want to try her luck? So much for her vaunted First Hokage’s Mandate.

Maka stared at me, searching my features, but I gave her nothing.

I’d stared down stronger nin than her and come out the other side.

Taking a long, slow bite of my rations, I continued to hold her gaze.

The genin started to notice, shifting in anticipation, and Uroko started to cycle her chakra.

The earth clones puffed away and Maka grimaced. “Just hedging my bets, can’t fault a woman for that,” she muttered.

“Hnn, I can actually,” I replied.

My response caused Uroko to snort. “He sounds a bit like an Uchiha grunting like that,” she whispered to Sumire. 

Maka sighed. “He can hear you clearly, Uroko,” she growled, causing the girl to cough. She shifted, and my eyes caught a small necklace with an emblem on it.

It resembled a feather above a curling tail. I flashed some discrete hand signs at Hanahime, and she responded with her own, informing me that Uroko was likely a Kurama clansman.

Hmmm, so high chances of being a genjutsu user then?

That almost made me smile. She’d been a threat before due to being an unknown, but a genjutsu user… well, they just didn’t frighten me.

Then again, that might be arrogance creeping in.

It wasn’t like I was about to tset myself against the strongest genjutsu users in the known world, even if a Mangekyo-wielding Uchiha was a rare find.

I stuttered my chakra and gave Hanahime the heads up before glancing towards where the pigeon had continued to fly, earning a nod from Maka as we broke away.

Just as the sun was starting to crest the horizon I detected something new.

A whole camp of people out in the wilds.

I gave no reaction, instead waiting until both Maka and her students perked up. 

“You detect something?” I prompted, playing up that I hadn’t been aware of the camp for the last few minutes.

Maka gave me a searching look. “Yes. We’re closing in on an encampment. We’re going to have to see if this is the bandits or a relay point.”

“Hnnn,” I repeated, earning another twitch from Uroko.

We closed in, and Maka turned to Sumire. “Alright, what can you tell us Genin?” she asked.

I tilted my head, considering the girl. She’d been able to detect the camp from two kilometres out, I was sure of it. She’d paused in her stride for half a second while activating her byakugan.

But they’d come within casual observation of the camp. From the treetops, I could observe the various comings and goings of the camp.

It didn’t even take all that long for me to work out that this was very much the bandit camp.

The chained-up workers and general conditions tipped their hand in that regard.

The less said about the state of the women in chains, the better.

The trees shifted about as we squatted in the branches, and I hummed. “How well trained are these wolves going to be?” I asked, tracking a leaf falling from the branches idly.

Maka worked her jaw, aware that it was a valid question but obviously not wanting to give away anything that might come back on her.

“Enough to be a threat, we’ll have to get the camp mapped out and then fall back over the hill,” she stated, indicating a far-off hill we’d passed twenty minutes ago.

A hill well over ten kilometres away.

Which made me suspect that the wolves could detect perhaps a third to half as far.

Sumire surprised me by kneeling on the branch and pulling out a pad of paper. With a set of charcoal pencils in her hands, she began to sketch shapes and markings onto the page. Within seconds, a rudimentary layout of the camp took shape. I glanced towards the camp before turning my gaze back to the map.

It was a damned good map.

She likely had a huge advantage with her bloodline limit, but that did nothing to diminish her skill as an artist. Her lines were straight and everything was wonderfully set out.

She didn’t have to make any corrections at all.

I observed her, finding it interesting that she was so focused in this. She was also smiling slightly. She had a light in her that was lacking in almost every other moment. Or perhaps it was that the other moments I’d seen her weren’t her?

Hmmm, interesting if nothing else.

With the map fully sketched out in a matter of minutes, our group was able to stand around a tree stump and take everything in.

Maka stabbed her finger at the centre of the map. “These here huts, along with the pens around them, house the ninken and our missing clansman.” She locked eyes with me. “Sumire has detected five wolves with chakra along with the missing nin. They are all at Genin level so not that much of a threat.”

I gestured at the indicated set of huts. “That is also a position that a Leader of a bandit group would claim. It seems our objectives truly overlap,” I mused.

Maka narrowed her eyes. “We need to be the ones to handle our missing nin, Water nin! Not you!”

I tilted my head to the side. “And we have a mission to wipe out this group. We’re more than justified to be here. You on the other hand? You’re just cleaning up your mess. Also? Your team is not prepared for anything higher than a C rank mission if I missed my guess. I’d advise you to fall back on this and assume a safety net.”

“You’re just hoping he wrote down our clan’s teachings!” she snapped.

To the side, Hanahime and the other Genin watched Maka and me interact like it was a tennis match. Their eyes flitted back and forth, watching the exchange of words.

“Would he truly be so stupid? I’m honestly amazed he got out the gates if that is the case,” I offered.

Maka’s jaw worked, telling me enough to know that there was more to this story. Personal involvement perhaps?

My fingers drummed on my chin in a show of contemplation. I could push her, or even raise some hypotheticals to see how she reacts. Did this missing nin have help getting out? Or had Konoha truly let him leave? Were the Inuzuka being punished over this?

“We will handle this issue!” she ordered.

“Hmmm, you sure you want to take your genin into that situation?” I pushed again.

The Konoha genin shifted, understanding that ‘wiping a bandit camp out’ meant there was going to be a lot of killing. It was also against enemy nin which instantly caused it to be B rank. With my presence things got worse due to our tentative alliance.

Again, Maka worked her jaw before sighing. “We don’t have a choice! You have forced my hand,” she gritted out.

So, she’d been hoping just to investigate and then report her findings to another group.

Did that mean such a group was close at hand? Perhaps another team of shinobi or ANBU like I’d guessed. They must have another Inuzuka with them if the howl earlier was used as communication like I theorised.

The question, therefore, was how far away were they?

I couldn’t dwell on possibilities however, as Maka had an earth clone slipping behind us while her Ninken was starting to loosen up.

“Word of advice?” I said calmly, meeting her gaze.

She narrowed her eyes and bared her teeth.

“If you force my hand, you won’t have the chance to lament your choice,” I stated, telling her in my own way that I knew what she was thinking of doing, and that I was more than ready to throw down.

Instead of backing down I noticed her claws lengthening in preparation to strike at me. Hmm, she was being awfully pushy about this, especially with how she couldn’t rule out that I had my own reinforcements around.

This must be personal for her. 

Time to de-escalate the situation. “How about a wager instead?”

That gave her pause.

“A wager?” she asked incredulously.

I nodded. “A wager,” I replied, lacing my fingers together. “I propose that we have our Genin fight. My sole Genin verse two of yours. The winner of said spar gets to choose who will kill the Inuzuka Missing nin,” I stated. I’d ask them to back off if I thought she’d accept it but I doubted she would.

“Matsu?” Hanahime asked uncertainly, but I just smiled at her.

“Don’t worry, I believe in you.”

Hanahime nodded firmly and began eying off her opponents. Kira Inuzuka smirked while Sumire straightened up. Only Uroko remained unfazed by my proclamation.

Maka searched my face only to snort. “I see what you’re doing. You’re not interested in Inuzuka techniques at all are you?”

Kira blinked. “Eh? What’s that sensei?”

Her student’s blunt question drew a sigh from Maka. “He’s not really probing for intel on Inuzuka methods. He doubts Toro had anything worth bothering with. He’s trying to trick us into offering up something more.”

Hmm Toro was the name of the missing nin eh? Interesting. It also supported my ‘personally invested’ theory.

“I assure you I’m merely trying to give my student valuable experience before she takes the chunin exams,” I replied with a hand on my chest.

It was another lie. 

In truth, I was trying to de-escalate the situation, but other people wouldn’t buy that.

The other objective was to make her commit instead of holding back and waiting for her reinforcements. If she attempted to delay I would take Hanahime and cut through this camp as quickly as we could.

Which for two shinobi with several elemental ninjutsu under our belts, shouldn’t take long. It would be messy, and probably mean I’d need to tuck Hanahime over my shoulder and sprint away however. Not something I wanted to do.

Uroko Kurama started to smirk, like she had all the answers. “Or you’re playing politics. The clans of Kirigakure aren’t like Konoha, right Sensei? What if he’s trying to shame the Terumi clan? It’s barely been a month since his last team got mostly promoted. Wasn’t that the last intel we had on him? I bet Kiri forced another student on him!”

Huh, I had to give her props. That wasn’t a half-bad deduction. 

Still, she didn’t earn many points for herself, cause it was mostly wrong.

Regardless, it sowed discord between Hanahime and I, which I believe was Uroko’s true objective with her ‘innocent’ observation.

“And you’d been doing so well!” Maka exclaimed as she began scratching at her clan markings on her cheeks.

“Don’t give away information like that to foreign shinobi Uroko. Just… keep what we know in team, stop trying to prove how clever you are, just shut your mouth.” Maka shook her head. 

Uroko flushed in embarrassment and ducked her head.

Sumire, the only person who hadn’t spoken so far, was watching me with a thoughtful tilt of her head. I didn’t know her well enough to have a clue what she was thinking, so I didn’t let it bother me.

Maka huffed. “Alright Kiri, you want to see the puppies fight, I’ll allow it.” Then she grinned. “But my genin get to use all of their tools.”

She wasn’t half as clever as she thought she was being but I decide to pass the buck along by giving Hanahime a look. “You alright with that? Think you can win if they use all their tricks?”

Hanahime drew herself up. “Of course I’ll win!” she declared, unknowingly triggering what had to be one of the biggest ‘losing’ flags I could think of.

Eh, it’s fine, as long as she emerged mostly undamaged. I could patch her up and probably make her stronger than ever.

“Just treat it like being back in the Academy,” I suggested. “Only you’re up against a rabid Kaguya and a Hozuki that’s trying to pay homage,” I offered cryptically.

My hint about what to watch for must have registered as she flashed an ‘acknowledged’ sign back at me as I stepped back, coincidentally getting out of the encirclement that Maka had been trying to perform.

With a hop, I landed atop a branch that would let me oversee the entire fight from on high.

Or I at least made it look that way.

A quick illusion followed by a replacement jutsu to put me off to the side and a few clones here and there set me up for better odds if things turned south.

Maka wasn’t the only one that could hedge her bets.

I made sure to replace and shift back around to the original tree, only to hide behind it so my scent was vaguely in the right spot.

There, if Maka wanted to fight, she was in for a horrible surprise. Explosion tags were in each clones’ hands, ready to deploy.

“Begin!” my clone barked, and Uroko and Kira sprang into action, with the first weaving an illusion to ensnare Hanahime while Kira and her pack of ninken surged into the fight.

“Ninken are part of my arsenal!” Kira roared as she charged ahead.

The smile didn’t last long as Hanahime pulsed her chakra right as an illusion attempted to take hold of her. A second later had Hanahime spray a thin but potent burst of acid mist at Kira who had to roll out of the way.

The spray of acid caused the ground to sizzle and hiss with noxious gases seeping up from it.

Hanahime raced forward, her hands held in a single seal as illusionary clones formed around her causing the ninken to flinch before snapping at the closest clone.

As one the clones twisted before the jaws clamped around them, only to vanish as a replacement took hold, leaving the Kira’s pack of ninken with an explosive tag.

The Ninken leapt away to mitigate the damage as much as they could, but they were still hurled into trees.

“Bitch!” snarled Kira as she swept her gaze around, searching for Hanahime only for Hanahime to drop from above, having performed a replacement that put her behind Uroko.

It would have been a good move, perhaps even won her the match.

It was a shame that this Uroko was some type of illusion, as Hanahime discovered when her hands wrapped around the Kurama girl’s throat with a kunai poised to strike.

“Surre—” she started to call to Kira only for Kira to jump into a twist with her claws extended.

“Passing Fang!” she roared, and Hanahime tried to pull away, only for the illusion she’d grabbed to go with her, slowing her down.

Interestingly she didn’t try to slit Uroko’s throat.

Hmmm, she’d either understood the assignment to not kill the Genin, or she had a lingering block on killing. Which was it?

Hanahime realised her situation in an instant, and to give her prop,s she twisted and moulded her chakra into another jutsu only for hands to launch out of the ground and drag her down.

Kira soared over her head and a moment later, crashed out into a tree.

Kira stumbled and turned. “Urgh fuck that hurt.” When she spotted Hanahime’s bound form she grinned. “Ha! Uroko go—”

Hanahime exhaled a huge cloud of acidic mist before following up with a flex of her chakra, performing a sealless replacement jutsu.

I made sure to have my clone clap politely as the trio of genin broke apart. They eyed each other with kunai in hand.

“She escaped,” stated Uroko as she rose out of the ground.

“No shit!” snapped Kira in annoyance.

Maka made a gesture, and I had my clone inspect her, only to nod a moment later.

“Enough! We’ll call the match there in Konoha’s favour. Hanahime! Uroko could have done worse than just bury you in the dirt. Take the loss and learn from it!” I had my clone announce.

Hanahime grimaced, her gaze still locked on Kira who had adopted a smug expression. 

Maka walked over and bonked her student on the head. “Don’t you start! You had a numbers advantage, and you and your pack ran straight at her! Circle around! Don’t be a rhino! Be a wolf damn it! How many times do I have to say that?”

Kira rubbed at her head. “It was part of the plan! Uroko and I cooked it up while you were talking!”

Maka scratched at her cheek once more. “Well that’s good and all, but it was horrible plan.”

I replaced myself with my clone off to the side. I sat the branch before speaking, “So, guess that means you’ll be rushing the central command neh?”

Maka glanced at me slowly while all of her Genin’s heads snapped around.

The only tell that Maka was bothered with my repositioning was the slight flare of her nostrils. Hmmm, didn’t catch that, did you? I thought to myself.

Clones, I’d discovered, didn’t really have much of a scent, which made them perfect for positioning into ambush spots for shinobi that were overly reliant on their noses.

When Maka glanced at Sumire the girl tucked her head, having not activated her byakugan, earning her a chop on the head from her sensei.

“Idiot girl! You’re a gifted scout, but you need to watch for problems like this! If you don’t catch it be prepared to act in an instant!” 

It was good advice, I concluded, but ultimately it rang hollow to me with the knowledge that she’d missed it as well. 

“So?” I repeated. “You got your prize. Does that make you happy?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Maka stated, “It makes me giddy,” she gritted out. 

She snapped her fingers and caught her team’s attention with them hopping into position. “Each of us is working in pairs!” she stated.

Her Genin shared a look with Kira frowning. “Hey, what gives? We won sensei! Shouldn’t you be—”

“I’m not about to celebrate the need to go kill one of our own! Even if they went rogue! This isn’t a party Kira!” 

Kira flinched, and her pack of ninken quickly huddled around her defensively. “Alright sensei,” she replied in a small voice.

Maka growled and scratched at her cheek again. She shot me an annoyed look that let me know she blamed my existence for forcing her hand, but I weathered it without batting an eye.

 “Aoi!” she barked and her ninken perked up. “You’re with Sumire and Uroko! Kira, you’re with me!” She drew a circle and made two points roughly a third of the way around the circle before adding another at an equal distance.

She pointed at me. “You and your Genin will come in from the far side. We’ll strike the camp from three angles and wipe them all out. Happy?” she bit out.

“I’ll just be glad when this mission is over,” I offered back. Dropping to the ground, I made a show of looking Hanahime over. “Let’s move,” I ordered.

We took off at a slow run with Hanahime getting her breath back. Her eyes flitted to me constantly and waited, knowing she was about to say something.

“I could have won,” she stated.

“No doubt about that,” I replied. “But you played it smart. No need to slap a few explosive tags on the dogs and make things get messy. We’ll have an easier time with this camp now that we’ve got Konoha doing the heavy lifting.”

“Was that your goal?” she asked.

“One of them,” I replied cryptically.

“Urgh!” she grunted, only to flinch as a trio of clones joined us. “When did you make them?”

“Before your fight,” I replied. “You ready?” I asked, recalling that the point we’d be entering from was going to be fairly devoid of civilians, which wasn’t the same as not having any. “We’ll need to be as thorough as possible, alright?”

That got Hanahime to perk up and as we burst out of the treeline and landed before the bandit camp she was cycling through handseals.

She laced her fingers together and launched a fireball forward that would have made an Uchiha proud.

Screams and shouts erupted from the tents that were on fire, with bandits rolling out of them while still on fire. Those who weren’t aflame shouted warnings and grabbed up their weapons. 

 A pair of bowmen sighted on us only to sprout kunai in their heads. 

“When I said thorough, I didn’t mean for you to roast them,” I stated, flicking another kunai into a charging bandit.

He tried to throw himself out of the way only for the kunai to hit him in the chest. Instead of a kill shot it was merely a terrible injury.

As we advanced, I dispatched him with a flick of my wrist. 

“Only kunai then?” Hanahime asked, copying me with a scowl.

“I think it best we conserve our strength,” I suggested. “Think of it as training for handling large numbers of foes. Sometimes flashy isn’t the best option as you have to consider the next fight.”

“The next…” Hanahime blinked. “Oh,” she muttered, understanding my concern.

I still hadn’t sensed anything, but that didn’t mean they weren’t out there. I also wasn’t going to waste much energy on these bandits. Almost all of them had tiny chakra reserves which spoke of no training on their behalf. 

The only beings that had any chakra worth a damn had been at the centre of the camp, and instead of standing their ground, they were sprinting to escape.

Sadly for them, they passed close enough to Sumire, Uroko, and Aoi the ninken, that said group moved to intercept straight away.

I nodded my head and Hanahime followed as we cut through our side of the camp. When Hanahime began to throw at a civilian, I deflected the kunai with one of my own.

“They’re no threat,” I stated as the man in chains crumpled to his knees and raised his hands in surrender.

I broke the shoddy chains with a flick of a wind-assisted kunai, but the delay had cost me.

The Missing Inuzuka and his ‘pack’ had reached the Konoha group.

“FANG PASSING FANG!” roared a male voice from ahead, and suddenly all six chakra signatures that I’d been observing accelerated and twisted around and over each other.

I whistled as they carved through their own allies in an attempt to barrel through their one-time allies.

The sudden escalation in violence caught the genin flat footed and Oi the ninken barked a “MOVE PUPS!” at them.

Sumire threw herself out of the way, but Uroko wasn’t quick enough, causing her to be caught between three of the whirlwinds of claw and fang. Blood flew everywhere, to the point that I could see it geyser upwards from where I was. 

This caused a howl of rage to erupt from Aoi, the ninken accompanying them, and for it to throw himself into a counterattack.

From the feel of its chakra, it was a powerful Passing Fang jutsu. 

It cut down three of the attacking ninken only for the other three to position in a triangle right where Aoi’s jutsu cut out.

The tow ninken feinted an attack only for an explosive tag that the missing nin had thrown earlier to erupt, injuring Aoi and allowing the other two to attack and tear him to shreds.

Quantity, it turned out, had a quality of its own.

That and intel. Whoever this rogue nin was, they must have had precise knowledge of the Passing Fang Jutsu to preempt where Aoi’s jutsu would stop.

I had a feeling Maka’s personal grudge against this Toro had just grown significantly.

“Ahahaha! I knew you’d come for me Maka!” chuckled Toro quietly. 

I stepped around a tent, deflecting an attempt to stab me from within, only to behead the bandit that attempted it as I kept most of my attention spread out.

Maka and Akira were moving forward but the bandits had surged towards them after our seeing Hanahime’s Fireball entrance. This had caused her to become bogged down rather than linking up with her team.

Oops?

This meant Sumire was on her lonesome now.

Ahead, the stray Inuzuka feinted in and out on Sumire only for his ninken to attack from the sides. One of them was struck down by what must have been a Gentle Fist while the other bit into her leg, causing her to buckle.

She struck again it as she fell but with her mobility gone the wolves started to circle.

“How are you doing that?” Hanahime asked, her eyes still stuck on bandit I’d decapitated rather than on the fight ahead. 

To be fair to her, they weren’t making much noise, and they were hidden behind a wooden building.

Improving her hearing would be another lesson it seemed.

“It’s a chakra control exercise that we’ll get to,” I replied. “I would have thought you knew it from your clan,” I commented idly, only to whip my hand forward right as the Toro Inuzuka moved to attack Sumire.

The kunai punched through the walls of the building ahead of me. It tore through them liek they were made of paper before slamming home into Toro’s flank.

“Argh you bitch! What did you do?!” he roared, staggering back and growling at Sumire.

I stepped around the building with an unhurried gait. Another kunai in hand as I locked eyes with the man who was causing all this trouble.

He was rough.

His beard was patchy, and his eyes had a viciousness to them that I usually only saw in a Kiri nin that was fresh from a fight. He bared his teeth at me, and his remaining ninken growled.

They unlike the normal Inuzuka ninken didn’t look as well cared for. Their hair was patchy and their eyes were half feral. 

They didn’t look like wolves so much as diseased beasts.

One leapt at me and began to twist into another Passing Fang Jutsu, but I cut it down with a wind-empowered kunai to the skull.

It hit the ground with a soft yelp, and I felt a small pang of guilt at having to put it down.

Toro grimaced only to step back as my hand reached for another kunai.

“Attack!” he commanded of his remaining ninken, and they sprinted forward. 

I had to commend their loyalty as they leapt with fangs bared, only for Hanahime to unleash yet another Fireball jutsu.

Toro decided discretion was the better part of valor and turned to flee.

The flames in my face made me hesitate in my throw, which was just enough time for the man to throw himself behind some debris, where he ran low to the ground on all fours to evade me.

I pursed my lips,judging his speed and momentum, then hurled my kunai, only for him to tuck and roll to the side. I followed with a brace of shuriken, only to miss once more.

Bastard was good at dodging and running; that was for sure. 

He threw himself into the tree line, and I hummed, considering if I should give chase.

Instead of doing that, I flicked my hand to the side. “See to the bandits attempting to flee in that direction,” I ordered Hanahime.

She frowned but followed the order without saying anything. In truth, I didn’t need her to mop up as our side of the camp had my clones hanging back to catch any stragglers.

Kira and Maka appeared in a burst of speed atop the hut only to sniff. Maka’s ninken I noted, were behind them chasing the various bandits. The screams and growls made the various captured civilians huddle together as a nightmare played out around them.

The ninken seemed to know enough not to touch them, which was fortunate for the civilians.

“He ‘s getting away sensei!” Kira barked, ready to give chase, only for Maka to grab the girl’s shoulder.

She’d seen what Kira had missed.

Kira blinked, opened her mouth, only to gag when she spotted the carnage. “What the? What happened here?” Her eyes flit around, pausing on the dead ninken, or trained wolves, I wasn’t entirely sure.

“Your stray happened,” I offered up.

I glanced to where Maka’s ninken lay dead, his body torn from the explosion while bite marks littered his form and then to where Uroko’s remains… oozed. 

“For a former Konoha nin, he didn’t hold back,” I commented idly.

I would have thought killing a dog for them would be rather personal. What did that say then about the Inuzuka or Toro in particular?

Both Inuzuka kunoichi bared their teeth, “He’s not one of ours! A true Inuzuka would never do this!” Kira snarled. 

Maka snorted. “He was never Konoha, he failed the initiation but sat in on…” She clenched her jaw. “It doesn’t matter. He’s a dead man walking.”

Kira glanced around as the wind shifted. “Sumire? Shit he got you? Where is Uroko?” she asked, unable, or unwilling to realise what had happened to her teammate.

“S-she—” sumire’s head dropped in a bow. “I’m sorry! We didn’t think he’d attack us like that! I swear I was monitoring him! He approached and made a sign for friendly contact! He signalled he was surrendering!”

Maka lifted her head. “Fucking hell. Toro you bastard!” she snarled at the sky. 

Sumire tried to stand only to collapse with a pained cry. “I-I can still move!” she called to her sensei desperately.

As this was going on I was eying her leg, noting the rivulets of blood.

Hmmm that didn’t look so good. I took a step to inspect her closer only for Maka’s growl to stop me.

She glared at me like I was responsible for this entire fiasco.

I tilted my head, not at all bothered with her perception of me being poor. 

We held each other’s gaze. “Your team is injured, or KIA,” I stated, cutting to the heart of the matter. “Your target is escaping. What are you going to do now?” I held back from pointing out that I’d asked her to step back. I wouldn’t have allowed personal feelings or fake surrenders to catch me out.

If there was one thing Kiri trained well, it was to never drop your guard. Even with allies.

Maka clenched her fists. From her hands, blood trickled out where her claws cut into her skin. “We’re not going to be able to pursue them,” she said, the words rough as they tore from her throat.

Nodding, I gestured in the direction Toro had fled. “Somehow I doubt you want me cleaning up your dirty work,” I replied blandly.

Maka nodded. It must have been killing her to be so close to her target, only to not give chase. With me here, she obviously felt the need to hold back in case I tried something.

“Another team will see to him; he’s wounded, he won’t get far,” she stated even if her tone expressed she didn’t like this result at all.

She set her shoulders and glared at me. “I can’t allow you to pursue, just like I can’t leave you here with my students.” Her gaze flickered to Uroko’s remains.

The silent ‘or what’s left of them’ rang loud and clear.

“Alright,” I said back with a casual shrug. “So you’re aware—”

“Yes!” she growled.

“How far out are the other team?” I asked, deciding to shift topics.

She narrowed her eyes, and I made a show of looking over my shoulder to where Hanahime was cutting down the stragglers of the bandit camp. “If I were to heal your student… would you be able to pursue him?” I asked.

That got a grunt of surprise from the older woman. “What, you’re offering to heal her?”

“If she’ll let me,” I replied. 

She stepped back and inspected Sumire, who was still sitting in the dirt. “You willing to risk him healing you?”

“I trust him,” she said.

That caused everyone to stop and stare at her.

“You… trust him?” Kira asked. “Girl you obviously lost too much blood. He’s Kiri!”

Sumire gave a faint smile in reply which only got her more weird looks from her teammate.

Maka rubbed a hand across her face, causing her own blood to smear her face. “Heal her Kiri nin, but if you try anything…” she trailed off leadingly, and I nodded.

I moved to where Sumire sat crumpled like a doll, with her white clothes marred with dirt and blood.

My hand rose to touch her injured leg, only to pause. In the fight with that stray Inuzuka and his ninken, her headband had been torn free. 

Her Caged Bird Seal bare for all to see.

 “If I push my chakra into you… will your seal activate?” I asked, gesturing at the seal.

“No, only if you attempt anything with my head,” she stated.

“Hope you’re right, cause I don’t want your head to blow off,” I said as I lowered my hand to her torn-up thigh. 

Within moments, I had the bite wound stitching itself back together, and before long, unblemished pale skin stared back at me.

“That was very quick,” Sumire murmured.

“I’m getting a lot of practise at it these days,” I replied glibly as I looked up into her eyes. 

For a few more moments, I allowed myself to look into her eyes and wonder. Then I looked up, taking a good long look at her Caged Bird Seal.

It was…

So far beyond my understanding that I didn’t even know how to begin parsing it.

But I committed as much of what I could see of the seal in its condensed form to memory.

“Alright, that’s enough. She healed or what Kiri nin?” growled Maka, stepping close to inspect my healing.

Deciding not to test her patience, I rose out of the way and gestured at the wound. “There, good as new. Now you can pursue your traitor, no?”

That caused Kira to perk up and whistle, summoning her ninken to her.

Maka ignored Kira and instead inspected Sumire. “Can you move Genin?” she asked, and when Sumire rose and tested her leg before nodding, she grunted. “Alright, seal up our… fallen comrades, and we pursue.”

Maka rounded on me and inspected me like she wasn’t sure what to make of me. 

Then she twitched before snorting. “Our reinforcements will be half an hour to an hour out. I’d clear out if I were you,” she informed me as, behind her Kira completed the grisly task of sealing up their dead.

“Will do,” I replied.

She nodded, then coughed. “Thanks, I guess.” Then she turned and loosened a howl that was full of wrath. “Also… if your other team got into a fight, I’m sorry.”

I narrowed my eyes. Hmmm that was telling. What was Konoha up to in the Land of Wolves beyond hunting a traitor?

Kira’s pack sprinted out of the torn-up camp and joined her before I could ask that question. I doubted I would have gotten an answer but any response might have helped for alter intel purposes. 

Kira jerked her head in a nod at me then took off in pursuit of the fleeing missing nin.

Sumire, who’d been watching me for a while now, bowed from her hips. “Thank you,” she said formally.

“I’d rather you don’t. We both know how your clan will react to this,” I replied, knowing that it likely wouldn’t be good for the girl.

She just nodded sadly and turned at Maka’s beckoning from the treeline. 

They sprinted off together to avenge their fallen.

Hanahime chose that moment to return to me. “Konoha nin are gone?” she asked.

“Yup, and they’ve left us to direct the civilians. Then we’re out of here for home.” I rubbed a hand over my chin in thought. “It’s going to be an interesting debrief,” I commented idly.

Hanahime just groaned in agreement. “Can’t believe they got beaten like that. That Toro Guy wasn’t even that well trained.”

“Well, let’s just take that as a lesson about misplaced trust and how sometimes those close to us hurt us the most,” I said, my chakra sense tracking Sumire as she ran. I dispelled the illusion on her before she got out of range and turned back to a contemplative Hanahime.

“Come on, let’s get this done and get out of here. I think the Lord Mizukage is going to be interested in what we have to tell him,” I stated.

____________________

A.N. Thanks go to my Patreons for your continued support!

I didn’t want to linger too much on this while still giving this mission the time in the sun it deserved. Might have become a bigger chapter than I planned but ah well…

Next release will be a return to Kiri and meeting up with Gengetsu once more.

I'm toying with it being short interlude I release this month to show people reactions from this mission as I don't want to use a full chapter on that but I do feel it needs to be shown/explored a little.

We will have to see how things play out with time management for me!

Always fun!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Any thoughts about what happened and what it will mean going forward?

What were Konoha nin doing in the Land of Wolves? Any theories? 

Comment! I’d love to see what people think!