Chapter 265 - Escaped Prisoners

The moon hung low in the night sky, casting an ethereal glow upon the dense forest in the Land of Fire. The tall trees swayed slightly in the night breeze, rustling leaves echoing like whispers in the night. Two shinobi moved like phantoms through the dense vegetation and made their way to the Leaf village.

Daichi and Kakashi had a steady pace as they made their way back home. As they moved through the branches the Genin asked his teacher something that's been on his mind.

"Hey sensei."

"Hmm…" Kakashi glanced at his student from the corner of his eyes.

"Sasuke is graduating today. Since he's an Uchiha, are you going to be the Jonin sensei of his team?"

"Hmm… That topic was discussed with the Hokage. Since he hasn't awakened his Sharingan it wouldn't be much beneficial if I took over his training right now. So you have me for a few more months…"

"Till the coming Chunin exams you mean."

The silver haired Jonin smirked and looked forward. A few seconds of silence later he spoke. "I know you'll easily pass that exam. You'll be assigned to other teams and will be on higher priority missions… Well, that's then… You don't need to worry about it now."

Daichi nodded. "Who do you think will be on Sasuke's team?" Daichi asked this question as casually as possible, making sure not to reveal his interests.

Kakashi looked at his student and instead of answering the question he asked one of his own. "Why do you ask?"

"Sasuke is the Rookie of the year. I know he'll only push himself harder once he's in a squad. Whoever is on his team, either they'll need to keep up or they'll be left behind. If the right two teammates aren't chosen then it would cause problems down the line for everyone."

"You don't need to worry about your friend. The teachers and the Hokage will make the right decision."

Daichi nodded and the two made their way forward. As they traveled further and neared the village the Genin suddenly sensed several presence a short distance in front and closing. Daichi's senses were far beyond even the most experienced Jonin and he was the one who sensed them first. He was alert as he felt the people approaching.

Daichi frowned and immediately used his Chakra Sense skill and counted the signatures coming close. '6 Chakra signatures. Are they the patrol squad? No. That can't be. Too many clustered together… No. Now that I'm taking a closer look, there are 4 in front and 2 moving slower and following from a distance. Maybe two teams going on different missions… Based on their speed, they're moving fast and will make contact with us soon.'

Since today was graduation day, Daichi was extra cautious of anything and everything. "Sensei."

"Yeah. I know. Don't worry. They're probably a large team leaving for a mission." Kakashi shrugged and replied. Within a few seconds 4 shinobi in Leaf gear appeared in their vision. They were coming close and looked as if they intended to pass them without any incident.

The ninjas came close and Kakashi looked at each one as if he was merely glancing at them.

The moment they were near Daichi used 'Observe' skill on one of them and quickly read the information. His eyes minutely widened as he saw what was written. 'Tenjin Tsuchi. Male, 33. Former Chunin from the Leaf. Has fire chakra nature and several Fire jutsu under his command. He leaked important intel to enemies for money. Imprisoned in the Leaf Correctional Facility for over 9 years… This guy… He's an escaped prisoner.'

Suddenly, just as they passed, Kakashi took several shuriken and hurled them at the ninjas. "Battle formation." Kakashi ordered his student as he made sure to stop the 4 ninjas in their tracks with his weapons.

Daichi was ready the moment he realized that the shinobis were enemies. At that moment a new quest appeared in front of Daichi.

[Quest created - Capture the escaped Prisoners.] [Time limit: 20 min.]

[Something has happened at the Leaf Correctional Facility and the prisoners have escaped. Capture the prisoners you have encountered here.]

.

[Conditions:]

[Do not let the prisoners escape.]

[Do not die.]

[Capture all 6 enemies without killing them][Bonus]

.

[Rewards:]

[8800 Exp.]

[12000 Exp. (Bonus)]

[Reputation increases with Kakashi Hatake and Hiruzen Sarutobi.]

[Reputation increases with Leaf Citizens]

.

[Failure:]

[No C Rank missions for a while.]

[Reputation decrease with citizens of the Leaf village]

[This quest is automatically accepted.]

The Genin quickly went through the details and the quest box closed as he turned his attention back to his foes. 'An automatically accepted quest? Been a while since I had that. Eh. Whatever. It's not like I was going to let them go or anything… 6 enemies? So that means the two following are adversaries as well.'

The 4 ninjas swiftly dodged Kakashi's weapons and landed on the nearby trees. "Shit! He recognized us." One of them spoke.

Kakashi looked at one man who had a scar running down the left side of his face. "Tenjin. I thought that was you. I can't believe we're running into each other like this. Hmm… If I recall correctly, you're supposed to be serving time in prison right now…"

The man identified as Tenjin sneered at Kakashi. "I got an early release."

"Is that so…" Kakashi narrowed his eyes and saw the battle ready stance of the other three. 'So they're his accomplices. Are they other prisoners in disguise or traitors? Doesn't matter. I need to capture them all and find out what's going on.'

"Daichi."

"Yeah. I have an idea as to what's going on. Don't worry I'll be on guard." Daichi replied as he knew what his sensei was about to say.

The Jonin smirked underneath his mask. He focused and kept his attention on Tenjin and the other three as well. As they were in a stalemate, Daichi immediately used 'Observe' skill on the others in front of him.

The first was a woman with brunette hair and a slender figure. 'Aosora. 26, Female. Mostly use lightning jutsu and projectile weapons. Chunin. Killed a teammate because of jealousy. Wow...'

The second was a man with a brutish figure and long black hair. He had black eyes and a sharp jawline. 'Kitoha Mizuho. Chunin Ninja from one of the neighboring villages in the Fire country. Wind style jutsu is his specialty. Imprisoned in the Leaf Correctional facility for infiltrating the secured archives and records room and trying to steal village secrets.'

Daichi glanced at the last man who had his hand on a short sword and was just waiting to attack. He was the oldest one in the group. He had a bald head and several scars running down his hands and face. 'Ryuken. Age 51. Former special Jonin of the stone village. Caught infiltrating the village shortly after the nine tails attack and was imprisoned.'

'So these guys are all escaped prisoners. The fact that they all picked today to escape. That's no coincidence. I'm pretty sure Mizuki must have had a hand in this.'

Daichi read the information on the three and came to this conclusion in less than 3 seconds.

Suddenly Tenjin took a step forward. "You remember this Kakashi? You gave this to me the last time we met." He said pointing to the vertical scar running down from his forehead to the bottom of the chin. "You did this to me." The rage and hate was palpable in his voice.

"I didn't do it to you. You did it to yourself when you refused to surrender." Kakashi kept a nonchalant face as he looked at the angry shinobi. He had no mercy for people like Tenjin.

"What do we do?" Aosora asked. She had her eyes on Daichi and was gripping her kunai. They were Chunin ninjas and had wanted to escape from the clutches of the Leaf ninjas. Their eyes gleamed with a mix of fear and anticipation but they were determined to keep their freedom.

Kakashi looked at Tenjin's accomplices and narrowed his eyes. 'They're desperate. I need to take them down quickly.'

"Attack!" Tenjin yelled as he and Aosora let loose a barrage of shuriken and kunai towards their enemies. While the two threw deadly weapons, Kitoha was going through a few hand seals and Ryuken jumped down to the ground.

Just as Daichi and Kakashi avoided the sharp weapons, several wind bullets were coming their way and destroyed the trees they were on. The two ninjas leaped from the falling tree to the ground but the next second the earth under them morphed into the shape of a large deadly jaw with sharp spikes.

The second Ryuken jumped down he made hand seals and placed his palms on the ground. 'Earth Style - Crushing Maw.'

Daichi's mind and senses began working faster. He activated his parallel processing skill and immediately began taking in more data about his enemies and the environment. His eyes went down towards the earth jutsu that was slowly making its way towards them in slow motion. Daichi also took note of what everyone was doing at that time.

Before the two Leaf ninjas landed on the trap Kakashi and Daichi made a few seals and lightning immediately covered their arms. They extended their arms towards the ground and at the large deadly earth jutsu looking to crush and tear them.

'Lightning style - Impulse Rain.'

Several strong Lightning bolts discharged from their limbs and attacked the jutsu in quick succession. Their lightning jutsu was several times more powerful than Ryuken's earth technique and it was immediately destroyed.

Kakashi and Daichi safely landed on the ground but a fraction of second later they took a kunai and deflected two others that came near them. The deflected kunais had paper bombs tied to them and they exploded a short distance away filling their surroundings with smoke and dust.

Daichi sensed Ryuken, Kitoha and Aosora making a run for it while they had the chance but he sensed Tenjin staying where he was.

'So that's what they're trying to do huh.' Daichi saw the simulation playing in his mind and was ready to counter it.

When the Genin opened his eyes the next moment and looked down, he was still in mid air slowly falling towards the earth jutsu of his enemy. 'Kakashi sensei's lightning jutsu is strong enough to defeat this earth jutsu. I need to focus on the others.'

Daichi turned his attention to the ninjas standing atop the tree as his sensei began making seals for the 'Impulse Rain'. He swiftly took several shuriken and with precision aim and force, he sent them flying.

The escaped Chunins were startled. They tried to dodge but were unsuccessful as two shuriken knocked the kunai out of their hands and a few others hit several areas wounding them.

"Aargh! Fuck. That hurts." Aosora clenched her abdomen where a metal star was buried in.

Kitoha grunted as he took the ninja stars from his arms and legs. He was bleeding and in pain as he looked at the Genin with anger.

Kakashi looked at the situation and spoke to the escaped ninjas. "You're outmatched. Surrender and this won't end ugly for you."

"You think it'll be that easy?" Tenjin looked at the copycat ninja and suddenly smiled. "Think again."

Right then Kakashi and Daichi sensed the arrival of two new people. They were massive figures and the two Leaf ninjas immediately recognized them.

"Hey big brother. Looks like we caught up. Do you think these guys have any food?"

"We can find out. I'm so hungry."

Daichi's eyes slightly widened as he stared at the two large individuals. 'Thats Fujin and Raijin. The stupid brothers… So they're the ones I sensed following these guys.'

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he looked at the two. 'Of all people… it's these two morons I have to deal with.'

Suddenly Tenjin shouted at the two brothers. "Hey Fujin! Raijin! We had tons of delicious food for you guys but these two destroyed it. Now you'll go hungry because of them." He said pointing at Kakashi and Daichi, painting them as the culprits.

"What!?" "What!?"

Hearing that there was no food for them, Fujin and Raijin turned angry as they looked at the Leaf duo with clenched fists. "You'll die for destroying our food."

Kakashi let out an audible sigh and lifted up his headband revealing his Sharingan.

"Let's get this over with."