Burden
As they run in the water only Zitsu and the Chunin are creating ripples in the water. Seeing this Zitsu realizes how much work he still has to do on chakra control. No one is running at full speed so they don't leave Zitsu behind, causing them to take a couple minutes to reach land.
"This is where we all split up" Shigeaki looks at Keisuke and Mei.
"Stay safe guys" Mei nods her head. She didn't ask what their mission is, and they didn't tell her. But knowing who they are, she knows it's not an easy mission.
"See you back on the boat." Keisuke waves his hand and runs off towards the left with his Chunin.
Shigeaki nods his head and runs towards the right.
"Come on, we need to get to the Kurata clan before dark. Remember to stay near me." Mei begins running straight ahead.
As they run ahead they enter what used to be a port town. All of the buildings are collapsed, some of the stone buildings are even melted. If he didn't know this was done recently, he'd think this was a ruin.
His sensory technique can spread to over 100ft and he's picking up nothing. Looking closely he sees some blood splatter on the buildings and streets, but no dead bodies can be seen.
"This port town belonged to Kiri, but a few clans got together and destroyed it a few days ago." Seeing him look around Mei explains. "The war may be over, but we're still fighting." She bites her teeth a bit. "If Kiri wasn't so Isolated we'd be getting attacked full force right now, but even so small teams are still attacking us."
Zitsu nods. No one knows the situation of Kiri, so this is all new information to him. Putting chakra into his legs they run a bit faster.
After exiting the ruins of the town they come upon a forest. A few stumps can be seen where a few trees have been felled, but other than that it's a lush forest with thick brush.
A small smile forms on his face as he runs up a tree and begins jumping from branch to branch.
"Woooh!" Excitement fills his entire body as he finally gets to live one of his dreams.
One of Mei's eyebrow rises as she looks at the stupid smile on his face. "Quiet, were on a mission." Jumping up next to him she whispers.
Zitsu shuts his mouth as he realizes he's in enemy territory. So far he's only been getting weak chakra signatures, probably from animals.
Trying to keep quiet he looks at his perk trees, unsure if he should commit to one tree. After the reduced Ninjutsu perk it branches off into six different directions. Five of them are unlocking fire release, water release, wind release, earth release, and lightning release. The other branch requires lvl 20 Ninjutsu.
[Increase Power of Ninjutsu by 2%]
0/5
From there it branches off into two directions that require lvl 40 Ninjutsu.
[One Hand Casting]
0/1
[2% Chance for Ninjutsu to stun opponent for 1s] 0/5
Each of those branch towards one thing each requiring 60 Ninjutsu.
[Dual nature casting]
0/1
[2% Chance to Multi-Cast]
0/5
The next level of perks requires level 80 Ninjutsu and both branch off from the Multi-casting perk.
[Ninjutsu deals more AOE damage]
0/1
[2% Chance to return chakra from Ninjutsu]
0/5
The last perk in the Ninjutsu tree branches off from duel nature casting and requires 100 Ninjutsu.
[Quad Nature casting]
0/1
He doesn't look at the Genjutsu perk because he hasn't started practicing it yet. Suddenly Mei grabs and drags him towards the ground. In the next second over fifteen Kunai hits the trunk he was just about to jump on. Before he can even say anything he senses four large chakra signatures enter his 100ft area, just as much chakra as Mei.
Mei's expression falls as four people land on tree branches in front of them.
Their hair and faces were different, but all four men are wearing the same thing. Green scarf wrap around their neck, light gray shirts with the design of a tooth in the middle, and black pants.
"Tonza clan." Mei spits the words from her mouth.
"You came a lot faster than we thought." One of the men opens their mouth "Yami island will not bow, three of the four clans have already joined." A smile forms on his face "And we're" he's silent for a moment "Persuading the Kurata clan now."
Mei glances at Zitsu before biting her teeth.
Zitsu's eyes go wide. He wasn't worried about going on missions with Mei because he knows she survives, but he was never here in the timeline he knows, she never had to protect him on this mission.
"If we kill the Melting Ninja it will make our lives a lot easier." As soon as his words fall, the four of them begin making hand seals.
Not missing a beat, Mei makes her hand seals as well.
"Dog, Boar, Tiger, Ox, Rat, Bird" she takes a deep breath.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough"x4 The four men's cheeks puff up like balloons before they blow out razor sharp gale force winds.
Their jutsu begin destroying everything in their path and even shredding the trees around them.
Seeing this Zitsu's face goes pale, and he realizes what a fool he's been. He thought he was accomplishing something with his water dragon jutsu, and based on the jutsu he saw the academy students used it made his ego bigger. But seeing this jutsu he knows he was just a joke, a shell. If this wind even passed by his jutsu it would be destroyed. Without shape transformation and nature transformation, his jutsu is trash. As he sinks further into the abyss a voice suddenly pulls him out.
"Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique"
A stream of light brown mud flies out of her mouth and spreads like a web. As the jutsus collide a defining sound is heard as the air scatters, blasting sideways and destroying numerous trees.
As the mud lands on the ground smoke begin to fill the area as the ground itself burns.
Taking this chance Mei grabs Zitsu and begins running back the way they came.
Being carried the trees become a blur as she flies through the forest. Looking back he can see the four men giving chase. Knowing her jutsu and how shes limited when people around her, his eyes turn serious.
"Just throw me! I'll head back to the town, and when you deal with these guys just come and get me." Zitsu whispers through his teeth.
Mei looks at him for a moment before throwing him forward, turning around she faces the pursuers.
Zitsu spins in the air a few times as he's thrown forward. Strengthening out in the air he puts chakra into his legs and lands on a tree branch. Not wasting any time he runs forward.
Mei looks at the four men and smiles as they land around her.
"We don't know why you're smiling, we have men all around this place."
Hearing his words Mei's face instantly falls. "Then I need to kill you fast."
Zitsu runs till he's out of their vision and stops. "There's no way those guys are alone." Zitsu pulls a kunai out of his pocket and tosses it onto the ground.
The Kunai transforms into him and nods before running in the direction of the town.
"Dog Boar Ram" Zitsu begins making hand seals "Transformation Jutsu" and turns into a big moss cover bolder.
"I'll just wait here, it seems safe."
After running for five minutes Clone Zitsu sees two people chasing someone. The two people are dressed differently than the ones before. They are wearing brown long sleeve shirts with a dark yellow waist guard and grey pants. The person their chasing is one of the chunin from the boat, the only difference is he's covered in blood.
Thinking for a second, Clone Zitsu rushes over.
As the chunin sees Zitsu his face falls. "RUN! WHY ARE YOU COMING OVER HERE!"
Clone Zitsu jumps passed him "Run, I'll take it from here." As he got closer he could tell they had the chakra levels of a Chunin at best, he may not be able to stop them, but he can slow them down for a second or two.
The Chunin's face warps, unsure if he should turn around, or keep running. Biting his teeth his eyes flash coldly as he turns around. He's still hemorrhaging blood from multiple places, but he won't leave this kid to die.
"My name is Hidetora, what's your name kid?!"
Clone Zitsu smiles "Zitsu." As the words fall he begins making hand seals because they're closing in. "Water Clone Jutsu"
[Chakra 42/282]
Spitting out a torrent of water, 40 clones appear on the ground and begin jumping into the trees, ready to face the oncoming threat.