Chapter 63 - Invaders

(A/N: I hesitated a bit when writing this scene the way I did, but I hope ya'll will be willing to let me cook a bit. Everything is done with purpose. Cliffhanger-kun is really gonna be at his best today, though, I think…)

~~~~~~~~~~

Two blurs shot through the sky, quickly arriving at a scene of carnage. The city gate lay in waste as though shattered by brute force. Walls of mud crushed buildings in their wake. Steam sizzled as the heavy rain pelted the fires blazing below atop the debris and collapsed buildings. An eerie red glow flickered from the flames, illuminating the area in a haunting manner.

Amidst the wreckage, five emotionless figures darted about, each of them wearing black armor reminiscent of what Shinobi from the Warring States period might have worn. They chased down the village guards, eliminating them one by one. Each figure utilized a different element in their Jutsus. At the same time, black tendrils sprouted from their armor to defend against incoming attacks or pierce their enemies.

Without pause, Konan weaved a few hand signs. A barrage of paper shurikens covered in a similar blazing energy as her Kagune shot downward at the five armored interlopers from her wings.

Each of the attackers whipped their heads upward. None of them showed visible changes in expression while dodging the bombardment like agile weasels. The reddish Kagune projectiles attached to the paper shurikens exploded on contact with both the people and ground before shooting red needles outward like grenades. Mud, soot, and blood splattered about. Small craters formed in the wake of the barrage.

All but one of the attackers who had relatively long and spiky brown hair sustained wounds without so much as a peep.

In contrast to Konan who initiated combat the moment they arrived, Jin quickly surveyed the area instead of fighting immediately. He noted a few charred bodies in the wreckage. Other civilians, both healthy and injured, fled the scene in panic. Due to Konan's barrage of Kagune-infused paper shurikens, many of the village guards either fled or started fighting again with renewed vigor after being overwhelmed by the invaders. Among the people below, two particular figures made his eyebrows furrow.

A short walk beyond the collapsed village gate, a girl with short and messy black hair collapsed to her knees in front of an older blonde woman. Blood dripped from open wounds and pus oozed from severe burns all over the black-haired girl's body. Behind her, the blonde stood still like a statue, her face as pale as a corpse. Splatters of blood coated her green robes and even her face. Unable to move, she could only tremble with her eyes bloodshot.

Taking in the scene within a few seconds, Jin clapped his hands together, gathered a massive amount of magic that caused a visible disruption in the air around him, and said, "I'll put up a defensive barrier before attacking with you."

Konan silently nodded without halting her Kagune-laced paper shuriken barrage.

While Jin channeled more magic into his spell, a large magic circle spread out beneath his feet. Both he and Konan observed each other's techniques briefly before refocusing on the task at hand.

'I'm surprised she already figured out how to use her Kagune like that. It's only been, what, two or three weeks?'

Shaking his head and setting aside his observation, Jin finished channeling magic into the biggest magic circle he had ever cast. A few seconds later, Jin's magic exploded downward into a massive barrier as he chanted, "Barrier Magic: Mega Prism Guard."

The massive barrier thicker than a car pierced the ground outside the village before circling the outskirts of it, albeit only halfway around. Wherever it cut through the earth, the ground rumbled and trembled as though wracked by small earthquakes.

Sweat forming on his brow, Jin heaved a sharp breath of air. Releasing such large-scale magic for the first time took a heavy toll even though he was only testing the limits of his current barrier magic skills. His head throbbed a little as though he had pulled an all-nighter. Even so, he still had a decent amount of energy to spare.

'Even that didn't take as much as those arms normally do. I'm surprised,' Jin observed, ignoring Konan's widened eyes which returned to normal a second later.

Sensing an eerie feeling one might feel while being watched by a predator in the dead of night, Jin lowered his gaze. The five attackers stared at him, their tar-black eyes unblinking. Even while dodging Konan's Paper Barrage Jutsu to the best of their ability, their eyes refused to track anything else.

Lips falling into an uncomfortable frown, Jin narrowed his eyes at them. Something about their gaze made his skin crawl. Their eyes reminded him of the child-like entity he was forced to fight back in the Toaru world, yet something far more sinister dwelled within. He almost felt like it was not even the people themselves looking at him, but something else entirely.

Unfortunately, his thoughts stopped there. All five attackers weaved hand signs to cast elemental Jutsus, even at the cost of more injuries. Five dragon heads representing the five main elements manifested and charged into the sky. Fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning dragons circled each other in a five-pronged combination. The air trembled under strong residual elemental reactions.

Gritting his teeth, Jin's hair whipped backwards in the wind generated by the massive Jutsu charging at him. He flew away on his barrier board, yet the dragons followed, the roar of the elements crashing together like a living tsunami. Unable to dodge, he clapped his hands and cast multiple defensive barriers.

One. Two… Ten. It still didn't feel like enough.

Just when the dragons' maws reached him, a whirlwind of paper surged between the dragons and himself. There, he barely saw Konan's clone weaving a blur of hand signs. Although Jin could not hear the name of the Jutsu, Konan cast a massive paper vortex that looked like a giant shield.

To Jin's surprise, a paper butterfly appeared next to his ear. Konan's voice echoed from it, saying, "This will be too much for my chakra reserves as a clone. When I disperse, I will send another as soon as possible. Hang on until then."

"...I'll do my best," Jin replied in a sober tone.

An explosion rang out in the sky. The dragons slammed against the massive swirling vortex of paper that glowed with the red, pink, and dark blue aura of Konan's Kagune. Fireworks of the five elements flashed in a brilliant display of terrifying proportions that split the clouds. Trickles of light from the setting sun sneaked through the gap to touch the ground of the Land of Rain for the first time in many years.

Tremors rattled Jin's barriers. Aftershocks shook the village a hundred meters below.

In the wake of the explosions, Jin saw burning or crinkled remains of paper fluttering in the wind. Clumps of burning paper formed the upper half of Konan's clone. Her head turned backward, and she nodded at Jin before dispersing like dust in the wind.

Face pensive, Jin lowered his gaze. For the first time since these missions started, he felt like he might actually be in legitimate danger.

The moment he laid eyes on the five figures again, his brows shot up. Clicking his tongue, he dived toward the ground like a peregrine falcon seeking prey. He clapped his hands to cast more barriers, but he had already noticed the attacker's movements too late.

Multiple black tendrils shot out of the brown-haired attacker's right arm. The needle-like points stabbed the already heavily injured Shizune through her chest and abdomen, splattering even more blood on the frozen Tsunade. The attacker never stopped staring at Jin the entire time with a completely placid expression.