Infiltration .

The old man Asahi coughed bitterly after talking for a long time. The other man, old enough to almost be his grandson, who was called 'Tobi' be Asahi, sat cross-legged in a corner, grumbling to himself. The girl who was playing there silently until then, came up to us and asked who we were. Also whether r not we were going to save her family from the bad people who were trying to kill them. I felt pity for her. No kid of that age should be exposed to such horrible things.While Asahi lay recovering, our squad leader spoke of our next plan of action.

" Here, now. Listen, everyone. For now, we shall keep this place as our operating headquarters. All reports will be made here, and shared with Asahi-san. We will now split apart and survey the fortress. All will meet here in two hours time." He further laid out instructions on the roles of the other three, and clarified a few lingering doubts.

I was to go and inspect the architecture of the fortress; find out it's weaknesses and kinks where it could be infiltrated with the least difficulty. I after all had a few techniques suitable for spying, though I am a type that prefers straight-up fighting. I left without speaking another word. The squad leader didn't even seem to think that we might be tired from the journey. I would never admit it, but it was a notion that was always there in my consciousness. To be honest, I didn't really care. If I was given a command, I would carry it out without questions. That was the Way of the Cloud , and that of the Shinobi. And thus I ran in silence to the location of the fortress of Yami Zankoku. There was a clearing of two hundred meter radius around the fortress, so that nobody may sneak upon them. Outside stood twenty soldiers, all clad in chainmail and iron armour, with any weapon they could find. Swords, lances, spears, axes, anything.

Outside of his memories, Raiden Kageyama lay sprawled on the cemented floor, his body and life alike miserable. Humiliation and pain mixed together pained his once-handsome face in an ugly manner. While blood still dripped eerily on the ground, his consciousness slowly faded. The loss of blood and the unbearable injuries caused his mind to collapse on it's own. In fear of it shutting down any moment, his head unconsciously fastened the recalling of the information. Time ran a thousand times faster in his mind compared to the real world.

Taking a note on the happenings and procedures, gates and soldiers of the fortress, I turned back to go to the shack. All four of us met up and exchanged information. It seemed likely that Yami would not come out anytime soon, so we had to infiltrate the base. The very next night. After taking rest for the night and preparing the necessaries, we set out at midnight. The plan was that I would do the distractions, ( of course it was me ), and the rest would sneak inside and kill him, or if possible, capture him.

All four of us hid under a bunch of thorn bushes, and straightened out all our tasks again.

And then, I ran straight towards the gates. Like a madman. But a super-cool ninja madman, mind ya. As soon as they noticed me, arrows were knocked into bows and fired straight at me. The aims were not that perfect, but they did their work. Some fifty arrows were released at the same time, each aiming for me. The archers were positioned at a height, above the twenty feet walls of the fortress. Arrows holes lay hidden in a number beyond count. The first few arrows were easy to dodge. Most were off-target; some pierced the ground five meters away from me. Though of course as I ate the ground and grew nearer, the arrows' precision increased.

When I could no longer dodge them, I initiated my jutsu. It created a dense layer of cloud just ahead to me, and it slowed all objects entering through. With enough resistance, the arrows became slow enough for me to wave it away with ease. When I got within a fifty paces from the gates, ten guards came at me from either side. I thwarted them with a lightning styled jutsu I knew, and some others came to fight me. All of them seemed in a daze, as if they did not know what to do with their lives. Their movements were more sluggish than that of the average man, but their power was still the same, if not greater. My moves were far quicker, and I defeated them with nothing more than a small gash across my ribs. The sound of a large bell ringing sounded, probably their alarm systems going off. The gates opened and some fifty soldiers ran out in straight rows. I wondered how many people were hidden inside that fortress serving Yami.

When I looked at the parade of 50 people marching at me to take off my head, I retreated. Fifty soldiers were a bit much for me, and I turned back just to be on the safer side. 'A wise man knows when to retreat.' I had finished most of my job already, so that was that.

The horde still marched forward, and seemed surprised to know that a single man had destroyed their guards of the outer ring. By that time, my three comrades had already sneaked in by mounting the walls and snuffing out any archers. Down below, out of fifty, they first sent out thirty troopers, and the other broadened out and searched for any other offenders. I could not keep that up for very long, but I had to draw away as many soldiers as possible from the fortress.

And that was when I saw him. A man in robes, sneaking among the shadows of trees, trying to enter the hold. While everyone was distracted by me, that lone man threw a grappling hook at the wall, and started climbing. The soldiers searching did not see him, he was on the other side of the walls. He for sure wasn't one of my fellow ninjas. His body language and actions were far too slow to be one of us. And of course, nobody wore robes like that. I thought I might as well go and investigate what was going on, and who he was, so I sprinted towards him. If he ain't a friend, then I might just let the soldiers take him. T'was worth a shot.

As I ran sideways towards the back-side of the fortress, the troopers caught up with me.

I'll let you know that I used to specialise in clouds. I could make a cloud-made projectile that could pierce through armour, and a cloud armour that cannot be broken by anything a common man can wield. Later I stopped using that technique for a reason… one that I will not recite now.

As my own arrows rained upon the enemy, I ran straight towards the man. He had just started climbing the walls when a sword pierced my hand, and I felt the pain flaring up my arm like a raging wildfire. How the sword evaded the cloud curtain, I have no idea, and I had not time to think of it. I ran like a horse the rest of the way, and fighting with my short sword whenever necessary. My heart beat faster and faster, my breathing more ragged by the second. When I reached the part of the wall right where the man had been standing, I glanced up, and saw him climb slow as a snail up the wall. When the soldiers saw him, they doubled over in rage and ran with fury lighting their fazed eyes.

I quickly made grasp-holds with clouds and climbed, with each cloud dissipating after I pass it.

The man going up was not very fast. Indeed, I reached the top of the walls before him. After I climbed up and caught my breath, the man climbed in wearily. His face was masked by a cloth, but his face had a kind of vague familiarity to it. There were no soldiers left standing here. If I could deal with thirty men on my own, 3 ninjas could very well finish off these group of archers.

As soon as the man climbed in, I caught his arms in a lock and threatened him . "Confess. Who are you? What are you doing here? Try to resist and you won't get out of here with your hide."

Hearing his voice, I gave a start.

" Release me, ninja. This is none of your business, so you don't have any right to restrain me."

" Tobi? What are you doing here? It is for your good that we are risking our lives, so that y'all don't throw it away in a vain patriotic effort. Understand that."

" Don't call me Tobi. And oh we don't need help from your miserable lot. We were doing well off on our own. I bet nothing will change tonight. That grandpa… All he did was bring unnecessary trouble."

I raised my voice. "Are you flaming underestimating us? And are you so bloody full of yourself that you think you are better than us, with hands that don't even know how to hold a sword properly? If you continue this, it will only result in your own death, and that won't do usany good."

" I don't care about all that shit. This is my hometown, and I have every right to protect it, and that is exactly what I am about to do, so just leave me alone!"

At that very moment, two guards sneaked up behind tobi using his grapple hook. Not even being aware of this, and being too indulged in talking foolish stubbornness, he would almost have been stabbed by a dagger through his heart, if not for me. I pushed him aside, and repelled the arm that propelled the dagger.

I unsheathed my wakizashi and stabbed the man in the stomach, while consequently splitting apart the second man's throat.

" That is it, Tobi." I said, completely ignoring the man's demand for not calling him that. " We saw how well you did there, now. You weren't even able to realise that someone was creeping up to you and was going to kill ya. With those kind of reactions, you won't be able to survive the next set of soldiers, much less reaching the inner citadel. I'll accompany you back to the shack. Come." I said and dragged him by the hand.

" No I won't! I will kill that wretched dog Yami, and it will be me, and only me. I don't want anyone else to—" suddenly he was hit on the head, and he fell down, becoming unconscious.

It was me who did that, with the butt of my sword. I could not bear with the whining man any longer. You all know that my temper ain't nearly as long as a stick.

As I turned to see if there were any other soldiers who might attack him at the moment, an arrow whizzed past my hair, almost nicking it. 26 swordsmen and archers half of that, came rushing down at me like an avalanche.

The next thing I did on impulse was carry the dozing man and jump outside the wall, in the meantime simultaneously creating a cloud to cushion my impact.

Not exactly the smoothest landing, but it was one. Dust drifted from the force of me landing on the ground, and when it cleared, my heart skipped a beat.

More than fifty fighters each carrying their own unique arms, stood in a semicircle around us both. Hopes dwindled like a candle on a windy night, but I had to do what was to be done.