12 Immeasurable Power

The group broke through the trees and headed directly for Natsume and the others. Ryunosuke frowned, "They knew we were here. They are trying to use us to lure away whatever is chasing them."

Natsume frowned. She had never been outside the complex or had experience with this kind of thing. However, she didn't let herself get distracted. The first thing she noticed was that the group was all wearing dark cloaks covering their faces. There were no identifying markings or features.

As for the civilian, it seemed to be some sort of researcher or cartographer. It was common for people to hire mercenaries to escort them to dangerous places for various reasons. When the civilian spotted the group of five, he was visibly more relaxed.

"Help us! I will pay you 10,000 Ryo!" hearing this, the group that was escorting him had their killing intent spike up. The civilian could tell something was wrong, but he only cared for his own safety. Ryunosuke was a calm and composed leader. Instead of agreeing right away, he wished to see what the opponent was.

Suddenly, a streak of white zipped by and snatched one of the cloaked men. He couldn't even scream before he was whisked away. Seeing that, Ryunosuke frowned. "Reiji, anything on the enemy?"

"I'm sorry, Ryu-san. It's shrouded in something that is interfering with my sensing. But I can tell its very power and has nearly endless chakra," he then gulped. "Is it Kyuubi?"

However, Ryunosuke shook his head. "No, it's not Kyuubi. We would already be dead. Whatever this thing is, it seems to be toying with the group. Like it's enjoying their fear and the chasing them like rats."

Natsume had a thought appear in her head at that description, "Like a snake?"

Unfortunately for them, she would prove to be correct. A pristine white tail flicked out and smashed into the high-rank warrior. He lay on the ground with a broken body, but his teammates just left him to die. It seemed that their plan to pass off the threat to Natsume and them did not work. Therefore, they split off in opposite directions and abandoned the civilian.

"50… 50,000 Ryo! Save me!" He cried out in fear as he watched a huge pure white snake gulp down the adult man in a single bite. Although it dwarfs in comparison to a tailed beast, it was big enough to easily swallow a horse. The giant snake seemed to enjoy playing with the scared man as it began to slither around him, forming a white barrier with its body.

It would occasionally flick its tongue toward him as if mocking him while he cried out. "80,000… please, I don't want to die."

Ryunosuke gave the silent command to the group to leave the area the way they came. He assumed that this might be this creatures hunting ground. However, with the information provided by Reiji, it was too risky to face this opponent. Not being able to track such a fast and powerful beast would prove to be fatal.

However, the man's last words seemed to make the whole group stop in their tracks. "I beg of you, I… I'll even give you a beautiful Uchiha woman."

"Ryunosuke-san, what do we do?" Natsume asked biting her lip. "He must be talking about Hinako-sensei…"

"You don't know that for sure. There have been a number of captured Uchiha. However, even if it is another, to trample on the Uchiha pride by offering us up as rewards…"

For the first time since meeting him, Natsume saw the rage buried deep within. The cloaked mercenaries from before had long gone, and so they could use sharingan without worrying about giving away their identity. As for the civilian… he was not making it out alive no matter what.

"Tiger formation, Lightning variant." Ryunosuke didn't need to give much instruction. The group of five changed directions and attempted to rescue the civilian. The giant snake looked at them with slight interest in its eyes. It seemed to be too lazy to make the first strike.

All five Uchiha activated their sharingan and finished changing formation as they arrived up to the snake. The front of the formation had Saki who had already pulled out her sword. It made a chittering sound as lightning chakra spewed out from the blade.

Immediately behind her, Natsume drew her sword as well. However, she wouldn't risk a mistake by trying to channel chakra through her blade. Her main role was to counterattack and defend Saki so she could focus on attacking. As for Reiji and Seiji, they already finished weaving hand signs.

"Suiton: Water Dragon Jutsu" "Raiton: Lightning Dragon Jutsu"

The two twin dragons came out together and coiled around each other, creating a synergistic effect. Seeing this, the large snake's attention was grabbed. It made a slight move before opening its mouth wide. A thick purple smoke shot out and collided with the combination Jutsu. The lightning dragon dissipated within the cloud and the water dragon was demolished. However, filling the battlefield with water was their main intent.

The snake finally moved its coiled body away from the civilian and defended against Saki's lightning drenched blade. Due to the change in field, the snake couldn't escape being hit. The pristine white scales were cut, and blood dripped onto the battlefield. However, the blood was so corrosive, it created a pit in the spot where it landed.

Just when they thought they achieved an advantage, they were quickly corrected. The wound healed instantaneously, as if it weren't even there. As for the glob of blood… it transformed into dozens of small snakes that jumped toward Saki all at once. Natsume managed to block some of them and even destroy a few. Unlike clones, these little snakes seemed to be more permanent. She felt that they carried with them that corrosive power.

This was beginning to feel like a huge mistake. Natsume saw the man lying on the ground unconscious. He must have fainted from fear since she could still see him breathing. The snake was locked in combat with Saki, but the difference in strength was apparent. Since their initial attack hadn't worked, the remaining four changed their positions to execute the backup plan.

The snake seemed to detect something and attempted to retreat. However, the four of them were already in a square formation around the snake and with a single hand seal, the ground became covered with fuinjutsu. A flaming red barrier began to take effect. As the formation activated, Saki grabbed the man and jumped out of the last opening before it completely sealed off.

"Uchiha Fire Suppression Array!"