40 Chapter 39

Reid's black eyes snapped open as he felt movement around him. His eyes caught Lisa's as her outstretched hand froze mid air before it went down a moment later.

"You're awake, good." She spoke as his eyes traveled behind her to see the men and women gathering their gear. From the corner of his eye, he saw someone waking the other children up.

"Your mother wants everyone to gather around. You have three minutes." She said and then went away to do other things.

He felt for his sword that was strapped at the back of his waist for easy access and fast unsheathing. In a way he felt a sense of comfort in having it close to him.

He steeled his mind as he got up and walked towards the gathering of people. In front of them stood his mother, who looked at everyone for a moment before speaking.

"We've set up camp here but this is just the beginning. Our scout has seen a small troop of soldiers marching towards us. They're probably trying to gauge our strength with this. I've selected a few among us that will have the task of meeting with them." She spoke authoritatively.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few minutes passed and Reid and about thirty others were fully geared and on their way forward. His face was impassive as he also trudged forward but he was on full alert.

His eyes glanced at the three other kids that were in this group and had nervousness written on their face.

'They're scared. That's normal but if they want to be able to fight then they need to take care of that.' He thought before putting them out of his mind. He wasn't going to be a good samaritan and hold their hands. This was war.

It was kill or be killed. His eyes widened a bit before his eyes narrowed in focus and his hand shifted towards his sword. A second later the man in charge of the group shouted out.

"They're up ahead! Get ready!" The aura around everyone changed as they tensed up. Less than thirty seconds later they could see it. A group with higher numbers than them rushing forward with their weapons bared.

'I'm not taking any chances!' Reid thought as his black eyes immediately turned scarlet, signaling the use of his bloodline ability.

"Fight!!!" Their leader shouted and the rest released cries of war.

The moment the two groups met in the middle, the battle began. The sound of battle and screams was consistent and didn't stop for even a moment.

A man let out a war cry and rushed towards Reid with his spear thrust forward. With little difficulty, he leaned out of the way with his sword out. The man swung his spear to follow up his attack but it was too late.

*Slash!*

In less than a second his wrist was separated from his arm. His face twisted in pain and he let out a scream only for his head to suffer the same fate of separation from his body. Without giving it a glance, Reid moved on to the next person.

'Some of them won't be able to use their semblances properly due to fear of hitting their own ally. The more we take down, the more space we give them.' Reid thought as he met his next unsuspecting victim.

His blade cut through the air and dug into the neck of a man. The blade stuck there and didn't move an inch. His opponent's body had solidified as hard as stone. The man grinned as he aimed his gun at Reid's temple.

"Gotcha!" He screamed.

With his eyes on the man's fingers, the moment he pulled the trigger his head was already out of the way.

'Nice try but I win!' Reid thought as lightning ran through the blade. Immediately, the sword continued to move without resistance through him.

He watched the aura in the man fading quickly. He looked to the side to see who the man was fighting before. He saw one of the four kids bleeding on the floor. His aura hadn't gone out yet meaning he was still alive.

"Help…me…" He struggled to speak out.

As he took a step towards him a gunshot rang out from behind him. His eyes widened as a bullet passed him and drilled into the boy's head, killing him immediately. He immediately turned back, a kunai flying from his hand into the man's forehead.

He couldn't raise the gun to aim at him but his hand was elevated enough to get the other boy. Reid realized this and acknowledged his error. He grit his teeth as he turned away.

This time he made sure he was dead before moving on. After that, he dashed away while taking note of his surroundings. Though they had taken out most of them, they had also suffered some casualties. Fortunately they had only lost five men but the rest were injured.

The numbers on both sides were starting to look somewhat equal now. He looked for the man who lead them forward and saw him struggling with two men on his own. With quick consecutive uses of [Flash Step], he was behind them, slashing with his lightning coated blade at their backs.

They cried out in pain at the sudden ambush, giving the man room and time to slash his blade through their throats. If they didn't die from that, the first strike already cut into their spine.

"Good work. Help out the others!" He ordered quickly as he also did the same. The next hour was a blur with Reid flashing all around the battlefield ambushing and reaping lives left and right. His lightning coated blade spared no enemy he came across.

Reid and the remaining survivors stood on what was just a battlefield, panting and recovering breath while staying alert. They had taken out all of them but they all suffered injuries, some more than others.

Out of them all, the one who suffered the least amount of injuries was Reid who suffered only a few unlucky nicks and bruises. With his sharingan and his increased stats combined with [Flash Step] he was able to avoid injury.

"The battle is over. Today we are victorious!" The leader screamed to the men as they shouted in joy in response. He looked at the men who survived.

They came here with thirty five men and they would be going back with twenty nine injured and six dead. He noticed that out of the four kids that were brought, only two survived and one of them looked almost dead. His eyes landed on Reid who still looked alert even as they celebrated. He recalled his performance during the fight as he took down several enemies on his own before assisting others.

'Lady Miko, you raised a fine warrior.' He thought as he looked away.

While all of this was happening, Reid wasn't focused on them but instead stayed alert. He had learnt to trust his gut and it was telling him something wasn't right.

'This is a small number compared to the amount of soldiers they have lined up waiting. If their purpose was to truly gauge our strength, how would they know anything if they all died here.' He pondered as his scarlet eyes scanned around but didn't find anything.

'I didn't see anyone retreat during earlier. Either they were confident that they would kill us or…" Just then his eyes widened as he felt something at the edge of his perception with [Area Sense].

He looked in that direction and focused as he tensed before moving into a full sprint. It was so faint and far away that you wouldn't notice it unless you knew what you were looking for.

"Hey kid! Where the hell are you going!?" The leader demanded and rushed to follow but Reid didn't slow down or acknowledge his words at the moment.

Reid saw a glint of metal up ahead among the giant rocks and immediately picked up speed.

'Got you!' He screamed internally as a kunai immediately made its way into his hand. With a flick of his wrist, a lightning coated kunai was flung forward at high speed.

*SHHIIINNGGG!*

The familiar sound of the the kunai cutting through solids object rang out as a man jumped away from behind the stone. He turned to retreat but his eyes found scarlet, paralyzing him momentarily. Less than a second later, Reid was in front of him with his lightning coated hand thrusted into his chest and out his back.

"It's over." Reid said loud enough for the dying man to hear before violently ripping his hand out, allowing him to drop to the floor.

The leader saw all of this as he chased behind Reid in confusion only to find his answer. He was at a loss for words but Reid saved him the trouble.

"They wouldn't send people to gauge our strength without someone to observing from afar to report back. They knew they would lose so they stationed this guy to watch from afar." He then walked to where the kunai he had thrown landed. A few feet away, a sniper rifle lay on the floor, obviously destroyed by the bladed weapon that cut through it like butter.

"He used that to keep an eye on us while ensuring his own safety." Reid finished while spreading his senses as far as he could. Stunned as he was, the leader was able to ask a question.

"How did you know where he was?" He asked eyeing Reid critically. There was silence for a moment before he answered.

"It was a hunch." He answered and then walked back in the direction of the others. The man opened his mouth to question it but Reid was faster.

"I also felt it…" He added at the end, leaving the older man speechless. He could do nothing but look at he boy's back at they walked back to the others who waited for them.

'Such frightening foresight at such a young age. I made a mistake before. He isn't a genius or a prodigy…He's a monster!' He thought in realization.

Unknown to the impression he left on the man, Reid deactivated his sharingan and continued on his way.