21 Bone needle

Halfway back, we came across a solitary figure covered in blood; unexpectedly, it was another one of the Mist Swordsmen, just like Ameyuri. What was his name again?

"Kushimaru," Ameyuri said, casting a displeased look at her "colleague." He always seemed to pick on her when she was least irritated, as if his amusement relied on her being constantly annoyed.

"Well, well, if it isn't little Ameyuri," Kushimaru responded, placing particular emphasis on "little" to mock her, as was his tradition. "And who's the long-eared one? Did you finally find a boyfriend?" He laughed at his own jest before falling abruptly silent due to the surprise of the response he received.

"My fiancé, is there a problem?" At some point, Kiba appeared in Ameyuri's hands crackling with electricity.

"Wait, really?" Kushimaru fell silent for a few seconds as he processed this unexpected answer. "Damn, if I'd known you were into tall guys, I would have made a move years ago."

Ameyuri was about to attack when she heard that, full of disgust at the insinuation, and the only thing that prevented her from doing so was that someone was faster than her. A thunderbolt the size of a large tree trunk fell from the sky and struck down Kushimaru Kuriarare before he could react and use a substitution technique to save himself. All that remained was Nuibari, undestroyed but glowing red hot because it discharged the attack into the ground when it struck and stabbed the earth.

Ameyuri turned to look at me.

"I'm sorry; I know I should have let you handle it, but I couldn't help but make a move after what he said."

"I didn't expect you to be jealous," Ameyuri raised an amused eyebrow at the discovery.

"It's a matter of defending my woman's dignity," that's what I said, but I admit I'm a bit jealous. I can accept envious glances, and I'm mature enough to control myself in most situations, but such blatant provocation crosses the line, and the sentence is death. What he said wasn't accidental; he wasn't an immature teenager controlled by hormones, and his malice was evident to anyone. Thinking about it now, perhaps I gave him too swift a death...

"Do you want to keep the needle?" I asked, trying to change the subject because I knew that if I allowed Ameyuri to pay attention to that, it could end badly for me.

"Sure," Ameyuri rolled her eyes as she took out another scroll and sealed Nuibari inside. "It's a pity I don't have the sword summoning scroll; I can only keep Nuibari sealed inside the scroll so it won't be summoned back."

"Can't you sever the connection with the scroll in some way?"

"It can be done, but I can't do it myself," she replied as she put away the scroll. "It would take a sealing expert to remove the link."

"It seems I have more reason to try to acquire the Uzumaki duo," I thought.

"Come on, I highly doubt they won't send anyone to investigate what happened," Ameyuri suggested, so we quickly left the scene after making sure there were only ashes left.

"Is something bothering you?" I asked, seeing her thoughtful expression as we moved.

"It's just that I found it strange that this idiot was covered in blood from head to toe. With expert use of Nuibari, the amount of blood would never reach those levels. In fact, it's usually the opposite; among the Seven, it's the sword that tends to leave the least blood traces."

"Maybe he faced many people at once?"

"Even if he faced dozens, it would have to be madness for that..." Ameyuri seemed to realize something and piqued my curiosity.

"What did you discover?" We stopped under an overhang as Ameyuri continued speaking while releasing the Kirigakure headband and putting on the Seimeigakure one.

"The direction he came from was where the Kaguya clan settlement is located. There were rumors of a rebellion, and the Mizukage seemed intent on eliminating the problem at its roots." With a motion of Kiba, the Kirigakure headband was scratched.

"Are you saying that this person may have gone there to massacre the Kaguya clan and was returning?" I questioned without fully accepting it. "Shouldn't they have sent more people? Given the reputation of that clan, I doubt one would be enough to deal with them."

"Kushimaru never cared about his subordinates; there were probably several squads sent, but most of them died facing the Kaguya clan, and the dying or injured were finished off by him because he would find it too bothersome to bring them back to the village for treatment."

"Do you want to go take a look?" I asked her as I considered other plans in my mind.

"Let's go; we have some time since Kushimaru's death, and you want something from there, right?" Ameyuri recognized the look her fiancé was using.

"As I expected, I can't hide anything from you."

"Spill it. What are you looking for? If it's money or something, I don't think there'll be anything left after the looting, and the technique scrolls are useless to anyone outside the Kaguya clan."

"I mentioned before that I'm like a doctor, scientist, and researcher all at once, remember?"

"Do you want to get some fresh Kaguya clan corpses for research?" Ameyuri quickly realized the goal. "Let me tell you, if you don't know, members of this clan are sick and deranged; I don't think their bodies have much research value."

"Don't worry; if I'm right, then we'll leave with two gains," I assured her. "Although I'll have to ask you to help me with one of those handy storage scrolls; otherwise, I won't be able to get much."

I thought for a second and realized she was right; essentially, I asked for the corpses of those who must have died in the least violent way and therefore left their bodies more intact.

The Kaguya clan village was easy to locate once we got close enough, as the fires in the houses were still burning strongly, and the scent of blood carried by the wind was more than noticeable.

"Give me a moment," I used Mantra to try to locate survivors. Kimimaro shouldn't be too far away since his escape from the cage should have happened at the time of the attack.

I felt three living people, two of whom were a flickering candle, and no, now there's only one. But it would soon go out; it wasn't worth paying attention to.

"I found him," the response was similar enough to Haku's that it was highly likely it was a child of about the same age. I turned my gaze to Ameyuri and had an idea.

"How would you feel about having an apprentice like Pakura?"