3.4

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"You guys should go ahead."

Sarah, who hadn't had to do much in the last fight, told us.

I looked at her, and she added, "Alex, and Kyusuke, you two are the fastest. As for us, with the injured, we would only slow you down. You two should go ahead to save them, while we will be your backup."

That… was actually a good idea. I wasn't too worried about Obito and Zetsu attacking them while I was gone, not only because Obito was in critical condition, but also because their goal was to stop anyone from reaching the Ame Orphans.

If Zetsu were to attack anyone, it would be me and Kyusuke, but saving Obito is more important than stopping me. In this situation, attacking the rest of the group would make no sense, especially if Nagato wasn't there to see.

Kyusuke didn't look too happy about this plan, but Kie, the Kumo Rogue, extended his arm, his hand closed into a fist as he said with a smile, "Go save our leaders, alright?"

Kyusuke bit his lips, clenching his fists hard, but in the end he nodded, fist bumping Kie, "You be careful, alright?"

Kie snorted, "I think you will be in more danger than us. As soon as you get them, you run back here, alright?"

Kyusuke sighed, while I glanced at my team. They looked lost, for the most part, probably still confused about what they were going through.

At this point, there was nothing I could say that would help them, so I quietly left the place with Kyusuke, speeding through the forest bordering Amegakure.

To my surprise, even as I ran as fast as I could, Kyusuke actually managed to keep up with me, meaning he hadn't been going as fast as he could earlier. Well, neither did I, but I thought he would be slower.

"Can you go any faster?"

Kyusuke grinned at my question, and replied, "I'll have you know that I am called Swift Foot Kyusuke. I'm barely using any Chakra right now."

"How much faster can you go?"

Kyusuke replied, "I can cover a couple hundred meters in a second before exhausting my Chakra."

He said that with a proud look, but I knew better than to trust a ninja. No trained Shinobi would reveal their cards so easily, even to a supposed ally. We barely knew each other.

Although, I'm not sure he was really well trained before the Akatsuki. Well, in any case, if he did lie, then he downplayed himself, so I was pretty sure he could do what he boasted. Maybe more, but at least that.

Using my enhanced memory from the Super Soldier Physique, I replayed the memory of the episode in my head to make my plan. I knew God could change the plot of the worlds we would be sent in, but things generally seemed to remain similar.

Out of the three, Konan would be the hardest to save, because she was held by Hanzo and surrounded by both his men and Konoha's Root. Although, if the terrain is similar to the Canon material… there might be an opportunity.

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[Chris' POV]

Watching Alexander run off, I held my shotgun unsteadily. I… I didn't manage to shoot. I thought, from the deepest parts of my soul, that I was fine. That I could shoot. But I couldn't.

When these weird white guys sprouted out of the ground, my finger never left the trigger, yet never did my finger gain any strength.

In the end, it had been Johnathan's stunning spell that had saved us, as it was weirdly effective against these 'White Zetsus', as he called them. The Ninjas with us had also been a great help.

Of course, what had really saved us was the swift disposal of their leader, by Alexander. And all I could do was stand there, when I had the most powerful weapon out of our team.

Sighing, I looked at the newbies, whom we had protected by encircling them. One of them was on the ground, not dead, but his arm was broken by a Zetsu that passed by me.

He had been saved by another of the newbies.

Crouching next to him, I asked, "You okay?"

He groaned, and looked vindictive, I could tell it in his eyes, but he said nothing. Looking at him, he seemed to be a thug, not exactly the kind of person I fancied for my team… but who am I to judge.

The newbie who had saved him, a policewoman, going by her uniform, pointed at my weapon and asked, "Do you know how to use that thing?"

In missions, I always kept my face icy. That came from before God's Game, from the army. Showing emotions on missions was weak, and I didn't do weakness. I didn't think I did, at least.

Now, it led me to this…

"I do. It was simply unnecessary here, we don't want to draw any more unwanted attention to us."

That was bullshit, but I couldn't say I couldn't pull the trigger.

Not wanting to continue on this conversation, I stood up and said to the entire group, "Alexander will soon be coming back with those four. When he does, you need to be ready to run, because anyone who can't keep up, will be left behind."

It was cruel, but true. Alexander had already shown us what happened to those who lagged behind in the last mission, by completely abandoning us to do his own things. Anthony and Lucy had died because of it.

At that, one of the newbies, Asher, asked, "How many missions did you go through?"

I didn't want to answer, but Johnathan immediately perked up, "This is the second for Sarah and Erik, and the third for Chris, Alexander and I."

Johnathan could seriously get on my nerves sometimes, and this was one of those times.

As expected, Asher reacted to the information, by sending us a gaze filled with surprise and disappointment, asking, "How come he is the leader and you said nothing?"

I didn't like her gaze. Snorting, I raised my gun, and asked, "You know how he has been training for the past ten days?"

She frowned, and I said, "He has had me fire at him, with this weapon. And he dodges the bullets. Frankly, we could all team up against him, and I don't just mean our team, but the Akatsuki too, and we wouldn't win. Maybe we would be able to give him a scratch or two, but we would die."

She looked skeptic, but that frankly was none of my problems. If she didn't want to believe me, then too bad for her.

At this moment, Sarah intervened, saying in her usual cheerful voice, "Alright, why don't we do some introductions? The nature of the mission had us in a hurry, but since we have some time, tell us about you. Name and occupation, or anything you are good at."

The first to answer was Asher, the only one whose name I knew because I heard her speak to another woman on the team.

"Asher, Sniper." I could already tell she was in the army, from the way she held herself. You can tell these kinds of things after some time. She didn't look particularly impressive, she was slightly below average in height, and looked prettier than strong. But she moved like someone who had killed.

Following her was the woman she had been speaking with earlier, a policewoman going by her uniform, "Ezra, as for my job, it's pretty obvious."

"Bob Fisher, but I'm sure you all know me." Bob Fisher, number 9 for Chelsea. Of course we knew him. Huge celebrity in the real world. Quite arrogant, too, especially now that Alexander is away.

"Hello, my name is Charles, and I am an electrician. Was, I guess." He looked refined, for an electrician. He was wearing a suit. Maybe out of a wedding?

"Name's Claire. I would say it is nice to meet you all, but this isn't exactly the best circumstances to find oneself in. I'm an athlete, by the way." She was one of the most interesting newbies. She was quite pretty, to start with. Not that it mattered to me, but she was also the newbie who followed Alexander and the Ninjas the most easily.

"Francis." This was from the thug on the ground. Him only saying his name was probably because he had nothing else to say.

"Saul. I… I work as an accountant. I know CPR?" Middle aged, balding, overweight. Married.

"I am Julia. I'm good with numbers." In her fifties, but in good shape for her age. She wasn't a dead weight when we ran.

"M-Maria. I'm in Law School… but we're gonna die, so it doesn't matter." Young and pessimistic. She seemed to be a straight A student.

"Jordan. Student too. And yeah, our chances don't look very good. Hanzo is probably waiting for Alexander with dozens of his men, along with Konoha's Root. I hardly see how he is going to save them, or bring them here."

A jolly band.