24 Chapter 24

Ao, Mei's bodyguard in the future, at least in another universe. That's who I was staring down. This man was no joke, definitely a huge threat, and judging by that Kiri headband of his, it was clear that he wasn't on my side.

Ao's eye locked onto me, I could see the veins on the right side of his face, signifying the activation of his byakugan. His eye then trailed over to where Naruko, Satsuki, and Tazuna were. My body tensed.

"Children." He stated calmly. "Konoha sent children." I could tell he wasn't talking to me, more to himself and his comrades. "Our mission remains the same. Go deal with those two, I'll handle this boy." The two Kiri shinobi beside him jumped away towards the girls.

I never took my eyes off of Ao even with how much I was worrying about Naruko and Satsuki. Those guys had jonin level chakra reserves, they were no joke, but they were also unknown to me.

The blue haired man looked at Haku who was tense as she stared back at him.

"That includes you too. Leave us."

As a sensor I could sense not only one's chakra, but deeper things such as elemental natures, bloodlines, and even emotions. Small cues that I needed to focus on.

I could feel Haku's fear of this man.

So I was unsurprised when she followed his command and headed off towards the girls.

A three vs two, two jonin and a chunin against two genin.

I needed to beat this guy quickly and get over to them.

"Now for you-"

I dropped my weight seals as my body flickered towards him, my foot narrowly missing his face as he dodged. Spinning around I brought my other leg up for a kick which he caught.

'Wood Release: Cutting Technique'

Spikes shot out from the leg he had caught, destroying my left shinobi sandals and once again missing the target as he dodged out of the way, gaining distance from me.

"Wood Release?" He asked with shaky eyes. "The stories I've heard of Hashirama Senju and that kekkei genkai…I thought them to be myth, foolish tales told amongst my people scarred with delusions. I wonder what secrets your body will hold."

"You'll die never knowing." I snarled. My clones rushed him, I stayed behind and watched as he eyed them, gracefully dodging their attempts to cut him with kunai and slapping them away. Had they been shadow clones, they would have dispelled, but my wood clones were a lot tougher than that and would need to take 'fatal' damage to actually dispel.

"How interesting. Even with this eye of mine, I cannot tell which is the real one, and they are much more resilient than even stone shadow clones." He remarked, it was like he was studying me mid-fight.

"I'm curious, what other tricks can you do?"

Correction, he is studying me mid-fight.

"I got plenty. I'll even let you see them all, just know…I can't let you live after." I explained as my clones continued to attack, only landing a couple blows that he easily counterattacked.

Eventually he had taken down all of my clones, permanently.

"Sturdy and powerful. Such interesting clones you produce. How about you defect and join us? The rebel forces could use such a versatile shinobi, and I'm sure you can learn a thing or two from us as well." He asked, patting off the dirt that had gotten on him during the quick clash. I raised an eyebrow at his words. He was a part of the rebel forces, which means he's here under Mei's order.

"Hard pass. Why would I want to live in a gloomy place like the Mist village? Since we're in the mood for making offers, why don't you call off your men and make a deal with Konoha? The Blood Mist is horrible and must be ended, and I'm sure Lord Hokage will feel the same."

"If your Kage had any intentions on helping our people, he would have already done so. Our forces need the money our employers are paying for that bridge builder's head. I'm sure we can learn some way to reproduce that kekkei genkai of yours with your body." His gaze had gone from mostly stoic and a bit carefree to deadly in a second.

"Just like how you robbed the byakugan from one of our Hyuga?" I asked, my rage boiling within me.

"Precisely."

The man rushed me at a speed I hadn't expected from him and sent a kick into my chest that sent me flying through the forest. I managed to regain my balance in time to see a massive amount of water heading towards me.

I body flickered away, managing to dodge the attack. Although now I was on the forest floor. I looked up at Ao who was looking down at me with a cold eye.

This guy was strong. I hadn't expected him to be so fast, and the fact that he could definitely see my chakra points had me wary. Sure he didn't know the gentle fist, but it also wasn't that hard of a fighting style to figure out. I needed to be careful when in close range combat.

Let's try this again.

'Wood Release: Clone Jutsu.'

This time instead of four clones, nineteen formed around me, all looking at Ao with serious expressions. He wouldn't be able to tell which one of us was the real one as we fought, so I would use that to my advantage.

"Come then." He taunted me, but I wasn't so foolish. The way Obi-wan fucked up Anakin and all the time I had spent on Fortnite told me that attacking someone with the highground was the pinnacle of stupidity. So I just continued glaring at him.

Then I realized his game. He was stalling. The longer I took, the worse off Naruko and Satsuki were.

My eyes remained locked on Ao as I sent a mental command to my clones.

'Ten of you go help my girls.'

Immediately ten of them broke apart from us and dashed towards their location.

"My men are strong, some clones of yours won't be enough to slow them down."

I didn't deign him with a response. I knew the clones would be more than enough help as each one constituted as a person.

'Five of you, begin drawing in nature energy. I have a feeling I'm gonna need something big to beat this guy.'

Five of the clones sat down and started meditating. They didn't even bother running away considering how far the byakugan can see.

"That energy your clones are amassing…what is it?" He asked with undisguised interest. If he could see it, then he could tell that it was very powerful. Not that it mattered. He wouldn't be able to escape my attack.

"You gonna stay up there hiding, or you gonna come down here and get your ass whooped, either way I don't mind." I shrugged with a cocky grin.

He didn't answer, but judging by the way he jumped down to the forest floor, I knew he was wary of the energy amassing at an alarming rate.

My clones, the ones not gathering energy, and I rushed him, sending out a flurry of kunai.

He dodged them easily, even catching one and throwing it back at one of my clones's heads, piercing it's forehead and forcing it to dispel.

As the distance was closed, we launched out with the Uchiha's Interceptor Fist with quick strikes aimed at vital points. He couldn't dodge each of our attacks, getting punched in the gut once, and kicked in the shin, forcing him to a knee.

Then I tensed as I saw him form a hand seal, A water bullet flying out of his mouth and blowing off the whole head of one of my clones.

…I'm incredibly lucky he guessed wrong.

I kicked him hard across his face, sending him skidding along the ground, eating dirt until he slammed against a tree. I took a moment to catch my breath, I had been a moment away from death, a mere miselection saved me.

Getting close was deadly, but I needed to get close if I wanted to win.

'Wood Release: Cutting Technique.'

I formed a katana made of wood and grasped the hilt, my other two living clones doing the same.

I could feel the nature energy my clones had amassed, it was a great deal, but I needed more. I needed enough to pull off this jutsu to end this fight and go to the others.

Naruko, Satsuki, Kakashi, hang on, just a bit longer.

—

Kakashi

"You suck." Kakashi frowned. He had been thoroughly kicking Zabuza's ass, only having a few wounds himself while Zabuza was littered with small cuts, not to mention the large cut in his stomach now lacking a kunai.

The moment Kakashi had pulled it out, Zabuza had used fire release to cauterize the wound.

"I suck for saving my own life?" Zabuza asked with an annoyed groan.

"You suck for keeping this going, just stay down and you won't have to die today." It was a lie, Zabuza would need to die for the sake of the bridge's completion. It was highly unlikely he was just going to turn away and let his team complete their mission.

"HAHA, you've really lost your fucking mind, huh, Copy Ninja? We both know one of us is going to die today, and if it's me, I plan on taking you with me."

"What was that, I couldn't hear you over the sound of your blood in my ears."

Zabuza's face bit into a snarl, a look of mad rage consuming his features as he rushed the Konoha jonin.

"BASTARD!"

—

Satsuki

"Naruko, don't worry about me! Focus on protecting Tazuna." She bit out, spitting out some blood.

That definitely wasn't good for her health, and neither was the kick the massive Kiri nin had delivered to her kidney.

Something was wrong inside of her, if she had to assume, it was internal bleeding, which really wasn't good.

"No, I can do both." Naruko brought her hands together in the clone seal and produced fifty clones.

Satsuki eyed the large Kiri nin, his face completely covered by a mask and his eyes covered by glasses. The other Kiri nin was wearing a mask as well, but instead this one was a lot like the girl Kiri nin's mask. A tracker ninja mask.

Behind her stood Naruko, her clones, and Tazuna, and to her right battling the tracker man and the tracker woman were Lei's clones. Seven for the man, and three for the woman. Honestly, she doesn't know if they'd have been alive had Lei's clones not arrived. At the very least, Tazuna would be dead. Protecting him and fighting two jonin was hard enough, throw in an additional chunin and it was just a recipe for tragedy.

Both she and Naruko had long since removed their weight seals. They were fast enough to run, Satsuki was sure of that, but that would mean leaving Tazuna to his death, and while he already told them to run away and leave him behind, they had a mission to complete and a town full of people to save.

They would not die here, she had goals to complete and she hadn't even completed one of them yet.

"I think I have an idea, Satsuki." Naruko spoke up. The Uchiha didn't for a moment take her eyes off of the mountain of a man she was facing. She had already done so once and that resulted in a vicious hit that left her below one hundred percent for the remainder of the fight.

"What is it?" She gritted out.

"You remember that attack we used on Kakashi?" Naruko asked and Satsuki's eyes lit up in remembrance. It was a very powerful attack, the combined might of wind and fire jutsu to create a massive fire storm. Incredibly deadly to any shinobi caught in it, but there was one problem.

Before Satsuki could respond, her massive opponent was upon her again, sending a punch towards her face which she dodged shakily. Naruko's clones launched towards the man, using their scrolls filled with weapons to distract and cut at the man. It was actually incredibly effective.

"Let's do it now!" Naruko shouted. The clones made a good distraction, she was right, now was the time.

"Right!" Satsuki held her hands up, quickly weaving through the hand seals. "Ready!"

"Same! Do it!"

'Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!'

'Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!'

The powerful attacks mixed together to create a massive tornado of flames that immediately devoured Naruko's clones, making its way towards the Kiri nin at incredible speeds. Before he could even substitute, the storm was upon him, his body disappearing in the storm of fire.

"We…won." Satsuki tiredly smiled, the fight wasn't over yet, but Lei had told them time and time again to celebrate small victories while not dropping your guard. She felt bad as her eyes closed and her body dropped to the ground, but she felt like she deserved a nap.