Ch309. Ambush 1

As the group walked through the path surrounded by trees, Anko suddenly looked upward, inwardly cursing while her hands whirled into weaving seals.

"Kuchiyose!" She exclaimed as smoke started filling the surroundings. Not a second later, a serpentine shadow rapidly slithered towards the bridge builder Tazuna, coiling around the man who was about to piss himself, not comprehending the situation.

Anko's summon barely managed to cover the man as an explosive lightning bolt fell from the clear sky, diving right into the smoke directly onto where the client was supposed to be.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata jumped around in fright when the booming sounds started resounding through the area while more bolts started raining down, all aiming to end their client. Their brains were trying to desperately process what just happened, never before experiencing a sneak attack aimed not at them, but at their client. Frankly, neither of the genins thought such a thing would happen so this proved to be a very good life lesson for them.

Kakashi released a relieved sigh, his tensed muscles relaxing while the crackling electricity around his right hand started to diminish. The only reason why he didn't jump forward in an attempt to redirect the lightning bolt the second he felt the surge of chakra above them was that Anko reacted first. He was a bit thankful for that when he saw more and more lightning bolts being conjured. He could take on one or two no problem but more than that would be difficult even for his Chidori.

"Thank you, Kamine." Anko said in relief after the lightning stopped raining. She had to admit, this sudden attack almost succeeded. Whoever was responsible clearly had enough brains to realize that killing the civilian was the best option.

Fortunately, Kamine was a snake summon resistant to lightning. No matter how many bolts fell from the sky onto her body, she wouldn't even feel it. The second Anko felt the surge of lightning chakra, she knew exactly what summon to use.

Kamine, who was towering over the group of ninjas while coiling around the civilian, moved her head to give Anko an acknowledging nod, "Isss' fineee, Anko-chan." A quiet masculine hiss replied to Anko's thanks.

"Please cover for the client while we deal with the annoyances." Anko requested while standing up from her crouch. She half-expected the attacker to retreat and try again later... at least, that's what she would have done, but she was clearly mistaken if the five figures that jumped in front of them from the treetops were any indication.

Kamine nodded in agreement, warily observing the five ninjas that blocked the path.

"Raiga Kurosuki, Aoi Rokusho, and three Rain genin." Kakashi boredly spoke, "How un-youthful," Kakashi tried to be funny but his eye-smile became a bit forced as he said those words, "of you to try and ambush us."

Aoi ignored Kakashi's remark and turned towards Raiga, "Are you sure you can deal with the Copycat?"

He survived so far only because of his caution and fighting one of the most infamous ninjas of Konoha head-on wasn't very clever in his books. That said, Raiga was also equally infamous and as a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Aoi decided to trust him to take Kakashi on. Not that he wouldn't bolt away the second he finds Raiga struggling.

"Who do you think you are talking to, twerp? I will prepare a good funeral for him!" Raiga stonily glanced at Aoi, causing him to shiver and reluctantly avert his eyes.

"In that case, I will take the Snake Bitch and the genins can fight it out among themselves." He said in a completely dismissive way that had his students nervously shuffle behind him.

At that moment, Anko's lips stretched into a grin when she heard how much he was underestimating her, 'I guess it is only natural. The last time any information about me got out was years ago when I was still a chunin.' She inwardly snickered, preparing to give Aoi a proper beatdown.

Kakashi threw his genins a worried glance but when they saw them either excited or determined he only silently sighed and jumped to the side, trying to distance his fight with Raiga from the genins. Anko did the same, just in a different manner. She leisurely walked a bit further from the road into the forest, making sure that Aoi unhurriedly followed her while the kiddies were left alone to play with each other.

...

"So... you are the bastard who stole the Raijin no Ken that belonged to the Senju clan, huh?" Anko offhandedly asked with a skip in her step, looking around the area and subtly checking for traps while she also observed Aoi like a hawk with the corner of her eyes.

"Yes, I acquired the Raijin no Ken before defecting Konoha." He said it with obvious smugness as if it was an incredible accomplishment.

"And Konoha basically stole it from the Senju clan after Tsunade decided to leave the village." Anko nodded before flashing Aoi an innocent grin, "Stealing is bad, you know?"

Aoi blinked in disbelief, furrowing his brows as if trying to reassure himself he heard right. "We are ninjas, you know?" He dryly replied.

"I guess that would make it all better." Anko chuckled. "Don't worry, I will steal the sword from you after I beat you to death."

Aoi just rolled his eyes and let his chakra course through the handle of Raijin no Ken, creating a lightning edge. "Chunins shouldn't be so overconfident. I am actually surprised you are still loyal to Konoha with how they treated you. Why not defect to Rain?" He tried.

Anko sighed and shook her head before pulling out a kunai and coursing her chakra through it, shocking Aoi as the kunai gained a lightning coating. This was a jonin level skill and suddenly, Aoi wasn't as confident as before.

"Tell you what..." Anko started, "Since you are gonna be dead in a moment anyway, there is no harm in being honest." She shrugged, "I am not loyal to Konoha." These words would definitely earn Anko a punishment if she said it out loud in the hearing range of a Konoha ninja. Even Aoi was flabbergasted that Anko actually had the balls to admit it so openly. "I am loyal to the Senju Clan and you, my dear soon-to-be-miserable idiot, did something that pissed Lady Tsunade off."

Anko now understood why Tsunade told her to be cautious and send a message if anything out of ordinary happened. Seeing a guy who stole the Raijin no Ken in front of her... Anko got the message loud and clear.

"Enough talking. I will show you the might of the Second Hokage wielded by me!" Aoi shouted and dashed at Anko while she watched him approach with a deadpan expression, wondering if the guy was really so arrogant as to think he was on par with Tobirama just because he stole his shiny sword. The same sword Tobirama seldom used...

Wordlessly swinging her kunai upward while bracing herself for the impact, Anko parried Aoi's blow and locked her kunai with his sword, lightning crackling against lightning as her bored eyes met Aoi's shocked gaze. The Raijin no Ken was supposed to be able to cut through anything!

"I have unlimited access to the Senju Library. Did you really think I wouldn't know how to block the Second's sword? Especially since the sword itself is not really a weapon but a training tool for lightning shape manipulation?" Anko asked in an amused drawl.

Honestly, morons these days... using training tools as if they were weapons.