Chapter 27

The explosion was massive and could be seen for miles, letting a huge amount of smoke lose into the air.

Fuyōna landed back onto the ground the version two chakra cloak fading away, leaving him relatively unharmed. Of course, he had Saiken to thank for that, but it could wait until later.

Fuyōna waited for the dust to settle before he saw the aftermath of his tailed beast bomb. The desert had a large crater in it and the sand had been scorched black from the intense heat of the concentrated chakra.

"I cant sense the Kazekage..." Fuyōna thought as he scouted the area for him.

The gold dust had settled and scattered all over the place, mixing into the desert sand.

"Maybe that blast killed him?" Saiken said.

Fuyōna squatted down, picking up a handful of the gold dust before letting it run between his fingers, letting it fall back down to the sand.

"We shouldn't let our guard down just yet," Fuyōna said as he stood up.

Fuyōna walked through the desolate wasteland he had created as he searched for any signs of the Kazekage. A few minutes passed as Fuyōna walked around before he heard a small cough coming from the distance.

Fuyōna approached slowly before spotting that it was the Kazekage, or what was left of him. He was severely injured and in bad shape. Half of his body was scorched from the blast. His left arm had also been ripped off along with his left leg from below the knee.

Fuyōna looked down at him, taking in the state he was in. He didn't need to say anything witty or give him a snide remark. No... Fuyōna simple looked him in the eyes as he took his final breaths.

"Y-You..." The Kazekage spoke.

"Who... Are you?" He said, struggling to get his words out.

Fuyōna took a moment before he allowed a bone to protrude from the palm of his hand.

"I am Fuyōna... The ice devil of the bloody mist." He said as he allowed his ice style chakra to coat his bone blade.

The Kazekage closed his eyes, accepting his defeat in full, ready to embrace the afterlife. Fuyōna struck the Kazekage in the heart with his blade, his ice style chakra pouring out freezing the Kazekages body, preserving what was left of it in a block of ice.

"This way, at least they will find your body..." Fuyōna said, turning his back on the now-dead Kazekage.

He only took a brief moment before becoming serious once again.

"Saiken I need to borrow some of your chakra." He said as he focused.

"Of course Fuyōna," Saiken said allowing him to tap into his reserves.

Fuyōna made a couple of hand signs and focused hard, allowing the red chakra cloak to envelop his body sprouting two tails. Finishing his hand signs, Fuyōna opened his eyes as a crystal ice mirror formed in front of him.

"I hope this works..." He said as he stepped into the mirror.

Hatsu was running as fast as he could to try and catch up with Ozawa and the princess. He could only hope that Ozawa was able to hold her own against the two sand Anbu shinobi until he arrived.

Suddenly a massive explosion fired off far off in the distance. Even though it was still far far away, Hatsu could still feel the intense shock waves that came off of it.

"What in the!" He shouted as he used his arms to block the sand being kicked up from hitting his eyes.

The shockwaves ended after a moment, and Hatsu could see the massive smoke cloud that it had left.

"Was that captain Yuki?" He asked.

He didn't have time to think about that now. He had to go and help Ozawa and secure the princess. After all, that was the mission. Hatsu turned and started running as quickly as he could once more, using his chakra to amplify his speed as much as possible.

The dust cloud faded in the background as Hatsu continued to run through the desert, he wasn't sure how much time passed by, but the sun was starting to get low now signalling it was mid-afternoon.

"I have to hurry!" He thought as he continued to run.

Suddenly something started to glow on his shoulder, catching his attention and causing him to stop in his tracks.

"What in the hell is that?" He thought as he watched it glow.

"Is that a seal!" He said, trying to rip his jacket off before the seal could fully activate.

Suddenly, the light coming off the seal started to grow cold before the chakra it was giving off formed a crystal ice mirror in the air next to him.

Nothing happened for a moment, and Hatsu just stared at the jutsu very confused. Suddenly, Fuyōna's reflection became visible before he stepped out of the mirror right in front of Hatsu.

"What in the! Captain Yuki!" Hatsu shouted in disbelief.

Fuyōna slipped out of the ice mirror and stepped onto the sand, allowing his red chakra cloak to fade as he looked at Hatsu.

"Ah Hatsu, I'm glad you survived. I wasn't sure if the seal would work but looks like it did!" Fuyōna said, rubbing the back of his head.

Hatsu looked very surprised, his mouth hanging wide open.

"What in the hell was that?" He said before snapping upright.

"I mean, what was that captain?" Hatsu corrected.

Fuyōna gave him a small smile. "Don't worry about formalities Hatsu please, Fuyōna is fine.

"Right..." Hatsu said.

Fuyōna took a look around and noticed Hatsu was alone.

"Where is the princess?" Fuyōna said, suddenly becoming serious.

Hatsu nodded.

"I am on my way to find her now... Ozawa was able to make a break for it, but two of their Anbu got past us. Forgive me, captain."

"Let us make haste then, lead the way!" Fuyōna said as the two of them dashed off.

"What happened to the rest of the squad?" Fuyōna asked.

Hatsu nodded.

"Kaga won without any major injuries but was still wounded, Sawano, however, is hurt pretty bad. I'm not sure if he will make it." Hatsu said, turning to look where he was going.

Fuyōna nodded and continued to follow Hatsu towards Ozawa's location.

"Captian I have to ask, how did you survive against the Kazekage and what was that jutsu?" Hatsu said, unable to contain his curiosity.

Fuyōna nodded, well for a start that jutsu is something I am still experimenting on. I designed a seal that would allow my chakra to form an ice mirror that I could link with another I create, allowing for a sort of wormhole effect that lets me travel between the two. That was I can travel a vast distance in almost an instant."

Hatsu looked very confused, not understanding what the hell Fuyōna was on about.

"It's like sort of teleporting you could say," Fuyōna said, trying to simplify it.

"As for the Kazekage, well let's just say if not for a bit of help from a friend, I wouldn't be standing here with you now," Fuyōna said with a small smile.

Hatsu decided not to press the matter; after all, his captain had just defeated one of the five Kage. He was not someone that Hatsu wanted to piss off right now.

The princess tried her best to run as far as possible, but she couldn't get far with her limited stamina. She could still hear the sounds of battle in the distance, and she decided her best bet was to hide and find cover.

She had made it to a small river that flowed through the desert valley, taking shelter under a small rock deciding to wait for someone to rescue her.

"I just know captain Yuki will come for me." She said, trying not to lose hope.

Meanwhile, Ozawa had been blasted by a wind style dragon. The force of the jutsu had slapped her off the rocks and blasted her into the ground with tremendous force.

She was in bad shape now, dehydrated and low on chakra the wind style had done a lot of damage to her, leaving her unable to move.

The sand Anbu was pleased with his work and could see that Ozawa was down and out for the count. Deciding not to waste any more time with her, he quickly used the body flicker to vanish.

Ozawa could only watch as she lay flat on the ground in horror.

"No... Princess. I- have to... Save her..." She said, struggling to get up.

However, it was no use as she collapsed back down to the ground before her world became black.

The princess had waited sometime now and decided to have a look to see if the coast was clear. Poking her head out into the open she took in all of her surroundings, listening for the slightest noise all while gripping the kunai that Ozawa had given her tightly in both hands.

She took a sigh of relief as she could see or hear nothing and decided to stand up walking over to the stream, grabbing a handful of water to drink. The princess splashed her face with some water before looking at her reflection as the ripples started to settle.

A large shadow abruptly appeared behind her, and the princess turned around in horror letting out a terrified scream as she tried to run away.

"Not so fast, your highness!" The Anbu shouted as he grabbed her wrist and covered her mouth with his large hand cutting her scream short.

The princess tried to bite his hand, but it seemed to have no effect on the large man.

"Now now, princess. Is that any way for a lady to behave?" He said as he prized her jaw open to pull his hand free without hurting her.

"How dare you! Do you know who I am?" The princess shouted as she kicked and screamed, trying to get free. She quickly pulled the kunai from her dress and tried to slash at the man, but he was too quick to react and grabbed her wrist, taking the blade off of her.

"Now that was dangerous, I'm under orders not to harm you but, this will make life much easier. I hope you can forgive me." He said with a natural tone.

The princess's eyes opened wide as she realised he was going to knock her out and she tried to scream one last time.

"Don't touch me! Help!" She shouted before the sand Anbu hit her gently on the side of the neck, knocking her unconscious.

"Silence at last." The large man said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I had better get back to lord Kazekage with the princess." He said as he placed the princess's limp body over his shoulder.

He turned and started to run, jumping high into the air ready to get out of the ravine, but for some reason, the sand Anbu could no longer feel the princess's weight on his shoulder and turned his head to see her body had vanished.

"What in the!" The large man shouted as he searched around for her, confused.

Fuyōna stood atop the cliff ahead with the unconscious princess on his shoulder. His expression was severe as he stared daggers at the sand Anbu.

The large man could feel the pressure coming from Fuyōna before he even set his eyes on him. The air around his was growing cold, causing the hairs on his massive arms to stand on end.

"You fucking mist ninja! Always showing up one after the other. I've had it with the lot of you!" The large man said suddenly enraged.

He tossed a handful of kunai with explosive tags attached to the ends of them, each hitting the cliff edge where Fuyōna was standing.

"Take this, you little shit!" The large man said as he started to form hand signs.

The explosive kunai exploded, causing the cliff edge to cave, large rocks and boulders falling down crashing into the water. Fuyōna fell through the smoke and flipped in the air allowing bones to protrude from all of his body, ready to use them to slice his opponent to shreds.

"Wind style! Pressure damage!!!" The large Anbu shouted as he finished his hand signs and inhaled a massive amount of air.

He blasted the massive amount of wind style chakra at Fuyōna who was free-falling right towards him taking a direct hit from the jutsu. The wind style's pressure was so intense that it forced Fuyōna high into the air, cutting his body all over from the sharp blades of wind chakra.

"I'm not done yet!" The sand Anbu shouted as he flipped back onto one of the cliff walls and made a few more quick hand signs.

"Wind style! Bite of the dragon jutsu!" He shouted, the wind style around Fuyōna gathering and taking the form of a massive dragon. Its jaws opened and smashed into Fuyōna, dragging him down towards the ground before slamming him into the solid rock beneath.

The wind from the jutsu scattered all over, kicking up a massive cloud of debris. The sand Anbu took a breath and allowed his large muscles to relax as he waited for the smoke to clear.

He walked over slowly and could see Fuyōna's body had been smashed into the ground headfirst, only his legs sticking out of the hard stone.

"Little runt. Thinking you could take me on." He said as he grabbed Fuyōna's leg before pulling his body out of the ground.

To his surprise, Fuyōna's body suddenly started to crumble as it turned into ice, his leg snapping in the large Anbu's hand.

"What in the! A clone!" He shouted just before a foot struck him in the face, sending him flying through the air.

The large man hit the stream of water and bounced off it hard before crashing into the ground and then into the cliff wall.

"Arghh!" He screamed as his large body smashed into the cliff wall back-first. The large man fell to the ground, unable to move as he tried to gather his bearings. He had never been struck so hard in his life as he coughed large pools of blood onto the ground.

Fuyōna appeared in front of him with his arms crossed over his chest. Looking down at him, the air around him was cold, his eyes even more so.

The sand Anbu used all of his strength to look up at Fuyōna taking a good look at him before realizing he was the kid that the Kazekage had killed first.

The realization hit him after a few moments, "If he is alive and here that must mean that..." He thought as he looked Fuyōna in the eyes.

"It cant be... Lord Kazekage killed you." He said, trying to stand to his feet.

Fuyōna smiled, allowing all of his bones to protrude out of his body along with the two horns on his head. The air around him grew even colder and the Anbu started to shiver as the hairs on his arms began to freeze first.

"The Kazekage is dead," Fuyōna said. His expression plain as day.

The sand Anbu used the wall behind him to hold himself up as terror filled his very soul.

"No... You couldn't have... Lord Kazekage is unbeatable!"

"I'm afraid you won't get the chance to find out," Fuyōna said as he closed his eyes.

"Nooo!!!" The sand Anbu shouted as he tried to lunge for Fuyōna one last time with his fist.

Fuyōna activated his jutsu allowing his chakra to expel all around him, freezing anything within a five-meter radius. The Sand Anbu's entire body froze in an instant, every cell in his body freezing in a mere moment killing him without him even realizing.

Fuyōna closed his eyes and sighed in relief before letting his chakra settle down again.

"That's the last of them." He said before using his body flicker to appear atop a cliff where he had safely placed the princess.

"Time to regroup with the others." He said as he lifted her up and placed her on his shoulder.

-A while later-

Fuyōna had regrouped with his entire squad now, bringing the princess with him who was still unconscious. Hatsu had found Ozawa and helped tend to her injuries. Once she had drunk her fill and rehydrated, she was almost as good as new.

Kaga had been able to patch himself up, keeping his bleeding under control. However, the same could not be said for Sawano, who had succumb to his wounds.

Fuyōna and the others stood around his body as they took a moment to bid farewell to their teammate. It was a strange custom to the others as the ninja from the hidden mist didn't usually do this. Fuyōna knew this well and decided to keep it short.

Once they were done Fuyōna made a few hand signs before placing a seal on Sawano's body.

"Body disposal jutsu," Fuyōna said as he activated it.

The seal came alive and started to burn away at Sawano's body until nothing but ashes were left. The Anbu tracking unit used this jutsu to ensure the enemy would not be able to get their hands on any of their remains if they failed a mission.

"So what now captain Yuki?" Hatsu asked. The others also wondering the same thing.

Fuyōna turned to face his squad. The sunset was shining in the distance, its glow blocked by Fuyōna's frame letting his aura glow.

"I think it is time to activate my emergency plan," Fuyōna said.

The others looked confused and Kaga spoke up.

"What do you mean emergency plan captain?" He said.

"We need to get the princess back to the land of water ASAP. This place will be crawling with enemy sand ninja before long." Fuyōna said.

The others agreed. They had found out that Fuyōna had in fact defeated the Kazekage, A feat that was extremely impressive and almost unheard of.

"Hatsu and Ozawa I have a new mission for the two of you," Fuyōna said, causing Ozawa to snap to attention suddenly.

"I need the two of you to return to the capital city and inform the daimyō of what has happened here. Once done, you are to return to the hidden mist village at once." Fuyōna said, crossing his arms.

Ozawa nodded quickly, "Yes, captain." She said.

Hatsu nodded before speaking.

"What about the rest of the princess's caravan captain?" He asked.

Fuyōna acknowledged his question.

"Inform the daimyō that he is to offer an escort for them back to the land of water. It's too risky for the two of you to escort them back yourselves." Fuyōna said.

"They will be safe in the capital for the time being. I will escort the princess back home along with Kaga so his injuries can be tended to." Fuyōna said.

The others all agreed to the plan but couldn't help notice Fuyōna's serious tone of voice. Hatsu nodded to Fuyōna and bid farewell. Just before he and Ozawa turned to leave Fuyōna said one last thing.

"Hatsu, Ozawa. Be careful, as of now. We are at war with the hidden sand village."