Hunter of Hunters (1)

Dear stranger,

Though I am unable to say in front of you face by face, I thank you with all my heart.

Kindness—nothing is absolute in this world, and saving me ultimately cost you your own life. If you stood in front of me right now, perhaps you would've expressed regret in doing so.

...Regardless, your death has been avenged; I hope that you rest in peace.

__________

"It's been quite a while since I've written," I muttered to myself as I held the thin slice of wood, where I wrote down the words with ashes. A short letter it was, and it may seem to contain no sincerity at all, however, the small space provided by this wood only allowed me to write that much.

Currently in the dark forest, with the camp fire being the sole source of light, I placed the wood slice into the fire, letting it burn.

Watching as the smoke, that was emitted out of the burning wood, travelling upward, I let out a relaxed smile. Disregarding all thoughts, of all concerns for just a temporary moment, I was filled with wonder—that I was still alive.

Placing one hand over my chest, I felt the heart beating. Raising it up in front of my nose, I felt my breath. I was still among the living, and especially after having experienced the near-death state, I've come to realize how negative I was in regard to the world.

'Peace?' Why is peace necessary, when being alive is enough?

Reaching to my right, I lifted up one wooden stick that had one end embedded on the ground; its other end had one skinned rabbit meat pierced through, ready to cook. Pushing the meat so that it now sat right in the middle of the stick, I placed the stick's ends above the Y-shaped sticks at the edges of the fire, and let it roast.

What about the chance of ambush, you ask? With the fire sitting in the dark, and with my guard down, I am prone to an assassination attempt, you say?

No. Without the insect attractant named 'Rika,' and accounting for how many I've killed up until now, the chance was quite low. Any sane bounty hunter would get out of here, and if there was one around me... I would've already noticed it.

The only reason why that wasn't the case for Koji and Tai, was due to my horrible condition, and if there truly was someone hiding right now, capable of avoiding my sense, the chance was that I am as good as dead.

But in the end, screw all those reasons. I simply am too exhausted to care about all those sorts of alerts right now. I, as a human being, needed some time to rejuvenate.

Turning the meat upside down and letting the other side get cooked, I stood up and walked over to where my cloak lied. With four sticks holding its edges, there was a small amount of water sitting in the middle of the cloth.

'Eating, drinking, and sleeping.'

Without me knowing, the most primary needs of a human being was cut off from me, resulting in the terrible condition. The presence of 'Rika' alone was toxic to me.

Carefully folding the cloth, I drank the water. It felt heavenly, as if the desert was being enriched with the heavy rain. I gulped down all without any loss.

"Haa..." I found myself sighing in joy, "Now this is life."

Then, my demeanour took a shift to that of a serious one, as I reached my right hand into my pouch, and I took out a slip of paper.

Due to my immediate escape from the scene to avoid any further trouble—especially while I was critically weakened—I didn't get to scavenge upon the corpses of my doing. However, during the fight itself, I managed to steal this slip of paper, which I believed to be an explosive tag back then, from Tai.

And instead of an explosive tag, it was... a message.

<Exactly 30 days after the day you've read this message. In the same location, at the same time.>

And I speculated this letter to be from that so-called 'Immortal,'

Which brought a grin to my face.

__________

The sun has risen in the village of Mesamatsu once again, filled with silence and nothing more.

Only the short amount of time has passed, and all the nearby hunters were previously murdered by Akashi. There was no way for the information to leak out, especially when the civilians were too afraid to speak even a single letter.

Due to this fact, it was Konoha who managed to attain the information regarding the abnormality regarding this village,

Swoosh!

and dispatched a team of four, with each wearing the well-known forehead protector of Konoha.

<Investigate the matter thoroughly. Although it is likely that the clash was between the unaffiliated individuals, unrelated to the war itself, there still is the possibility of the underworld mercenaries being hired by the enemies; all variables must be eliminated.>

"Oh my..." Among them, one man with thick mustache and thick eyebrows, wearing a full green suit glaringly stood out, muttered as he gazed at three disfigured corpses, lying within the dried pool of blood.

And for some reason, these two words from this man seemed to have irked two other shinobis who stood in front of him. They turned out and berated the man,

"Don't say anything. Don't do anything, but just stay still, just like how useless you are." One of the two—who had spiky black hair and similarly black-coloured eyes—said in annoyance.

The other, whose eyes were pale white and had long straight black hair—most presumably the member of Hyuga, the hailed clan of Konoha known to possess the infamous 'White Eye' Byakugan—snorted with his arms crossed, "The only reason you were placed in our cell is due to the current shortage of force. Don't place yourself in the same level as us, 'Eternal Genin' Maito Dai. You hear?"

Dai made a weak smile on his face while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Yes yes, of course—"

"Stop talking." The one who was crouching down, inspecting the corpses, raised his hand up without turning back, cutting Dai's words. He was wearing a black bandana on his head right above the forehead protector, and his pale blue-coloured eyes busily roamed over the scene.

His statement was enough to shut all three immediately. Without a doubt, this man was the leader of the cell.

"Arms bent and bones shattered for this one. The high capability in the art of Taijutsu. The attachment of transdermal toxin on the other. A possible mastery over the poison as well. Additionally... the arms cleanly cut for this woman... an advanced degree of master over Kenjutsu." The leader said in a low tone, with his facial expression getting progressively darker,

"But the three corpses are too clustered, and it seems unlikely that they were facing multiple enemies at once. This naturally brings forth the conclusion that the culprit is at least that of a jonin level in terms of strength." He then took out a bingo book from his sleeve, while he was still crouched down, and moved to a certain page.

"The Gale Brothers, Tai and Koji, went rogue from Sunagakure. Each one of them belonged to the rank of jonin—although whether the standard is the same as Konoha or not is questionable. According to the information from the black ops, Anbu, their name value in the underworld has risen to an extent where many consider them to only fall short against the enigmatic 'Immortal.'"

The leader shifted his gaze to the female corpse, "On the other hand, that one is unidentified—most presumably a civilian. Her relationship to these two are unknown."

"A love, perhaps?" The man with spiky black hair said with lewd expression, to which he ended up receiving a slap on the back of his head by his Hyuga teammate.

Dai stood awkwardly at the back, not even daring to move a little.

"Judging by these two's identity as the bounty hunters, it is unlikely that this case involves Konoha. However,"

The leader, with narrowed eyes, then extended his hands to Koji's pouch, and took out a slip of paper,

<Exactly 30 days after the day you've read this message. In the same location, at the same time.>

"We can't ignore the chance of the other opposing villages hiring the underworld mercenaries against us."

"Strange," The Hyuga said calmly, "In usual cases, all belongings are taken, and the corpses are mutilated to an extent where they are unidentifiable. And someone of this strength, making such an amateur mistake..."

"Three possibilities," The leader said, "One, the battle rendered the victor in a critical state as well, and had to hide his body immediately. Two, these corpses died shortly after successfully running away from their opponent. Three, this is a trap set for us."

"And what's the chance of third option being true?" The spiky-haired member said with his hands in his pockets.

Dai listened without any reaction as well.

"Quite high, according to my speculation," The leader stated, "But... this also signals for the high possibility of the bounty hunters being involved with the other hidden villages."

"E-excuse me..."

Then, all four of them stopped as a weak voice came from behind. Turning around, they were met with many civilians looking at them nervously,

"A-are you here for the crimson ghost?" The man who stood in front of all, nervously spoke, earning the shinobis' attention.

Dai couldn't help but mutter, "Crimson ghost?"

"It... it was a demon." A woman stepped forth, and explained with a pale face, "It laughed and grinned. Breaking that man's bones, severing that woman's arms, and repeatedly crushing that man's face—it was the crimson ghost, appearing and disappearing as it saw fit, quenching its thirst for the blood."

"And..." The old-aged man, who seemed to be the leader of this village, said warily, "These three aren't the only ones that that man killed. In total, we've seen fifteen more corpses sprawled around the village—and some were the neighbours that we knew very well."

The village leader pointed at the female corpse, "That woman over there... she was travelling alongside that ghost. Oh, poor thing... how scared must she have been..."

"...And which way did that 'crimson ghost' go to?" The leader of the four-men cell asked.

"South. He... he went south, without a doubt." The village leader replied, before running to the cell leader and kneeling with teary eyes, "So please, avenge the dead ones. That monster who took the lives of our villagers... you are on our side, right?"

The shinobis stood still, as the villagers began to weep one by one.

"They... they were the ones who gave us the protection with the small amount of fee. But now, how are we to survive in this world?"

"Nobita... oh Nobita...!"

The leader of the cell sighed, and held his hand out, "Rest assured. Your plea,"

The villager leader desperately grasped the cell leader's hand in a desperate manner,

"is heard."

'Mind Body Change technique.'

Then, a sudden subversion of vision came to the villager leader—for a span of few seconds.

And before he could perceive what happened, the cell leader let go of his hands, and began dashing away with the other teammates—in the direction of North.

The village leader's vision went hazy, before collapsing to the ground with a thud.

"E-elder Kundonosan, what's going on?!"

By the time the villagers hurriedly approached their leader, his heart has already stopped beating.