Chapter 43: Battle in the Mountains

Seeing the man raise his swords, I shot an arrow towards him to test his abilities.

He swayed out of the way, sending a glare towards me. Chuckling, I readied another arrow, this one sporting an explosive tag courtesy of Naruto.

Attaching a chakra thread, I let the arrow fly towards him again, before jerking it towards one of the men standing on an outcrop above him.

Letting my thread activate the tag, I grinned as I watched the arrow explode, sending the man flying into the mountain behind him. A long trail of blood smeared the wall as he slid down, his body charred and mutilated.

Other than the echoing sounds of the explosions, nothing could be heard. All of the group in the grey cloaks looked at their comrade, grief and anger lighting their eyes.

Turning towards me, the man snarled, chopping his sword down.

"Kagero Village will be avenged today!"

With that shout he shot towards us, while the other members followed shortly after.

I took in their charge, mentally noting down their positions.

Directly in front was the man with two swords, with a woman wielding a naginata a step behind him.

To the right was the short woman with the bow, an arrow drawn back on the string. Her eyes were wet with tears, and she trembled as she took aim.

To the left was three people, two women and a man.

The man had a longsword in his hand, chakra running along the blade.

One of the women, a tall, thin brunette, was making signs, her eyes alight with rage.

The other woman, with long, flowing black hair, had a kunai in one hand, her other hand thinly coated in a haze of heat.

Assessing our enemies, I loosed an arrow towards the archer, before turning to spit my senbon towards the leader.

All of them were using chakra, and considering the amount leaking from each of them, they were all roughly Chunin level, with the Leader and the woman with black hair were around our level.

This... would be troublesome.

Feeling a smile tugging on my lips, I watched as the leader swayed his head to the side, the senbon sailing harmlessly into the mountain.

Hearing my arrow clash against the rocks, I quickly let another few loose towards the archer, letting Anko and Kurenai defend me for the moment.

Anko had her tanto in her right hand, while her left arm was an amalgamation of snakes. I couldn't see her face, but I knew her too well, and could imagine the wide grin on her lips.

Kuernai palmed a kunai, turning towards the group of three. I got a brief glimpse of her eyes, and saw them briefly flash crimson. Unlike Anko and I, she had a serious expression on her face.

I chuckled, looking back towards the archer. The three arrows I sent her way were avoided, but I watched in amusement as she had to roll out of the way of the tagged arrow, which detonated a few feet beside her.

Not wasting the opportunity, I let more arrows fly her way, using the same strategy I used against Juzo Biwa.

All the arrows were tagged, but only one had a real tag, the others wrapped in duds.

Seeing the short woman frantically drop down the cliff, I made the real arrow explode prematurely, showering her in debris.

She cried out in pain as a rock smacked into her temple, and I watched as she slumped to the ground.

I turned my attention on the melee in front of me, watching as Anko used her snakes to confuse and slowly chip away at the leader and naginata wielder. Kurenai had successfully placed the brunette under a genjutsu, and she was currently casting jutsu in the wrong direction. The man and black haired woman were giving her a tough time, so I nocked another arrow, sending it towards the woman.

However, I watched as she snatched it out of the air, the wooden shaft blackening under the heat from her hand.

Clicking my tongue, I desummoned my bow before drawing my chokuto, running wind chakra to my feet. I jumped towards the brunette, sailing over the heads of the man and woman.

Bringing my chokuto down on her neck, I watched as her head flew through the air, blood trailing behind it.

"Jeiyu!!"

The black haired woman cried out in grief, the air around her turning to a haze. Kurenai had to jump back, as did the man.

Looking at me, the black haired woman snarled, dashing towards me at a high speed.

Grimacing at the rising heat, I quickly went through some hand signs.

"Wind Release: Gale."

It was a simple jutsu, but sometimes simplicity is best.

The air around me started to move, redirecting the heat haze back towards the woman.

The thing about Kekkei Genkai was that they were made up of two chakra natures. Scorch was Fire and Wind.

What does that mean? Any techniques used are created with a balance. You need X amount of Fire and Y amount of Wind. Without that balance, the technique fails. That's why Kekkei Genkai are so rare. That balance is something they come by naturally, while the rest of us would have to pray to the Sage to be able to even create something in a controlled environment with it. In the midst of battle? It was nigh impossible.

So, Scorch relied on using the air to spread and control its heat. If you just add more wind? It becomes harder for the person to control.

Seeing her haze recede, the woman snarled at me, stabbing her kunai forwards. Swaying to the side, I sent a kick towards her midriff, which she dodged.

Taking a step back, she looked at me warily, however I just sent her a smile.

"Was she your lover?"

Hearing my question, the woman growled before rushing forwards, her face a mask of rage.

I smiled slightly at that, avoiding her new clumsy thrust.

It was something that, no matter how much you heard it, how much it was drilled into you, you couldn't control.

Your emotions, especially upon watching someone you love die.

I have witnessed the slow decline of my father, I watched as my teammate was slaughtered in front of me. I knew what loss felt like, but when I though about it happening to Anko or Kurenai?

I understood this woman's pain, and hoped I would never feel it.

That doesn't mean I won't utilize every advantage I could get, even if I had to stoop to a low level to do so.

Shinobi had no lines we wouldn't cross to finish a mission. We have no honor, nor will we ever.

Dodging a slash, I watched as she went through a flurry of hand signs, before saying "Scorch Release: Heat Death!"

Seeing her haze come back with a vengeance, I grimaced again, the handle of my chokuto becoming almost unbearable.

I coated my hands and entire blade in wind chakra, before sending a slash towards her midriff.

She jumped back, only to sway as I thrust my blade towards her throat.

She continued backing up, avoiding my blows, before eventually her back slammed into a wall. Seeing her eyes widen in panic, I felt the air around me grow hotter.

Snarling, she tried to rush towards me again, only to be met by my chokuto piercing her shoulder. Groaning, she grabbed the blade, her hand flaring.

I watched as the blade slowly grew orange, before melting in her grip. I glared at her, before dropping the now useless handle.

Drawing a kunai and senbon, I hid the senbon behind the kunai.

Dropping into a stance, I waited for her to move towards me. I didn't have to wait long, as she rushed towards me with a growl, her whole body shimmering slightly. Stabbing her kunai at me again, I blocked it with my own, ignoring the heat. Flicking the senbon towards her, I watched as it pierced her eye, making her drop to the ground.

Panting, I took in a breath of what felt like winter air, marveling at how different the air felt when she dropped her jutsu.

I moved towards her, feeling my right hand throbbing. However, I kept the kunai in my hand, quickly slitting the kneeling woman throat. There was no need to here her final words, no need to gloat over her.

Turning, I watched as Kurenai pierced the man in the heart. Looking towards me, she smiled lightly before looking towards Anko.

We watched in interest as her snakes wrapped around the leaders neck, the mans face turning purple from both poison and asphyxiation. The woman wielding the naginata was kneeling, vomiting her stomach onto the ground.

Moving towards them, I listened to the satisfying crunch of Anko snapping the mans neck, before looking towards the kneeling woman.

"She'll be dead in a moment. Was that everyone?"

Seeing Anko grinning like we had taken nothing more than a casual stroll, I chuckled.

Moving towards where the archer was passed out, I quickly tied her up.

Seeing Anko's confused face, I chuckled, about to explain when Kurenai spoke.

"Did you want to see what they might know about the Land of Demons?"

I nodded, before tossing her a scroll.

"Get the corpses in there. We may learn something from them, especially the Scorch user..."

She took the scroll, moving towards the corpses.

Turning, I watched as the kneeling woman collapsed, clawing at her throat.

I watched as she slowly slit her own throat from her scratches, her eyes filled with fear and anger. Sighing, I collapsed onto the ground, my body relaxing.

I looked down at my hand, which was red and puffy. Slowly running medical chakra into my hand, I watched as the burn slowly receded, however not all of it disappeared. I growled in annoyance, cutting off part of the poisoned woman's cloak, wrapping my hand.

Plopping next to me, Anko said "Well, no one is nearby, so we can rest. Y'know, that was... fun."

I looked at her, nodding slightly. I enjoyed fighting, more than I cared to admit.

Leaning into her, I said "Well, let's go back to their camp. See what we can find. Then we interrogate her, before making our way to the Land of Demons. Hah... maybe they have a spare chokuto lying around?"

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Sorry for the mini break, had some personal stuff earlier this week, then I played the new expansion of Destiny 2 that came out...

Anyways, hope you enjoyed!

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