A Swordsman's Anguish, Struggle and Demise

_________ POV Narration _________

Kushimaru panted as he looked around him warily.

His body was filled with small cuts, his arms had suffered the most, and the hand he was using to manipulate his wire had most of its fingers almost cut off from the strain he put them under.

All of the trees around him had been cleared, to the point where Kushimaru was finally able to get a breather and restrategize his approach to his opponent...

Or, it was more accurate to say 'opponents'.

The little girl seemed to have been the one to set up the traps, she was also constantly throwing projectile weapons towards him, but he was able to reflect those almost reflexively regardless of his injuries.

It was child's play for someone like Kushimaru, no matter how well-aimed they were.

But the bigger threat to his life was the one-legged masked assassin...

The young man proved to be the bane of Kushimaru's very existence, his speed was overwhelming enough, to the point where Kushimaru could barely even react to it.

He was sure that the Assassin he was fighting could easily make a very frightful reputation for himself if he decided to participate in the Third Shinobi War.

He hopped around everywhere, gaining momentum as he seemed to step on the air itself, gaining more and more speed and attacking Kushimaru with both extreme strength and speed.

His attacks consisted of either slashes with a Tanto, or axe kicks that Kushimaru could barely even avoid. The Axe Kicks were the most dangerous, as the Jonin was quite sure he'd be taken out of the fight if he was actually hit by one.

Every time Kushimaru tried to attack the one-legged assassin, he seemed to be able to move and avoid it. It didn't matter if he was in the middle of an attack, just landed on the ground, or still in mid-air.

His movement technique was just that absurd...

Kushimaru was still able to block most of his attacks, relying on his superior instincts and experience.

Tatsukio, the one-legged assassin, still managed to land a few hits on Kushimaru, but the Elite Jonin always made sure to protect his vitals.

But even with his vitals protected, he was still slowly losing too much blood.

It was already becoming an issue, and the assassins that were attacking him weren't relenting at all.

He may have gotten rid of most of the wire traps around him, but he was still far from breaking through the blockade that was around him.

For now, the most he actually managed to do was build some sort of perimeter around him using his own wire. His Nuibari also managed to stab one of the assassins that were coming after him.

He had managed to injure him, but it was both not in a vital spot, and a rather bad trade, as Kushimaru was slashed three times in the back because of it.

It was an encirclement that he simply wasn't able to break out of on his own. His style of fighting was not as bombastic as that of Jimpachi.

Even so, he was able to hold his ground and even gained some downtime which allowed him to think of a way out...

"You're no fun mister~! Always so cautious, so boring! I bet you've never had a girlfriend!" The little girl's voice always mocked him, but he ignored it.

He realised that she was just trying to psyche him out. He was far too experienced to fall for such tricks though...

"It would be so nice of you to shut up from time to time..." Kushimaru still ended up responding to her, not provoked by her words, just wishing for some silence from her grating voice.

Someone so innocent sounding and deceitfully sadistic was always grating to the ears to listen to, at least for Kushimaru.

He preferred it when sadists didn't hide their intentions behind an innocent-sounding voice.

There was also a rather clear pattern... Every time she spoke out to him, she would throw some projectile towards him...

With a sigh, he tilted his head to the side, dodging a rather large windmill shuriken, which didn't even graze his shoulder, passing by only one millimetre away from it.

"Heheh~ You're sooo... SLOW!"

The second that last word came out of the girl's mouth, Kushimaru's eyes widened as he heard a puff of smoke from behind him.

His gaze immediately darted towards the shuriken he had just dodged, only to see another masked assassin, stabbing a blade towards his chest.

Just as the Jonin was about to dodge...

"Earth Release: Antlion Technique!"

The very ground underneath his feet caved in, sucking his legs in. It was as if a hole had opened up underneath him, and the ground around him was being pulled in from all sides.

'Shit! They were preparing for this the entire time!'

He should've realised it earlier when he took down their traps, that they were cooking up something else...

Kushimaru wasn't about to let himself be bested like that though... His hand moved quickly, and his Nuibaru immediately blocked the Assassin's blade, which was already almost in his neck.

The Jonin then did something unexpected... His hand moved almost like that of a ghost, pushing back the masked assassin despite his injury and stabbing his Sowing Needle straight for his heart.

He missed his mark quite a bit as he was still sinking into the ground, but it seemed to not matter at all, as the assassin he attacked seemed to burst like a balloon of water, splashing the Jonin as his eyes widened.

At his side, an assassin was ready, his hands already placed on the ground as he finished a jutsu.

"Lightning Release: Spider Web!"

A web of lighting spread out on the ground from the place where the assassin's palms touched ground, and Kushimaru was instantly paralysed by lighting, his body twitching as his hair stood up unnaturally.

'Shit! They got me!'

Kushimaru still didn't give up, he continued to struggle against his paralyzed muscles, hoping to regain control before any of the assassins approached.

That was the moment when the ground stopped pulling him in and simply broke underneath him.

Three different masked assassins were already emerging from the ground, stabbing their blades at him before he could even react.

'Shit! They allowed themselves to get pulled in using the earth jutsu from earlier?!'

Kushimaru was completely stumped at that point, his paralyzed muscles barely managed to twitch once more before he was stabbed in three different places by tantos.

'Ah... So this is it, huh...'

The Mist Swordsman could barely believe his eyes...

The assassins didn't retreat though, instead, they stuck to him, before letting go of their tantos, and each pulling out a kunai, and stabbing him again.

They all jumped back after that, leaving their weapons in the Shinobi, knowing the fight was already over.

"Oh well, that was disappointing..." The little girl also appeared off to the side, she was the one that had started the entire move, by throwing the Shuriken.

"Master was adamant about not taking it easy on you, but you were REALLY overhyped let me tell you..." Yue continued speaking out, mocking the shinobi even as he was on his last breath.

Kushimaru just heaved a sigh and fell backwards into the ground, blood already pooling underneath him.

'If these children were just recruits, then it's safe the say that the others are also going to die...'

"Now now, Nr.17, it's no use mocking him anymore... Besides, it's my understanding that the Mist Swordsmen are stronger as a group...

Individually they aren't exactly anything special... Well, they are still top Jonin." The one-legged Assassin addressed the girl in a rather pacifying tone.

It wasn't that he cared for the pride of the dying shinobi or anything, it was just that he was against underestimating an opponent with the fame of the 7 Swordsmen of the Mist.

In Tatsukio's eyes, it was better to remain cautious at all times, no matter what opponent they faced.

"Nr 1, you're always so uptight... Live a little!~" The young girl shook her head and looked towards the one-legged assassin

He had dealt the most hits to the Mist Swordsman, and his title seemed to reflect that. Nr.1, the very first ranking in the selection of recruits that had graduated.

Kushimaru sighed as he realised he hadn't even been bested by said Nr.1, instead he got taken down by the combined effort of the others.

'The Dark Brotherhood... What a frightening group...'

Ken had also arrived at the scene while the children were carrying out their assassination... Needless to say, he was very proud of what he had witnessed.

The very crux of what he had thought the children... Teamwork, decisiveness, cunning, using the territory and the elements to one's advantage... All of those concepts were masterfully shown in the performance of the children.

The Blind Assasins walked forward to the field where Kushimaru lay, dying...

"Seems death isn't going to spare you... Shame... I wanted to do it with my own two hands, but you are so pitiful in that state..." Ken's voice seemed to come out of nowhere even for the children, who were also unable to sense him approaching.

Kushimaru also only noticed him when his figure cast a shadow above his head, covering him from the Moon's red glow.

"Y-you..." Kushimaru had so many words to tell the blind assassin in front of him. So many things that he wanted to say.

But he was already far too weak to speak up, mere moments away from his final rest. Kushimari knew that the next moment he closed his eyes would be his last.

'I hope the Red Dot's vengeance ends here... May the Mist be spared from his wrath...'

Those were Kushimaru's last thoughts as he left the world.

Ken stood over him still, listening as the Mist Swordsman's heart stopped beating.

He stayed like that for a moment, seemingly trying to search for something... Before he sighed and turned his head towards the children that had taken him down with their collective effort.

"... Good job children..."

The masked assassins seemed to take great pride in hearing Ken's praise, all of them seemed to tremble slightly, before managing to suppress their excitement.

"Teacher! Were you here the entire time?!" Yue walked up to him in a casual manner, skipping towards him with a wide smile spreading underneath her mask.

Tatsukio just crossed his arms and leaned on a fallen tree trunk nearby. He did also enjoy Ken's praise, but he was already accustomed to it, so he could hide his excitement when getting it.

"I was here for a while... But I was watching over all of you the entire time..." Ken tilted his head as he 'looked' at Yue, who seemed to be pouting underneath her mask.

Although he couldn't 'see' it, he could still tell from her mannerisms, as he had gotten to know her very well already.

"What? You didn't trust us to take care of him? C'mon, master~" Yue seemed to be quite offended at the notion, but the other assassins nearby didn't dare to.

They all took it as a compliment.

'A proper father will always be concerned for his children's well-being.'

If it wasn't already apparent by the extensive training they all had to do before even THINKING about going into the field. The well-being of the children was at the forefront of the Dark Brotherhood's concerns.

"You are all still essentially in your internship periods... I let you deal with him since I knew you would be able to do so in theory... You did exceed all of my expectations as well, which is a pleasant surprise."

Ken took another appreciative 'look' over his students as he spoke out.

Yue seemed to still be offended at the insinuation that Ken didn't trust them enough, but she ended up letting it go.

She could easily understand where Ken was coming from. The man they were facing was stronger than anything they had faced in the past. They also struggled against him quite a bit.

To the point where the initial traps were broken down before they managed to take him down and they had to improvise.

It was still essentially a flawless success, but one of their own did still get injured a bit.

"Now then... You all should go rest... Nr. 15 can go to the Second Blade and get healed up properly... He'll come to you as soon as you leave the barrier." All of the children noticed and became blurs as they ran away on Ken's orders.

Yue and Tatsukio were the only ones to linger for a few more seconds.

The little girl-turned-assassin looked towards her teacher with a bit of concern.

"Sir Ken... You always taught us that being emotional while killing others was a big mistake... Please do try to live up to your teachings..."

That was all she said before she turned around and left. Tatsukio didn't say anything in particular. He merely gave Ken an understanding look before turning around.

As a War Orphan, he understood the desire for revenge... So he was in no place to judge his beloved teacher and... Father.

Even if Yue and Tatsukio wanted to stick around, they didn't want to interfere with whatever other plans Ken had with the Mist Swordsmen.

Ken didn't react much to Yue's words. He merely sighed and grabbed Kushimaru's blade, placed it in a scroll that he took out from his wrist, and walked off.

He turned into a blur after a while, headed elsewhere.

'... Let's see how Jimpachi is faring in his 'Explosive Trial'...'

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Hope you enjoyed today's government-sanctioned torture session!

Btw, I had a lot of fun writing about the punishments the 7 swordsmen got, they get pretty sadistic, just so you know.

Dunno what that says about me, but it was fun :)

If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 12 chapters in advance (or 6/3 depending on tier)