Chapter 54 part 1

It is a bleak night, clouds cover the entire sky. There is not a single star to be seen, not even moonlight can penetrate the thick rain clouds. It's a dreary night, one that most people would stay indoors for. But there are always exceptions to rules, and the exception to this specific rule is the entire shinobi population. Because on dark and stormy nights shinobi excel. Shinobi live and breath in the shadows, and on nights like this the shadows are everywhere.

Despite the slight drizzle, six teams of shinobi are gathered in one spot. All twenty four of them are armed to the teeth. They're not preparing for something as routine as a scouting mission. Nor are they escorting anyone. Their mission is much more sinister in it's origination. Their main goal is to kill someone, they are here as assassins.

"You know why we are here." The shinobi kneeling at the front of their formation says. He doesn't bother to turn around and look at the shinobi under his command, he knows they are listening. "We are here to complete one goal: To assassinate the King. This will not be an easy task, the castle that the King is hiding in is sure to be well protected."

True to the Leader's words, each and every shinobi is resolutely staring past their leader at the imposing castle before them. Its strong stone walls will be especially difficult to climb on a rainy night. Yet not impossible. The defenses are sure to be nearly insurmountable. Yet everything has a weakness. The King hidden away inside is sure to be cunning and paranoid. Yet even then they can sneak their way in and slit his throat.

Every single shinobi gathered has a will of steel. They are unyielding, they are insurmountable. They are one of Orochimaru's prized assassination squads. They have earned his praise on numerous occasions, each time impressing him more and more.

Tonight shall be no different.

"We're being tested on this mission." The Leader speaks again. "In addition to the main target we have two side objectives. The first is to acquire a specific book. You all already know which one. The second is to bring the castle down. We're going scorched earth. Nothing will be left standing."

Every single shinobi smiles in anticipation. This is what they are trained to do. This is what they live to do. This is what they enjoy to do. And they're damn good at it.

"We're splitting up into three groups, two teams worth in each. The first is mine, the stealth team and the assault team. We're going after the King."

"The second is our two reconnaissance teams, they will be going after the book. I leave your strategy up to yourselves."

"We will alternate the two teams between defending and searching. One will protect the other as they ransack the castle room by room. Each room they will switch so no one gets complacent with their roles." The second group's leader says.

"Acceptable. The third group, our demolition teams, well do I really need to explain that?" The Leader grins evilly. "Bring it down."

"With pleasure." The third group's leader says as the shadows of the night dance upon his face. "With great pleasure."

"Good, you're motivated." The Leader says. "This is another chance for us to prove ourselves to our Kage. Do not disappoint, he will not like failure. Now this is the only chance for this, does anyone have questions?"

On all of the missions that this particular group has gone on their Leader always asks for questions. Without fail he asks regardless if it is a low profile escort mission or a dangerous assassination mission.

No one responds. No one has ever responded.

"May you be one with the shadows." The Leader chants to his shinobi.

"And may the shadows be one with you." His shinobi chant back.

It's a night that common people avoid. It's a night that no one wants to see. It's an unpleasant night with the dark and thick clouds hanging overhead. It's a night where light is a rare occurrence. It's a night where even the animals seek shelter.

It's a perfect night to be a shinobi.

With the Demolition Teams

"Tag every structurally important thing you can." The group's leader says as they make their way into the castle through an unlocked window. "We've been provided with a few crates of tags. You all know our usual operating procedure, right?"

"Hell yeah we do." One of the members eagerly responds as she picks up an entire crate. "Don't come back with any leftovers!"

"Dibs on that room!" One of his members whisper shouts and grabs a case of his own.

"Oi! You two have got to share!" A third member whisper shouts. "I want to blow shit up too!"

"In the dark of the night evil is lurking."

An all encompassing voice thunders down the otherwise quiet hallway.

"The hell is that?" One of the members asks.

A quiet thud is the only answer to his question. It's followed by a slight scraping noise, as if someone is dragging metal across stone.

Every shinobi present knows what that sound was. It was the sound of a body hitting the ground and being dragged away. Someone has already discovered them, no it's worse than that. Someone has already defeated one of them.

In unison all of the shinobi turn towards the scraping sound in hopes of catching a glimpse of the assailant. The only thing they see is a pair of their teammate's feet disappearing around the corner.

"In the dark of the night evil will come."

The all encompassing voice thunders once more, this time it's accompanied by a brilliant flash of lightning. Each shinobi is temporarily blinded by the unexpected light, but by no means are they hindered by it.

Shinobi and darkness go hand in hand, especially for this group. Something as meaningless as impaired vision won't even slow them down.

"URK!" Another teammate makes an inhuman sound.

Yet again every shinobi here knows what the sound means. This is a sound that they all have caused themselves at one point, whether in training or in the field. It's a tried and true tactic, one of the oldest in the book. It's very simple, wrap a noose around someone's neck and pull.

"What the fuck is going on?" The leader of the group shouts out, all stealth has been abandoned. They've already lost two members, the leader will not stand to lose a third.

"I don't know! Is it a genjutsu?" A frantic voice yells.

"KAI!" The female shouts out. "No it's not a fucking genjutsu!"

"Where the hell is this fucker?!"

"In the dark of the night evil will find you."

The thunderous voice is starting to get excited. It's not just booming now, it's energetic. Whoever is speaking is enjoying this immensely.

"Brace for contact!" The leader shouts to his rapidly dwindling team.

What happens next no one was prepared for. They're all on high alert now, they're waiting for the mysterious voice to show themselves. The moment they do, they're dead.

But the voice didn't show themselves. Instead of what was supposed to happen, the female falls over like a puppet with cut strings.

"The fuck are you doing? Get your sorry ass up!" One of the remaining few shout.

"Idiot, check her! See if she's alright!" The leader orders.

At this rate he's soon to be the only one who has any sense of rationality. His team has never run into an opponent like this, he doesn't think anyone has. What kind of a monster announces its presence then is skilled enough to remain hidden?

"Paralyzed! She's going to be fine in a few hours tops."

"In the dark of the night evil searches for blood."

The thunderous – no the monstrous – voice echos down the hallway once more.

"Hehe." One of the shinobi left chuckles to himself. "Haha!"

"Get it together man!" The leader shouts. "We've been through worse than this and you're laughing?!"

"HAHAHA!" The laughing shinobi doubles over. "It's just so FUNNY! It tickles so much!"

"What the hell are you on about?" The one next to the laughing man asks.

"Look!" The laughing shinobi holds out his arm. There's deep gashes along it. Then the laughing shinobi holds up his bloody kunai and adds one more gash to his arm. It's at that moment everyone remaining realize that they're self inflicted wounds. "You've got to try it! It tickles!"

"Stop him! Someone stop his bleeding!" The leader orders, but he's running out of shinobi to order around. He only has four left, that's including himself. He's already lost half of his forces.

"I can taste the color yellow!" The laughing man cackles in insanity. "Gee it's rather sour. I wonder what purple taste like? Oh what does it smell like!"

"Knock him out!" One of the four left shouts. Another quickly heeds the demand and with a quick and precise hit the laughing man falls quiet.

"In the dark of the night evil will feast."

The monstrous voice is beyond excited now, ecstasy is the only word left to describe it.

"I'm getting real tired of this shit! We have explosive tags, I say we use them!" The kunoichi bends down to grab a handful. "Oh come the fuck on!"

"What now?!" A teammate shouts.

"They're fucking gone! Every single crate is gone! Now what the hell do we do?"

"It hurts!" The teammate that just shouted says. "My leg. It's on fire."

"Poison?" The leader barks out. "We're fighting a poison user?"

"Cut it off! Please! Someone cut it off! It's too much! The pain! Just cut it off before it gets worse! I don't want any more pain! Please!" The once proud shinobi is now begging on his knees.

The leader swiftly punches him in the temple, rendering him unconscious. He doesn't have time to deal with it yet, he has to focus on the immediate threat. The one that has taken down five out of the eight of them without once being seen.

If he wasn't currently in danger, he'd admire the skill of whoever this is.

"In the dark of the night evil reigns supreme."

The monstrous voice takes on a new tone, it's not excited or ecstatic any longer. Now it's thrilled. Thrilled by the promise of the hunt, thrilled that its prey is falling to it so easily.

"Will you just shut up!" The kunoichi roars as she flies through hand signs. "Fire Release: Fireball!"

Her jutsu rages down the hallway, burning everything in it's path and throwing light everywhere. Chairs, tapestries and even suits of armor melt under the intensity of this jutsu.

But not the attacker. They're nowhere to be found.

"Oh come on! Where the hell is he?" The kunoichi roars again. "Did either of you two see him?"

"No." The leader replies.

Just the leader replies.

"Where the hell is our teammate?" The kunoichi spins around

"Gone. Like the others. It's just us now." The leader has drawn a grim conclusion. They underestimated the defenses in place. They didn't think their target could acquire someone this skilled, this strong. It's likely that they will fall here. "Back to back."

The last two shinobi stand at the ready with their backs nearly touching. They're covering as many angles as possible with as little room for error that they can manage.

"In the dark of the night you're alone."

The voice doesn't boom this time. It doesn't thunder down the hall like all the other times.

This time it's a whisper right into the leaders ear.

"Fuck me." The leader harshly whispers out. "This is the end, isn't it?"

"In the dark of the night evil has won!"

"Gah!" A scratchy voice says the moment she's the only one left conscious. "That is killer on the throat. Stupid people. Stupid socializing. Stupid Summoner. I don't know why I bothered answering."

With the Book Retrieval Teams

"Looks like this entire hallway is a bust." The leader of this group says. "Anyone find anything noteworthy?"

"Nothing worth stealing."

"Nope!"

"Negative."

"No."

"Dammit." The leader says once he has a reply from everyone present. "Hold on. There were eight of us. Now there's five."

"Shit!"

"Does that mean someone got three of us?"

"How does that even happen?"

"Who could even do that!"

"Adorable, you think I only got three of you." A smooth and cocky voice comes from inside one of the rooms that the shinobi have already cleared.

The gathered five shinobi don't waste time for their opponent to continue. They burst into the room to defeat him with focused anger, to avenge their fallen teammates.

"There's no one here." The leader says in surprise.

"But how?"

"The voice definitely came from inside here."

"The hell is going on?"

"Where are the bodies at?"

"Shouldn't you be worrying about yourselves?" The smooth cocky voice says from back out in the hallway.

The five shinobi leap back into the hallway with every sense strained to its maximum. Even then they don't find the speaker.

"After all, I didn't defeat three of you." The arrogance flowing in the words of the hidden speaker is palpable. "I defeated four of you."

"Shit." The leader says. "He replaced one of us. Roll call!"

Roll call, a standard way to identify an impostor. Prior to even leaving their home each individual shinobi is assigned a number. That number is used to identify themselves should something like this exact situation happen. If someone says the wrong number then that person is the impostor. Simple and effective.

"One." The leader says.

"Four."

"Six."

"Eight."

"Two."

"Shit. He must have gotten one of us to break." The leader assumes. "Okay, this requires a more personal touch."

"Alright, how do we do that?" Two asks.

"Six, where did we meet?" The leader asks.

"The prison complex. Guard duty." Six replies.

"Pass. Four, how did we meet?"

"I tied to pickpocket you and you caught me. Brought me back with you since you saw I had skill." Four answers.

"Pass. Eight, what were we doing when we met?"

"Really? I swear all men are pigs! You just had to pick that question for me didn't you? Nothing stays behind closed doors anymore. I was riding you like a champion! There, I said it! Is your ego satisfied? Cuz I sure wasn't!"

"Yeah totally not her." Two says and he gets nods from everyone else in agreement.

"Don't get mad at me I just proved your innocence!" The leader says. "Two -"

"We grew up together." Two cuts him off. "Now a question for you."

"Wait what?" The leader exclaims in surprise. "It's not me!"

"You sure?" Six says as he palms a kunai. "Everyone else passed. That leaves you."

'A drawn kunai, that's a little aggressive for a harmless question.' A melodic voice gently whispers into the leaders ears. 'Are you sure you can trust him?'

"Whoa just calm down! I'll answer a question, ask away!" The leader says as he eyes the drawn kunai. "No need to get stabby."

"Stabby?" Eight says. "Whose getting stabby?"

"Him!" The leader points at Six. "He's got a kunai and everything! I bet it's him!"

'Yes, I think you're right.' The melodic voice continues to tenderly reassure the leader. 'Are you going to remain defenseless while your enemy is armed? You don't want to die, do you?'

The leader quickly draws a kunai and falls back defensively.

His bold actions cause every other shinobi present to mimic him. They have a weapon drawn and their eyes are darting around in fear. Who is the plant? Which one of them has been replaced? Who can they trust?

"What the hell are you talking about?" Six shouts. "I didn't draw a kunai until after you did!"

'He lies!' The melodic voice lightly breathes into the ears of the leader.

"LIAR!" The leader shouts. "It's you!"

"Wait no it's -" Six doesn't get a chance to finish, Two clubbed him in the back of the head with the ring of a kunai.

"Right. That's that." Two dusts off his hands.

'No it's not over.' The smooth voice musically chimes into Eight's ear. 'It's a ploy, he's trying to deceive you! None of you would attack a teammate! He has to be the one!'

All of the shinobi straighten up, Eight included. Yet she's still on guard, she's staring intently at Two. As meaningless chitchat springs up between everyone, things like we have to find the others, she's prowling closer to the plant.

"Hey." She says, drawing the attention of Two and extends out a hand for a high five. "Good job."

"Thanks!" Two grins in happiness. Then his face breaks on her fist and he's rewarded with swift unconsciousness.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Four shouts at the Eight.

'It's her! Our leader was wrong Six was innocent!' A melodic voice frantically whispers to Four. 'Quickly! Strike her down before she kills anyone else!'

Four blurs forwards and backhands the kunoichi. The unexpected blow was easy to land and the surprise on her face was so good that Four wants to give the impostor an award for their acting skills. If he didn't know better he'd say it was real.

A strong arm wraps around Four's neck.

"Sorry about this if you're actually who you look like." The leader speaks. "But with all the shit that just went down I need to know that the enemy is out of commission. I know it's not me, but I can't prove it's not you. So sleep, I'll find the damn book myself."

Four crumples to the ground.

"Right. Well by default that means I got ya!" The leader tries to cheer himself up after watching his team rip themselves apart.

"I hate to burst your bubble, but you didn't." The arrogant and cocky voice from before says from right behind him as a hand falls on his shoulder. "I take that back, I'd love too. In case you were wondering I never replaced anyone. You all defeated yourselves for me, it was hardly any work at all. You're all pathetic. None of you felt the trappings of genjutsu? None of you thought your actions were strange? Disgraceful. I expected a challenge."

The leader furiously whirls around with every intention of eviscerating this mongrel.

The last thing he sees are two burning eyes, the eyes of the devil himself.

With the Assassination Teams

"Alright." The Leader speaks up as all eight of them are just outside a grand door. "On the other side of this door is the Royal Court. Our target should be in there. We're going with standard procedure. My half is going in loud, we'll draw the attention of everyone there. All of his bodyguards should rush to defeat us, we're going to make it flashy. That means you four will go in quiet. Creep around the hall, get to the King, and take his head. Don't come help us until after the King is dead. No matter what you hear, what you see, keep going until the mission is complete. The mission comes first."

The Leader looks out over his shinobi. They're all ready for this. Their weapons are drawn. Their faces are set in excited determination. They are willing to face death for the thrill of victory. He couldn't be more proud. No doubt the rest of his shinobi, the other two groups, are feeling the same way. They're probably wrapping things up right now.

"Now, questions?" As usual the Leader asks. He expects to hear silence like normal. Like how it always is.

"I have one." An aristocratic voice, one dripping with authority, comes from the other side of the door. "Would all eight of you come join me?"

All eight shinobi are frozen on the spot. They've already been discovered and instead of running the King was waiting for them to show up? He's that confident in his bodyguards? That he didn't even bother to attempt to hide himself? Was he even hiding in this castle to begin with?

The grand double doors swing themselves open to reveal a brightly lit Royal Court. A deep red velvet carpet extends all the way from the doors to the bottom of the only chair in the room. No, the only throne in the room. Elegant purple drapes cover the windows and tapestries of unimaginable detail decorate the walls. The wealth in this room is overwhelming.

Then all eyes settle on the one person in the room.

Their target. The one they are here to assassinate. The King.

He's lounging casually on the grand throne. He's completely relaxed despite his dire situation. He is draped in a luscious red robe that falls regally down his back to almost touch the ground. The part on his shoulders is made of the softest white fur you can possibly imagine, it even wraps around his back to make it one piece. This once piece of the wardrobe is worth more money that every shinobi here combined has ever seen. Underneath that he's clad in the finest silks imaginable. Never before have they gazed upon such grace, such royalty.

Yet the elegant clothes of the King are not the most prominent feature. It's not his posture, even if he's radiating an intimidating aura the like of which only Orochimaru has displayed before. It's not his rapidly tapping finger either, the one that raps against the hard wooden arm of his throne as he gazes out at the shinobi in growing ire.

The most prominent and horrifying feature is his crown. It is not a golden crown like everyone expected. It's a crown made of pure black thorns. Usually that wouldn't phase even the most undisciplined of them, but the crown is moving. It's alive.

"Come now, I know that it seems outlandish to you but there is no reason I cannot be civil." The false friendly tone shifts to one of undeniable anger. "You all cannot say the same. Breaking into my home! Attempting to steal my possessions! Plotting to blow up my castle! I will not stand for such insolence! You're lucky I don't have you squished like the meddlesome insects you are."

Not a single shinobi has moved since the doors opened. They simply can't process what is happening. How can one man be so bold?

"Do no be confounded by the illusion of choice!" The King roars as he slams a fist into the arm of his throne. "Do not mistake my kindness for weakness! Approach me!"

The Leader pulls himself out of his shock. This changes nothing, the King will die. In fact this makes it much easier, he's alone and undefended.

"Well then, we might as well humor the dead man." He quietly whispers to his shinobi and they all chuckle behind him. "His arrogance will be his downfall. He thinks he's untouchable."

"I am not untouchable." The King cheerfully cuts in to the shock of the shinobi, he shouldn't have heard that. But now the King's anger is gone since the shinobi are doing as he commanded. They are rapidly closing the distance between them. "I know that. But no one here is capable of reaching my pedestal. No one here can hope to match me!"

"So." The Leader blatantly ignores the King's words. "Since we're humoring you, why don't you humor me. I've got a question for you."

"Oh?" The King leans forward in his throne. "This is new. I've never had assassins with the sheer gall to speak like that! You've caught my interest and as such I will spare your lives for a little longer. Ask your question."

"Thanks?" The Leader says, he's not sure if that was a compliment or not. "How did you know our objectives?"

"Do you really think I don't have my own resources at my command? My own schemes and plots?" The King lazily drawls out as the eight shinobi stop before his elevated throne. He's raised up on a platform of stone to symbolize that he's above everyone else. "May you be one with the shadows? May the shadows be one with you? You know nothing of the shadows. The shadows are not your ally. The shadows are not your friend. You disgrace the shadows."

"How do you know those words?" A speck of fear starts to manifest in the Leader. Their sacred words were only spoken outside the castle in the dead of night under a slight downpour. There is no way the King could know them. It's impossible.

"It does not matter. I will not reveal my skills so easily even if you are all dead men." The King dismisses the question with a relaxed wave that only the highest of nobles are capable of doing. "Are you stalling? Are you waiting until your reinforcements arrive to assault me with overwhelming numbers?"

"No." The Leader confidently says. Yet deep down in his gut he knows that something is wrong. This is not how their target should be acting. He should be begging for his life on his knees, not lavishly sitting on his throne while bossing them around. The speck of fear grows a little larger. "We don't need them."

"Good, I was hoping you would say that since your backup will not be coming." An evil grin splits the King's face, the likes of which they have only seen one person equal. Their Kage, Orochimaru himself. "You're other two groups have already been defeated."

"What!" The Leader balks at the absurd notion. "Bullshit!"

"You will not use such foul language in my house!" The King leaps to his feet. "Do you understand me, peon?"

"Yes." The Leader forces out for the sake of his shinobi. He needs to know what happened to them. "I apologize, it will not happen again."

"Good!" The King merrily sits back down. "You want to know where your shinobi are?"

"Yes I do." The Leader replies in a controlled calm. That little speck of fear is not so little anymore.

The King doesn't vocally reply. Instead he smiles a vindictive smile and points upwards towards the ceiling.

"N-no way." The Leader's confidence waivers for the first time in years. "It can't be."

"It is." The King is greatly amused by the now fretting shinobi. It's not just the Leader, every single one is gawking at the ceiling. "The other livestock have already been defeated."

Up on the ceiling is a terrifying mass of webs so massive that it spans the entire length and width of the Royal Court. It's a truly impressive sight, impressive and scary. To make such a large structure is not an easy feat for anyone, man or beast alike. This goes doubly since the webs were not here last week when they cased the castle.

But it is not the impressive structure that truly captivates the eight shinobi. It's what's in the web. A spider so massive that she could rival prized stallions in sheer size. She's staring down at the eight shinobi in hunger, she views them as nothing more than livestock to be caught then swiftly devoured. She's not alone in the web, countless other spiders are swarming across it. They range in size from a small dog to the normal sized spiders everyone is used to. They move independently of each other, scuttling back and forth endlessly. They're going about their own tasks, but each spider has something in common. They're looking at the shinobi like they're prey.

It's at this moment, when each shinobi are watching the smaller spiders move about, they notice exactly where their teammates are.

There's a mass of pure white webs on one part of the massive web. It took a moment to recognize it because the endlessly moving small spiders are constantly crawling over it. They're adding to the cocoon, making sure the captive has no chance – not the faintest glimmer of hope – to escape. But the cocoon is not covering their entire body, the spiders that spun these bindings are cruel and malicious. The unfortunate soul who is inside has their eyes exposed. They can see what's going on, and they're angled to look down at the rest of their free teammates. They have a front row seat to watch as their friends join their fate.

That is just one of sixteen similar cocoons. They're all arranged evenly in a circle around the stallion sized spider. It's the exact amount of shinobi the other two teams were made of.

"L-livestock?" The Leader stutters out. His resolve has broken. The once small speck of fear has grown into terror. "That's all we are to you?"

"Yes." The King grins in madness. "I have many mouths that need feeding."

"I don't think there's much meat on their bones, My Liege." A regal voice says from behind the throne and its owner steps into the light. "Perhaps we just kill them?"

"Butler, Arachne needs food. Yes this batch of livestock is not fit for human consumption but spiders are not that picky."

"Yes, you have an excellent point as always." The Butler bows slightly to the King. "Also, they were after a specific book. One called The Great Outdoors. It has already been moved to a secure location."

"As exceptional as ever!" The King praises his Butler. "But it would not matter if they had it in their possession. No one leaves this room tonight."

"Shall I dispose of them for you?" The Butler asks as his eyes burn like coals.

"No." The King rises from his throne. "This requires a more personal touch. They barged into my home. They attempt to steal from me. They attempt to destroy what's mine. They need to be punished." The King unclasps his magnificent robe and lets the fortune fall to the floor.

"My Liege? They're far beneath someone of your station! Surely I will suffice!" The Butler insists.

"I will not allow hooligans to run freely in my castle!" The King doesn't bother to pull his elegant silk shirt over his head. He rips it off of himself. "They shall know fear! They shall know fury! They shall know pain!"

Each shinobi is openly staring at the crazy King. He's covered in scars. Not just any scars, these scars are not marks of numerous accidents. They're not the result of torture. These scars have been earned through sweat and blood. They are battle scars. The scars of a survivor.

The scars of a shinobi.

They were misinformed, hugely misinformed. Their target is a fighter. Their target is dangerous. Their target is a shinobi who has lived through countless battles pure confidence he's oozing can only mean one thing, he's won almost all of them.

As an insurmountable killing intent surges over every shinobi present they all draw another impossible conclusion. This King, this shinobi, this monster, is worlds apart from them. They have no hope of matching him.

The King smoothly slides into an advanced combat stance. "I will be the one to teach them their lessons. Now who is first?"

How did this happen? They are one of Orochimaru's elite teams. They are one of the strongest forces at his command. They have proven themselves to their Kage time and time again. They haven't tasted bitter defeat in years.

Yet tonight they have been defeated. They've lost before the first punch was even thrown. No, they lost the moment they showed up. The King knew their every move from the second they laid eyes on his castle. They've disappointed their Kage.

"We forfeit." The Leader says. "You win."

"OH COME ON! I WAS HAVING SO MUCH FUN YOU ASSHOLES!" Alvarcus roars at the shinobi before him, dropping the inspiring act of a King.

"Finally!" Sasuke sags in relief. "Do you have any idea how uncomfortable these damn suits are? They're just terrible! And this is the second time you forced me into one! No more!"

"Oh shut up! At least you got to beat some of them!"

SCREEEECH

A loud sound of microphone feedback resonates through the entire castle.

"Alvarcus and Sasuke have won their first War Game! Congratulations!"

"Yay for us." Alvarcus groans out.

"I want to be on his team next time." One of the shinobi mumbles to himself.