A Desperate Run

With a puff of smoke, an identical clone of Katsu appeared beside him. The two looked at one another and smiled.

"I did it," Katsu said, pleased with himself.

"You learn fast," Susumu said with some amazement.

"You can thank my sensei for that," Katsu mumbled while poking the shadow clone on the cheek. It was not everyday that you could interact with a carbon-copy of yourself, and this was especially true for a transmigrator like Katsu.

Another whistle broke Katsu out of his reverie.

In the distance, a Konoha shinobi was instantly pulverized and blown apart across a pile of wooden crates he'd been taking cover behind. Military rations and other basic supplies now littered the ground, having been violently ejected from the boxes in which they had once resided.

Katsu and Susumu nodded at one another and proceeded with the plan they'd agreed on.

Susumu created two shadow clones, raising the body count of their little group to five — two people and three shadow clones.

Katsu pulled all of the smoke bombs from the small ninja satchel that hung from the back of his waistline and handed them to Susumu. Susumu, with his own supply included, now held over a dozen smoke bombs.

The real Katsu and one of Susumu's shadow clones paired together and faced the right side of the wall. The other two shadow clones joined one another to face the left side of the wall. From an outsider's perspective, two identical pairs of people had their backs to one another while a lone Susumu crouched in the middle.

Susumu gathered a handful of smoke bombs together and with a fling of his arm, launched them over the earth wall. The smoke bombs spread out from one another midair and with chained blasts, settled a large bank of smoke throughout the treeline, rendering any sort of view of the encampment nigh impossible.

"Now!" Susumu shouted at the two pairs.

Both pairs burst into a run in their respective directions, quickly separating themselves from the real Susumu's position behind the wall.

Their goal was to reach the treeline on either flanks of the hidden attacker. Only then might they have a chance of taking them on in battle. In addition, should taking the fight to the attacker prove to be an unfeasible task, then retreating would still be a viable option. Of course, this second option only proved to benefit Katsu. The real Susumu would still be left to fend for himself in the besieged encampment.

Susumu reared back his arm and once more lobbed smoke bombs, further spreading the smokescreen and subsequently giving Katsu and the shadow clones a better chance of remaining undetected in their desperate sprint.

Having emptied his supply of smoke bombs, Susumu didn't remain stationary and began to retreat further into the encampment in order to assess the squad's situation. As he ran, his foot slammed into something dug into the earth, throwing him off balance. He tumbled to the ground for a short moment before rolling back onto his feet.

Susumu glanced backward at what had tripped him and was bewildered by the bright reflection of the setting sun that pierced his gaze. Reaching his hand to the source of the reflection, he uncovered a spherical, metal ball that was half-sunk into the dirt. It was polished to perfection with the only noticeable blemish being a crimson substance that clung to its form.

"Blood?" Susumu mumbled.

It didn't take long for Susumu to put it together.

"So it wasn't ninjutsu… What a monster we have encountered."

Susumu observed the metal ball for only a second more before taking off to find their squad captain, Shingo.

~~~~~

Katsu's heart raced as he blitzed through the smoke. It was times like these that he was grateful Sakumo had pressured him into wearing training weights. If he were any slower, he doubted he'd be able to make it away in time before the smokescreen lifted.

Katsu's leg muscles burned as he churned them in a frenzy, and the all-too familiar whistling sounds only made him move even more frantically.

The whistling came in a trio this time, traveling in various directions throughout the smokescreen. Katsu dove to the ground at the first sign of an attack, and the whistling passed over him, validating his precaution. Instead of flesh and blood, it cut through Susumu's shadow clone that had been running alongside him, dispelling the clone with a puff of smoke which instantly blended into the surrounding smokescreen.

Now alone, Katsu scrambled to his feet and continued moving without pause. He was unsure of the status of either Susumu's remaining shadow clone or his authentic counterpart that stayed behind the wall. However, what he was sure of was his own shadow clone's survival, as he could still feel the connection with it. At the very least, getting on either side of the mysterious attacker in a pincer maneuver was still a possibility.

Katsu pushed himself to close the remaining distance with the treeline, and after a final dire effort, pulled himself through and out of the smoke. He immediately jumped into the dense canopy of a nearby oak tree and concealed himself as best he could. These initial moments were crucial in remaining undetected. Should his clone successfully do so as well, he would've achieved the bare minimum requirements in order to have a shot at coming out of this conflict alive.

'I can still feel my clone.' Katsu sighed a breath of relief at that thought. It seemed his shadow clone had made it to the treeline as well.

Carefully, and as hushed as he could make himself, Katsu began to advance towards the source of the terrifying attacks. At long last, he'd be able to uncover the one behind the demise of his comrades. As for whether or not he could take them on in combat, it remained to be seen.

'Considering what I've seen so far, I don't like my chances all too much,' he thought, but he pushed onward nonetheless. By hell or high water, he would discover the assailant behind his most recent and horrific mental turmoil.

Katsu slowed his approach as he noticed he was nearing a clearing in the woods. Standing on a branch, he concealed himself behind the thick trunk of the tree and focused on the clearing.

'I see something, or rather someone.'

In the clearing was a surprising lean man, who dawned typical Iwagakure attire, though he hid his face behind a white, full-face mask that resembled a snow leopard with fur patterns and all.

'Considering the power behind those attacks, I expected someone built like the damn juggernaut.'

The masked man held a storage scroll in his left hand, and in a puff of smoke appeared a metal ball in his right.

'What the hell is he doing?' Katsu wondered.

The man jumped back a good distance, leaned forward and drew back the arm holding the metal ball.

'Is he practicing shot put?' Katsu was utterly confounded by the man's actions.

The man released a breath of air and then disappeared from his spot. The wind began to violently stir as leaves were thrown up from the ground.

Katsu watched in disbelief as a faint blur — who he could only presume was the masked man — moved in a rapidly accelerating circle. After a second of a constant build up of speed, the man reappeared some distance away from where he began. When he reappeared, the ball had already vanished from his grip while a fading whistling could be heard moving away from his position at a mind-boggling pace.

'What was that movement?! Just what sort of entity did I come across?' Katsu thought with panic. As if the untraceable flying balls of death weren't intimidating enough, the masked man just had to demonstrate his ability to move at speeds inconceivable for the average shinobi.

Katsu considered whether he'd be able to react if the man came at him full speed, and he came to the conclusion that he wouldn't even be able to realize he'd died.

'This is above my pay grade. I just graduated the academy, and I've already encountered the Raikage's bastard son.'

The masked man suddenly leaped into the air and swiveled in Katsu's direction.

'Shit!' Katsu immediately hid his body behind the trunk. His tiny child stature allowed him to conceal himself entirely.

The masked man watched Katsu's direction carefully for a moment before turning around midair. After landing on the ground, the man ran in the opposite direction of Katsu.

'He didn't notice me, but it seems he noticed my shadow clone,' Katsu thought, grateful for his pre-planning, 'Opportunities don't come often, so I certainly won't waste this opportunity to run the fuck away.'

Katsu then took off in the direction polar opposite of where the masked man had headed.

Was Katsu running and abandoning his comrades? Yes and no. Yes, because he certainly was. There was no denying that he was leaving them on their lonesome, but the way he saw it, someone needed to call for reinforcements, so why couldn't it be him?

With that rationale in mind, Katsu buried his growing guilt and left the encampment behind.

'I wish you all the best. I'll return with reinforcements as soon as I c-'

Katsu froze in his tracks as a kunai crossed his face and pierced the tree beside him.

"Where do you think you're going, lad?" a rough voice asked from his right.

Katsu turned towards the origin of the voice and found that he had been stopped by a middle-aged Iwa shinobi.

The man had short black hair and hazel eyes. The deep lines on his forehead and wiry goatee gave credence to the fact that he had lived for a commendable amount of time given his dangerous form of employment.

Fortunately, it wasn't the freak of nature from the small clearing, but Katsu's nerves were unsettled nonetheless. This would be his first proper fight, and it would be with an experienced shinobi who possessed strength likely greater than his own.

'It was bound to happen,' Katsu thought, 'I just hope my first fight doesn't turn out to be my last.'

Katsu and the Iwa shinobi stared at one another for a few seconds, waiting for the other to make the first move.

"It's a beautiful day to die, lad," the man said as the sun finally reached a point of no return beyond the horizon, leaving the forest in a state of twilight, "but only one of us will get to see the stars."