Hidden Truth

Deathly force was permitted, was I expecting to kill someone during this mission?, yes, was I expecting a missing-nin? No, but that didn't matter now, I was facing a missing-nin, someone with more combat experience than I do, he killed before, not only that, he was a criminal even by Shinobi standards, they either betrayed their contractors or did something against their own Village, in any way they were far more dangerous than simple bandits.

We stood in front of each other, observing, looking for an opening in our defenses, this game was about patience, not about the first move, but the first mistake, I took half a step back, the missing-nin didn't hesitate, sprinting towards me, he went for a low kick, aiming to replicate the same move I did to him, a few moments ago, I raised my leg in respond, making him fail, I tried to step his foot with all my weight, but he was fast enough to pull his leg back, followed by a Superman punch, it landed, managing to turn my head in the direction of the punch I brushed most of the damage, a roundhouse kick was next, I ducked and took a step forward, closing the distance, his abdomen was open, landing a punch to his liver, keeping my momentum I hit his face with a spinning back punch.

I thought that I finally had him, but he turned into a log, great! Substitution jutsu, the most underrated and overpowered move of all times, I just need to keep my senses sharp, and he will reappear any second now, ten seconds passed, and still no sign of the missing-nin, a kunai flew at my direction, if it wasn't for the new clothes, I would be death by now, the kunai had a bomb paper attached, I jumped back dodging the explosion, before I landed the missing-nin came out of the ground, pulling me down he smashed my head to the ground, with only my head above ground, I was a sitting duck, The missing-nin, stood in front of me grinning a diabolical smile.

"It was a good fight kid, it's a shame you won't live long enough to develop your talent" He said, preparing to deal the finishing blow, he slowly neared me, taking a kunai from the bag on his leg, grinning wider, he stabbed through my eye, he turned around sure of his victory, blinked, and saw me standing there, in front of him, still on our initial battle positions, the only difference was that I was smiling.

"Wow, that must be really embarrassing" I teased him, "you were so confident, that you didn't notice my Genjutsu" He at me once again, this time putting all of his strength on his fist, but I disappeared in front of his "you have a thick skull, just told you, this is a Genjutsu and instead of trying to break it you come and attack me" kept teasing him, now behind him, I felt his Chakra flare up, just like you are supposed to do to break a Genjutsu "Wait, did I say Genjutsu? My bad, I meant Illusion, you see I have this weird ability to affect your brain without using Chakra, all of this is only in your mind" Now he was angry and confused, I threw a senbon in his direction, he tried to deflect it, but the senbon phased through him like a ghost "I already told you just Illusions" I did it again but this time he didn't block it, the senbon pierced his leg "what? You got hurt, but that is still an Illusion, I wonder what is happening" the senbon disappeared, but the wound remain there "maybe my ability allows me to create Illusions that can damage you for real according to my wishes"

The missing-nin had no idea what was happening, Genjutsu, Illusions, damage his body, he never heard of such a thing, and then he realized, everything around here was pitch black, darker than a few moments ago, he couldn't even see his own hands, something was wrong "let's see how much can you handle" thousands upon thousands of senbons surrounded him, "which ones are just distractions, and which one can hurt you? Can you guess?" Ten senbons shoot at his direction, he didn't attempt to parry, he was right, the next wave he dodged them all, right again, third wave, he parried some that felt real, but he got it wrong, the ones that felt fake were the real treat.

"Illusions....or real illusions" I said, sending a new wave, the missing-nin attempting his best to avoid danger "within the illusions hide real illusions" I said with another wave, he couldn't remain calm under the constant threats "within real illusions, the illusions are created" by now he just gave up, he knew he couldn't take more hits, so he tried to run away, "within the truth hides the lie... within the lie hides the truth" I proclaimed, sending all the senbons in his direction, stabbed over and over again in an almost endless loop, he kept suffering until the last moment, tortured by the fear of not knowing what was dangerous and what was safe, he had a chance to escape, but he was unable to figure it out, with a cry for mercy that reached deft ears, he fell dead, bloodied and full of holes, but there was no weapon in sight or signals of Ninjutsu, to know what was used to kill him.

"That is the Mist" I said, ending the Illusion, and my experiment, I was able to use Illusions under pressure, I practiced before on how to use it, but never during sparring sessions with my partners, and to not say real combat situation, the experiment was a total success, I gained real combat experience, and a better understanding to my abilities.

"Well, time to help the others, who is the one with more troubles?" I said looking to the battlefield, and ran once I made up my decision.