21: Lucky…?

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- Konoha camp, Year 33 -

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Two days passed since the mission. Ryoichi and the rest of the team were recuperating from that when Oni entered their small house.

The team's focus immediately shifted towards Oni as he started speaking.

"We got another mission…" The team nodded and motioned Oni to continue.

"We are ordered to sneak into Kuma's camp during the night and deactivate all the seals while also taking down all the patrolling Shinobi if possible." Oni finished and to say the team was surprised was an understatement, they were completely dumbfounded at Oni's words.

Forget about sneaking under the watch of patrolling Shinobis and surveillance seals, there is a Kage rank Shinobi always stationed at the camp in case of some emergency.

Kage rank is not some Shinobi rank, it's a chasm that separates the cannon fodder from the real powerhouses. They represent the first evolution beyond humankind. They represent the cherry on top, the absolute peak of the current Shinobi world. Even the weakest of Kage can destroy a small village with a single attack.

Kages are also what differentiate the Five Major Villages from the rest of villages and organisations. Every Village, Clan, and Large organisation has multiple Jonins, but they are not even considered anything in front of the five Villages.

Jonins are important only for mission completion to secure financial stability. Their numbers are important to show the military might to civilians to attract and reassure them as they can't differentiate between a Genin or a Kage. For them, both Shinobi classes can kill them before they blink.

The five major Villages hold the most power and are called as such because they have multiple Kage rank Shinobis, if they didn't then the alliance of multiple small villages and organisations could easily take them down, after all, there are far more Jonins roaming in countless small organisations, clans and village then a single major village.

Frankly speaking, none of Team Oni had confidence sneaking under a kage, Ryoichi included.

Ryoichi still remembers how reckless he was while raiding the Mizuki. At that time he didn't really understand what it meant being a Kage, his thoughts were influenced by the anime where friendship and love can take down an enemy of different levels.

Ryoichi was quite lucky that the leader of Mizuki was not present that day or else he wouldn't even how he died.

"We don't have a choice… currently we are being attacked by all four Major Villages at the same time. Normally we would still not be given such a mission but Ryoichi's recent accomplishments have given us some hope." Oni continued without minding the shocked faces of his team.

"But still, if our previous mission was impossible then this is just straight suicide." Squirrel interjected.

Oni sighed at Squirell word's, even he thinks it's too much for them but they have no choice but to go with this mission.

Their situation is dire… each second they waste a Shinobi is dying on their side. Even if Konoha has a huge army that has never been seen before in the history of this world, this cannot go on for long.

Of course, other Villages are not exempt from these losses, but they are too blinded by their greed and rage.

The four Villages have gone mad because of the suppression they have been feeling over these years.

Even though Konoha has been kind to them and has shared many resources with them but rather than making them feel good it did the opposite.

The other Villages think that Konoha has been taking all the best resources for themselves and leaving them with only leftovers as it did with the land division. Konoha took the most fertile land and left them with whatever was left.

"Get ready we are leaving in two hours."

Oni's retreating words left a silence inside the room which only got broken when Ryoichi stood and started checking his supplies which also forced others to do the same.

After two hours the team regrouped outside their makeshift house looking extremely tense. No amount of training could make a person calm in front of almost certain death.

"Ready?"

The team suppressed their instinct and nodded their heads.

""HAI""

"Let's go then!"

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Team Oni appeared just outside the range of Kumo's detection since they already had a report of Kumo's surveillance seal's range and their Kage's senses.

Oni looked at Ryoichi as he motioned him to move.

"You go and take over the seal, we'll wait for your signal."

"What about the ambush team?" Questioned Ryoichi.

"They are at the camp doing what they always do because it will alert our enemies if a large team start making moves. So, once you have taken over the seals only then will the Commander move."

Ryoichi didn't say anything as he analysed Oni's words before he nodded and flickered away.

He carefully started approaching the huge fortress that was Kuma's camp. As he reached closer, the EARTH WALLS started getting bigger and bigger.

Ryoichi noticed the difference between Kuma's and Konoha's walls. Whereas Kumo's walls were thick and tall, Konoha's walls were a lot thinner and shorter.

Ryoichi could also spot the reason behind which were seals. Kumo's wall has far fewer seals compared to Konoha which are riddled with them.

Ryoichi can't really blame Kumo, they don't have the strongest and largest Fuin-Clan at their beck and call.

"Yeah… why they let Uzumaki die is still beyond me." Muttered Ryoichi.

Ryoichi stopped his thoughts as he stood parallel to the wall that could probably tank a few Kage-level attacks.

Ryoichi placed his hand on the wall as the SEAL MATRIX churned into action. Immediately Inky-black tendrils started moving from Ryoichi's palm as they formed a large spider web-like design on the wall.

"Sigh~" Ryoichi sighed after some time as the black tendrils retreated to his palm.

'Of course it won't be that easy…'

Ryoichi had tried to take over the seals like he did in Kuma's checkpoint, but failed. He realised that he needed to find the core, take down the person controlling it and corrupt the core with his matrix.

"Sigh~" Ryoichi sighed again, but this time not out of failure of easy pass, no! It was because he could feel his body slowly start pumping adrenaline at the thought of suicide that he was about to commit. Ryoichi could easily suppress the thrill or even completely cut it off, but he just didn't because he had become addicted, especially with his always improving senses that make him feel higher dose after every other new experience.

Whether Ryoichi wants to admit it or not he has become an adrenaline junkie.

'Just a small slip and I'm dead…' Ryoichi almost shivered in excitement as as he started climbing the wall.

The surveillance seals are no problem for Ryoichi, even if he can't take over the countless seals through any random seals, he can still control the seals he's directly in contact with. Normally it also shouldn't be possible as the Shinobi or Shinobis in the core would immediately notice, but again the number of seals makes it quite hard to take note of everything at the same time.

So, Ryoichi easily climbed the wall and sneaked to the other side. He didn't waste time as he already knew the location of the Fuin core from his contact with the seals.

But that knowing the location didn't mean he could easily reach there. The core is at the very centre of the fortress with hundreds of tents and makeshift houses surrounding it.

Ryoichi took out a Kumo headband and replaced it with his Anbu mask and started walking towards the core. He had to be careful as there was barely any place that wasn't covered by a Kumo Shinobi and he didn't want anyone to notice that he wasn't Kumo-nin.

"Hey, you! Who are you? I haven't seen someone as young as you here before." As Ryoichi walked towards the core while avoiding the crowd a voice called him, halting his movements.

'Speak of devil…'

Ryoichi turned around with a warm smile on his face and looked at the Shinobi who called him.

"I just arrived with my team, my sensei is currently reporting to the Commander." Answered Ryoichi with a warm smile as he pushed his Fuin-glasses up with his middle finger. Ryoichi didn't use TRANSFORMATION Jutsu because not only it could be seen through, but he also didn't need it as he was already tall enough to pass for 12 years old fresh Genin despite being 7 years old, and his face wasn't popular.

"Ahh! Who's your Sensei, kid?"

"Arasoi… Arasoi is the name of my sensei."

Ryoichi randomly spoke a Kumo, he didn't care weathered there was a Jonin with such a name or even any Shinobi for a matter of fact because there are thousands of Jonin in Kumo, and Ryoichi doubted the man before him knew all Joinin's names.

"Really? Well… now that you mention that dumbass did mention about thinking of taking on a disciple, but wasn't he dispatched near mist?"

Ryoichi secretly scans the man as the world almost crawls to zero for him. He tried to find the lies in the man's words, but surprisingly he found none.

'Luck…?' Thought Ryoichi confusedly. He never trusted luck in his life because other than being reborn to good parents… twice nothing 'lucky' ever happened to him.

"Hey, Genin!" The man's call broke Ryoichi from his reverie.

"Ahh sorry I got distracted." Ryoichi waved with a harmless smile before answering the man's question.

"Sensei finished his mission there, so he decided to take me here to give me an experience."

"He did…? That's nice! Tell him to visit my house, it is the tenth number one from the north side of the wall." The man said as he walked off while patting Ryoichi's shoulder.

Ryoichi walked some distance before breaking into a sprint.

"For a minute I thought I was lucky…" Ryoichi mutters in a slightly mirthful tone. He doesn't know what revealed his lies but the man's micro-expressions change and him abruptly leaving without telling his name means he got found out.

Ryoichi thought about running away but shook his head immediately as he wasn't nearly fast enough. His only path is to take over the seals and retreat while using his trump card…

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AN: If you want to read more go to my Patr*on/41_Claws. There are 10+ advance unedited chapters on it…]

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