'Despite the risks, this isn't a chance that will come often Dodai pondered.
He would not get the chance to arrive at a conclusion himself.
Because seeing Dodai become all ponderous, Shiki decided the chances were good enough to cash in his ambush advantage at that very moment.
'Star with the weaklings for maximum damage before I have to retreat.' The boy thought.
Surging from the ground, Shiki's chakra blade surged with an enhanced Chakra Cutter.
His recent practice with the spinning motions of the rasengan allowed him to create a chainsaw effect, drastically enhancing its performance.
A wide slash looking to dispatch both Furui and Doroi was unleashed, leaving a dark blue trail of dense void chakra in the air.
However, showing his innate talents, Ay's Lightning Chakra Mode flared to life instantly allowing his body to instantly respond to his rapid reflexes and block the slash for Doroi who was closest to himself.
However, with Dodai's reaction being delayed from his pondering during the unexpected attack, Furui had no one to save him and with a sound akin to a mournful flute, blood sprayed from his slashed neck.
Cutting open a throat just right allowed the escaping air to make such a melody, great for instigation and intimidation
"Furui! Damn you!" Ay shouted and moved to counterattack.
"Lightning Straight!" Shouting his move like an idiot did not diminish the threat he posed.
Not with his blinding speed.
But at least in bursts Shiki's Flicker Phantom was faster.
Vanishing, the boy dodged the lightning enhanced fist and reappeared behind the now unguarded Doroi.
'I'm done for.' The Kumo boy raised a reverse death flag.
And in that precise moment, earth spears surged from the ground, piercing Shiki's right foot to pin him down for the remaining spears to end him.
"Sensei's Earth Flow Spear Jutsu is absurdly fast." Doroi commented with relief at the sight of the impaled Shiki.
'I got him with that?' Dodai couldn't believe it.
But as blood ran from the corpse, he knew it was no shadow clone.
'Could it be genjutsu?' He internally questioned.
But he would never get to verify the theory.
Because with a sound like a burning fuse, one of Shiki's patented Scroll Bombs held in the corpse's hand exploded with a thunderous BOOM.
'Lava Release: Rubber Ball'
'Lighting Body Flicker'
Dodai barely managed to shield himself with one of his rubber jutsu while Ay tackled Doroi out of the way with his near instantaneous reactions and blinding speed.
"Did he blow himself up with his last breath!?" Ay questioned with barely restrained anger.
One of his comrades had already died and yet, even after finally taking the Konoha brat down, they were almost tricked into following him to the grave.
"Looks like he did not want to leave us his corpse. His loyalty to his village is commendable."
Just relieved to have survived such a fearsome opponent, Doroi commented with a sigh.
Ay grunted in reluctant agreement.
But it did not change the fact that one of them was gone.
Maybe they subconsciously believed that the more outstanding they made Shiki out to be, the more justified Furui's death would be in an attempt to diminish their suffering.
They had not been a team for that long but they were still friends and fellow Kumo shinobi so it would be a lie to say they felt no weight in their hearts though the still pumping adrenaline was helping them in the moment.
Dodai got out of his rubber ball and rushed towards his students.
"You both alright?"
"Hmph!" Ay showed his status by attitude.
"Yeah. Ay saved my ass! Thanks by the way." Doroi responded.
"It's nothing." Ay waved his hand.
But another mournful melody accompanied by the spraying blood from Doroi's throat, ended all of the relieved conversation.
The "corpse" had been Shiki's original jutsu Shadow Substitution, a technique he had developed early on, a powerless shadow clone whose only purpose was to convincingly take hits and show realistic damage without vanishing but at the cost of having zero combat ability as a clone.
It was the boy's first time using it in real combat and it went perfectly.
Tossing three Scroll Bombs in the air, Shiki vanished with Flicker Phantom.
Ay was still frozen, Doroi's blood covering the upper half of his body but Dodai showed his experience, being far more ready this time.
'Lave Release: Rubber Wall'
The force of the blast stretched and deformed the rubbery barrier but was harmlessly absorbed, once again proving the extreme defensive abilities of rubber type Lava Release that more than made up for its lack of destructive power.
"That BASTARD!" Ay was about to blow a gasket, ready to chase after the runaway Shiki who deliberately did not conceal his escape route but Dodai stopped him before he could Lightning Body Flicker after the boy.
"Calm down!" He firmly shouted, stopping Ay in his tracks.
"What is sensei!' We need to chase after that bastard now!" The unruly teenager shouted in response.
"Yes but we cannot afford to go in hotheaded. You already saw the result of fighting him without a plan." Dodai cautioned.
"That was just because he ambushed us and took the initiative! With us attacking there is no way he can escape, much less defeat us!" Ay responded, the intensity in his voice only getting higher.
"And do you think he's not leading us into another ambush?" Dodai scolded, making his student calm down just a little.
"Let's recover Furui and Doroi's bodies first. They deserve to get back to the village to be honored as heroes killed in the line of duty." The older man declared, taking out a storage scroll.
"Yes, Dodai-sensei . . . You're right." Ay guiltily replied, somewhat blaming himself for forgetting such basic things.
If the means were there, dead comrades had to be taken home but even if not, their bodies had to be destroyed, they could not be left to the enemy lest village secrets be revealed through them.
Alas . . .
As the dust kicked up by the explosion cleared, the Kumo pair found no bodies.
"T-That Konoha bastard, he . . . He took them!?" Ay was on the verge of going completely berserk.
If not for the presence of Dodai, one of his father's most trusted aides, he might have already gone on a rampage.
*
Meanwhile, almost at Mei's ambush spot, Shiki internally celebrated his great success, not only did he cut down the number of enemies, he even managed to recover their corpse for research and experimentation,
'That Furui fellow, his name rings a bell but I can't quite place it even with my enhanced memory. Need to meditate for a bit and dig through my mental records, he felt like nothing special though.'
'The other one, Doroi, his name may not ring any bells but based on the sensory feedback, his chakra tastes like an element based Kekkei Genkai though I killed him too fast for him to actually use it.'
'A great haul nonetheless.' The boy evaluated.
'But let's see if the other two chase. My "old friend" Dodai and Unruly Ay, son of the Third Raikage himself.'
'Taking the latter out will put an even bigger target on my back, not to mention derail the plot completely." Shiki evaluated.
"Too bad for him that I can't be bothered to give a crap about either of those things."
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -