It was practically a suicide role.
One that required the most skilled members of their group to have a chance of success.
But who would be willing to take on such a perilous task?
"Alright, let me try and probe the enemies a bit deeper. See if I can figure out their specialties." Shiki spoke, temporarily diffusing some of the tension.
"Won't they notice?" Hyuga Makoto questioned.
Strong and experienced shinobi could tell when they were being watched, even his clan's Byakugan could have its gaze detected.
"Don't worry about that, I'm confident." The boy reassured.
"Beni-chan, can help out too." He added, getting a nod from the little girl.
'Beni-chan?' Mei internally questioned with a frown, wondering when Shiki had gotten so close as to use such cute nicknames he didn't even use with her.
Inori too hid a smirk, her womanly gossip senses tingling.
Ignoring the gazes and opinions though, the two youngest members of the squad got to work, Shiki with his Kukyo - Seven Senses and Benihime with her Shuigan.
Kumo's regular Jonin were nothing out of the ordinary Mostly lightning chakra with a sprinkling of fire, taijutsu focus supported by enhancement type ninjutsu. Typical of Kumo trained shinobi.
The third Elite Jonin besides the already known Dodai and Zee, was the one out of the ordinary and it didn't take long for Shiki to figure out why.
Although younger in looks, this was a Kumo shinobi that appeared as a Reanimation in the Fourth War, Toroi of The Magnet Release.
Though not famous yet, he had appeared in Konoha's Bingo Book as a dangerous threat and high value recovery target due to his kekkei genkai.
As for why such a figure would join such a precarious mission with two nearly disgraced Kumo shinobi . . .
From his chakra, Shiki could tell.
'That brat from Dodai's squad I killed . . . I sensed an unknown kekkei genkai on him though I didn't give him any time to use it . . .' The boy internally groaned.
'So I inadvertently started another blood feud.' He immediately accepted reality, nothing else to do after all.
At the very least, he was aware of the enemy's jutsu.
A Magnet Release very different from the Third and Fourth Kazekage's which consisted of controlling Iron or Gold Dust for their jutsu, being a combination of Wind and Earth Releases.
Toroi's version was different. He could impart magnetism to his enemies and then infuse his weapons, resulting in permanent lock on for all his ninja tool attacks.
Shiki doubted it was limited to just them but as long as physical contact with him or his weapons was avoided, his jutsu's tricks would likely be unable to take effect.
'The elemental combination seems to be the same though, just like Lave Release comes in a myriad of forms despite always being Water and Fire Release. Wind and Earth . . . Maybe Lightning Release can counter it like it counters the Iron Sand then?' The boy pondered.
As for the mercenaries, their lack of identifying feature for Shiki to recognise made it harder to figure out their abilities but with Beni's help, he managed to put together plenty.
He revealed the additional Kumo Elite Jonin was Toroi of The Magnet Release, after which Inori explained his abilities without needing the boy's input, clearly very familiar with him.
'Sensei was a spy embedded in Kumo wasn't she . . .' Shiki had almost forgotten.
The Violet Rose likely had a lot of info on that village's key figures and stand out shinobi.
As for the group theorized to be Kurogane Saburo's hirelings, Shiki and Beni broke down what they could tell from their sensory reconnaissance.
"The six elite Elite Chunin all seem ninjutsu based, one Water Release specialist, three Fire Release specialists and two Earth Release specialists."
"The two Jonin leading them are both Water Release specialists but one has a strong Yin signature, a sensor by the feeling of it while the other clearly has strong taijutsu training from the look of his build." Got the easy targets out of the way first.
"It is the last squad that's problematic." He paused.
"Where did they find a whole squad of high level kekkei genkai users?" Mei questioned.
"Kekkei genkai users tend to have strong chakra to begin with, so while finding them can be difficult, once you do, their potential will usually be Jonin tier or above." Inori responded.
Kekkei genkai users were not both seeked and feared across the shinobi world for their unique abilities but for the strong base stats that came with them, a bonus brought along by them being "genetically superior".
"The Elite Jonin seems to have Wind based abilities, the chakra in him is similar to Shiki-sama's when I saw him practicing Wind Release but much stronger and denser." Benihime moved the conversion along.
'Shiki-sama!?' Mei was internally fuming and now, everyone was giving the pair of kids strange looks, even Tomoe and Ema were looking with curiosity.
All of them were ignored however.
"I've heard of a kekkei genkai called Typhoon Release, an extremely potent version of Wind Release. It is likely that." Shiki shared his theory.
"As for the other three, the regular jonin, we have a Boil Release user, likely the hot steam version and not the corrosive mist version, he should be quite powerful in close quarters . . ." The boy proceeded with his explanation.
"There is also one that has a metal-like body that he constantly keeps active." Beni continued his words.
"Likely Steel Release. Rarer than most kekkei genkai but not unknown." Inori interjected with her own bit.
"The last one seems to have an enhanced Yin kekkei genkai, with unusually dense and shadowy chakra." Shiki described.
He had already deduced which kekkei genkai this likely was but he was beaten to the punch.
"Our clan has records of a past foe whose chakra shared those characteristics. He used strange abilities he called Dark Release." Fugaku suddenly interjected.
Seeing there was no need for him to explain, the boy just looked at Fugaku to continue, as did everyone else.
"Dark Release allows the user to absorb chakra, both directly and from jutsu. The chakra can then be unleashed in highly destructive blasts. Absorbed jutsu can also be replicated by the user and they can conjure darkness from their shadow as a medium for their abilities."
"This last ability however is hard to master. In the small clan that the Uchiha fought against, only their leader could do it. If the enemy is just a regular Jonin, it is likely he does not possess this ability." The Uchiha explained.
With the enemy force assessed, silence settled in.
They now had to go back to discussing the actual assault and with their foes being as powerful as they were . . . No one really wanted to die after all . . .
"Alright then. We have a decent grasp of the enemy's abilities now and we can't waste more time, the enemy will notice their observers have stopped contact soon enough. Are we going with Shiki's proposed idea?" Inori spoke but was met with more silence.
Until Shiki finally spoke again.
"It's our only shot." He said.
"As for the main attackers, I can be one. My abilities will allow me to retreat more easily than most." The boy volunteered for the most dangerous role.
He did not have a death wish but he was indeed, one of the most suitable in the whole squad.
"Sensei, it's time to put the new genjutsu to the test." Shiki then turned towards Inori.
The Violet Rose sighed in response.
"I'd rather test it out a bit more but if it actually works, it will be perfect for this situation . . ." She paused.
"Ok then, I'll be the second main assaulter."
"And that's enough. Too many attackers will just muddy the waters. One for Kumo, one for the mercs." Shiki interjected before anyone else started offering themselves up.
"I've got Kumo then. I am experienced in dealing with their type." Inori spoke.
The boy nodded.
"Alright. I'll take the mercenaries." He said.
"Now for the rest of you . . ." Inori started.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
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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.
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