"Yuma-sama will be attending the combat test at 0600 so tighten things up and make sure everything is in order." The leader commanded.
"Yes sir!" X2 His subordinates replied.
"Something to say Gaku?" The leader directly called out the man to his back-left.
"Sir . . . The subject's power is becoming too dangerous to control. Containment after the combat tests is becoming harder and harder . . ." Gaku trailed off.
"I'm aware of that. I've already reported to Above, Yuma-sama is coming to inspect precisely for that reason." The leader responded.
"Is it really worth all that effort? Everything that could be researched has already been researched, that girl is just a problem now." The shapely kunoichi suddenly spoke up.
"Maybe so, Shuuko but we are not the ones to make those decisions." The leader said.
"We are but shadows after all, Hyosuke-san. I know our duty." Shuuko firmly declared.
"That was never in doubt." Hyosuke said in response.
*
Meanwhile, their supposedly private conversation was being clearly transmitted to Shiki through his Kukyo - Seven Senses.
'Should I stick around until dawn and try to ambush this Yuma-sama?' The boy pondered.
But he quickly decided it was not worth it.
He would leave a shadow clone behind to memorize the appearance and chakra signature of this seemingly high ranking member of Root but make no further moves on him.
'That said, with people coming to this facility, it is possible they notice things from a distance if I mess about and come running.' Shiki mused.
Once again, he internally praised himself for choosing the stealth based approach. If he had gone in "guns blazing", so to speak, those interlopers might have ruined his operation.
Still, he was now on a tighter schedule so it was time to get a move on and liberate Onikuma Maiko, culling Root's personnel in the process.
'These three are the strongest in this facility so leaving them for last would be better but they are heading towards the sections I already cleared out so I have to take them now.' The boy decided.
With his considerations complete, it was time for action.
The Sensor and Genjutsu specialist Gaku was not a threat while the Elite Jonin leader Kyosuke might be able to react in time to his ambush, that left only one target.
'Nirvana Art: Underworld Shadow - Bloom'
In an instant, the shadows around the three man Root squad darkened.
"MOVE!" The leader shouted.
But it was far too late.
Shadow spikes burst forth beneath Shuuko's position, instantly impaling her., lifting her off the ground as her blood ran across the spikes and her Ambu mask fell to the side.
Gaku, not being the first target, only suffered a few glancing hits, he was bleeding but his movement and combat prowess was undiminished.
As for Kyosuke, he was untouched.
"A Nara? Come out traitor!" The squad leader shouted.
'What a delicious misunderstanding, I'd love for you to spread but alas, you must die here.' Shiki thought to himself, not taking the bait.
"You dare kill a comrade of Konoha? You'll pay for this." Kyosuke continued to shout while Gaku frantically searched for the boy with Chakra Senses, to no avail of course.
Suddenly though, a shadow figure materialized in front of the pair, a small distance away.
"Why so angry?" A distorted voice sounded out.
"A beauty impaled, pale faced and blood running from the corner of her lips as her eyes lose focus . . . I gave an insignificant shadow an ending worthy of a tragic heroine!" The shadowy figure taunted.
The words, laced with Nirvana Art: Emanation of Ecstasy, drew out their deadened emotions drawing their anger and attention as silence filled the space
But just as Kyosuke was about to attack the figure, a slicing sound shattered the quiet.
He turned back, only to see Gaku holding his slashed neck as he crumpled to the ground, his draining away.
His honed battlefield instincts suddenly flared however, making Kyosuke dive forward, rolling across his companion's pooling blood as the ground he had just been standing on shattered from violent heel drop.
The cracks were not extense, Shiki held back the power so as to not alarm the rest of the facility personnel.
Glaring at the expressionless boy through his mask, Kyosuke's eyes widened as he immediately recognized his ambusher.
"You a-!" His words could not even form because Shiki gave the Root squad leader no time.
With a flash of Flicker Phantom, the boy was already on him.
'Dragon Gate Style: Poison Dragon Kata'
Switching to bizarre and unpredictable taijutsu style, the purple glow of the Mystical Reverse Palm left trails in the air with each of Shiki's movements.
A combination of the previous Hidden Dragon Kata, consisting of bizarre movements even Mito struggled to read and Mystical Reverse Palm's deadly effects, that was the essence of the Poison Dragon Kata.
Even the Uzumaki matriarch herself took a while before she could defend herself, what could a Root Elite Jonin even do?
Kyosuke's head was flung to the side as an unseeable hook connected.
Before he could recover, a vicious knee struck at his solar plexus.
Flashing to the Root squad leader's back with Flicker Phantom, Shiki delivered a merciless elbow to his right kidney.
Despite the massive pain, Root training was excellent at "helping" recruits become indifferent to it, allowing Kyosuke to draw lash out at his surroundings with his shinobi blade.
Alas, the boy had already flickered away.
'I . . . must del-ay . . . as long as . . . poss-ibl-e . . .' The squad leader struggled to keep lucid even as his body firmed its stance out of pure muscle memory.
It was a remarkable show of will.
Even Shiki, despite the expressionless face he always showed to his enemies, was faintly impressed.
However . . .
Kyosuke suddenly coughed up a huge amount of blood and collapsed.
'Wh-at!? I . . . d-id no-t . . . ta-ke t-ha-t m-uch . . . d-ama-ge . . .' That was his last thought before fading away, never to wake again.
'Mystical Reverse Palm . . . Killing without even letting the enemy realize how hurt they are.' Shiki mused with some pride at the effectiveness of his self-created jutsu.
That is right, despite the boy's strikes not being very physically powerful, their "poisonous" effect numbed the enemy while shutting down their body and triggering widespread necrosis.
*
With the main enemy combat power disposed of, Shiki swept through the rest of the facility without much issue, harvesting lives like an unfeeling reaper.
But there was one man he spared . . . The Head Researcher of the facility.
Dr. Kumogami, he called himself.
The boy had no need for him but suspected Onikuma Maiko might want to personally deal with that loose end herself.
'If I was in her position, I certainly would at least.' Shiki thought to himself.
And so, leaving a terrified Dr. Kumogami tied up in a corner while shivering in dread, the boy approached the sealing room where the girl he came to liberate was kept in.
'Onikuma Maiko . . . I wonder what you are like after all this suffering . . . Will you be able to trust people, to appreciate the World even after it showed you nothing but cruelty so far in your life?' Shiki wondered.
*
What he did not know was that the girl inside the sealed room might be as ignorant of current events as he thought.
+++++
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 -