The door swung shut behind him, metal scraping against the uneven frame. Terai stopped at the foot of the stairs.
His eyes darted around.
The puddle of water on the dirt road. The electricity pole across from it. The rooftop on the left.
He formed the Ram and kneaded chakra. He spun it tight, then pushed it outward in quick bursts against his tenketsu.
Once, short. Twice, long. Once, short. A pause. Once, short. Twice, long. Once, short. Once, long. Twice, short. Once, long.
A longer pause.
He infused chakra again. Let it thin and spread, pushing it out towards his head. The world muted to a dark canvas, with bright flames floating at the edge of his consciousness.
The answer came after a moment.
Thrice, long. Once, long. Once, short. Once, long.
Terai let his chakra settle. The flames faded and color bled back into his vision.
He looked at the dirt road.
Third place so far. Should be the last. No reason for their quarry to choose the station to the south-east. Unless something unforeseen derailed her…
He shifted his weight to the back foot.
An undesirable outcome. Lord Danzō disliked the unforeseen.
He kneaded chakra again and stretched it thin throughout his body. The light around him bent. His outline wavered, then vanished.
Nothing left to do but wait.
Not an issue. He could wait.
So, he waited.
The sun crossed the sky and vanished over the building behind. Shadows stretched and thinned, and birds flew overhead.
He waited.
Soon enough, a cloaked figure approached from afar. A young woman with a pleasant face and red hair. A darker shade than expected, but that alone didn't mean much.
Terai let his chakra settle. His arms shimmered back into view.
The woman got closer, her gait loose, unhurried. When she passed the corner, he turned towards her.
"I wish to speak with you."
The woman paused in her step, a smile curling her lips.
"Oh? And what business might an ANBU have with me?" She threaded a hand through her hair, fingers combing through the red strands before giving it a flick over her shoulder. Her other hand found the curve of her hip and settled there, weight shifting to one leg.
Wasted movement.
"We've been looking for Uzumaki survivors to bring back to their rightful home."
The woman's eyebrows rose. "Uzumaki?" Her head tilted a fraction to the left. "That's a name I haven't heard in a long time."
Hm.
"We've heard rumors about you, so I've come to ask."
A woman with red hair who claimed bounties without showing a sign of injury. Could be skill… or inborn power.
The woman's shoulders shook. A small chuckle escaped her. "My, you're a blunt one, aren't you?" Her lips pulled wider, and she wrapped a lock of hair around her finger, twisting it slowly.
Terai stood there and stared at her. They lapsed into silence.
Was she expecting an answer?
The smile left her face. "Quite boring too."
Idle chatter was a waste of time.
The woman stopped playing with her hair and let her hand drop back at her side. Her posture straightened. "So, you're here to ask me what? If I'm an Uzumaki?"
He'd made it obvious enough, hadn't he?
"Yes."
Her lips pressed together with a soft hum. "What makes you think I'm one?" The corner of her lips rose again with that strange curve. "I know my hair is beautiful, but it wouldn't be the first time someone mistook me for one."
Terai stared.
"You aren't?"
Have they wasted their time?
Her smile grew the tiniest bit wider. "Who knows?"
Terai's mouth thinned, a flicker of tension traveling up into his jaw. "Give me a clear answer, woman. Are you Uzumaki or not?"
She clicked her tongue. "Women don't like impatient men, you know?" Her hair swayed with a brief shake of her head. "And what if I am an Uzumaki?"
"I want you to come with me."
Her eyes widened. Mock-surprise, theatrical. Then she giggled, the sound light and sharp, like glass tapping glass. "How bold." Her smile turned crooked. "But I'm sorry to say, I don't feel like settling down just yet."
She wanted incentive?
"The village would provide you accommodations befitting of your status."
"Sweet talking now?" She tilted her head to the side, gaze narrowing. "You're not too good at it, though. I'll have to decline."
What?
"If that's all, I have my own business to see to."
Foolish. To refuse Lord Danzō's generosity…
"We insist."
By force, it was.
His hand moved. Two fingers straight, a quick rotation at the wrist.
The air shifted. Four blurs of motion.
Boar landed to her left. Tiger to her right. Dog and Bird materialized behind, boxing her in.
The woman looked at them, her eyes moving from mask to mask. Then she chuckled.
"The pushy type, hm?"
Her hair swayed in place, writhing like it had a will of their own. Her eyes found his and pinned him there, her glare sharp as a steel edge.
"Capture he—"
His tongue froze mid word and his jaw locked. His arms wouldn't move. Legs neither. He couldn't move a single muscle.
Paralysis?!
Her hands blurred through a string of seals.
Monkey → Rat → Tiger → Dragon → Horse → Dragon
Water surged from the ground behind her in a violent eruption. It coiled around her like an ever-growing serpent, spiraling up and thickening with every second.
His team leapt away from the spreading water, scattering in four directions. Bird landed at his side, hands already joined in the Snake seal.
The earth rumbled and rose tall.
Before the wall obscured his vision, Terai saw the woman sink into the ground.
"Mole!" Tiger's voice rang out from somewhere close.
The surge of water crashed against the earth wall. It parted around it, splitting in two arms that curved past on either side, spraying mud and debris.
The woman appeared farther away, at the edge of the forest. Her grey cloak was gone, revealing a scanty outfit beneath. A pink gown that left her shoulders bare and purple shorts.
Her hands blurred through seals again—Boar → Ram → Snake → Horse → Dragon—and slammed against the ground.
Lightning crackled from her palms. White-blue arcs raced along the surface of the water, rushing toward them in a deadly wave.
Bird's hand flashed out.
A sharp pain stabbed in the back of Terai's neck, pins and needles flooding his limbs. He pushed chakra into his legs, and the world blurred. He reappeared across the road and quickly looked around.
The woman had vanished again.
Stealth and ninjutsu specialist. Multiple elements. Jōnin-level.
Dangerous.
Some distance away, Bird formed the Ram seal.
"Boar!" he shouted after a moment. "Six o'clock!"
The man reacted too slow.
The ground beneath Boar softened to mud. Boar stumbled, a second of lost balance too long.
The woman shimmered into view across from him, her fingers twined in the Dragon seal. A tall water serpent rose from the ground beside her, towering over Boar.
Boar jumped back, his hands moving through seals as the serpent dove after him. He was too slow. It rose higher, maw open, and swallowed Boar from above, driving him down into the mud.
Another giant serpent followed right after, crashing into the same spot. Mud sprayed in all directions, covering the whole road.
Terai's hands blurred through seals as he followed the woman with his eyes.
Snake → Ram → Boar → Horse → Bird
He clapped his hands together, wind gathering in his palms.
The woman faded from view mid-stride.
"Dog! Six o'clock!" Bird shouted again, his hands already weaving through seals along with Dog.
The woman appeared on Dog's left like a ghost. Her eyes locked with Dog's, and the man froze, hands forming Snake.
Earth walls rose on both sides and behind them, boxing them in. The ground beneath the woman's feet softened, churning into a swamp. For a moment, she lost her balance, one foot sinking ankle-deep while the other slid sideways.
Terai thrust both hands towards her. The compressed wind shot out of his palms in a concentrated gale, tearing through the air.
The woman's arms came up in front of her chest. The wind hit her an instant later. A pained scream filled the air as the the gale blew her out of the mud and sent her crashing against the wall behind.
She pulled herself up, shallow cuts bleeding all over her arms and her gown shredded in places. She took a step forward, teeth bared and hair plastered to her face with mud—
Two senbon found their mark on her left arm. The limb fell slack at her side, hanging useless.
Bird appeared next to Dog and jabbed him in the neck with another senbon. The man jerked with a gasp and lowered his arms.
The woman's face twisted. Her lips pulled back, eyes going wide and wild. "How dare you!"
She dropped to a knee and slammed her right hand against the ground. A torrent of water burst around her like a tidal wave, surging outward in all directions and hiding her from view.
Dog vanished, his form blending with the surrounding air.
Tiger and Bird leapt away as lightning crackled through the water. Blue-white arcs crumbled the earth walls into smoking rubble.
Terai's eyes widened a fraction as the water cleared.
The woman stood there, all gashes gone from her body. Her left arm clenched into a fist, as good as new.
The rumors were true.
"Capture her."
For Lord Danzō.
Terai circled around to the right, his hands stringing together seals.
Tiger pulled out his tantō and leapt towards the woman. She was already blurring through hand seals.
Tiger → Hare → Dragon
The sword flashed through the air in a horizontal arc.
The woman held the Dragon sign.
The blade stopped inches away from her body as a large vortex of wind slammed into Tiger from nowhere. It sent him crashing into the building across the road.
Another vortex launched after him a moment later, pushing Tiger deeper against the wall.
A shimmer of movement ghosted behind the woman. Terai thrust his hands towards her, wind rippling out of his palms. She jumped out of the gale's path, twisting midair. Her hands joined into Tiger at her chest, and a vortex of her own shot toward Terai.
The wind screamed past him as he leapt away. He lost sight of her again as he landed.
He kept moving, head swiveling around.
The woman reappeared next to Bird, one hand raised. Before she could take another step, a hand clamped around her left wrist and a thick arm wrapped around her neck from behind. Her eyes went wide as Dog held her in place, a choking sound escaping her.
Terai weaved through seals.
A clean sliced foot, then.
The woman raised her free hand high above her head, the other forming a half-Tiger at her chest. Her chakra spiked.
Pale arcs of lightning sparked down along her body. Dog seized up and collapsed to the ground, smoke rising from his body.
Terai's hands paused in the Tiger seal.
The woman lowered her arm, her gaze finding him with a narrow glare. "And now I'll teach you the proper way to treat a woman."
Terai's eyes flickered to Dog. Then Boar and Tiger.
Neither of them moved.
His jaw tensed, and in that split second, he made his decision.
"Fall back!"
Lord Danzō must learn about this.
He surged chakra to his legs and ran to Boar's side, scooping the man over his left shoulder in a single fluid motion.
"You think I'll let you run after this?!" The woman's voice rang out behind him.
Terai shifted Boar's weight, freeing his hands. He formed the cross seal, splitting his remaining chakra in half with a puff of smoke.
His eyes darted to Bird, breath coming out heavy. The man was already holding the Snake seal.
Good.
The earth around the woman softened and turned into a swamp. Despite her struggling, she sank ankle-deep into the mud, her face twisted with a snarl and teeth bared.
Bird appeared next to Tiger's unconscious form, draping the man over one shoulder before darting away into the treeline.
Terai pushed more chakra into his legs and ran, the world a blur of green and brown as he followed Bird's trail into the forest.
Lord Danzō must know about this.