"So, what are we going to do?" Misa asked, placing the icy towel back on her neck. The village head had already left. After he revealed that Ria was kidnapped, he didn't have much more to add.
"We're going to rescue Ria, of course," Kaoru replied, setting the half-eaten pastry on the table. The sweetness no longer interested him; his appetite had faded the moment the village head dropped the final line. "He likely knew the whole 'I do nothing but eat and have fun' was just an act. Two powerful shinobi showing up on the same day five thugs are executed is just too convenient to brush off. He must have mentioned Ria's disappearance because he knew I wouldn't ignore it."
Misa frowned, crossing her arms as a small crease formed between her brows. "But if that's true... this could all be…"
"A trap," Kaoru finished for her. "Yes, it could be. But tell me, do you really think there's anyone in this remote place who can beat me? Even if they brought someone stronger, I'm confident I can get away from anyone below Kage level." His voice carried no arrogance. It wasn't boastful. Just a confidence of someone who understood the gap between himself and most of the world.
"Besides, if it is a trap, that only means someone here knows exactly what's wrong with the Land of Lakes and who's behind it. That's more valuable than avoiding a little risk." He added, brushing the dust from his robe with a few flicks of the wrist.
"You think we won't be able to expand Takimura's influence here?"
"Not anytime soon," Kaoru muttered, slipping his arms into the robe. "The thugs don't act like common criminals, they are far too open… Someone powerful must be backing them. If it turns out the local Daimyo is involved, we'll have to contact Takimura for further instructions. We could kill him, sure. But doing so would stir up something far worse."
"Why? Takimura is now stronger than even the Fire Daimyo."
"True," Kaoru nodded. "But Daimyos, for all their weakness, have one thing that makes them dangerous - unity. The moment we kill one, every noble in the mainland, maybe even beyond, will treat it as a warning. They'll pressure their villages to act, and if not that, they'll impose economic sanctions."
He wasn't guessing. Every word he spoke came from long hours spent reading between training sessions - scrolls on economic theory, records of fallen clans, and essays on the fragile balance between power and diplomacy. Ogashi and Iseki hadn't just trained him to become a stronger shinobi. They had prepared him to return as a future leader.
"I hadn't thought about that..." Misa admitted. "It's a lot more complicated than just 'hunt down the bad guys.'"
Kaoru flashed her a grin as he tied the sash around his waist. "That's the job. Anyway, I'll head out to gather some intel. I'll be back in a few hours. We'll move tonight."
"But, Lord Kaoru… I'm supposed to stay by your side and protect you!" Misa stepped forward, her tone almost pleading.
"I'm better at moving unseen than you," Kaoru said with a chuckle, already stepping toward the door. "And it's easier to spot two than one. I'll be back before you even start missing me."
Misa opened her mouth to argue, but the room was already empty. The door creaked gently as it swung shut behind him.
…
"Two jonin and three chunin…" Kaoru said slowly, like he could not believe his own eyes. He and Misa crouched quietly on a thick branch, shadows cloaking their presence as they observed the camp about a hundred meters away.
"Jonin acting like a common thug? And two of them, no less?" Misa whispered, her voice barely audible. A dark cloth veiled her face, leaving only her eyes and the bridge of her nose exposed. The cool night air brushed against her skin, a welcome relief after the hot day.
"My clones searched the nearby villages but found nothing useful," Kaoru muttered, still watching the clearing. "These aren't just random criminals… something serious is happening in this land… But it doesn't matter who they are. They kidnapped a civilian."
Inside the crude cage at the edge of the camp sat Ria, huddled like an abandoned pet. Her head rested on her knees, arms wrapped around her legs, hands forming a makeshift cushion. She didn't move. Not even when one of the chunin passed close by.
"Should we attack?"
"Yes," Kaoru answered without hesitation, "but one of the jonin must be left alive. I need answers."
Even now, with someone's life at stake, Kaoru kept his mind on the larger goal. This group wasn't random. A concentration of shinobi this skilled didn't gather without someone pulling strings. And if Takimura intended to expand influence here, they needed to know who those strings led back to. A strong alliance couldn't be built on a foundation already rotting from the top down.
"Misa, take the chunins. I'll handle the jonins."
She gave a quick nod and vanished into the trees without a sound.
Kaoru waited. One of the jonin had just left the camp to relieve himself, moving a short distance behind a thick tree. He muttered something under his breath and began loosening his pants, clearly expecting nothing more eventful than a mosquito bite. Kaoru remained still, watching as the man tugged his trousers and underwear down to his knees. Even if he wouldn't be able to surprise the jonin with a sneak attack, the pants limiting his movement would still provide a huge advantage.
The moment the jonin let his guard down, Kaoru moved.
He landed silently on a low branch just ten steps away, his glowing cyan eyes locked onto his target. Threads of chakra surged around him as three thin, needle-like water projectiles formed midair.
They hissed as they flew.
The jonin flinched at the sudden whistle, instinctively trying to leap aside, but his feet tangled in the lowered pants. He stumbled backward, managing only to twist away at the last second.
The first needle sliced through his upper arm, the sheer impact of the attack spinning him left. The second struck the clavicle, pulverizing the bone with a sickening crack. The third grazed past his head, missing by inches.
"Aaaagh…" he howled, voice raw from pain. "ENEMIES! WE'RE UNDER…"
He never finished the sentence.
Kaoru was already in front of him. Nagizume's hammer shaped tip crashed into the jonin's skull with brutal impact, the heavy blow knocking him out cold. The man collapsed instantly, his head hitting Kaoru's boot as he landed.
Kaoru nudged him with a hard kick to the ribs, checking if he was truly unconscious. After receiving no response and confirming he was still alive, he turned his attention to the weapon in his hand.
He clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction and gave the Nagizume a light twirl. It felt smaller now, not in weight, but in reach.
'This blade… I didn't notice it before, but it's no longer sized for me. I've grown.'
He spun the weapon once more in his hand, adjusting his grip, before finally turning his eyes toward the camp where Misa had already started.
'I should move. Misa won't be able to handle both the jonin and the three chunins alone.'
Kaoru vanished from the branch with a flicker of motion. He hadn't needed to use the Body Flicker Technique, not at such a short distance, but it came to him unconsciously now. Muscle memory. Instinct. He barely noticed when it activated anymore.
He landed just at the edge of the camp.
A thick mist already blanketed half of it, obscuring tents and figures in the haze. Visibility was nearly zero, at least for ordinary eyes. But Kaoru's Suijingan had no such limitation. Its reach extended across nearly two hundred meters now, binding him to every particle of moisture in the area like a web spun from living chakra. He could clearly see Misa and the three chunins in the mist.
'Let's see how well I can do against a proper jonin…'
In the past, in his victories over jonins Kaoru always had a massive advantage. His opponents had relied on water-style jutsu, which he could suppress with overwhelming ease. Everyone in Kiri knew that and they never even tried using water techniques against Kaoru. But now, this opponent's chakra held no trace of water. A fire-type specialist, most likely.
The jonin in question had been headed toward the mist when Kaoru landed. The moment his boots hit the ground, the man stopped abruptly, sensing the presence near him. His eyes snapped toward Kaoru and narrowed.
"Where's Gyori?" he asked, confused.
"Gyori?" Kaoru repeated, tilting his head slightly. "Ah, the other jonin… he was tired. I sang him a lullaby."
The jonin clicked his tongue and immediately began forming hand seals with blinding speed, fast and precise. This wasn't a second-rate fighter. He was jonin through and through.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
He inhaled sharply, his chest swelling to nearly twice its size before he exhaled. A massive plume of flame erupted from his lips, spiraling outward into a roaring fireball that lit up the clearing and barreled toward Kaoru.
'I can't use wind-style against that. It'll only feed the flames…'
Kaoru had been hoping to test some of his new wind-release techniques, but fire trumped wind. Instead, his Suijingan surged. A shimmering blue glow pulsed in his irises as he extended his hand.
A wall of water surged upward in front of him, dense and crashing with weight. The incoming fireball smashed against it, sizzling violently before vanishing in a cloud of steam. On the other side, Kaoru stood untouched, mist curling around him like loyal hounds.
The jonin's expression shifted; first disbelief, then dread.
"You're from that clan?!" he shouted. Looking at the wall of water leaning toward him and rushing forward with a roar.
Kaoru didn't answer.
The jonin spat another curse and wove his fingers into a new sequence. "Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
The ground rose violently between them, forming a jagged, fortified barricade. Kaoru's wave crashed against it with force, cracking several sections and showering the area with clumps of shattered stone, but the wall held. Barely.
"You bast…!"
The man didn't get to finish.
Kaoru was already there, his form flickering into existence like a mirage. With a twist of his wrist, Nagizume shifted, the staff's head lengthening and locking into its glaive form mid-stride. There would be no second prisoner.
Steel clashed.
The glaive struck against the jonin's kunai with a resounding clang, the force behind it sending the man skidding backward across the ground. Kaoru didn't give him time to recover. He lunged again, closing the distance in a heartbeat, until two shuriken sliced through the air toward him.
But they never reached.
Two thin plates of dark blue water materialized just long enough to catch both projectiles mid-flight. They fell harmlessly to the ground.
"YOU… Why are you attacking…"
The jonin's voice rose in outrage as he retreated, but he never finished.
A second Kaoru appeared behind him, burying the kunai in the back of the jonin.
"When… how?" The jonin gasped in disbelief. He staggered forward, the metal not deep enough to kill. His rib had caught most of the impact, but the pain was enough to scatter his thoughts.
He whipped around, his kunai sweeping through the air as he dispelled the clone with a snarl. He realized that his opponent was stronger than he expected.
Much, much stronger.
The original Kaoru was already at his side, Nagizume descending like a guillotine from above. The jonin raised both his arms in desperation, crossing his kunai into an X to block the blow. The metal screamed as it caught the glaive, but his arms did not hold. The injury to his back had weakened his left side, and the muscle tore with the effort. His defense collapsed.
Nagizume carved through his guard and cleaved straight through his right shoulder.
"FUCK!" the jonin screamed, stumbling back as blood poured in steady sheets from the ragged stump where his arm had been. His remaining hand clutched at the wound, his breathing ragged and uneven, half-gasp, half-snarl.
"Why the hell are you attacking Konoha shinobi, you bastard?! You want a war?!" he roared.
**
The Next Chapter on Saturday
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