A few days had passed since the finals of the Chunin Exams.
Inside the Iwagakure hospital, the atmosphere was quiet. Ryuma was still strictly confined to his hospital bed. His shattered ribs and fractured collarbone were slowly healing under the constant care of the medical ninjas, but his frustration at being bedridden was obvious to everyone. He spent his days staring at the ceiling and occasionally complaining about not being able to train.
Since they had to stay in the village until Ryuma could walk, Kazuki and Yuki decided they couldn't afford to just sit around. They found an empty, secluded training ground near the edge of the village and started training.
Clang!
The sharp sound of metal clashing against metal rang out across the rocky training field.
Kazuki swung his Senju-crested sword downward, aiming for Yuki's shoulder. Yuki parried the strike with a kunai, using Kazuki's momentum to slide past him and deliver a swift kick toward his ribs.
Kazuki ducked under the kick and jumped backward, creating some distance between them.
He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "You're getting better, Yuki."
Yuki smirked, twirling the kunai around her finger. "You've not gotten much stronger since chinin exams other than getting better at using your sharingan, Kazuki. I might surpass you if this keeps going."
"Yeah, then you would have to do better than this," Kazuki said, sheathing his sword. "I think that's enough for today, how about we go and eat someth-."
Suddenly, Kazuki stopped talking. His eyes widened, and he completely froze in place.
His passive sensory ability had just picked up something massive. He immediately closed his eyes and focused all his attention inward, fully activating his 'Mind's Eye of the Kagura.'
He thought, 'This chakra... it's enormous. It feels violent, chaotic, and I know this signature. There is no doubt it's Akira.'
"Kazuki? What is it?" Yuki asked, noticing his sudden shift in demeanor. She immediately dropped her playful stance and went on high alert.
"It's Akira," Kazuki said, opening his eyes. His expression was dead serious. "He's outside the village walls, about two kilometers east in a rocky canyon. But that's not all. He's surrounded. There are over a dozen cold, chakra signatures enclosing him in a tight circle."
Yuki's eyes widened. "Akira? But why would Kumo ANBU surround their own shinobi?"
"They aren't Kumo," Kazuki said, his voice dropping low. "My guess is that it's Iwa ANBU, that old Tsuchikage is up to something."
Yuki said. "What do we do? It's not our village, and it's not our problem, What do you suggest we do?"
Kazuki thought, 'This might be a good chance to win his favor, I need powerful allies like him in the future and he could even help a lot against Akatsuki when the time comes.'
"We're going but let's not get involved before assessing the situation." Kazuki said firmly.
Yuki nodded. "Let's move."
Both of them used body flicker.
It took them only a few minutes to reach the coordinates Kazuki had pinpointed. They crouched silently on a high cliff overlooking a deep, jagged canyon.
Don't go any further or they might sense us.
The sight below them was gruesome.
Eight adult Kumogakure shinobi, the guards assigned to protect Akira, were lying dead on the rocky ground. Their bodies were riddled with shuriken and deep sword wounds. His other two teammates were also dead.
In the center of the carnage stood Akira. He was panting heavily, clutching a deep gash on his left arm. The Lightning Armor around his body was flickering weakly, struggling to stay active due to his internal injuries from the tournament.
Surrounding him in a perfect circle were twelve Iwa ANBU. They all wore identical featureless stone masks and dark cloaks, holding drawn swords that gleamed in the sunlight.
"Give it up, demon," the captain of the Iwa ANBU said coldly. "Your guards are dead. Your chakra is depleted."
Akira said, hateful glare in his eyes. "I'll take all of you to hell with me!"
Up on the cliff, Kazuki whispered, "Yuki, you stay here, I have a plan"
Yuki grabbed his hand and said, "Wait, I'm going too. You don't have to do everything alone."
"I'm not fighting them. I have a plan, don't worry," Kazuki said and made some shadow clones, which transformed into Kumo ANBU.
The clones jumped down and surrounded Akira to protect him.
The Iwa ANBU leader said, "Reinforcements? But how? I thought they only brought eight guards."
"Don't back off, we can still win." He said, while Akira was confused.
Kazuki suppressed his chakra until he was very close to Akira and then used 'Hiding like a Mole Technique' to go underground and towards Akira.
One of the ANBU pointed towards Akira's feet and said, "Hey, I sense a different chakra signature below his feet."
Akira was suddenly pulled underground by a pair of hands. Iwa ANBU tried to chase him, but Kazuki's shadow clones blocked their way. One of them said, "You'll have to fight us first."
The ANBU leader clicked his tongue, "Tsk, these Kumo bastards."
The sensor in the Kumo team said with wide eyes, "Wait, why do all of them have the same chakra signatures? Don't tell me."
The leader said, "Damn it, they tricked us, but we can still catch them. Let's defeat these clones quickly."
Meanwhile, Kazuki came out of the ground near Yuki. Akira was on his back.
Yuki cheerfully said, "Wow, that was smart, you tricked an entire ANBU squad."
"It was a gamble." Kazuki said, "I would have been in trouble if they had noticed the clones, but I still had a backup plan."
Akira finally spoke up, "Why would you save me?"
"Let's go inside the village first before they catch up with us." Kazuki replied.
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