Kudo quickly took out a kunai, swiftly spinning left; the kunai's reverse grip in his left arm collided with a large saber" Clank!" He launched himself backwards, looking at his foe, a tall man over 6 feet with stubble for a beard. He had a wiry frame with a large sabre over 3 feet.
"You dodged that? I was sure I had you." The man exclaimed, his eyes lighting up, "Well, no matter. I will kill you anyway." The man stomped heavily, rushing forward. Kudo's warring states armor burst forward, his footsteps gliding, and at the last fraction of a second, he stomped heavily, leaning back. "Swoosh." The saber flashed past his face. Kudo's leg shot up, missing the enemy's torso as the man deflected the leg kick. Drawing back his saber, a diagonal saber slash shot up but was met by another Kunai slash. The force forced the two apart, but Kudo's right arm shot out, flicking shuriken. "Clink-clang." The enemy deflected the shuriken.
Gripping the handle of the saber fiercely, his veins exploded as he rushed forward and slashed vertically down with all his might, his slash missing by fractions as Kudo dodged by millimeters. However, the enemy's blade abruptly changed into a rightward upward diagonal slash. However, it still met nothing as Kudo pivoted on his right leg, spinning left sharply, his kunai stabbing into the abdomen of the enemy. "Thuck!" Blood splattered onto them. "Arghh!" The man retreated, his left hand covering his wound.
Kudo flicked his hand, blood splattering onto the ground. Kudo lowered his center of gravity, his legs slightly parted like a squat but higher; his right arm drew another kunai. Rotating both kunai, he rushed in, his black eyes calmly focused on his opponent.
'Shit, this demon won't let me go, and I have no backup. Why didn't I just shut my mouth back then?' The man inwardly lamented, but his saber flashed, even though his left side burned with pain.
"Don't underestimate me, brat! I'm a Genin too!" The man screamed, pushing all his chakra into his arms as he let out dozens of frantic slashes. "Thuck!" But they did nothing as Kudo's kunai soon took his head, disbelief marred on the man's face.
"Useless," Kudo said, watching the corpse collapse. Making a series of hand seals, a clone flashed next to him and quickly went into the forest. The number of enemies in the ambush wasn't many because a lot of them were the guards of the caravan, but with Takao-sensei around, victory was certain.
A few minutes later, the battle collapsed as all enemies were slain; the guards around the merchant were the most pitiful, as they didn't even exchange blades with the Konoha jonin, only to find themselves dismembered.
Kudo advanced to the center of the caravan; he was Enya and Ai as he approached. They were both covered in blood, the smell of iron pungent. "You should clean up," Kudo said, averting his face. "Why you?!" Ai stepped forward but calmed down at Enya's hand on her shoulder. The two departed to clean up.
" Kudo, quit standing around and get rid of these corpses. Try to clean up any traces as well." Takao said to him, earning a look of scorn as Kudo quickly got to work.
30 minutes later, the caravan was back on the road heading to Tanzaku town. 'We should be able to arrive in about 2 hours. Safely, I hope.' Ryunosuke thought.
In Tanzaku town, in a gambling den,
"Lady Tsunade, it's time to leave! If you lose any more, we really won't have any money left for accommodation." Shizune cried out, holding a small pig in her folded arms.
"It's fine. I will win; you must trust in the process, Shizune." Tsunade said, only to lose a couple of seconds later. However, that didn't stop her as she went further gambling for the next 2 hours on a losing streak that left the gambling den owners giddy with excitement.
In Tanzaku town, the orange rays illuminated the sky, casting a fire glow of orange and red as people moved about, coming and going out of the town, creating a bustling scene.
At the gates of Tanzaku town,
"Man, I really can't stand these missions where we walk the entire journey. My legs are spent." Kudo complained, leaning against a tree while their sensei saw the merchant off. "I wanna go to a bathhouse," Ai said, her shoulders slumped. Escort missions were long and incredibly boring, causing many shinobi to shy away, as they had to constantly placate their client through the journey.
A couple of minutes later,
"So, where are we heading, Sensei? How long are we staying?" Enya asked, "We are going to an inn for now, and we will stay 3 days. Enjoy the scenery and relax for a bit." Takao said as they walked on the main road filled with gambling dens and restaurants.
Just outside a gambling den, two women were standing and in deep conversation. A couple of feet from the team, 5 stopped dead in its tracks. "Shit," Takao said, his eyes landing on the blonde figure and quickly turning to Kudo's blue armor. His words caught as Ai had already exploded towards the duo.
"Hey, you are her, aren't you? You are Lady Tsunade." Ai interrupted, and Tsunade turned her head upon hearing the voice, her patience already thin from the string of losses, about to snap at whoever dared to interrupt her wallowing.
Tsunade came face to face with Ai's smiling face, her black hair giving her a regal appearance, but the Sarutobi clan crest on her clothes made her pause a bit. "Who are you?"
"My name is Satutobi Ai, and I'm a shinobi of Konoha. We came here on a mission." Ai said, gazing at the rest of her team, drawing the gazes of Tsunade and Shizune onto the trio of one man and two boys.
"Lady Tsunad--" Ai was interrupted by a frown on Tsunade's face, her gaze bearing down on a boy in blue armor of the Warring States period, except the hair was wrong; instead of silver hair, it was black.
"Swossh!" The air was torn as Tsunade moved faster than a normal person could perceive.
On the side of the trio, "Boy, you should run." Shimira Takao said as he jumped away, and only then did the two sensors feel the mass of chakra barreling at them, but they were too late. A firm grasp landed on Kudo from a fine, pale hand, grasping him so firmly that he couldn't move. 'What's going on?!' Kudo thought in panic, "Who are you? Get your hand off me!" Kudo barked with thin courage.
"Lady Tsunade, please don't." Shimura Takao said from the sidelines. "You keep your mouth shut. If you weren't a shinobi of Konoha, I would kill you right now! As their sensei, you should know better!" "Boom!" Tsunade said, stomping her leg, creating a crater in the process. Civilians ran away screaming, especially after seeing the shinobi headbands.
"So, brat. How do you want to die? That armor is not something an inferior pest such as yourself should be wearing." Tsunade's hand drew Kudo's pale face closer to hers.
'Who are you to decide what I can and can't do?' That was what he wanted to say, but knowing who was before him, he swallowed those words. "They are meant to be surpassed," Kudo said through gritted teeth, resisting the urge to buckle under the immense pressure of her chakra.
"Surpassed? By whom, you? Don't insult the memory of my uncle, brat. If that snake can't do it, what makes you think that you can do it?" Tsunade barked, her chakra surging as they were nearly forced to their knees.
"Those of us who haven't given up can choose to do what we want. Not you or ANYONE, FOR THAT MATTER, CAN TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T BECOME." Kudo said, his voice straining as he channelled chakra into his body, resisting the crushing pressure.
"Look at how you can't even augment yourself properly, and you want to chase my uncle's shadow. Don't make me laugh." Tsunade grinned as her remark made Kudo clench his fist.
"This is how you augment yourself. Brat!" Tsunade said while she released him and shifted her stance, drawing power from her torso twisting; her back arm exploded with power, but her chakra didn't fluctuate one bit, unlike Kudo, whose augmented state gave him away.
"Lady Tsunade NOOO!" Takao roared, dashing towards them. 'Shit, I can't dodge this. I'm gonna die. Mom, I'm really sorry.' Kudo thought, his mind still with the thought of death, tears in his eyes. The unsettling realization that he was about to die and his mother would be left alone, even more sickly than after his dad died. That she would probably kill herself this time. "I CAN'T DIE!!!" Kudo roared; his chakra exploded as he channeled every bit of it onto his chest, his arms moving beyond reason as he braced for impact.
His eyes, unyielding, turned scarlet like blood, but pitch black was all he saw. "Boooom!!"