CH_6.31 (202)

CH_6.31 (202)

A strange permeating silence covered the pit; even with an ongoing invasion from one side and a defensive effort from the other, the silence hung over Gojiro Gold Mines. However, that strange silence made the sounds of steel clashing steel, explosions, words and shouts, footsteps in the mud, and everything else more audible.

As Takuma ran towards Kameko and Rikku to assist them, he took in the greater landscape to ensure he was aware of the battlefield. Only a few moments ago, the enemy forces were rushing towards them to kill—but now, as he watched the movements of his allies and the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Frost shinobi, both dressed in the latter’s colors, it was clear they were moving away.

He wondered why.

The sound of his heart in his ears was distracting. He stopped in his tracks, which only worsened it, but he observed with renewed focus. The enemy’s second wave of the enemy, which was larger than the last and was due on their heads and most likely would have posed a real, life-threatening pressure on them, was backing away.

Why?

He looked around for clues, but the sun was still not high enough to peer through the abyss that was the sunken pit. But then it hit in an instant. The enemy wasn’t running away, they were making space—clearing away—and his mind just barely arrived at the reason why he thought they were doing it. There was only one reason why a force would suddenly move away when they were on the cusp of putting on real pressure.

They didn’t want their people to get caught in something.

“A fucking AOE attack,” Takuma muttered.

The enemy was going to bomb them—which was when he saw the flickering light of a fire in the distance.

Takuma stopped caring what it was and sprinted as hard as he could towards his team while flying through hand seals.

“Everyone, to me! Attack incoming! Quickly!”

By the time he reached them, there was a rain of fire descending on them from the sky.

Kameko, Rikku, and Anko all moved, but they did it after spending a moment staring at the blinding rain. That wasn’t quick enough, so Takuma followed his instincts. The eight tentacles combined into three, and the thicker appendages shot toward his teammates and leader. They wrapped around the three and forcibly pulled them towards him.

“What the fuck?” Anko yelled at Takuma—but she released the Summoning Jutsu at the same time, showing that she understood the situation.

Her snake disappeared into a puff of smoke.

Takuma slammed his palms onto the ground, pouring excessive amounts of chakra into the jutsu and letting the chakra seep deep below them. The muddy soil made for poor structural material, so he put in more chakra. He wanted to make it stronger so he poured in more.

The situation brought up a past fright which only made him pour in even more chakra.

The last time he had been in a similar situation was also against the Hidden Frost mission, and an enemy chunin had released a Lightning Release jutsu that covered an entire area. That single jutsu had ripped away his defensive jutsu, and he barely came out of the attack, avoiding getting hit. And he could instinctually feel that the Fire Release jutsu was much more dangerous than what he had faced all those years ago.

Earth-Style: Earthen Dome Jutsu

The mud rose around Takuma and the other three, quickly forming a dome around them. It solidified, hardening into a solid structure with chakra coursing through the soil to increase its defensive power.

The moment the dome formed, Takuma felt something slam into it. A cloud of fire made direct contact with the dome and then it exploded.

“Brace yourself in case it tears through,” Takuma said through gritted teeth.

Outside the dome, he heard the fire hit a large area in front of the dormitory where the majority of the Evacuation Unit was standing. The clouds of fire exploded when they met the ground, creating a sea of flames.

Almost immediately, the intense fire burned through the dome. Intense heat burst into the already smoldering crevice they had packed themselves into, causing everyone to gasp. Takuma huffed as he shoved the tentacle mass against the gap. The water began turning into steam, creating a hissing noise, but was enough to close the gap.

“It won’t hold,” Takuma warned.

Before the dome crumbled, he retracted the tentacles that burst so everyone was doused in water.

“Jump!” Rikku yelled.

When the dome crumbled, everyone jumped high up in the air before the fire could stick to them. While in the air, Takuma weaved hand seals as quickly as he could, almost making the wrong seal while doing so.

Water Release: Wild Water Wave

The people who were moving toward her stopped in the face of her overwhelming strength and turned cautious.

Takuma, while weaving hand seals, landed on the ground with his back to Rikku.

Genjutsu: Mist Servant Jutsu

He didn’t have the preparation time to spread the genjutsu to everyone in his vicinity, but it was enough that it latched onto enough people.

The targeted folk started seeing multiple Takumas writhing out of the ground like a zombie horde. With only a few trapped, it would not be long before the unaffected ones broke the genjutsu on their comrades—but it was enough time to do damage

Takuma weaved hand seals and dipped into the ground using Earth Style: Hiding In the Rock Jutsu

One of the enemies released a jolt of lightning towards a group of genjutsu apparitions of Takuma but hit her own allies instead. The jolt jumped twice and crawled over their downed bodies tohit three people who weren’t expecting their own ally to turn on them.

It was as Anko had said—the people on the same side were just as dangerous as the enemy.

Takuma emerged just a little while away from his circle of genjutsu and immediately headed back inside to take advantage of the chaos. He immediately stopped and jumped back. All of his senses barked like a guard dog seeing a trespasser. A short blade made of pure lightning impaled the patch of ground he would’ve landed on if he hadn’t stopped. It crackled and burnt the earth, turning it black with embers.

His eyes darted around to find the source, but it was difficult to find the attacker in the chaos of the battlefield. He pulled up his guard and switched to defense—someone had very deliberately targeted him.

“I’m right here if you’re looking for me.”

The voice whispered from behind him. It was so close that Takuma could all but feel the breath on his ear.

Takuma turned back and swung with an augmented fist without looking. A man with a fake, thin-lipped smile that didn’t reach his eyes caught Takuma's augmented punch like it was nothing. Takuma pulled his arm back and launched another augmented punch from his free arm. Before it could make contact, the world slammed to a sudden, jarring stop. He felt the taste of iron in his mouth, and pain shorted the thoughts out of his mind.

The enemy had hit him before his punch could reach.

He couldn’t even react when a second attack—a palm strike—hit him flush in his chest. He felt his ribcage bend as though his bones were elastic—a fracture or two were the least of his problems.

This wasn’t someone he was supposed to fight.

This wasn’t someone he could fight.

Takuma fell to the ground and coughed out blood-stained vomit. He couldn’t breathe and for a horror-filled moment his lungs refused to expand. With the sharp pain, and lack of air, he felt like a fish dying out of water.

The dark-skinned, light-haired enemy, wearing just a tank top, yanked Takuma to his feet by the hair.

“You must be one of those geniuses,” said the man in a plastic-sounding merry tone. “So young and so deadly—caught my attention right away. How about you play with the grown-ups?”

“...L-Let me g-go,” Takuma said.

“Pardon me, I didn’t catch that.”

The man pulled Takuma closer and turned his ear towards Takuma’s face. It was a mistake as Takuma immediately bit it as hard as he could. Surprised, he punched Takuma in the chest once again. He choked up more blood and bile as the man let Takuma go in surprise before kicking him away furiously.

“You fucker,” he cursed, the fake voice vanishing for a moment before it returned. “No worries about the ear. I’ll get it checked out once this is done and capital punishment will teach you not to do that again.”

The man stepped forward. A low crinkle led his gaze down at his abdomen—four explosive tags lined his tank top and cargo pants.

“Fuck—”

BOOM!

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