Chapter 29: [29] Guarding The Outpost (1)
Chapter 29: Guarding The Outpost (1)
—--
"I have been sent to tell you all a message," a man said, standing in front of the trio.
They all had raised eyebrows, curious for what's to come next. It had been a week already and they had been doing nothing but fighting for their lives. The lifestyle got repetitive real quick, and Arise and Tsume realised how war really was.
Both of them got a taste of reality. War was not what it seemed.
"You've all got a mission to guard the outpost for a month."
In succession, they all nodded. Finally, a mission, something new to do.
Since their mentor hadn't been here, they were left on their own. Arise and Tsume didn't know where Orochimaru was but because he watched the series, Akio knew that he was currently fighting near rain village borders. This was the time he'd gain the title of Sannin, and he'd be a student of one… that was an advantage.
—-
The past couple of days went by and there wasn't really anything special happening. It was simply a boring job. They were guarding nothing… it was rare to see anyone slip through. For some reason, even though it was strange, they wanted someone to come.
Their coming days consisted of looking at nothing, standing for hours on end. Then the best part — going back to camp. Resting in the tent was the best part.
Well, for Arise and Tsume it felt like this. Although, for Akio, it was the best thing that had happened to him. He has a free environment which is calm — perfect for him to train.
Unlike those two, he merely did his Katas and daily routine which he did back home. The perfect life in his opinion. He couldn't ask for more.
However, things only last for so long…
-Woof!
-Woof!
"What is it, boy?" Tsume asked, crouching down at her barking ninken.
To her question, Kuromaru whimpered in a specific direction — barking another time after that. All of them frowned, on guard as this is the first time this has happened. They realised this was no false alarm.
Akio, who had just worked up a sweat doing Katas on a tree, wiped his forehead of the sweat and spoke.
"Hurry, we need to get going before something happens."
Both of them nodded to his urgency, understanding how dire this was.
"Finally!" Arise exclaimed. "Something after so long. I was going to die of boredom."
Akio rolled his eyes at this as they sprinted from tree to tree. Their steps were much quicker, picking up momentum.
Gaining pace and reaching further, Tsume continuously sniffed as her head turned toward a direction.
"I've caught the scent. There are at least a bunch of them," she said.
"When we go further, I'll know exactly how many. Until then we'll think of a plan."
The trio nodded. This was the moment of truth. Their nerves stirred up… still this couldn't compare to the battlefield. So they were mostly calm.
After a few minutes, Tsume again spoke up.
"There are three people. Exactly three but first we need to scout out what they are doing."
Everyone nodded, agreeing with her.
A certain amount of time passed… they travelled through the trees, now approaching a barren land.
As they approached, all of them could vividly hear speech. With their senses on full alert, they still couldn't discern what they were saying.
Akio nodded at them before turning in a direction and leaping on a nearby branch. The others went separate ways, looking down at them from a different angles.
"We need to be careful guys," one of them spoke.
"Hehe," another one snickered. "Have you not heard, this part is the weakest of all. We're chunin. What are mere genin going to do to us?"
This arrogant voice was a teenager. Actually, they all were.
"Quite down 003," the one who looked the tallest spoke. He looked like their leader.
The one who was cautious, nodded, "Listen to 001."
"Okay, okay." He sighed and gave up. "Forget the chitter chatter, let's get g-"
Suddenly, the leader of the group stared at the both of them deeply… all of them at the same time gave the same look to each other whilst on guard.
As this happened, barking came to their left side, making them turn their heads… an attack.
Whilst they were focused on this, another person… quick as lightning came from behind. He held a kunai ready to slice at the cautious one's neck. This guy was cautious for a reason as he just stepped back whilst the others did the same.
This wasn't the last person, as a dull-looking person with black hair dashed over. He was quick. The tip of his kunai reached one of them, and it just about scraped him. Luckily, he backed away with a flicker, maintaining distance.
The other two had clashed with Tsume and Arise whilst the leader was having it with Akio.
[Water Release: Water Bullet]
The leader made a few hand seals, shooting a few water bullets toward Akio. Who simply did a jutsu off his own, although pouring much more chakra into it to alleviate the weakness. The Jutsu clashed, raining over a spray of dirt and water.
However, the pair didn't pay any heed as they just dashed toward each other, clashing head-on.
Kunai struck against kunai, kicks intertwined with kicks and the constant back and forth only brought more tension into the field.
If only good things last for so long…
"Ah!" The leader clutched his neck, his face scrunched as he kneeled down to the ground.
Akio stood a few metres away. The blistering scream rang in his ears which also alerted everyone. But all of them were still fighting each other.
All of sudden, the leader who was previously withering in pain stood up. He looked straight at Akio with a smirk.
"Nice poison. It was really painful," he said, playing with kunai in hand.
Akio lifted a brow. The opponent had taken a special sort of antidote beforehand. Still, this didn't inwardly faze him as he carried on his onslaught, flickering toward him.
Their leader also grunted, seemingly unhappy with the way things were going. His eyes squinted, ready to get in a stance. He gave a sigh at Akio, who was coming toward him.
Another time did they clash, however, it was much clearer to see who was getting pushed back.
"Ugh," the opponent grunted. His kunai getting pressed back by Akio.
Even with his scrunched face, seemingly trying his best… there was a certain glint in his eye. This glint looked straight at his legs.
In a quick movement, he went into his pocket and took out a kunai. To which he then glided it across the air, heading straight for Akio's leg.
This speed was much too slow for Akio. His opponent was also in a weakened state, which will wear off in a minute or so – he was trying to take full advantage of this.
With a swift motion, he gripped the leader's hand whilst still having a hold of the other. Now both their hands were tied, putting a strange smirk on the opponent's face.
Akio quickly tried to get in a dominant position again, alas he was too slow. His opponent had kneed him in his manhood, causing a heavy wince at the curdling in his stomach. Another sudden jolt of pain came to him, getting struck by his kunai, causing a slight cut on his arm.
This disoriented Akio, giving his opponent a chance to attack. Trying his best, he steeled himself and forgot the pain. Now, his only goal was to dodge this guy's incoming attack.
Sidestepping and manoeuvring with slight ease, he evaded all the attacks. The opponent was still in a weakened state after all.
"Tch!"
He kept swinging and swinging but to no avail did anything work. Akio's pain was now at the back of his mind so he decided to gain his front foot again.
"Sh*t... I need to quickly end this," he thought. Akio was wholeheartedly set on killing this guy before he gains his full strength back. He could feel it slowly coming back as it was dragged on.
Without any hesitation, Akio poured all his chakra into this flicker, using it as effectively as he could — and headed at his fastest speed toward the opponent.
He flinched at Akio's speed; he realised that he was trying to end it now.
Whilst dashing, Akio went into his pockets and threw an array of shuriken. He even did his clone jutsu, trying his best to throw the opponent off. Everything mattered at this moment — he had to kill him.
The leader had a ghastly look on his face, slowly he felt as though he was being trapped. All he had to do was wait for the time until his state returned back to normal… he couldn't even do that.
Whilst all these thoughts flashed through his mind, what he didn't realise was that in that instant… a kunai had been pierced through his skull…
"You shouldn't think too much," Akio muttered. He savagely pulled the kunai out of his head.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone