Chapter 22: Serious injury.
Some time before...
Team 11 was advancing by leaping between the trees, rapidly approaching the mission location.
"Damn, we've been looking for that wild beast for hours, and nothing," Ryuji complained.
"Don't even get me started; I already have a headache," Hikari said while massaging her head.
"You guys are too relaxed," Kaito spoke as he looked around attentively.
At that moment, he spotted some movements in the distance and signaled to his friends, who nodded.
Kaito and his friends soon realized that it wasn't a wild beast they had encountered but other ninjas. They surrounded the ninjas who were in conversation with each other. They appeared rather weak, as they hadn't yet sensed the presence of Team 11, and they were easily overtaken.
Kaito gave the order, and the attack to capture these ninjas began.
Returning to the current moment...
"I'm going to check their memories now," Hikari said while using her jutsu.
At that moment, Hikari started to see various memories of the ninja, from the time he accidentally became a "ninja" after helping a wounded ninja when he was a child. The memories continued, and now he was receiving orders from another person. Not only they, but other teams of ninjas were also receiving the same orders, and they were considered the weakest team.
At that moment, Hikari couldn't see anything more and canceled her ninjutsu. She looked at Kaito and Ryuji and began to share the information she had received.
Kaito and Ryuji became serious. They had defeated the weakest team, which meant that the battles to come would be much tougher. Furthermore, the orders those ninja teams had received were to gather information from all ninja villages, and several teams had been sent by different villages.
"We need to inform the Hokage to send more ninjas," Hikari said.
"Yes, let's do it," Kaito agreed, while carrying one of the unconscious ninjas, and Ryuji easily carried the other two ninjas.
Soon, Team 11 left that location.
At that moment, another ninja team appeared.
"There was a fight here, and they went in that direction, the same direction as Team Cerberus," one of the ninjas said, briefly sniffing the ground and instantly acquiring all the details of what had happened and where they had gone.
"They won't escape, so let's surround them," another ninja wearing a black hood said.
"If they don't change their direction, we'll only see their corpses. Those guys are crazy," the last one, a female ninja, said.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The three ninjas headed in the same direction as Team 11.
In another part of the forest, ahead of Team 11's position...
Three individuals were seated beside numerous lifeless bodies.
"Hahaha, they were so weak. I only tortured them a bit, and their minds have already broken," one of them grinned manically.
"Of course, they're just regular people. If we had captured other ninjas, we could have tortured them for much longer," another one smiled while licking a kunai stained with blood.
The last person was silently listening to the conversation, and a smile began to form on their face as they turned to look in a direction within the forest.
"Hahaha, we have company, and they're ninjas."
"Haha, excellent. We'll have plenty of fun now," replied the one holding the bloodied kunai.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The three vanished.
At that moment, Kaito and his team were swiftly advancing through the forest, being extremely cautious of any potential dangers.
Just then, three individuals suddenly appeared in front of them, leaving them with almost no time to react. One of the enemies promptly kicked Ryuji, who was airborne and struggled to raise his arm in a defensive posture, as he was carrying two individuals with him, which hindered his movements.
The kick sent Ryuji flying, causing him to release the two individuals he was carrying and crash into a tree.
Simultaneously, another individual punched Hikari, who managed to block the attack but was also airborne and had no support to maintain her position. She was also sent flying, although it was evident that this assailant's physical strength was weaker than the one fighting Ryuji.
Finally, one of the assailants attacked Kaito with a kunai in hand. Kaito defended himself with his katana with relative ease, taking the assailant by surprise.
"Haha, good boy. You even seem strong. I'm going to have so much fun breaking your mind," the ninja attacking Kaito said, putting more force into his kunai. This ninja was dressed in a loose, all-black robe.
"Hou hou, let's see if you can," Kaito retorted and also exerted more force, but they reached a stalemate. The ninja smiled at Kaito. At that moment, a blade the size of his arm emerged from his robe, and he swiftly attacked Kaito with it.
Kaito had certainly seen that blade before, so he leaped away from the tree he was on, successfully avoiding the strike. He then swung his katana after forming a hand seal, releasing a large blade of wind towards the ninja.
Upon seeing this, the ninja countered with his blade, successfully defending against most of the attack but sustaining some minor cuts on his arm. He simply smiled at Kaito.
"Great, great, that's what I was hoping for!" the ninja in the black robe shouted.
This took Kaito by surprise. It was the first time he had seen someone take a hit and smile like that, although he had witnessed such scenes numerous times in the anime he watched in his previous life. However, now it was a reality.
The ninja then disappeared from his position, leaving Kaito startled and on high alert. He felt a gust of wind on his back and quickly used his katana to defend.
"Great reflexes," the ninja said, vanishing again and attacking from a different angle, which Kaito managed to defend against once more. However, the enemy's speed seemed to increase. Just as the enemy disappeared again to attack, Kaito began to form some hand seals. The enemy reappeared just as Kaito completed his final seal.
"Water Barrier!" After Kaito spoke, a large dome of water formed around him, causing the enemy to collide directly with the water.
"Water Barrier," Kaito spoke, creating a large dome of water that surrounded him, causing the enemy to crash into it.
Kaito smiled and said as he attacked, "There you are."
The ninja in the black robe couldn't defend, and Kaito struck him with his katana, delivering a deep gash to the enemy's shoulder. Despite the injury, the enemy continued to smile. Kaito attempted to finish his opponent quickly, but at that moment, he felt his feet sinking into the ground until only his head was above water.
The ninja looked at Kaito and provocatively said, "You thought you had me, but it's me who has you now. It's the end for you, kid."
The ninja attacked with his blade towards Kaito's head, who was now defenseless and unable to protect himself. If no one came to his aid, he would surely meet his demise.
The blade closed in continuously, and Ryuji and Hikari, who occasionally observed Kaito's battle, were startled, giving their opponents an opportunity to catch them off guard. Ryuji took a kick to the face, leaving him disoriented, while Hikari was immobilized by her enemy.
"Damn, we need to help Kaito, or he's going to die," was all that occupied Ryuji and Hikari's thoughts.
But right before their eyes, they saw the water dome freeze.
As the blade came dangerously close to Kaito, he used his ice powers to freeze the water dome, causing the enemy to be distracted for a moment, but it didn't prevent him from completing his strike.
At that moment, Kaito spoke.
"Ice Dome, Ice Spike Jutsu."
Numerous ice spikes were shot from the dome; there were so many that the enemy had nowhere to evade. The ninja was pierced hundreds of times by the ice spikes, resembling a large ice porcupine. He still stood with a glazed look in his eyes, and his smile didn't waver. His body, however, seemed to falter, remaining upright only because the spikes touching the ground kept him from falling.
Kaito formed an ice hand that pulled the enemy out of the ground.
"This was a close one," Kaito muttered as he turned to look at his friends. He wanted to assist them, but at that moment, he felt something pierce his body.
He coughed up blood as his vision blurred. Looking down, he saw a blade emerging near his stomach. Slowly turning around, he saw the man who had appeared to be on the brink of death earlier, now with his head raised and the same smile on his face.
"You'll die for not ensuring your enemy is truly dead before turning your back," he said slowly, making a move to draw his sword.
Everyone was shocked by this turn of events, including Haruki, who had been hiding to observe but was now trembling with anger and fear for his son. He hadn't expected the situation to take such a turn. Despite his incredible speed, he wouldn't reach them in time to cut through the ice dome.
It was at that moment a smile appeared on Kaito's face. Despite his blood loss, he managed to use his power over ice to explode and shatter all the ice spikes embedded in the ninja.
"And you should talk less," Kaito concluded his sentence while still coughing up blood. By this time, the enemy's blade had already been removed from his chest, and he used his ice powers to temporarily seal his wounds.
Kaito then exerted himself and didn't melt the ice dome but attacked the enemy who was fighting Ryuji. He shot hundreds of ice spikes, forcing the enemy to continue evading.
Seizing the opportunity, Ryuji attacked his opponent ferociously, landing many blows, and finally managing to defeat him.
As Kaito prepared to assist Hikari, he felt all his strength slipping away, causing him to kneel.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone