Red Riot - Chapter 46 - Red Defeat

Matsu Uzumaki:- person of high interest to other Shinobi Villages. Jonin. Medical/Taijutsu/Ninjutsu/Sensory speciality. Chief Medical Officer of the Kiri Medical Program

Gengetsu Hozuki:- The second Mizukage and trickster Lord of Kirigakure. Master of Illusions and torment. Defeated Mu, the Second Tsuchikage in combat. Lost his left arm and left leg in the fight. Matsu healed him.

Fuguki Suikazan:- Leader of the Seven Swordsmen. Wielder of Samehada.

Kushimaru Kuriarare:- One of the Seven Swordsmen. Wielder of Nuibari.

Koremei Tendo:- one of the Seven Swordsmen. Matsu met her at the end of his first mission in the Land of Vegetables. Saved her life and let her make her play for Shibuki, the explosion sword.

______________

Reports from the other sites that Gengetsu had created painted a damning picture of the state of the world. ANBU from Konoha, Kumo, and Iwa had made appearances to raid the sites. Each facility had acted like a fortress, causing the interlopers to choke on the cost.

Sadly, with the cost divided between three great shinobi villages, I feared that they would… do the math on the body count, and consider it worthwhile.

I sat with my fingers laced, feeling like a hollow being.

Anger, shock, sadness, amusement, and understanding all had their place, but at the heart of it all, I only felt a void where emotion should have been.

Idly turning a page that listed the death toll from the three destroyed facilities had been the first shock.

During my past life, there had been a truism about the death on a scale. Ten people was a tragedy, but a million was a statistic.

Perhaps I should be thankful that wars on that scale weren’t yet possible for shinobi. Then again that probably had more to do with how we continued to throw ourselves into meat grinders of Shinobi wars, and missions to cast our rivals down.

“You done moping?” barked Fuguki. His own reports had been idly browsed through, only to be dismissed after a cursory examination. “Doesn’t do anyone any good if you’re not paying attention.”

“I’m aware of our surroundings, don’t you worry,” I replied. “I’m keeping up my bursts of sensory activation,” I lied.

We’d faced several incursions now, and for all of Gengetu’s warning of being attacked from oblique angles, it should have been true; in the face of my expanded sensory range, few had gotten more than a kilometre on us before we’d descended upon them.

With the destruction of three of six facilities, greater attention was expected any day now.

In Fuguki’s own words, we’d been too successful in repelling and dealing with the various enemy shinobi.

Konoha had only tried once more, but with the potential for them to have a long-range observer, it was highly likely that they knew about Fuguki, Kushimaru, and me being here.

Giving Fuguki my attention, I tapped on the report. “Rather cold of you. Two of the swordsmen were severely injured, and they almost lost their blades.”

“They should have died before even risking their blades being stolen,” snapped Fuguki instantly, a gleam entering his eyes.

I hummed, keeping in mind that when we finally got out of here to keep my ear to the ground for the thrashing/death of Kamoji Karatachi or Hidenari Hozuki. It would be quite useful to have them in my debt if the former occurred.

“Think we need to change anything about our current plan?” I asked.

“It’s as good as it can be,” Fuguki grunted. “When the other Villages commit properly, just fight well and live. That’s all there is to it,” he muttered. He reached into a pocket and drew out yet another fish jerky.

I’d come to learn that the man always had a snack on hand. Rare was the moment he wasn’t gnashing his teeth on something. If he wasn’t doing that, then he was ‘patrolling’ the area.

I spared a glance towards the other ‘notable’ individual who was supposed to have a say in the base’s defences.

Kushimaru was a veritable psychopath who enjoyed ‘stringing’ people up and along, literally when he fought and whenever he wasn’t fighting, he typically rested in a kneeling position. It reminded me of a monk. Sadly for us, the only thing he meditated on was the next kill.

He took no part in any tactical or strategic decisions, leaving that entirely for me and Fuguki to handle. 

Despite not being an active member, Fuguki still used his companion’s presence to justify plans.

It was a constant test of patience and daring whenever I had to discuss changes.

Fuguki was by far the most dangerous person within this base, and he knew it.

What made it worse for me was that I knew Fuguki was a traitor who would often sell information to rival Villages.

With me now a member of the advisory council, he had a vested interest in my death.

The same was also true for me.

Which was easier said than done right now. If I could survive this mission, I might be able to whisper a ‘suspicion’ of mine to Gengetsu and let him wipe the board clean.

Then again, knowing Gengetsu he might just raise my suspicion during a meeting and sit back to watch as Fuguki carved me up.

Regardless, any ‘plans’ we discussed saw several minor alterations that wouldn’t blow up in my face if they were discovered. 

They would however, offer a world of difference to how each situation played out.

“Guess I’ll do the rounds,” I muttered, deciding it was better to be active than to sit around with a psychopath and a sellout.

“Hmph, if you think it’s worth your time,” Fuguki grunted. He stroked Samehada’s handle only to smirk. “Oh, and that meditating shit you do with your chakra? Knock it off around us.” 

He gave his blade another loving stroke. “It makes Samehada remember better times and gets her bloodlust up,” he leered.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d have assumed he was speaking metaphorically. 

Having spent over two weeks in the base with him now, I’d come to understand that not much was known about Samehada itself. 

People assumed any movement they detected from the blade was an illusion, much like Gengetsu performed.

It was well known that the blade shaved its foes whenever someone tried to block strikes from it. They also knew that it had chakra-absorbing abilities, having seen Fuguki absorb ninjutsu that should have roasted him alive more than a few times now.

My inspection of the base had become something of a routine for me, with each level being checked for any faults, cracks, or chakra signatures that didn’t belong.

It was generally agreed that the next true strike against us would see the best of the best sent our way, and I was trying to stay as sharp as possible.

Which inversely meant I made sure to perform several health checks for all the shinobi ‘under my command’. 

People had been rather standoffish at first, but I’d slowly won them around through persistent effort.

That, and how I’d literally pulled a few of them from the brink of death during skirmishes until they were back on their feet. Something that had seen my ‘threat level’ increase in the eyes of the raiding parties.

More often than not, I was getting prioritised in any engagement, which had led me back to the issue of Fuguki being present in base and ‘patrolling’ between attacks.

Asshole must have been selling intel on me and what I was doing.

I’d come up with my own solution, but I made sure to keep it close to my chest. The way Fuguki watched me after every battle let me know that I’d defied his expectations in some manner. 

I doubted any other ‘advisors’ to Gengetsu had shared a mission quite like this. It certainly created a unique opportunity to eliminate a rival.

Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to worry about him taking a swing at me himself, not unless we were truly alone.

The stunt I’d pulled with the shadow clone on the first day had been specifically to keep him off foot. He might be able to break through Gengetsu’s illusions, but unless he knew for certain he was with my real body, he couldn’t act definitively. 

Which probably made it all the more important for him to catch me bleeding or something else like that.

Fucking Kiri man.

Why was it that so often I found myself hoping my allies died?

I was going to have to keep working on Kiri for a long while, cause right now, it felt like I was better off literally making my allies, than finding them from the current cohort of shinobi.

Or perhaps I was just getting jaded?

Pushing those thoughts to the side I approached the first shinobi on my list to perform check-ups on. “Shin! Any issues with the arm?” I asked.

The man straightened up at my approach. “Shit, chief, you need to walk louder, you gave me a heart attack!”

I put my hand on his arm and shook my head. “Actually, I can confirm I did no such thing. And to me it looks like there haven’t been any issues with your arm…” I gave him a pointed look. “You need some cream for that itch?” I asked.

He coughed and glanced away, suddenly shy and being caught out.

An explosive sigh escaped me. “Shin, seriously, she’s been with like half the men on base at this point. Infections like this are really getting out of hand,” I muttered as I handed him a frankly tiny tub of cream.

With my new target locked in I marched towards where several kunoichi had bunked down.

“Aika! Stop sleeping around!” I called, only to earn titters from the group as one winked at me.

A short stack of a woman with smoky eyes and a husky voice sauntered forward. “Sorry,” she teased, very much not repentant. “I was going to stop, but well… someone has to keep up morale Chief!” 

I rubbed my forehead, annoyed that in a way, she had a point. 

When I’d been assigned this mission, I hadn’t considered the implications of having a group of people high on emotion locked together for so long. It wasn’t like I could blame them. There wasn’t any guarantee they’d make it through the next day, resulting in them taking their joy where they could.

Drugs were something I wouldn’t condone as they led to mistakes and rational behaviour. Something no Kiri commander wanted.

The problem was that I needed so many more creams and treatments than I had on hand right now.

This was a learning process for me.

“Hand,” I grouched.

Aika, well used to the routine by now, gave her hand, and I sighed at what I discovered.

If this was what future deployments were like, I was going to have to find some more solutions. “Alright, let’s get things fixed up, but seriously, I’m running out of cream for this! Any more and you’re going to be itching like crazy!”

She just shrugged. “Eh, I’ll deal with it.”

Shaking my head, I could only groan in annoyance as she took one of the last batches of cream I had on me. Was it wrong that I was hoping we’d get another attack soon so I’d have to stop dealing with STD’s?

I was going to throw myself into some Yin Chakra meditation after this was done. It might be a small indulgence, but there was both a tactical element in spending time recalling items of entertainment or food from my past life.

Just had to hope it wouldn’t lead to more clones doing anything too weird.

I could only hope that we’d be gone from here soon enough. The men weren’t the only people going stir crazy.

_____________

Smoke billowed from the Hokage’s lips as he exhaled a particularly long stream.

Around the room, the various occupants watched on, silent at the subtle control he used to shape the smoke, having it perform loops and shapes.

Behind the Hokage, Danzo Shimura stood, watching with a single eye that scowled out at the world. Although today the scowl was directed at the kneeling ANBU.

Not that they minded. You couldn’t operate in ANBU without having nerves of steel.

A grumpy elder wasn’t enough to make them so much as twitch.

What made this mission review of more interest was how not only the ANBU commander, but also the Jonin Commander, Homura Mitakado, and Chief of the hospital, Koharu Utatane, were present.

“I have reviewed your reports and have deemed them a B rank secret; none are to speak of the objectives of this mission outside of this room,” intoned the Hokage. “That being said, we will be discussing them along with the mission and the implications going forward.”

As one the ANBU team nodded. 

The Hokage spread his hand in an open invitation. “You may begin your report,” he commanded.

___________________

Five days prior 

Sparrow slipped through the forest like a wraith.

Not so much as a twig, leaf, or drop of dew shifted at her passage. Just as it didn’t change for the movement of the rest of her squad.

Her squad… no.

It was Hound’s squad.

Of all ANBU within Konoha, they were the Elite. When the Hokage had incidents that needed handling, he turned to them.

And with good reason. It was an open secret who wore the Hound's mask.

Their captain was a certifiable S-rank shinobi without support, but with it he became a force to be reckoned with. Their entire team had been hand-selected to bolster and empower Captain Hound, allowing him to work at his best.

From that process, only six shinobi had been selected, which flew counter to the normal Konoha teams' assignments, but in ANBU, it didn’t matter.

All that mattered was if it worked.

The seven-man team was actually considered quite lucky. It was well known that the current Hokage had led Team Seven when he was a Jonin, and all of them were powerhouse shinobi.

Better yet, there hadn’t been any transfers or deaths in the year since the team had formed and begun missions.

A phantom twinge in Sparrow’s leg was ignored. She’d only mostly lost the leg, and they’d been able to wrap it up enough to get her back to Tsuande to heal it up properly.

It hadn’t stunted her ability to be a shinobi, so it didn’t count as a true ‘casualty’ statistic like some of the Nara liked to spout.

“Eyes ahead!” The words were but a whisper, but in a forest that hadn’t had anything but natural sound, it was as loud as a blade being drawn.

Sparrow set her gaze forward, accepting the rebuke for what it was from the squad’s second in command. Lizard was a bit of a tightly bound woman, but she was undeniably strong and worth listening to as she typically allowed the team to operate away from Hound when he needed to ‘go big’.

The wind shifted course, and Sparrow grimaced at the tang of blood that came with it.

The woods and mists had done much to hide the slaughter that had been taking place, but occasionally you could catch the scent from kilometres away.

Storming into the belly of the beast, it was all too clear how much the other Villages had opposed Kiri’s latest scheme.

Outwardly, they claimed it was a hospital, but intelligence hadn’t even blinked at the lie.

Kiri had created a research base away from their Village to test jutsu, experiments, and torture. They’d attempted to paint it as a noble purpose, but none of the other Villages were fooled.

People went into the sites that had been established, and never came out.

Through various sources, they’d been able to track down five of the bases so far, and each had cost dozens of Konoha lives to shut down as Kiri protected their assets. 

The intel Konoha had gathered was quickly shared around with Iwa and Kumo to help lighten the load, and they’d quickly responded. Suna had accepted the intel release but took no action.

That was a rather large warning sign that something was in the works between Kiri and Suna.

If not an alliance, then at least a non-aggression pact, which could sometimes be just as bad. Especially when both sides actually honoured the agreement. Sadly there weren’t many ways to make the two forces clash over objectives like other Villages would.

A plan would no doubt be drawn up to flare up tensions. Konoha could not allow alliances to settle among its rivals. If they did, they faced destruction.

Elder Danzo would handle it, Sparrow had no doubts. The man was wise like that.

Landing near a small entrance, Sparrow inspected the tunnel as two other masked shinobi landed next to her.

Lizard signalled. ‘No active response. Continue to control Chakra! Emphatic statement! Control! Your! Chakra!’

Sparrow would have rolled her eyes, but Lizard always knew when she did and, without fail, would flick a stone at her mask the instant she looked away. She had enough lumps on her head to know not to.

Instead, she and Falcon nodded seriously.

It had quickly been established that Matsu Uzumaki was present at this site, and his chakra sensory skills had been tested with subsequent raids through other Villages that Lizard and others had observed from long range.

The conclusion?

He was terrifyingly skilled as a sensor.

His presence, more than that of Kushimaru and Fuguki, two highly dangerous Swordsmen of the mist, had necessitated the mission be handed to Hound.

Near-perfect chakra control was required if you wanted to so much as close in with the base, let alone claim the initiative in the fight against a numerically superior force.

Most shinobi didn’t understand just how important initiative was in a fight until they were at least Chunin.

Genin more often thought it a simple affair with ‘strength’ being straightforward. 

But the truth was anything but. More often than not, powerful shinobi were taken out through quick attacks that opened them up. Seduction missions that ended with a senbon in the brain. A poison in the tea. Or even a strike from stealth that cut into one of the major organs or arteries.

The three-man cell hurtled down the tunnel.

According to the intel, there would be some hidden shinobi… there!

Falcon and Lizard’s fists plunged into the walls and stabbed into the guards who had been moments from raising an alarm.

With the two dying shinobi, Sparrow accelerated, pushing herself to her limits. In certain conditions, she was the best fighter, but where she truly excelled was speed.

As soon as those two died, there was every chance that Matsu would notice.

The less time he was given, the better.

Sparrow burst into a hall at a sprint, only to throw herself at the shortest figure. 

Red features turned, and his eyes widened in surprise as she hit him, her arms wrapping around his neck and beginning to twist.

It was a pity that the secondary objective had been deemed—

The Matsu in her arms exploded into a cloud of chakra smoke that tasted of nothing but obscured her vision slightly.

She dropped and rolled as kunai slashed through the point she’d been positioned.

Hmmm, he’d taken precautions.The intel was faulty, or something else was at play.

Not the desired outcome, but it created opportunities. The secondary objective might be feasible depending on how the coming fight played out.

“We’ve got—” shouted a Kiri nin, only for Lizard to appear behind him and slit his throat. 

Falcon announced himself with a fireball.

The Kiri nin he’d targeted flipped a small table to block some of it, while others scattered like roaches.

Sparrow flicked some kunai at the walls, the rolled-up tags on the handles barely visible. Those would be important later. With that done, she threw herself into the melee, luxuriating in the ability to close quarters and beat down on some Kiri nin.

Sadly, none of her foes appeared to be the vaunted Kaguya clansmen, as she was able to beat her way through any that closed with her. In one particular case, she backhanded one kunoichi only to take a kick that she jumped away from, using the boost to fly through the air and smash into one of Lizard’s foes.

Lizard launched forward, her palms slightly raised in a telltale style that promised death to anyone she closed with.

She wasn’t going to shut down tenketsu and play with her foes, however, but instead target their heart and lungs.

Her hands snapped towards her target only to miss.

Lizard, Sparrow and Falcon all blinked at that. She’d.. missed?

How? She had the Byaku—

A flash of red was the only warning Sparrow had, but she acted, flickering to Lizard and pulling her out of the way of a howling orb that swept past a dazed Lizard.

Sparrow locked eyes with yet another Matsu and found herself looking up at a boy who was growing into a man.

A young man who was already reorienting on them and twisting to reconnect with his Rasengan.

Lizard struck out with her foot, kicking what turned out to be a clone away from her. “Fucking hell! Something just slipped through my vision! I’m getting a ton of—” Whatever Lizard had been about to say was lost as two Matsu clones struck from the sides.

Sparrow and Lizard retreated, hands flashing out to dispose of the threats, only for the clones to somehow rise or drop to the ground, evading the blows.

Lizard stumbled once again and Sparrow wasn’t in a position to save her as she flickered away from danger herself.

A moment later, Lizard vanished in a spray of blood as Matsu slammed a Rasengan into her chest.

“She’s down!” screamed Falcon as he began to fight harder. A rage overtaking him as he began lashing the area around them with an arc of flame that stuck to any surface it touched.

“Is she retrievable?” Falcon roared as Kiri started countering his flames with water, only to discover that his flames were more like oil fires and the water just spread them around, something Falcon made great use of to seal off the hall they were in.

“Negative,” Sparrow replied, choking back a sob/growl that wanted to escape her.

Fucking hell, one moment they’d been chalking up numbers and then… “We need to keep moving, watch the floors and ceilings!” she warned, having spotted Matsu entering via small points that were left open in the structure.

Hiding like a Mole jutsu eh?

The now two-man team flickered to another hallway. Upon landing, Sparrow flexed her chakra and held up her hand in a seal. “Kai,” she intoned as the explosive seals she’d deployed throughout the fight erupted, washing the room in fire and shrapnel.

“For Lizard,” growled Falcon.

Flickers of moments showed people trying to react, and in another situation, Sparrow might have stayed to confirm the kills, but she and Falcon had to keep moving as the tunnel rocked underneath their feet.

They hit the next hall with an array of rooms that were supposed to be sleeping quarters for the stationed Kiri nin. Rather than enter each suite, they merely hurled a tag in, closed the door and moved on. 

In one instance, yet another Matsu clone attempted an ambush with a fireball right as Falcon opened a door.

It missed thankfully, and Falcon retaliated with a Firefly jutsu that sent a trio of orbs into the room.

“Temper, temper,” Sparrow remarked as the hallway rocked from the force of the jutsu going off.

“Fuck that kid. I say we scrap the secondary,” Falcon growled. 

“Captain will want it if we can make it happen. Don’t lose sight of the mission goals,” reminded Sparrow firmly.

Falcon didn’t reply beyond clenching his fists.

The next target was where the ‘supposed’ medbay was of this ‘hospital’. The pair entered the room, and Sparrow had to admit… it sort of looked like a hospital and not a mad researcher lab as they’d assumed.

Huh, the tests he must have been conducting must have been small-scale at this point, she mused as she began flicking kunai at the walls once more. 

According to the source, there should have been five or six wounded shinobi recovering from gut wounds that were more temperamental. 

False intel or something else? Sparrow wondered once again.

“You know… that poem I once heard makes a lot of sense now,” remarked a young voice.

Sparrow and Falcon reacted, launching a wave of kunai and a fireball down the room to where yet another Matsu was standing.

There was a shift, and to the right, another Matsu walked, like this was just a stroll for him and not a raid. He watched them out of the side of his eyes.

Sparrow flexed her chakra and destroyed the forming genjutsu he’d tried to slip in.

“But I being poor… have only my dreams…” Matsu intoned, circling them only for Falcon to destroy the clone with a hidden firefly orb.

It didn’t matter as a moment later, Matsu was behind them.

“I have spread my dreams under your feet…” 

“Fucking hell, this place was like a nightmare labyrinth with this kid coming out from every corner!” growled Falcon.

Sparrow twisted, kicking one of the nearby beds, sending it flying into the clone, only for them to skip out of the way.

The clone turned to face them. 

“Tread softly… for my dreams are fragile things…”

The clone shook its head. “Was the idea of Kiri gaining a hospital really that threatening to you all?” it asked, eyes searching them for some reaction. 

It looked… saddened, and for a moment Sparrow felt almost guilty for what she was doing. Then she flexed her chakra to spike any illusion that had gotten into her coils.

While Sparrow didn’t deign to reply, Falcon snarled. “Don’t lie, you little monster! We know you’re just using this as a cover!”

“Hmmm, I don’t think there is anything I could say that you might accept. I do, however, consider it the height of hypocrisy for Konoha to cast such aspersions.”

Falcon snorted. “Don’t try to compare yourself to us. We’re nothing like you!”

The clone shook its head. “Actually, we’re quite alik—”

The room rocked as seals set on the walls before their arrival lit up, revealing small explosive tags.

Both ANBU reacted, replacing themselves as a series of detonations chased them through the medbay.

When they got to an entrance, they took off at a sprint, using shunshin to carry them to the end of the hall and stay ahead of the detonations. 

When they met a fork in the passage, Sparrow was amazed to find one choice was already exploding, forcing them back to the surface.

She cursed under her breath, only to snap her hand out and grab Falcon before they could go too far.

“Illusion,” she growled, turning and throwing herself back into what looked and felt like flames, only for them to dissipate.

“Fucking how?!” snarled Falcon. “I cycled my chakra!” 

“Kid’s fucking good! Got mind games and genjutsu! But I noticed something! The medbay had been used recently! The Kiri nin had to have pulled their people out! Which means they’ve got some vulnerable ones!”

“Ahhhh, nice one, Sparrow!” purred Falcon as they hurtled down the tunnel.

When they entered the next open space, Sparrow found herself in a proper cavern with several shinobi being led away, supported by others as they limped on.

“Got them,” Sparrow muttered, preparing to fall upon the weakened Kiri contingent.

Then something streaked across the space between them in a burst of red.

Falcon vanished as the air boomed, and Sparrow found herself next to Matsu Uzumaki.

This time, there was no question that it was the kid himself. No clones this time.

Visible waves of chakra rolled off him, and the ground cratered from where he’d landed to deliver his blow into Falcon.

Then he turned, and a small part of Sparrow knew that unless she acted instantly, she was dead.

So she did the only thing she could.

She reached into her coils and ripped at two of the nodes, igniting her chakra coils and causing her gates to open as she grinned. It wasn’t pretty, or the normal way to do this, but it was something she could do.

Little shit thought he knew more about taijutsu than her?

She twisted just in time to catch the punch Matsu was attempting, and rather than being blown away as Falcon had been, she merely skidded a few inches before straightening.

“The gates eh? Impressive, a kid your age can activate them,” Sparrow remarked as she locked eyes with Matsu properly. The kid didn’t even blink in surprise. 

He moved, going on the attack.

Sparrow observed him clinically as he tightened up his fighting style. He was good, she had to admit. He had power behind his punches, and he feinted and made use of misdirection to lash out with punches, kicks and more that against a slower, or less experienced opponent, would have seen them broken in seconds.

She was neither.

Happy to trade blows for a few moments, she got into position to see Falcon starting to rise, only to click her tongue when she noticed clones slipping around her fight with Matsu.

Worse, some of the injured or sick Kiri nin were escaping.

She ignited the third gate.

This time, when they clashed, she countered with a kick and sent Matsu hurtling into a wall. 

“Yeah. You’re good with that. But, the thing is, it multiplies what’s there, kid,” Sparrow stated firmly.

Without turning, she spoke up. “You alive Falcon?”

“Arms are broken!” he called, limping forward.

“Bail out,” she ordered, her gaze locked on the dust cloud where Matsu had vanished.

It took a few moments to clear, but then Matsu was revealed, observing her carefully as one would a foe that had revealed itself to be able to threaten them.

Sparrow pulse thundered in her ears, and her chakra coursed through her body like liquid fire.

At some unseen stimulus, both of them moved.

He tore across the room, flicking jutsu and kunai to try and lock her down, only for her to respond with kunai after kunai and faster, more precise movements.

Clones attempted to assist or pursue Falcon, only for Sparrow to destroy them. 

When Matsu tried to capitalise on her shift in targets, she whirled and made to swat him out of the air.

Only for him to bend around the blow with chakra strings linking up with a clone that had been on the ceiling.

Huh, neat trick, she hadn’t seen them sneak up on her. She flexed her coils to break yet another genjutsu.

In his hand, an orb whirred to life that she knew spelt death if he connected with it.

She kicked off the ground and headbutted him, sending him skidding back.

It didn’t keep him down for long, though.

This kid… she’d taken down her teammates with a single hit empowered by the gates before.

She’d even once suckerpunched Hound, winning her a sparring match against him by opening all the way to the fourth gate!

He hadn’t fallen for it ever again, but still, a win against Hound was something she could celebrate.

But this kid had taken a hit, twice, and was still going.

Tough little bastard.

It suddenly became apparent why the mission was to either capture or eliminate him.

The more the pair exchanged attacks, the more things seemed to be tipping towards the latter.

Illusions and flickers of movement, that if she hadn’t fought in over a hundred battles prior to today, might have been enough to trap her.

The kid also displayed a breadth of elemental jutsu that was startlingly wide. Earth wall, Fireball, Water Bullet, and even wind-empowered slashes with nothing but kunai.

But most telling of all was the lack of Shadow clones hounding her.

There was no way he didn’t still have some lurking about. Hopefully, they hadn’t gone after Falcon.

Knowing that if she merely continued to exchange blows with him, he might get a lucky hit or trigger a trap, Sparrow instead enacted her own first.

Her fingers sparked up, and she swept them wide, pouring her empowered chakra into the jutsu.

Matsu flickered back, a wind jutsu slashing out to cut down any lightning threatening him.

It should have been the right call to put himself out of range, but Sparrow wasn’t part of Hound’s squad because she lacked for tricks.

Her lightning arced around, striking the various kunai that she’d been launching throughout the fight, upon a few extremely thin ninja wires were connected to them.

So often, shinobi looked down on tools like this. Sparrow had found a way to work them into her arsenal. No chakra trickery at play here, just good throws and misdirection, which made them perfect for sensor nin like Matsu.

With a flash and whiff of ozone, the trap she’d been setting up with each thrown kunai activated, causing bolts of lightning to arc around.

Matsu, hidden behind his Great Breakthrough, was caught by surprise, as from every angle, but the front lightning slammed into him.

“ARRRRRRRGH!” he roared as his body convulsed.

Sparrow channelled the lightning around herself to avoid any arcs hitting her before easing off the voltage. 

Matsu collapsed, smoking and twitching.

Instantly, clones that had been in hiding to strike or bail Matsu out poured from hidey holes in the ceiling and walls. 

She dispatched them with brutal efficiency. Their very presence announced that Matsu was still alive.

On the other side of the cavern, Kiri nin who’d been standing to watch their battle, twitched when it became clear she was going to win.

She stalked towards her target, her mind tossing up how she would fulfil the secondary objective. 

Dead or alive?

“Get away from him!” a few Kiri nin roared, throwing themselves back into the cavern to attempt to drive her away from Matsu’s twitching form.

Huh? Loyalty, from Kiri nin?

Admirable, if idiotic.

Sparrow didn’t even break stride to launch a lightning jutsu at the Kiri force.

She barked a laugh when two more Matsu clones flickered to the front of the cohort to launch yet another Great Breakthrough.

Alive eh?

“Ahhhh, that’s why they’re so loyal to you,” she muttered, reaching Matsu and nudging him with her boot.

Matsu glowered up at her, his body still convulsing from the earlier strike.

“Damn, you’re a resilient little bastard, aren’t you?”

Matsu’s arm reached towards her. “D-d-don’t,” he muttered in a fit, forcing the words out as his gaze twitched to the retreating Kiri nin. 

Hmmm, dedication like this made Sparrow want to roll her eyes.

Still… Damn. Kid would have been great if he’d been born in Konoha.

Shame.

She drew into her hand a kunai right as his hand fell upon an opening in her armour.

Skin touched skin.

And then darkness consumed her.

___________________

The instant my hand made contact with her skin, I flooded her body with the Coma jutsu.

Her eyes rolled up into her head behind the mask, and she hit the ground with a final, loud thump.

My body spasmed once more, and I had to use my chakra control to hold my hand against her ankle as a growl of pain escaped me.

I made sure to keep in contact with her… just in case.

That... had been bloody close.

My body hurt in ways that I hadn’t experienced before. The fight against Orochimaru, where I’d strained my coils to their limits, had been trying, but I hadn’t taken this many hits in a fight in… well, months now, and in spars, most of my opponents had pulled their blows slightly.

“Shit boss, are you alright?” shouted Aika as she knelt next to me.

“S-s-sure,” I stuttered back. “I’m -c-c-cooked like a f-f-fish b-but alright,” I forced out through my body’s raw nerves. Healing chakra had to be dredged up after using so many clones and jutsu, and then the freaking gates of all things.

“Bind her!” I ordered the instant I did. Then, upon thinking on it some more. “Also, break her legs and arms,” I ordered, not trusting that one of Konoha’s ANBU wouldn’t know how to escape any binding we performed.

My subordinates might have been a bit too eager to follow that second command, but I ignored the sounds that came with it as I sat up and sucked in air. “Any casualties?” I barked.

“One, bitch slipped a kunai past us and nailed Fujimaru,” grunted Aika. “Shame cause he had the best di—”

I raised a hand, not needing to know, because I already knew from dealing with her so much already. With that and the earlier groups… fuck. Konoha had carved through us.

“Sure, we shouldn’t just kill her?” asked Aika, and several people drew kunai.

I shook my head and turned my attention slightly off to the side and above us as the room shook. “Nah, she’s our bargaining chip,” I replied blandly.

Then, because I’m a masochist, I drew up my chakra and created a final clone.

My vision darkened for a moment and I felt my heart flutter for a moment, which, for a medically trained professional to use, wasn’t reassuring in the least.

The clone, knowing what I had planned, nodded, kneeling down to swipe some blood from me along with my water flask for a moment.

Then it pointed out three jonin to follow it, snatched up the ANBU kunoichi and set off.

With that done, I turned to Aika. “Carry me,” I ordered, without a lick of shame.

Things were well out of my control now, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make a few plays to come out ahead even as I retreated.

_____________

Hound, also known as Sakumo Hatake to most of his friends, batted the Samehada away from him.

No chakra on the blade.

He’d learnt that lesson early in their engagement. That bandaged blade just devoured any chakra that so much as came near it.

Which didn’t stop it from being caught up in ninja wire, chakra-created constructs, spraying sand with a wind jutsu, or even just upping the temperature of a space.

Sadly, genjutsu hadn’t worked at all.

And it seemed that Fuguki was no slouch when it came to fighting, as he was able to deal with many of the irritants hound used to stay in the fight.

“Ragh!” raged Kushimaru as he launched a blistering series of stabs, forming a wall that should have been impenetrable.

Sakumo batted the Nuibari away dismissively. The attempt to tangle him up with ninja wire that followed was also caught and flicked towards Fuguki, who tore through the wire rather than retreat. 

This fouled up Kushimaru’s attack and allowed Sakumo a moment.

He stabbed once with the white sabre, punching into Kushimaru’s flank and tearing through him, claiming a pound of flesh.

Kushimaru fell backwards, hand clasping at the wound.

“F-fuck you Fuguki!” rasped Kushimaru as he staggered.

Hound made as though to pursue, only for Fuguki to lazily sweep his blade around, forcing Hound to skip to the side.

As he retreated, he slipped a few explosive tags onto the wall.

These weren’t the kind you got in stores but the really good shit.

The limited stock that was made by Mito Uzumaki herself. A seal that was sadly no longer in production.

Thankfully, Fuguki couldn’t focus on the seals as the other members of Sakumo’s team launched attacks of their own.

Ah, good, they’d handled their own fights, Sakumo thought to himself.

Sakumo grinned, observing how the room had come down to just two enemy combatants and three Konoha nin.

Admittedly, there had been four a minute prior, but… well, if there was ever a mission to break their good luck, this was it.

“Ha! We got them now Hound!” growled Gorilla as he eyed their two foes.

Hound hummed from behind his mask.

“Never count your eggs before they hatch,” declared a young voice.

The team shifted slightly, adjusting as three more Kiri nin walked in, along with… shit.

“Fuck! They got Sparrow!” grunted Vulture.

“We can see that!” spat Gorilla.

Hound stepped forward, flicking his blade in a decisive, ‘silence’ command to his remaining men. If Sparrow was here, like this… then what had happened to Falcon and Lizard?

It would seem their luck truly had run out.

Fuguki and Kushimaru turned and observed their reinforcements. “Mehahaha! You caught one little Matsu?” Fuguki taunted. “Did you kill the others?”

Hound remained silent, rather interested in that answer himself.

Matsu shrugged, only to grimace a moment later and spit blood off to the side.

Hound’s eyes tracked the blood. If that was actual blood, and not a chakra construct, illusion, or trick, then Matsu himself was before Hound.

One of the objectives of this raid.

He couldn’t lie, seeing a kid that young… he wanted to capture him alive.

But it was kind of damning seeing him carry one of his teammates behind him.

Kid wasn’t going to get any more leeway going forward, not after this.

“Her life,” Matsu rasped into the near-silent room. “Her life for allowing us to withdraw. All of us.” His eyes locked with Hound.

That… Hound repressed the twitch in his hand. “How do we know she’s alive?”

“She’s alive!” snapped one of the Kiri nin that had followed Matsu in. “We just roughed her up a lot!”

That had the rest of his team bristling, but Hound raised a hand to forestall any arguing. ‘I accept,” he replied to Matsu.

“Sir! Sparrow knew the risks!” Gorilla shouted.

“Enough,” he stated. Without it being said, it stood that he was Captain, and this was his decision to make. He kept his gaze not on Matsu or his men, but Fuguki.

That man had been holding back a lot. If the fight continued… he might win, but there was going to be a much higher cost.

The mission’s primary objective was all but complete. Kiri wasn’t going to be able to operate out of this facility for a while. It was too compromised, and there were more explosive tags just waiting to go off.

There was also the question of any intel they’d gained being worth it for future situations.

“Still, what guarantee do we have that you won’t just pursue us?” he asked.

Fuguki’s teeth sharpened into a smirk, but he remained quiet, allowing Matsu to speak up once more, “This is my operation. It’s my call to make, just as any punishments from Lord Mizukage fall upon my shoulders,” he replied.

That got Fuguki to back off with a sigh. “Next time, Hatake, I’ll feed you face-first to my blade!” he claimed.

The blade shifted slightly, and Hound wondered if perhaps he wasn’t being metaphorical when he said that.

“We’ll have to see,” he replied, nodding to Matsu. “Send the girl over.”

“As I said, she was roughed up. She’s not going to be walking on her own accord. So. I’m going to leave her here, and we’re going to walk away. Then you’ll leave.” 

Matsu tilted his head, his eyes flicking to the walls. “Gives us all time to avoid any… explosions that might not have gone off yet.”

Hound chuckled. Well, the kid had considered most of the angles hadn’t he?

“Very well,” he replied, toying with the idea of throwing caution and Sparrow to the wind and committing to the fight still.

Years of training told him he should. His own experiences warned that if he didn’t end this boy here and now, he’d face a much harder fight.

And still, he let them depart with Sparrow left behind.

“Sir?” growled Gorilla, uncertainly. 

“Pick her up and let’s get out,” Hound ordered. “Just because we won’t be pursuing them doesn’t mean the other teams won’t…” he chuckled. “That is if they haven’t got their own teams of ANBU waiting in the wings.”

This was going to be fun explaining to the Hokage and his advisors.

________________

“—and that leads us to our retreat from the Land of Water where we had close encounters with two more swordsmen leading a group of ANBU and Hunter nin,” Hound stated.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took another puff of his pipe. “So the primary objective was achieved but the secondary failed?” he surmised for the room at large.

“Indeed,” Hound replied. To the side, Sparrow knelt, pride and tightly bound splints allowing her to move more than any good sense.

Hound suspected that whoever treated her in the hospital later would chain her to the bed. Heh, wouldn’t be the first time an ANBU had to be tied down to recover properly.

“I fail to consider this a success,” Danzo spat tersely. “Matsu Uzumaki was the greater threat than these… dummy hospitals they have been establishing. There is no doubt that Kirigakure will now focus all of their efforts internally.”

“As I said prior to tonight’s debrief, we will begin dripping information on the horrors Kiri is no doubt performing to the nobles,” grunted Homura. His hand flipped through the reports. “Which seem to be rather sparsely documented in your reports. Why is that?”

The ANBU team pointedly didn’t shift or make a noise, leaving it to Hound to cough. “We didn’t find anything like that.”

“Hmph, so he hid it or destroyed it before you arrived,” mused Homura.

Hound made a so-so gesture. “I don’t believe there was ever any experimentation happening at those sites. I believe the sites themselves were a trap to bleed Kiri’s rival Villages.”

The Jonin commander nodded. “This holds water,” he replied.

“He also surprised me by de-escalating the fight and allowing Sparrow to live… despite her severe injuries. He might be… a softer touch than we profiled him as?” he suggested carefully. Maybe he wouldn’t get a kill on sight order placed on him, Sakumo hoped.

Danzo snorted loudly. “This is the boy who is apprenticing under Gengetsu and may be a possible Mizukage of Kiri. Do not underestimate him! By your own shinobi’s reports he led ambushes, played mind games, tweaked illusions and even killed one of your own!”

“Interesting feat that,” Homura remarked, like he was commenting on the weather and not the death of one of the most promising Kunoichi in ANBU since Mito hung up the mask.

“Her name was Sayuki Hyuga; she was ANBU Lizard,” Hound stated mildly.

Danzo shot him a glower even as Hiruzen nodded. “Yes, and her loss will be felt throughout the village. She will have her name added to the memorial and that of the ANBU plinth. The success of the mission will also be paid out to her Clan.”

Sakumo carefully kept his own thoughts on paying the Hyuga even a cent off his face as the debrief turned to specifics that were noted.

They’d won this round, but to Hound the cost felt far too high.

It was cold comfort that for each shinobi they’d lost, they’d killed Kiri nin.

When the mission was over, and Sparrow was remanded to the medics, Hound took off his mask and became Sakumo, or as he was otherwise known—

“Dad! You’re home!” greeted Kakashi excitedly.

Sakumo beamed, feeling all the weight and blood wash off him at the sight of his cute son.

________________

“Hmmmmm, seems you got the shit kicked out of you,” Gengetsu remarked smugly. 

“We’d been fighting practically every hitsquad possible bar Suna, so I like to think we held out rather well,” I replied blandly from where I sat.

We’d gone through a brief verbal report upon arrival.

I’d recited the various encounters, along with my take on the final exchange between what had to have been Sakumo Hatake. 

Throughout it all, Gengetsu had lounged. 

Fuguki had smirked.

And Kushimaru had… well, he’d been seething since I’d met him, so nothing much had changed.

Only now it felt directed, not at me so much, but at Fuguki, and most of all Sakumo.

Even now, I could feel him lurking out of sight of the Mizukage’s front entrance; no doubt he had something important to say.

I couldn’t give a damn about him right now.

I had other eels to wrangle.

“Will they continue to push now that they’ve driven us out of those sites?” I asked.

“Perhaps. They’ve had their morale victory and driven us off, so that might be enough,” Gengetsu replied easily. “Why, worried they’ll shred through your little honeypot?” he teased.

“Somewhat, we’ve done good work there. The longer that site continues to operate…” I waved a hand, and Gengetsu hummed.

“Don’t place too much importance on one facility Matsu, not even the hospital that you’re going to be constructing here.”

“Careful, say things like that in public and people will really think that you’re actually nominating me for Mizukage and not just all hot wind,” I suggested, paraphrasing Fuguki.

“Hmmmmm,” Gengetsu didn’t reply, but his lounging somehow grew more indolent.

I gave him a flat look. “You’re actually doing that… so I can’t move too harshly against you? Or is this some attempt for me to stay my hand from killing you when I don’t need you?”

“Oh, it might just be,” Gengetsu replied easily. “Or something else even.”

“Such as mounting Clan pressure and attention on me and mine,” I sighed, rubbing my temples. “Fuck you.”

“Oh Matsu, you wound me,” he tittered. “Here I am taking time out of my day to teach the next generation, and that’s how you reply?” he tutted.

“I need you alive and offering me advice as much as I do a senbon in my skull,” I retorted.

He didn’t take offence but instead laced his fingers. “It’s an option I’ve been able to use Matsu. Take it as you may, but I’m not out of options despite your… current leverage on me.”

“Oh, I know that,” I replied. “Is there anything else you need?” I asked.

“Not for now,” he stated, lifting a report and idly perusing it.

“Good, cause I want you to know that Fuguki is a tra—”

“I know,” Gengetsu replied blandly. “I use him Matsu.” He didn’t even look up from his paperwork.

If I thought it would have done anything, I’d have snorted fire out of my nostrils. “Why did you attach him to me then?” I spat.

“So you learned a lesson,” Gengetsu remarked. “You know of him now, and will know to use him.” He tilted his head. “Like you did. I do not doubt that the ANBU team would have pulled off a marvelous strike on you if they’d had your precise location, but you accounted for him and them.”

Gengetsu sat up proudly behind the desk. “One does not bear the title of Mizukage by sitting easily Matsu.” Just to rub it in he wiggled in the chair and returned to lazing in it.

“Hmmm,” I grunted, standing and leaving him to his duties.

Once I was out and on my way back to my home, Kushimaru struck.

He tried to catch me by the throat and hold me against a wall.

I knocked him out and deflected the Nuibari before he could skewer me with it.

When he returned to consciousness, his blade was at his feet, and he was leaning against a wall while I sat on a ledge above him.

“What do you want?” I growled.

He glared up at me. “Fucker! I don’t owe you anything!” he spat, reaching for his blade and moving off.

When he continued to walk away, I blinked, realising that was literally all he’d wanted to say.

Unable to help myself, I snorted loudly. “Yeah, it figures you wouldn’t have liked a chance to fight another day. Face facts, Kushimaru, you were dead, and Fuguki was going to leave you out to dry.”

Kushimaru’s hand clenched around the handle of his blade. “You should be more careful. I am a wielder of one of the—”

“The Seven Swordsmen, I get it. But I’m Matsu Uzumaki, Jonin and Chief Medical Officer. I have lots of people gunning for me, so don’t expect a threat of keeping one eye open to do more than bore me.”

I hopped down from my ledge and strode right up to him. 

It was a ridiculous sight; the man towered over me, but I refused to be cowed. 

“Now here’s my threat. Sometime in the future, you’re going to be injured. We won’t know how or when, but in our line of work, it will happen. Then? I’m going to have you at my mercy. So, don’t try and threaten me or I’ll have you living the rest of your life as a husk, unable to move, eat, shit, piss, or so much as breathe without my say so!”

That made Kushimaru pause in raising his blade to stab me.

“Also, I’m not the one pissing in a bowl and asking you to drink it cause it’s soup. Take a look at who’s supporting you and who’s tripping you up. I want you at your best killing our enemies,” I growled.

For a long, drawn-out moment, neither of us moved, merely held our glares.

“Hmph, you talk big,” Kushimaru grunted, a shift in his tone suggesting he had accepted what I’d said.

“I walk big too. If you want to step up and trade pointers—” My gaze did not shift to the oversized needle in his grasp as I said this, well aware of the joke. “—then come to the Kaguya training grounds tomorrow. I don’t know about you, but I’m not taking the beating I got sitting down. Next time Konoha sends a hitsquad after me, I’m feeding them their teeth and then some!”

With my part said, I turned and marched away.

Kushimaru watched me go in silence. He didn’t stab me in the back, so that was a win in my book. 

Better, he turned up for a fight the next day.

Thankfully, the Kaguya were more than eager to trade ‘pointers’ with him when he beat me in close combat.

It was cold comfort that I could win if I landed a single Rasengan against him, but for growth's sake, I held back from using it.

The mission to drain the other nation’s desire to destroy our facilities had been a success with the last decoy site not being raided after our retreat.

For all that it was a victory, I wasn’t scoring it as anything more than a draw.

I still had a long way to go.

Thankfully, for the next few years, I was staying in Kiri with the occasional jaunt to Honey to finish out the hospital and various medical centres Kiri would need to be established.

With so much attention on me, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to slip away to meet Rei any time soon.

But that was alright. I was used to keeping my enemies close and giving my allies room.

In the meantime, I had bought me and mine more time to grow.

And for now, that was enough.  

_______________

A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support!

I really hope I made the fight enjoyable to read. Matsu is now able to face Elite Jonin. For the sake of data points this might be a B/A rank shinobi in a fight and walk away.

This time, he got lucky, but he’s going to learn from that.

Edited by Twmmy