[Dungeon] Chapter 68 – Annoying Rule

"Watch out!" Gaara yelled, sending a wave of sand to block the incoming attack.

The sand hit the bat and knocked it away. The bat screeched in pain, but it didn't stop attacking. Instead, it flew towards Kankurou, who was closest to it.

"This little!" He cursed and quickly summoned his puppet.

A humanoid puppet with long hair, wearing a black cloak and carrying a large sickle. It was his strongest puppet, and he had been saving it for a special occasion.

With a slight movement from his fingers, Kankurou ordered the puppet to attack.

The puppet leaped into the air, swinging its arms, but the bat easily dodged the attack. It flew around the puppet and flapped its wing.

A wind blade cut through the puppet's leg, making Kankurou flinch as he didn't expect it.

"Wind blade?!" Temari shouted, "Since when did bats use Wind Blade?!"

"Damnit!" He cursed, "What the hell is going on!?"

Gaara didn't say anything. He controlled his sand and sent it to attack the bat. The sand grabbed onto its leg and slammed it down on the ground. It cried out in pain and tried to fly away, but Gaara kept his grip on it. The sand started to tighten around it and crushed its bones.

The bat screamed in agony and stopped moving. The Kazekage released his hold on the bat and let the corpse drop to the ground. There were more bats coming, but he was prepared.

"Temari, cover our backs."

"Futon! Goufuu Koujutsu!"

A strong gust of wind blew through the area as Temari swung her large fan, hitting the bats that were trying to fly away. The wind cut through the tree branches and the bats fell to the ground, dead. But, more of them were coming, attracted by the smell of blood.

"I'm not good at dealing with a lot of enemies." Kankurou admitted. "I will cover your back."

He activated his puppet again, and it began to move.

Meanwhile, Temari became their rear guard, swinging her fan and sending wind blades to kill the bats that tried to escape. She was the only one who could attack multiple targets at once, and they needed her firepower.

"Keep on attacking!" Gaara shouted, "Don't let them get close to you!"

The battle raged on for a while. Gaara's sand and Kankurou's puppet fought the bats that were attacking them. Some of them managed to pass through and bite Kankurou.

"Argh!" He cursed, "They are sucking my blood!"

Grabbing the bat on his shoulder, he threw it away and quickly used his puppet to crush it. The bat screeched and died, but the damage had already been done.

"Damn it!"

"Kankurou, are you okay!?" Temari shouted.

"I am fine, but the bleeding won't stop."

Blood trickled down his arm, staining his clothes. He tried to stop the bleeding by pressing on the wound, but it was no use.

Even though he wanted to continue, Kankurou's vision was starting to become blurry. His legs were shaking, and he couldn't even stand properly. It was getting hard to breathe too.

"Kankurou!" Temari screamed, "Could it be a poison?!"

"Seems so." Gaara replied. "Drink the antidote we brought before. We still have a lot left."

"Antidote?" Kankurou muttered, "I think I still have some."

He reached into his pocket and took out a small vial. It was filled with a clear liquid and a label that read "Antidote". He popped the cork open and drank the entire bottle in one go.

"Ugh... That's bitter."

Temari sighed in relief, "Good. Now you just need to rest and recover."

Kankurou sat down, feeling his strength slowly returning. The bats were still attacking them, but they couldn't get close because of Gaara's sand. The Kazekage kept on protecting them with his sand, while Temari was busy dealing with the bats with her fans.

Many bat corpses fell on the ground, and the smell of blood was strong in the air.

"Gaara, how long can we keep on fighting like this?" Temari asked. "There are too many of them. We should retreat."

"Go first." He replied, "We can't afford to lose anyone. Even if we can revive in this dungeon, it's better if we don't die here."

She hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Okay."

"Kankurou, can you stand now?" Gaara asked, glancing over his shoulder. "We're leaving."

"Yeah, I can." Kankurou stood up, still feeling a bit weak, but he could walk. "Let's go."

As soon as he heard that, Gaara put his hands together and activated a jutsu.

"Sand Tsunami."

The sand that was surrounding them started to rise up, forming a large wave. It was like an ocean wave, except that it was made of sand. The sand tsunami swept away all the bats that were in front of them, creating a path.

"Let's go!" Temari yelled, "Run!"

They ran as fast as they could, returning to the way back from the entrance gate.

However, as they kept running, they realized something. The forest looked the same as before, they passed the river twice and found another group of bats.

"Wait, didn't we already pass through here?" Kankurou asked. "The scenery is the same as before."

Temari looked around, "We're lost, aren't we?"

Gaara shook his head, "No, we're not. We're going in circles."

"What do you mean?" Temari asked.

"This is a maze." He explained, "A labyrinth. There must be an illusion put on it to confuse us."

Kankurou frowned, "What? How is that possible? This place is huge. How can someone make a maze like this? This is just a forest."

"Inside a strange place called a dungeon." Temari shot back, "Where anything is possible. We should have known better."

"So, what should we do now?"

Gaara didn't reply and started to concentrate. His sand rose up and flew toward the sky, breaking the tree canopy above them. Then, it formed a ball above them.

"I'll destroy the entire forest." He muttered, "It's the fastest way."

His eyes narrowed dangerously as he raised his arms.

Sand rose up to the sky, covering the entire area. The sand then began to move, forming a large wave. It was like a tsunami, but instead of water, the wave was made of sand.

In an instant, the sand tsunami swept through the forest, tearing apart everything in its path. Trees were uprooted, animals were killed, and the ground was torn apart.

Or so it should be what happened.

[Warning! You have broken the dungeon's rule.]

[Destroying the dungeon's environment isn't permitted. Punishment will be given to those breaking the rule.]

A notification window suddenly popped up in front of his eyes.

And before he could react, he lost control of the sand and it dropped to the ground.

"What?" Gaara muttered, shocked by what had happened. "What's this?"

"What's going on?" Kankurou asked, "Did something happen to you, Gaara?"

Gaara didn't answer. He was staring at the notification window in front of his face.

"Gaara?" Temari asked.

"There is a strange something in front of my eyes, one that is similar to a Dungeon Chat Room. It said I broke the dungeon's rule."

" Rule?" Temari asked, "What kind of rule?"

"It said that I destroyed the environment, and it is forbidden." He replied. "I'm not sure what it means."

"So we have to play by the rules." Temari sighed. "Great. This place is getting more and more annoying."