Chapter 56 - Hunter and Prey

Ekyt, posing as Azami, opened the door cautiously. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”

“You’ve failed us,” the hooded ninja on the other side said simply.

“The target escaped. You didn’t allow for enough time. For three targets, I would have needed longer. And working on no information…” Ekyt said, using Azami’s voice. The hooded man was not impressed. But he WAS fooled by the transformation, or at least appeared to be. Not enough to go on…

“The punishment for failure in this world is death.” The man held out his hand. A black sphere began to take shape. “Hold still and it won’t hurt for long.”

Ekyt wasn’t sure what that sphere did, but he didn’t want to find out. But he couldn’t reach for a weapon without breaking his illusion. Instinctively, his hand flashed out and grabbed the man’s wrist. The man suddenly became four men.

“This insubordination grows tiresome. I’m going to kill you know. Nature’s Attack: Gravity-??”

Ekyt ended his illusion. “To hell with this. I don’t know what you’re planning, but I’m giving you fair warning- scram. And if you follow us, your life is over. Get me?”

The hooded man (men, actually) looked Ekyt over, seemingly interested. They spoke as one, though four different voices rang out. It was eerie- hearing the same flat voice projected four different ways. These were clones and then some- clones all spoke in the same voice- these voices were altered.

“Well, one of the targets is now helping the hunter. I knew Azami was an attractive girl, but to have seduced such an able Shinobi…”

“She didn’t seduce me, though I thank you for the compliment. She’s a good person- I believe that. And there’s no good person I wouldn’t fight for- or die for.” Ekyt’s eyes had gone steely, glaring from one man to the next. Behind him, he knew that Naruto and Sakura were protecting Azami- that gave him room to work. But suddenly, the men put their hands in their sleeves. That was a horrible tactic- unless they thought Ekyt had Sharingan?

“Your reputation precedes you with us, Dragon Boy. With you, we will cut no corners. It’s not often we reveal our jutsus, for fear that a Sharingan user may be watching. But for you…”

WHOOMPF!

Ekyt was suddenly blasted into the ground face-first. He turned his head so that he could breathe, rather than be suffocated into the grassy bottom of the forest. But the pressure on his stomach was so great he thought he was going to break in half. He couldn’t even move to defend himself- all he could do was shift his chakra to keep his organs and bones in tact.

This is real…this isn’t a genjutsu. They’re really playing with gravity! But how?! No, not important- how to break free is. But I’ve got to think…Chakra cigarettes are out- the gravity would crush them. Not that I can move to get one anyway. Better hope for a rescue, then. I’ll counter-attack quick when I get an opening. I can at least make their attacks visible. Wait…there’s one more jutsu I can use- the most basic jutsu.

PWOOF! CRACK!

Ekyt used the Replacement Jutsu to get himself away. From his new vantage point, he saw the log he had used to get away was crushed into dust- it didn’t even splinter first!

Guess I’d better aim to kill. Unless I can get their hands…

“Cloth Spear Jutsu!” came the strange four-toned voice. From all sides, Ekyt was wrapped in cloth!

Cloth Spear?!…I went basic, they went even MORE basic. That wasn’t so much a jutsu as a martial art- Chinese in origin. Their plan is obvious- trap me with their cloth, crush me with this gravity attack of theirs. Damn, of course they’ve reinforced the cloth with chakra. Still, I haven’t been standing still up here- I made hand signs, and finished them just in time.

“Dragon’s Ember Jutsu!” Ekyt shouted, aiming his fingers at the origin of the cloth. He readied himself to break free, but when he jumped, he only crashed into the ground.

My fire didn’t break it…damn it! I’ve got one more shot- this time I’m aiming for the person controlling the cloth. But which one do I aim at…I can’t pick out the original. Maybe taking out any of them will break their attack enough to let me out? If not, I’ve only got one option left after that.

--

Azami’s father walked into the Leaf Village, stopping for a quick ID check at the gates.

“Reason for your visit?” Kotetsu asked, following procedure.

“Visiting my daughter.”

“Alright, go on ahead. Welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village, enjoy your stay,” Kotetsu gave a bow of greeting and let the man pass. He got up to go inform Lady Tsunade, as instructed.

Maybe M’Lady’s new lover? They look to be about the same age. Why else would she have me inform her when he arrived?

-

Tsunade was waiting to greet Azami’s father when he reached the Hokage mansion. That was the only place he would have known to go to, as the Hidden Leaf was large and he didn’t yet know where his daughter and this boy she had found were.

“Ah, you must be the one your daughter sent,” Tsunade said by way of greeting. “I’m the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. Your daughter should be here shortly.”

Wow, maybe I owe ol’ Ekyt one- this guy is easy on the eyes! It’s been years since I’ve even thought of another man seriously…what would you want…Dan?

“Nice to meet you. I’m Taro, Azami’s father. She isn’t here yet?”

Taro’s hair hand lightened to a blonde color now, though he still had stubble on his jaw and fashionable glasses on his eyes. He wore a suit- unheard of in Shinobi circles at this time. He didn’t look his age, though that was a natural effect when compared to the jutsu the vain Tsunade used to camouflage her aging body.

Tsunade shrugged. “I had three of my best ninja go get her. Apparently there was some…trouble. But I assure you, I have the best of my ninja protecting her.”

Taro gave a good natured laugh. “Azami’s always been spunky. Must’ve been a good threat for her to have sent for help. Well then, Lady Tsunade (That’s right, isn’t it?), is there any chance you could direct me toward a place to stay? I’d like to take at least a week here. I haven’t seen my daughter in quite some time.”

“Certainly. Please follow me. There are plenty of places to stay, but the best place would be our newest. It’s also close to our best restaurant/bar, the Akamadori.”

Taro stretched. “Ah, sounds good! I never miss a chance to try some new cuisine. And sake would certainly hit the spot. You never stop worrying about your children; I could definitely use something to take the edge off. I hope she isn’t causing too much trouble for your ninja (haha).”

--

Damn, trouble!

“Azami, what kind of attack is that? I mean, they didn’t even hit Ekyt!” Naruto had been watching intently, but couldn’t pick out what had just happened. Ekyt had just been spiked into the ground. He had been in the center of a perfect sphere that just appeared in the ground. One second it wasn’t there, the next it was.

“They use gravity to fight. By altering gravity in a certain spot, they can make the gravity extra strong or extra weak. I’ve seen them attack…their attack and defense is one move, but you can’t bypass that move with weapons. If you fight them, unless you dodge so well they can barely see you, you’re toast. But there IS a way…”Azami’s voice trailed off as she weighed her risk. “Can you two cover me? I don’t want to see Ekyt die, and my jutsu can give him a chance to take these bastards out.”

It occurred to Sakura that they knew nothing about Azami. Not even her fighting style. But she seemed to know a great deal about them. Should they really trust her?

It can’t be helped now- Naruto and I are both close range fighters, we won’t do Ekyt any good. But Azami might…

“Right, we’ll cover you! You ready, Sakura?” Naruto had ten kunai between his fingers, aimed at the backs of the four hooded men.

Sakura took up the same amount of kunai, but these had explosives attached.

“Ready.”

Naruto and Sakura threw their kunai, and Azami used a strange variant of the Body Flicker Jutsu to get near Ekyt.

-

“Did you see that?!” Naruto exclaimed. His kunai had twisted into themselves, then just disintegrated!

“Gravity! So they altered the spots around them. And somehow they’re immune to the effects. That’s not good! But we got their attention! We’ve got to get moving!” Sakura and Naruto had intentionally given away their position so that the enemy would break their focus on Ekyt, even if it was just for a few seconds. They could trust Ekyt to make good use of that time.

Naruto and Sakura escaped from the cabin’s top floor just as it flattened from the top down.

--

Azami landed next to Ekyt, her crossbow’s arrows preceding her and destroying the cloth holding Ekyt’s arms. But that wasn’t all Azami did.

Remote Chakra Transfer! she thought, focusing on Ekyt. She could sense Ekyt’s chakra spike. That’s my secret jutsu. I can give some of my chakra to another person for a short time. I can also take it away from others. But I’d rather not reveal that at this point. If Ekyt’s reputation is true, I gave him the opening he needed to end this fight in short order.

-

Ekyt felt the surge of chakra, but could only guess where it came from. He could think about that later. Right now, he had a fight to attend to.

Physical attacks are going to be problematic. Fortunately, that plays to my strength. I’d better not mess around here- this chakra boost gave me more than enough to toss out two genjutsus. And the first one…

“Bringer of Darkness Jutsu!” Ekyt barked. This was the First Hokage’s genjutsu. Ekyt had taken a long time to learn it, and he still hadn’t mastered it. But he could use it well enough for this. The jutsu cast the target into a pit of darkness on all sides. They could hear and move, but they were entirely blinded in terms of sight.

The second Ekyt felt it take effect, he followed up with his next Jutsu.

“Sickle Moon Dance!” he shouted. “Drawing Blade’s Path!”

This was a mix of two jutsus. The first, Sickle Moon Dance, saw three clones attacking in a nearly impossible to follow pattern. They danced in and out of striking range at an incredible speed. When Ekyt was using a sword, the jutsu was terribly effective. In this case, Ekyt was armed with three kunai- one in each hand, one in his mouth. His clones were armed the same as he was. Kunai had limited range, hence the reason for Ekyt’s rarely-used ‘Drawing Blade’s Path’. That jutsu elongated any weapon Ekyt held to a sword’s length. He had crafted the jutsu for just such an occasion. Ekyt wasn’t incredibly strong, but he was clever. He knew his weaknesses, but he didn’t hide them. Instead, he found ways to make them useful. Truthfully, Ekyt couldn’t stand people who preached superiority and tried to seem unbeatable. No one was beyond defeat. If you were, there was no point to training, or learning.

The three clones fanned out and attacked three of the enemies, dodging gravity attacks and even switching places with themselves. Ekyt attacked the one he blinded- he hated taking such a cheap advantage, but in this case there was no option. Ojo-sama and Naruto-dono were here, and these people were clearly out to hurt others. All the same, Ekyt’s conscience wouldn’t let him kill these enemies.

“Azami, please go with Naruto and Sakura. I’ll see that they don’t pursue you.”

With that, Ekyt tore forward. Rearing back to strike, Ekyt buried his kunai into the enemy’s sleeves, feeling them strike into the arms. Satisfied that the enemy was held in place, Ekyt used the kunai in his mouth to sever the hands of his target. THUNK!

“Thunk?! That’s not a human sound…that’s a puppet sound! Well then, guess I don’t need to feel bad about killing this thing! But let’s be safe and do it from a distance.”

Ekyt’s clones finished taking care of the other puppets while Ekyt retreat. He ran erratically, hoping that the puppet was still blinded. When he was at a safe distance, Ekyt threw back kunai laced with enough explosive tags to take out a building.

“Detonate!”

KA-BLAM!

Ekyt was clear of the explosion, but he had a feeling he had missed something.

But why did my genjutsu work on a puppet? There’s only one…but he’s dead!

--

Deidara took his time entering the clearing.

“So, Master Sasori, still think that your puppets are perfect works of art, un?”

Sasori’s ‘heart’ had already shot itself into a new body that Deidara had brought for just such an emergency.

“Shut up. Those four gravity users weren’t strong enough. My mistake wasn’t using a better puppet. No matter, we’ve confirmed our suspicion that our bounty hunter has gone rouge on us. That was all we set out to do. I’ll repair these puppets and they’ll be put to use in another battle.”

“Yes,” Deidara agreed. “This is far from over, un.”

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment