It's been almost a month since Akashi joined Mei's group.
Their primary goal at the moment was to reach Kirigakure, the hidden village within the land of water.
Location-wise, the land of water was at south-east of the elemental nation, while Yukigakure's land of snow which they were at was the north-most continent.
To reach Kirigakure, they could either travel by sailing through the ocean in contact with the land of lightning's border or pass through the land of hot water, which was both a village and a battlefield due to its location right between the land of lightning and the land of fire.
There was no discussion needed. A long sail through the sea under the heavy surveillance of Kumogakure was impossible. Furthermore, Akashi planned on meeting Jiraiya. So they travelled, exiting the land of snow and travelling through the land of iron—the land they needed to pass through to reach the land of hot water—elusively.
Now, they were at the border between the land of iron and the land of hot water. The region where they stood was a grassy plain, and the grass was thankfully tall enough to cover them up.
"Huff... huff... damn it."
Zabuza growled in exhaustion as the group faced a forest that lay in front of them.
They were currently hidden, having managed to camouflage themselves. At the border, there were numerous samurai who were guarding and surveilling for a possible invasion of ninjas.
The surveillance was tight. Though the samurai considerably fell behind in terms of chakra manipulation compared to the ninja, the lack of deception and trickery didn't mean that the samurai's combat capability fell off.
It was a stressful journey to weave their way through this dangerous land of iron. One more step was left for them to enter the land of hot water... where something more dangerous for them may be waiting.
"On my call."
With a mask of Kiri's hunter-nin on his face, Akashi made a statement. Zabuza, having supported Gai on his back, was covering Gai up with a long black cloak.
"A split second is enough. We don't have to bother ourselves with getting discovered. As long as we cross the border, the samurai won't dare to enter, for doing so will lead to a national conflict."
Akashi placed his hand on his mask.
Transformation Technique.
In the blink of an eye, someone else was taking Akashi's place. To be more specific, Akashi formed an illusion around himself, impersonating a shinobi of Kumo.
It was no different for the others. Mei, Ao, and Zabuza. Now, they were all the ninjas of Kumo, waiting to heed the orders of their leader.
Akashi signalled, and the group dashed simultaneously.
"...!"
"Ninjas!"
Yells could be heard here and there as samurai instantly noticed their movement.
"Catch them!! Ninja bastards broke the agreement!!"
Samurais glazed the blue chakra over their blades and ran toward Akashi's group. However, their chase was futile as the speed at which the Akashi's group travelled was far faster than theirs.
In no time, Akashi's group disappeared into the forest, and the samurai could do nothing but watch helplessly.
...
Swoosh.
The forest was deadly silent as Akashi's group continued to travel, dashing from branch to branch.
There were marks and gashes here and there in the forest. Some area was utterly destroyed. They were the leftovers of the war, one that was yet ongoing.
Carefully observing the surroundings and keeping themselves as quiet as possible, Akashi's group continued dashing. With a pale expression, Gai was found covering his mouth inside the black cloak that covered him, afraid that he might become an even more of deadweight to the team.
"...Wait!"
Then, Ao called by whispering, forcing the group to stop abruptly.
"The branch in front of us, something is wrong with it."
No more explanation was needed. Ao had a natural constitution of a chakra sensor. Being far more sensitive to chakra than any other in the group, he was the first and the only one to notice the abnormality that lied right ahead of them.
"..."
Without a word, Akashi's mind quickly ran through thoughts.
'Is that trap specifically meant for us? Or is it merely a trap for any ninja to come across?'
"Ao."
Mei then spoke up with a stern look. Looking around the forest, she whispered,
"...How many more of these can you detect around us?"
"...Countless."
It was akin to landmines. Be it the ninjas of Kumo or Konoha, the battlefield has already been altered into a wall-less maze where choosing a wrong path would result in a severe injury at the very least.
Boom.
Then, the surrounding shook momentarily, causing everyone to tense up.
"That..."
Mei, with widened eyes, whispered. At some distance away, a vivid explosion occurred. It was the indication that a battle was ongoing nearby.
"...We have to hurry."
Ao nodded to Mei's words. He took a deep breath before lifting the eye patch that covered one of his eyes.
"...Byakugan?"
Akashi immediately noticed what he had been hiding. Byakugan on top of being a chakra sensor... Akashi now understood why this jonin was specifically placed to be Mei's bodyguard.
Ao simply nodded stoically in response.
"Please follow me carefully. One misstep will prove to be critical."
The group then resumed their run through the forest, though at a speed slower than before.
Boom.
Here and there, the booming noises echoed throughout the forest. The warm wind whistled, carrying the scent of ash as it did so. Numerous kunais, shurikens, and other sharp weapons were found stuck on tree trunks or fallen on the ground. Such was the war between ninjas; silent, but at the same time, deadly and brutal.
Then, Ao raised his hand, signalling the group to stop.
"..."
His face was stoic. However, his dilated pupils indicated that he was alert. He swallowed his saliva.
There was no explanation needed. Akashi closed his lone eye in silence, knowing what Ao's body gesture meant.
They've been discovered.
Ao quickly looked around and locked his Byakugan eye at a particular location.
Mei's hands quickly underwent a series of hand seals,
"Water Release: Water Bullet!"
A high-pressure bullet of water was spat out of Mei's puffed-up mouth. Flying toward the trees ahead of the group, the water exploded subsequently as it destroyed the trees mercilessly.
The water splattered and fell like rain. However, there was no presence found behind the destroyed trees. It meant that the enemies managed to dodge Mei's technique just in time.
'Quick...!'
Mei grimaced as she whipped out a kunai. Ao did the same as Mei, while Zabuza and Akashi unsheathed their greatsword and Kiba swords, respectively.
To them, a subtle noise of lightning crackling resounded... right above them.
With widened eyes, Mei, Zabuza, and Ao looked up.
There was a muscular shinobi of Kumogakure, whose entire body was surrounded by blue lightning. He, having appeared above the group in an instant, seemed to be trying to throw a fist at them.
Time seemed to be slowing down. Mei, Zabuza, and Ao knew very well that she couldn't react in time.
CLANG.
"...Oh?"
Such wasn't the case for Akashi, however, as he blocked the Kumo shinobi's lightning-imbued fist with one of the Kiba swords in his grasp.
The shinobi raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised by the fact that his attack had been blocked.
Seeing that his sneak attack failed, the shinobi quickly backed and stood at some distance away from the group. Akashi lowered his Kiba-holding arm meanwhile.
"That man..."
Ao then spoke up in realization.
"A, the son of the third Raikage...!"
"Oh? You know me?"
"Who doesn't?!"
Zabuza gritted his teeth as he saw Kumo ninjas appearing one by one around them.
"This isn't good."
Mei took a deep breath to calm herself down. She then said to the group of Kumo ninjas,
"...There is no need for us to fight."
Revealing a forehead protector of Kiri and showing it to Kumo ninjas, Mei explained,
"We are just trying to get through."
"Of course you do."
A snorted.
"You spied and took our information, after all."
He took a step forward as if about to dash forth once again.
"Do you think we don't know? That Kiri is trying to join the war as well?"
"That...!"
"There will be plenty of time for you to explain after you're caught!"
A disappeared with a blur. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Zabuza, who couldn't react in time.
"Lightning Release: Lariat!"
A lightning-coated arm was about to strike Zabuza by the neck. It would've been successful if Akashi hadn't interjected once again.
"You again..."
A narrowed his eyes at Akashi as one of the two Kiba blades was found between him and Zabuza, preventing his further approach.
"Leave him to me."
Akashi spoke impassively. Knowing that no one else stood a chance against A, the others nodded.
"And those blades... Kiba. You must be one of the seven swordsmen, but how strange."
A remarked as he locked his eyes on Akashi, who was currently a masked individual,
"There is no way someone like you remained unknown to other hidden villages. Just who—"
A couldn't continue speaking. His eyes widened as, at the next moment, Akashi's Kiba was found right in front of his neck, about to slice it through.
"...!"
A quickly raised his arms to block the blade. His lightning armor clashed against the lightning around the blade. The sparks flew around intensely before A backed off.
'What speed...!!'
A found himself in disbelief as he felt Akashi's presence at his back at the next moment. Turning his body, A kicked his foot backward to let Akashi's blade miss.
'My lightning armor greatly enhances my speed. And this guy...'
Sparks flew as the sharp tip of lightning-imbued Kiba blades struck A's lightning armor. A punched the blade to push it away from him before backing once again,
'He is faster than I!'
A felt goosebumps as Akashi slashed his blades at A with a deadly intent. Sparks flew like fireworks, repeating over and over again at an incredibly short interval. To others around, the fight was simply so fast that none of them could tell what exactly was happening between the two.
However, the Kumo ninjas around weren't able to watch longer or help A, for Mei's group began to retaliate.
"Eat this!!"
Zabuza ran into the group of ninjas and swung his huge sword brazenly. Mei's hands ran through numerous hand seals at a blinding speed, and Ao guarded her to ensure that her ninjutsu wasn't interrupted in the middle.
"Lava Release: Melting Apparition!"
The hot swarm of lava quickly overtook the area full of Kumo ninjas, who clearly didn't expect the sudden use of lava release.
"What?!"
"Bloodline limit?!"
They backed from the incoming wave of lava, one that crashed onto the trees, ground them into pieces, and set the forest aflame.
Smoke rose from the area of impact. Watching such a scene, Kumo ninjas frowned.
"Have you forgotten me?! Huh?!"
Then, to Kumo ninjas, Zabuza ran and swung his huge sword, catching them off guard.
"Tch...!"
The clanging noises occurred. Some were wounded as a deep gash appeared across their chests, while some managed to block the strike and quickly back.
"..."
Seeing this, A grimaced. The ninjas of Kiri whom he and his team were facing seemed to be tougher than he imagined.
'That boy with a greatsword and that red-haired girl... their combat capabilities are approximately equivalent to that of a low-level jonin. Then, there is that man with a Byakugan. But above all...'
A returned his eyes to Akashi, the masked shinobi who stood across him with his hands holding onto two Kiba blades that crackled dangerously.
'This man... just who is he?!'
A was anointed as the next-in-line for the position of Raikage should his father, the third Raikage, pass away. He knew far well that his strength had taken a step in the level of a Kage—the level of a ninja where killing him would require at least ten jonins.
And he, one of the strongest cards that Kumo had, was struggling to go even against the mysterious swordsman of Kiri in front of him.
"Who..."
A couldn't help, repeating the question that he had already answered once before,
"Just who are you?!"
"..."
Akashi gazed A silently before responding without emotion,
"Taka."
And that was all that needed to be said before the two of them clashed once again, knowing well that they needed to keep their opponent at bay to prevent damage to their groups.
Lightning blinded the scene once more.