I watched their faces cycle through shock, surprise, and finally rage. Perfect. The jonin's jaw tightened, a muscle twitching beneath his scar.
"You're dead," he snarled, hands forming the first seal of what looked like a dangerous jutsu.
That was my cue. Instead of bracing for battle, I spun on my heel and bolted into the trees.
"After him!" the jonin roared.
I could hear their surprised curses, the momentary paralysis of confusion before they gave chase.
I heard them crash through the undergrowth behind me, exactly as planned. Running wasn't about escape – it was about choosing my battlefield. I weaved between trunks, leaped over fallen logs, and a few seconds later felt the air charge with static. The hairs on my arms stood on end.
'Lightning release. Perfect timing.' I dropped to the ground and rolled as a blinding bolt of lightning tore through the space where I'd been, blasting bark from a tree and sending splinters flying. The jonin had caught up, his hands already forming the next seal.
As the jonin landed where his lightning hit, I spun around and charged straight at him. Surprise flashed across his scarred face – he thought I'd keep running. His hands were already forming another jutsu, but too slow.
I ducked under his guard and slammed my fist into his chest. He grunted but flexed in time to absorb most of it. Tough. He fired a knee at my groin that I blocked with my thigh, the impact shooting pain up my leg.
We traded blows in a blur – his elbow skimmed my cheek as I twisted, my palm strike glanced off his shoulder as he shifted. He had raw power, but I had speed.
I caught his wrist when he overreached on a punch and yanked him forward while spinning around. My heel smashed into his kidney. He grunted but hooked his free arm around my neck and pulled me off balance.
The chunin had caught up now, circling us, looking for an opening. Four against one in open combat – terrible odds.
Time to flip the game.
I smashed my head back into the jonin's face. Not hard enough to break his nose, but enough to make his eyes water. The second he flinched, I broke free and darted at the nearest chunin.
He raised his kunai, ready to block, but I wasn't trying to hit him – I was using him. I grabbed his shoulders and spun behind him, putting his body between me and the others just as the jonin fired off another lightning jutsu.
"Idiot, move!" the jonin shouted, but too late.
The chunin's body shook as electricity ripped through him. His muscles locked up, the kunai dropping from his hand. I kept moving, using his twitching body as cover while the other two tried to circle around me.
A chunin lunged with a tanto. I twisted, pulling my human shield in the way. The blade meant for me sank deep into his teammate's side instead. The chunin's face froze in horror as he realized what he'd done.
That moment of shock was all I needed.
I let go of my dying shield and grabbed the tanto-wielder's arm. One quick twist and his shoulder popped out of socket. He screamed until my knee crushed his throat, cutting the sound off instantly.
He fell to his knees, clawing at his neck, trying to suck air through his crushed windpipe. His face turned dark purple, eyes bulging as he suffocated.
I was already moving. The jonin came at me again, moving like someone who'd survived a hundred fights. His fist brushed my ear as I ducked, the wind alone making my head ring.
We slammed together trading hits – his knee cracked against my ribs (definitely broke one), my elbow found the soft spot under his jaw, his palm smashed my shoulder and numbed my whole arm.
Blood made our grips slick. I fought to keep my breathing steady while his stayed controlled. He wasn't wearing down - he was working me over, step by step. The last chunin kept circling, waiting for his chance.
I needed to end this fast.
The chunin made his move, rushing me from behind while the jonin and I broke apart. I faked toward the jonin, then dropped low and grabbed the fallen tanto from the ground. The blade was still wet with its owner's blood.
The chunin couldn't stop in time. As he barreled forward, I spun on one knee and slashed the tanto across his hamstring. The tendons tore with a wet rip. His leg gave out instantly.
I rose in the same motion, flipping the blade in my hand. As he fell, I drove the tanto up under his ribs, aiming for his heart. Metal scraped bone, then pushed through. His eyes went wide, mouth opening with no sound. I twisted the blade hard, feeling it tear through everything inside.
Blood poured hot over my hand and down my arm. I yanked the blade out with a sick, wet sound, and he dropped, twitching as his life leaked out in seconds.
The jonin hadn't wasted his chance. His fist slammed into my kidney as I turned, sending fire through my side. I stumbled but slashed the tanto in a wide arc, making him jump back.
The jonin's hands flew through signs faster than most could track.
A blast of electrified air shot toward me. I kicked off the tree with everything I had, throwing myself sideways as the jutsu tore through where I'd stood. The tree blew apart behind me, sending charged bark and splinters everywhere. Several sharp pieces stuck in my back, but I was still breathing.
The jonin looked surprised, then pissed off.
"Just die already," he growled.
I spat blood and grinned. "Ladies first."
His face twisted with rage. He charged, kunai aimed at my throat. Instead of backing up, I moved toward him. After a quick exchange, his knee shot at my chest. I crossed my arms to block, but the hit sent me sliding backward. No time to recover – he was on me again, throwing combinations that came in a blur. Right punch, elbow, spinning kick – I blocked, deflected, ducked.
His next punch caught my jaw with a loud crack. My mouth filled with blood. I spat and circled him, holding the tanto in a reverse grip.
"Just fucking die," he snarled, pulling two more kunai.
We crashed together in a spray of sparks, metal scraping metal. The tanto blocked his first kunai, but his second cut deep into my bicep. I slammed my knee into his gut, feeling ribs crack under the hit.
He didn't even flinch, just grabbed my wrist and twisted hard. The tanto nearly slipped from my bloody hand. I spun with his pull, using his own force to throw him over my shoulder.
He landed ready, already throwing three kunai in quick succession. I knocked away two, but the third sank into my thigh. Pain shot up my leg like fire.
"Got you now," he growled, hands forming seals again.
I ripped the kunai from my leg, blood pulsing from the wound, and threw it back at him. He dodged with a slight shift, but it broke his jutsu.
We slammed together again, trading brutal hits. His fist cracked against my ribs—something snapped inside me—but I smashed my palm against his ear, making him stagger. The tanto cut across his chest, slicing through his flak jacket and drawing blood.
He backed up a step, eyes narrowed.
We circled each other, both gasping for air. Blood dripped from our wounds onto the dirt. The jonin's right arm hung lower than his left—I'd damaged something in his shoulder earlier.
I lunged forward, faking with the tanto. He moved to block, just like I wanted. My left hand whipped out a hidden kunai at his face. He jerked back, but too late—the blade sliced his cheek, barely missing his eye.
His counter hit like a truck – a spinning kick straight into my injured ribs. Pain exploded through my chest as I flew back and slammed against a tree. The impact knocked all the air out of me, my vision going spotty.
The jonin rushed in, kunai aimed at my throat. I blocked with the tanto, the blades screeching together inches from my neck. With one desperate move, I drove my knee up between his legs. His grip loosened just for a split second – enough for me to twist away. His kunai cut along my collarbone instead of my throat, blood pouring down my chest.
As he stumbled, I struck back. The tanto slashed across the back of his knee, cutting through tendons with a wet snap. He dropped hard, leg giving out, but still managed to throw another kunai that cut across my cheek.
I closed in before he could recover, blades flashing. He managed to throw up his kunai just in time to block mine, metal screeching against metal, but he didn't see my tanto coming in from the side. I swung it down with every ounce of strength I had, the blade whistling through the air before connecting with a sickening crunch. The edge sliced clean through his forearm just below the elbow like it was cutting through warm butter.
His severed hand hit the ground with a heavy, wet thud that seemed to echo in my ears, the fingers still twitching and grasping at nothing. Blood didn't just flow—it erupted from the ragged stump in violent, pulsing spurts.
His scream rang through the forest, raw and animal. I kicked him flat on his back, planted my foot on his chest and pressed the tanto to his throat.
"Now," I said, breathing hard, "about Kushina Uzumaki."
His face twisted with pain and hate, skin already going pale from blood loss. The stump of his arm pumped red with each heartbeat, soaking the ground beneath us.
"Why is Kumo so interested in an Uzumaki girl and how were you able to get past Konoha's barrier?" I pushed the blade harder until a thin line of blood appeared on his throat.
For a moment, calculation flickered in his eyes – weighing secrets against survival. Then his lips twisted into a bloody smile. His hand shot to his collar.
"We bought them... enough time," he murmured, eyes glassy but somehow satisfied.
I saw what he was doing too late. His fingers crushed a hidden capsule, and his body seized up, back arching as poison ripped through him. Foam bubbled from his mouth, eyes rolling back, teeth locked in one final grin.
"No!" I grabbed his collar, but it was already too late. His body jerked twice, then went still.
I stood alone in the clearing, surrounded by five dead Kumo-nin, blood dripping from my cuts. The borrowed tanto hung loose in my hand, edge chipped from the fight.
Five foreign ninja dead on Fire Country soil. Questions coming, investigations starting. I'm so dead... or not. Maybe I just saw nothing. I'm sure that guy won't trade his son to the enemy as a peace offering. Right? Right?!
I sighed, wiped the blood off the tanto on the jonin's shirt, and stuck it in my belt. Never waste a good blade.
After stripping the bodies of anything useful—which wasn't much besides some kunai, soldier pills, and a few ryō—I staggered away from the clearing. The adrenaline was wearing off, and holy crap did everything hurt.
'River,' I thought. 'There has to be one nearby.'
Sure enough, I caught the distant sound of running water. Pressing a hand against my bleeding thigh, I limped through the underbrush. Each step sent fresh pain shooting up my leg.
"Shit, shit, shit," I muttered, pushing branches aside. Blood seeped between my fingers. Not great.
The forest broke open to a small river cutting through the land. I stumbled onto the rocky shore and dropped to my knees, gasping for air. Cold spray hit my face, washing away streaks of blood and sweat while my vision swam.
I looked down at myself, mentally ranking my injuries from "will kill me soon" to "just really annoying."
The thigh wound was bleeding the most. I pulled off my shirt, wincing as the fabric caught on the gash across my collarbone. Using a kunai, I cut the shirt into strips. One piece I folded into a thick pad and pressed against the thigh wound.
"Pressure, elevation, don't pass out," I reminded myself, voice sounding way too thin in the open air. I wrapped another strip tightly around my thigh to hold the pad in place, using a stick to twist it tighter like a tourniquet, but not quite. Just enough to slow the bleeding.
'Next problem.'
My ribs screamed when I moved. Definitely broken, at least one, maybe two. Nothing I could do about that except wrap them for support later. The bicep wound was deep but had mostly stopped bleeding. The collarbone cut was superficial but long.
I dunked my head in the river, letting the cold water clear my thoughts. Coming up with a gasp, I pushed my wet hair back and took stock of my surroundings. No signs of pursuit. Just me, the river, and a whole lot of pain.
"I need to wash off the smell of blood," I muttered, stripping down to my underwear. I waded into the shallow part of the river, hissing as the cold water hit my wounds. Blood swirled away in pink tendrils.
I carefully washed each cut, fishing out tiny splinters from my back where that lightning jutsu had blown apart the tree behind me. The water stung like hell but cleaned the wounds better than anything else I had on hand.
Once somewhat clean, I limped back to shore and collapsed on a flat rock. The sun felt good on my skin, even as pain pulsed through me with each heartbeat.
"Alright, field medicine 101," I said to myself, laying out my tools—soldier pills, water, strips of cloth, and a sake flask I always kept in my ninja pouch. Because priorities.
I took a small swig of sake, letting it burn down my throat. Then I poured some over the worst wounds, gritting my teeth against the sting.
"Worst disinfectant ever," I groaned. "But better than nothing."
My hands trembled as I started wrapping the bicep wound. The cut was deep and would need stitches eventually, but for now, tight bandaging would have to do. I used one of the cleaner strips of cloth, wrapping it firmly enough to hold the edges of the wound together without cutting off circulation.
Next, I tackled the collarbone gash. This one was tricky to wrap by myself, but after a few awkward attempts, I managed a decent job. The cut on my cheek had almost stopped bleeding, so I just cleaned it and left it open to air.
The thigh wound needed more attention. I removed the temporary pressure bandage, grimacing at how much blood had soaked through. After cleaning it again with river water, I applied a fresh compress and wrapped it tight.
For my ribs, I used the longest strip of cloth, winding it around my torso several times to provide support. It wouldn't heal them, but it might keep me from jostling them too much on the way back.
I swallowed a soldier pill, feeling a rush of artificial chakra flooding my system. It wasn't a good solution—the crash would be brutal later—but I needed to get back to my apartment.
The thought of my apartment made me smile despite everything. A hot shower, proper bandages, and that bottle of premium sake I'd been saving for a special occasion.
Should I tell anyone about this? About why those Kumo-nin were watching Kushina?
'And say what exactly? "Hey, foreign ninjas are after your Jinchūriki, but don't worry, I murdered them all"? That'll go over well.'
I pulled myself up, testing my weight on the injured leg. It held, barely. The soldier pill was doing its job, dulling the pain and giving me false energy. I slipped my pants back on but left the ruined shirt. Instead, I wrapped my upper body with the remaining strips of cloth, covering the worst wounds.
Looking down at the river, I caught my reflection in a still pool near the shore. Blood still streaked my face and hair, despite my attempts to wash it off. My eyes looked fever-bright, almost feral. I certainly didn't look like the Academy student everyone thought I was.
"You look like shit," I told my reflection.
I gathered my things, tucking the tanto into my belt and pocketing the remaining soldier pills. The sun was starting to dip toward the horizon. I needed to move.
The trip back would be slow and painful. With any luck, I could sneak into my apartment without anyone noticing my condition.
As I limped into the trees, a hawk circled overhead—one of Konoha's messenger birds. Had someone reported the battle? Were ANBU already on their way?
'Great. Just what I need.'
I picked up my pace despite the pain. If ANBU found those bodies before I made it back, there'd be questions I was too lazy to answer.
The soldier pill kept me moving, one painful step after another. Blood had stopped seeping through my makeshift bandages, but every step still felt like someone was stabbing me in the leg.
"Tomorrow's problem," I muttered, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. "Just get home. Clean up. Reunite with my precious sake cabinet."
The forest shadows lengthened as I made my slow way back toward my apartment, my footprints no longer bloody but still uneven and dragging. I just hoped I wouldn't have to kill anyone else before I made it home.