Arc III Chapter 5


    <strong><b>III</b></strong>


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    <strong><b>Arc III Chapter 5


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    <strong><b>━━━━━━┛</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>┗━━━━━━</b></strong>


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    Together, she and Norinagaarrived at thesmouldering ruins. A macabre dance of fire and flickering shadows illuminated the night. Theicy snow crunchedunder the weight of their feet.


    Asami knelttoinspect the remnants of herdeceasedrades. The explosion killed themin an instant. None of them survived.


    Time passed. Burning ash covered the ground, hermes raging in the background.Herexplosion proved effective, incinerating everything. Only anunintelligible mass of charredcorpsesremained.Their deaths were quick, painless.


    Silence dominated the cold air. Other ANBU arrived. They said nothing, but their silence said more than humannguage ever could.The culprit was among them. One of them was behind the explosion. The question was who? The majority suspected a certain girl, her.


    Asamileft the scene, passing Konosuke, Ino, Koichi, Akahitoon her way. “I think that we all should get some sleep. Tomorrowwill be a long day. We will mobiliseat dawnand attempt a breakout.”She didn''t take no for ananswer. Determination filled her voice. Her words left no room for debate. Her orderwas absolute.


    Asami continued her walk, but it was Akahito who grabbed her shoulder. His vengeful re confronted her. “It was you who killed them!!! You murdered them, didn’t you?”


    Akahito''s usationsdidn''t bother her. Asami merely smiled. “Murderis such a strong word, Akahito.Why should I kill them? A tragic death imed their lives.”


    “Don''t y dumb, you crazy bitch. You killed them.”Akahito clenched his fists.


    Asami objected, “Akahito, Their deaths saddenme as they do you. I have nothing to do with this. And even ifI did, what proof do you have, Akahito?You have nothing besidesbaseless usations. So stop bothering me with your nonsense, Akahito.You are clearly a man unable to control your emotions.”


    Akahito gritted his teeth. “You ...”


    “Don''t you agree with me?What do you think?” Asamilooked around, staring at the rest of the ANBU.Nobody spoke up.Konosuke, Ino, and Koichi averted their eyes, visibly ufortable. Theyavoided her gaze.


    Five ANBU died that night, but questions were never asked. Their deaths were never investigated.The exact nature of the incident remained forevershrouded in mystery, at least on paper.


    They knew that it was her. Konoha knew that it was. Everyone knew that it was,but what was missing wassolid evidence,and Konoha didn''t particrlycare.In fact, there were those among the ranks of the ANBU that approved of her more resolute measures.


    Konoha knew about Asami''s capabilitiesand talent. The girl was a legendary kunoichi in the making, an immensely powerful weapon at the disposal of the vige. Konoha couldn''t do without her.It would be unwise to do so.


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    “Did you see that explosionst night?” Tsuyoshi asked, scanning the group.


    Kenji nced at the gathered squad members, Tsuyoshi, Ano,Naruhiko, Yoriko, Miyoko. They were all sitting around the bonfire, enjoying a hearty meal. Theyhad guard duty yesterday. They were tasked with observing the vige, guarding the southern sector of the pocket.


    Ano shook her headin response.“Anexplosion? Can''t remember any, but it would exin the loud bang I heard.”


    “You missed something, believe me.” Tsuyoshi described the incident.He sounded impressed.“The fireball enlightenedthe entire horizon. The explosion was incredible.”


    Kenji looked concerned. “Still, I wouldprefer to not end up on the receiving end ofit.”


    “Always the pessimist, Kenji, aren''t you? You are no fun at all.” Tsuyoshichuckled.


    Kenji folded his hands. “Possibly, but being pessimistic is part of my job. I am the squad leader, and it is my duty to stay cautious. We are chunin of Kirigakure. We must remain vignt. The enemy are Konoha ANBU. They are dangerous.”


    Tsuyoshughed. “Dramatising as usual, aren''t we?We have three fullpanies on our side ... 600 men ... What can they do?”


    Kenji didn''tugh. Had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling. You didn’tassemble a small army just for fun. There was a reasonthat they hadgathered such a force.“Listen, Tsuyoshi, you know, I have a friend among the ANBU involved in this operation.Shino told me something very interesting. He told me that something unexpected had happened.They have apparently losttwo entire squadsto a single kunoichi. Afterwards, his superiors decided to call for reinforcements.They called for every avable ninja in the vicinity. They even requestedKiri to dispatch an entire toon of Hunter-ninto deal with her ...”


    “Kenji, do you have a moment?”Kinnosuke emerged from the woods.“Follow me, I thinkYorikane and I have spotted something interesting.”


    Kenji and the rest of the squad followed him. They quickly reached the observation post. Yorikane observed the vige through a pair of binocrs.


    “Tell us, what did you find?” Kenji asked.


    “Look for yourself. Over there.” Yorikane handed him another pair of binocrs, pointing at the vige.


    Kenji took them. He spotteda group of masked ninja at the vige entrance. They were clearly ANBU.They were led by ashort girlclothed in a white fur coat. The girlmanded them, barkingsome kindof orders.


    “...”Kenji narrowed his eyes, uncertain. Judging by her stature, the girl wasexceedingly youngfor her position. And yet the girl appeared to be in charge ... The group began to move. They crossed the snowy ins, running in their direction . TheANBU were fast. They would reach their positionsoon.


    After all, ANBUweren’t considered the elite of the elitefor nothing, but the girl was different.The girl wasn’t justfast. Her speed frightened Kenji, sending a shiver down his spine. Thedistance between them and her shrank rapidly with each passing second.


    “...”Kenji gulped. They were screwed, totally screwed, weren''t they? There was no doubt, it was her. They had to get out of here. Immediately.


    “What the fuck? Do you seethat, Kenji?Do you see the girl?” Yorikane held on to his binocrs. His handstrembled, visibly nervous.


    Kenjinodded.“I do. We mustleaveandalert ...”His eyes widenedin shock.Panicgriped him.


    The girl turned her head, smiling beneath her white mask. The girlspotted them


    “Fuck!”Kenji shouted.The girl elerated. Her speed increased and her hand drew her sword. The girl wasingfor them.


    “We have to...” Kenji didn''t even have the time to end his sentence. It was already toote, tooteto run. d in pure innocent white, the girl stood right before him. The massacre began. Her de was swift.


    Her sword piercedAnobefore beheading Tsuyoshi. Yoriko fell next.Miyokofollowed, sliced apart by thedemonin white. Naruhiko and Kinnosuke met the same fate.A straight thrust finished Naruhiko. A perpendicr cutKinnosukewith uncanny precision.The demonbashed Yorikane’s skull against a tree. His cranium splintered.


    Hisrades, his friends all died in a matter of mere seconds.He couldn’t do anything.They wereallughtered like ignorant sheep, and now his time hade.


    Her de struckhim, piercing his chest. The smell of burnt flesh filled his nose. His bodytoppled over, fallingonto thesoft snow, but itwasn''toveryet.Not yet. The demon missed. Her de missed his heart by a hair''s breath, yet it was this hair''s breath that allowed him to live.


    “...”Kenji grittedhis teeth, ignoring thepain. He didn’t scream. He was supposed to be dead, and dead men didn''t scream.His heart, every fibre of his being,thirstedfor vengeance, for retribution, for revenge.


    The demon sheathed her de, careless, deceived by a false sense of security.This was his moment, the moment he had waited for.


    Usingall of his remaining force, Kenji threw his pouch. The pouch was filled with paper bombs, hundreds of them. He might die, but he would takethe girl with him.


    The tags exploded. The detonation was a sight to behold. The sh blinded Kenji. An enormous st echoed through the entire forest.


    “...”Kenji coughed, his hope s high. He did it ... He ...


    The floating dust cleared, revealing a girl unharmed. The demon didn’t die. The explosion didn''t even scratch her. In the middle of a crater, stood a girl, shielded by a purple humanoid skeleton. Her calcting eyes evaluated him. Her armour dematerialised, dissolving into fine purple mist.


    The girl giggled, visibly amused. “You are still alive ... How curious ...How sloppy on my part ...”


    The drew her sword. “This time, I won’t miss.” She didn’t. Her de skewered his heart and his world turned ck.


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    <strong><b>━━━━━━┛</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>┗━━━━━━</b></strong>


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