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As Maki, Shin, and Mei made their return, Kaoru and Mizuki were already preparing to ambush the group that had tried to assassinate him.
The three shinobi who had returned Scorpio's corpse were now deep inside the cave. Kaoru and Mizuki landed silently near the entrance, concealed behind a thick curtain of tangled vines.
'I keep getting this weird feeling… like someone's watching me. But there's no one there.'
Kaoru glanced around again, his Suijingan scanning the landscape in detail. He'd had the sensation ever since leaving the camp. At first, he suspected Ao might be secretly tailing him. But he was confident in his eyes. Chakra suppression techniques were useless against him. He could see anyone, even if they were perfectly hidden.
'I must be imagining it,' he told himself, trying to push the unease aside. Now wasn't the time for distractions. They were about to step into enemy territory.
He scanned the entrance again, looking for traps and signs of surveillance. The only guard who had been stationed outside had gone in with the others after recognizing Scorpio's body.
"It's clear," Kaoru whispered. "Let's go. But don't engage until I give the signal. We need information first. They won't talk if we capture them, so we'll try eavesdropping."
Mizuki nodded silently and followed as Kaoru crouched low and slipped into the cave.
Inside, the air was damp and heavy. Moss coated the walls, painting them an eerie green. On the far side, where the stone faced the sea, the walls were even wetter, streaked with white residue from the constant exposure to salty water. The scent of brine and earth filled the narrow tunnel.
The path ahead was lit by torches placed far apart. The flickering flames did little to chase back the darkness, leaving long stretches of shadow that made it difficult to see more than a few steps ahead.
Kaoru's foot clipped a loose stone, sending it skittering noisily across the uneven ground.
'What the hell is this rock made of?' he hissed inwardly, wincing. The clatter echoed far too loudly through the narrow tunnel. He held his breath, every muscle tense. For a moment, he and Mizuki froze, fully expecting an alarm.
But no one reacted.
Kaoru quickly scanned the path ahead, trying to gauge the mercenaries' positions, but that section of wall was saturated with seawater. That much moisture distorted the water particles in his field of vision, making it difficult to see through it.
'I'll be able to see once we get closer,' he reassured himself. 'I can't believe I was worried about Mizuki's stealth when I'm the one tripping over rocks.'
It was dumb luck that the noise had gone unnoticed. The mercenaries were likely too focused on Scorpio's corpse to care about a distant sound. But that could've gone very wrong.
They moved forward more slowly now, taking each step more carefully. The damp cave floor muffled their movements, but it also made every sound feel heavier, more pronounced.
Soon, the echo of panicked and disorganized voices reached them.
Kaoru had been right. The mercenaries were in a frenzy, shouting over each other in escalating confusion. Whatever chaos Scorpio's corpse had caused, it was enough to cover the earlier sound of the rolling stone completely.
He crouched lower, inching forward with more care.
'We're descending… that explains the moisture.' His eyes flicked to the thin streams of water trickling down the cave walls. The air felt colder here, closer to the sea, perhaps even below sea level.
His Suijingan was active, casting his irises in a bright glow that cut through the darkness like twin cyan torches. It was the one drawback of activating his dojutsu while hiding, it made him visible in low light. But he confirmed what he needed to - none of the mercenaries could see them.
'What are they arguing about?' he wondered, creeping toward the corner where the tunnel opened into the main cavern.
But before he could get close enough to listen, someone new entered the room.
Kaoru froze.
This chakra was dense and more refined. It was far beyond the others, even more than Scropio's.
'What the hell? She was supposed to be their leader… but this guy's chakra is a level above hers.' He couldn't gauge exact power levels with his Suijingan, but he could still make a solid guess. Whoever just arrived was either a jonin or a high-level chunin at the very least.
'Was she maybe lying about being a leader too…?'
His thoughts were cut short by the sudden screams.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Stop!"
"Aagh…"
Steel sliced through flesh. Chakra flared.
The shinobi who had just appeared started slaughtering their own accomplices.
Kaoru could hear everything now. The panic in their voices, the desperate shouts… all of it quickly swallowed by death. The shinobi wasn't fighting recklessly. They were executing the mercenaries, one by one, without hesitation.
"We can't wait anymore," Kaoru said calmly, but firmly. "Let's try to save at least one of them. We need answers."
Without hesitation, he darted toward the commotion.
The sight that met him was grim.
A woman, dressed in deep blue clothes and wielding twin blades, was cutting through the remaining mercenaries with brutal efficiency. She wore no forehead protector. No clan insignia. Nothing identifiable at all. Her face was covered, and the only feature visible were her dark brown eyes, calm and emotionless.
Only two genin remained. They were bleeding, battered, and barely standing. The look in their eyes wasn't one of hope when Kaoru appeared, it was one of fear. Another unknown figure, cloaked in black, rushing into the chaos? As far as they were concerned, he was just another threat.
To the two remaining genin, it didn't matter that Kaoru wasn't attacking. Whatever his purpose was, they knew it wouldn't be in their favor. And they were right.
Still frozen in shock, they barely had time to react before Kaoru and Mizuki closed the distance. A single swift movement was all it took to knock both of them out.
"That bitch failed to kill you, huh?" a voice rang out.
Both Kaoru and Mizuki turned toward the source. The woman in dark blue was still there, standing calmly among the bodies, blades dripping with blood. Kaoru and Mizuki were surprised as neither of them had expected her to speak first.
"As you can see," Kaoru replied calmly, watching her closely.
'How did she recognize me? he wondered. I haven't used any techniques… not even drawn my Nagizume. The only thing giving me away is my eyes. It has to be the Suijingan.'
Kaoru's whole face was covered with a dark mask, leaving only his eyes visible.
"Why did you want me dead?" he asked, spreading his hands slightly in a gesture of confusion. "I don't know who you are, and I've never done anything to you… or her."
As he spoke, he gestured toward Scorpio's corpse, shifting one foot forward in an attempt to close the distance slightly.
"Your entire family deserves death," she hissed, her voice laced with venom. "You're the reason our nation is rotting."
The words were meant to show her hatred, but Kaoru didn't flinch. Her tone was filled with fury, but something felt off.
'She is too composed for such hatred,' Kaoru thought, locking eyes with her. 'I've seen real hatred… I've felt one… this feels like something she is faking.'
She didn't look away. If anything, she leaned into the eye contact.
It was all Mizuki needed.
She vanished in a flicker, reappearing at the woman's side with a scorch ball already forming mid-air. Her timing was almost perfect.
'If I can land just one hit, the pain will stun her long enough for Kaoru to knock her out.'
She wasn't aiming to kill. She wanted to help Kaoru capture her. She knew exactly how agonizing her scorch release could be, very few shinobi could keep their guard up while screaming in agony.
Mizuki's scorch ball struck its mark, hissing against the shinobi's shoulder with searing force. The woman screamed as the intense heat evaporated the moisture on contact, leaving behind charred, blackened flesh. Steam hissed into the air, and her skin cracked beneath the pressure of the burn.
Kaoru didn't hesitate. The moment the opening presented itself, water tentacles burst from the ground, aiming to bind her limbs and bring her down. But instead of being stunned, the woman pushed through the pain, clenching her teeth and flaring her chakra violently.
"I'm not that easy to handle!" she shouted, slamming a hand on the ground.
The cave responded instantly.
The walls trembled. Loose stones fell from the ceiling, dust clouding the air.
"Kaoru, we need to leave!" Mizuki yelled, already retreating a few steps. But Kaoru hesitated. His instincts screamed at him not to leave the enemy alive. Yet dragging her out was no longer possible.
"Grab one of the genin…!" His words froze in his throat.
The two unconscious mercenaries, who lay motionless, were pierced through the chest by jagged stone spears erupting from the cave floor. More began to form overhead, their tips already dripping with loose soil as they threatened to collapse.
There was no more time.
The glow of Kaoru's Suijingan brightened as dozens of dark water needles materialized in the air. They streaked toward the shinobi like a swarm, piercing her body from every angle. She convulsed, blood polling in the tunnel as Kaoru and Mizuki disappeared around the corner.
'I'm not letting you leave if you're useless to me.' Kaoru's thoughts were cold.
'He's different,' Mizuki thought, casting one last glance behind them as they ran. 'He's not holding back anymore.'
They burst out of the cave just as the tunnel behind them collapsed in a deafening roar. Dust billowed into the air. Chunks of stone slammed into the ground. The cliffside shuddered and then finally settled, sealing the carnage inside.
The two of them landed hard, coughing, their clothes streaked with dirt and sweat.
The night air hit them like a wave of ice. Compared to the cave's damp and suffocating air, it was refreshing outside.
For a moment, they said nothing, just the sound of their breathing filling the clearing outside the collapsed cave. Kaoru kept staring at the palace where the cave used to be.
'Was that entire tunnel her doing?' Kaoru narrowed his eyes, still replaying the encounter in his mind. 'Her control over Earth Release wasn't normal… it was too refined, too… good. She wasn't from the Land of Water! She tried to seem like one, but everything about her technique said otherwise.' They might've gotten very valuable information if they had managed to capture her alive, but now she was gone
"Shit. We failed," he muttered bitterly. "I thought I could use this opportunity to gather intel... but it completely backfired." He clenched his fists. "Maybe I should've waited for Maki. She would've handled this better."
He hated the way it sounded - like a little brother who couldn't keep up. The plan he thought was so perfect completely failed and he hated this even more.
Mizuki stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It's not a failure," she said softly. "We didn't get what we came for, but we survived and we killed them all. Next time, we'll be better. You learn from mistakes, Kaoru. That's what makes you grow."
He looked up at her.
And that's when he noticed it - a presence that shouldn't be there.
'I missed this too,' thought Kaoru, giving himself a self-deprecating smile.
"Lord Ao," he said aloud, raising his voice. "How did you manage to hide your presence?"
A figure dropped from the treetops, followed by five more shinobi, all clad in dark Takimura Oinin gear. Masks. Blades.
Ao landed last, grinning widely as he gave Kaoru a firm pat on the shoulder.
"Lord Kaoru, you're not the only one with special eyes, and every dojutsu has its weaknesses," he said knowingly.
Kaoru stared at him, trying to piece it together. A moment later, his expression lit up with realization.
"You used your range," he muttered. "Your Byakugan reaches farther than my Suijingan… that's how you stayed hidden. That explains the strange feeling I had, like someone was watching me the whole time."
He let out a faint smile.
"But if you were watching... why didn't you step in? We could've captured them together."
Ao let out a hearty laugh. "You think I'd let someone who tried to assassinate you walk away? I've been watching since you left camp. I wasn't going to interfere unless things got out of hand."
Kaoru blinked.
Not because of what Ao said, but because of how he said it. He didn't remember Ao being this talkative or… in a good mood.
Ao caught the look and chuckled again, softer this time.
"The war's over," he said, smiling more genuinely now. "Lady Maki sent word this morning. I just didn't tell you. She wanted me to let the situation play out, to see how you'd handle the mercenaries on your own… and this last part was my test."
**
A/N -
I usually write while listening to music, it just helps with the mood and pacing. Naruto soundtracks for Naruto chapters, naturally.
But the other day, I was told to use headphones instead of speakers because I was being too loud xD Anyway, I did and noticed that I was able to immerse myself into the "sound" way better.
What about you guys? Do you listen to music while reading? Feel free to share your recommendations in the comments.
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The link is also in the synopsis