Red Shoal Island
What now?!
Sakura knew they couldn't delay any longer. There was no time to slowly investigate what this thing truly was.
"Hinata, Shino, Kiba! Stand back! I'm just going to cut the top part off!" Sakura decided, bracing herself. This was risky.
"Sakura... are you sure?" Hinata looked at her teammate with concern.
"Even if I'm not, we have to try. Don't worry, I'll protect you," Sakura turned and offered Hinata a smile, though it felt a bit strained.
"Gale Style: Clone Jutsu!"
Sakura first created a Gale Style clone as a precaution against unexpected developments. Then, channeling chakra, she unleashed focused lasers of Gale Style energy from her fingertips, slicing towards the two pillars of the torii-like structure.
A flash of blue-white light cut through the air as the Gale Style lasers passed silently through the ancient wood.
Sakura kept her Strength of a Hundred Seal active, remaining on high alert for any sudden movement or reaction from the structure.
Seconds ticked by. After waiting for a tense moment and seeing no reaction, Sakura let out a small sigh of relief and approached the structure.
She had cut it cleanly through horizontally, so skillfully that unless pushed, it wouldn't fall.
With a gentle shove, the top section of the torii-like building crashed to the ground. Sakura peered at the cut surfaces.
The cuts were neat, revealing wood that looked surprisingly normal, almost like any ordinary tree. The healthy core stood in stark contrast to the decayed exterior.
"Huh. Nothing happened," Kiba commented, coming closer to inspect it.
"Whew, okay. The worst-case scenario didn't happen," Sakura murmured, wiping sweat from her brow. If some giant monster had suddenly leaped out, she'd been ready to grab the team and run.
Judging by the cross-section, though, this thing wasn't animalistic; it was still fundamentally plant-based.
"Alright, let's go. We need to carry this thing to the beach," Sakura said, grabbing one corner and looking at Kiba.
Kiba, Hinata, and Shino each took a corner, and they began moving the heavy section towards the coast.
"Man, this thing is heavy!" Kiba complained. "It looks so rotten on the outside, I didn't expect it to weigh this much."
"Save your breath. Let's just get this over there, then find a spot far away to hide. We shouldn't be too close. We'll move in once all the monsters have appeared," Sakura instructed as they hauled the structure.
"Huff... huff..."
The four of them quietly transported the massive object, finally reaching the coastal pasture.
To Sakura's surprise—and slight exasperation—Ryuichi was already there.
"You... what is this?" Ryuichi stared in astonishment as Sakura's team shuffled past like thieves, carrying a downed torii gate. "Isn't... isn't that the Red Shoal Town torii? Why did you bring it here?"
"...Ryuichi-san, what are you still doing here?" Sakura asked, feeling a headache coming on.
"I heard you were making your move tonight. How could I miss it?" Ryuichi replied earnestly.
"Ah, fine. Okay, Ryuichi-san, lend us a hand. Let's stand this thing up," Sakura called out.
"You cut down the torii? Does Headman Soga know? And why did you cut it down?" Ryuichi asked, though he stepped forward to help regardless.
"It's complicated to explain. Basically, this torii seems to attract those monsters. Headman Soga doesn't know we cut it, which is why we were being so careful," Sakura explained quickly.
"Ah," Ryuichi sighed, looking at the torii section now standing upright in the pasture. "If Headman Soga finds out, he'll likely try to kill you."
"Seriously? It's not that bad, is it? We can just put it back after we use it tonight," Sakura said dismissively.
"You probably don't know," Ryuichi explained gravely. "Back when there was talk of dismantling this torii, Headman Soga was the most fiercely opposed. He wouldn't even agree to moving it somewhere else. You need to make sure you put it back properly as soon as you're done tonight, or it could seriously damage our relationship with Red Shoal Island."
"Okay, okay, I get it," Sakura replied, though inwardly, Ryuichi's words only confirmed her suspicion: Headman Soga knows exactly what this thing is. If he didn't, he wouldn't care about moving it.
"Alright then, Ryuichi-san, please come with us. This torii will draw the monsters here, but we need to hide somewhere farther away first," Sakura said, reinforcing the base of the upright structure with a quick application of Earth Style before turning to the samurai.
"Understood," Ryuichi nodded curtly, not arguing. He knew his capabilities; he would help where he could but wouldn't foolishly throw his life away against overwhelming odds.
The five of them headed towards the mountain where Sakura had slept earlier that day.
"Do we really need to go this far back, Sakura?" Kiba asked, looking over his shoulder at the increasingly distant pasture.
"It's safer this way," Sakura replied, leading the way. "Didn't you guys already set traps near the beach? When they appear, we can charge back down there in no time."
Night deepened...
From their vantage point on the mountain, the coastal pasture looked tranquil. The severed top of the "torii" stood starkly on the grassy field. Surrounding it, vast herds of Ise cattle lay, stood, or milled about – a dense concentration of livestock.
Under Headman Soga's orders, the pasture owners and merchants had reluctantly contributed cattle, knowing full well they likely wouldn't see them again. Even though Sakura and Soga hadn't explicitly called it bait, the intention was painfully obvious.
Still, there were few complaints. If these monsters weren't dealt with, the losses would far exceed just these cattle.
Hours passed. As the night crept towards its deepest point, there was finally some movement. The cattle in the pasture suddenly became agitated.
Sakura focused her gaze on the pasture below, but couldn't discern anything specific in the darkness.
"Hinata, check the situation down there," Sakura ordered.
"Yes!" Hinata activated her Byakugan and looked down.
"What do you see, Hinata?" Sakura asked anxiously.
"I see them... The monsters are here," Hinata reported, her voice tense. "There are quite a lot of them. They're eating the cattle."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go! If we wait too long, they'll finish the cattle and leave!" Kiba said impatiently.
"Wait, Kiba. There's one more thing to confirm," Sakura stopped him, turning to Shino. "Well? Have your insects returned?"
Shino held up a hand, and a single kikaichū beetle landed on it. He paused for a moment, processing the information.
"Yes," Shino stated calmly. "After the monsters appeared, the vacuum zones reappeared in the vicinity, just like the other night. It confirms our theory."
"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Kiba urged again.
"Kiba, acting like that is why you'll never make Chunin," Shino remarked flatly. "We still don't know if all the monsters have shown up yet. We need to wait a bit longer."
"...Damn it... Fine, do whatever you want," Kiba muttered, frustrated after being shot down repeatedly.
"Hinata, can you get a clear count? And what do they look like?" Sakura asked.
"Their shape is very similar to wolves," Hinata replied, veins bulging around her temples as she strained her Byakugan. "I can only make out their general outlines."
"Wolves? Kiba, any ideas?" Sakura pressed.
"...No clue. As far as I know, there aren't any wolves that live in the sea," Kiba said with a grimace.
"Alright. Hinata, how many are there now?"
"About fifty right now."
"Let's wait a bit more. Based on the vacuum zones from the night before last, there should be over two hundred. We'll start moving closer slowly," Sakura decided. Waiting for all of them might take too long, and the cattle wouldn't last forever. Who knew if they'd just leave after eating their fill?
"They seem to be gnawing on the torii piece now," Hinata reported suddenly. "But they aren't eating it... just biting down and staying still."
That confirms it. "Okay, let's move. Approach slowly," Sakura commanded.
Gradually, the five of them crept closer to the pasture. According to Hinata's updates, more and more monsters were appearing, until the entire pasture was teeming with their shadowy figures.
"Gale Style: Clone Jutsu!"
Seeing that the monsters were finally all present, Sakura and the team increased their speed, closing the distance to the pasture. Perhaps the creatures were too engrossed in feeding, or perhaps they felt secure in their numbers, but they didn't retreat.
Reaching the edge of the pasture, Sakura turned to Ryuichi. "Ryuichi-san, hold this position. When the fighting starts, don't let any monsters break through towards the town. Leave them to us."
"Right, understood." Ryuichi didn't insist on joining the main fight.
A laser beam sliced through the darkness. Instantly, piercing, agonizing shrieks echoed across the grasslands.
Over two hundred pairs of glowing red eyes snapped towards the source of the laser.
Sakura finally got a clear look at the monsters.
They were roughly the size of calves, with a distinctly wolf-like build. Their mouths, however, were grotesquely split all the way back to their ears, revealing terrifying fangs. Their skin was slick and dark, their feet were webbed, and their three-inch-long fangs gleamed menacingly. A palpable aura of ferocity radiated from them.
"What are those things?" Kiba breathed, taking an involuntary step back. Their appearance was horrifying.
The monsters paid no heed to the ninjas' reaction. Over two hundred wolf-like creatures opened their massive jaws in unison, and instantly, powerful jets of water erupted from their mouths.
A single water jet wouldn't have been much, but the combined force of over two hundred firing simultaneously made Sakura's expression change drastically.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
A thick, sturdy wall of earth surged up in front of the four Konoha ninja, intercepting the barrage of water jets.
However, the sheer volume and pressure were overwhelming. The Earth Flow Wall held for only a few seconds before crumbling under the relentless assault.
Sakura quickly grabbed Hinata, pulling them both underground using Earth Style. Kiba! Shino! You two will have to manage!
After the chaos above subsided, Sakura pulled Hinata back to the surface. The pasture was a mess, flooded as if by a deluge.
Not far away, a dark, spherical shape cracked open – revealing Kiba and Akamaru, alongside Shino. It seemed Shino had used his kikaichū defensively to weather the attack.
"Sakura, those monsters... they..." Hinata started, her voice trembling slightly.
"Yeah, I know," Sakura interrupted, her own voice grim. "They don't have chakra, right? I sensed it."
No chakra, yet they can use jutsu-like abilities. This was bad. Sakura hoped their physical combat skills were weak, but one look at their bulging, muscular limbs dashed that hope. Without a chakra signature to track, they were natural-born killers in the dark.
It wasn't that they were individually overwhelmingly strong... but there were just so many of them.