"Karin.." Rei said after a brief silence.
"Yes... Sir.." Karin was hesitating right now as she didn't know how he would treat him but hoped that she could be safe and maybe stay back in Konoha. That was also one of the reasons why she signed the contract.
The security of Konoha.
"Karin just call Rei. That's how everyone calls . You will be my friend from now on, but right now you need a safe place to live, so I will be sending you sowhere. Don't panic and shout for Daniel. He will explain you everything.." Rei said.
"What?" Karin got confused but Rei didn't bother to explain at all and just used his contract to forcefully send her to MCU. There was no point letting her stay here.
And just like that Karin vanished.
One mont she was standing there looking confused and the next she was gone entirely. Rei could already imagine the panic on Daniel's face when a random red-haired girl suddenly appeared inside the ranch and started asking where she was. Well, that wasn't his problem right now. Daniel was good at handling surprises by now.
Besides, compared to Naruto, Zabuza, Haku and an entire team of child soldiers from another universe, Karin was probably one of the easier introductions.
Rei anwhile finally turned toward the unconscious Kusagakure genins.
"...Sorry about this."
He wasn't sorry at all and just proceeded to bury them under the earth. If they could escape, then good, if not, it wasn't his headache.
Now Team 7 possessed both scrolls and technically speaking, they had already passed this phase. All they needed to do was reach the tower in the middle of the forest. This might have been the easiest Forest of Death run in history.
And thus Rei disappeared from the location.
The newly awakened Mind's Eye of Kagura made finding Team 7 almost laughably easy. He could feel Naruto's enormous chakra from kiloters away. Sasuke's chakra felt sharp and controlled while Sakura's was far more refined than most genins her age.
A few minutes later he landed on a branch above them.
"Done."
Naruto almost fell off the tree.
"WHAT DO YOU AN DONE?!"
Rei casually threw both scrolls toward Sakura. The entire team froze.
"...That's it?" Sakura blinked.
"That's it."
"...You found another team already?" Sasuke asked.
"Yep."
"And beat them?"
"Yep."
"And got both scrolls?"
"Yep."
Sakura carefully inspected both scrolls before sighing in relief.
"So we already passed?"
"Technically yes."
That imdiately improved everyone's mood. Even Sasuke looked satisfied. The dangerous phase that everyone spent days preparing for was essentially finished within hours.
Thus Team 7 changed directions and began heading toward the center tower. The forest felt quieter now. The mood had beco significantly lighter. The dangerous part was technically over. Naruto was already talking about food. Sakura was discussing what kind of questions might appear in the next phase. Sasuke remained mostly quiet but even he looked far more relaxed than before.
Only Rei remained vigilant.
The Mind's Eye of Kagura continued feeding information into his head constantly. At first it felt overwhelming. At least hundred of chakra signatures filled the forest. It was almost impossible to focus properly. But slowly his brain started filtering out unnecessary information.
Uzumaki clan for the win! No wonder they were erased by the other villages, they are terrifying.
Soon, he felt the one whom Rei was searching for. Among the countless signatures spread throughout the forest, this one stood out like poison mixed into clean water. The sheer malice behind it made Rei stop moving instantly. The ability was really broken, he could even sense the emotions.
He was sure now, that adding Karin and also having Naruto sohow made him the almost perfect Uzumaki. That was new and exciting. But right now he couldn't marvel about his own ability as he was coming. He was heading towards them.
"...Damn."
Sasuke imdiately noticed the change in Rei's expression.
"What happened?"
Before Rei could answer, the forest exploded.
A gigantic snake burst through the trees with enough force to shatter trunks like twigs. The enormous beast opened its jaws wide enough to swallow all of Team 7 in a single bite. Naruto barely escaped. Sakura scread and jumped backward while Sasuke imdiately activated his Sharingan.
Rei's hands blurred through signs.
Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu [Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique]
A massive dragon erupted from the surrounding moisture and slamd directly into the snake. The impact sent the giant creature crashing through several trees and bought them a few precious seconds.
Then a figure appeared. A Grass shinobi. Long black hair and his creepy smile with the long tongue.
The attack was enough to send chill down the spines of everyone here, even Rei who had been expecting attack from him didn't expect such a precise and violent one from this old Sanin.
"My my..." the Grass ninja smiled. "What an interesting group."
The pressure alone was enough to make Sakura visibly pale. Naruto unconsciously stepped backward. Even Sasuke felt his body stiffen. And that was when Rei made his decision.
They could not win. Besides, it wasn't even winning. It was about safeguarding Sasuke. He would deal with this guy later, once he had the chakra under his control. Right now they needed to survive and be away from this person.
"Run."
The word imdiately stunned everyone.
Naruto blinked.
"...What?"
"RUN! You know where to."
This ti Rei shouted. The entire team froze. Because this wasn't sothing Rei did. Rei always had a plan or at least seed to have a plan. This guy had even faced Zabuza in his full force and ca out victorious. Even Kakashi admitted that Rei was a beast and now he was saying them to abandon and run away. They knew where to run away, but running away with tails behind their legs hurt the pride of everyone.
They had co far and now they were running away. But the underlying fact remained, if Rei felt like they couldn't win, they probably couldn't. Naruto and Sasuke clenched their fists and vowed to get stronger.
All this ti, though they progressed they always had this umbrella over them. Kakashi was there and if he wasn't then Rei was there. He was the accumulation of all their abilities which was a huge help to them. Seeing their situation like this, made them angry and also ashad.
"You too." Sakura said.
Rei shook his head.
"I'll follow later."
"No."
"I said I'll follow later."
The tone left absolutely no room for discussion. Even Orochimaru looked amused.
"Trying to protect your teammates?"
"Not really." Rei replied calmly. "I just don't want them dying. Especially not under soone like you."
Orochimaru laughed.
It was not a pleasant sound. The killing intent that followed made Sakura collapse onto her knees instantly. Naruto froze. Even Sasuke struggled to remain standing.
Only Rei remained upright. Not because he was stronger. But because he already knew what Orochimaru was and what he really wanted.
"Go."
This ti Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm. Actually grabbed him. He wanted to stay and fight but Sasuke and Sakura were having none of it and in the next mont, all three of them vanished.
Suiton: Mizurappa [Water Release: Water Trumpet] {The user launches a large jet of water from their mouth through their hand. This gives the appearance of playing a trumpet, hence the na.}
The attack struck Orichimaru and made him retreat with the force of the water jet. Though the jet wasn't able to do heavy damage on him, it did his job.
At first Orochimaru looked amused by the attack but then after a few seconds he slowly realized sothing was wrong. He looked around, and he felt nothing. He wasn't a sensory ninja but that didn't an he was a dud. It didn't take rocket science to realize that this guy knew about him or else he wouldn't have said that he wouldn't win.
anwhile, how co the three ninjas just vanished. It was almost like they teleported. No, it was definitely teleportation or else he would at least sense a bit of Sasuke's and that awful chakra of that jinchuriki from far. So this guy, whom Kabuto had ntioned as interesting, just used teleportation and sent them away.
The smile had long disappeared and for the first ti since the battle began, he looked serious.
"...You."
His voice had beco colder.
"You know who I am."
"I guessed. But now I'm sure. One of the great Sanins, so yeah. I know who you are." Rei replied.
"Hehehe.. Interesting.. Where did you send them?" Orochimaru asked.
"Sowhere you can't find them." Rei replied.
"Oh! Then I will take it out of you." He replied and his neck suddenly grew long and stretched towards Rei in breakneck speed. The attack struck Rei on his neck, but the next instant the body turned into water and fell apart.
Rei appeared higher above on a branch.
---
Read 14 chapters ahead on my [email protected]/thelightedghost
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