Sato Yoshisuke stood tall, facing Black Scorpion with cold resolve. "First, the servants' terror; second, the constant surveillance by the guards; third, the Lord's refusal to show his face; and finally—this poison in the food."
"So, you deduced from that that we aren't Jonin?" Black Scorpion curled his lip into a chilling sneer.
"If you truly had the power of a Jonin, you wouldn't need such redundant theatrics."
Black Scorpion suddenly burst into laughter! It was a wild, arrogant sound that echoed through the hall. "True enough. But did you consider another possibility? I may not be a Jonin, but I have enough to take all of you down right here."
Before his voice even faded, over twenty guards appeared on the surrounding walls. Each held a crossbow, the tips of the bolts shimring with a sickly green light—clearly coated in a potent toxin.
Yoshisuke's face darkened. He glanced toward the gate where the fat City Lord was hiding behind a line of soldiers. It was clear the Lord had already beco a puppet for these rogues.
"Fire!"
At Black Scorpion's command, a volley of bolts whistled through the air.
"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"
Yoshisuke flashed five seals in a single second. A wall of solid earth surged from the floor, absorbing the brunt of the bolts.
However, the wall's width was limited; several bolts bypassed the flanks.
Shisui's figure flickered, effortlessly sidestepping two projectiles. Harusa and Yuki scrambled for cover, while Naoto deflected incoming bolts with his kunai, the tallic clinking sound incessant.
As the first wave ended, the room was a shambles. Yoshisuke barked out orders: "Takigawa, with to stall Black Scorpion! Yuki, take the boy! Harusa, handle the woman! Naoto, clear the guards!"
"Understood!"
The five split instantly, locking onto their targets.
Black Scorpion watched Yoshisuke and Shisui charge toward him, a smirk playing on his lips. He slamd his hands together: "Earth Style: Rock Pillar Jutsu!"
Sharp stone spikes erupted from the ground. Yoshisuke rolled to the side, flicking three shuriken in mid-air. Black Scorpion dodged with practiced ease, drawing a kunai and lunging forward.
The two clashed. Sparks flew from their blades, illuminating the lingering mist. Yoshisuke's Taijutsu was disciplined and precise, aiming for vitals; Black Scorpion lacked formal training but made up for it with raw strength and a vicious, desperate fighting style.
They were evenly matched in raw power, but Black Scorpion's "do-or-die" aura gave him a psychological edge. Fortunately, Shisui was "assisting" from the sidelines.
He would toss a kunai here or a shuriken there—his attacks were always perfectly tid to distract Black Scorpion, but he carefully avoided becoming the primary target.
After twenty exchanges, Yoshisuke was breathing heavily. A seed of doubt, planted earlier that day, began to sprout in his mind.
Takigawa's performance... it's wrong. It was too precise. It felt like Shisui was intentionally maintaining the balance of the fight.
Twice, Shisui had a clear opening to cripple Black Scorpion, but he chose conservative distractions instead.
"Takigawa! Stop holding back! Full assault!" Yoshisuke roared.
"Understood!" Shisui replied, but his movents remained exactly as they were.
Elsewhere, the battles were reaching a fever pitch. Yuki was struggling against Little Bug; the boy fought with a suicidal ferocity that forced Yuki into a defensive stance.
Harusa and Red Butterfly were locked in a high-speed dance of blades, their respective skills in Ninjutsu and Sensory perception constantly negating one another.
anwhile, Naoto had already cut down eight guards, his superior Taijutsu making quick work of the common soldiers, though their sheer numbers were beginning to wear him down.
Black Scorpion began to retreat, leading Yoshisuke and Shisui deeper into the abandoned estate behind the mansion.
Yoshisuke pursued relentlessly, but as they traded blows among the ruins, his breathing grew ragged. His limbs felt like lead.
Suddenly, he felt a warmth under his nose. He wiped it—blood.
It wasn't just his nose; blood began to seep from the corners of his mouth. His vision blurred.
"Poison..." Yoshisuke gasped.
The retreat had been a lure. The real weapon was a colorless, odorless toxin dispersed throughout this specific area of the ruins. It was Black Scorpion's "Ho Field" trap.
"Noticed it?" Black Scorpion stopped retreating. "Too late. My Scorpion Venom takes ten minutes to manifest. By my count, you're right on schedule."
Yoshisuke stumbled, dropping to one knee. He looked back at Shisui, who stood a few paces away, seemingly unaffected.
"You... why..." Yoshisuke wheezed.
Shisui said nothing, watching him with an inscrutable expression.
Black Scorpion also noticed the anomaly. He frowned at Shisui. "You're not poisoned? Impossible, you've been breathing the sa air—" He paused, then laughed.
"Ah, I see. You were cautious enough to stay on the periter of the field. No matter. Once I finish him, I'll deal with you."
Black Scorpion assud Shisui was either a coward or that there was internal friction within the squad. Either way, he believed he had won. It was a sha about the Chunin, though; a village-trained ninja would have known far more valuable jutsu than the Genin.
Yoshisuke coughed up a spray of black blood. Sensing the end, Black Scorpion lunged for the kill. Yoshisuke desperately raised his twin kunai to parry, but his strength was gone.
Within monts, he was disard, one kunai flying into the shadows as he collapsed.
Black Scorpion let out a manic laugh, his eyes wide with bloodlust. He delivered a brutal kick that sent Yoshisuke sprawling, then raised his short blade for a final, lethal thrust into the Captain's chest.
In that microsecond—
The air around Black Scorpion curdled. Sound vanished. The world turned into a frozen, monochromatic still-fra.
Genjutsu? Black Scorpion's mind scread. How? He knew about the poison field—how did he get close enough? And this level of illusion... he's just a Genin!
Before his panicked thoughts could resolve, the world snapped back. But the positions had shifted.
Yoshisuke was no longer a helpless victim; he was gripped by a sudden, unnatural surge of adrenaline. With a primal roar, Yoshisuke drove his remaining kunai upward in a desperate arc.
A silver flash crossed Black Scorpion's throat. Blood erupted in a violent spray as the rogue leader's head was nearly severed.
Yoshisuke collapsed, gasping for air, his chest heaving as the adrenaline faded. He turned his head slowly to look at Shisui.
His gaze was no longer one of camaraderie; it was filled with profound, chilling stranger-danger.
Shisui stood over the scene, a gentle, warm smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes.
"The Captain was suspicious of , wasn't he?" Shisui asked softly.
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