The noisy man threw his oversized scythe at Amaya Sensei. In a flash, she unsheathed her katana and parried it. However, the man then charged at her.

“Amaya Sensei!” Reito automatically called out in concern, seeing the three-bladed red sickle was connected to the man by a long tether, which he reeled in with one hand, then proceeded to swing around with savage proficiency as he closed the gap between them.

“Take defensive positions. Don’t interfere!” Amaya Sensei commanded before crossing blades with the enemy.

The boys complied, standing back-to-back with kunais at the ready. “What’s going on? Who are these guys?” Kazuki asked fearfully as their teacher deflected the enemy’s attacks with impressive power and speed.

“I don’t know. Foreign ninja, obviously, but I don’t recognize the symbol on this guy’s headband,” said Reito.

“I do,” said Yuji hesitantly, “I think. It looks like the three diagonal lines of Yu Village, the ninja village in the Land of Hot Springs. There seems to be an extra line, though, as if the symbol’s been crossed out.”

“Yu Village? Didn’t Iruka sensei mention once that they are pacifists now?” Kazuki questioned.

“Maybe that explains why it’s crossed out. This guy doesn’t seem like the pacifist type. It might be a declaration of some kind,” said Reito, observing the man’s vicious attacks and wincing at the pleasure he was deriding from the fight based on his wild laughter and grating screeches of joy.

“Should we help Amaya Sensei?” asked Yuji.

Reito wanted to say yes, wanted to assist their teacher against this unprovoked assault, but he controlled himself. Genins like them would only get in the way. “She told us not to…but be ready to move if she needs us,” he said.

Each impressive clash of weapons created loud clangs and grinding of steel on steel. Amaya Sensei seemed to be keeping up with her opponent just fine, though, despite the awkward shape of his three-bladed scythe being a bad match for a sword. She was highly skilled in Kenjutsu.

“Maybe we should attack the other guy?” Kazuki proposed.

“No!” Reito snapped. That much he knew for sure was a mistake. They needed to stay close to Amaya Sensei right now. He felt sure that she would have told them to flee otherwise. If they separated from her, she wouldn’t be able to help if the second man pursued them. “The longer he stays out of the fight, the better. We don’t know anything about these guys, their reasons for attacking, or their abilities. Just observe for now.”

“I could take a bird’s eye view.”

Reito considered what Kazuki was suggesting. Having him get into sniping position in a nearby tree was a good idea, but he didn’t want to do anything that might cause the second guy to intervene. “Not yet,” he advised. “But be ready to move. Yuji, give Kazuki some tags.”

Just then, Amaya Sensei ducked a swipe of the scarlet scythe and delivered a spin kick to her opponent’s abdomen, sending him flying in the direction of his ally. “Enough of this! Call off your attack and explain yourselves,” she barked. “If you come at me again, I won’t hold back!”

“Hurry up, Hidan,” said the man with the deep voice. “You’re even slower than my previous partner.”

“Screw you, Kakuzu!” the noisy man named Hidan replied as he got to his feet. He then charged at Amaya Sensei again.

“So be it,” said Amaya Sensei, spitting out the toothpick in her mouth and holding her katana out in front of her, parallel to the floor. She then ran her free hand along the steel surface, uttering, “Lightning Style (Raiton): Plasma Blade (Denkōken no) Jutsu.” The blade of the teacher’s katana began to glow bright blue and crackle violently with a mix of Chakra and electricity.

Reito noticed the hairs on his forearms stand on end. He could almost feel the power emanating from the sword.

Hidan didn’t seem to care, though. He continued running at her while yelling a war cry. Amaya Sensei took a fighting stance with her legs braced, and her sword held at her side. When Hidan was in range, she moved in what seemed like the blink of an eye, showing up behind him, her sword now held above her head and pointing in the opposite direction.

Reito couldn’t believe it. He wouldn’t have known she had even swung her sword had it not been for the faint blue arc left by her slash, which seemed to indicate that the fight was over. When Hidan’s upper torso moved in a different direction to his lower body, he knew it was.

“D-did she j-just…?” Kazuki stammered.

When Yuji vomited, Reito felt no need to reply. In fact, as he tried to comprehend the gruesome scene before them—Hidan’s body hitting the floor with two distinct thuds—he had to fight the urge to follow suit. Amaya Sensei had cut the man clean in two.

Amaya Sensei pointed her crackling sword in Kakuzu’s direction. “Explain your actions,” she warned.

Kakuzu closed his eyes with an exasperated sigh.

“AMAYA SENSEI, JUMP!” Reito suddenly pleaded at the top of his voice, the sense of urgency clear in his tone.

The woman responded to her pupil’s warning, but not in time to avoid a small wound to her right calf. Thankfully, it wasn’t deep, but Reito was stunned. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing; neither could Amaya Sensei, judging by the look of bewilderment on her face. On the ground, where his upper half lay, Hidan’s scythe-wielding arm had taken a swing.

“What the…?” Kazuki started.

“I-I don’t understand,” Yuji whispered.

Amaya Sensei dashed back to the man’s body and finished him properly, slicing her katana’s crackling blade through his neck this time. Hidan’s head rolled away from his shoulders, but his arm took another swipe at her with his weapon. “Ouch! I’ll get you for that, bitch! Oi, Kakuzu, you bastard, help me out!” the severed head jeered.

Reito’s jaw dropped as their teacher took a defensive position in front of him and his friends. Ouch? The man’s response to his head being cut off was, “Ouch?” He shouldn’t have a response to that at all! How was this possible?

“Why should I do that?” Kakuzu challenged.

“Because she’s a Lightning Style user,” Hidan’s head spoke. “You’ve been looking for a suitable one to replace the heart that I destroyed, right? If you don’t help, I’ll stab hers, so you can’t have it!”

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes but didn’t respond.

Amaya Sensei’s eyes were wide with fear. Whatever Jutsu was allowing Hidan to survive her fatal attacks, it was obviously something she hadn’t come across before, even as a Jonin. “I’m going to create a distraction,” she announced. “Ready yourselves and prepare to use your team strategy. It will be just like how your exam played out. Got it?”

Reito nodded in understanding, then looked to his friends, seeing comprehension dawn on each of their faces.

“Once they’re caught, make for Shukuda Town at top speed and hide until you can safely send word to Konoha.”

Kazuki looked uncertain. “We… We can’t just leave you, Sensei,” he said.

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“You can and you will. That’s an order!” the teacher responded sternly. “Whoever these guys are, they are not normal opponents. They’ve targeted us with an intent to kill. Your D-rank mission is over. This is an A-rank mission now, and your objective is to escape. Is that clear?”

Reito couldn’t believe what was happening. They were supposed to be on a babysitting mission. Why could anyone want to kill them? Still, he, Kazuki, and Yuji nodded as one, each of them showing perceptible signs of fear; Kazuki swallowing hard, Reito wiping sweat from his brow, and Yuji… Well, he still had remnants of vomit around his mouth.

“Fine, newbie. I’ll patch you up, but don’t damage the heart,” Kakuzu finally answered his ally, walking slowly toward his two body parts.

“Good, good, I’ll make it nice and quick for you. I’ve got what I need now,” Hidan answered sycophantically.

When Kakuzu got close enough to his comrade, Amaya Sensei began weaving Hand Seals. “Go!” She ordered. “Earth Style (Doton): Stone Sabre (Kyoganken no) Jutsu!”

“Formation E!” Reito added. Then, while he and Yuji moved to opposite sides of the road, and Kazuki disappeared into the tree line, Amaya Sensei slammed her hand into the ground, and following some distinct rumbling, three huge, jagged rocks shot out of the earth around Kakuzu’s feet.

However, instead of skewering him like a kebab, the ends of the pointed stones somehow shattered on impact.

“Damn it!” Amaya Sensei cursed. “An iron skin technique? This one’s not normal either.”

Reito could have sworn that what he could see of the man’s skin had darkened for a moment, but his target wasn’t Kakuzu. While he inundated the upper half of Hidan’s body with shurikens, Yuji hit each of the legs with a tagged kunai.

“Oi! Don’t do that, you little shits!” Hidan roared. “Kakuzu, hurry up!”

Reito tried not to dwell on the absurdity of the moment, what should have been a corpse complaining about being wounded by their weapons.

When Kakuzu reached for his partner’s torso section, Reito triggered his little trap, setting off his miniature explosive shurikens. Hidan didn’t seem to like that, which he enjoyed, but just like at their exam, the point wasn’t to injure the man and his comrade, it was to distract them. As before, amidst the confusion, Kazuki had struck from his hiding place.

Amaya Sensei suddenly leaped forward, her lightning-covered sword raised high over her head, ready to deliver a downward slash, and Yuji activated the first of three tagged arrows that now resided in Kakuzu’s shadow. “Shadow Tag (Kage Fuda no) Jutsu!” he rasped.

They had done it. The man wouldn’t be able to dodge or defend against their teacher’s sword attack now. While Naruto was bragging about doing a C-rank mission, Team Four, the rookie Genin underdogs, had engaged in real combat and helped their instructor fend off two dangerous A-rank opponents.

Sadly, that wasn’t how their story would go. The moment before Amaya Sensei swung her sword down, something very strange occurred, which was saying something given what had taken place up to that point. From the neck of Kakuzu’s cloud-patterned cloak, a black shape emerged, and the mouth of what looked like a mask opened. In the next moment, Reito found himself blown off his feet, spinning uncontrollably through the air.

He stopped moving when he collided hard with a tree. There was no time to dwell on the pain in his back, though. He had to get to his feet. Using the tree for support, he managed it, but it was a while before his equilibrium returned, and he could survey the scene around him.

For a second, Reito thought he must still be dizzy, but the branches of the trees on either side of the road really were all leaning in one direction. Whatever it was that popped out of Kakuzu’s back, it had released a powerful Wind Style Jutsu that had blown them away. Just who were these guys, and what did they want?

At that moment, Amaya Sensei appeared next to Reito, cradling an unconscious Yuji in her arms. There was a bloody gash on the side of his head. “He’s alive. Take him,” she said, surprisingly calm. “Did you see where my katana went?”

“Yuji!” Reito said as he took his friend’s arm around his shoulder before remembering himself. “No. No, I don’t know where it is. Amaya Sensei… What do we do?”

“Nothing’s changed. I just need to create a bigger distraction than planned. I can’t do that with you around. You’ll take Yuji. As soon as I employ my next Jutsu.”

“What about Kazuki?”

“We’ll just have to hope he’s okay. Yuji needs you. Now, what are they up to?”

Reito’s stomach fell. One of his friends was knocked out, the other was missing, and his teacher wanted him to abandon one to save the other. The strategic side of his brain understood that this was the best course of action in such circumstances, but his heart was in turmoil.

“Focus, Reito!”

“Right,” he answered, turning to the now distant point in the road where they had been previously.

“What on earth?” said Amaya Sensei, looking with disgust through a simple extendable telescope she had pulled from her tool pouch.

Reito pulled his out as well. He spotted two of Yuji’s Shadow Tags burning—he must have activated the second before his injury—but unless his eyes were deceiving him, Kakuzu’s hand had detached from his arm. It snaked around his body on some kind of cord and pulled Kazuki’s arrows out of the ground. “Are these… Are these guys even ninjas? Are they even human?” Reito exclaimed.

Once free of his restraints, Kakuzu picked up Hidan’s head by the hair and kicked his top section toward his lower body.

“I don’t like the look of this. I’m going to move now. When I use my Jutsu, you’ll have to move quickly to avoid getting caught up in it. You ready?” said Amaya Sensei.

Reito couldn’t believe how casual his teacher was being. What did she mean, was he ready? Ready for what? Ready to abandon her and Kazuki and run to Shukuda Town with Yuji on his aching back, in the faint hope that he could outrun these monsters? How could he be ready for such a thing?

“It’ll be alright, Reito. I’m going to make them pay for harming my teammates,” she said with a reassuring smile.

Reito wiped away an errant tear and nodded fervently. “I’ll wait for your signal,” he said croakily.

“Good boy,” said Amaya Sensei in a motherly way, gripping his shoulder comfortingly. Then, she was gone.

Following her with his scope, he watched the woman return to the road and approach Kakuzu. However, he wasn’t alone there now. Inexplicably standing next to him was his partner, somehow fully intact by all appearances. They really were monsters.

Hidan wasn’t just standing still, though. His legs were moving strangely. Reito wondered if Yuji’s tagged kunai were affecting him, but the unconscious boy hadn’t had a chance to activate the backup hindrance, and they didn’t appear to be planted in his legs anymore. That was when the shape on the floor became apparent.

Using the blood that had been spilled earlier, Hidan had drawn a seal of some sort on the ground—a triangle in a circle. He had marked it using the bottom of his heel, explaining his odd movement. Reito wished he could hear what they were saying to each other, but the distance was too great. He turned his attention back to Amaya Sensei, watching for her signal.

The air around her was distorted. She was amassing a huge amount of Chakra, but why hadn’t the enemies responded? That was when Reito noticed. Hidan looked different all of a sudden. His skin had turned jet black, and there were white markings on it. Whatever he was up to, it appeared to be too late. Amaya Sensei was weaving a ridiculously long Hand Seal sequence at an incredible rate.

“Here we go, Yuji,” Reito said to his sleeping friend, hoisting him onto his back, wincing from the effort. Something big was about to happen. After a few more uneventful seconds, that big thing hadn’t come, so without dropping Yuji, he awkwardly raised his scope back to his eye and stared through it in shock. Hidan was grinning widely and had run himself through the abdomen with a rod-like weapon.

Was this it, was this Amaya Sensei’s Jutsu? Had she controlled the man’s body somehow? No, that didn’t make any sense. Reito was certain she had been about to unleash something pretty impressive, something along the lines of the Jutsu that she had wrecked Training Ground Six with. It would have to be to create the kind of distraction needed for Reito to get away. Besides, making her opponent stab himself didn’t seem like her style.

Looking at his teacher, a cold chill ran up Reito’s spine. Her hand was shaking, covered in blood. There was a red mark growing on the back of her flak jacket. She had been stabbed. And in the same spot as the enemy. This wasn’t her Jutsu. It was his. He had done this. Reito racked his brain. What was it that he had said earlier… something about a ritual?

“No,” Reito whimpered, watching Hidan stab himself once more, then seeing his teacher lurch in pain and cough up blood in response. “No, no, no, no. He’s got some other weird power. He’s passing on his damage to her!”

What happened next stole what was left of Reito’s hope. An arrow pierced the center of Hidan’s chest. A perfect bullseye to the heart. Kazuki… He was alive. But despite his impressive sight, he hadn’t understood what he was seeing. He thought he was saving their teacher, but in actuality, he had just killed her.

Dropping to his knees at the same moment Amaya Sensei did, Yuji sliding off his back, Reito watched openmouthed, consumed with fear and shock, as Kakuzu’s hand extended into the trees and pulled Kazuki out by his ankle. The boy struggled in vain like a fish on a line until the large man struck him on the back of the neck.

Whether his friend was dead or just unconscious, Reito wasn’t sure. All he knew for certain was that he was next. After what could have been minutes or only seconds, Kakuzu appeared before him. “Why?” he asked, thinking of how his mother, father, and sister would react if he didn’t make it home, tears streaming down his face. “We’re just kids! Why are you doing this?”

“Money,” Kakuzu replied unapologetically. “You four were on my list. I don’t ask why.” He then lifted Reito from the floor by the scruff of his t-shirt.

From somewhere deep within, driven by the need to defend Yuji, Reito found the courage and calm needed to drive a concealed kunai into the man’s neck. It wouldn’t pierce the skin, though, perhaps because of the man’s defensive Jutsu, or more likely owing to his own state of shock. There hadn’t been any strength behind his last desperate act.

When Kakazu casually broke his wrist in response, Reito’s cry of pain lasted just a moment. Then, with a hard whack to the back of his head, his vision went black.