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Let love and faithfulness never leave you.
Proverbs 3:3
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The air echoed with labored breaths, as Hayato and Ryohei found themselves in the Lions' den, completely exhausted.
"Ryo, you good? You seem tired," Hayato asked.
Ryohei snapped back, "Coming from you. I can do this all day."
Daichi watched the duo, and his eyes widened as he remembered something.
"I forgot. There was supposed to be another person here!"
The old man brandished a kunai.
"It's alright old man, there are also several Shinobi stationed at the end of the bridge," Raiko shrugged.
Daichi looked at Raiko, and raised his concern, "If these kids are this tough, do you think the people there could even handle it?"
"Well... shit," Raiko supported, wielding a Kunai, and Kenta wielded his katana. Tora on the other hand, was stuck for a while.
"We should've stationed several there as well. We miscalculated," Daichi snapped his tongue.
Tora spoke, "I mean... Can you blame us? They called us out of nowhere and didn't give us enough time to prepare."
He nonchalantly stated, blaming the higher-ups for their incapability.
Daichi stared at the fallen Tora, and meeting his glare, Tora started to slightly sweat. "I mean... I'm not wrong am I?"
Daichi turned away, leaving Tora unanswered, and declared, "Boys, full power!"
"Aye," Raiko and Kenta affirmed, all simultaneously radiating an aura of bloodlust.
"Here they come," Hayato spoke, his sword engulfed in a brilliant, electric yellow.
"Yeah, we must not lose," Ryohei took an attacking stance.
The Jonins halted simultaneously much to Hayato's and Ryohei's surprise.
A blur ran across the large cloud of dust behind Hayato and Ryohei, and the masked duo heaved a sigh of relief.
"About time," Hayato spoke.
"Yeah," Ryohei supported.
Emerging at bullet speed between the duo was a red haired man in his early twenties. He vaulted forth, wielding a katana.
Roshi's sword met with the nape of the wise, aged Jonin.
However, Daichi intercepted in time, blocking the attack.
"Roshi!" Daichi exclaimed.
"Oy Roshi, what are you doing?" Raiko called, however, Roshi merely looked back with a predatory focus.
Raiko involuntarily stepped back, sweat trickling by his temple as he felt he stood before a beast, a predator far beyond his capabilities of handling, a predator mirroring the 4 tails!
"Kaede has escaped," Roshi spoke.
"Nice, so we've done our part," Hayato concluded. Ryohei nodded in acknowledgment.
"Hayato, Ryohei, I only have 10 seconds, so we're going all out!" Roshi, or rather, Aiko commanded.
"Aye," Hayato and Ryohei saluted, and immediately, the trio became a blur.
Roshi leaped into the air, weaving multiple signs...
'I think he did it like this...'
Aiko thought, weaving signs... 'Yeah, I can feel it,' a grin formed on Roshi's face, before chanting, "Lava Style: Magma Bullets!"
Small orbs of molten lava rushed forth, and the Iwagakure Jonin trio were left with no option but to engage against their ally.
Daichi, despite his old age, elegantly somersaulted into the air, weaving hand signs; "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu."
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Multiple torrents of flame rushed toward Roshi, but even suspended in mid-air, Roshi dodged ever so easily and continued to fire Magma Bullets.
"Old man, what's going on?!" Raiko questioned.
"I don't know... Hypnosis perhaps..." Daichi replied, dodging the Magma Bullets, but still in deep contemplation...
The trio of Hidden Stone Jonins jumped back gracefully.
"Crap," Tora cursed, as a magma projectile seemed to hurl his way, but he was immobilised right now.
Closing his eyes, he decided to accept his fate...
Suddenly, he felt a painful sensation on his hip.
"Ugh," Tora grumbled, facing the brunt of Kenta's kick, which enabled Tora to avoid the magma bullets.
Additonally, Kenta weaved multiple signs, and chanted, "Earth Style: Mud Wall."
"Kenta, damn you, that hurt," Tora whined.
The trio, and the wounded Tora were now encased in rock, momentarily increasing their defenses.
A bead of sweat formed by Tora's head, as the indifferent Jonins didn't bat an eye at him, and not even Kenta, who kicked him. A palpable silence prevailed, as they stared at Daichi, awaiting his answer...
"Yamanaka!" Daichi exclaimed.
"Yamanaka... That makes sense," Raiko nodded in approval.
"Yeah, it must be that technique... I don't know how she managed to get into his conscience, but we need to wake him up somehow!" Daichi asserted.
Kenta turned to Tora, "Tora, you can move right?"
"Yeah, I'm low on chakra, but I can make it work," Tora affirmed, his eyes resolute.
"Good," Kenta acknowledged.
"By the way, that kick still hurts you bastard," Tora commented.
Kenta looked back, "Do I look like I care?"
"Tsk, damn you," Tora could only click his tongue.
Scattering omnidirectionally, they eyed their enemies with new motives.
Daichi glanced upon the land, the where he could see Ryohei, who stared at him with his byakugan, but he looked around, trying to locate Roshi.
Daichi took a deep breath in, rotating his neck to locate his ally; "ROSHI, WAKE U-!"
*DRIP* *DRIP*
Roshi paused, dread lingering as he witnessed a horrific sight.
The splatter of blood echoed in the minds of the Hidden Stone Jonins. All of them broke into a cold sweat, absorbing the view.
The Yamanaka clan's jutsu is strong, but there have been instances where people were able to break out of it, especially when the people entranced heard the voices of their allies, and that would shake them up.
However, Aiko was already aware of this and knew that it was strongly applicable to Jinchurukis. Invading a Jinchuruki's conscience is considered impossible most of the time due to the tailed beast's intervention.
But ultimately, it all came down to mental strength, and even with Aiko's mental strength, she could only use Roshi's body for 10 seconds... Which was far more than enough.
So Daichi planned to call out to Roshi, and wake him up, but...
A crimson fluid flowed down Roshi's left chest, impaled by a sword wielded by Hayato.
Hayato's sword pressed deeper, piercing the heart of the Jonin before Roshi fell, dead!
Aiko had already commanded Hayato to pierce the heart and kill him, leaving the Iwagakure Jonins stunned. His action had already been fulfilled a few seconds after the Jonins cast a Mud Wall.
Hayato looked at the corpse, musing, 'That felt weird.'
To confirm his action, he decided to stab again, but...
"Lightning Style: Lightning Dragon Jutsu!" Kenta declared, releasing a brilliant streak of light at breakneck speed.
Hayato managed to evade with ease, but was unable to confirm his action.
...
"Let's g- !"
Daichi paused.
The trio of Iwagakure, Raiko, Kenta, and Daichi, sensed a signature from above, and a female ANBU member with a dog mask somersaulted elegantly in the air, her hand weaving a single sign, but the trio immediately knew what the technique was!
Daichi, with no room for thinking, commanded Raiko and Kenta, "QUICK, LET'S G-"
However, Daichi immediately stopped speaking, his kunai raised, pressing the throat of Kenta.
Raiko and Kenta jumped back immediately, while Kenta was slightly grazed on the nape!
"Shit," Raiko cursed. Everything was starting to fall apart!
Hayato on the other hand, caught the unconscious Aiko at light speed, who was suspended in mid-air, and kept her safely cradled in his arms.
"ROSHI, GET UP NOW!" Raiko yelled at the dead Jinchuruki, however, he remained unanswered.
"OLD MAN, WAKE UP!" Kenta yelled at the old man, known as Daichi.
"RYOHEI!" Daichi, or otherwise, Aiko called. Ryohei immediately followed, wielding a Kunai, and lunging toward the possessed Daichi, and...
*SCHLUK*
Ryohei pierced through the heart of the old man!
"OLD MAN!" Raiko yelled.
Meanwhile, Aiko, who was cradled in the arms of Hayato, lifted her mask, revealing a mischievous smile across her pink lips.
"Thank you," she whispered, draping her arms around Hayato like a maiden in love, playfully lifting his mask, and bringing her lips close to his exposed cheek...
Hayato's face reddened as he felt her icy cold breath tingling his skin, his heart racing in anticipation. But Aiko paused, smirking before releasing herself and standing her ground. Processing what just happened, Hayato immediately scurried back with his hand on his cheek, "O-Oy, s-sensei," he stammered sheepishly, his face as red as a strawberry.
"It didn't even touch, relax kiddo," Aiko shrugged.
"S-Sensei!" Hayato yelled, to which Aiko chuckled.
"Ha, look at your face," Ryohei patted Hayato's shoulder from behind.
"Shut up man," Hayato smacked his hand.
Ryoheo smiled, and added, "Now you know how it feels to be played around like that."
Aiko interjected, "Seems to me you really wanted it Hayato, I wouldn't mind you know," she blew a kiss.
Hayato folded his arms and looked away, "As if, from an old hag like you, no thanks!"
Veins protruded by Aiko's side, and she wryly laughed, "You're dead when we get home!"
Cracking her knuckles, she approached the remaining 2 Jonins, and declared, "Who's next?"
Kenta's frown became a smile, his lips parting as he whispered inaudibly, "You!"
The earth beneath Aiko cracked, and one of her legs was caught by another hand. However, Aiko smashed the ground with Gale Palm and jumped back in time.
Tora emerged from the ground, a sinister smile gracing his countenance...
"Gotcha."
Unbeknownst to Aiko, a mini white bug with 6 legs crawled up her leg, igniting a fearsome glow.
Pointing at Aiko in a gun motion, Tora whispered, "Boom."
*BOOM*
A resounding explosion echoed across the terrain, as Aiko's figure was engulfed in smoke!
Hayato's mouth twitched, eyes widened in dismay, the sapphire in his eyes losing its luster, replaced by a fiery orange reflecting the area Aiko had formerly stood on, which was now engulfed in flames and smoke.
Ryohei, too, was lost for words.
Beads of sweat traced their way down the boys's cheeks, and finally, the reality of their predicament dawned on them.
"SENSEI!" the duo yelled in agony, as they watched their sensei blown to smithereens!