TrueSavant
Junior Member
Somewhere in the Land of Fire...
Droplets of blood streaked the shaded air, as a young man weaved the seals of typical shinobi art, the wound self-inflicted on his thumb. The chirps of birds and the rustle of leaves were the only things that could be heard at the current moment. It was a peaceful afternoon, at least, peaceful enough for those who were unaware. It was true, the shinobi were crippled, as were the Kakureyami, but the fight was not over. Not for Kaiero Kizikure.
"Summoning Technique!"
A palm slammed onto the bark of the mighty tree branch he crouched upon, and with a scatter of lettering in a circular pattern, a puff of white smoke erupted and the hand pulled back as he nursed his wound. As the smoke faded away, there sat two small foxes, each of the opposite color black and white. They regarded the summoner with a look of curious familiarity. Silence. They were being watched by something unknown to them, and it took little communication for the two fox pups to key into the tension in the air. Their little noses twitched as the female, the white coated turned her head to regard what was below them...
"I'm telling you, the disappearances are nothing but a rumor! I guarantee you that those who 'disappeared' merely flaked and left!" A nasally voice rang out from below the branch the blonde-haired shinobi was residing. The crunch of leaves was getting louder, reinforcements? This didn't bode too well for Kaiero, but he figured he would be discovered and cornered if he tried to leave now. After all, he didn't plan on engaging more than maybe one or two of them. Time to think strategically and make it out alive.
"You're full of it, Sazaki, we wouldn't have been sent here if there wasn't someone posing a problem for us." Another voice rang out. More crunching leaves. Rustling of grass. He counted five of them in total, trying very hard not to lean over as much as he could so as not to risk them looking up. Akki, the black fox, shunted his head to the side to tell him that the majority were below on his left, while Akku was keeping a firm eye on the leader to the right. Unzipping one of the pouches on his Chunin flak jacket, Kaiero reached in and pulled out a small stack of shuriken, careful not to click them together too much. Now was the time to spring into action, at least he thought so.
A moment of hesitation, a moment of pause. He didn't have enough information to go off on. Who were these people, were they Kakureyami? There wasn't a way to definitively tell from where he was, and he couldn't quite let himself off if he it wasn't the target he had intended. His thoughts were interrupted however, when a white paw rested on his knee. Looking over, Akku gave him a reassuring look and a nod, confirming his suspicions. It was time to move.
Leaping from the branch, hovering in the air, Kaiero quickly scanned the floor below. As was his thoughts, there were five of them. All wielded swords and noticed him immediately, drawing them. The blond-haired man weaved his signs while still in the air, carefully juggling the shuriken in hand so he wouldn't cut himself doing so. Heat surrounded his hands as the crackle of electricity could be heard in the air. Throwing the shuriken in a scattered pattern, he called out, "Lightning Release: Shuriken Net Technique!"
Links of arced lightning jumped from shuriken to shuriken, creating a launched net of sorts that came at the Kakureyami with incredible speed. However, it fell short, as the one in the back gathered their spiritual energy to manifest a barrier in front of them all which deflected the net. "W-What?! Impossible!" Kaiero cried out, bewildered at their reaction time.
His thoughts were interrupted as a force hit him from the side, sending him barreling into the tree beside him with a thud. Kaiero felt the bones in his left arm crack as the impact left a dent into the bark. Falling to the forest floor, he quickly scrambled to his feet, holding his wounded arm as the Kakureyami surrounded him. "Shinobi! Get him!" They called out, leaving Kaiero little time to act. Lifting his broken limb, he tried to weave more signs.
"Oh, no, not this time!" The leader called out to him, and before Kaiero could finish his jutsu a sword impaled him by the shoulder and stuck into the tree to keep him rooted there. Stepping back, the leader allowed his subordinates to move in for the kill, but they were unable to. As they moved, a white blur shot underneath them and they found themselves tripped and on the ground. Another black blur shot out in front of Kaiero, and the steel of the blade that had him impaled snapped in twain. Pushing off the rest of it, Kaiero brought his good arm to the now bleeding hole in him, as he concentrated his chakra. 'Lightning Release: Static Nerve Technique!'
Moving with incredible speed and dexterity, the shinobi moved to engage his enemy. They barely had time to get to their feet before one was met with a swift kick to the ribs by Kaiero. An audible crack was a pleasing sound to him, this time, for once it wasn't him taking the hits here. Moving from foe to foe, he was dispatching them one by one, that is, until he tried to strike on the leader.
Birds scattered, a loud crack. Kaiero stopped in his tracks as he looked down. A fist was shunted into his chest, his own ribs cracking this time as he looked up to the eyes of the leader, who gave off a cheeky smirk. "You're done, shinobi." This projection of spiritual energy was discharged into the blonde, sending him flying back into the tree, again. Blood sprayed from the lips of Kaiero, and he slumped forth. Once more they closed in for the kill, rather, their leader did.
I only have one chance to avoid dying here, he thought to himself. Time was running out, and he had to act. Raising his arms, one in excruciating pain, he weaved a few more signs as quickly as he could. Luckily, the one manifesting the barrier was on the ground, out cold. However, their leader was not planning on letting him get away with this.
"Wind Release: Gale Kick Technique!" They met on even ground, a weakened shinobi with nothing to lose here. As the distortion of air surrounded his leg, he swung it out at the Kakureyami command, as he brought a fist to Kaiero's chest. Another loud crack resounded as both combatants were sent into the ground a few feet back, more blood shooting from Kaiero's mouth as the enemy lay there still and lifeless. It was over, he won the battle. Ragged breathing came from him as he crawled away from the scene as far as he could go. Blood trailed behind him, leaving a distinct trail of where the battle took place.
Kaiero carried on for a mile or so like this, making sure he was well away from the bodies before he collapsed on his face. Akku and Akki, the two foxes that aided him came to his side, nudging him to make sure he was still conscious. "He's not doing well at all..." the white fox remarked with a frown. Akki rolled his eyes and turned away from the two and began wandering off.
"W-Wait, where do you think you're going, brother?!" She called out to him. Looking back over a shoulder, the black fox scoffed and turned back to his path. There was no need for words between the two, though Akku tended to be the more vocal of the two. Yet she understood, Akki was heading off to find help for Kaiero, wherever he could. Meanwhile, Kaiero was rather pale, he was losing blood fast. The odds of his survival were not good, and Akku feared her brother would not return in time to help her summoner and friend...
