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Blood waters (Chapter 29)
🕑 Added 2023-11-21 19:08:39 +0000 UTCChapter 29
Today, Utakata celebrated his thirteenth birthday. It was almost three years since the Demon Fox attacked Leaf and signed a peace agreement with the Mist. He didn’t celebrate it. He only made sure to remember it as nobody besides him knew it. Or, more likely, nobody cared to know it as it wasn’t hard to access the orphanage's documents and find his date of birth.
The years passed fast, going from one mission to another. A bandit group always threatened some nobles of the Land of the Water, foreign shinobi trying to infiltrate, or a request for an assassination. The Mist took all the missions they could get without much consideration. After all, the Mist had lost the most in the previous war. They needed to get their reputation as Bloody Mist back.
Utakata thought that after the war, he would be more free. He thought he could choose the missions he wanted to take by being chosen as one of the Seven Swordsmen, but it wasn’t like that. The village sent the Seven Swordsmen out more than any other shinobi to show strength. Now, instead of the Seven Swordsmen being the heroic and elite force of the Mist, it become the most bloodlust group.
Utkata’s abilities have improved quite a lot in time. Even though he didn’t have much time to train on his jutsu, his skill with his sword has improved drastically. Constantly fighting with his weapon made him an expert in using it. But mastering his sword was just the beginning of what he wanted to accomplish, so whenever he had time, he would try to train his resistance to the six-tails chakra.
Now, he could use a tails chakra cloak, but only for an extended time. His body still wasn’t strong enough to handle the strain the tailed beast’s chakra put him under. But with time, he believed that he could master it. He only needed to keep up with his training and grow stronger. He was only limited by his child's body.
“There you are!” Ringo liked to find Utakata to annoy him. “Let’s fight.”
It angered Ringo that Utakata was already taller than Ringo even though he was younger than her. She barely grew in the years and would try to show her annoyance by challenging him to a fight. While Utakata never used his tailed-beast chakra cloak, he still never lost to her, and most of the time, it would come to a draw, which only angered Ringo more.
“Not now,” Utakata replied as he cleaned the Sewing Needle.
Even though Utakata didn’t celebrate his birthday, he still wanted to spend it alone. He liked to think about the life he lived in this kill-to-live world. He would like to blame this world for the life he was forced into, but ultimately, he chose it and decided to live like this. But it didn’t mean he couldn’t curse this village and the circumstances he found himself in.
“Common, let’s do it,” Ringo threw a tantrum as she tried to push Utakata to do as she wanted.
“That's enough, miss Ameyuri,” Master Harusame said as he entered the courtyard looking for Utakata. “Lord Mizukage has summoned both of you.”
While Ringo groaned in annoyance, Utakata was already walking to meet Mizukage. Seeing that Utakata had already left, Ringo quickly tried to keep up. While on the way, Utakata couldn’t help but think it was the first time Yagura summoned him and Ringo simultaneously. They never had a mission where they had to work together before.
It became even more suspicious when the rest of the Seven Swordsmen joined them as they entered the Mizukage office. But Utakata didn’t have time to think about it because as soon as he walked in, he sensed Yagura’s chakra. He could tell that something was wrong with it; others might think nothing of it, but Utakata knew better.
Yagura was under genjutsu. Utakata could tell that something was mixed in with his chakra. It was a slight change; Utakata would have missed sensing it if he hadn’t been looking for it. Utakata knew that Yagura would fall under genjutsu soon, but it was still discouraging to Utakata as he now didn’t know what he could expect from Yagura.
Utakata didn’t know how good other sensors were in the Mist, but he doubted anyone but Ao with his Byakugan could notice it. Now, Utakata didn’t know what he should do. He would have to explain that he hid his sensing abilities if he informed anyone of it. And it was the last trump card he possessed and didn’t want to reveal to anyone.
“I see that everyone is here,” Yagura said. He didn’t seem to be acting weirdly, but Utakata would have to watch out for something that didn’t fit with Yagura.
“It is the first time since I joined that we all were summoned,” Kisame commented. “What is the occasion?”
“Circumstances demanded it,” Yagura replied. “We have a rebellion upon our hands.”
There were various reactions among the seven of them. But it only ranged from indifference to a gleeful smile. While Utakata wasn’t concerned with it, Kisame and Ringo seemed excited. No one said a thing, and waited for Yagura to continue. Before continuing, Yagura glanced over them, trying to discern their thoughts.
“It came to my attention that the Kaguya clan has started marching to the village,” Yagura informed them. “They refuse to explain themselves and won’t listen to any orders to disperse. So, we concluded that they were planning on attacking us. The seven of you are to stop them and kill every single one of them.”
There was no need even to confirm that the Kaguya clan were rebellious. They failed to explain their actions and refused to listen to direct orders. That was enough to warrant their execution. Utakata wasn’t even surprised. He just sighed and left with the other Seven Swordsmen. It would be the same fate for him if he didn’t listen to the orders.
…
The Kaguya clan estate was outside the village. Like most of the clans, they lived in their little communities. But the Kaguya clan was even more isolated than other clans because even the Mist didn’t like the Kaguya clan’s lust for battle. It would be fine if they were as intelligent as they were violent, but their lust for battle put others in danger.
That is why they were left to act alone in the previous war. They were great fighters, but that was when their usefulness ended. Utakata didn’t know them personally as he hadn’t interacted with them before. It didn’t even feel like they belonged to the village. Maybe that is why they decided to rebel against it, even if it was foolish.
“There they are,” Jinpanchi Munashi, wielder of Splash, a sword that has a scroll full of explosive tags incorporated into it, said, licking his lips in excitement.
“They can’t even take off a few guards stationed here,” Fuguki Suikazan, wielder of Twinsword, a weapon capable of storing and emitting the user's chakra, which can then take on various forms, commented. “How foolish of them to try to challenge the village.”
Utakata ignored the senior members of the Seven Swordsmen and concentrated on the battle before him. Even though the words obscured his vision, he still sensed the battle. The few guards, as Fuguki said, weren’t so few. There were forty of them facing sixty of the Kaguya Clan. The smell of blood and the sound of the clash indicated that the battle had been going on for a while.
“Fighting our fellow shinobi, how far are we going to fall,” Jinin muttered to himself, but everyone heard him. “Let’s finish this disgrace upon the Mist.”
There was no plan or teamwork. The Seven of them split up almost immediately after entering the woods. Still, Utakata made sure to watch what they were doing. Jinin, with a laugh, cut down the trees before him and the enemy. Jinpashi didn’t care about his comrades and unleashed explosions, injuring the guards but ultimately killing members of the Kaguya clan.
Utakata would have joined the battle, too, as he wanted to end it quickly. But he sensed something wrong with the Kaguya clan. Making sure he was right, he concentrated his senses on them and found that their chakra was mixed in a foreign chakra similar to Yagura's. They were under the genjutsu too. At this point, Utakata wasn’t surprised, but it made him feel even worse for killing them.
Still, he couldn’t hold back as the Kaguya clan was still not backing off, even with the Seven Swordsmen joining the battle. Even though the initial attack pushed them back, the Kaguya clan, with their bone blades, quickly started to defend against the Seven Swordsmen and fought back. The senior members and Kisame had no problem facing them, but Zabuza, Ringo, and Utakata could barely fight two at once.
Even after stabbing them repeatedly, they wouldn’t fall, so Utakata could only sew them together and leave for others to finish them before he started the next fight. The deeper they entered the woods, the more dead bodies of Mist shinobi could be found. It seemed that before they arrived, the Kaguya clan had already killed more than fifty of the Mist shinobi.
The Kaguya clan was a threat. Their bodies were strong and sturdy. Their fighting style was brutal and bloody. They epitomized what the Mist wanted their shinobi to be. So, Utakata found it quite Ironic that the things the Mist wanted the most were isolated from the rest of the village. It only proved how hypocritical the Mist truly was.
The battle raged in the dense mist-laden forest, with the Seven Swordsmen clashing against the Kaguya rebels. Each member of the Seven had their hands full with the relentless onslaught of the Kaguya clan. Despite their formidable skills, the Kaguya's resilience and brutal fighting style made them a formidable opponent.
Yet, slowly, their numbers diminished. The Kaguya clan was losing their momentum, while the Seven Swordsmen didn’t seem to tire, and the other surviving shinobi of the Mist regained their morale. Utakata cut the feet of three Kaguya clan members with his thin steel wire, leaving them to be finished by others.
The tactic worked well, as he let the other finish the targets he crippled. Soon, the battle was turned in their favor, and they were outnumbering the Kaguya clan. The rest of the Seven Swordsmen continued to decimate the rest of the Kaguya clan, but Utakata didn’t want to be part of the massacre that was happening.
“Let’s go to their settlement and finish these rebellious bastards,” Fuguki said as he killed the last Kaguya clan in the woods.
There was no stopping this anymore. Even if Utakata wanted to stop the massacre of the Kaguya clan, he couldn’t. The orders were clear, and he couldn’t ignore them. Twenty Mist shinobi joined them as they ran to the Kaguya clan settlement. As Utakata expected, there were only old people and children left.
Even after experiencing war, killing countless people. It was hard for Utakata to bring himself to kill children and older men who were considerably weaker than him. Ultimately, he tried to stay behind and let the senior members of the Seven Swordsmen do the dirty work. It didn’t make Utakata feel any better through.
“Utakata! Behind you!” Ringo yelled out just in time for Utakata to turn around and stab his attacker.
Utakata, not wanting to participate in the massacre, didn’t focus his sensing abilities, letting a member of the Kaguya clan get behind him. As blood fell along Utakata’s sword, he froze in place. Before him was a little girl a few years younger than him. Even as the girl held a kunai, her face overlapped with a princess of the Land of Snow.
He couldn’t get the face out of his mind as the girl fell, choking on her blood. Utakata felt dizzy and sick, but he controlled himself. He backed away from the settlement and looked around as the last remnants of the Kaguya clan were finished. Finding a shadow, he sat down and covered his face. He didn’t want anyone else to see his face as shock filled him.
…
Keeping up the mask of indifference, Utakata returned to the village with the rest, and after being congratulated by Yagura for a well-done job, he returned to Harusame’s house. He wanted to collapse into his bed and be consumed by nightmares. Yet, he found Master Harusame waiting for him with a cake on the table.
“I know you might be tired, but one should not forget his birthday,” Master Harusame said with a smile.
“I'm going to sleep,” It took all his strength not to break down before his master. How could Utakata celebrate anything? He didn’t deserve it. And today, he was reminded that, in the end, he was nothing but a monster that was born to kill and destroy. He was Utakata of Blood Waters. Wherever he went, streams of blood followed behind him.
Comments
TypistTyphon
I’m really hoping he breaks out of this cycle soon
