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Blood waters (Chapter 26)
🕑 Added 2023-10-25 08:20:24 +0000 UTCChapter 26
The last year was peaceful for Mist, at least as calm as Mist could get. After the losses in the Third Shinobi World War, many expected that the Leaf would demand more than the Mist could afford. Yet, the Mist got lucky, and the Leaf didn’t. The Nine-tailed demon fox attacked the Leaf as negotiations continued after the war.
Losing the Fourth Hokage was enough of a hit to the leaf that it made them back off the Mist as they feared the repercussions that might have followed. The Mist didn’t want to continue the war either. So, both villages quickly made a peace treaty and finished the negotiations that both Daimyo were satisfied with. And finally, the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist could take missions outside the village.
And it was the first mission in a long time for Utakata. Apart from the newest members of the Seven Swordsmen, Utakata hasn’t met the others. He barely even knew them, aside from their names and weapons. So, it was surprising, or maybe he should have expected that his first mission would be with another member of the Seven Swordsmen.
Jinin Akebino was a rather big man with brown hair and a beard. He wielded Kabutowari, the giant axe, and the hammer. From what Utakata knew, that weapon could break any defense. Utakata didn’t doubt it, but he still wondered how an axe and a hammer could be called a sword. Well, he wielded a sewing needle, so maybe he couldn’t say anything about it.
As the newest Seven Swordsmen of the Mist member, Utakata expected to be met with curiosity and skepticism from the group's older, more experienced members. So, it wasn’t surprising when Jinin looked at him with a discerning eye, but he was surprised that he couldn’t detect any judgment. At first, Utakata thought Jinin didn’t know he was a jinchuriki, but he soon realized that Jinin simply didn’t care.
“I hope you won’t hold me back, boy,” Jinin said as they moved through the Land of Water.
“Why? Do you expect that even if I hold you back, you won’t be able to take care of a few shinobi?” Utakata asked. “It is a simple retrieval mission in the home country.”
“This is your first mission as one of us, so you might not know, but it never is simple when members of the Seven Swordsmen are sent somewhere.”
“The report said that there are three shinobi, two considered to be on jonin lever, one on the chunin level,” Utakata replied. “They carry important information that cannot cross the borders of Tea. Is there something that Lord Mizukage has forgotten to mention?”
“You should have learned not to question Lord Mizukage,” Jinin said. “He hasn’t forgotten anything. It is impossible to know who those shinobi are and what that information is. All we know is that the Daimyo of the Land of Tea hired them. So, the question is who they will meet once we reach the sea.”
Utakata wouldn’t say such a question arose from the information Jinin provided, but it was still a good question. The only way to get or leave the Land of the Water was through a ship and the Daimyo of the Land of the Water heavily regulated ships. So, they have sneaked in. Nothing surprising, but they hide their ship on arrival until their escape wouldn’t be easy.
“They have reinforcements on the ship,” Utakata concluded.
“Oh, certainly,” Jinin laughed like it was apparent. “But that's not what I am concerned with.”
“The information?” Utakata couldn’t understand.
“If it were on paper, the shinobi would have already learned it,” Jinin replied. “After all, they are mercenaries. They don’t abide by the rules that Daimyo would have on shinobi. But if that was so, why would our Daimyo care if they crossed the borders? We could still kill them in the Land of Tea. It didn’t have its hidden village, nor they were particularly close to other villages.”
“So, it wasn’t a political reason.”
“Exactly,” Jinin laughed at Utakata’s answer. “That only leaves me with one explanation. It is a prisoner. If the prisoner crosses the border, he will probably provide the information the shinobi seek. That's why we must find them before they do that.”
“And we must keep the prisoner alive,” Utakata added.
“If the prisoner has valuable information for the shinobi that took him, the Daimyo would want that information for himself.”
That meant the information was precious. It is so valuable that there should be more shinobi after it. But it didn’t seem to bother Jinin. He looked even more happy with it. Utakata knew that all members of the Seven Swordsmen were lunatics, so it wasn’t surprising. But even he couldn’t have expected to be excited, too. For the past year, he has trained his ass off. It was time to see where it got him.
“We close,” Utakata said as he felt a breeze coming from the sea. “But it seems you were wrong, Jinin.”
They came to the coast, and before them stood a boat. Inside was a dead man and two shinobi standing between the boat and Utakata. Five other shinobi surrounded them. Utakata quickly assessed the situation and couldn’t feel any more shinobi. So, only these seven were after them. Utakata and Jinin drew their weapons.
“Look at this, boy,” Jinin smiled.
“They weren’t after the information. They were after us,” Utakata said as emotion left his face and stabbed the ground with his sword. “And from what I see, I would say there are four jonin, not two, and three chunin, not one.”
“That's even better.”
Jinin’s smile reached his ears while Utakata got ready, just in time for a barrage of shuriken flying towards them. Jinin used his axe to blast the shuriken away while Utakata deftly avoided them. Instead of rushing out at the enemy like Jinin, Utakata stayed in one place and let the enemy come to him. Taking Utakata’s inaction as a sign of weakness, the three chunin and two jonin tried to eliminate him.
“Sorry, kid,” Utakata quickly realized that one of them was an arrogant prick, as he spoke while attacking. “If you got to blame someone, blame the bounty on your head.”
Utakata didn’t reply, only backed away, dodging the arrogant bastard’s attacks, and waited. The moment when all five of them got close to him, then Utakata jumped into the air. And just as they were going to follow and take him down, wires appeared on the ground. The chunin was too late to realize, so they lost their feet when they jumped.
The situation quickly turned in favor of Utakata and Jinin. With the chunin incapacitated and struggling on the ground, the two jonin could do nothing but let Utakata retreat a safe distance from them. Then the sound of screams and crushing bones came from the side, where Jinin cut one jonin’s head off and smashed the chest of the other with his hammer.
Meanwhile, Utakata landed gracefully on the ground, a sinister grin forming. He weaved a series of hand signs, focusing his chakra with precision. A sudden burst of mist erupted from his location, obscuring the entire battlefield. The mist was thick and disoriented, reducing visibility for allies and enemies. This was the end of them.
He silently advanced, sensing their confusion and unease as they struggled to adapt to this unforeseen predicament. They knew that pursuing Utakata or attacking Jinin could lead to dire consequences. So, as expected, they decided to withdraw, signaling a retreat for the surviving members of their group.
Too bad Utakata waited for that moment when they decided to run instead of defending themselves. They couldn’t see, but Utakata could still tell where they were. They didn’t even see his sword flying through the mist, piercing one through the chest. Utakata used the wire to propel himself towards the last shinobi.
There was nothing the last shinobi could have done as Utakata’s sword stabbed his neck, and he fell to the ground, drowning in his blood. The mist disappeared mere seconds later. And Jinin walked to the dead informant to check on him. He left Utakata with the three chunin squirming on the ground, unable to move.
“Where are you from?” Utakata pointed his sword at the youngest one.
“I will tell you where we are from, you scum,” The fear disappeared from their eyes as the youngest of them spat at Utakata. “We are from Paradise Isles, the same Isles you have destroyed. You will pay for what you have done, you hear me! You will pay!”
An axe fell on the head of the speaker. Then Jinin quickly finished the rest with his hammer. Utakata wanted to yell out and asked why he did so. They were prisoners and could get information from them, but in the end, Utakata bit his tongue and stayed silent. There was no point in saying anything. Jinin would only laugh at Utakata for asking such a stupid thing.
“Well, this is done,” Jinin stated. “Too bad the informant is dead, but we can do nothing about it.”
“Let’s return to the village,” Utakata said.
“Yeah, we should,” Jinin smiled before the smile completely fell, and his cold eyes locked upon Utakata’s. “But not before you tell me how you knew there were four jonin.”
“What do you mean?”
“You heard me,” Jinin replied. “How did you know?”
Utakata berated himself for making such a foolish mistake. He hasn’t even realized what he has said to Jinin because of his senses. Still, he kept calm and faced Jinin. He would have plenty of time to blame himself for being so relaxed around others and letting his guard down. The thought of killing Jinin came to the mind for a second, but he quickly let it go.
“From the way they carried themselves,” Utakata answered. “The four of them were more cautious, more observant, and their reactions were faster. Even though they weren’t on the same level as Jonin from our village, they were more experienced than the other three.”
“You have a keen eye, boy,” Jinin laughed. “If not for the information we got, I would have thought they were genin.”
“They weren’t that weak,” Utakata replied. “They simply didn’t possess the training and ninjutsu we had.”
“Yeah, I didn’t even know the Paradise Isles have a hidden village.”
“They didn’t,” Utakata replied. “They were lying.”
“What?”
“I was on the Paradise Isles when it was destroyed,” Utakata said. “Nobody came to help them before it was too late.”
“Well, it isn’t our job to know these things,” Jinin laughed as he started walking away.
“No, it isn’t,” Utakata replied as he raised his sword, and wires in the ground sprung out and wrapped around Jinin. “Next time you question me, I will kill you.”
Before Jinin could reply, Utakata let him go and left for the village. As members of the Seven Swordsmen, they embodied the village's might, a force to be reckoned with. So, Utakata had to show that he wasn’t someone even a fellow member of the Seven Swordsmen could mess with so easily. Show even a bit of weakness, and it will be exploited to no end.
Although short-lived, Utakata's act of defiance demonstrated that he was not to be underestimated within the ranks of the Seven Swordsmen. The mission was successful, even if they couldn’t return the informant. As Jinin said, their mission was to stop the information from getting outside the Land of the Water. Nothing else.
The way back to the village was filled with silence. And Utakata couldn’t help but think of the future. As the first mission went, it wasn’t so bad. But there are bound to be more ambushes for him, and once he starts leaving the borders of the Land of the Water, the shinobi after his head won’t be from no-name hidden villages. But he didn’t feel discouraged. He was strong enough to protect himself.
