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Two days later, in the Anbu Headquarters;
Ryuu sat quietly in a dark corner of the main gathering area.
Almost completely hidden by the shadows, the only indication that he was there was the glint that was reflected from the Kunai that he held in his hand.
If you stood near him, you would see that the Kunai was an irregular one with Kanji markings on its handle.
Ryuu looked at the seal that was inscribed on the handle of the Kunai.
The last two days were calm, relaxing, as if he hadn't been about to get killed or captured just three days ago.
Things may have seemed to return to normal with Ryuu, but that was not the truth.
While he spent the last two days with his family unwinding, his mind kept replaying everything that happened in that stretch of desert.
How weird his opponents were, whether they are dead or alive, somehow. How he handled his battle against them. He constantly suppresses a large part of his skills due to what the fallout would be if he used them, which led him to almost lose his life. His wood style, his Sharingan, the scorch release he acquired and learned, and the Flying thunder god jutsu.
Looking at the three-pronged Kunai in his hand, Ryuu remembered making this jutsu as a contingency plan if shit hit the fan against the Raikage, even though he hadn't fully gotten the jutsu down at the time.
But when he met Kakuzu and Hidan, Ryuu had already mastered the first step of the Flying thunder god, being able to easily appear wherever one of these Kunai is or putting the marker on anything he touches. But he didn't use it.
Ryuu let a sigh as he sealed the Kunai back into his utility belt.
There is no need to dwell on what happened. What is done is done. All he needs to do now is not restrict himself against opponents, especially strong ones or ones that he has no intel on.
Intelligence was his biggest blunder against Hidan and Kakuzu; knowing nothing about them, he almost got himself killed. Especially Hidan. Hidan's immortality had given him the biggest surprise factor, as he knew nothing about the man. Even if Ryuu had been using most of his skill set, he wouldn't have bothered to even put a Flying thunder god marker on Hidan, seeing how easy it was to take him down at the beginning.
"Buntaicho," Phoenix said as she approached Ryuu, who looked at her and nodded
"Let's go get a mission," Ryuu said as he stood up.
"About that, Hawk-taicho said that Hokage-sama had called for us," Phoenix said, making Ryuu stand still for a moment.
Getting a mission directly from Hiruzen means that the mission isn't an ordinary one. The Hokage giving an Anbu team a mission usually means that it is a high A-rank mission or higher, maybe even a suicidal mission.
"Let's go," Ryuu replied simply before disappearing in a body flicker, followed by Phoenix doing the same.
A minute later, in the Hokage's office;
Knock, knock, knock.
"Come in," Hiruzen said as he looked up from his paperwork.
The door opens with Ryuu and Phoenix walking in before closing the door.
"Ah, Team Shi. I have a mission for you, but we need to wait for another team to arrive." Hiruzen said as he leaned back in his chair.
Ryuu and Phoenix looked at each other for a moment. Their team has never been on a joint mission with another team before. What type of mission are they going to be assigned to?
"How are you doing, my boy? I hope everything is fine." Hiruzen asked with a small, soft smile as he looked at Ryuu.
"I am fine and well, thank you for asking, Hokage-sama," replied Ryuu
"That is goo…"
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock interrupted Hiruzen, who looked at the door.
"Come in," Hiruzen said
The door opens, but this time the members of Team Ro appeared as they entered the room one after the other.
Even though the masks didn't show anything, Ryuu could feel the surprise of the members of Team Ro upon seeing them inside the office.
"Good, you are all here," Hiruzen said as he took out his smoking pipe and lit it.
"Before I tell you about your mission, you need to know where it stems from," Hiruzen said
"You all should know what the current situation looks like with Suna," Hiruzen said, to which the two teams nodded.
"The situation hasn't fully deescalated yet, but all the intel we have gathered indicates that Suna didn't have a hand in attacking our messenger," Hiruzen said as he smoked.
"Which brings us to the two rogue shinobi who were behind the attack," Hiruzen said as he slid sheets of paper on his desk towards those who held two bingo book entries. Each entry held a photo as it was issued by their home villages.
"Kakuzu," Hiruzen started as he pointed at the paper on the right
"A shinobi that should be dead, or too old to function as a shinobi. But he is somehow still alive and strong." Hiruzen said
Team Ro looked at the paper and read its contents. Ryuu could sense their different levels of surprise and shock as they read the details about Kakuzu.
"And this is Hidan," Hiruzen said as he pointed at the paper on the left.
"A rogue Shinobi from Yugakure. He had an entry in the bingo book, an A-rank missing nin, but it showed nothing of the abilities that we were told about. The only thing that it told us about is that he left Yugakure due to his immense disagreement with the village's stance on the ongoing transition from a Shinobi village to a peaceful, tourism-focused one. Before returning a while later and slaughtering some of Yugakure's residents. We raised his rank to S after updating his entry due to how dangerous his abilities are." Hiruzen said as Team Ro looked at the paper he was pointing at.
Team Ro couldn't fully believe what they were reading.
"immortality??!!!" Neko read with a low voice, not believing what she was reading. While Kakuzu entry explained that he harvests healthy organs to extend his life, this one says immortal outright.
"Status unknown?" Tenzo asked as he and his teammates looked at Hiruzen for an explanation
"Hidan was on the receiving end of an attack that reduces regular Shinobi to nothing, but seeing his abilities, we can't fully rule out that he survived somehow," Hiruzen said
Team Ro looked back at the two papers in front of them. While they knew that the information was hard to believe, they knew who brought this information back, so it is very credible information.
The reason for the recent mobilization and the sudden aggression towards Suna isn't really a secret anymore, especially in the ranks of the Anbu.
The return of the Hokage's student and the jinchuuriki from his mission to Suna with grave wounds can't be kept a secret for long, especially with how many people have seen him in the hospital.
"So, are we going after them, Hokage-sama?" Inu asked
"No, we don't have an estimate on where they may be, as they haven't been sighted anywhere. I am sending you to the land of Hot Springs to gather information on Hidan. Find anything you can about him, especially how he gained these abilities. He was heard to say that he does what he does in the name of something or someone called 'Lord Jashin'. See if you can find any leads or a cult of some kind. I just hope there aren't multiple people with his kind of abilities," Hiruzen said, as his face gloomed.
"This is an S-rank mission. I am sending all of you due to how little information we have about this and how dangerous these abilities are." Hiruzen said as he looked at the two teams.
"Any questions?" Hiruzen asked, only to be met with silence.
"Then you are dismissed. Good luck," Hiruzen said, to which the two teams nodded before disappearing.
To be continued.
Guys and gals, show me those powerstones.
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