From the moment their chakra flared, Kaoru knew the four ANBU weren't here to talk. Their presence was hostile, cold and precise, a blade already halfway drawn. Still, he had to try. If this escalated further, the consequences would be catastrophic. A war with Konoha… because of his mistake was the one outcome he couldn't afford.
"Wait, please," Kaoru said, raising a hand, though his voice remained cold and calm. "Let's talk and…"
"Wait and talk?" one of them cut in, stepping forward. The mask resembled a tiger or a cat, and his voice behind it was dry, brittle, as if the words themselves were scraping through its surface. "We already know you killed our comrades. There's nothing left to discuss."
Kaoru's hands curled into fists. His eyes flicked to the village head, just for a second. The man who had once worn a smug grin now looked pale and terrified. That same fear Kaoru had noticed before was back again, only now there was no pride to mask it.
'So this was his goal,' Kaoru cursed inwardly as he moved slowly, inching back, repositioning until the man was between him and the ANBU.
'Killing him won't help. If I do, it'll only confirm their suspicions. I need to deescalate… If he lives, maybe they'll interrogate him. Maybe they'll realize the truth.'
But just as the thought crossed his mind, Kaoru froze.
A faint seal, inked on the back of the man's neck. And the instant Kaoru's eyes locked on it, the village head coughed blood and slumped forward, falling off the chair. His body convulsed violently as he hit the floor.
The slimmest of the four ANBU moved first, rushing past her teammates. She crouched beside the man, flipping him over swiftly. The others stepped in front of her in perfect sync, forming a barrier between Kaoru and the body. Misa had already taken a cautious step back, hands lowered - not surrendering, but showing restraint. She understood the stakes.
"Swallow, how is he?" the white haired ANBU asked, his voice tight but soft, though his focus never wavered from Kaoru.
"He's dead," the woman answered evenly, already standing up.
"It wasn't us," Kaoru said, trying to deescale situation again, but the moment the words left his mouth, he could feel the weight of them fall flat. None of the ANBU believed him. Nothing he said now would change that.
Their chakra surged in unison.
"Misa, run!" Kaoru snapped. "I'll buy you time!"
"I won't leave you alone!" Before the words had even finished leaving her lips, Kaoru moved.
He lunged at the cat-masked shinobi, driving a powerful kick into his abdomen. The ANBU managed to block, but the force of the blow still launched him back, crashing into the far wall. Kaoru didn't pause. He formed a hand sign and a clone appeared beside him in a burst of smoke. He moved to form another, but he was too slow.
The white-haired ANBU was already in front of him, closing the gap faster than Kaoru expected. His leg arced from the side - a clean, punishing kick aimed for Kaoru's ribs.
'Shit…' Kaoru twisted sharply, raising his elbow to absorb the strike, the jolt ringing through his arm. He countered immediately, his left leg sweeping in a wide arc, using the momentum of his entire body to drive the kick toward his attacker.
"Swallow, go for the woman!" the white-haired shinobi shouted, bending back just enough to dodge Kaoru's counter. His gaze followed the female ANBU as she charged on the side, confirming that she was not intercepted by the clone. But the momentary distraction came with a price.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
The torrent surged forth from Kaoru's mouth. A massive wall of water slammed through the ruined house with overwhelming force. Normally he'd have used his Sujingan to form the water wave, but this time he didn't. The air was dry and brittle from the heat, it would have taken too much time to gather that many water particles. So Kaoru used his own chakra, molding it directly into water. It wasn't efficient. But it was fast. And devastating.
"RETREAT!" the white-haired ANBU shouted, already moving. He dove through the nearest window, shattering the glass into dozens of sharp shards that scattered like rain. His two other teammates followed, instinct taking over as the wave crashed after them, tearing apart the wall and flooding the space in its wake.
Kaoru spun toward the opposite side of the room and saw Misa locked in combat with the female ANBU.
'Shit, she doesn't listen when it matters the most…' The shadow of anger passed on his face, as his gaze locked on the Konoha nin.
Misa moved like a blade, relentless and sharp, forcing the woman onto the defensive. There was no room for her to even observe what was happening around them, she was full of openings. Kaoru charged. His kick struck the woman clean in the ribs before she could even turn to block. The force of it sent her crashing through the wall, splinters bursting outward as she was thrown outside, rolling across the ground in a heap.
Kaoru didn't stop. He reached for Misa, wrapped an arm around her waist, and surged forward.
The ceiling above them was already groaning - timbers splintering, plaster cracking. Kaoru's earlier technique had collapsed half the structure. The rest wasn't far behind.
He barreled through the last intact wall just as the entire house gave way behind them, collapsing inward with a deafening roar. Wooden beams and shattered panels blasted outward, dust and debris rising in a thick cloud that swallowed everything.
They hit the ground hard, rolling once before Kaoru came up on one knee.
"What are you doing? We have to run!" Misa shouted, her expression full of confusion as she saw Kaoru move toward the fallen ANBU woman.
"Misa, hide and wait for the opening!" he called over his shoulder, not even glancing back.
'I only have two options, kill them all, or somehow make them listen. Killing four jonin won't be easy not even with Misa's help… and one of them might even be stronger than jonin.'
His eyes settled on the woman. She was propped against the wall, breathing hard, her right arm braced against her side. Her ribs were fractured from his earlier kick, likely more than one. Even so, she was already healing herself, green chakra glowing around her palm.
"You won't escape us," she hissed, adjusting her mask with her free hand. Her voice was filled with hatred, but her posture was cautious now.
"I'm not trying to escape," Kaoru replied calmly, stopping just short of reaching her. "If I wanted to, I would've already been gone. I could've killed you back there. Instead, I kicked you outside and saved you from the collapsing house."
"You expect me to believe that?" she snapped. "Lord Hokage is already informed. Even if we die today, it won't change anything. Takimura will pay for killing our shinobi!"
Her voice trembled. Kaoru could tell that her gaze was burning with hatred.
"I understand your hatred… but I was…," Kaoru began, but the words died in his throat as a sudden rush of memories crashed into him, his clone had dispelled.
'Shit.'
Kaoru didn't hesitate. He surged forward, closing the gap between himself and the injured ANBU woman in an instant.
'I need to show them I'm not trying to kill them. They have to believe it.'
She couldn't move fast - her broken ribs were slowing her down, making it impossible for her to evade. Out of all four ANBU, she was clearly the weakest. And right now, the most vulnerable.
Kaoru struck her with a flying knee to the chest, the blow knocking the wind from her lungs as she was hurled backward. But before she could go far, a thick water tentacle erupted from the earth, coiling around her and slamming her down hard like a dough about to be flattened.
"You scheming bast…" she tried to curse through gritted teeth, thinking those were her final moments. But Kaoru didn't follow through with a killing blow.
Instead, his fist snapped forward and landed clean against her jaw, silencing her instantly. The impact knocked her out cold.
'I held back… but even then, my strength is far beyond what normal humans can withstand. So that's what Grandpa Ogashi meant.'
Kaoru stood tall, quickly forming the hand sign once, then again.
Two more shadow clones appeared with a soft burst of smoke, each flanking him and waiting.
'That leaves me with just under half my chakra left,' Kaoru calculated. He had given 20% to each clone and the rest were consumed by the first clone, and the C-rank water release jutsu he used.
His gaze sharpened.
Three masked nin landed before him. Even with their faces hidden, Kaoru could feel the rage radiating from them the moment their eyes locked onto the unconscious woman beneath his feet.
"She's alive," he said flatly. "I know you won't believe me. Doesn't matter. Let's fight."
The air between them tightened. Chakra flared.
'I might not be able to kill all three… but if I use everything I've got, I can knock out at least two. After that… we'll see.'
Kaoru's eyes darted to the side as his Sujingan caught another chakra signature, carefully hidden among the trees.
'They likely also noticed her, but they can't do anything about it…'
The Konoha shinobi hesitated, exchanging glances. Their posture tensed, confusion mixing with fury as they tried to make sense of Kaoru's actions.
But he didn't give them time to think.
The three Kaorus charged together, blurring into motion. It wasn't a reckless rush; it was a coordinated strike. The first clone, the one that had already dispersed, had gathered more than enough intel during its brief fight.
'That one uses taijutsu and water-style. Good. That means he's the easiest opponent for me.
While his two clones engaged the other ANBU, Kaoru moved toward his true target, the one wearing the cat-like mask.
He closed the distance in a blur, leading with his right leg just like before. The motion was fast and familiar, baiting the man to react. As expected, the masked shinobi braced to block the strike, but Kaoru's leg halted mid-swing. In one smooth motion, he jumped, twisted in the air, and redirected the attack with his left leg, forcing his opponent to readjust his stance.
Even that one was a feint. The real strike came from below.
A water tentacle burst from the ground, wrapping around the man's waist. Before he could react, it yanked him upward and slammed him into the ground with a violent crash.
The other two ANBU were already countering, each had formed shadow clones and were rushing to their comrade's aid. But before they could reach him, a dome of dark blue water rose up around Kaoru and the cat-masked shinobi, sealing them inside.
Inside the dome, the masked man had already sliced through the tentacle with a kunai. Without Kaoru's direct control, the water lost form, dissolving into a shallow puddle. But even after freeing himself, the man didn't move.
He stood still, stiff.
"The Blue Needle of Takime…" he muttered. "We didn't believe it at first, but it's really you."
"So you knew," Kaoru replied coolly. "And you still came?"
"What, were we supposed to invite you to lunch?" the man snapped. "You killed our comrades."
"No," Kaoru said, his tone flat. "I mean, you knew it was me… and thought four of you would be enough?"
"You bast…"
He didn't get to finish.
The dome quivered, then fell inward.
Pillars of water, shaped like lances, surged from every angle. Kaoru stood at the center of the chaos, perfectly still, his chakra threading through every pulse of the dome. The ANBU was quick - dodging, weaving, gritting his teeth through every graze and impact. But Kaoru didn't let up.
'He's smart. He's not using water jutsu… but that won't change anything.'
Outside the dome, a giant fireball crashed against the surface. It sizzled and hissed against the dense chakra-infused wall, but did little more than scatter steam. The ANBU with the wolf mask had managed to launch it, but the technique didn't breach the barrier.
'It's time.'
Kaoru kicked the ground, propelling himself forward.
His opponent's breath was already ragged, his stance unsteady. Dodging the relentless water strikes for over a minute had left him bruised, winded, and drained. He hadn't even been able to form a single hand sign, let alone take a breather. Even the explosive tags he'd thrown had dissolved harmlessly into the thick wall of water.
Kaoru's fist connected cleanly with the man's jaw, sending him hurtling backward, but not far. He crashed into the curved wall of the dome and staggered, trying to move again.
He couldn't.
Several tentacles snaked around his limbs, anchoring him in place as the walls closed in.
"You're strong," the man gasped, still fighting. "But you'll lose…"
His words vanished as a final barrage of dark blue pillars crashed into his face, knocking him out cold.
The dome collapsed moments later, splashing across the ground and leaving the unconscious ANBU in its center.
Kaoru turned. His eyes locked onto the remaining two.
They stood side by side, motionless for now, but the tension in the air was undeniable.
'They defeated my clones faster than I expected…' Kaoru noted. He knew that white-haired ANBU was powerful, but the one with the wolf mask proved to be stronger than he anticipated.
"Come at me," Kaoru said, watching coldly as both ANBU flared their chakra in response.
**
The Next Chapter on Tuesday
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