Just as Kaori began running towards Ryu, Kohinata charged towards Kaminari, and Kaori was about to reach him, a shiny kunai arced through the air near Ryu, surprising everyone.
Suddenly, a kunai with a paper bomb attached flew past Ryu's head, right when he was completely defenceless and at his lowest point.
"Shit," Ryu thought. His hand instinctively reached for the [Chakra Backup Seal] card that was stuck to his chest as he prepared to activate it to refill his chakra.
- [Chakra Backup Seal] Activated
- Chakra Refill in: 2 minutes
The world appeared to slow down, as if time had paused, as the kunai flew by. Ryu looked at the paper bomb and saw the fuse burning slowly. He barely had any chakra left for ninjutsu. Recovering chakra from the backup seal required a crucial two minutes, which he did not have before the blast.
Ryu's broken forearms hindered his ability to form hand seals for ninjutsu. Although Ryu was not overly reliant on hand seals, he still needed his hands to fight and defend himself.
- [ReflexGuard Seal] status: Damaged again
- Time to reform: 350 ms after chakra is recovered
- Blast imminent in 300 ms
"Shit"
He ran through his dwindling options mentally, his abilities struggling to process with so little chakra. The blast impact would reach him in approximately 300 milliseconds. Full chakra recharge would take two minutes. He didn't have either the chakra or the functioning limbs for a standard counter.
- Use Lightning Armour: Not enough chakra.
- Use barriers: Not enough time or sufficient chakra to form strong ones.
- Use Thunder Clap: Hands are broken; no chakra.
- No possible counter now
Ryu thought, "Shit! Curse my luck."
At that moment, facing an inevitable blast with no viable defence and no time to recover, Ryu made a desperate decision. He would protect the [Chakra Backup Seal] and gamble on using [Super Healing] after he managed to recover chakra, his only remaining viable path despite the immense risk.
"Just need to protect my vitals and the [Chakra Backup Seal]," Ryu thought, accepting the grim reality. "I hate leaving things to luck."
Ryu's luck had already run out; the only thing positive in the situation was that his [Overclocking] was still active, giving him these milliseconds of slowed perception of time.
Ryu was thinking fast, but physically viewing the incoming kunai and paper bomb in slow motion due to his [Fast Thinking]. Ryu's bent and broken right hand instinctively reached for his chest, shielding the carbon card that held the [Chakra Backup Seal] from blast damage.
"I need to take the heat from this blast," Ryu thought, accepting the inevitability of the impact. "But I need to protect the card and my vitals."
Ryu tried to jump back—or at least shift his weight—to minimise the impact, but his bent and broken legs offered little support, hindering his movement.
The paper bomb exploded. In slow motion, Ryu could see the buildup of chakra from the seal, watch it ignite and expand into a ball of fire and force.
As the blast expanded, Ryu tried to shield his face and eyes with his left hand, his good arm, while his right hand remained covering his chest, protecting the precious seal. The blast was now big enough to reach Ryu.
Ryu could feel the intense heat, and the clothes on his body instantly burnt away. He felt the shockwave pushing his back with immense force.
Ryu was now in the air, lifted and moving back from the sheer power of the explosion. As he was pushed away, he used his knees, tucking them in, and curled himself into a ball, instinctively making his body a smaller, more protected target to shield his [Chakra Backup Seal] and vital organs.
For others watching, the blast occurred in real time, a sudden eruption of fire and smoke near Ryu. The force simply pushed him back, causing him to tumble before colliding with a nearby tree and collapsing.
"Boss!" Kaori shouted, her voice sharp with fear and desperation, reacting to the unexpected close-range blast near Ryu.
Just then, another ninja appeared, seeming to emerge from the very shadows of the trees. His face was covered by a simple, white mask, a stark contrast to his dark clothing. He was Tatsuma Aburame, a student of Danzo Shimura and current sub-commander of Root.
Kaminari, having pushed himself up from the ground with his lightning armour still crackling but dimmer than before, watched the scene unfold, his expression a mix of surprise and caution. Tatsuma looked past Kaori and Kohinata, his masked gaze fixed on the still-recovering Kaminari.
"Pathetic!" Tatsuma said, his voice cold and devoid of emotion. "You are such a giant, Kaminari, yet you couldn't even kill an academy brat."
Before Tatsuma could say anything else, Kohinata moved. Seeing the masked ninja and hearing his dismissive tone towards Ryu, Kohinata, despite his exhaustion, surged forward, attempting a swift, precise sword slash towards Tatsuma. Tatsuma reacted with fluid speed, taking his own kunai and parrying the sword slash, the blades scraping against each other.
"If only I had activated the Byakugan," Kohinata thought, frustrated by his caution. "I would have seen him coming." He cursed himself for not acting sooner against this unnervingly silent ninja.
The secretary, also assessing the new arrival, felt his chakra signature. Her sensing abilities, honed by years of espionage, pinpointed the unique nature of his chakra. "I did not sense him before," Kaori thought, a chill running down her spine. "His chakra is strange. I can sense multiple small organisms." The implication hit her. "An Aburame... from Root?" The chilling connection to Danzo's faction settled in her mind.
Kaori also joined the fight, shifting her focus from Ryu to the new threat. She threw some shuriken at Tatsuma, a rapid volley. He swiftly deflected them with his kunai, each blade met with a precise, minimal movement, showing his skill against projectiles.
Tatsuma gained some distance from everyone, creating space, his masked gaze sweeping the scene. His eyes fell upon Ryu's body, lying broken and still by the tree. It was in a beyond terrible state. Most of his clothes were burned away; the flesh on his broken hands and feet had melted in places from the heat of the blast, and his face was also burned and scarred, almost unrecognisable. But the carbon card attached to his chest was miraculously intact, a small, dark rectangle against burnt flesh.
Tatsuma observed the body for a long moment, a strange mix of assessment and cold finality in his posture. "That was one hell of a brat," he remarked, his voice devoid of emotion. "Too bad; his life was ended too short. Curse your luck for being born a Hamura and messing with someone you shouldn't."
Kaminari was watching the two-on-one fight between Kaori and Kohinata and that masked ninja, his mind racing. He contemplated his next course of action. "Should he kill them all?" He was not at his best, his lightning armour flickering intermittently, more than half of his chakra used. "I could kill the two of them with this much chakra," he thought, assessing Kaori and Kohinata, "now that that troublesome brat with cards is gone." But he could tell this new guy, that masked ninja, was also trouble. "I doubt I can currently win against him ."
Just then, a small bird, seemingly appearing from nowhere, landed on the shoulder of that masked ninja. That masked ninja paused, tilting his head slightly as if listening to a whispered message. He looked at Kohinata.
"You are lucky," that masked ninja said. "Your backup just arrived." He glanced back at Ryu's still form. "But for the boy, it was too late."
With that, the Masked ninja disappeared, running away, melting back into the shadows of the trees as silently as he had arrived, his mission regarding Ryu seemingly complete and his orders updated by the bird.
The secretary, seeing the masked ninja vanish, instinctively took a step, ready to give chase. But Kohinata reached out, his hand on her arm, stopping her.
"No use," Kohinata said, his voice low and firm. "Chasing him is pointless." His years of experience as a Jonin told him instantly that the masked ninja was in a different league. "He's too strong for us. We should deal with him instead." Kohinata's gaze shifted towards Kaminari.
Kaori and Kohinata turned to face Kaminari, their stances ready for renewed combat. As they looked at him, preparing to engage, they noticed something unexpected: a look of sheer, unadulterated fear and terror on Kaminari's face. It was a look of someone who had just seen a ghost or something far worse.
They did not understand what could have possibly scared the man, a seasoned Jonin and ruthless leader, so deeply, not after everything they had just witnessed and endured. They did not realise until then that his terrified gaze was not directed at them, but rather looking past them at something behind them. They turned back, following the direction of Kaminari's terrified stare.
And they saw him.
Two minutes had passed since the [Chakra Backup Seal] activated. At the base of the tree where Ryu had collapsed, amidst the lingering dust and scorch marks, Ryu was standing.
##PoWeR StOnEs##
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