"Shit! The armour is useless!" A man's hand dug into his left side, blood greasing his hand as he dug out a shuriken and spat a mouthful of blood. "Fight!" He roared, rushing back into the fight. There was no retreat.
"Ai, don't let them surround you!" Kudo shouted, seeing the mass of bandits aiming at Ai. "Clank!" "Cling." "Don't let your attention waver, boy!" The samurai grunted, a heavy blast blasting Kudo's arms, hurling him into the air. Kudo twisted roughly, still throwing 3 senbon and a kunai with deadly accuracy as bandits fell, their skulls pierced. Subtle chakra radiated from the senbon.
After skidding, Kudo rushed back with chakra flowing into his muscles and bones. "Bang!" With a heavy stomp, dust broke loose, and he suddenly appeared behind one of the bandits. "I will get rid of you first, then." His kunai traced an arc along with blood spatter. Twisting his body heavily, he dodged a saber while his other kunai pierced the ear of the saber man, impaling his brain. "herggh---" The man coughed blood, his eyes losing their lustre, but Kudo was already gone.
The battle, which started with about 50 bandits, had ballooned as more rushed out of the woods. A few tens of them had already been killed, but they still rushed ahead.
"This is becoming problematic," Hidden and watching the fight, Takao muttered. His students were holding out well but not for long.
"We need to clear the battlefield!" Enya gasped, sweat pooling as his legs were starting to feel heavy. The body flicker jutsu was rearing the ugly cost.
"Brace!" The samurai shouted, but he was already late. "Pew-Pew" "Bang!" A dozen water bullets left behind corpses. "Thud!" The water bullets, about a cup of water, severed branches hitting those incoming.
The samurai had split the ones aimed at him; tiny chakra swirled along his blade, but his face was pale, his legs ready to give out under him. Kudo rushed in his slaughter non-stop.
On the other end, a searing inferno roasted skin as bandits ran while on fire, their screams laying justification to the madness.
Over at the edge of the clearing, 3 men were next to each other watching the battle, their subordinates slain, but indifference plagued their faces.
"Do we move in now?" A muscular man asked, on his back a cleaver over a meter long.
"No, their sensei is here. Why kill hens when you can kill the chicken itself." Hidekiyo Sou grinned. "He's coming. Took him a while." His eyes saw nothing, but the air was laced with slaughter.
"Rou! Do it." Hidekiyo shouted, "Lightning style: Earth flow!" Blue lightning surged from the palms of the man running berserk around them.
'What will you do now?' Hidekiyo inwardly smirked, 'Every one of you will pay! Just like that bastard. Treating me like trash. Anyone who stands in my way will die.'
Takao took a massive deep breath, " Wind style: wind dragon jutsu!" A dragon of wind roared, rushing ahead, scattering the lightning while Takao drew his short sword. " Clank!" A massive cleaver clashed with the short sword, but neither gave ground.
" Look at you. I expected something better. Severing wind! Don't disappoint me!" The bulky man roared, his cleaver exploding with overwhelming force. Takao jumped up, avoiding the cleaver, twisting mid-air, his gaze on Hidekiyo; he had figured out the situation. "Water style: Severing current." A mass of water exploded from his mouth, crashing down on the 3 bandit leaders. Hidekiyo slammed his hands on the ground, "Earth style: Earth wall." A wall of earth blocked the water, separating the flow into two.
While the 3rd leader lightning streaked in the water on the ground, Takao never landed. "Wind style: Howling wind." A hurricane exploded, encircling the 3 bandits while hurling Takao beyond the watery ground. Mid-air, "Fire style: Infernal blaze." Red fire tinged with wisps of black flames exploded into the wind, rapidly causing a massive fire storm.
Within the fire storm, an earth dome saved them from the fire, but the heat was skinning them alive.
"Do something!" The burly bandit roared, smacking Hidekiyo on his back; he almost fell. "Fine, Earth style: Subterranean movement." They went underground, emerging beyond the flames, but it wasn't over. "Head-hunter jutsu!" A pair of arms dragged the lightning style user underneath, but the impaling Kunai met a clone of lightning. "They are good," Takao cursed, but so was he, "Thwack!" Taking a kick to the blackened side, he exploded onto Hidekiyo, who was heaving, his chakra nearly depleted. He hadn't been a shinobi for a while, and his chakra reserves were lacking.
"Damnit!" Hidekiyo cursed as he rolled, but Takao followed through, a dark figure thrust his arm impaling Hidekiyo holding a beating heart. "Impossible," Hidekiyo muttered, his eyes reflecting longing, hate, and sadness. The burly man and the lightning user nodded at each other; they had cast away a future problem, but the fight wasn't over. Takao, using the hardened skin jutsu, sported a dark skin tone. "Puff." A shadow clone appeared, rushing towards the lightning user while Takao confronted the burly man. He wanted to nip trouble in the bud. These two weren't regular bandits; some scheme was at play.
Over in the clearing,
"Water style; Waterwall jutsu" "Booom!" The massive wall of water shook as a flying slash tore it nearly to bits, slashing water everywhere. Enya, Ai, and Kudo drew breaths of relief as the samurai went slack like strings cut off. It was his last attack as Enya and Ai had made work of their bandits and came to help with the samurai. All around them, bodies were piled over. Over their heads, orange smoke was fading while reinforcements were late.
"Careful," Ai stopped Kudo who was about to close in on the samurai. "Fine, but water style: water whip." Shallow wisps of water bound the samurai, clamping together the legs, then arms, and finally the mouth. Kudo needed the techniques of the samurai. He stood with minor cuts on his body, but one massive wound was when he was impaled, causing heavy blood loss. He immediately took out a storage scroll; using a bit of chakra, he summoned some first aid tools. Their squad didn't have a dedicated medical ninja.
A couple of minutes later, Takao showed up. His arm was mangled, showing lightning burns, but the two bandits were bound. The self-cursing seal was marked on their foreheads.