Nightfall.
Deep within the forest, Anko and Ebisu were racing at full speed, a horde of enemies hot on their heels.
"Where's that kid?!" Anko gasped out between breaths.
"No idea. He never revealed himself during the chaos, he probably ran already," Ebisu replied.
"Damn it! He really ditched us?!"
Swish!
Thud!
A barrage of shuriken and kunai whistled through the trees behind them. Their nerves were strung taut, they couldn't afford to stop for even a moment.
But constant dodging was slowing them down, and the enemy was steadily closing the distance.
RUMBLE!!
The ground quaked violently. A deep trench tore through the forest floor, toppling trees in all directions, a massive Earth-Style jutsu had been unleashed.
Thrown off balance mid-leap, both Anko and Ebisu fell from the branches.
The moment they hit the ground, enemy forces swarmed in, cutting off every possible escape route.
"Shit!" Anko quickly regained her footing and stood back-to-back with Ebisu.
"We're really not getting out of this one," Ebisu muttered, adjusting his glasses with shaking fingers. "I told you we should've revised the plan…"
There were simply too many enemies. Fighting them head-on was suicide.
"Less whining, more fighting!" Anko snapped, pulling a smoke bomb from her pouch and slamming it into the ground.
Boom!
Thick smoke burst out, shrouding the area in dense fog. The Hannya nin immediately began hurling weapons into the cloud.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Ebisu quickly formed hand seals and unleashed a roaring fireball, blasting through the smoke and slamming into the enemy line.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
From Anko's sleeve shot several serpents, fangs flashing as they struck down a nearby enemy in a blur.
But reinforcements surged in. Earth-Style users quickly countered the fire jutsu. Anko barely took one down before more came rushing at her in waves, too many to handle.
Thud!
Under the relentless assault, Ebisu was the first to fall, knocked to the ground and restrained. The enemy spared his life, likely intending to capture him.
Watching her comrade subdued, Anko felt the last bit of hope drain away.
It was really over. No way she could fight off this many alone.
She continued to parry with twin kunai, retreating step by step, until a massive tree blocked her path. She was cornered.
Whizz!
A sharp whistle cut through the air. A blood-streaked kunai whizzed past her cheek and nailed an enemy directly in the throat.
What…?
Blood sprayed, warm against her skin. The enemy gurgled, dropped his weapon, and collapsed at her feet.
"Enemy attack!!"
"There's another one!"
The Hannya forces broke formation, panicking.
CRASH!
From the trees surged a roaring water dragon, shrieking as it barreled toward the area where Ebisu had fallen.
Startled, the enemy squad dragging Ebisu scattered in all directions. Ebisu himself froze, wide-eyed, bracing for death.
But just before the dragon hit, a black shadow flashed past, snatching him out of harm's way.
BOOM!
The water dragon exploded on impact, sending waves crashing across the forest floor and forcing the enemy to retreat in chaos.
While the enemy's focus was drawn to the blast, another figure appeared before Anko, fast as a ghost, nearly impossible to follow.
Her attackers instinctively turned toward the threat, only to catch a glimpse of black flashing past, followed by a whistling gale in their ears.
Thud! Crack!
Several muffled impacts and the sound of steel piercing flesh echoed. In the blink of an eye, those surrounding Anko were either blasted away or lay dead at her feet.
It all happened so fast.
By the time Anko realized it, she was already being carried away, hoisted with brute force and whisked through the trees.
"Enemy attack! Don't let them escape!"
"Get them!"
The forest rang with chaos, screams, commands, the sound of pursuit.
Anko's heart was pounding. As the trees blurred past, she looked at the figure holding her and felt an indescribable wave of relief and joy.
"You… didn't abandon us?"
"Did I ever say you were beyond saving?" Oboro replied coolly.
The shock of survival made her chest ease. She had already resigned herself to death.
Then she spotted another Oboro, this one carrying Ebisu through the woods as well.
Two shadow clones, one to feint, one to rescue… That's bold.
Now she understood exactly what had happened.
"More pursuers incoming," Oboro's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Can you run on your own?"
She opened her mouth to answer, and froze. Her face flushed red.
"Where the hell are your hands?!"
Oboro let go, allowing her to land on her feet.
"You did that on purpose!" Anko snapped, chasing after him, furious.
Oboro spared a glance at her chest. Though the fishnet undershirt was designed to entice, the slight curve beneath it truly didn't inspire much interest.
The handfeel had been… unimpressive.
"Flat."
"I'M STANDARD SIZE!" Anko screamed, hurling a kunai that Oboro dodged with a slight tilt of his head.
She was about to escalate, but the sound of enemy pursuit forced her to restrain herself.
"I'll settle this later!"
The three regrouped. Oboro dismissed his clones.
"We need to move faster," he said. "At this pace, they'll catch us again."
Ebisu shook his head awkwardly. He was injured earlier, this was already his limit.
The sound of pursuit grew louder. He knew at this rate, they'd be cornered once more.
Thunk!
A kunai embedded itself in a nearby tree trunk.
"You two go ahead!" Ebisu said through gritted teeth. "I'm only slowing you down."
Oboro gave him a look. For someone who seemed so unremarkable, the resolve was unexpected.
"Hey, brat! If you dare leave him behind, I swear!" Anko snarled, seeing Oboro hesitate.
Stupid woman.
Oboro frowned slightly.
They continued running until they reached a wide river.
Oboro leapt across and stopped on the far bank.
"What are you doing?" Anko asked, stopping with Ebisu.
"Ambush," Oboro replied. "You can run ahead if you want."
Anko blinked, cheeks flushing slightly.
"As if! A Konoha ninja never abandons their comrades!"
"What jutsu can you use?"
Anko: "Fire Style and some secret techniques."
Ebisu: "Mostly fire."
Oboro looked at the river before them.
Figures burst from the forest, enemy reinforcements.
Oboro was already waiting with hand seals.
"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet!"
The river churned violently, forming multiple spiraling jets of water that tore into the enemy line.
Caught off guard, the Hannya were unable to react in time. Screams erupted as they were hit.
The survivors quickly gathered at the riverbank, forming counterattacks.
"Earth Style: Iron Rock Spear!"
"Earth Style: Mudstone Dragon!"
Multiple Earth-Style jutsu surged toward them in unison.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
Oboro shifted his seals, and a towering wall of water rose to block the assault. Earth clashed with water, dissolving into mud, but failed to break through.
"Didn't you say you specialized in taijutsu?" Anko exclaimed, stunned.
"I do," Oboro said calmly.
"…"
Realizing he was using the terrain to his advantage, Anko and Ebisu avoided using Fire Style, instead throwing kunai and shuriken to support him.
Oboro exhaled deeply. His chakra was rapidly depleting.
He formed his final seal.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
The surging water wall twisted into a massive dragon, roaring as it crashed into the enemy formation.
"Retreat!!"
Without hesitation, Oboro turned and ran.
Anko and Ebisu followed close behind.
"You were crushing them, why run now?"
"Too many. Not enough chakra."
The chase resumed.
Though Oboro continued using jutsu to slow the enemy, the sheer numbers were overwhelming. His chakra reserves were nearly drained.
Anko and Ebisu launched a few Fire Style attacks, lighting parts of the forest ablaze, but the flames spread slowly and were easily countered by Earth-Style users.
"These bastards don't give up!" Anko cursed as kunai and shuriken zipped past her.
"This won't work much longer," Ebisu bit out. He knew he was the weak link, but there was no alternative.
He had already used all his courage earlier, suggesting they leave him behind.
Oboro counted at least a dozen pursuers. Their strength was unknown, but fighting them head-on was extremely risky.
His eyes darkened. "Don't stop. I'll stay and hold them off."
"What?!" Anko yelped, instinctively rejecting the idea.
"No. We're not leaving you-"
"I can handle it. You'll only get in the way." Oboro's voice was calm, emotionless.
Ebisu flushed with guilt, remembering how he'd misjudged Oboro before.
Without another word, Oboro halted atop a branch and turned to face the incoming enemy.
Anko and Ebisu looked back once, then raced away.
Oboro couldn't care less about their emotions.
He watched the enemies draw near, and slowly closed his eyes.
First real combat test. Don't screw this up…
The Hannya, seeing him alone, surged forward in delight.
But the first to charge stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a pair of cold, blood-red eyes.
Everyone froze.
And then… they turned on each other.
Everywhere they looked, they saw Oboro.
Clones?
They panicked, slashing and stabbing at each other.
When Oboro opened his eyes again, the ground was littered with bodies. The survivors were still fighting among themselves.
The illusion faded. His eyes returned to normal.
Chakra: nearly gone.
So that eye technique consumes chakra like any other genjutsu, but no side effects on the eyes…
He turned and ran after the others, leaving the madness behind.
The forest was vast, but soon he caught up.
"Oboro!"
Anko's face lit up.
Weren't you calling me "brat" a moment ago?
Oboro sneered inwardly.
"You're okay?" she asked.
"Fine. The enemy's been dealt with."
"Dealt with?" she blinked. Both she and Ebisu stared at him, stunned.
"There were so many… You?"
"Used a genjutsu. They all fell for it. I finished them off."
"Gen… genjutsu?!"
"Yeah. But I'm still better at taijutsu."
"You…" Anko stared at him, dumbfounded.
The enemies that nearly killed them, defeated just like that?
She couldn't quite believe it.
This guy was younger than her, just a kid.
"What?" Oboro said, uncomfortable under her gaze.
"Nothing. You're… really something," Anko murmured.
"If Shisui were here, you wouldn't have had to run at all," Oboro replied.
Shunshin Shisui…
They were the same generation?
Thinking back on the rumors, Anko now believed there had to be more to the story.
This kid… really was full of secrets.
She had to dig deeper.
[Name: Mitarashi Anko]
[Gender: Female]
[Age: 21]
[Affection: 70]
[Relationship: Fellow Villager]
[Romance Difficulty: B]
[First Kiss Reward: Orochimaru Style]
[Home Run Reward: Sage Power]
This woman's way too easygoing. Her affection rises fast.
Oboro glanced again at her chest, flat as ever, and sighed inwardly.
Anko caught his look. Her gaze instantly turned murderous.
Affection: 69.
<><>---------------------------------------
200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters
Add to Collection!
• TL/N •
Hello guys Fanfic recommendation!
Check out my other work:
> Naruto: Mind Control
If you like smart and strong MC, this fanfic is for you.
It's Peak.
Give it a chance and you won't be disappointed