Chapter 204: 203. Hannya [2]

"You two stay back, I'll handle this!" (Rei)

WEAVE!

As the Hannya mask-wearing ninja got up from the ground, Rei formed a hand seal before dashing straight at them, promptly fulfilling his role as the vanguard of Team Tango

"Yori! He's coming!"

"Then stop talking, and start moving your hands!" (Yori)

The female leader of the enemy squad named Yori ordered the two male members to engage first

"Suiton: Teppōdama1Water Style: Gunshot!"

SPLOOSH!

The pair unleashed a water style attack in the form of small liquid bullets at Rei, who in response, tapped his red summoning wristbands, summoning several shuriken to throw

With his inhuman speed and reactions, it was child's play for him to intercept each water blast with his blades 

"He's fast--ah! Look out you two!" (Yori)

"Too slow..!" (Rei)

GWOK! POW!

"O-Ooof!"

"Uhack!"

Giving them no time to think, Rei delivered a swift series of kicks, knocking them down before charging straight at Yori

{Those tags on his wrists...a Kaifū no Jutsu2Unsealing Technique? They must be linked to another scroll or something. Likely containing a multitude of weapons...clever. If we can't beat him with quantity then...} "Doton: Ganchūsō3Earth Style: Rock Pillar Spears!" (Yori)

{Beneath?!} (Rei)

THOK! THOK!

Spiky pillars of stone rose from the ground, directed at Rei, forcing him to jump upwards to avoid being impaled...exactly what Yori desired

{Gotcha!} "Doton: Deiteimu4Bottomless Mud Hole!" (Yori)

"Rei, look out!" (Tai)

"What?!" (Rei)

Tai's warning came to late, as before Rei realized, Yori had utilized her Earth style to change his landing spot into a sinking mud pit! Unable to move in mid-air, his landed right on top of it, submerging his body all the way to his shoulders...completely binding him

"Now I don't have to worry about you zipping around anymore. Okay, the others! Come on out! Or your friend gets buried alive!" (Yori)

"Tch!" (Suzu)

"Don't even think about you two!" (Rei)

"B-But...!" (Tai)

Yori's teammates whom Rei struck got back on their feet, and with kunai in hand, rejoined her

"You're willing to die for this exam? It's over, you understand? We trapped you lot even before you waltzed into that barrier" (Yori)

"Urgh! The hell--is that supposed to mean?!" (Rei)

Yori pointed towards a formation of rocks in the distance, the very same the team stayed in after encountering the giant bobcat. Looking at it from this angle, Rei released it seemed very unnatural

As if it placed there my human hands

"I see. That's the bobcat's personal hunting ground. You set up a place of rest most would use after spotting that creature. Then, they'd inevitably head to nearest safe location...here, into your trap" (Rei)

"Exactly. We set this up a while ago, but we've had nothing but bad luck, for none had the piece we needed. So we left them alone...for the bobcat" (Yori)

"Now that is twisted" (Tai)

"That is strategy. You spoiled brats from the great nations would never understand the struggles of us smaller countries" (Yori)

Suzu stuck her head out from the behind the trees she and Tai were hiding behind at Rei's behest

"Those masks...I knew it was familiar. You three hail from the Hayashi no Kuni5Land of Woods" (Suzu)

{Sounds familiar, where I have heard that name before?} (Rei)

"Much as I'd love to go over my home's noble history, we're on a bit of a clock. I've issued my demands, now give us your piece, or this kid drowns in mud..." (Yori)

"..." (Suzu & Tai)

"?" (Yori)

To her confusion, Rei's teammates stopped talking, standing as still as statues. Showing no traces of emotion or fear at the kunoichi's6Female Ninja threats. Yori's teammates glanced at each other, also clueless at Team Tango's unexpected response

{Do they really not care if he dies?} "I'm serious! Either surrender, or he's done!" (Yori)

"Nah...that description fits you more"

"Hm?! Who said tha--uh?!" (Yori)

CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

Without warning, a voice emerged out of nowhere as Yori and her teammates were bombarded with painful headaches. Soon after, the very scene before them began to distort and warp

Team Tango's figures began twisting and vanishing...

"H-Huh? Wait...what just-?!"

"Oh no..."

"He got...me?!" (Yori)

The Hayashi-nin found themselves seemingly trapped together in the very same sinking mud pit Yori created earlier for Rei. The latter of whom was now standing over them just outside of it, with his teammates next to him

"You guys sure talk a lot when you believe you're winning" (Tai)

"I'll say, nice job" (Suzu)

"Thanks" (Rei)

{There's no mistaking it...!} "Genjutsu?! Since when?!" (Yori)

"Since the start. Right after Rei blasted you off the cliff, the moment the fight began" (Tai)

{When we got up from the ground, the moment he formed a hand seal...the entire fight was nothing but an illusion?!} (Yori)

"I wanted to enjoy the show more, but things got tricky when you started burying yourself in mud. Can't get intel if you die from asphyxia due to submersion" (Rei)

"But thanks to that, we were able to confirm what we needed after searching these" (Tai)

"Ah! Hey give those back!!" (Yori)

The items in Tai's hands were none other than the Hayashi-nin's shinobi pouches, confiscated from them once they fell under Rei's Genjutsu. While he focused on maintaining the illusion, Suzu and Tai searched their belongings, looking for the piece they possessed

Only after confirming they too possessed several White compasses did they decide to end the battle, as there was no purpose in fighting any longer

"We've gotten what we needed, so we'll take our leave. Thanks for the extra supplies" (Rei)

"W-Wait! You're just gonna take our stuff and leave us here?!" (Yori)

"Isn't that the primary purpose of this test?" {Jacking other people's shit and leaving them to die...?} (Rei)

"Urgh! I meant, leaving us in this pit!" (Yori)

"Ohhhh...now I get what you mean" (Rei)

{He's clearly acting oblivious on purpose to mess with them...he'll never change} (Tai)

When the other two Hayashi-nin saw Rei and others turn around and begin to take their leave, they shouted in protest...or rather, desperation

"Hold on! Where are you going?!"

"You can't just-!"

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"Can't what? Leave you here, as you've left so many others to die? Just so you can turn around and try to kill us like as did to the others" (Rei)

"K-Kuh! Ruthless bastards!" (Yori)

"Ruthless? You mean like you?" (Suzu)

"Don't look at us like that, you lost, accept it. If we were the same, you'd be dead. Instead, we're leaving you with some of the food and water and--oh yeah, not killing you. You're welcome" (Rei)

WOOOO!

The wind picked up at Rei's response. With nothing more to say, the team turned around

"KUMOGAKURE BASTARDS!!!!! YOU'LL PAY!!!" (Yori)

"Yori-san..."

"D-Damn it! I can't believe we fell for--eh? T-T-That's...!"

As the Kumo-nin left, Yori continued to scream at their departing figures in rage. Unbeknownst to her, all of the shouting attracted another interested party...

"S-Shit! It's here!"

"No no no no no!"

"Hurry up and move you idiots! We have get out of this before-! (Yori)

The massive bobcat stared at them hungrily

"Rrrrr...RAAAAAAHH!!!"

{I'm definitely gonna pay those punks back ten fold for this!} (Yori)

♦♦♦

A ways off from their previous location, Team Tango safely entered new territory. Along the way, Tai continued rummaging through the pouches of the Hayashi ninja

"That was interesting, but unfortunately we got the wrong piece. Those guys really did have nothing but bad luck if all they got were compasses. What do you want to do with them?" (Tai)

"We already have one, how many are in that bag?" (Suzu)

"Five...meaning those guys killed fifteen people at least" (Tai)

"..." (Suzu)

{Just goes to show how sympathy will get you killed in this kind of life...} (Rei)

Tai gulped upon finally understanding the competition was playing for keeps

Rei was also grateful to Suzu for her quick actions. For this could've been their fate earlier if she hadn't managed to get them out of the trap barrier the enemy created

It was fortuitous the location she trained on for the past three months, Genbu Island, was monitored by the Kumo Barrier Team, who went out their way to provide some tips on the subject at Motoi's behest

{I'm definitely gonna increase my studies on barriers and seals when I get back to Kumo} (Rei)

"Along with what we have, that's six, so each of us can hold on to two. In the event we're outmatched and need to bargain, it'll come in handy" (Suzu)

"And holding on to more means decreasing the chances of candidates making it to third roun-" (Tai)

"GUYS!" (Rei)

TAK!

At Rei's warning, the trio took cover. With his enhanced senses, he managed to pick up traces of a confrontation occurring nearby. The only question was...

"Do we check it out, or not?" (Rei)

"Hmmm...it's a risk but..." (Tai)

"Yeah. Though we've had our fair share of encounters, there's no telling how soon the next would come" (Suzu)

Barely ten days left, within a canyon bigger than a great shinobi village. And even with the hundreds of participants, there was only one key item per squad

Every encounter was an opportunity

"Alright, I'll take point. Stay close to me"

"Got it" (Tai & Suzu)

The team went on ahead, all the while scoping out the surrounding landscape. The terrain began to change, no longer an area filled with nature, but ruined infrastructure

The lack of modern appearances easily indicated how old it was

"Look at all of this architecture. What it must've cost to make this place...now we know what head proctor was talking about" (Suzu)

"Despite its nature, this place suits a small town, rather than a factory. It's massive, definitely stretching for miles. How many people must've worked here...my mind's getting exhausted just thinking about it" (Tai)

"With all the rusted metal and pipes everywhere, you'd think we're in Amegakure7Hidden Rain Village" {Just what we're they trying to build here?} (Rei)

BOOM!

"?!" (The Team)

Gawking would have to wait as the sound of fighting nearby interrupted their study of the location. With cautious haste, the Genin jumped from building to building, before grabbing a bird's eye view of a fight inside the floor of another building

Carefully poking their heads out of a broken window as to not get spotted, each of them pulled out a monocular to scan the area below, discovering a three-way battle between shinobi of different origins

"I recognize the squad on the left, they're Sunagakure8Hidden Sand Villageshinobi" (Tai)

"Look, the second group are wearing Hannya masks, more Hayashi-nin. A bunch of them, I count at least twenty. Their teams must've gotten together for efficiency" (Suzu)

"Great. That's all we, the only team from Kumogakure, needs. Village Genin teaming up is only gonna bite us in the ass later...Sigh!" (Tai)

"Wait, they're not just fighting the Suna-nin. Half the group is fighting...one person?!" (Suzu)

{One guy? Is it Itachi?!} (Rei)

Rei blatantly stuck his head out, but frowned in disappointment. The one fighting alone had not been Itachi Uchiha, but a young man of unknown origin, wearing attire not belonging to any nation he was aware of

Using his lens, he scanned the him in attempts to discern his background

He had white hair down to his neck and dark purple eyes. Wearing a tan kimono shirt tied by a belt, along with black trousers and wristbands, but no shinobi head band

"I have no idea who that last person is..." (Rei)

"It won't matter if we sit here and let them go at it. Once they're tired from fighting, we can swoop in and take them all down" (Tai)

"That's quite the bold plan for you, what's up?" (Rei)

"I just wanna get out of this place. The sooner, the better" (Tai)

"It's also quite risky. Though Rei's an excellent sensor, others could still be hiding in this area with the same intention. Exposing ourselves may potentially do more harm than good" (Suzu)

{We also don't know how strong that mystery guy is, considering he's WINNING against all those Wood ninja. Who the hell is that guy?!} "Alright, we'll chill out here and wait before making a final decsio-?!" {This chakra! No way...it's him again?!} (Rei)

"Rei?" (Suzu)

"GUYS! GET OUT NOW!!" (Rei)

♦♦♦

When the team considered their next course of action, another interloper was prepping to take the center stage

"For a number of that size...yes...the first level of chakra should be fine, hm"

Soaring through the skies on what appeared to be a bird, he chuckled while look down at the group of shinobi fighting in the ruined factory complex

After counting how many there were, he decided to act, throwing white objects generated from his hands towards the group before forming a hand seal

"Get ready to experience the sublimation...!"

BOOM!

The white objects he threw abruptly detonated over all over the site, forming a giant ray of light and smoke in their wake. The young man raised both of his hands in glee

And with a wide smile, he yelled straight from his diaphragm in fervor

"Art is...AN EXPLOSION!!!!"

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