Chapter 40: 39. First Mission [3]

GROWL!!!

The stampede of giant hippos grew closer and closer to the team

⌈Rei! Can you!⌋ (Tai)

⌈No! There's too many, and they're moving too fast! My Genjutsu isn't enough to...!⌋ (Rei)

BOMP!! One of the hippos almost hit Rei as he dodged at the last second, reuniting with the group

⌈Rei! Are you alright?!⌋ (Tango)

⌈Ugh...I'm fine! I'll shake it off!⌋ {Damn it, my shoulder was grazed! If it wasn't for my new body, I'm sure I would've lost an arm at least. Is this really a mission for Genin?!} (Rei)

⌈How about this!⌋ (Tai)

BAROOM!

Tai threw a bomb that exploded a red powder. The front line of hippos tumbled over and the rest began to act erratic

⌈Ugh, my eyes...Tai...was that?⌋ (Rei)

⌈Chili pepper bomb. Irritates the eyes, throat, and nasal cavity. It's the only one I have on me though⌋ (Tai)

Dash!

No wasting this opportunity, Suzu attacked the now vulnerable group

{I may not get another chance like this!} "Doton: Chidōkaku!1Earth Style: Mobile Core" (Suzu)

Crack! The ground started to shift

Utilizing this jutsu to move the Earth, Suzu lowered the ground underneath the hippos to trap them

⌈Guess I better step it up⌋ (Rei)

⌈Huh?! Ah...Rei!⌋ (Tai)

Whoosh! To not fall behind her momentum, Rei attacked the disoriented group

⌈Screw it! Let's go!⌋ (Tai)

Tai also started attacking

{Yes...they're skilled. But also lacking in certain areas} (Tango)

♦♦♦

Some time later

"HAH!" (Rei)

POW!

"HAAWWW!!"

Another of these giant beasts was taken down

"Huff...huff...somethings wrong" (Rei)

Standing over the unconscious hippo, Rei pondered

{There...there shouldn't have been this many. I know I knocked out plenty so where are the others coming...huh?} (Rei)

"W-where the hell?! Notitia!" (Rei)

[What's up?]

"Where am I? Where's everyone else?!" (Rei)

[Well, while you were getting your "Big Game Hunter" on, you may have unintentionally separated yourself from group]

"Oh...great! You couldn't have told me sooner?!" (Rei)

[I'm telling you now...does that count?]

"...Do you think it counts?" (Rei)

[...No. Probably not]

"Haaa. Damn it" (Rei)

Using his enhanced hearing, he ran back to the team

{No one's talking on the transmission...shit!} ⌈Hello! Anyone there! Some of the hippos forced me away while I was fighting⌋ (Rei)

No one responded...

"Can anyone hear me?! Tai! Suzu! Tango-sensei!" (Rei)

Still running, Rei felt something wet on his face

{Huh? Water? But...it didn't rain did it? Whatever, that's not important! Almost there!} (Rei)

Making it back to the waterfall...

"?!" (Rei)

...he found Tango tending to an unconscious Tai and the hippos fighting a worn out Suzu. Some managed to dig there way out of the trenches she made

{So that's where all the extra hippos came from! She didn't make the trenches deep enough! Damn it...!} (Rei)

"Tah!!" (Rei)

Whack!

"Rei?! Where the hell were you?!" (Suzu)

"The hippos YOU couldn't contain got loose and separated me from the rest of the group!" (Rei)

"Hey! They were restrained until Tai-" (Suzu)

Before she could finish her sentence

"Suzu! Seven o'clock!" (Rei)

"Eh?" (Suzu)

Whack!! What appeared to be the alpha of group, struck an unaware Suzu

"Gah!!" (Suzu)

"Shit! AH!" (Rei)

Rei sped up and caught her

{No good...she's out cold. F*ck!} (Rei)

Carrying her to Tango, he noticed Tai was in terrible shape before the two spoke

"Sensei! What happened to-" (Rei)

"We're about to be overrun!" (Tango)

"Yeah, the trenches Suzu made were too small, the hippos escaped and gave me...!" (Rei)

"Save it! Here they come!" (Tango)

ROOAARRR!!! The hippos would not stop

"Tch! So you like charging huh?" (Rei)

Forming a hand seal {"Shunshin no Jutsu!"}

Bomp! Bomp! Bomp! Bomp! Rei continued dashing between each beast, attacking one after the other while using his speed to avoid their attacks

{Ugh! They're not like the koala's! The density of their skin and muscles are far superior! I'm already tired, at this rate I'm gonna use up what's left of my chakra...!}

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Tango and Rei engaged these beasts to the best of their ability but...

"Huff...huff...ha...damn it. I'm...I'm..." (Rei)

Rei did his best, but even with his enhanced life force and body, he was still just a seven year old kid. An ordinary child his age would've easily been killed by a NORMAL stampede of hippos let alone ones the size of a small house!

Bonk! A hippo managed to get a hit in and knock Rei back

Landing on his feet, he body started to stumble

"Haaa............damn it" (Rei)

After fighting for so long, his bruised and tired body began to give out on him until finally, he fell to the ground

"...! Rei! Can you continue?" (Tango)

"Ugh...I...I..." (Rei)

Thump

Whispering "Notitia! What the hell?! Why is my body giving out on me?! I should be a 'Neo-Ōtsutsuki' right?!" (Rei)

[You really are out of it if you're asking me that. Remember? You haven't COMPLETLY awakened as an Ōtsutsuki yet. The fact that you're still alive after taking so many blows from THOSE creatures already proves you're not a normal human]

{Shit! Come on...you stupid body...MOVE!!!} (Rei)

He tried to get up, but to no avail.

"Ugh!" (Rei)

[It's no use man, you've reached your limits]

"This...this can't be..." (Rei)

{...Seriously? Out of all the ways I could go out in this stupid world, it's getting killed...by some...f*cking...hippos...?}

His eyes lids closing slowly as he passed out

"...Guess that's your answer" (Tango)

"GRRRRR!!!!"

The beasts inched closer to Tango and the group. Tango stood up and began yelling

"ALRIGHT!! I'VE SEEN ALL THAT I NEED TO SEE! IT'S WELL PAST TIME FOR YOU TO END THIS!" (Tango)

BOOOM!!!!

As things took a turn for the worst, a figure suddenly crashed in the middle of the group of hippos before proceeding to subdue them. With the dust that followed, it was impossible to identify what exactly was attacking them but judging from it's silhouette, one thing was obvious...it wasn't human

♦♦♦

"..." (Rei)

"...and th...ole story"

"...at bad...etely...unsalvageable"

"...ill...pressive when...ink about...t..."

{Ugh. What? Am I still alive?} (Rei)

Rei tried to move, but his body was sore all over

"...lack a...damentle element"

"...e's awake...got a ackache"

"Huh? W-who...is talking right now?" (Rei)

"Rei..."

"Eh? Tango...sensei?" (Rei)

"...You took a bad hit, don't try to move. We'll talk when the others wake up. It's pretty impressive that you're the first one up considering you got the worst of it" (Tango)

{That's because of my advance healing. But the "others"...?} (Rei)

Rei couldn't make out the figure that was talking with Tango as he was still out of it. He could barely see straight

Sitting with a wall on his back, he noticed an unconscious Suzu and Tai sitting the same way next to him

{They're okay...and the hippos are gone...what the hell happened?} (Rei)

After a few minutes, the other two woke up and the person Tango was talking to was gone

The Genin trio's appearance was awful. Scrapes and bruises all over them, their shinobi attire was a mess

"Ugh...my body" (Tai)

"...I can't believe I was knocked out" (Suzu)

"Join the club" (Rei)

Turning her head towards Rei with angry look "Humph! That's rich coming from you!" (Suzu)

Frowning "I'm sorry 'Suzu-sama', is there a problem you got with me?" (Rei)

"My only problem is dealing with your f*ck-ups" (Suzu)

"Excuse you. In case you were wondering, I was the one who caught your sorry ass when you got knocked out and brought you to safety at the risk of my life. So you know, you're welcome" (Rei)

"Which never would've happened if you hadn't left the group!" (Suzu)

"Ugh...shut up. I've got a killer headache" (Tai)

With an irritated tone "If by 'left the group', you mean getting dragged away by the ones you FAILED to contain, then yeah...I certainly left the group" (Rei)

Pointing to Tai "That only happened, cause your idiot friend here used Suiton on the hippos that were hit with the pepper bomb. The water washed their faces, making easier for them to recover and rampage" (Suzu)

"Yeah, the pepper bomb YOU didn't bring" (Tai)

"Didn't Tango-sensei tell us to treat him like you would treat a medical-nin in the group because he's a herbalist? If he used Suiton, it was obviously to protect himself! In which I recall, was your job!" (Rei)

"That would've been easy if I didn't have to deal with the ones you let get past you!" (Suzu)

"Oh! Of course, my apologies! How foolish of me to let a couple of GIANT HIPPOS IN A STAMPEDE get past me! Most Genin wouldn't make such mistake...right?" (Rei)

"You little smart-ass...I'm gonna...!" (Suzu)

"Ugh...will you two shut up! I got knocked out because of your screwups" (Tai)

"You make it sound like you were the only one who got hit! Look at me Tai! Do I look like I've been on a vacation?!" (Rei)

"Not letting your medic get hurt is like one of the first rules in the book!" (Tai)

"Unbelievable. Months of waiting and I get paired with you two idiots" (Suzu)

"Hah! That's rich coming from the wild animal! Instead of waiting for a team, I'd thought you'd be busy brutalizing some kids again" (Tai)

"Yeah, I'm surprised to find out you don't live here. YOU'D FIT RIGHT IN!" (Rei)

Clap! Clap! Clap! Just as they were about to fight, Tango started clapping

"Well done. I must say, it's not every day you see children prove they've got their heads so far up their asses than most adults" (Tango)

"..." (Rei & Suzu)

"Sensei...I" (Tai)

"Nuh-uh. Before you continue I have something to say. For your first mission as a ninja unit, you three..."

A slight pause that felt like an eternity to them

"...have utterly failed"

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