I left Anko to fill the groggy Gai in on my plan. The poor man had fallen asleep, and not even three hours later, he was being woken up again. Thankfully, I wasn't the one who had to explain everything.
I quickly followed after Isaribi, making sure to stay hidden; the Dustless Bewildering Cover made that part very easy. Combining such potent stealth jutsu with the ability to walk on air made me virtually undetectable, unless the enemy was a powerful sensor.
It didn't take me long to catch up to her. She was certainly fast for someone without formal training, but nowhere near fast enough to escape a normal jōnin, much less me.
The difference in speed made it easy to leave enough tracks for the others to follow me; in all honesty, Anko's snakes should have no problem finding me even without those tracks, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Isaribi sprinted out to the sea and jumped from the jagged rocks, landing safely on the water's surface. She steadied herself, likely unaccustomed to walking on water, before taking off again.
Around ten kilometers from the shores of the main island lies a relatively small island.
It was completely barren; whatever human habitation had once existed there had clearly been gone for at least a decade, if not longer.
Isaribi kept running until she found a steel door in a small hill and banged on it quite loudly. Not long after, the reinforced door opened, revealing a dimly lit corridor.
I slipped inside right after her, following her deeper into the lab.
Although one might mistake it for a bunker, it was clearly a fortified location. Not necessarily against ninjas, but fortified enough to keep any experiments contained.
I split off from Isaribi as she ventured deeper, wanting to explore more of the facility. I left a Shadow Clone with her, but my priority was to recover as much information about what was going on inside.
The curse seal on Isaribi was clearly based on Orochimaru's design, albeit loosely. I hoped to find some original notes left behind by the snake man himself.
Having such information could actually lead me to undo those seals without too much fuckery. But considering that one would have to eject a soul shard first, I wasn't keeping my hopes high. There would still be plenty of fuckery involved in removing that seal, even with complete knowledge of its inner workings.
The problem at this moment was to avoid making too much noise, especially since there were many reinforced doors blocking my way.
The most obvious approach would be to start wrecking shit, but that might damage any documents I wanted to preserve. And, of course, it would draw attention to me.
There was no way this facility didn't have some sort of alarm system. So I waited until someone opened the doors I wished to enter, staying invisible and as quiet as possible.
Every single researcher in the facility, if you could call them that, was a medical ninja of dubious reputation and skill.
Some barely had enough chakra to graduate from the academy, while most were slightly stronger than average genin. Still, they were nowhere near powerful enough to hold back the experiments they were overseeing, but they were much less pathetic than I expected.
If I wanted to demolish this base, all I would need to do was release the horribly mutated individuals I saw floating in tubes of green liquid. Their chakra signatures were above even jōnin level in some cases, but judging by what I saw of their precursors, they would simply run off and terrorize the populace.
Whatever the goal of these experiments was, it was clearly a work in progress; the experiments still trapped here were much stronger than those outside.
My infiltration went smoothly until I found what was presumably the main archive, which was guarded by a young man with white hair.
He looked incredibly bored. A massive sword, wrapped in a lot of bandages rested against the wall beside him.
I followed the scientist I was tailing for a while, trying to enter right behind him, but I was stopped by a powerful jet of water shooting from the young man's finger, forcing me to jump back.
The scientist didn't even notice anything was amiss and walked inside, the door closing behind him almost instantly.
"That's a nice jutsu you have there... shame I can sense the chakra you use to maintain it," he said lazily, flashing his shark-like teeth.
"So what you're saying is that you decided to stop me from going further instead of killing me?" I asked as I dropped the jutsu.
There was no reason to waste chakra on a technique that an enemy could easily see through.
"Well, I'm not here to kill people. Just to keep unauthorized individuals out," he said casually, seeming unbothered by the obvious enemy in front of him.
"So it wasn't you who killed the Leaf ninjas that came here to investigate?" I asked incredulously. Noticing no outwardly hostile action, I held back from attacking him for now.
"I fought that crazy purple-haired woman, the others didn't even put up a fight. They're not dead, though... technically." He yawned, but his posture shifted slightly.
He was clearly on guard.
"I'd honestly prefer to die than be used for... whatever experiments they run here. Wouldn't you agree?" I looked pointedly at him, trying to figure out his personality.
"Too late for me, I'm afraid." He grinned and lowered the collar of his shirt, revealing a mark on his shoulder.
It was different from the one on Isaribi, and its aura felt different too. More powerful, definitely, but also dormant. It must have been very recently that he'd got it.
"As you can see, I've already sold my soul..." He chuckled, but there was no humor in his voice.
"I see..." I said quietly, considering my options.
I still didn't have what I really wanted, but I had gathered a lot of information about the facility as a whole. Technically, I had all I needed for the mission.
I focused my senses, searching for my team. They were already close to the island, almost across the sea.
"But I'm afraid I really need what's behind that door." I sighed and summoned my own sword, torn between fighting a proper swordsman and focusing on the mission.
This part of the facility wasn't particularly deep underground, so blasting us outside shouldn't be an issue.
"I guess that means we'll have to fight, then." He quickly reached for his own sword, expecting me to attack him directly.
However, I gathered every ounce of haki I could, coating my sword in the spirit of a conqueror while simultaneously reinforcing my body with chakra.
"Divine Departure," I declared as I swung the blade.
The motion looked like a simple horizontal cut, the effects were anything but, though.
The wall closest to the surface split open, the part above the cut seemingly flying away, creating a large hole in the wall and part of the ceiling. Solid stone and dirt flew apart, and a good quarter of the hill was completely sheared away, landing a considerable distance from its original location.
The island shook so much my team must have felt it. Now there was a good chance they'd ransack the archives for me.
"Hmm, would you look at that, it seems I've missed..." I murmured to myself with a grin directed at the other swordsman.
"No kidding..." he replied, his face locked in an expression I couldn't quite decipher.
It was a mix of excitement and anticipation. But there was no time to stare at each other.
He quickly grabbed his sword, holding it in a defensive position.
"Hiramekarei: Release," he said, making the bandages unravel violently. The sword transformed into a large leaf-bladed weapon with exaggerated proportions.
However, in his hands, its form changed into a more straightforward two-handed sword designed for cutting. The part resembling a fish's tail moved, forming a proper crossguard.
He was clearly taking this seriously, and so would I.
In a flash, he charged at me, executing a powerful cut. I blocked it, but the sheer force sent me flying out of the opening I had created, landing several dozen meters away.
I quickly rolled aside, deflecting another powerful strike with the flat of my blade. As I attempted to riposte, his sword suddenly split in two mid-motion, allowing him to block my counterattack.
"I see... You're one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Hozuki Mangetsu," I said, finally recognizing my opponent. "No wonder your technique with the sword ifeels so natural..." I added, eager to face a true master of the sword.
"That's me. You have me at a disadvantage, then… sorry." He replied, seeming impressed that I survived his attacks.
"Haruno Ryuuzaki. Let's see who's the better swordsman." I introduced myself with my real name, as I had no reason to use a moniker I didn't particularly like.
"Don't get my hopes up too much." He grinned, his twin blades at the ready. "Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" he declared with a serious tone, creating a thick mist that enveloped us, likely using his Hydrification jutsu to speed up the process.
The mist was so dense that I could barely see the fingers on my own hand.
For most people, such low visibility would have been a serious issue. However, I extended my sensory abilities and Observation Haki, locating him almost instantly.
He lunged toward me, his footsteps completely silent. If it hadn't been for my advanced sensory abilities, I wouldn't have known where he was coming from until it was too late.
I spun on my heel to face him, ensuring my stance was solid as he approached, striking at my neck. I stepped back from his first slash and parried his second attack, catching him slightly by surprise.
My free hand grasped his wrist, and I attempted to trip him, but he liquefied his lower body, falling down and almost dragging me with him. I barely managed to keep my balance.
He quickly reformed his body and decided to switch to ranged attacks, shooting numerous small water bullets my way, all strong enough to carve through solid rock.
In response, I countered with my own version of his Water Gun jutsu, crystallizing my arm and firing small chunks of crystal at him.
"Oi, oi... That's seriously not cool, stealing a jutsu like that." He cackled from within the mist.
"I didn't steal it. Not from you, at least," I replied, quickly dodging a chakra wave he sent my way using Hiramekarei's ability.
"It was actually a pain in the ass to reverse-engineer, I'll have you know," I joked, sending more crystal bullets toward him, forcing him to dodge and block with his swords.
With each block, I sensed less chakra emanating from Hiramekarei, making me to believe that I should win the battle of attrition.
"I guess that means you've met some of my... family." He hesitated slightly while speaking, but his voice still carried more amusement than anger.
"Can't say I enjoyed meeting them. You guys are a pain in the ass," I said with a low chuckle.
"Why do you think I left?" he retorted while launching another chakra wave at me.
I enhanced myself once more, cutting cleanly through it. The split attack carved into the island, cutting off another portion of the hill.
"Hey, stop that! I need that place in one piece to ransack it!" I called out into the mist, deciding it was time to go on the offensive.
His chakra wave tactics were annoying, so I took the initiative. I swung my sword horizontally, releasing a large surge of crystal with the motion.
"Crystal Crescent," I muttered as the crescent-shaped attack launched, colliding head-on with another chakra wave and absorbing its power.
It grew in size and continued flying toward Mangetsu, who wisely decided to dodge. He didn't escape unscathed, however.
The moment the attack struck the ground where he had just stood, it exploded violently into many smaller crystal needles, acting almost like a massive shrapnel grenade.
I heard him grunt from within the mist, cursing under his breath.
"Stealing chakra like that... and those crystals," he said, his previous humor replaced by a serious tone. "Never have I thought that Bloody Blossom is really this young... You can't be older than my little brother." He sounded slightly bewildered, but his resolve remained unshaken.
"Some people are born monsters," I replied, unfazed by his familiarity with my nickname. "But I have to say, I'm not the biggest fan of that title," I added with a hollow laugh.
"I think it suits all that pink, actually," he pointed out dryly before returning to combat mode.
In a flash, his swords were once again trying to slice me open. I didn't expect him to get faster, but he was much more serious this time.
I parried one blade with my own and infused my right hand with armament Haki to slap his second sword away in a last-ditch effort to avoid being cut in half. His sword sank into my arm, drawing blood but stopping before hitting the bone.
My hasty reinforcement was barely enough to defend me.
I quickly disengaged and focused, my Observation Haki sounding the alarm a fraction of a second before he attacked again.
This time, I was ready; I dodged to the side and crystallized my right arm completely. I crashed my crystallized arm against his striking sword, immediately encasing it in a thick layer of pink gems.
This action drained the chakra stored in Hiramekarei, rapidly refilling my own reserves.
Seeing one of his swords trapped, Mangetsu jumped back and rapidly performed a short series of hand seals.
"Water Style: Grand Waterfall!" he declared with focus, unleashing a large wave that drained all of the mist from the air.
I responded by placing my crystallized arm on the ground, turning the rock between us into more crystal.
With the chakra still stored in the remaining half of Hiramekarei that I had stolen, I accelerated the growth of the crystals. When the crystal growth met the wave, the effect was almost immediate.
The chakra lacing the jutsu served as additional nourishment for the pink mass, causing the wave to freeze and transform into a massive pink wall separating us.
"Those crystals of yours are annoying," Mangetsu sighed, clearly disappointed in his lack of success. "But I'm not giving up just yet." He added, moving through more hand seals.
"Lightning Style: False Darkness!" he cried out, unleashing a powerful beam of energy from his mouth.
It pierced easily through the crystallized wave, barely slowed down by it. I dodged just in time, feeling the heat of his attack rush past me.
It seemed his experimental assault had found a weakness of my Crystal Release.
He smirked, seemingly pleased with himself, and charged Hiramekarei with lightning before rushing back in. I quickly coated my own blade with Shiden to counter his lightning.
We clashed again, the force of our swords colliding creating a shockwave that sent powerful sparks of lightning in every direction. The wall of crystals shattered completely, and the ground was scarred with deep gashes from random lightning strikes.
Mangetsu's curse mark was active, enhancing his attacks and seemingly boosting his Hydrification jutsu beyond normal levels.
We engaged in relentless clashes, each hit accompanied by the loud clang of steel, crackle of lightning and a powerful shockwave.
Mangetsu pushed me back, forcing me to create some distance. And that was exactly what he wanted.
He seized the opportunity to retrieve the sword I had taken from him earlier. In a flash, he fused the two blades back into one, forming a longsword out of Hiramekarei instead of the two shorter blades he had been using.
That curse mark was a significant issue; even without it active, he was physically stronger than me, but now his raw strength was overwhelming. I had to continuously fortify myself with both chakra and haki to keep up with his attacks.
While I was managing, it was incredibly taxing to maintain both at the same time. If it weren't for the massive amount of chakra I siphoned from half of Hiramekarei, I would already be running low.
I attacked, hoping to catch him off guard as he finished fusing his blades. But the process was much faster than I anticipated.
My lunge was halted as Mangetsu countered, his hands bending in unnatural ways as he moved.
It appeared he was partially liquefied but still retained his human shape. If it hadn't been for my Observation Haki warning me just in time, I might have been bisected on the spot.
"This can't be healthy for you…" I huffed, trying to catch my breath after our last exchange.
"No can do. As long as I protect that Amachi guy, my brother stays safe," he replied, his voice raspy like someone who had just smoked a whole crate of cigarettes.
"And you trust anything Amachi or Orochimaru told you? I thought you were smarter than that," I rebuked, dodging a water bullet aimed at my head and countering with a swarm of crystal needles.
Mangetsu flipped through the air, making contact with as few needles as possible.
"I'd trust them over Yagura any day. Though I guess they are all just as monstrous as him," he responded as he landed.
However, instead of attacking, he suddenly gripped his shoulder and cried out in pain, dropping to one knee.
His chakra reserves were dangerously low, and the curse mark was spreading across his body. He was struggling to keep it at bay from consuming him entirely.
I glanced over at the base, noticing many chakra signatures fading. The battle was clearly turning in our favor, with Gai effortlessly taking down the experiments and the staff while Anko fought against who I assumed was Amachi.
The battle was far from over, and Mangetsu was most likely out of the fight.
I cursed myself for not bringing more sealing equipment, as I couldn't perform the Evil Sealing Method in this situation.
It was time to leave; there were still many more enemies to deal with.
"Why? Why don't you finish it?" Mangetsu called out, still in pain and nearly unable to move.
"This isn't how I want to win," I said plainly. "And you're not the kind of person I'd kill without remorse," I added before jumping away.
Both Kurenai and Anko seemed to be doing fine, so I headed toward Gai's position, a fortunate coincidence since he was also the closest ally to me.