Chapter 33: A Mission That Got Out of Hand...
Late June. A merchant caravan moved in and out through the rough-hewn gates of Iwagakure's fortress. Beneath the enormous earthen walls, the chunin on duty ran their routine checks with obvious boredom.
"Honestly, vegetable prices are climbing again. The village doesn't bother reining in these merchants at all."
"Our commissions still cover it, but the genin are really struggling."
"The Tsuchikage needs to make a decision already."
"..."
Iwagakure looked nothing like Konoha. There was almost no greenery to speak of. A glance across the cluster of pointed rooftops turned up only the occasional patch of green, and the whole place pressed down on you with a kind of heaviness.
A middle-aged man drifted away from the departing caravan, chatting casually with a companion while keeping his eyes moving across the surrounding area. Once he was well clear of the fortress, he excused himself on the pretense of needing a moment and quietly slipped away from the group.
"Pick up the pace! We've got several rush shipments still coming through. I need everyone sharp!"
The caravan leader shouted from the front. Scattered responses trailed back to him from down the line.
The straight road leading out of the village was flanked on both sides by rock walls several men high. It felt less like a road and more like something carved out of a flat plain, completely exposed on all sides with nowhere to take cover.
"Shikaku-taichou, the target has reached the designated point."
Several kilometers from the main road, Hyuga Shuichi reported from behind a rock wall. Nara Shikaku let out a long breath beside him and kept his voice low.
"We move when it's dark. Once we have the scroll, we pull out immediately."
Things had been going steadily wrong since they crossed into Stone territory. Their embedded contact had failed to appear at any of the planned times.
If Shuichi's Byakugan hadn't caught the signs that Stone had quietly tightened its security while keeping up a relaxed front, the four of them would have walked straight into a cordon of Stone ninja waiting at the outer perimeter, exactly where the original plan would have put them.
There were squads dug in at the western gate checkpoint. Thinking back over the last few days, Nara Shikaku was starting to wonder if there was a leak somewhere on their side.
The code seals they'd been given in advance were useless now, and he had no intention of trying to push through a sensory barrier. As squad leader, he had already made his peace with the possibility of mission failure.
"What about Jiraiya-sama's side?"
Kakashi asked again, unable to let it go. Shikaku shook his head. "My first priority is getting all of you out safely."
Furukawa Osamu was still reaching out with his senses. When no sign of Stone pursuers came back, he murmured a quiet warning.
"I think we've shaken their sensor ninja. Shikaku-taichou is right. If we don't move soon, the outer patrol squads will start closing in."
In a situation like this, the Byakugan and a sensor-type ninja were worth their weight in gold. Nara Shikaku thought it over and still wasn't comfortable. He added one more instruction.
"After we get the scroll tonight, everyone takes the secret medicine. Be ready for an ambush."
* * *
Night fell. The lights of Iwagakure in the distance were nothing like the warm glow that spread across Konoha after dark.
Hyuga Shuichi reached the designated point and secured the intelligence scroll. Through his Byakugan he caught the hand signal Furukawa Osamu was giving from a distance and broke into a full sprint.
The Stone sensor ninja lying in wait had not expected to be detected. The range Osamu had picked them up from was far beyond what they'd calculated, and their whole plan fell apart in an instant.
The square-jawed jonin leading them didn't waste time blaming his subordinates. He fired off a signal flare and gave the order.
"Run them down. Don't let them leave."
Unlike the black-market hired hands they had been sweeping up before, these two squads moved in silence, accelerating hard and pushing faster with every stride.
Nara Shikaku caught sight of the flare's light behind them and cursed under his breath. He hadn't expected Stone to care this much about one intelligence scroll. There was nothing for it but to grit his teeth and run.
The flat terrain heavily favored Iwagakure. With their sensor ninja guiding them, they locked onto the Konoha squad in no time.
The pursuit drove them toward a low rock wall. Hyuga Shuichi had no time to call out a warning before the ground beneath their feet cracked open with a deep boom, rock and debris flying in all directions.
"Earth Style: Fissure Palm!"
The combined jutsu hit even harder with the terrain working in their favor. When the four of them found their footing again, Nara Shikaku had blood running down his head. A chunk of rock had caught him.
"Kakashi!"
Furukawa Osamu's voice dropped sharp and low. Kakashi completed cellular activation at speed, squeezing out a second round of chakra.
Lightning crackled along both their short blades, and the shrieking sound of it began to cut through the night.
Ignoring the wound on his head, Nara Shikaku downed the secret medicine and pushed his shadow jutsu to full capacity. The moment the enemy closed in, both squads froze at once.
Thud.
Debris scattered across the ground. Furukawa Osamu and Kakashi split and drove forward together, hitting from two directions the instant the Stone ninja stalled. Screams followed one after another.
"Ugh! Aah!"
The chakra-edged short blade drew wide arcs of blood. By the time Furukawa Osamu reached the heavily built Stone jonin, the man was already struggling against his bonds.
"No!"
Furukawa Osamu's chakra surged again. The Stone jonin let out one last desperate shout, and then the blue-white blade swept clean through him at the waist.
Blood scattered across the ground. The upper half of his body fell, twitched once, and went still.
"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"
Hyuga Shuichi spun into his rotation, the burst of chakra deflecting a volley of shuriken. Nara Shikaku, shielded by the technique, dropped to one knee behind him.
Before Shadow Imitation could be activated again, the square-jawed Stone jonin found his opening and completed his jutsu.
"Earth Style: Tectonic Core!"
Stone pillars erupted without warning and launched Nara Shikaku into the air. The shadow jutsu broke apart, and the Stone squad immediately pressed their advantage.
"Earth Style: Rock Barrage!"
"Palms Revolving Heaven!"
On the other side, Kakashi had taken out three squad members and left the Stone squad's jonin severely wounded when the thundering noise behind him reached him. He turned and drove back at full speed.
The Stone jonin's wound at his side was bleeding heavily. He'd barely kept his life. He pressed a hand over the gash and breathed in ragged pulls, his face stripped of color and tight with fear.
He'd meant to use the terrain to press another jutsu, but the moment Furukawa Osamu and Kakashi converged on him, his squad's formation collapsed.
The square-jawed Stone jonin kicked Kakashi away and immediately fell back. The shadow chasing along the ground came after him fast, and all he could do was keep creating distance.
On the other side, the separated squad was in trouble of its own. Hyuga Shuichi moved in close and drove fast strikes at one of the chunin. Furukawa Osamu wove between them, his short blade trading blows with kunai in rapid succession.
A Stone chunin tried to jump back and open up space. He'd barely landed before Furukawa Osamu dropped low and beat him to it.
"Earth Style: Fissure Palm!"
The ground split and buckled, shards of rock flying in every direction. The two Stone chunin scrambled to fall back, but the jutsu's reach caught them anyway.
Nara Shikaku seized the moment and flung explosive tag kunai. The blast went off hard, and the square-jawed Stone jonin trying to push back through the smoke let out a low curse.
"Damn it."
A massive cloud of dust rose over the open plain. By the time the Stone squad had regrouped, Furukawa Osamu's group had already vanished.
The second heavily wounded jonin had no color left in his face at all. He made it to his comrade's side and collapsed.
The square-jawed Stone jonin noticed the looks on his team members' faces and didn't give the order to pursue. He stood looking at the scene in front of him and murmured under his breath.
"That kind of power, and that Earth Style was used by a child..."
* * *
As the sky began to lighten, the four of them were nearly at the border. Everyone except Furukawa Osamu was at their limit after taking the secret medicine one dose after another.
Kakashi and Hyuga Shuichi were covered in wounds and breathing hard. Nara Shikaku slumped against a cracked rock wall, his face thick with blood.
Shikaku watched Furukawa Osamu run a sensing seal and give a nod, then allowed himself a tired, crooked smile.
"Let's hope the intelligence was worth it..."