Sasuke's voice cut through the static in Iruka and Hotaru's earpieces, sharp and cold.
"Three o'clock. Behind you. There's a woman watching the target. Is she a threat?"
Iruka reacted instantly. He blurred, interposing his body between Wesley and the line of sight. A kunai slid from his sleeve into his grip as he dropped into a low combat stance. Hotaru spun simultaneously, her eyes locking onto those of Fox.
"Enemy!"
The word had barely left Hotaru's lips when she drew her handgun and fired.
BANG!
Fox recognized Hotaru immediately—the "senior" who had retired from the Textile Mill a year ago. She returned fire with reflex speed. The two bullets collided in mid-air with a metallic spark, neither woman finding their mark.
The sudden violence sent Wesley spiraling. His anxiety disorder flared like a physical blow. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his head, his eyes wide with primal terror. To his hyper-sensitized mind, the gunshots weren't just loud—on the edge of a panic attack, they sounded like cracks of thunder tearing the sky apart.
Across the street, Sasuke and Lee moved the moment Hotaru identified the target.
Sasuke was fast, but Rock Lee was a different breed of speed entirely. He surged forward, leaving Sasuke in his wake.
"Infinite Chaos!"
Lee burst from the shadows, his silhouette a blur of flickering afterimages as he closed the distance. Fox was still locked in a high-stakes duel with Hotaru; she didn't have a fraction of a second to turn and defend herself.
The next moment, a monstrous force slammed into her ribs.
CRACK!
Fox was sent airborne. Her body traced a violent arc before slamming into a street lamp with a sickening thud. Several ribs shattered instantly, driving inward. She went limp before she even hit the pavement.
Hotaru stood frozen, her gun still raised. She stared at Lee—a kid who looked like he barely had a muscle on him—and watched him send a grown, elite assassin flying with a single strike.
In her year with Shiranui Hayate's team, she had mostly served as his secretary, handling intel and filtering bounties. She knew Lee was strong, but this? This was absurd.Is this a ninja? Or is he some kind of 'Kung Fu Lee'?
Seeing the threat neutralized, Hotaru holstered her weapon and hauled up the trembling Wesley, who was whimpering, "I'm just an accountant... I'm just an accountant..."
"Wesley, listen to me!" Hotaru said, her voice commanding and grim. "That woman was sent to kill you. They are an organization, not a lone hitman. The danger is far from over."
"We—we should call the police," Wesley stammered, his teeth chattering. "The police can protect me."
Gunfire had cleared the streets of pedestrians, though some distant, well-meaning citizens were likely already dialing 911.
Lee approached Fox's body, reaching for some ninja wire to bind her for interrogation. But as he knelt, he saw the blood pooling from her nose and mouth. He checked for a pulse. Nothing.
"She's dead," Lee said, his voice dropping into a dejected mumble.
Sasuke walked up, looking down at the body. "Why haven't you tied her up yet, Lee?"
"I... I didn't think she'd be so weak," Lee said, sounding genuinely frustrated. "Master Hayate told me this world was full of dangerous experts. I thought a B-Rank mission meant the enemies would be powerful."
Lee was a recent recruit to this world. Having graduated from the Academy only a year prior, he had tried to take Hayate's warnings about Marvel's "power players" to heart. He hadn't even used his full strength, yet Fox hadn't survived a single blow.
Sasuke inspected the damage. The impact had crushed her ribcage, sending bone shards directly through her heart. He huffed, a look of pure disdain crossing his young face.
"These assassins... they're pathetic."
Iruka's voice barked through their headsets, stern and unyielding.
"Sasuke, Lee! Do not become arrogant. Their bodies may be fragile, but their weapons are lethal. A single bullet to the head will kill you just as easily as anyone else. Stay focused!"
Lee straightened up instantly, accepting the lecture. Sasuke, however, just turned away.A bullet? It has to hit me first. Even without his Sharingan active, his trained eyes could track the trajectory of a slug with ease.
"Hotaru, get the car," Iruka ordered, hauling Wesley up by the arm. "This isn't the place for a chat. The police will be here in minutes. We move now."
Hotaru didn't argue. She ran to their nearby Mercedes V-Class.
Wesley tried to wrench himself free, but he found Iruka's grip like a vice. The scarred man possessed a terrifying level of physical strength; no matter how much Wesley thrashed, he couldn't move Iruka's hand an inch.
Sasuke and Lee flanked them, forming a protective pocket around the target. The black van pulled up, its sliding door hissing open. The team piled in, and before the sirens could reach the block, the V-Class roared away into the night.
Minutes after they vanished, a nondescript black sedan pulled up beside Fox's body.
A hulking African-American man, The Gunsmith, stepped out. He checked Fox's vitals, cursed under his breath, and unceremoniously loaded her corpse into the trunk.
He climbed into the passenger seat and looked at the man in the back.
"Sloan. Fox is dead."
Sloan stared out the window at the dented street lamp where Fox had met her end.
"Cross has betrayed us. He's hired professionals to protect the boy. Our initial investigation must have tipped him off."
He narrowed his eyes.
"And Hotaru... I granted her retirement, and this is how she repays me? Helping a traitor?"
Sloan's voice turned cold, dripping with venom.
"This is a declaration of war. Both Hotaru and Carlos have turned their backs on the Brotherhood. Go back to the Mill. I want to know exactly who Carlos hired. Then, call in everyone. We are going to eliminate these traitors—every last one of them."