Chapter Twenty Four: Tanks

Rise Uchiha:

I counted the tanks again, just to be sure. 2 – 1 – 1. Two were huddled close together, another sat a bit off to the side, and the last one? It might as well have been in Narnia.

My breath hitched. This was the moment, my moment, where everything either came together or fell apart.

Chakra roiled inside me, a stormy sea of power that I knew so well. It surged, begging for release. Time seemed to crawl as I focused, every tiny detail of the world around me etching itself into my mind.

My hands moved as if they had a mind of their own, forming the ancient seals. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" I cried out, my voice slicing through the silence. A fireball, massive and searing, roared from my mouth, hurtling towards the river. The water fought back with a sizzle and steam, throwing up a curtain of fog between those distant tanks and us.

I knew it wouldn't last long—maybe a second, two if I was lucky. But that was all I needed. The fog was my curtain, my moment of invisibility. Without hesitation, I dashed towards the first tank, my feet barely touching the ground. This was it, my do-or-die moment, and I wasn't about to die.

The turret swiveled, aiming at me. I couldn't let it lock on. I couldn't let it get a bead on me. With a flick of my wrist, I sent a barrage of shuriken, each one imbued with chakra, hurtling towards the tank's sensors.

The metal clanged and sparked as my projectiles hit their mark, buying me more precious seconds.

The second tank aimed, its movements sluggish in my heightened perception. I leaped, feeling like a bird of prey, soaring. The tank fired, and I twisted in mid-air, the shell's heat grazing me.

I hit the ground in a slide, my hand scraping the earth. "Chidori!" The air around my hand buzzed with blue electricity, lighting up my face in an eerie glow. I was a human storm, charging forward, the earth cratering under my feet from the force.

The second tank was trying to find me, but I was already there. I hit it like a bolt of lightning, my Chidori tearing through metal as if it were tissue paper. Sparks erupted, and the acrid stench of scorched steel hung in the air. I barreled through, leaving a gaping wound in the tank's side.

Inside, three soldiers stared back at me.

The soldiers in the tank, they were just kids really, eyes wide with fear. I knew that look. It's the same look I've seen in the mirror on tough days.

One lunged at me, his face a mask of desperation. I sidestepped, using his momentum against him. He crashed into the metal wall with a thud. The second soldier swung a Kunai like a club, but I caught it mid-swing, twisting it from his grip. In a fluid motion, I used the kunai's butt to tap him on the head, just enough to knock out.

The third soldier hesitated, his eyes flicking between his downed comrades and me. I winked at him, a playful challenge. He charged, and I leaped up, using the narrow confines of the tank to my advantage. My feet found the ceiling, and I pushed off, flipping over him. As I landed, I caught him in a gentle chokebhold, lowering him to the ground like he was a child.

The first soldier was on his feet again, he lunged at me with a yell, a kunai raised. I sidestepped, grabbing his arm and using his momentum to hurl him over my shoulder. He landed with a thud, groaning.

Turning just in time to see the third tank lining up a shot at the one I was in.

"Oh Fuck", I whispered, the word barely escaping my lips just as the tank fired.