Chapter 15: Confrontation against Foreign shinobi

Before Kasai, Aoki, and Hina stood two mysterious figures. One was dressed in distinctive red attire with a headband from a foreign land, brandishing a deadly katana. The other wore civilian clothing and clutched a kunai. Though their appearances differed, a common thread ran through them: an unmistakable, noticeable aura of menace and hostility.

As Kasai locked eyes with the two intruders, he maintained a steely resolve, refusing to betray any signs of anxiety. His heart raced with anticipation; his excitement was almost evident on his face. Yet, beneath his outward composure, a lingering wariness persisted, a caution born of the fear that more hidden adversaries might lurk among the dense foliage of the forest.

"Aoki, get ready. I'll take on the one with the katana, while you handle the other. These individuals appear to be formidable, and attempting to flee might not be an option," Kasai whispered, his eyes still locked onto the intruders. "Hina, do not engage them under any circumstances. Your priority is to retreat safely. Leave them to us; we'll hold them off."

Hina, her voice trembling, expressed her reluctance. "I d-don't want to... We should try to escape while we can."

"Hina, they appear to be at least chunin level, or possibly even jonin," Aoki responded as he readied a kunai. "You must retreat and seek backup."

Hina, on the verge of tears, began to protest again, but Kasai interrupted her. "Hina, don't underestimate us. We can hold our own for a while, so trust us."

At that very moment, the two adversaries sprang into action. They charged toward the trio, their weapons gripped tightly. While their speed was impressive, it wasn't enough to evade Aoki's keen eyes.

"Do you think we can't catch up to her after dealing with you two?" one of the intruders taunted with an arrogant smirk.

Aoki, witnessing their adversaries' movement, shouted, "Kasai!" He sprinted toward the individual in civilian attire, while simultaneously, Kasai lunged at the man in red. This left Hina standing at the rear with the cat cradled in her arms. She watched in a daze as her two teammates rushed toward the enemy. A tear welled up in her eye as she began to turn and flee, leaving the others behind.

Behind her, a piercing, metallic screech filled the air as Kasai's kunai intercepted the enemy's katana. He felt himself inching backward, his lips biting down as he strained to hold off the attack. Despite the struggle, a grin crept onto his face. 'They're just chunin at best,' he thought.

He clenched his left arm as he launched a punch at the enemy, causing the opponent to step back and evade the attack.

Kasai swiftly produced three shurikens and flung them toward the enemy as he leaped backward to create some distance. Unfortunately, the shurikens missed their mark, eliciting a chuckle from the foe.

"We weren't originally planning to do this, especially since you're all just genin, and this wasn't part of our mission," the man in red remarked with a sinister grin. "But it seems we have no choice. You possess the sharpest senses among the three of you." His grin turned even more menacing. "I highly doubt you won't report what you've sensed to your jounin. You see, we can't simply let a witness go and risk you are disrupting our plans."

Kasai responded with a fierce glare, choosing not to answer verbally. He clenched his fists and began weaving hand seals for the Fire Release: Fire-Snake Technique. After completing the seals, a flame took shape in his palm, transforming into a snake that lunged toward the enemy.

As the fiery serpent moved through the air, Kasai quickly pivoted and sprinted to increase the distance between them. "I need to lure him away from here and return to assist Aoki," he murmured to himself.

"Escaping?" the man in red jeered, his voice laced with mockery. "This paltry C-rank ninjutsu is a waste of chakra."

He waved his katana skillfully, slicing through the fiery snake, and dispersing it into nothingness. The man then set off in pursuit of Kasai. "Little cat hunter, it's best to conserve your energy for fleeing."

As Kasai turned around, he defiantly challenged, "Why would you think I'm running away?" With determination in his eyes, he swiftly weaved two sets of hand seals for consecutive Fire ninjutsu: the Fire Release: Fire Snake Technique followed by the Fire Release: Dragon's Flare Technique.

The abrupt counterattack took the man by surprise. Although he managed to slice the fire snake with his katana, he was caught off guard by the subsequent jutsu. In response, he halted and landed on a sturdy branch, using his katana to dispel the fiery assault. 

The unexpected sequence of attacks momentarily disrupted his pursuit, and he momentarily lost sight of Kasai. However, he remained composed, perched on the tree, and began to focus on sensing Kasai's chakra.

Crouched behind a massive tree several meters away from his enemy, Kasai began weaving a new set of hand seals, focusing on a single technique: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. With his current chakra level, he could only manifest a single clone, which frustrated him. However, he knew better than to complain; it was the extent of his abilities at the moment.

Creating the clone consumed a significant portion of Kasai's chakra reserves, utilizing nearly 40% of his available energy. With this expenditure, he understood that he could, at most, employ C-rank ninjutsu, and producing additional clones was out of the question.

With his strategy in motion, Kasai deployed his clone as a distraction to lure the enemy away. As the clone sprinted towards the foe, drawing their attention, Kasai silently moved in the opposite direction, heading back to their previous location.

As he observed the enemy chasing his clone, Kasai picked up his pace, sprinting with all his might to reach Aoki. He couldn't help but find amusement in the fact that a chunin had been so easily deceived.

"Aoki, you better be alive," he muttered to himself, his initial chuckle giving way to a more serious demeanor.

While making his way back to Aoki, Kasai suddenly felt a sharp, stabbing pain pierce through his head. It was as if someone had driven a red-hot spike into his skull. He staggered to a stop, clutching his head in agony as he gritted his teeth, his eyes squinting in pain. The pain intensified, feeling like an unrelenting vice squeezing his brain, and he couldn't help but pause, perching on a sturdy branch as he hunched over, his forehead nearly touching his knees.

As Kasai pressed his head in agony, his vision blurred, and intense pain surged through his skull. The throbbing sensation grew unbearable, forcing him to stop and grasp the side of his head as he bent over on a sturdy branch. Gritting his teeth, he tried to endure the pain, but it intensified, feeling like a vice squeezing his brain.

Amidst the excruciating pain, a series of vivid and chaotic images flooded his consciousness. They were fragmented but horrifyingly clear, depicting a gruesome sequence of events from the mission earlier that day.

In these disturbing visions, he witnessed himself being brutally stabbed by a kunai, the cold steel piercing his back and embedding itself into his thoracic vertebra. The trauma of the spinal cord injury washed over him, causing him to lose all sensation in his body. Next, he saw Aoki, fiercely battling to protect Hina, but in the process, suffering a horrific fate. His left arm was mercilessly mutilated by the enemy's katana, and his leg gruesomely dislocated, rendering him powerless.

The images were hauntingly vivid, but the worst was yet to come. The two assailants relentlessly pursued Hina, subjecting her to unspeakable horrors. Kasai's mind reeled from the disturbing revelation, and as the pain began to subside, he was left bewildered and horrified by the shocking premonition.

"What... what was that?" Kasai mumbled, his voice trembling, as he struggled to make sense of the terrifying glimpse into a possible future.

Despite the tormenting images that lingered in his mind, Kasai summoned every ounce of determination within him. His body shook with a mixture of fear and resolve as he couldn't let those grim visions become a reality. "That c-can't happen," he mumbled, his voice quivering. "I need to get back to Aoki," he added, forcing his trembling limbs to propel him forward. With each leap, he pushed himself to his physical limits, racing through the forest with urgency in his heart.

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As Aoki skillfully blocked the incoming kunai with precise movements, his Byakugan eyes allowed him to track Kasai's sudden departure in the opposite direction of Hina's escape. His brows furrowed in frustration as he thought, 'Kasai, what are you doing?! We should face them together!'

With a hint of anxiety in his voice, he cursed under his breath, "That idiot!"

Aoki stood tall, his Byakugan eyes pulsing with the veins near his temples. He unleashed a flurry of palm strikes at the enemy, aiming to both defend against the kunai attacks and launch his own counterattacks. Each strike was calculated and precise, a testament to his advanced skills as a shinobi.

"Tch. A kid from Hyuga!" the man groaned as he desperately tried to block Aoki's relentless strikes. Some palm strikes managed to slip through his defenses, landing with precision on his face, shoulders, and chest. Grunting with pain, he continued to struggle against the barrage of attacks. 

"You're worth nothing!" he mumbled through clenched teeth as he strained to fend off Aoki's furious assault.

Aoki's anger flared at the man's words. Gritting his teeth even harder, he put even more force into his palms and increased the speed of his strikes, determined to overpower his opponent.

After an onslaught of countless strikes, Aoki delivered one final blow that sent the enemy stumbling backward. However, to Aoki's shock, the enemy was still standing, his face contorted into a mad grin. Aoki couldn't comprehend how his opponent remained standing after such an intense assault.

As Aoki puzzled over this, the civilian-clothed shinobi chuckled sadistically. "You're wondering, aren't you?" he taunted. "This is my ninjutsu, the Earth Release: Rock Body Hardening." He spoke as he swiftly removed his top.

Beneath his clothing, a thin but resilient armor made of rock covered every inch of his body, protecting him from Aoki's physical blows. Although there were marks and scrapes on the armor's surface, they were too shallow to cause any significant harm.

"Your taijutsu won't work on me," the enemy declared with a malicious grin, revealing his invulnerable defense.

While the enemy continued grinning maniacally, Aoki boldly advanced and initiated the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms technique.

The enemy stood his ground and absorbed Aoki's strikes. After the initial 16 strikes, Aoki managed to push him back, but the opponent's maniacal laughter only grew louder.

"MOREEE!" the man yelled, challenging Aoki to continue.

Aoki, fueled by frustration, pressed on with even greater force. By the 24th strike, some of the rock armor had crumbled away, but it still held. Aoki continued, relentlessly striking until he reached the 32nd blow, but the armor remained intact.

Exhausted and with his palms numb from the relentless assault, Aoki retreated about five meters, panting heavily. He glared at his foe, unsure of how to overcome the rock-hard defense.

"Is that all!? I think I overestimated you," the man taunted, his voice filled with arrogance. "Then it's my turn?" He added with a sinister grin, hinting at his intention to retaliate.

With a smug grin on his lips, the enemy swiftly weaved hand seals and unleashed his Earth Release: Rock Spears technique. Columns of sharp rock spikes erupted from the ground, each aimed menacingly toward Aoki.

Aoki sensed the imminent danger and attempted to evade the first rock column, successfully doing so. However, before he could fully recover, another column of rock spears surged upward, and he couldn't avoid it in time. With no other option, he channeled chakra into his palm and slashed through the rocks with a swift, precise movement.

Just as he turned to confront another incoming rock spear, a third one suddenly sprouted to his left. Despite his best efforts, he managed to cut through the third spike but was unable to evade the fourth. The rock spear impaled the left side of his abdomen, eliciting a painful groan from Aoki. Overwhelmed by the pain, he coughed up blood and glared defiantly at his enemy. Exhausted and impaled, Aoki was unable to move any further.