The Wasabi Siege (2)

The Wasabi Siege (2)

The shrill clang of metal rang sharply through the blood-soaked courtyard, then abruptly ceased.

Anko gritted her teeth and retreated half a step. Numbness pulsed through the arm gripping her kunai, and the web between her thumb and forefinger was already beginning to ache.

To protect the Wasabi Clan, she had been forced into several head-on clashes. Her short, light kunai was clearly at a disadvantage against the enemy's heavy, powerful katana. Every block sent tremendous force shuddering up the blade, making her arm tremble.

Misjudged them... Anko's heart sank. There were far fewer enemies than expected, but every one of them was frighteningly strong.

The Wasabi Family guards who were desperately resisting not only failed to offer any real help now, but instead obstructed Anko and Shizune's movements. Worse, they had become targets for the enemy to slaughter at will, throwing them into confusion.

Beast Soldier Guard had no intention of giving the enemy time to devise a response. Since the ninja had appeared, there was no need for the other two to keep watching and hold back their techniques.

"Water Erosion."

The figure who had stood silently to his right, wrapped in a broad oilcloth cloak, pulled the stopper from a gourd. The enormous brown gourd resting on his shoulder tilted slightly.

Its mouth silently aimed at Anko and the area behind her, where the Wasabi Family guards were struggling to retreat.

No hand signs. No shout.

A viscous liquid, black as ink and reeking of rot, gushed from the gourd's mouth as if alive.

The black water was not especially fast, but it carried a suffocating sluggishness. The moment it appeared, it rapidly spread through the air, becoming a filthy wave spanning several meters as it crashed down upon Anko and the guards!

"Get away!" Shizune's expression changed drastically as she cried out a warning!

Anko's pupils contracted. She forcibly interrupted her jutsu and sprang sharply to the side!

However, the black wave covered too wide an area. Though not fast, it was incredibly difficult to evade! More terrifyingly, it seemed to possess a faint tracking ability. It actually adjusted its direction slightly in midair, still bearing down on where she had dodged! At the same time, more black water splashed toward the slow-moving guards supporting one another!

Sizzle—sizzle—sizzle—!

The black water struck the ground and touched scattered fragments of metal weapons, producing a teeth-grinding corrosive hiss.

Fine steel melted like butter in a blazing fire, rapidly dissolving, blackening, and giving off pungent white smoke!

One guard failed to dodge in time, and several droplets of black water splashed onto his calf. His tough leather boot was instantly eaten through! The moment the black water touched his flesh—

"Ahhh—!!!" A shriek so agonized it twisted out of tune tore through the air!

The skin on the guard's calf blackened and festered at a visible rate!

Even more horrifying, countless tiny living things seemed to be writhing and burrowing madly deep within the festering wound, too small to see clearly! They appeared to be greedily devouring his flesh while drilling deeper toward his muscles, bones, and blood vessels! The guard rolled about in agony as the wound rapidly worsened and spread!

Anko's scalp went numb at the sight! If that thing poured over her head...

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Blazing firelight instantly illuminated the blood-soaked courtyard!

A gigantic fireball nearly two meters in diameter, carrying heat that could burn everything to ash, slammed with perfect precision into the black wave about to spill over Anko and the guards!

Boom—!!!

Flames and black water collided violently! The extreme heat instantly vaporized and carbonized vast amounts of liquid, erupting in deafening sizzling explosions!

Thick, scalding white mist mixed with the pungent stench of burning and decay burst outward in all directions like an explosive shockwave!

In an instant, it completely engulfed Anko, the nearby guards, Shizune, and Wasabi Jirocho farther away!

The dense fog obscured everything, plunging the courtyard into chaos!

Another one! Beast Soldier Guard narrowed his eyes slightly. A small figure landed within the mist, confirming the Tea Mountain Gang leader's suspicions.

It was that brat. Then what had been left at Sea Breeze Pavilion? And who had blocked First Erosion?

The moment Itachi landed, his hands blurred into afterimages once more.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!"

More than a dozen shuriken wrapped in blazing flames tore through the dense fog like brilliant yet deadly crimson meteors, flying separately toward Beast Soldier Guard, Water Erosion, and Corpse Erosion.

He did not seek to injure them, only to interfere and suppress!

"Retreat! Everyone, fall back into the inner residence! Quickly!" Jirocho's hoarse yet incomparably clear roar rang out through the fog, carrying unquestionable resolve.

He held a long blade in his hand. Though he was no ninja, his wealth of experience allowed him to instantly grasp this fleeting chance at survival!

This white fog was their only shield for now.

The surviving guards snapped out of their daze. Enduring their injuries and bone-deep terror, they pulled and supported one another as they staggered desperately toward the inner residence. Their footsteps sounded disordered and panicked in the mist.

However, he was not the only one who had assessed the situation.

"Hmph! Trying to run?" Beast Soldier Guard snorted, easily knocking aside the flaming shuriken with a swing of his sword. His hawk-like gaze pierced through the fog and locked onto the retreating crowd.

"Corpse Erosion! Stop them!"

To the left, the man whose left arm was wrapped in blood-soaked bandages and whose eyes were as indifferent as those of a corpse—Corpse Erosion—raised that strange left arm at the command.

He knocked aside the Phoenix Sage Flower flames flying toward him with a wave of his hand. Beneath the bandages, his bone-white claw flexed slightly.

Crack—!

A bone-chilling sound of breaking bones rang out! A hand bone about a foot long, deathly pale with an eerie bluish-gray sheen and strands of cold mist curling around its edges, was forcibly "pulled" from beneath the bandages on his left forearm!

Corpse Erosion gripped the bone blade with his right hand and flicked his wrist. The blade became a pale streak of light, silent yet faster than lightning as it shot toward the densest part of the retreating crowd in the fog!

At the edge of the mist, Itachi did not hesitate. He precisely fired two kunai tied with Explosive Tags, targeting not the bone blade itself, but the stone slabs directly along its path!

Boom! Boom!

Two violent explosions rang out almost simultaneously! Flames and shattered stones flew everywhere as the raging shockwaves instantly disrupted the bone blade's trajectory, while also blasting open a smoke-filled barrier between Corpse Erosion and the retreating crowd!

Under the cover of the explosions' flashes and smoke, Itachi moved like a breeze merging into the mist, sweeping past Anko, Shizune, and Jirocho at an unimaginable speed.

Three small, cool, damp creatures emanating gentle life energy were precisely placed into their hands or pressed beneath the collars at their shoulders.

"Lady Katsuyu!" Shizune instantly sensed that familiar, vast, gentle flow of chakra. Her heart eased, and without hesitation, she pressed the little Slug against her body. Warmth immediately spread through her limbs, greatly easing the fatigue of constant fighting and her taut nerves.

Anko only felt her shoulder sink as a gentle yet exceptionally profound power flowed into her body. The numbness in her arm and the pain in her internal organs from the earlier impact immediately lessened by more than half.

She glanced down at the tiny white figure, surprise flashing through her eyes before it turned into even fiercer fighting spirit.

Jirocho also felt a warm current enter his body, instantly lifting his spirits.

"Mr. Jirocho, please leave immediately as well!" Itachi's cold, urgent voice pierced through the fading echoes of the explosions and reached Jirocho clearly.

The head of the Wasabi Family nodded heavily without the slightest hesitation. Staying here would not help; he would only become a burden.

"I leave it to you all!" he growled. Taking advantage of the smoke and lingering mist, he turned and joined the retreating guards, racing toward the inner residence.

Anko shook out her arm, which had regained some strength, and felt the warm support flowing from the Slug on her shoulder. She took a deep breath, her burning gaze locking once more onto the tall, sword-wielding figure in the fog—Beast Soldier Guard.