30 Kagero Village (1/2)
With no hesitation, the entire team fell in line behind Akata and together entered a hostile world of swirling sand where only the next twenty feet existed. Anything further ahead was hidden by a beige carpet.
In a race against time, they made a beeline straight to the outer wall of Kagero Village. For the plan to have any hope of success, Akata had underscored the importance of them capitalizing on their element of surprise.
Remembering to keep close, all of them made it across the open space and leaped over the city wall. A safety measure that'd work fine against normal bandits, but not against a shinobi force like them.
Inside the city, blaring alarms were going off in every direction.
Aware of what to do, each duo set out to accomplish what they'd set out to achieve by inflicting as much mayhem, pain, and despair as possible.
Remembering his bet with Jiraiya about who could reach the center square of Kagero Village first, Fuzen sped off at a pace barely allowing his assigned partner to hang on.
The meaningless slaughter of people unable to fight back wasn't Fuzen's ideal scenario of a good time. It was boring and held no entertainment value, unlike pursuing women. However, his competitive spirit also didn't allow him to lose against Jiraiya, and of course, the money he'd win wasn't going to hurt either. Two million Ryo was nothing to sneeze at and was comparable with the reward money of most high-level S-rank assignments. About double the earnings of what an average chunin would receive in a whole year.
To even out the competition and make it as fair as possible, Hiruzen had made sure each of them received routes of similar difficulty. Both of them would have to travel through expensive residential neighborhoods to target specific people and families, which previous intelligence had pegged as stark critics of the Land of Fire. In general, their routes had a considerably higher likelihood of encountering enemy forces.
Within a few blocks from where they had split from Akata and the rest, Fuzen found the street name they'd been assigned. Under pressure to arrive at the center square first, gravel went flying as he skitted around the corner.
Both sides of the street were lined with gated upper-class residential houses, each of them with a matching traditional architectural design.
Moving together, they broke into the first house on the left and soundlessly glided across the tatami mats until they came across three men patrolling the hallway equipped with sword and armor.
Like a haunting specter in search of revenge, Fuzen swept past them and greeted them with his 'Void Fist', carving bloody paths through their bodies. They didn't even have time to scream before collapsing into piles of flesh.
Continuing onward, the eerie pulse emitted from his fists echoed like a calling card of death for the people still around.
Pressed on time, they didn't have time to do a thorough search and was soon on to the next house. As planned, they alternated to the other side of the street, hopefully, making them slightly less predictable in case anyone went after them.
Motivated by the two million Ryo on the line, Fuzen's designated partner found his only actual job was to keep up with Fuzen, which in itself was also a challenge.
After the tenth house, the residences they entered and the people Fuzen killed began to blend. When confronted with death most people acted more or less the same. In the beginning, they would attempt to shout out for help, but after realizing none was coming, they would soon begin begging and crying to be spared, exceptions were far in between.
Leaving the destroyed sliding doors of the latest upper-class house on their bloody voyage throughout Kagero Village, Fuzen and his partner found themselves confronted by a group of Suna- and Kagero shinobi.
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All ten of the enemy shinobi wore grim expressions as they drew their weapons.
”This ends here, right now! I will not allow this madness to continue any further...” An enraged Kagero shinobi stepped forward, sword raised in preparation for battle.
Behind him, two of the Suna-nins used their Giant Folding Fans to launch sharp wind current in the form of a net towards Fuzen and his partner.