"Let's move!" Temari calls as she sprints after him.
The offensive group leaves. I hope they succeed, I don't know what I'm going to do if they fail.
...
"Alright guys. It's just us three now. My summon's webs should stop all but the most skilled and crafty opponents. Then they have to get through all of the other traps. Then they face us."
"Pfft! No one will make it to us. I have a ridiculous amount of seal based traps on the edge of the clearing, only a seal master has any hope of getting through." Ikki is brimming with confidence.
"That's not to mention all of the kunai traps I made. They may be one of the oldest tricks in the book, but they work." Hiro gleefully adds on.
"We'll win this no problem!" There isn't a single person that could get past the webs unscathed. I'm confident in my summons. Even if they do, they'll be tired and spent from weaving through the maze. Should be simple enough to defeat them after that.
~Host, there are five shinobi approaching from the north.~
"Five incoming from the north. They'll smash against our defenses." I warn my rag tag teammates.
We wait in a tense silence. This is the first test of our defenses.
~They've stopped moving, they're caught in the webs.~
"They're caught in the webs."I haughtily smirk. I knew that was a good idea.
"Ha! Didn't even make it past the first layer." Ikki happily says.
"Leader-sama is so awesome! To have already caught five shinobi! Incredible!" Hiro chimes in.
I wonder who fell prey to my webs. Definitely not Sasuke's group, he has enough common sense to avoid me like the plague. Gaara is probably avoiding me too, he'll want to give Temari the best chance possible. Neji would have seen the full extent of the webs with his fancy eyes then turned around. Sai has been trained too well to attempt to go into something so ridiculously dangerous. Must have been the Kusa nin's group.
We go back to silence. There really isn't that much to talk about, plus we're all on high alert. No one wants to get distracted.
~Host, five shinobi are approaching rapidly from above!~
"Five approaching from above us!" I yell out to my team. How are they coming from above? How can that many shinobi fly? They're going to go right over my webs! I didn't expect this!
"Oh come on that is so unfair!" Ikki pulls out two pieces of paper, one in each hand.
"Let them come! I haven't had a good fight in ages!" Hiro's eyes glint with bloodlust.
It takes thirty seconds for the five shinobi to land in our clearing. They're riding giant black and white birds. This is Sai's group, he drew them birds to ride. How did I overlook that?
In unison the five shinobi jump off of their mounts. Sai himself is here, so is Ino, an Ame kunoichi, and two sword wielding Kiri shinobi twins.
"Hello Green-san. We've come for your flag. Will you hand it over?" Sai politely asks with a disturbingly fake smile.
"Why would I do that? You'll have to take it." I banter back to him.
"You sure? We've got you outnumbered." Twin #1 says.
"We'll get the flag either way, one involves pain. The other doesn't." Twin #2 adds.
"He said no." Ikki grins demonically. "But you're right, there will be pain. Activate!"
The ground under the second twin lights up, he's standing on a seal. A jade prism quickly forms around him. Ikki you magnificent bastard! You caught him in a barrier seal!
"What the hell?" The caught twin says.
"So much for being outnumbered." I taunt. "One down."
Ino falters for a moment, like she saw something she didn't expect. She's quick to recover and it seems that I am the only one to notice her moment of distraction.
The four remaining opponents burst into action. Ino and the Ame kunoichi leap across the field to attack us, the twin tries to free his brother and Sai unfurls his scroll.
"Hiro! Stop him!" I point to Sai. I really don't want Sai churning out artwork animals to attack us. We can handle a three vs four, but a three vs ten? Not as likely.
Hiro leaps across the field, but is intercepted by the free twin. Dammit, there goes that plan.
Ikki faces off against Ino. She looks frustrated. She must have wanted to fight me, she probably wants to try to weasel more information out of me.
"You're mine!" The Ame kunoichi lunges at me with her fists raised.
I casually step backwards out of her range. A kunoichi that specializes in taijutsu, that isn't something you see everyday. Usually they're more support fighters or healers, it is what they're naturally inclined towards. That could mean that she has an equalizer, something to make up for her lack of desired taijutsu traits. I wonder, does Ame have shinobi clan that has a bloodline that requires physical contact?
I dodge a flurry of punches and kicks, all with a lazy amount of effort. Is this really a gennin? Was I this slow when I took my first Chunin Exams? Just how far has Orochimaru's training pushed me? This isn't even a challenge now, hell this is less strenuous than my training warm up routine!
"Stay! Still! Dammit!" The kunoichi is getting mad.
"ROAR!" A black and white lion lunges at me from behind and it rakes its claws down my back.
"Got ya!" The Ame gennin cheers. "Just had to herd you into the trap."
"Not quite." I calmly say from behind her. She starts to turn around to face me but the moment the cold steel of my kunai touches her throat she freezes. "That was a clone in case you were still trying to figure that out."
"But how? I never saw you make one. You never had the chance."
"Simple, I made a spider clone once I knew you were coming. I replaced with it before the lion hit me. It was child's play."
True to my words, the lion that tried to flay me is being swarmed with countless spiders. Spider clones are fun, when they take damage they burst into thousands of spiders that attack. I'm so glad I figured out how to do that, it's the stuff of nightmares. They're way better than water or earth clones.
"ROAR!" Another lion leaps at me and I lazily pull out another kunai and chuck it at the airborne feline. My projectile lances a hole right through it's chest and inky black blood pours out for a moment, then the entire construct bursts into lifeless ink. Those lions may look scary, but they can't take a hit.
"Release my teammate and I'll release yours." Ino's stone cold voice cuts across the clearing. She has a kunai to Ikki's throat just like how I have one to this kunoichi's.
"Ikki, come on! You got caught already? It's been like three minutes!" I childishly whine. "Dude you sounded so cool when you talked about your seals and stuff."
"She tricked me! Not my fault!" He blushes in embarrassment. Serves him right!
"Yeah, yeah, you still got caught. Sure Konoha girl, I'll take the trade." I withdraw my kunai and shove my ex-hostage forward. Ino does the same with Ikki.
"Ikki, take the Ame girl." I order.
"ROAR!" Another damn lion. I punch this one in the face and it bursts into ink. His lions are pissing me off.
I dart past the Ame kunoichi, past Ikki, past Ino and straight at Sai. I move to fast for him to dodge, all he can do is raise his arms in defense. That was the wrong move to make, I don't plan on hitting him.
I grab onto his arms, which he just made very accessible, and pull him in the air. I plan on throwing him into the forest.
"Hello Spider." Sai whispers as I spin him around.
Oh fuck me. He's here to talk.
I throw him into the forest. More specifically I throw him into my webs. He's trapped now. Finally his damn lions won't bother me again.
"Don't go anywhere!" I call after him. I need to talk to him. He knows who I am, I need to find out what he wants with me. I need to know if my cover is blown or if he's offering help. Either way this isn't good, if he knows then Danzo knows. If Danzo knows then-
"Mind Body Switch Jutsu!"
A cold hand grasps my head. Shit, I got distracted. Only for a moment, but it was enough for Ino to capitalize on.
I can feel her trying to gain access to my mind, prying at my mental defenses. I'm losing, she'll break in at this rate.
"Stay out of our head!" I can't let this happen! This is the worst thing that could possibly happen!
"No! Show me your secrets! Your fears! Your nightmares! Show me where my friends are!" Ino crazily demands.
We're pulled into my mindscape.
"Ino you need to leave." Those are the first words out of my mouth. This is the worst possible situation.
"Where's Alvarcus?" Her words spark memories, images flash past us.
Me laughing with vivid yellow eyes. Us sparring in the Academy. The day we got our team assignments. The day of the first Chunin Exams. The day my family and Sakura died. The fight we had with the ANBU. Hopefully it moved too quickly for her to see.
"That doesn't matter, you need to leave! Ino there's something here besides us!" I desperately plead.
~You again?~
"No." Ino's voice lost all of her crazed demanding tone, now she sounds full of disbelief. "No no no. I know that voice."
~Are you afraid, girl? Do you remember what happened last time? Your screams were exquisite! I wonder what I should show you this time!~
"You'll show her nothing!" I desperately shout into the darkness that is my mindscape. "Ino leave our head! It isn't safe here!"
"Al... Alvarcus?"
"Shit."
...
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