Mei slammed her foot onto the ground, shattering the bedrock. "Cowards!" she snarled, staring at her Lava dome where she thought her trap had finally caught them. "We had her! We were seconds away from taking her head with Mizukage-sama here it was a matter of time!"
A moment later, a thud signaled the arrival of Yagura, who landed softly beside her. His expression was vacant as he took in the scene. He looked at the lingering traces of black thundercloud, probing for the update from the squad.
"A pointless journey," Yagura said but he had this vague feeling that he had never made a journey here and was surprised as to how he arrive here from the Kirigakure but he put that thought in the back of his mind. He turned his gaze. "Fall back to the coastline. The fog is gone, and with it, our ambush advantage. We pull back now."
The Kiri elite streamed backward in a hasty retreat, and Kaien watched them go through his Byakugan, muttering under his breath, "Come on, hurry up." The moment they cleared his range, his mother opened her eyes and her posture brimming with rejuvenated energy and now she was ready to engage the Mizukage with everything she had left.
Aya tilted her head as Kiri's attack did not come. "What are they waiting for? Do they think giving me precious time to recover instead of attacking will save them? Or are they underestimating me?"
She dissolved the towering black thunder clouds she had erected to protect Kaien and herself during her downtime. In their place stood a massive solidified lava dome.
"Interesting," she muttered as her eyes narrowing. In a blur, she struck the dome-like structure. The thick cooled down earth crumbled into fine dust instantly as she pivoted, scanning the area for any sign of attack, ready to tear apart anyone foolish enough to come close to her.
Silence
There was no counterattack Aya stepped out into the clear light, Kaien finally broke the silence. "Mother, you need to get yourself treated first. Those cowards already retreated."
As the sun hit her skin fully, the injuries of the skirmish became painfully clear. Kaien winced at the sight of explosive tag shrapnel wounds and severe acid burns that had peeled away the skin on both her forearms and scorched parts of her face.
Yet, Aya's expression remained completely unbothered by the damage. Bathed in the sunlight, she sighed with a hint of sadness in her tone. "What a pity. I really wanted to kill the Mizukage." She turned her gaze to her son, softening slightly. "Let's go back then."
~~
Miles away from the coastline, the Kumo forces had established a temporary camp, while the defeated Kiri fleet pulled back into the safety of the sea.
Back at camp, a burden had fallen onto Kaien's shoulders. With Dodai no longer alive... who had played a pivotal role in managing the battalion... the vice-leadership spot went vacant. Left with no other options, Kaien stepped up to fill the position even though Yugito could his place, his death hit her hard yet again after Pakura's death.
Shortly after, Itachi, Jugo, and Guren returned to the camp, having successfully destroyed the mist-generating machinery that had given the enemy cover.
"The mission is a success," Itachi informed, stepping into the command tent. Almost immediately, his eyes scanned the room, noticing the glaring absence of Dodai. He paused, turning his gaze toward Kaien to enquiry just then Guren questioned. "Where is Dodai-sensei?"
Kaien looked at the three of them one by one. He took a long steadying breath. "Dodai-sensei is... no more."
Guren blankly stared at Kaien for few seconds. "Yeah, you're kidding, right? Is he out on another secret assignment which we should not be aware of?"
Guren stared at him blankly for several long seconds, the words failing to reach her. She let out a forced chuckle, desperate to get any kind of reaction out of Kaien as if asking she got caught in his prank, but his face didn't budge.
As the silence dragged on, Guren's mind flashed back to a memory. She heard Dodai's voice ringing clearly in her head: "Guren, I know you come from the orphanage. Is everything alright over there? If you're short on food, clothes, or basic supplies, just let me know. I will bring it up to the Raikage directly."
Even Jugo struggled to process the news, drifting back to the past as he remembered the day when he became genin, when he was plagued by anxiety and worry. He could vividly recall flinching in tension, instinctively shrinking back into himself as he twiddled his fingers and always stared down.
"B-but I don't want to hurt anyone, Dodai-sensei," he had whispered back then. "What if... what if I lose control again? What if the outburst happens like last time?"
Dodai had only smiled gently, his expression softening. "Be confident, Jugo. The last time that happened, you didn't take your medication. Did you take the pills Benihime-sama prepared for your clan today?"
A low choked sob broke the silence, it was from Guren. Though Itachi had barely spoken to the man, he could tell Dodai had been a genuinely good soul. Standing there in the tent, Itachi realized he had no words of comfort to offer his grieving friends.
Kaien clapped his hands. "Alright, fellas. Pull it together, get back in here."
Guren snapped her head up, anger flashing through her eyes as she glared at him. "How can you be so damn uncaring?"
Kaien didn't get back at her nor did he defend himself, because he understood where her anger was coming from. "I can sit here and cry a river," Kaien said quietly. "Would that bring him back?"
At those exact words, a realization hit Guren. Her expression shifted from grief to desperate determination. "Bring him back..." she murmured, her eyes widening. "We can reanimate him!"
Kaien stood still, having an answer they are not ready for yet. Before he could speak, Guren wiped her face with the back of her sleeve, her newfound voice brimming with resolve. "Yes! His body has to be somewhere out there on the battlefield."
Without waiting for a response from Kaien, Jugo joined her, nodding firmly. The duo turned on their heels and rushed out of the tent to search for Dodai's body.
Kaien watched them go, he simply didn't have the heart to chase after them, nor the cruelty to tell them the brutal truth: there was no body of Dodai left to find because he already searched through every trace.
~~
A/N: Dodai, an important asset for Kumo and a great teacher, has died. Here are some things he did for Kumo:
In the third ninja war, he neutralized Minato's Flying Thunder God network by trapping his kunai. Assisted young Ay directly, survived Minato's counterattacks using rubber armor, and fought Choza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka to a halt.
Later, he kidnapped Hinata from Konoha and gave her the Eight trigrams scroll. He stopped Kaien from consuming into revenge after he killed Kakashi. He sat through Guren and Jugo's fights against Konoha ANBU.
And also saved Jugo from going berserk. He taught Yugito, Darui, and many other students.
Upto 20 Advance chapters available @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0