Land of fire.
Whoosh
The leaves gasp at the flickering bodies passing from tree branch to tree branch.
Shuriken whistles across the wind, darting towards the pursuing party of Leaf ninja.
"Damn it, these bastards are persistent. " A rough-voiced rogue ninja ticks out.
"Just keep moving. The sooner we get out of fire territory the better. " A fair-skinned man reminds his comrade.
"You're right, Shinra-sama."
———————————————————
Konohakagakure Bingo Book:
Shinra 'The Ravager '
Leader of a cynical group of rogue ninja that have been terrorising smaller villages across the land of fire.
Bounty: 250 000 Ryō
———————————————————
Shinra's band of ninja are true scum of the Shinobi world, raiding villages with little to no support from the Daimyō. Slaughtering men after assaulting their women in front of their eyes.
For this reason, the Daimyō has demanded an immediate response from Konoha, his greatest military force before the group grows cheeky enough to invade the capital of fire.
Team Guy trails behind the group of Ravagers, the green beast of Konoha taking the lead in his diamond formation with Lee at his rear, Neji and Tenten by his wings.
"Keep close team, they are about to separate!" Might Guy barks out the order.
"Hai–Guy sensei!" Lee salutes, a burning excitement flashing in his eyes.
Neji kept his stoic expression, Byakugan on display as he watched the nin for any changes in chakra circulation or a trap they might have placed.
"Stay calm, Lee." Neji reprimanded his teammate.
"Apologies, Neji." The green beast's apprentice scratches his chin in embarrassment.
Tenten ignores her squad's antics, opting to focus on the rogue ninja.
"Summoning jutsu, multi shuriken barrage."
Pooff
With a flash of hand movement, Tenten pulls out a pocket-sized scroll and releases a shower of shuriken at the missing nin.
"Shinra!" One of the nin calls out as he takes out his kunai to deflect the upcoming shuriken.
Cling×4
Steel clashes with steel, leaving a dance of sparks behind. The act made the escape more difficult for Shinra and his men.
Shinra grabs one of his men and pushes the poor bastard in front of himself to avoid the shuriken.
"Boss? Huckk—" The man groans in pain as shuriken embed into his back and nape.
Shinra kicks the human shield to the depths of the woods, "Move, now!" Shinra orders, leaping higher on the giant trees to avoid the shinobi.
"I won't let you escape that easily. " Tenten smirks menacingly, with a flick of her wrist she holds another scroll this one nearly a metre long.
"Karasu-hebi. " Tenten calls the name of her chrome staff. A metallic hiss invades their ears as Karasu-hebi stands in the hands of her master.
"Let's go girl." Tenten whistles.
The brunette takes a deep breath, expanding her chakra across her cardiovascular system to enhance muscle growth and recovery. A technique similar to the Eight Gates technique, which breaks human limitations by tearing muscle fibers, utilizes power. Even with such a demanding ability, the standards to obtain it are reserved for rare talents, such as Rock Lee, whose Ninja affinity is Taijutsu, making it easier for him to adapt to the Eight Gates.
Tenten's body is too weak for the gates technique, but that didn't stop her from finding an alternative, specifically the hack of chakra flows, the same patterns the Hyuga have spent generations learning to exploit with their Byakugan.
Hisss...
Steam escapes Tenten's nostrils, veins appearing across her body, digging the sole of her foot into the bark, shattering it the second she leaps.
WHOOOSSHH
"Whoa..." Lee uttered in genuine shock at Tenten's technique.
Neji grits his teeth as her studies Tenten's chakra system. The previously normal flow of chakra rises to a bright yellow energy across her body.
"What is this?" The Hyuga prodigy ponders.
"Shinraaaaa!"
Shhnnk
"Ughhh –"
Slash
Splatter
Tenten was a blur of red and brown that left screeches and blood splatter behind her, Karasu-hebi has blood on its scythe fang.
"You wench!" Shinra abandons his plan of escaping to confront Tenten face-to-face.
"I'll show you what I do to b#tches like you!" Shinra lashes his short blade at Tenten who parries the strike with the body of her staff.
Cling
Metal clashes, Shinra leaps back to form hand signs but Tenten gives him no time to counter.
The kunoichi flickers in a blur of yellow as if she were made of light.
"HUH!?" Shinra gasps in shock, swinging his blade around in the hopes of connecting with her.
"Too slow~" Tenten whispers in his ears before her scythe cuts Shinra's left thigh open, exposing muscle tendons.
"Aaaahhhh–" The Ravager howls in pain.
Tenten bends her staff into its three sections all connected by black chains.
Using the staff like nunchucks, Tenten wipes her chrome against Shinra's right ribs, shattering the region.'System neck
"Ouff–" Shinra's lost his breath at the vicious strike.
"Get ready. " Tenten warns him as she wraps the middle section around his neck, pressing the chrome solid against his throat before Tenten digs her back into his spine, pulling the staff back and stomping on Shinra's spine.
"Tenten!"
Crack
A sickening pop of bone echoes across the forest. Shinra's neck is bent at an unnatural angle, and the back of his head is dangling by the wings of his shoulders.
Thud
His body drops like a deformed creature, staring at the blue sky one last time before his soul would be judged.
Her team looks at her with concern over the violent act.
"Was that necessary?" Neji shakes his head, clearly displeased by her decision.
"He was scum and deserved to die." Tenten justifies her kill.
Might Guy approaches his student, placing a callus hand over her shoulder.
"If you deemed it necessary to end his life then I can't judge your decision, but don't confuse it with justice. All lives deserve fair judgment, that's why we capture them when possible. " The Green Beast educated her.
"I understand. " Tenten whispers, nodding at her sensei.
---
[Konoha]
After dropping off Shinra's body at the Bounty house, Team Guy went back to Konoha to report the mission's success and the earnings will be processed within a week's notice.
Tenten said her goodbyes to her team and made her way to her apartment.
Karasu-hebi has grown to be her favourite and most reliable weapon, the usage of summoning scrolls is still a major part of her skill set, and she opted to minimise her weapons as an abundance of steel isn't always an advantage against Ninjas that are faster than her, elemental affinities that render her weapons useless and the most annoying thing about shinobi are their kekkei genkais like the Sharingan or Byakugan that can track her movement and damn near give their users precognition.
The cardiovascular chakra circulation gave her the same physical boost as Rock Lee and Guy Sensei's Eight Gates technique and with her advanced sword training with Yugao and relentless conditioning with her sisters, Ino and Hinata. But Tenten's biggest desire was to modify Karasu-hebi in adamantine steel. Said to be unbreakable and can only be forged by the most skilled blacksmiths in the world and the most concerning thing about the steel is that it is solely mined in the Land of Earth.
The Tsuchikage has a strict law on exporting steel and Konoha is not on its list of trade partners.
Tenten sighs, "I can't even find any black market blacksmiths who sell it."
"Hopefully, Taiju and the girls are back..."