Kenshin calmly entered the flower shop and spent about five minutes negotiating with the seller, barely convincing her to sell ten blue sage seeds. Spending 5000 ryō, satisfied with his purchase, he ordered his sons out, eager to leave the village quickly.
As they reached the street's end, with the village edge 200 meters away, Kenshin heard a shout behind.
"Hey, you! Stop!"
Ichiro turned first, then the others. Kenshin saw an unfamiliar Konoha shinobi twenty meters away and, fifty meters back, old acquaintance Kaito. He instantly checked the shinobi's "status."
Name: Kimura Iori
Age: 30 years
Talent Level: 14
Chakra Quality: 2
Chakra Amount: 4100
Chakra Control: 51%
"Ichiro, stay alert. Konoha Genin ahead. If things go south, this fight's yours. Don't panic—his stats match yours!" Kenshin messaged mentally.
"Sir shinobi, something wrong?" Kenshin asked politely.
"You're all detained pending investigation. Follow me," Iori said brusquely.
"Detained? On what grounds? What did we do?" Kenshin inquired.
"You have no right to ask questions. Come willingly, or I'll use force!" Iori articulated.
"Sir, maybe you came because my old acquaintance Kaito fed you nonsense about me. Truth is, we quarreled once, and he seems to want to settle it using your hands," Kenshin said with a smile, avoiding conflict.
Iori glanced at the approaching, panting Kaito, who paled and replied, "Iori-san, not true! Yes, we quarreled—but because he stole my fiancée Aiya! You know we searched the area a week for her but failed! This scum surely did something awful to her, and..."
Hearing their mother's name and Kaito calling her his "fiancée," Ichiro and Fourth glared at him with murderous intent.
"Want grounds for detention? Fine—you're all accused of abducting a village resident and must go to jail pending investigation!" Iori declared.
"Sir, nonsense! Aiya's alive and well; she moved to Shukuba city, away from this psycho Kaito who kept trying to rape her!" Kenshin said, still avoiding escalation.
"Enough!" Iori snapped, hurling a shuriken at Kenshin's throat to end the group quickly.
Third and Fourth spotted the flying shuriken and tried to block, but too late—Ichiro deflected it with his kunai at the last moment, then instantly formed hand seals and shouted,
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" releasing a nearly meter-wide fireball racing toward Iori and Kaito.
"Suiton: Suijinheki!" Iori shouted, spewing a water stream that grew into a small wall, into which the fireball crashed at full speed, hissing as it evaporated the water.
As the area filled with massive steam, Kenshin quickly ordered, "Ichiro, handle the Genin. Avoid showing Sharingan if possible. Third and Fourth, stay by me!"
As the fireball hit the water wall, Kaito dodged aside, fleeing to the street's middle and pressing against a house wall. Half a minute later, the steam cleared, but Iori was gone—instead, three shuriken flew at Ichiro from the neighboring roof.
Iori was shocked a shinobi was in the group and planned to "talk" sternly with Kaito post-battle. He'd preferred avoiding shinobi fights, but no turning back—only fight.
Ichiro easily deflected all three kunai and threw two of his own, charging the enemy for close combat. Iori deflected the thrown shuriken in a few moves and engaged Ichiro hand-to-hand.
While Ichiro fought above, Kenshin ran toward Kaito, who panicked and fled—but seconds later, shuriken pierced his left calf and right thigh. Falling, Kaito screamed wildly.
"Aaaaa! Don't kill me, please! Don't kill!" he cried, rolling onto his back after failing to rise.
Kenshin accelerated wordlessly, drawing a kunai. Seeing the village elder's grandson about to die, Iori distracted from the fight, hurling a shuriken at Kenshin—and paid with a deep chest slash from Ichiro.
Third, lacking skill to block the shuriken, shielded his father with his body, but it hit an invisible barrier and fell.
Kenshin didn't stop, plunging his kunai full-force into the throat of the barely risen, fleeing Kaito. He looked at Kenshin, tried to speak, but couldn't—his larynx pierced, only gurgling escaped.
Meanwhile, the rooftop fight neared end. Thanks to his spatial ability, Ichiro wounded the enemy several times, then after another clash, kicked him in the gut, sending him flying through a neighboring house window. Ichiro instantly formed seals and shouted,
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" launching a half-meter fireball after him into the second-floor window.
Iori didn't panic; despite chest and back pain, half-lying, he formed seals on remaining chakra, releasing a small water barrier.
"Suiton: Suijinheki!" came the shout from upstairs as the two jutsu met.
Ten seconds later, Iori leaped from the next window, crashing to the ground with severe burns from hot steam filling the tiny room after the Katon and Suiton clash.
His face and neck burned, pain shocking him into incapacity—Ichiro's two thrown kunai hit true. The first pierced Iori's spine, the second embedding to the hilt in his skull.
"Great work, Ichiro. Third and Fourth, grab the stuff—we need to leave now!" Kenshin ordered, and the four quickly fled the village, running eight kilometers to the forest.