Meanwhile, elsewhere in the tunnels on the opposite side, Hashiba prowled through the shadows in search of his companions, taking every turn and blind spot through the tunnels as cover as he quickly swept through the area.
Relying on his already poor night vision and the scattered array of torches as his guide, whenever he came to a stop at a dead-end or a patrol of guards he would quickly slink back or retrace his steps.
As he sped from the tunnel to tunnel, relying on swift movements and shadow concealment, he worried about how he was going to locate his companions in such a large area within the given time location that Kekkai had given him.
The highest amount of time that Kekkai had stated for him to locate his master and friends was 30 minutes maximum. And over half of that time had already passed in his search, Kekkai had told him that he would need to evacuate with the remainder of the prisoners as quickly as possible.
If he couldn't find his companions in time and wasn't in position for the signal, then Kekkai would be in an extreme amount of trouble to get both himself and the captives out of this camp in one piece.
If he couldn't find his master within ten minutes he would have to temporarily give up his search and rush back to help Kekkai deal with the Raiders and hope that Kekkai would have a solution.
*Step*
*Step*
*Step*
Hearing the sound of multiple boots marching from around the corner, Hashiba hastily jumped and flipped midair to stick his back to the roof of the Tunnel with Chakra.
Not long after he did so, a team of guards escorting a large group of miners passed from around the corner and underneath him.
/This would be so much easier to locate them if Monk Kenzo hadn't been so stingy that he would refuse to teach me the [Guiding Flame Sense] technique/ Hashiba complained in his head while hiding in the shadows once again to avoid the patrol, /I'm running around in circles while hoping to get lucky and find their cells! Master, with your strength it should be impossible for them to catch you without you allowing them! Why did you let them bring you here? And Where the hell are you?!/
As he complained in his heart a sentence from the guards below who were having a conversation made his ears prick to attention.
"I've heard that the last patrol caught a real wild card in their last rounds. Just a kid and an old man nearly killed over a third of them! That old man looked like he was some kind of monk, do you think we're going to be hunting around the capital or something?" A guard called while nudging one of his companions on the shoulder with his crossbow.
/That has to be Master and the others!/ Hashiba's eyes shined at this comment.
"Are you insane! Like hell we would do something crazy like that, just look at our camp, we don't need any Temple or Daimyo sniffing around here to find out who's attacking their men. If it's just some lone merchants and small clans we can act, but the capital, that's a whole different situation altogether!"
"Then why did they bring the monk back if they weren't going to start attacking Temples then?" The guard asked dumbly
"It was just a coincidence that they hit their passing carriage, but one of them seems to be very important now that you mention it. When we were bringing them in the one in the white robes attacked the boss's attention, he said she looked just as delicious as our precious princess. But when he was about to make his move, the Demon stopped him and commanded nobody to touch them until he verifies where they come from."
/As if you filthy scum could even step close! Master would have incarcerated all of you if you even laid a finger on the Handmaidens!/ Hashiba's eyes began to grow dangerous as he continued to listen.
"Too bad, some of these girls are fun! Puts the best prostitute from the capital to shame if you give them enough motivation!" guffawed a thinly built guard lecherously, while prodding forward one of the women who had stumbled in the line.
"Hey, Akiyuki! When the hell are we going to leave this pile of rocks, we've been here for over a month already and I'm already tired of covering my food so dust won't get all over my meat!" One of the Guards complained while shoving one of the miners.
"Not long now, after the Ceremony tomorrow, the demon said we're going to pack up and move on to one of the main camps further inside the Kingdom!" Explained the sturdy guard who lead the group forward.
/A Ceremony!? Here? These fucking insane bastards!/ Hashiba's eyes widened in shock, cold sweat began to pour down his back as he thought back to that large pool of tar that occupied the center of the camp.
*Slip*
/Huh?/ Hashiba blinked as his fingers slipped off the stalagmite roof of the tunnel.
In his panic and outrage at what he just heard, Hashiba's control over his chakra faltered for a second making him tilt down and almost fall headfirst into the crowd below.
*Crick*
Realizing his mistake all too late, in the hurried panic reinforcement of his grip made the stalagmite he was holding onto crack under his grip.
*Crack*
A cloud of dust poured down into the crowd, catching the attention of the attending Guards.
"Huh?! What was that?" Alerted and surprised at the sudden cloud of dust that appeared, all of the guards immediately glanced upwards.
Only to find nothing there, just some dust slowly pouring down from the rocky mine ceiling.
"Damn mines are practically falling apart nowadays. The last collapse was just a few days ago, crushed a few of my drinking buddies in one fell swoop!" A guard stated fearfully and he elbowed on of his companions.
"Let's move out, there was roast boar on the menu tonight," A guard motioned to continue forward, But when the line didn't move he looked curiously to the front guard."Everything alright Kabano?"
The front guard didn't respond just standing there in the middle of the passage way.
"Kabano? Hey Kabano, You son of a bitch don't ignore me!" The tall guard growled then pushed through the crowd and shoved the motionless guard's shoulder.
The guard still didn't respond, only to fall down in a slump, his eyes blank and blood pouring down from his slit throat!
"Oh SHIT!! Ninja! Everyone watch your backs! We've got some of those damn demons around us!"The Tall guard cried out in horror, backing up quickly and lifting his crossbow when he saw the slit throat, he instantly put the pieces together that a ninja had slipped in and was trying to pick them off one by one!
"No need to call, most of them are already dead." A calm voice said from behind him.
Freezing in place, the guard slowly turned around, when his gaze found the scene behind him he could only leave his mouth open gapping in fear.
In the middle of the tunnel, the miners hugged the side wall while looking at a teenage youth in light samurai armor standing over the headless bodies of their captors while fiddling with a Tanto with a low red glow along it's edges, watching him with both Fear and Worship filling their eyes.
Fear at the ease that this God of Death swooped in from the shadows and dispatched all of the guards in a few silent swings of his blade. Worship at the strength and prowess of him doing what they wished to do themselves to their tormentors.
"It's a really good blade! My father would have begged to keep one of these in his collection back at the clan grounds." He commented with wonder as he watched the glow slowly fade from the metal.
Sheathing the Tantō he closed his eyes for a moment before opening them back up and looking at the terrified guard.
"I'm only going to ask this once." Hashiba stated coldly before slowly walking to him. "Where is my master!"
The only thing the guard could remember seeing in his limited time left in the world of the living were a pair of Blood red pupils with 2 motes swimming within them.