Shinko Inari and Itachi exchanged a quick glance, silently communicating their readiness to face this new threat.
"He is alone; we can take him," Shinko said to Tenma.
Tenma replied, "Okay. I will create a diversion for you to attack."
Shinko and Itachi nodded in agreement, preparing to take on the masked stranger together.
"Wait, guys, don't rush in without a plan." Itachi tried to reason with Shinko and Tenma, but they were too focused on the task at hand to listen.
Tenma went straight to confront the masked stranger. It was her first solo mission without her Jonin instructor, and she also wanted to impress Itachi.
As Tenma approached quickly, Shinko closely followed, ready to seize the moment Tenma created to strike at the masked person. However, something unexpected occurred.
Both observing from a distance, both Itachi and Shinko wondered why the opponent made no effort to evade.
Tenma was very near the opponent and was close to landing a hit, so she did not second-guess herself and did not realise that her opponent deliberately allowed her to approach.
When she landed a hit with her kunai, it passed through her opponent's body, as if he was not there. The lack of resistance to her attack caused her to fall forward onto the opponent.
To everyone's surprise, Tenma passed right through this opponent as if it was a genjutsu.
Shinko said, "Genjutsu, but when."
Itachi was watching the fight with his sharingan. He replied, "No, it's not genjutsu. She passed right through that person."
Shinko questioned, 'How is that possible? Are you absolutely certain?'
Itachi replied, "Yes, there is definitely no genjutsu in effect. I am certain. It's as if this man is a ghost."
"But ghosts aren't real," Shinko said.
At that moment, a realisation dawned on Itachi. Itachi remembered his meeting in Ryu's workshop, where they were fighting a ghostlike person, and Ryu, as a demonstration of his crafting skills, made weapons to fight such a person.
Itachi shouted, "Tenma, move away from him."
He urgently stated, "Tenma, Shinko, we are no match for this opponent. His abilities surpass ours. Do not engage. I'll create a diversion for our escape."
Just then the man's height started to decrease. Both Itachi and the rest of the team noticed the sudden change in the man's height. But then they noticed the man's feet; they were like inside the ground. Tenma froze in her tracks, a mix of fear and astonishment crossing her face, her eyes widening and hands trembling. She had never seen such ninjutsu.
Itachi remembered Ryu's and his own discussion again and thought, 'Shit, it is trying to attack us from behind. His target is me.'
Itachi's sphere of awareness focused behind himself.
In her moment of surprise, Tenma failed to notice that the man's head was unexpectedly emerging from the ground right behind her, catching her off guard.
Itachi noticed that, but he was too late. "Shit, he is trying to capture her, the weakest one, to hold us down and prevent us from escaping."
Tenma turned, noticing a presence behind her, and she slashed her kunai behind her in swift motion, but her attack once again passed right through this opponent. She threw a punch, but the masked man grabbed Tenma's hand that she tried to attack with.
"Tenma!" shouted both Itachi and Shinko.
The mysterious masked man was quick to hold Tenma down. and grabbed Tenma's kunai and stabbed her with her own weapon. Tenma cried out in pain as the masked man twisted the kunai deeper into her side. The situation looked dire as Tenma struggled to break free from his grip.
Shinko shouted Tenma's name again. And in the moment of heat, he rushed in to save her. But much to his astonishment, Shinko's body phased right through the masked man, leaving him bewildered.
Itachi shouted, "Don't go near him. Get back."
He retrieved a small bottle containing a special substance from his back pocket and advanced towards the masked man. When he was about to reach and punch this masked man trying to save Tenma. The masked man caught Itachi's punch, revealing it was his intended strategy from the start to stop Itachi from running away by taking one teammate hostage.
"You are too green," the masked man said as he grabbed the punch. He was about to do something when he heard the glass vial break in Itachi's hand he was holding.
Itachi was holding some sort of glass vial in his hand when the Maskman grabbed his punch.
The glass broke, and a tiny explosion of gas took place, covering both Itachi, Tenma, and the masked mana. The gas explosion also obscured the view, similar to a smoke bomb.
"Smoke bomb, clever but useless," mocked the masked man, his voice dripping with disdain for the tactic.
Itachi stunt Created a moment of opportunity. For him to save his teammate. Itachi grabs Tenma and jumps back a few steps away.
Itachi shouted, "Stay away from him. We are no match for him."
He again took something. From. His back pocket. It was a small bottle. Itachi opened a bottle and drank something from it. Everyone was surprised by this move, even the masked man.
The masked man said, "A performance-enhancing drug. It's not advisable for young individuals to resort to such deceitful methods. It can have detrimental effects on your health."
Shinko asked Itachi, "What is that?"
Itachi replied. "You will know in a moment."
"Tenma is out. Hold Tenma, I have a plan. I will create an opportunity. Trying to escape without engaging him again. We cannot beat him." Itachi said.
Shinko nodded in understanding, trusting Itachi's strategy without Itachi needing to explain it further to him.
Itachi threw many shuriken. But the attention of the marksman was away from him. But the Masked Man, ignoring the shuriken, kept walking towards Itachi, unaffected as all the shuriken passed right through his ghostly, intangible body.
Itachi formed some hand seals. And launched a barrage of fire jutsu. The Masked Man also ignored Itachi's jutsu as well.
But suddenly, The Maskman stopped right in his tracks inside. "What?"
His entire body froze. Unable to move. He wondered what had happened. The cloaked figure looked at Itachi and remarked, "Poison."
Spotting an opportunity, Itachi quickly seized a glass flask filled with a volatile and explosive substance inside and threw it towards the masked man. He then swiftly launched a kunai in succession.
As the kunai hit the flask, triggering the explosion of gas, chaos erupted in the vicinity. In an instant, the surroundings erupted in flames, as if the very air had caught fire.
The object he had thrown earlier was a glass flask filled with flammable liquid that rapidly vaporised, creating a wide area of flammable gas. This substance ignites upon contact with air, leading to self-sustained combustion.
"Run away now! It won't be able to hold him much longer. Escape now that we can," shouted Itachi, urgency lacing his words.
Leaving the unidentified enemy behind, Itachi and Shinko began running towards the village without turning around.
Shinko's eyes widened as he asked, 'Who was that?'
Itachi replied, "I don't know, but he knew exactly who I am. He was definitely after my life after he recognised me.'
"And what was that attack?" Shinko asked.
Itachi replied, "It was something my friend came up with. a delayed poison that affects without showing any signs. Those affected will not notice it until it's too late."
"That vial you drank from, was it an antidote?" Shinko asked.
"Yes," replied Itachi.
"You mean to say you poisoned Tenma? You need to give her the antidote too." Shinko asked with anger in his voice.
"I can't," said Itachi.
Shinko questioned him, with annoyance in his voice, "What do you mean you can't? You mean to say you used the last drop of antidote on yourself?"
Itachi replied, "It's not like that. That poison in this situation is what is keeping her alive."
Shinko stared at Itachi in disbelief, struggling to comprehend how the poison could be keeping someone alive.
Confused, Shinko enquired, "What are you trying to say?"
Clarifying the situation, Itachi explained, "Do not worry; it's not deadly. Its effects wear off after some time. That poison slows down the heartbeat and blood flow. She would have bled to death if I had given her the antidote. None of us know any medical ninjutsu, and this is not a wound we can just patch up. We need to hurry towards the village before its effects wear off and she bleeds too much."
A mix of relief and determination shone in Shinko's eyes as he nodded firmly, fully committed to the rescue mission. They sprinted towards the village urgently, fully aware of the gravity of Tenma's condition.
After a few minutes, back at the place where Itachi and Shinko were attacked, a cloaked figure emerged from a swirling portal and touched down on the ground.
##DoUbLe ReLeAsE##
A/N: I am to take an extra day break after the weekend, so I am doing a double release . Please leave a review on Webnovel if you enjoyed the story thus far. Next chapter coming right up.
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