Watching the blurry shuriken flying speedily towards him, Kenji knew it would be a huge mistake for him to attempt grabbing it. Forget looking cool, safety first!
Gritting his teeth, he snatched his ninjato from his waist and slashed at it.
*Clang!*
A loud sound followed the clash, and the shuriken got blasted away.
The ninjas from the other clans looked on in shock. Kenji had just introduced himself as their mission leader, and what's more, a member of the Ryujin clan.Yet Akira had attacked him fearlessly. Or was it – thoughtlessly. Kenji could get Akira severely punished for insubordination, and there was little the Kage clan could do about it.
"Bold.."
"Too arrogant!"
"He really think the world revolves around him! Despicable!"
Some of the ninjas couldn't stand Akira so they berated him.
Kenji put away his ninjato and took out a handkerchief from a small bag strapped to his waist.
Dabbing his forehead slowly, he looked at Akira.
"What is your name, Kage ninja?" He asked Akira.
"Akira. Akira Kage." Akira said.
"Akira, I'll take that throw as a compliment, and pretend as though you were really trying to return the shuriken to me." Kenji said. "But, a repeat of such petulant behavior would not be tolerated, or you would be made to face the full weight of the Ryujin clan. Do we have an understanding, Akira from the Kage clan?"
Akira snorted, "Yes, we do."
Kenji nodded and put the handkerchief back in his small bag. Although a part of him wanted to rage and slash Akira to pieces with his ninjato, the other half reminded him to keep cool. Akira's strength was necessary for the mission at hand.
Kenji took a deep breath and cleared his throat,preparing to address the ninjas about the mission. At that same moment, a ninja dressed in black shozoku came in panting heavily. The ninja had his ninjato strapped to his back, and his silver hair carried glints of sunlights in it.
"And who might you be?" Kenji frowned. Although knowing the answer from the ninja's dressing, he still asked.
Shiro saw the many eyes that locked on him, and immediately felt intimidated. He knew most of them were looking at his hair. Black hair colour was the most common and natural in asia, so any other colour was seen as weird. If Shiro was old, it would have been understandable. But he was too young!
His father had told him that he had inherited his hair colour from his mother, but he didn't know how true that was. He had been taken away from his mother when he was really young, to train with the rest clan kids, and wasn't allowed to see her. His sisters being ladies, were more fortunate and and were allowed to stay with their mother. When he turned eight years old, he was told his mother had died. There wasn't a single painting of her and Shiro found it strange, but he had been taught not to ask too many questions. His only sadness was that he didn't get to experience the love of a mother.
"Kid, I asked a question." Kenji's voice came again, snapping Shiro out from his thoughts.
"S–Shiro Kage..." Shiro stuttered.
"Another Kage..." Kenji sighed. "It's fair to say you Kages have a thing for trouble and lateness."
Akira frowned, but Koji had no expression. He didn't care what Kenji or any other person thought. He only wanted to be show the outlaws, so he could slash them.
"I'm sorry..." Shiro apologized.
"No matter," Kenji waved his hand. "Stand in line, I'll do a short briefing now."
Shiro moved to stand near Koji. Koji smiled at him, and gave him a little shoulder pat to ease his tension.
Shiro saw that ninjas from the five clans in Nishu were all present.
Kenji from the Ryujin clan in golden shozoku, three ninjas from the Shiroi clan in brown, two ninjas from the Kaze clan in green, three ninjas from the Akuma clan in red, and there was three of them from the Kage clan in black. They were twelve all together for the mission.
Shiro wondered why the Kaze clan was short of a member though. But no one seemed to mind. Also, the The Kaze clan were known to be lovers of peace. They would rather not fight if they could avoid it.
The Kage clan, the Ryujin clan, the Shiroi clan, the Kaze clan, and the Akuma clan.
These five clans were all powerhouses that competed for power and resources in Ninshu.
Kenji cleared his throat. "Our great and all powerful Lord of Ninjas, Lord Metsudo, has found great dissatisfaction in the actions of the outlaws, and has given us the noble privilege of exterminating them. According to trusted Intel, their base is at the eastern outskirts of the city, and our mission is to go there and see no one is left alive. Their fate has been decided by Lord Metsudo, and we are to enforce it. You may see your former clan member, ally, of even ex family. But have no sense of familiarity with them, and do not lose focus for they are but mere condemned criminals. For those who go against Ninshu, Ninshu would go against them! Ninjas, are there any questions?"
"None!" The gathered ninjas answered in unison.
"Good. We shall now proceed on my lead." Kenji said, then shot speedily in a direction with a burst of explosion. He was so fast that Shiro doubted he had ever being here, standing and addressing them. The only evidence were the clouds of dust he had left behind.That was the power of an elite ninja!
The rest ninjas all shot after Kenji, trying not to loose sight of him.
"Try not to fall behind again, Shiro. Akira would be mad if you shame the Kage clan." Koji laughed and joined in the run. His expression clearly showed that he was enjoying this.
Shiro sighed, feeling that the life of a ninja was anything but fun. He had barely recovered from the first run he had, and now he had to run again, and to a much farther distance.
There were no horses in Ninshu; their feet were their mode of transportation.
Although he had, like every other ninja, received endurance training, he still very much hated putting his endurance to test.
Sighing, he could only join in the run, not wanting to fall behind.
After a little over an hour later, the extermination ninjas finally reached the eastern outskirts of Ninshu, a thick forest that one wouldn't dare to wander in alone. The forest trees had thick trunks that could fit in multiple humans, and their leaves could wrap a man's face.
The forest was a bit dark due to the thick trees, and eerie sounds from animals in the forest it look more dangerous. Shiro tried to wonder how humans found this place habitable. He would have freaked out had he been alone in a place like this, but he was in a group, so he felt a bit bolder.
Kenji checked everyone to see they were complete, before leading them inside the forest.
"Everyone be careful now, there's possibly lots of traps in this place, so we'll all do good to be on the lookout. Although we'll try to catch them off guard, it's still the savages territory, so we must be super vigilant to avoid been caught off guard ourselves."
"Copy!" The ninjas behind him said.
They proceeded deeper into the forest, making almost no noise at all.
Suddenly, Kenji held up a hand, causing the rest ninjas to stop. Almost immediately, a torrent of knives and arrows came raining down on them.
Kenji gritted his teeth, realizing that their cover had been blown. It wasn't something surprising though, he had been prepared for that.
He drew out his ninjato and yelled, "Be ready for battle ninjas!"
Then with a burst of explosion, he jumped high into the air and slashed at all the incoming projectiles.
Kenji's hand moved like lightning, and in seconds, he had slashed all of them down, protecting every body from getting hit.
The remaining ninjas, including Shiro, drew their ninjatos, ready for battle.
"Impressive, Kenji. How much you've grown." A voice said.
Kenji traced the voice and saw a middle aged man standing atop a tree branch.
He was dressed in a golden shozoku, and had his ninjato strapped to his waist.
An ex Ryujin clan member!
"You..." Kenji felt his blood boil.
" I was worried you would have forgotten me, it's a good thing your memory is still fresh." The middle aged man smiled.
"In the name of Lord Metsudo Ryujin, I shall slay you traitor!" Kenji swore.
The middle aged man sneered. "Slay me? I trained you, Kenji. It's still fifty years too soon for you to have thoughts like that. As for the old fart, Metsudo, I'll be coming for his head once I'm finished with you and your group."
"Die!" Kenji launched himself at the middle-aged man on the tree branch, but two sharp knives intercepted him mid-air. With swift slashes, Kenji knocked the knives away, but his momentum was broken. He landed hard on the ground with a flip, his agility and quick reflexes impressing even Shiro.
The middle aged man smiled, but hadn't moved at all. The knives came from someone else. It was then Kenji looked around and saw they were all surrounded by outlaws.
"This is bad..." He gritted his teeth.
"The way you have Intel about us, we also have Intel about you." The middle aged man chucked. " So my friends and I prepared a little surprised for you all."
Shiro looked around, and saw that the outlaws were more than thirty, greatly outnumbering them. He could even see a few ex Kage members in black shozoku.
He gulped as he knew it was going to be a long night.
The true battle was only just beginning.