This new enemy's eyes fixed on the man, as the smoke dispersed and the man's image became clearer... she frowned as she noticed the wires still dangling from his body.
-One of the test subjects...? -he muttered, more to himself than to her.
The man did not respond. His muscles still felt stiff, and his breathing was not steady, but something inside him told him that this woman was not going to waste her time with questions. Nothing could be further from the truth, he was right.
In an instant, the ninja moved.
Her hand slid to her vest and with a swift twist she threw a kunai straight at the man's neck.
Reflexes took over before her mind could process it. He dodged on instinct, his body leaning back at the last second. The kunai blade whistled through the air, passing inches from his throat before embedding itself in the wall it had earlier collided with behind him.
The man had barely had time to steady himself when the ninja was already upon him.
-Too fast, too fast, the man thought.
The enemy's leg came up in a brutal swing, seeking to impact his side. He couldn't quite dodge it. The blow hit him in the rib, sending him against the wall with a dry clang.
- "Shit..."-for the first time since waking up the man could generate a groan.
His body was still weak. He couldn't keep up with this pace and no one knew that better than him.
The ninja gave him no respite. In one fluid motion, he already had another kunai in hand and lunged forward, this time seeking to plunge the blade into his heart.
The man knowing that his chances were slim ran in the only direction available with his limited strength, looking for more time until he could come up with an idea to attack and have the victory despite his current state.
The ninja resigned to let him escape and took one of the wires hanging from the man's back, perhaps she thought it was some kind of medical device. She tried to immobilize him by throwing him to the ground and end his life with a sure stab. But as soon as the ninja pulled hard and the wire tore away from the man's flesh, a considerable amount of blood escaped with it and landed on the ninja's arm.
The scream of pain was immediate.
A horrible sound, like the hissing of melting flesh, the gut-wrenching scream echoed down the hallway as the man's blood touched the ninja's skin. Dark vapor rose from the point of contact, and a fiery wound instantly opened on the enemy's forearm, as if pure acid had eaten away at his flesh, the smell of rottenness rose intensely in the place.
The ninja jumped back, her face contorted in confusion and pain not taking her eyes off his arm.
-What the hell...what did you do to me?!" the ninja shouted as she looked at the large wound on her arm.
The man also looked with surprise. He did not understand what had just happened, but he was not going to waste the opportunity, the opportunity he was looking for was right in front of his eyes.
Still unarmed, he advanced at great speed.
The ninja tried to react, but the wound on her arm affected her mobility. The man dodged a desperate attack and with a quick movement, plunged his fingers into the ninja's throat.
The strength was not the same as in his past life, His body was still unstable. But it was enough.
The ninja let out a gurgle of blood from her mouth, as her hands tried to cling to the man's.
-Gh... ah...- the ninja's moans became more and more desperate.
He didn't give her time to struggle anymore. He twisted his wrist and with a dry crunch, the ninja's windpipe collapsed.
The ninja collapsed, without generating any more whimpers.
The man stood over the body, breathing heavily, his mind still confused, still processing what had just happened. His blood... his own blood was lethal.
He brought a hand to his back, where the wound still burned from the ripped cable. There was no immediate healing. He had no instant regeneration...but he did carry the curse in his veins.
The man stared at the ninja's limp body a second longer. Then, he bent down and picked up the fallen ninja's kunai, Now, at least, he had a weapon, one that was of great help to him in that maze of death, where he did not plan to die without a fight.
The air in the subway corridors was thick and heavy. A metallic stench permeated every corner, a silent testimony of the carnage that had taken place in that place.
The man advanced with measured steps, the kunai steady in his hand. His body still felt strange, but the adrenaline kept him moving. As he descended the rock corridors, the signs of the massacre became more evident.
Dismembered bodies, not simple deaths from precise cuts or explosions. No, this was bloodier than I could imagine.
Here bodies had been mangled, torn in unnatural ways. Some limbs lay meters away from their owners, pinned to the walls as if they had been shot with inhuman force. Blood still dripped from the ceiling in certain spots, forming dark puddles on the uneven floor.
The man passed by a corpse whose head had been completely pierced by a white fragment... it looked like a bone.
-What the hell did this do? he thought to himself.
A sound made him stop.
-Voices?
He leaned against a rocky wall, sharpening his hearing. Ahead, a group of men spoke in whispers.
- "Apparently the reports are false, the informant lied to us. We were told that Orochimaru would be here... but there is no trace of him."- says one of the men with masks of different white animals.
-Tch... we have lost too many men because of this false information. Who the fuck sold us this mission?"- asks indignantly a man with a white owl mask.
-Orochimaru?" thought the man, the name meant nothing to him, but apparently these men were looking for him... a whole massacre done to find one man, and still, they didn't find him.
Before he could process it any further, a piercing sound rent the air.
- "Wh-what...?!" -A stifled cry from one of the men is heard as he sees one of his companions fall.
The man peeked out cautiously... and saw him, a new figure had appeared among the ninjas, A white-haired man, tall and thin, with an elegant but unnatural bearing. His attire was strange, completely unlike that of the fallen ninja.
His attire was a white tunic with wide sleeves, with a slit in the chest giving it a ceremonial look, dark pants, suggesting comfort and mobility in battle, gray sash or belt, with a yin-yang symbol on the front, bandages on the legs and shinobi sandals, which are common among ninjas, offering support and protection in combat, a large purple rope tied in the back.
This man had weapons in one of his hands, which appeared to be swords, but these were of the same white hue of the projectile that the man had seen a few moments ago in the lifeless body, which reinforces the image of a lethal warrior and specialized in unique techniques.
The set transmits a mixture of authority, tradition, and danger, ideal for a person with advanced skills in combat, despite its appearance, this was not the most disturbing thing, what really made the man doubt if what he was seeing was real, was what was coming out of the body of that man in strange clothes.
-"Ah... what a disappointment," he muttered in a calm voice.
With a grotesque crunch, his right arm snapped in half... and from within sprouted several sharp bones, lengthening like spears.
One of the ninjas tried to react, but the white-haired man moved with a speed impossible to detect at first glance, unhesitatingly thrusting the spears into the masked man's body.
-Shit, he's a subordinate of Orochimaru," shouted one of the masked men.
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