Haku and the others all stood around the last surviving Stone shinobi that they had captured. Haku of course had stuck him with a senbon needle in the back of the neck, causing all of his body to go limp from his neck down.
"What the hell is this? I won't talk no matter what, you can't make me you Mist bastards!" He said, turning his head so he could see what was going on.
"Tell us what you know and we will let you live." Kimimaro simply said, not wasting any time.
"Ha! You think I would believe that!"
"Perhaps a little pain will break his will?" Koyuki said, a smile forming on her face as she said it.
"Or genjutsu?" Rokuro said, butting in.
"I don't think any of us know genjutsu of that level," Haku said, getting a small nod from the rest of the group in agreement.
"Pain it is." Koyuki then said, punching her open palm as she stepped forwards, getting a nervous expression on the Stone shinobi's face.
Meanwhile...
"How did these bastards manage to get one up on us like this!" Hattori shouted, seeing that he and his squad had been surrounded on all sides by Grass, Stone, and Cloud shinobi.
"So many of them too..." A shinobi from the hidden leaf who had been placed on Hattori's squad said.
Yuri also stood with her guard up, having deflected a flurry of shuriken that had been aimed at her and the others, proving she had grown stronger thanks to her training.
"Leave this to me," Hattori said as he drew his sword, and kept a kunai in the other hand.
"Alright men, let's finish them off!" One of the Cloud shinobi yelled, wanting to press their advance even more.
However, as he was about to finish his sentence, a blade shot right through his mouth, splattering blood everywhere and shocking the others.
"Who?"
"What in the!"
The others yelled as they watched their comrade drop to the ground, only seeing a blur left behind as Hattori used his swift style to quickly disappear behind another enemy, slicing his sword down across his back and throwing his kunai at another in an instant.
"Who the hell is this guy!"
"How is he moving so fast!"
Hattori was moving way too quickly for them to keep up with his speed, taking all of them out in a matter of seconds without breaking a sweat.
"Wow, who the hell is this guy?" One of the Leaf shinobi asked, seeing that he was indeed impressive.
"His name is Hattori... And he's not the only one who has gotten stronger!" Another said as he activated his eyes, allowing them to turn red.
"Sharingan!"
"And now, fire style, fireball jutsu!"
A large fireball was suddenly flung across the battlefield smashing right into where a unit of Grass shinobi had been standing, forcing them all to jump into the air to avoid the fire style.
Hattori watched the Leaf ninja attack once he had finished with the enemy ninja from his side, already knowing who it was.
"Iseto Uchiha..."
"Look out!" One if the Grass shinobi shouted before they all jumped into the air.
"We should press on the attack a little more and get out of here! Clearly, our ambush has failed!" One of the Grass ninja yelled as they all landed, knowing they didn't need to take any more casualties.
"Agreed!" Another of them said, who appeared to be the leader.
"I don't think so!" Iseto suddenly yelled as he appeared in the middle of the group, sweeping down with his right leg and using his left arm to support his weight on the ground.
"What in the!" One of the Grass shinobi yelled before he felt his legs get swept from under him thanks to Iseto's kick.
Iseto wasn't finished there either as he took two more down to the ground before going for the kill with the kunai in his hand, only to be stopped at the last second by another of the Grass shinobi who quickly countered by throwing a handful of shuriken at him, forcing Iseto to deflect them and jump out of the way from another Grass ninjas punch.
"Change of plans, retreat!" The Grass shinobi leader yelled, quickly tossing a smoke bomb onto the ground as he and his men retreated back into the forest.
Hattori had taken care of his side, clearly being too much for the low-level enemy shinobi that had been sent to ambush them.
"Looks like we aren't the only ones." One of the surviving Leaf shinobi said, pointing out the smoke from Kimimaro's flare.
"So, what now?" Iseto asked, putting his kunai away and letting his Sharingan revert back to his normal eyes.
"I just received a message from squad leader Kakashi." Another said.
"Well, go on." Hattori then said, growing impatient as he waited to hear it.
"Right... He said that the middle and rear sections are under attack and that the front of the platoon has continued on their path towards the land of Waterfall."
Hattori raised an eyebrow.
"Is that all?"
"No... We are to regroup with as many survivors as possible and deal with the threat. Once that is complete, we can continue towards the land of Waterfalls." The Leaf shinobi finished.
"Alright then. Let's get a move on." Hattori then said, taking charge of the squad without a care in the world.
"So, that was their plan all along..." Koyuki said slowly as she wiped the blood from her kunai.
"Geeze Koyuki... Did you have to do it like that?" Rokuro said, trying not to gag at the sight of the Stone ninja's body.
"I got our information didn't I?" She countered, not seeming phased in the slightest.
"I forget how much you enjoy violence sometimes." Haku then said, not seeming to care either as it was part of the mission.
"Regardless of our methods, we have our intel. And we should get this to Ganryu as fast as we can." Kimimaro then said, getting everyone's attention.
"Right..." They all said, gathering their thoughts.
"Ganryu's unit is at the rear of our Platoon. So we should start heading south, and help any other squads that we come across." Kimimaro said, laying out the new plan.
"Rodger that." Everyone else said, especially Kujira, who was still eager to show the others that he refused to be left in the dust.
"Ok then, let's move out." Kimimaro then said, getting a nod from the others as they all dashed into the trees, heading south towards the sounds of battle.
...
"Sir, we can confirm that's the last of the enemy shinobi here." A Mist chunin spoke to Kōgetsu.
"Yes, good work men." Kōgetsu then said, making sure that the rest of his squad could also hear his praise.
"What next, Ganryu?" Kōgetsu then asked, looking over to their leader.
Ganryu, of course, was sitting on the dead body of a Cloud shinobi as he finished his smoke, not having a care in the world as usual.
"Next. Isn't that clear?" He said, taking another puff of his smoke before speaking again.
"We head north as planned, taking down every enemy we come across and gathering our allies. Once that is done, we will head to the land of Waterfalls as planned." He said, laying out the plan to the others.
"Alright then, let's move out," Kōgetsu said, giving the order to move.
"Suddenly Ganryu felt a chill run down his spine, forcing him to lead back as far as he could until he was led flat on the ground.
The sudden swipe of a sword flashed over his face, causing his eyes to open wide before he flipped over backwards, drawing his own sword as he blocked a downward slash, forcing him to use all of his strength to hold his own sword, feeling the back of it press down into his shoulder.
"Ganryu!" Kōgetsu shouted, cursing himself for not noticing more enemies sooner before he quickly rushed forwards to help.
"You!" Ganryu said, getting a good look at the man who had suddenly tried to kill him, realising that his cigarette had been cut in half, knowing he was almost a goner there.
"Long time no see, Ganryu." The man said in his deep voice.
"Zabuza Momochi..." Ganryu also said, feeling the strength behind his attack as he faced the demon of the Mist himself.
--------------
Alright thats the end of this chapter! I'm sorry to leave you on such a cliff-hanger, but more to come soon.