Zee and Toroi were getting impatient, Dodai would not last long in his delaying efforts so they needed to move fast.
They did not want to weaken their position in front of Keiko however, it would make them seem weaker and thus not worth siding with.
Alas, even then, the Swift Release user was more partial to retreating with her prize. It was better than going for more and possibly ended up empty handed . . . or worse.
But . . .
Would the choice be hers to make?
Not if the "unconscious body" in her hands had anything to say about it.
You see, while Keiko was dealing with Typhoon, a dazed Shiki sank into the rock with his Hiding in Surface jutsu while leaving one of his Shadow Substitutions behind.
The boy was far from a fool.
The only reason he could hang with the real elites in battle, were his abnormal jutsu and tactics but, far more importantly, his speed.
Phantom Flicker afforded Shiki the mobility to keep a battle competitive even when facing otherwise more powerful foes.
Someone like Keiko, who was comparable or stronger at base in raw stats while being much faster due to her kekkei genkai, was the boy's natural enemy.
As such, he wisely took the opportunity to slink away while out of sight inside the rock.
With his abilities, Shiki could hide from the sensory jutsu of the enemy while his Shadow Substitution acted as the perfect corpse.
One implanted with quite the nasty surprise . . .
The Super Scroll Bomb the boy had created in preparation for the battle with Kumo packed with enough power to make any explosive enthusiast proud.
Hiding underground, Shiki ruthlessly triggered it.
But what followed was completely mind blowing.
Keiko detected the faint smell of Explosive Tags, which the Super Scroll Bomb was just an extremely advanced version of and with her veritable godspeed, the Swift Release user spun around to pick up momentum before tossing the rigged Shadow Substitution far into the air.
All this, in the fraction of a second between the triggering of the bomb and the actual detonation.
However, the kunoichi failed to account for the massive power and range of the explosion.
With a blinding flash of light, the Super Scroll Bomb went off.
The resulting fireball expanded near instantly to cover the distance to the ground and then kept going.
It alone had a radius of fifty meters.
But the searing hot shockwave that followed spread much further, pulverising rock and reducing all organic matter to ash in a hundred meter radius, slowly losing power from then on.
The underground Shiki coughed up a mouthful of blood as the shockwave travelled through the earth and battered his internal organs beyond what even his enhanced body could take.
'I underestimated the power . . .' The boy thought to himself between coughs.
Even in this state however, his Kukyo - Seven Senses kept a close watch on the events above ground.
Toroi was gone.
His hastily put up defense was blown apart and his body was vaporized in the range of the explosion's fireball.
Zee was unfortunately alive.
Her superior reflexes allowed her to activate her Lightning Chakra Mode and Lightning Flicker away from the fireball.
The shockwave caught up to her though, shattered her Lightning Armor and left her twitching on the devastated ground like shrimp from multiple internal injuries, considerably more serious than Shiki's.
But once again, the unknown factor that Keiko was, proved to be beyond the reach of Shiki's calculations.
Her Swift Release: Shadowless Flight enabled her to get far enough that the shockwave of the explosion had already lost most of its power so, even without any defense, she had escaped with just a few burns and very mild internal injuries.
'I just can't deal with her at all. I'm out, can't keep up fighting in my current state. I doubt I could take her even if I was in perfect condition anyway.' Shiki thought to himself.
He moved underground, swiftly collecting the scattered body parts of Typhoon whose corpse was far away from the explosion to not be reduced to ash but close enough to still be blown apart.
And then, the boy slipped away without even trying to mound another ambush.
Keiko on the other hand, despite her injuries not being that serious, was lacking the confidence in her own abilities that Shiki seemed to have.
"It hurts . . ." She absentmindedly talked to herself.
It did not hurt that much to be real, however . . .
"When did I forget . . .' Keiko continued.
Ever since she mastered her kekkei genkai, she had been literally untouched.
Sure, she had met enemies she couldn't beat, enemies powerful enough that she did not even dare to fight.
But one thing remained the same across all those experiences. Once Keiko abandoned the thought of attacking, even shinobi far more powerful than her could only dream of touching her.
It had been years since she was injured in battle.
Despite being shaken, Keiko pulled herself together.
'Swift Release: Instant Recovery'
What was accelerated this time, was not her physical speed, but her healing speed instead.
At the cost of burning through her chakra and stamina, Keiko could speed up her natural healing process with the caveat that her lifespan would be slightly reduced from the continuous rapid division of cells.
Swift Release was not an elemental kekkei genkai.
Just like her brother Kei possessed Dark Release as an evolved version of Yin Release, Kei possessed an evolved version of Yang Release, specialized in activating her body solely for the purpose of "speed", hence Swift Release.
The veritable godspeed with which the kunoichi moved, was only the tip of the iceberg.
Still, with her mental rattled, Keiko made the decision to retreat, much to Shiki's relief when he sensed it.
Unfortunately for him, she took the incapacitated but barely conscious Zee with her.
'Dodai already got cooked. Captured alive even.' He noted.
'All in all, this was a very successful operation, only three surviving enemies. Guess I'll head towards the ambush site and regroup with everyone else to figure out the next course of action.' He decided.
However, one particular individual was not willing to let the engagement end just yet.
Keiko ran through the rocky terrain, filled with small valleys and crevices while carrying Zee on her shoulder.
Much as she expected, nobody was following her, either for lack of will or lack of ability. If it was just travelling, carrying a single person did not slow her down enough for others to catch up.
But after a while, something strange began to happen.
'I should have reached the more open fields near the port town by now . . .' Keiko thought to herself with suspicion.
After a little more running, she suddenly noticed.
'I'm not going in circles, I'd have noticed sooner if that was the case but I'm wandering randomly in the same area for sure.' The kunoichi stopped and carefully scanned her surroundings while jostling Zee to wake up and stand by herself
It was then that something which previously escaped her attention, suddenly became obvious.
A fine red dust was floating through the air, as if weightless and immaterial.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -