We continued searching for a pillar large enough and isolated enough to discourage the leopards from climbing it. The night had grown darker and quieter, the earlier background noise fading into something heavier and more oppressive. Every random scrape or distant shift of stone made us flinch, nerves stretched tight as we half-expected something to lunge at us from the darkness at any moment.
Kaen clicked his tongue, glancing up at the surrounding pillars. "Why are we even stopping? We could take soldier pills and keep moving through the night."
Sena shook her head immediately. "Too early," she said. "Pills are for emergencies, not convenience." She glanced at me, and I immediately started whistling off to the side as if this had nothing to do with me. She shook her head and continued, "We have no idea what the situation will be like at the outpost, or how bad the third day will get. If we burn them now and crash later, we are done." Kaen nodded, and we continued the search.
Eventually, we got lucky. One pillar stood out from the rest, massive and tall, its top wide and flat enough to camp on comfortably. It was closer to neighboring pillars than I would have liked, but by that point exhaustion and strain were starting to weigh on us. Given how late it was and how on edge we all felt, we decided not to push our luck any further and went with it.
The pillar was the largest in its immediate area, rising higher than the surrounding stone and giving us a decent vantage point if anything approached from above. We would still be blind to anything coming from below, but there was no perfect option out here, and we could only hope nothing managed to get close without being noticed.
Once we reached the top, Sena looked around the limited space before turning to me. "Do you have anything that can help secure us?"
I nodded. "I have been studying a chakra barrier seal. It should prevent anything from attacking us from outside, but it will lock us in as well. We will not be able to leave unless I disable it myself." I hesitated before adding, "It is on a scroll."
Sena nodded without hesitation. "If anyone notices, they will assume the village is just being generous. Go for it."
I summoned the large seal scroll from a standard storage seal and unrolled it across the stone, spreading it carefully over the ground. I placed my hand at its center and poured a significant amount of chakra into it. The markings flared to life, lines glowing as a thin, transparent barrier rose around the top of the pillar. It hummed softly, the sound barely audible but constant, the scroll beneath my hand shining steadily as it sustained the technique.
Kaen stared at it, eyes wide with interest. "Is it safe to keep that up all night?"
"It should be," I said, though I did not sound completely confident. "I only finished drawing the scroll recently. It is my first one, so we need to stay alert."
Sena noticed immediately how drained I looked. "Go to sleep, Noa. I will take the first watch."
Kaen opened his mouth to object, but Sena smiled faintly and cut him off. "Your eyes will be more useful later. Right now it is too dark for you to get much out of them."
He hesitated, then nodded and settled down as well.
Sena moved carefully around the edge of the seal scroll, mindful not to disturb it. With the barrier and the sleeping bags taking up most of the space, she positioned herself at the edge of the pillar, the only clear area left, and began her watch, extending her chakra sensory awareness into the darkness below. Her eyes stayed fixed on the stone forest as it lay silent beneath us while I drifted into dreamless sleep.
"Noa. Kaen. Wake up."
The shout tore me out of sleep, dragging me out of warmth and fog all at once. My mind was slow to catch up, thoughts tangled and dull, but the panic on Sena's face cut straight through it. It was raw and unguarded, something I never expected to see on someone so confident and composed. Before I could ask what was wrong, the stone beneath us lurched.
A blast slammed into the base of the pillar with enough force to rattle my teeth, the sound rolling through the stone forest as the ground shook violently. Birds burst into the air in panicked clouds, their cries swallowed by the roar of collapsing rock. Deep cracks raced through the stone as the pillar began to tilt, the structure finally giving in.
The barrier seal hummed louder, vibrating beneath my feet, and in that instant I understood the danger. We were sealed in. The protection we had relied on was about to become our coffin.
I did not hesitate. I slapped my hand onto the seal scroll and surged chakra into it, forcefully dispelling the barrier as it shattered into fading light. Kaen was still half-asleep when I grabbed him and jumped. Sena was already moving, keeping pace as the pillar gave way behind us.
The stone tower collapsed a second later, smashing into the ground and triggering nearby pillars to fracture and fall as well. Stone slammed into stone, debris and dust erupting outward in all directions. The shockwave chased us through the air as we landed hard on neighboring pillars, barely keeping our footing.
Kaen cursed as his mind finally cleared, activating his Sharingan as I released him. Sena landed cleanly on another pillar, already turning to scan the battlefield. We stood separated across the stone spires, the rising sun behind us casting long shadows down over the destruction below. That was when I felt it.
Kunai screamed through the air toward us, several at once. The seals attached to them burned in my senses like warning flares. "Down!" I shouted. "Explosive seals!"
We jumped without hesitation. Explosions tore through the stone above us as we dove, shrapnel raining down while we hit the ground and rolled. Whoever this team was, they were throwing explosive tags around like they were nothing. I could not help but wonder how deep their pockets were.
We barely had time to recover before the enemy closed in. Three Hidden Cloud genin advanced fast, two already weaving through hand signs as they moved. The first, dark-haired, completed his jutsu and slammed his palms together. "Water Release: Saturation Veil." Water spread across the ground, seeping into stone and sand alike, not powerful but deliberate, turning the terrain slick and heavy beneath our feet.
The second genin followed immediately, dark gray hair plastered to his face as he slammed both hands into the wet ground. "Lightning Release: Fracture Pulse." Electricity surged through the saturated earth, violent arcs snapping across stone and water alike. Plants blackened instantly, lightning crawling unpredictably along the ground itself. Standing still was suddenly lethal.
We jumped back, forced to keep moving as the electrified terrain denied us footing. Sena was already forming hand signs to counter when my senses flared sharply. I twisted just as a flying kick tore through the space where my head had been a moment earlier. The third genin landed behind me, short-haired and fast, already launching forward again with Sena as his target.
Kaen was ready as he sent a kick toward the short-haired genin. However, the genin adjusted his position incredibly fast, grabbing Kaen's leg and using the leverage to send a kick Kaen's way. Kaen's Sharingan helped him see the trajectory in time as he tilted his head to the side and sent a punch toward the short-haired genin, but the follow-up came immediately. A powerful punch struck Kaen under the arms, forcing his hand up. He was a taijutsu specialist, and with incredible speed he sent another powerful punch toward Kaen's unguarded chest. I stepped in at that moment and swept the genin's leg with a strong kick, sending him crashing hard to the ground, pain clear in his eyes, but he rolled immediately, trying to recover.
His teammates were approaching fast now. However, Sena finished her hand signs and slammed her hands to the ground. "Earth Release: Earth Wall." A large wall of earth rose up, disrupting the expanding combination jutsu and cutting the line of sight.
The short-haired genin bounced off the ground, rotating as he sent a kick Kaen's way, causing him to lean back as he regained his footing. I exploded into motion, sending a powerful punch his way. He evaded to the side, but before he could retaliate, Kaen was already at his side and a powerful kick landed on his liver, causing the genin to gasp in pain.
I sent another powerful punch toward his face. He tried to guard, but I was much stronger, and it felt like a truck hitting his hands, sending him flying back a short distance. Kaen caught up and struck him at the back of the head, causing the genin to lose footing and stumble.
I followed through with a powerful kick to his chest, launching him through the earth wall as it crumbled. He fell next to his approaching teammates, who looked on in horror as he lost consciousness, ribs possibly broken, his breathing gurgled and labored.
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A/N: Check out (FoodCart in the multiverse on royalroad). It is a novel written by a Stormbreaker fan and an amazing artist who is very active on Discord. Noa will make an appearance in that novel's next chapter(ch 12). It was a collaborative chapter. I wrote the crazy Noa parts, and he wrote the merchant. You all know how Noa feels about merchants, so that should be a fun read XD