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Sugari's face dropped. "...What the hell is that."
"Don't know," Kuro muttered, his eyes locked on the puppet as it fully stepped out from behind the rubble, its joints clicking with each step. "But I'm guessing it ain't friendly."
Airi shifted beside them, her grip tightening on her dagger. "You think?"
"ZEHAHAHAHA....!"The man let out another sick laugh, his shoulders shaking like he could barely stand. Blood still ran down the side of his face, but it didn't seem to bother him at all. "You Leaf brats think this is over? You think a little water and rubble can stop me?" he spat, stumbling onto the rubble, raising an arm and pointing a trembling finger straight at them. "You three... fucked everything up for me." His hand dropped, his fingers twitching slightly.
"You wanna ruin my plans..?" his smile returned, slower this time. "Now I'll smash your faces into the curb.."
With a single twist of his finger..the puppet jerked up from behind him before it then lunged forward, closing the distance between it and them dangerously fast.
The puppet shot forward like a cannon blast, the wind screeching behind it as its bladed arm swung for Airi's skull. She barely had time to raise her daggers...
CLANG!
Steel met steel..
Kuro quickly shot in front of her, his dagger raised, catching the strike with a loud clang! The impact sent a tremor through his arm and nearly knocked him off his feet. Steel screeched as his blade scraped against the puppet's blade, sending sparks flashing between them.
Airi stepped back with wide eyes. "Shit!...thanks."
"Don't thank me yet," Kuro grunted, twisting his body and using the puppet's weight against it, shoving it to the side.
As soon as the puppet hit the ground, it spun like a top, its arms outstretched. The blade-wielding limbs sliced into the ground, leaving deep cuts in the stone floor. Its body blurred into a deadly whirlwind.
"DIE! DIE! DIE!..." The man maniacally shouted from afar.
Sugari leapt back, but not fast enough as one of the blades dug into his shoulder, tearing through his sleeve and leaving a deep red gash. He cursed beneath his breath and stumbled back, raising his spear.
Airi narrowed her eyes, before she circled around the puppet to the right. She flipped one of her daggers backward in her grip and took a breath. "We need to split its attention."
"Already on it," Kuro shouted, before making a quick B-line toward the man controlling the puppet.
If he was the one pulling the strings, then all Kuro had to do was take him out. Simple. End him, and the puppet stops. But that was the problem, Kuro knew the guy wasn't stupid. He probably understood that better than anyone. Which meant the moment anyone tried to go after him directly, he'd just sic that damn puppet on them to block the attack.
Which was exactly what he wanted...
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" The man chuckled as he yanked his arm back.
The puppet suddenly stopped spinning and lunged straight for him, its arm cocked back like a spear.
Kuro quickly pivoted before ducking low, feeling the blade whistle past his head. He planted his hand against the floor, shifted his weight, and spun with a kick. His leg swung up, catching the puppet clean across the side of the head. The force made its head jerk to the side, but its body didn't budge.
"HOLD IT BACK!," Kuro shouted, before he jumped back to gain distance.
Sugari quickly lunged in from behind using his spear as he drove the tip toward the puppet's lower back. But it bounced off not even leaving a dent in its back.
"Tch... the damn thing is near invincible!" Sugari shouted, jumping back just as the puppet twisted its waist unnaturally, spinning and launching a barrage of small shuriken from its chest.
"OF COURSE IT IS!" the man shouted with a crooked grin. "I built it with my own two hands..."
Airi and Sugari ducked behind what remained of a crumbled pillar as the steel projectiles cut through the air. One struck Kuro in the arm, and he hissed in pain, but he held his grip firm on his dagger.
Airi dashed from cover and closed the distance, moving low. She rolled forward, then sprang up with both daggers in hand. She slashed at the puppet's side, but it twisted its body around faster than expected, with one of its bladed-arm swinging for her stomach.
She barely backflipped away, landing hard with a grunt. "This is fucking pointless!"
The puppet's chest opened again but this time, instead of a volley shurikens, a ball of flame built in its throat.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Kuro shouted.
A beam of fire fired from its mouth, scorching the ground. Sugari dove out of the way while Kuro sprinted toward it, zig-zagging through the flame's range. He leapt up, drove his dagger downward, and stabbed into the puppet's shoulder joint.
The blade sunk in just a bit before the puppet violently jerked and flung him off. Kuro tumbled across the floor, rolled once, and landed on a knee.
"Alright... this has gone on long enough," Kuro said, his voice firm as he took a step forward. His eyes didn't leave the puppet. "You two hold him off... I'll handle the guy." his hands snapped into motion, weaving through a quick set of hand signs.
[ACTIVATING VACUUM BLADE JUTSU] Lv.5
A sharp hiss cut through the air as wind chakra surged from his core, coiling down his arms and wrapping around his dagger. The edge hissed with pressure, faint lines of air distorting around the blade.
"Got it," Airi said with a nod. Her hands came together as her fingers flew through a series of handsigns. With a pop of smoke, six identical copies appeared around her, each drawing their blades simultaneously. They locked eyes for a split second before all dashing forward, zigzagging and weaving through one another to throw off the puppet's aim.
Sugari tightened his grip on his spear, breathing in once before dashing after them. Just as he neared the puppet, he rushed through a series of hand signs before slamming his hands down into the dirt. "Earth Style... Bottomless Swamp!" he called out.
The ground beneath the puppet suddenly bubbled, turning soft and dark like wet clay. A deep gurgle echoed out as its footing began to give way. The puppet's metal feet sank slowly, the earth grabbing at its legs, thick and heavy like tar.
The puppet jerked its head down, trying to move but the swamp was already sucking it in.
The puppet thrashed violently, its limbs flailing as it tried to lift itself from the swampy earth. But the more it struggled, the deeper it sank. The sludge clung to its legs like wet cement, dragging it down inch by inch.
Airi sprinted in, her clones flanking her in a wide arc. In one motion, she leapt up and landed right on the puppet's back. Her blades flashed in both hands as she slammed the hilts down onto its head...again and again. Each blow knocked its skull deeper into the muck, bending its neck unnaturally as small cracks started to surface. Her clones joined in seconds later, piling onto its back and hammering away, however it didn't do any damage because they were regular clones.
Across from them, Kuro dashed past, circling around puppet. His blade shimmered with wind chakra as he ran full speed toward the man.
"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" the man screamed, yanking his fingers back in quick jolts, desperately trying to pull his puppet out of the pit. But the strings tugged uselessly, the feedback jittering in his arms.
His eyes suddenly locked on Kuro, who was sprinting right at him.
"SHIT!" he cursed, panic flooding his face. "YOU FUCKERS WON'T JUST DIE, HUH?!"
He bit down hard on his bottom lip, drawing blood, before spinning on his heel and hurling himself off the rubble. His feet hit the ground hard, stumbling as he tried to make a run for it.
However just as his feet pushed off the dirt in a desperate sprint, a sharp gust split the air.
~FWIP!~
A wind blade tore clean through his calves.
"AAAHHH—FUCK!" he screamed.
Blood sprayed into the dirt as both legs collapsed under him, and he fell face-first with a loud, sickening smack. His fingers clawed at the ground, dragging himself inch by inch, leaving streaks of red in the soil behind him.
"AAAHHHHH! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" he shrieked, his voice cracking under the weight of pain and panic. His tears mixed with the dirt as blood poured freely from the stumps where his legs used to be.
Kuro walked over slowly, his blade still faintly glowing at the edges. He stared down at the man, who kept crawling like some wounded animal, refusing to quit even when his body already had.
Kuro stepped onto his back, pressing him into the dirt.
"AHH! SHIT! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU, I PROMISE!" the man howled, his voice breaking as he writhed on the ground. His arms trembled, pushing against the dirt, but his body wouldn't lift. Veins bulged across his forehead as he squirmed under the weight of Kuro's leg, dragging himself inch by inch through the muck. His breath came in short, ragged gasps..more spit than air.
"Well… sometimes dreams don't come true," Kuro muttered coldly, almost like he was tired of it all.
The man barely had time to scream again.
As Kuro raised his dagger above his head, before bringing it straight down. The blade sank deep into the back of the man's skull with a sickening crunch, cutting off his breath mid-curse.
His body twitched once...before it stilled completely.
[YOU LEVELED UP!]
[YOU LEVELED UP!]
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NOTICE!!
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[ YOU'VE COMPLETED THE "Blood To be Spilled....." QUEST! ]
OBJECTIVE COMPLETED:
➤ Boss Of The Blood Ripper Gang
[1 / 1]
distrubting rewards...
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[ SELECT YOUR REWARD!! ]
CHOOSE YOUR REWARDS FROM THE LIST BELOW..
REWARD 1: STATUS RECOVERY
REWARD 2: ABILITY POINTS +10
REWARD 3: CURSED LOOT BOX
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Kuro stared at the glowing pop-up in front of him, the flickering text reflecting faintly in his eyes. The mission was done...finally. And part of him felt relieved to have it over with. But as he stood over the man's body, he couldn't help but feel that killing him wasn't necessary.
But it was either him or them..and he'd choose his own life every time over some psychotic puppet freak who would've killed them without a second thought.
He let out a quiet sigh before waving the notification away deciding on opening his rewards for later. The screen vanished instantly, and Kuro stepped back from the corpse, his gaze lingering on the man's corpse.
As slowly, footsteps approached him from behind.
"Did you have to kill him...? Couldn't we have just captured him?" Airi's voice came out from behind.
Kuro nodded once. "Yeah. To both." he said, as he slid his dagger back into its sheath at his waist, the metal clicking softly against the scabbard.
"DAAAMNN… that's pretty brutal, man," Sugari muttered as he came up beside them, glancing down at the body with a mix of awe and slight discomfort.
Airi turned her head to the side, as her brows knitted together she brought a hand over her mouth. "I've seen so much blood today... I think I'm gonna be sick." her stomach churned as she stared at the ground, trying to keep it together.
Kuro clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Tch… then you better get used to it. As a shinobi, blood's the last thing you should be worried about." he wasn't trying to be an asshole, it was just the truth. Out in this world, were things and people that could level entire nations in minutes. And that was without counting monsters like the Otsutsuki who could wipe out planets...and that was just a couple years from now.
Airi bit her bottom lip, her eyes still locked on the body for a moment longer before she finally forced herself to look away. "Yeah… I guess you're right," she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. She took a breath and steadied herself, then glanced around at the complete chaos they caused. "So... what now?" she asked, wiping her hand across her mouth.
"We leave...Our mission's done here, so there's no reason to stick around," Kuro said as he stepped around the corpse. His boots crunched over broken glass and dust as he crouched beside the body.
He pulled out his dagger again, its edge still coated in drying blood. "But before we go...we need at least proof. His head should be more than enough to confirm the kill and we'll even get the bounty reward for it."
Kuro gripped the man's jaw and tilted the head slightly before driving the blade cleanly through the neck. He lifted his head off his body as he pulled out a sealed cloth bag from his pouch and carefully slipped the severed head inside.
Sugari gagged and looked away, sticking out his tongue. "Ugh, seriously? Couldn't we just cut off a finger or something?"
Kuro stood up and slung the bag over his shoulder. "Nope...Anyone could just show up with some random finger and try to claim a high-level bounty."
Sugari scratched the back of his neck and looked off to the side. "Yeah… yeah, that makes sense," he muttered, mostly to himself.
"So… what about that guy who helped us?" Airi asked, trying to change the subject as she glanced over her shoulder toward the broken rubble. "Are we just gonna let him go?"
Kuro rolled his shoulder with a quiet grunt. "No. We'll find him. He couldn't have gotten far," he said, eyes narrowing as he turned toward the ruined gates in the distance. The wind picked up slightly, rustling through the scorched grass and ashes left behind.
His gaze lingered for a second longer before he spoke again. "Let's move. We still need to make sure Daichi's alright."
Airi gave a small nod, brushing a strand of hair from her face as she followed behind him. Sugari stretched out his arm with a quiet sigh, falling into step beside her.
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