A/N: This is a bit of a longer one. Hope y'all enjoy it.
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The bandit camp was awake and alarmed, the faint metallic smell of blood wafting through the area.
"A child?" One of the men asked, somewhat confusedly as he left his tent. "What is a little brat like that doing here?"
"Where's Arata?" The bandit leader asked in a deep and aggressive voice. He had a short sword strapped to his back and with the way chakra roiled off of him, Kuroichi knew he was barely holding himself back from straight up attacking him.
In Kuroichi's senses, the presence pressed against him like a wave of heat, creating a mix of uncomfortableness and excitement within himself.
"He was on watch!" another of the bandits answered, unease barely concealed in his voice.
"What did you do? And where are my men?!" The leader asked as he walked forward to get a better look at things. His eyes scanned the edge of the camp, where Kuroichi's silhouette shone clearly visible in the moonlight that filtered through the trees.
Kuroichi didn't answer the man, he held his knife low and was ready for an attack at any second. He took no chances, his stance was grounded but light, ready to retreat at a moments notice.
"That forehead protector... scratched. You're a rogue ninja huh? A runaway genin, or what are you? A chūnin?" Kuroichi asked in a serious demeanor, however his voice was high-pitched, and his body so small that it looked and sounded absolutely ridiculous to the men standing by.
"Is this child stupid?" one of them asked. "Did he fall on his head as a baby? Doesn't he know what the leader's about to do to him?!"
That's when the bandit leader was close enough to see everything clearly. His instincts told him already that his men were dead, but seeing the corpse on the ground just confirmed it.
When the other's saw their leader's face, they inched forward as well, wanting to get a better look.
"FUCK that's Daiki! You little shit, I'll kill you!!" A bandit screamed, enraged at the sight of the now named Daiki's lifeless body.
The bandit leader hadn't even answered Kuroichi's questions yet, his eyes never leaving him. Kuroichi was much the same, he was gauging the distance between them, whether to attack first or defend. He didn't know the man's strength and couldn't compare it to anything else he experienced before. He wondered about the most optimal way to attack, slightly adjusting his grip and stance.
The leader's chakra was stronger than his, thicker and more refined. However, now that Kuroichi could sense the exact amount up close, the difference wasn't truly overwhelming. He just wasn't used to feeling larger chakra amounts up close, but with the way he had himself under control even now, he thought he was doing well so far in that department.
Then, as if there was an unspoken agreement between them, both moved at the same time.
The leader didn't use his sword, not yet. He pulled out a kunai and held it in reverse grip as he was on a direct collision course with Kuroichi's knife.
With a burst of speed and a powerful swing, Kuroichi barely parried, the metal clashing with a sharp clang. The force rocked him backwards, his feet skidding on the ground.
His opponent didn't pause, his next strike came low, a kick sweeping right towards his chest. Kuroichi barely noticed in time, hastily leaping backwards to escape the kicks range.
Over the next 20 seconds, they clashed repeatedly against each other. The leader's, no the rogue's, moves were sharp and practiced.
He quickly saw through the fact that Kuroichi had practically zero experience fighting with a blade, and could barely keep up with himself while he was still holding back.
"If you wanna live longer, you cant be this weak! You'll have to entertain me with something!" the man growled, ready to pounce again.
Kuroichi gasped as another blow hit his ribs, "Boss is on fire!" one of the bandits jeered, "Cut him up!!"
'I am too slow.' Kuroichi grit his teeth. The slight advantage he held at the very beginning was gone, but he wasn't done yet.
Chakra surged into his limbs as he flickered to the side in a sudden burst, vanishing and reappearing at a different angle. Quickly forming seals required for a jutsu, 3 copies, looking identical to him, appeared at his side rushing towards the rogue ninja in perfect coordination.
While the man didn't know which Kuroichi was the real one, he was obviously familiar with the jutsu and didn't even have a trace of panic on his face. "Petty tricks like that won't work on me! These clones barely serve as a distraction!"
Kuroichi struck the same time as his clones, but the surprise attack didn't work at all. The rogue, while not a sensor, somehow turned to the real him and met him head on.
This time, however, Kuroichi was giving it his all. His speed was faster and his blows hit harder, he discarded the already cracked, and by then pretty much useless, knife and instead attacked with his unique Yami Kagerō style, absorbing chakra whenever he had the opportunity to touch his enemy.
The rogue's eyes widened for a second, "So you were holding back."
They exchanged a flurry of strikes, faster this time, and each testing the other.
Still, Kuroichi was forced to retreat more often than not, there were simply too many things stacked against his favor.
With a signal from their leader, which Kuroichi didn't catch, the bandits who were just observing before got involved as well. A kunai whizzed past his head, barely missing him, only for another one to bury itself right into his thigh.
'Arghh!'
A silent scream escaped Kuroichi's mouth, his body was full of adrenaline, so he luckily didn't feel overwhelming pain, but he still got distracted for a second.
'Stay calm!' Panic clawed at his throat, but he forced it down. 'Think. Plan. What else can you do?'
In his moment of distraction the rogue quickly formed hand seals.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
A big fireball began hurling towards him, with little time to spare. Barely reacting quickly enough, Kuroichi formed his own seals, countering the jutsu.
"Water Style: Water Wall!"
The resulting clash of the fireball and the waterwall created steam that quickly blinded the area.
Kuroichi didn't waste this cover, it was godsend. Quickly forming more seals, he turned and launched a water bullet toward one of the more untrained bandits. He was being surrounded and needed to break the dead-lock.
Right before he flickered away again, the jutsu hit dead on, killing the bandit instantly. Since the steam didn't contain all pervasive chakra like the last time he fought while surrounded by fog, this time he could clearly sense where everyone was.
He flickered again and hit another bandit straight into the balls with a punch while he enhanced his body with chakra.
'Don't have a sharp weapon right now, this ought to keep him down for a bit.'
However, before he could flicker away again, he was forced into a pincer attack from two sides. The steam/fog had cleared by then as he saw another jutsu shooting toward him.
"Fire Style: Flame Orb Jutsu!"
This time, a smaller, but faster moving ball of fire came at him, while from 120 degrees to the side, the last non-chakra bandit jumped at him while swinging a sword straight toward his heart.
The blade struck true, but before they could relax, the Kuroichi in front of them exploded into a Puff of smoke, replaced with a wooden log.
The rogue was inwardly shocked, 'When did this brat have the time to cast the replacement jutsu?'
What he didn't know was that while their coordination and execution was flawless, Kuroichi could feel the chakra buildup coming before he even completed the jutsu. He naturally prepared beforehand.
Using the short instance of surprise, Kuroichi leapt at the last standing non-chakra bandit, stabbing him through the end of his spine with a sickening squelch.
He crouched low to catch his breath, his chest heaving. His chakra reserves were thinning and his body trembled in exhaustion. Blood dripped from his thigh, arms and temple, he couldn't afford to recuperate, he had one last man to kill.
His enemy stood before him and pointed his short sword at him. "Tired already?" he taunted.
Kuroichi didn't answer, he simply lunged forward. He tried his best to use his dark release whenever possible, but he couldn't gain enough chakra back quickly enough to make up for the exhaustion and injuries he was receiving by simply trying to get close in the first place.
Even though his absorption was slow and subtle, the rogue noticed it nonetheless. Every time he was touched he lost some of his chakra.
"Tch. Parasite child!"
The sword kept Kuroichi at bay. Even though it was short, it's reach paired with the man's larger body and skill stopped him from recklessly trying to close in again.
'I can't keep this up!' He abruptly jumped backwards, gaining enough distance to think for a second. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a discarded sword on the ground, which had been used by one of the bandits before.
He grabbed it without hesitation, but it felt wrong in his hands. It was a regular straight ninjatō, but in his hands the blade looked more like a straight-edge nodachi. Because of his small size, the weight distribution was awkward, but he still held it up using two hands without major issues.
Kuroichi charged, reckless and seemingly out of any other options. The rogue ninja parried him easily, laughing like he wasn't even taking him seriously. "Hahah stop embarrassing yourself brat, you don't even know how to use that!"
Eventually, with a hard strike, Kuroichi was forced down to a knee. He panted, his vision blurring as he struggled to lift his head.
"Since you're about to die," the man said, "I'll tell you. I was a genin when I became a rogue ninja. But I've fought long enough to call myself a chūnin now." He raised his sword, "You however? You're not even a ninja, now you'll be just another of my kills."
The blade fell and buried itself into Kuroichi's neck, however it passed straight through his body, and with a splash the Kuroichi in front of him dissolved into a puddle of water.
'A water clone? Where is the real o...'
From within a blind spot, the real Kuroichi had waited for the perfect opportunity. He bet on the fact that his enemy believed him to just be a child, a strong one that can fight like a ninja, but not a scheming strategist that would employ almost any technique to win.
Attacking in a moment of vulnerability is ninja know-how 101, but while strong (compared to the current Kuroichi), he clearly hadn't expected Kuroichi to still have another card up his sleeve.
"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!"
The man tried to dodge, but the bullet was already upon him before he could make it far enough. Having twisted himself a little to the side, the bullet buried itself deep into his back.
He avoided an immediately fatal injury, but he was heavily injured all the same.
"Arghhh!" The rogue ninja gasped, his eyes wide. He tried to to run, hoping to somehow get away, but it was too late. Kuroichi was already behind him, picking up the ninjatō and ramming it through the man's heart. He tried to turn himself around to get a look at the child that killed him, but before he could, his strength had already left him.
Kuroichi himself stood there for a few seconds, blankly staring at the ninja he just killed. He was drenched in sweat, and grime, while blood leaked down his body as he stumbled a few meters to the side.
He barely made it behind a tree before he vomited. His hands shook as he braced against the bark, forcing himself to calm down. His body was wrecked with tremors as he emptied the contents of his stomach.
While the adrenaline began to fade away, all the blood, raw violence and gore came crashing back into his mind. His chest heaved as he steadied himself, the taste of bile still fresh in his mouth.
Suddenly, a sharp warning call split the air. It was Kurai and he knew exactly what that meant.
His eyes snapped up and his freshly developing instincts kicked in as he twisted his body out of the way. In the same breath he caught the gleam of metal rushing past his side as the bandit that he had knocked in the balls was still alive.
Wary of any follow up movements, Kuroichi summoned the last remains of his strength to rush at the man with a palm thrust going straight for the balls again.
Uffffffff
"Urrrghhh" the downed bandit groaned in pain. Distracted as he was, he didn't notice the kunai that lodged itself into his neck the next moment.
There was a moment of silence, broken only by Kuroichi's labored breathing and the rustle of Kurai landing close to him.
"Thanks" he muttered hoarsely.
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