A gamble. That thought resonated in Suguru's mind with every clash of steel and bone.
'Indeed, this entire setup is a gamble,'
Suguru smacked his lips as he felt the feverish flow of adrenaline through his veins. His clones, standing beside him with their Shinrakugan shining ominously, keenly observed a squad each.
"Reporting." The first Clone spoke, "They're starting to catch onto the illusions. All four clones are still alive. However, they're building up a large amount of chakra. With our abilities, we can't do much."
Another clone followed closely after. "They've released their restraints. We've lost two clones in the blink of an eye. Luckily, the Hyuga has enough cursed cards for us to proceed."
"...We've been annihilated on this flank. That damn Nara has quite the brain. They're working on destroying our illusions. The estimated time of their success is two minutes."
"Hmm,"
The humming of the last clone drew the interest of even the main body. An intrigued shine flashed through his eyes as he met the gaze of his counterparts.
"Better to just show you. Anyway, the clones are all gone."
—Poof!
Disappearing into a cloud of smoke, the clone supervising the furthest squad of shinobi transmitted his memories to the other Sugurus.
"Ah,"
All of whom gasped at the same time, surprised by the gory scene of a person's eyes bursting out of their sockets. It seemed like the Cards of Cursing had forced the Caged Bird Seal to run amok, destroying the Hyuga's Byakugan even before they died.
"Combination C is a bust."
The clones looked at each other and sighed. The other clones would've received the information by now. Trusting in himself, Suguru silently hoped that he could see at least one success before his illusion dissipated.
All he needed was a single pair of Byakugan and he would be happy.
Thus...
"Let's see what I can do,"
Armed with the additional information transmitted by the surveillance clones, Suguru's battle clones updated their strategies. Opting against a few Cards of Cursing and focusing more on others, they aimed to achieve different results.
***
—Fwhip!
Sayuri, Rao, and Chiso rushed at the Ghost from three directions: above, below, and from behind. Their speeds suddenly skyrocketed as a kunai pierced straight through the silver-haired boy.
'Substitution Jutsu!'
However, the boy disappeared into a cloud of smoke, and a log replaced him in an instant.
"Tsk,"
Despite unleashing their full strength, the Ghost was as elusive as can be. Though the members of Squad G weren't threatened by the Ghost's Taijutsu, the boy's speed was still another topic entirely.
Light strikes and an elusive image. Every time they thought they hit him, he would dissolve into thin air — their fists, jutsus, and kunai simply passing right through him.
'He's as good as that Uchiha Shisui!' Sayuri cursed in her mind.
Using the Body Flicker Jutsu to appear in multiple places at once, the Ghost kept weaving attacks in, whittling them down.
'Where are the others? What's taking them so long?'
Through her earpiece, Sayuri was told that reinforcements were close. Soon, they would be able to cage the slippery bastard and complete the sudden mission.
However, the same phrases kept repeating themselves.
As if...
She was listening to the past.
Thus, her eyes met with those of her subordinates. Sayuri made a sign, veiling her eyes with a loose hand. All of them understood the same message.
'We've been deceived.'
A jounin, a special jounin, and two chuunins hurriedly built up their chakra. Though they continued to chain their attacks, their focus was elsewhere.
The Ghost seemed to catch on. He rushed towards Rao, appearing before him in an instant. Flames scorched his clothes as four punches landed within a single breath. However, Rao only staggered back slightly.
The punches were too weak.
Counterattacking, Rao spun with a wide backhand, forcing the Afterimage Clones back.
It was then.
With the sudden build-up of energy, all four members of Squad G disrupted their chakra.
'Kai!'
Something broke. Though it wasn't obvious at first glance, the world suddenly grew clearer.
But only for a moment.
—Thud!
Four different impacts struck the members at the same time. Though the force was light, something about it felt off.
A scream pierced through the air.
"AAAAAAAAH!"
It was a bone-chilling scream that tore one's vocal cords. All eyes were drawn to Rao, and the Ghost rushed forward. All of the Afterimage Clones converged as four substantial Shadow Clones finally revealed themselves to them.
'Oh no,'
A pang of worry suddenly struck Sayuri just then. Hurriedly pouring chakra into her legs, she dashed forward as her hands weaved hand seals.
'Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu!'
However, her actions would be revealed to be a moment too late.
—Swish!
A deadly, gleaming arc flashed through the air.
Rao, whose pained howls had forced an opening in his defenses, lost his head. The blur of movement that was the Ghost retreated at that exact moment, disappearing even before the splatter of blood touched the ground.
A huge blast of wind blew through the forest, yet its target had long vanished into thin air.
Hyuga Rao's lifeless body fell through the air. The splatter of blood left behind by his beheading painted a grim image on the trees where he met his end.
—Thud.
Then, with the sound of shattering bones, and a snapping spine, his body found its resting place.
***
Hurriedly meeting up with his clones, Suguru flickered rapidly through the forest. Given that his chakra reserves had run low and that all of the squads had basically gotten rid of his illusions, he had to make a decision.
Coming up with a plan on the fly, he decided to sever the heads of the remaining two Hyuga shinobi. Then, with the Shinrakugan, he sacrificed a bit of his life force to maintain them and prevent the Caged Bird Seal from activating.
He forced the heads to linger between the boundaries of life and death.
A dark, taboo technique that was similar to medical necromancy.
Seeing the animated and pained expressions of the half-living heads, Suguru felt a chill. It ran from his hands which held a head each, and straight through his spine to settle at the crown of his head.
'Hmm...'
Blinking, Suguru's gaze met the eyes of the Hyuga shinobi looking back at him in tormented horror. He realized just then that he had crossed some kind of moral line.
However, Suguru wiped out all such thoughts in an instant. He was in no situation to ponder the rightness or wrongness of his actions. Even if he landed in hell, he would claw his way back into the land of the living.
Thus...
Looking at the dying heads, he had no desire to sacrifice too much of his life force.
"I need to act fast."
Time was of the essence.
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