Three individuals in particular are making their way through a dense forest, leaping between tree branches at high speed. Judging by their forehead protectors, they are clearly ninjas, three men from Kusagakure, and their destination seems to lie deep within the forest.
"I feel signs of life to the north, it's faint, but I think they're human" says one of the ninjas, apparently in his twenties, with short black hair and two short swords on his back.
"The mission says there are approximately 15 bandits, we are getting closer and you try to identify them better Youma" Says the apparent leader of the group, a corpulent middle-aged man, bald and with countless scars on his body.
"And what do I do, Leader Katsu?" asks the third member of the group, a long-haired teenager with metal-knuckle gloves.
"Rookie, just watch and learn. This will be your baptism of blood, so prepare your stomach" says the group leader.
The three men soon reach a small clearing in the forest, where there are several precarious constructions, which do not seem to be more than a few months old, and about two hundred meters away Youma begins to use his sensory abilities.
"I'm detecting several signs inside the larger house, just normal people, 13 or 14, particularly close together" Youma says.
"They must be having lunch" the younger shinobi adds.
"Let's get this over with quickly. I don't want any torture or screaming. This has to be clean, otherwise the common people will think we're bloodthirsty lunatics. Besides, the loot they have shouldn't be very large, given the precariousness in which they live. Youma, you go in through the east window, Nao, you go in through the west, while I go in through the main door... Don't forget to synchronize your timing when you hear the door being knocked down" The leader concludes.
The three shinobi, with great stealth, quickly surround the central building, each taking their respective positions. The leader proceeds to make a pair of hand seals and execute a jutsu that covers his hands in a layer of rock, before smashing the door with a single blow.
The ninjas are quick and rush in all at once, at the abrupt sound of the door slamming shut, and then the wooden windows smashing. Shurikens, kunais, and all manner of projectiles rain down on the bandits, who are sitting around a fire in the center of the room. But then something strange happens, because the bandits do not collapse to the ground dead, but rather remain exactly where they are, with their bodies rigid, although some appear to be convulsing.
The leader, now standing meters away from the bandits, who have their backs to him, notices that his victims' legs and hands are tied to the chairs, rendering them unable to move even though most of them are no longer showing any signs of life. The man's eyes widen in surprise, and his pupils dilate.
"Their mouths!" the youngest ninja shouts, causing the others to notice that the bandits have pieces of cloth stuffed inside their mouths, which explains why no one screamed.
"Shit! It's a trap, everyone disperse!" the leader shouts.
But before they can react, a bang is heard from the east window of the house, along with a grunt from Youma, who clutches his chest with a face of extreme agony.
The two remaining shinobi don't give it much thought and flee directly from where they came from. The leader leaves through the main entrance, but is surprised to find a dense fog surrounding the entire area, reducing vision to just meters.
"Shit, they're shinobi" The Leader mutters, while the scream of his companion Nao is heard, who clearly fell prey to the trap.
The leader uses a pair of hand seals as quickly as he can, "Futon: Daitoppa" and expels a great gust of wind from his mouth forward, revealing part of the settlement, but it doesn't take a second for the fog to cover everything again. The man, completely panicked, begins to run in the direction that he could estimate to be south, but the fog continues to get denser, until he reaches the point where he cannot see his own feet, forcing him to stop.
The leader tries to remain calm, trying not to make a sound and listening for any strange noises. Everyone knows that mist jutsus have the disadvantage of blinding everyone, including the user, so noise is the most common way to find the opponent or even defend oneself. But it's all in vain, when the man feels a sharp pain in his right arm and then in his left leg. The attack was too stealthy, and the man could only scream in pain, losing both limbs and falling to the ground. Then, a direct blow to the head causes him to lose consciousness.
Moments after the Leader falls unconscious, a great gust of air disperses most of the fog in the place, revealing the figure of what appears to be a girl, wearing armor very similar to that of the samurai, a short sword, a strange mask without holes and headphones in her ears, all black in color. The girl, without ceremony, drags the man by his only remaining foot, to the house where it all began and where now there is another man, with armor very similar to the girl's, with the difference that in addition to a demon mask, he has a helmet completely in accordance with samurai standards.
…
[Touki]
Once Suki appears with the last ninja, Touki proceeds to remove his mask, revealing his impassive face, despite the grotesque scene unfolding in the room they are in. In front of the man, the youngest ninja is firmly tied to a chair, with both of his hands severed.
"Did he give you any trouble?" Touki asks, seeing the girl leave the Leader's body in front of him.
"He ran quite a bit, but the fog eventually overcame him. I don't know what state I left him in. The sword is too powerful, and my vision doesn't let me see those kinds of details. But I didn't hear any blood, and his heartbeat is steady, so I guess we're okay" Suki replies.
Touki proceeds to tie the Leader to another chair, paying close attention to his only remaining hand. Once everything is ready, he uses a bucket to soak the faces of both still-living shinobi.
"Haaaa ha ha ha uhhhh!" The youngest Shinobi begins to scream, due to the pain of his severed hands, but is immediately hit on the head by Touki, causing him to come to his senses and shut up.
The Leader, for his part, simply grits his teeth as he looks around. His gaze rests for a moment on the body of his dead comrade, who is face down with an obvious puncture wound on his back, before focusing on the man in samurai armor.
"You set this trap?" the Leader says, his voice straining, gritting his teeth in pain.
"Partially, you could say" Touki replies.
"Why are you doing this? We don't have any problems with the Land of Iron or the Daimyos? We're just genin, we don't know anything important"
"We'll see about that... Look, I don't really like doing this kind of thing, but unfortunately I always end up doing it. I'll be honest with you, if you give me the information I need, I'll give you a quick death, otherwise I'll have to try torture. And if for some reason you die in the process or think about committing suicide, you're going to force me to do this with another team from your village, so if you need an excuse, this is the best one I can give you. By the way, I've put a small seal on your chest that prevents you from using chakra, so don't bother trying anything weird"
The shinobi simply stares at Touki, hatred and pain on his face.
"Let's go for what I need. I know very well there's a mother and daughter couple in your village. I don't know the mother's name, but the daughter's name is Karin. They're both Uzumaki, you know, red-haired. Do you happen to know them?" Touki asks.
"...All for those women?... You kill us for those women?... The mother isn't even alive and the girl is just an orphan, what good does it do you?" The shinobi responds indignantly.
"That's not your problem. I need the girl's location"
"I don't know where the girl is, as if I care where every person in the village is. You'll have to find her yourself"
"Ok, I was afraid of it, fortunately I have my other friend here who seems to be a little less experienced in this type of work, maybe he knows something" Touki says, while his gaze changes its objective to the other ninja who does nothing but tremble. "Dear, please go for a walk in the forest. This is going to get ugly, and I don't want you to listen"
"Yes, Master" Suki nods, then leaves the room.
What happens next is something Touki has unwittingly become quite good at. Part of him jokes that perhaps a career in Konoha's interrogation and torture department could be a good career in the future.