Chapter 14: Enemy Ninjas (2)

Kenji held his hands to his lips as he and the rest of the students fled through the forest. He knew they were anxious. He was anxious himself but he had to be strong. None of the other kids were with him, he hated to admit it but if Shisui happened to be in their group he would have been many levels less scared.

But no one was coming to save them, at least not before their teacher was able to come and save them– If he would. He grimaced at the thought. He would have to step up and coral their spirits to at least hold out for as long as they can.

None of them knew the sensory ninjutsu but they maintained their roles and had several of the students on the perimeter of their group watching out for the ninja and they were quickly gaining on them. 

'They… draw…. Near' A student to his right signed to him. 

'Understood' He signed back.

He whipped around to face the group. The fear on their faces was palpable. Real ninjas that could only be here to hurt them were on the way, and they were coming fast. He signed quickly 'Set… wires…' Three of the students silently got to work placing thin, almost invisible tripwires all around their position.

'Front group… On… Me' He continued 'Everyone… else… Guerilla.'

He got nods from all around the group, six of the students present hurried to any thick patches of brush they could find. They drew their chakra to themselves and hid in the darkness trying to embody the stillness their teacher had exhibited many times in their training.

The only three – including Kenji, that were waiting in the open to receive the enemy ninja were the ones that had had small breakthroughs in learning the substitution jutsu. They would take on the brunt of the attack and create opportunities for their compatriots to jump out and deal as much damage as possible before retreating once more. 

"Draw your kunai, be ready." Kenji said aloud. Their silence was no longer necessary. If the group was able to track them perfectly through the forest then they would only be doing themselves a disservice trying to communicate purely through signing.

As the tense seconds passed, they waited for the ninjas to break through to their area of the forest. The tension in the air crackled like static electricity, every sense heightened as they awaited the inevitable confrontation. The forest, usually abuzz, and loud with life, seemed to hold its breath alongside them. The sound of approaching footfalls grew louder.

Then, without warning, the enemy ninjas burst through the foliage. Their movements were swift, a blur against the backdrop of green. The one leafing the charge tripped over one of the trip wires, The momentary disruption was all Kenji and his group needed. 

Launching into motion, he yelled to the two students at his sides. "Now!" He yelled.

He and the others in the front group couldn't use body flicker. But their constant running through the trees and tough taijutsu conditioning made them faster than they would be otherwise.

They rushed to confront the ninjas in front of them, all of them flaring their chakra and by extension permeating the air preparing it for their subsitiotions.

Kenji, with his heart pounding in his chest, launched forward. As one ninja lunged at him with a kunai in hand, Kenji disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing behind him as his hand was still outstretched. His attacker, taken aback, barely had time to react before a kunai, thrown by one of Kenji's hidden classmates, grazed his arm.

"Tch, the ones that we lost are in the trees! Be careful." The ninja yelled to his allies.

The forest became a battleground of shadows and flashes of steel. Kenji and his two comrades, moving as one, managed to hold their ground, parrying attacks and using their incomplete mastery of the substitution jutsu to avoid direct hits. While it evened the playing field, the difference in strength and experience was evident. 

The guerilla group, taking advantage of the enemy's focus on Kenji and the front liners, struck from the shadows. Their attacks were not lethal, but each was designed to injure, disarm, or disorient. The objective was clear: stall and survive until Mukai could arrive.

Kenji was once again behind a ninja after substitution to avoid an attack, However, it seemed that the ninja was counting on this. "Got you!" He screamed as he whipped around, A crazy grin on his face. 

A more experienced ninja would have substituted immediately but Kenji was caught off guard, he was a heartbeat too slow. 

Crimson flashed as the kunai connected with his stomach. He did substitute but not before taking a deep slash. 

A hush went over the battlefield. It was silent as the front liners all disengaged and shoulders rose and fell as they caught their breath from the earlier frenzied bout. 

The enemy ninjas stood back to back, sucking in oxygen as they observed the children before them.

"What kind of mess did we get ourselves into? He told us it was a routine job!" One complained. A routine job had turned into an operation against a group of freakishly coordinated children. Why had none of the files described this?

Kenji was trying to stand tall, the growing flow of scarlet pooling and dripping down his fingers onto his flak vest as he clutched his midsection. 'It was all going so well…' He thought 'Is this how it ends for me?'

He looked to the sky, and thoughts of his parents and his little sister crossed his mind. Thoughts of the kids hopeful to be ninjas still hiding in the trees waiting for the fighting to start back up so they could act, Thoughts of the classmates to his sides that had worked so hard to be able to use the jutsu their teacher built his taijutsu around.

'Am I content to stop now?' He thought. After everything he had done to set himself apart. To show he was more than his birth. Was it all going to end here?

His eyes started to close…

Something in his body started to change. His chakra was waning after using so many substitutions consecutively, but now it was like a waterfall. It quickened, and quickened until it was practically roaring through his pathways.

'NO' he snarled in his mind. His eyes snapped open and focused once more on their enemies. 'I will not be stopped here.' He resolved

"What are you standing around for, Let's finish this." He yelled to his classmates. Kenji moved.

A greenish glow had covered his body now. His speed was several times what it was a second ago, He engaged the ninja that cut him with more quickness, precision, and confidence than before. He was fighting at a level he couldn't have reached for many months at the pace of his training.

"You heard him, lets go!" A front liner responded as they rejoined the fray 

Each successful dodge and counterattack fueled their confidence, a beacon of hope in the desperate situation.

Kenji, amidst the melee, could see the resolve in his classmates' eyes. They were scared, yes, but they were also ninjas-in-training of Konoha, trained by one of the best. Each of them played their part flawlessly, their actions a testament to the countless hours of rigorous training they had undergone.

Kenji was like a lion. He threw himself across the battlefield saving his classmates from harm whenever he could, accumulating injuries as he went. He was akin to a fierce animal in the way he protected his own, his instincts at a level they had never been before.

As the skirmish continued, the enemy ninjas, taken aback by the sudden surge in their opponents' capabilities, started to falter. The students, drawing inspiration from Kenji's unwavering resolve, found new strength within themselves. They moved with greater coordination, their attacks more synchronized, embodying the true spirit of teamwork that Mukai had instilled in them.

As the battle wore on, Kenji noticed the slight falter in the enemy's movements, the hesitation that crept into their attacks. It was clear they had not expected such resistance. This realization bolstered Kenji's spirit, pushing him to rally his classmates for a final push. With a fierce cry, he signaled for the group in the trees to come out and to converge with them, creating a small vortex of chaos that the enemy could not penetrate without risking significant injury.

A/N: Read ahead on P@treon: patreon.com/lorelinguist