The air hummed with tension. Mukai gazed across the now silent clearing. The students in the trees stayed hidden. 'Good, I could be an enemy in disguise' He thought. 

His frontline students were battered and on the brink of exhaustion, they stood in a precarious line of defense against three enemy genin, their forms wavering.

Mukai's gaze shifted over to the three genin before him, their forms a stark testament to the beating his dear students must have delivered.

A smile almost crept onto his face. They were making him so proud!

All thoughts of smiling dropped as his gaze landed on Kenji. 'His wounds are severe, I have to evacuate him immediately!' Mukai's muscles tensed, preparing to rush to his student's aid. But then, a strange sight stopped his movement. Surrounding Kenji was a faint, pulsating green glow

Mukai paused for a second before his eyes widened "The Eight Gates," he murmured under his breath, almost in disbelief. It was a rare and dangerous technique, known to grant extraordinary power at great risk. Kenji, driven by sheer survival instinct, must have inadvertently unlocked the First Gate, the Gate of Opening. 

Mukai couldn't help it, he had been so wound up all day, and getting any kind of good news was all he needed to burst into laughter. The tension lifted from his shoulders.

"Haha, very good Kenji!" He placed his hand on his student's messy brown hair "And I'm assuming you lead this retreat?" 

"Yes, Teacher Mukai." Kenji responded. He waved his hand in the direction of the clearing. "We all took what you taught us to heart and held out for as long as we could."

Mukai was beaming at this point. 'My efforts were not in vain!' He thought to himself. 

"Good, good. I ought to give you all a reward when this is all over." He said ruffling Kenji's hair as he said so.

He sighed as he stood. "Well, at least something good came of this." 

"You all can come out now, take all wounded to the infirmary. I will question our… friends here."

The leaves rustled as six students emerged from the foliage, all in varying stages of disarray. Scanning them Mukai could see they all sported some kind of injury, none as severe as Kenji though.

"Yes, Teacher Mukai." They said in Unison before gathering themselves to leave. 

Mukai had taken care to spread his sensory ninjutsu from their position to the exit of the forest. He was sure there were no more ninjas en route. However, he still sent a shadow clone with them to ensure they were safe.

As their chakra signatures grew fainter Mukai's attention shifted back to the genin in front of him

Once confident and brimming with arrogance, the genin now stood hunched and wheezing, as if the very air around them was a burden too heavy to bear.

Their attire, once a clean matte black, was now torn and dirtied, hanging off their bodies in tatters, Sweat mixed with the grime of the forest floor, painting their faces with streaks of mud and blood.

The genins, sensing a shift, hesitated as they assessed the threat.

"You thought you could challenge the leaf and walk away unscathed?" Mukai's voice was cold, a stark contrast to the humor that filled it a second ago.

The genin, struggling to maintain his composure, tried to find his voice, "We... we were just following orders. We didn't know—"

"Silence," Mukai cut him off sharply. "Your excuses are as weak as your leader was." Their eyes widened at that.

"Who sent you here?" Mukai continued

The genin glanced among themselves, fear written all over their faces. One of them finally spoke up, albeit shakily, "It was—No, I can't... I mean, we were just told to—"

"How did you even penetrate Konoha's defenses?" Mukai's question was abrupt, catching them off guard. "The village is protected by intricate security measures. It's not a playground for amateur infiltrators."

The genin exchanged a frightened glance. One of them finally spoke up, albeit shakily, "We... we found a passage, an old drainage system not listed in any recent maps. We were told it would be unguarded."

Mukai's expression hardened at this revelation. "And who provided you with this information?" he pressed on, his voice icy.

Mukai stepped closer, his presence was overpowering. "Names. Now," he demanded, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.

"We... we can't say. He'll kill us," one of the genin stammered, the reality of their situation finally dawning on him.

Mukai paused at this. 'I don't want them to die from the seal before I can get more details.' He thought to himself

"Tell me about the figure who sends you these jobs. Understanding his motives could spare you further consequences." Mukai began slowly.

The genin looked at each other, the weight of their situation becoming increasingly clear. The one who had spoken earlier, now slightly emboldened by Mukai's less threatening demeanor, hesitantly began to speak, "We're... we're just part of a fringe group. We take jobs... high-paying ones. But we rarely see who gives them. It's all through intermediaries."

Another chimed in, "Yeah, we don't know much. They say he's influential, a shadow in the ninja world. We don't ask questions; we just do the work and get paid."

Mukai's eyes narrowed, analyzing the subtle shifts in their posture and the fear that lingered in their gazes. "So, you are merely pawns in a larger game," he deduced, his voice softer yet still carrying an edge. "Pawns can be sacrificed, but they can also provide valuable information."

He took a step back and spread his arms wide, yet his intense gaze remained fixed on them. "I'm offering you a way out. Help me understand who is manipulating you, and I'll ensure your safety. Refuse, and you leave me no choice but to consider you as threats to Konoha."

The tension in the air thickened, the forest around them seemed to hold its breath, awaiting the genin's response. One of the genin, a tall figure with scars marking his face, locked eyes with Mukai. "You don't understand. We're dead either way. If we talk, he finds out. If we don't, you'll... you'll do what you must."

Mukai shook his head from side to side. "Courage in the face of doom. Admirable but foolish," he said, his voice a low rumble. "But if it's a lesson you want, it's a lesson you'll get."

Suddenly, and silently he burst into motion, he seemed to disappear in the eyes of the genin but this was no work of a substitution. He was approaching with pure speed.

With a grace that belied the violence of his intentions, Mukai moved forward, his movements fluid, a whisper against the cacophony of the forest. The genin that had last spoken responded by swiping a kunai in front of himself to intercept Mukai "You, lower your stance," he said softly, almost conversationally, redirecting its lethal edge back towards its owner with a swift, merciless thrust. The calmness in his voice was disarming, his demeanor that of a teacher in a classroom, not a warrior in the throes of battle.

He moved among the enemy. "You, don't overextend," he advised, his voice serene as he sidestepped a poorly aimed punch from one of the genin, his counter a swift, chakra-infused push that sent the genin hurtling with bone-crushing force against a tree, life extinguished upon impact.

The forest seemed to hold its breath as Mukai continued. "You, remember your footwork," he reminded gently, even as he caught the wrist of another assailant, twisting and pulling the ninja toward him. He grabbed the top of his head and the bottom of his jaw and with a swift violent twist, he snapped his neck. Ending the ninja's life in a silent scream that echoed the tragedy of their misstep.

Approaching the lifeless bodies, a grim line set upon his face, Mukai knelt beside the first fallen enemy. He pried open the mouth of the young ninja, his gaze fixating on the bottom of the tongue within. There, etched into the muscle, was the unmistakable mark of the Root organization—a dark, sprawling curse seal.

Mukai's expression tightened into a grimace as he moved to the second body, then the third, finding the same damning mark upon each. "The curse seal," he murmured to himself, a mix of frustration and anger brewing in his chest. This was undeniable proof of Danzo's clandestine machinations reaching beyond the shadows of Konoha, manipulating young lives for his covert war games.

Mukai stood up, the discovery of these seals here, now, was no mere coincidence. It was a clear sign that Danzo was extending his reach, using these mercenaries as expendable assets to probe Konoha's defenses for whatever reason

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