Chapter 56
The Nukenin commander panicked a little, but instantly regained his composure, and began to masterfully dodge the "crawling" shadows, trying to spend as little time as possible on the ground, in order to eliminate the possibility of contact with this dangerous technique.
The girl was not confused, and concentrated as much as possible, normalised her breathing, and the flow of chakra in her body, and then her eyes glittered dangerously, and with a lightning-fast folding of the seals, she shouted out:
- Kage Nui no Jutsu! - All the shadow threads instantly 'rose' above the ground like octopus tentacles and soared upwards like sharp spades, aiming to pierce the careless enemy who had so fearlessly gotten off the ground without being able to dodge.
At the sight of this technique, the Nukenin commander's heart skipped a beat, and the traitorous thought of possible death at the hands of what he thought was a cunning and escapist bitch crept into his head.
He had gathered the last of his strength, and was operating at the limit of his available control and chakra reserves, so at the last moment he folded a few seals, and shouted:
- Doton: Shoheki! - A stone wall instantly materialised beneath him, which had consumed almost all of his chakra reserves. Materialising the element of earth directly in the air was incredibly costly, and was hardly within the control of a Chunin-level shinobi. He immediately stepped onto the stone slab, wanting to push off of it with his feet, and leap far to the side.
But at the very moment his feet pushed off the surface, the stone slab was pierced by the strongest shadow needles, and at the last moment one of the needles struck the hapless nukenin's foot, piercing his foot.
He was incredibly lucky, because the jump had already been made, and once penetrated, the shadow needle was unable to linger in his leg for long, and capture him for further destruction.
As soon as he landed on both feet, he immediately cried out in pain, and rolled to the side, jumping back again and stepping on one foot.
The girl in turn was not going to let him go, and sent shadow needles after the enemy, who was only hopping on one leg and both arms, trying to get as far away from the distraught kunoichi as possible.
Unfortunately, the black-haired kunoichi was unable to finish what she had started, because at that very moment, the other noukenin arrived. She instantly dispelled the technique, and turned around and fled.
Five minutes later, the wounded Nukenin commander waddled to the mountains, and came to a cave near where three of his subordinates stood.
- What are you standing around for, where's that bitch?! - He asked angrily.
- Boss, she flew into the cave and we foolishly rushed after her, but when she stuck torches into the walls, we realised what was going on and ran outside, otherwise she would have killed us with her shadows in the semi-darkness. But don't worry, boss, there's a dead end at the end of this cave, so she's not going anywhere. We sit here for a week and she'll die of thirst! - A big-nosed man with a bushy beard and a big nose reported back with an ugly laugh.
- You idiot! We don't have a week to wait for that dodgy bitch! - The commander growled, and gave his stupid subordinate a hard slap.
- Not going in was the right thing to do. It wasn't enough for her to kill us all at the cost of her worthless life. - He praised his friends after a moment's thought.
The four nukenin spent several more hours at the cave entrance, and as it began to get dark, the commander finally recovered some chakra, climbed up the mountain, finding himself just above the cave's vault, and began forming hand seals.
- Doton: Ganseki Kuzushi! - He roared, and slammed his palm on the ground, initiating a rock fall.
Everything rumbled, and large chunks of rocks and rubble rolled down from above, blocking the entrance to the cave, and blocking the only way out for the kunoichi he hated so much.
- Now that bitch will die a long and painful death of thirst and hunger! - The head of the Nukenin roared angrily, and spat on the rock blocking the entrance to the cave. Then he ordered his men to get ready to go, and with a limp he strode forward.
At the very moment that part of the mountain began to tremble, the black-haired kunoichi instantly rose from the ground, and prepared to face the impending danger. She didn't know what awaited her, but she was willing to trade her life for the chance to rip a piece of flesh from her enemy's throat with her teeth.
As huge boulders rolled inside the cave and dust rose, the girl bounced to the far end of the cave, and survived the collapse without much trouble, coughing a few times, choking on the dust.
She lay awake all the next night, waiting for a surprise attack. But she waited for nothing. By morning, the muscles in her torn forearm were sore and she could no longer use her left arm. She had a small amount of water and alcohol with her, so she washed the wound and dressed it with a small bandage.
By lunchtime the next day, she realised that the Nukenin had gone and left her to die under the rubble. They wouldn't physically dare stay in one place for so long, risking annihilation by a squad that included Jonin.
Trying to rake the rubble, the girl realised it was impossible. She spent the rest of the evening trying to remove small stones, but there was no end to them. By the end of the "working day" she had only just reached the huge rock that was piled at the very edge of the cave. She saw a small crack, and clearing it from the ground, she breathed fresh air for the first time in a long time.
The girl realised that she couldn't move such a large stone, and she couldn't fit through a crack the size of an apple. There was only one option left. She took a paper, and in the dim light wrote on it all that was necessary, and then took out a small scroll, and forming the seals with one hand, whispered:
- Kuchiyose no Jutsu!
A small pigeon appeared on the scroll, and looked round with interest. The girl took it at once, and affixed a small note to its paw, whispering:
- Fly home, and take this note to the head of the clan! - She stroked the bird's back and pushed it gently into the crack, and mentally wished it luck, knowing it was her only chance of escape.