Chapter 59
As soon as there was a kilometre to the supposed spot, the Fifth and Sixth rushed out to search, while the others hid in various places within a hundred yards, and began to wait for news.
Half an hour later, Kenshin telepathically heard Fifth's voice as he returned to the designated spot.
"Father, not far from here I found two fallen trees, and shurikens stuck in some of the trees," Fifth reported to him, standing fifty metres away from Kenshin, who had specifically ordered everyone not to gather together in case of possible surveillance.
"Good. Fifth and Sixth, head northwest to the end of the forest, and check the entire area up to the mountains. Move separately, and keep a good distance. You have two hours," Kenshin reported over the comms so that the other sons could hear him as well.
He was sickened by the thought that he might have sent the Fifth and Sixth to their deaths, and was going to shut down the operation if those two didn't return. But he realised how much worse it would be if their entire unit was wiped out in one attack. He also realised how much he needed a strong kunoichi from the Nara clan, and he had made his choice.
They sat in ambush for about an hour, waiting for news, mentally discussing the possible scenarios, especially the extremely unpleasant ones involving the deaths of the Fifth and Sixth. All of Kenshin's sons had been instructed to stay out of captivity if possible, to avoid reading a memoir from a member of the Yamanaka clan.
When the not good thoughts had completely filled Kenshin's brain, he heard Six's voice.
"Father, Fifth and I have checked the entire area, and even deployed your formation. The rock has turned green, so there should be no outsiders within a five kilometre radius. Only seven people, just as we expected," Six reported, feeling pretty good about the way things had turned out.
Kenshin breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Six's report. It was as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The nasty, gnawing feeling had receded a little. In the past hour he had cursed the "system" for not giving him combat abilities, and he was even more angry at himself for having to sit in ambush and "hang on for his life". Every time he wanted to jump up, and rush to the place where his sons were probably being killed, the mgnificent images of two beautiful women, and many sons would pop up in his mind. He didn't know how his wives and sons would behave if he died suddenly, but his intuition told him that nothing good awaited them.
Twenty minutes later, the whole group separately approached the desired mountains, making a detour. Kenshin was bundled up with Ichiro, and he didn't slow him down at all. The exosuit offered many useful properties. First and foremost was the improved physical characteristics. His running speed tripled and his jumping height increased five times. This was the limit for Kenshin, for his legs would not move faster, and he could not control jumping higher than that, and a fall would result in bruises or fractures.
He had never mastered jumping from tree to tree, and preferred to just run on the ground. In the future, he planned to improve the exosuit to make it somewhat combat-ready, but those were plans for the distant future. For now, he lurked under a rock, and unfolded the formation still sewn from several hare skins, running another scan of the area.
After making sure everything was in order, Kenshin calmed down, and headed to the location of the Third and Fourth, who were reporting that they had found the right cave where the artificially induced collapse had occurred.
As soon as he reached the rubble, he examined it more closely, looking for a possible gap where the bird with the message might have flown. Quickening his perception, he thoughtfully examined every irregularity between the stones, taking note of every detail, and after half a minute he found a small crack, the layer of sand on which had been disturbed by a hand presumably sticking out from within.
Moving closer, he checked that the defence formation was in good working order, and shouted:
- Nara Kasumi, are you there? I live nearby, and your bird just happened to fly to me. - He explained in as friendly a tone as possible.
In the darkness of the cave, the girl struggled to open her eyes and tried to take a defensive stance, but the kunai she had clutched in her hand during her sleep slipped from her weakened hand and fell to the stone floor of the cave with a clinking sound.
The black-haired kunoichi lurked a bit, but after a repeated question, she suddenly said:
- Yes, I'm here. Can you get me out, or report me to the Nara clan?
- Don't worry, we'll definitely get you out. Are you all right? Are you hurt? - Kenshin asked thoughtfully.
- I have chakra depletion, slight dehydration, and a wound on one arm. - Kasumi said, not realising why she was giving out all this information to the first person she saw. She mentally berated herself for being blabbermouth, imagining the consequences of her blabbermouth if this guy on the other side of the rubble turned out to be the enemy. But for some reason she didn't believe he was the enemy. Her gut told her he meant her no harm.
Kenshin warned the girl to move away from the edge of the cave, and he and his sons began to clear away the rubble. There were so many stones that, after an hour, they had removed only small cobblestones.
Unfortunately, the entrance to the cave was blocked by huge boulders that had fallen so unluckily, weighing at least several tonnes. The girl, even with her full combat strength, had no way to move or destroy them.
Kenshin spent another half hour figuring out the engineering solution of how to hook one rock with a rope and conveniently pull it out.
Finally, by five o'clock in the evening, they all grabbed the rope tied around a large boulder and pulled it to the side. Kenshin was directly involved, and pushed the exosuit's strength to the max.
The boulder shuddered, but began to yield to the pressure of the group of strong boys. Kenshin prayed that the rope would hold, but it did not. Half a minute later, the boulder collapsed outside the cave, and the rest of the rocks collapsed into each other, some of them falling inside.
As soon as the rumbling stopped, the exhausted kunoichi sitting at the far end of the cave finally saw him. An incredibly handsome young man, coming from light into darkness to save a frail, dying girl.