Chapter 64
If any other guy had stated such a thing to one of the Nara clan princesses, everyone would have considered him a living corpse. This aggressive kunoichi did not allow a single lustful look, much less a word, in her direction. Although the clan head refused to marry this beauty, unconfirmed rumours had it that this 'beast' was to be the wife of the future clan head, so as not to let the talents of the family out, but also so as not to let him relax.
All members of the Nara clan were smarter than most humans, and so half of Konoha's managerial positions were reserved for them. But the male members of the clan had a tendency to be incredibly lazy, which was compensated for by the toughness of their wives. If the clan didn't have enough talented, beautiful, and strong-willed girls to match with the clan head's son, the Grand Elder, and the current clan head personally sought out as many generic, talented, and strong-willed girls from outside the clan as possible.
Kenshin was very lucky that Kasumi was very nice to him, otherwise she would have attempted to strangle or gnaw on him if she couldn't take the insult. She was very unyielding and willful by nature. Nara Shikaku was happy to encourage this trait in his niece and let her grow as aggressive and assertive as possible, chuckling quietly at his young son who would be given such an incredible gift in the future.
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Shikaku was indescribably angry when he learnt that his niece was missing and possibly murdered. He immediately mobilised an elite squad of the clan's Jonin and set out to find her himself, arriving at the cave where Kasumi was trapped on the morning of the 188th day.
- Sir, my men searched the entire area and mobilised all the groups from the surrounding area. We managed to capture all three. Kasumi's team confirmed that they were the Nukenin she had distracted.
Shikaku had been absolutely frantic all last night as he had rushed to this godforsaken place at full speed, scouring the forest like a Genin. When he heard that the alleged killers of his favourite niece had been found, he snorted and ordered them to be brought to him.
- Aah! Don't kill me, please! Shikaku-sama, please have mercy, we didn't know! - Throwing himself on his knees, one of the nukenin squad leader's underlings screamed. Upon recognising who they had crossed, he was horrified, and immediately decided to beg for his life.
Shikaku said nothing, but the dragging nukenin, Jonin, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him away from his master, not hitting him hard in the ribs. But what was "not hard" for Jonin turned out to be three broken ribs for Chunin, and a huge amount of blood was spat out.
- Inoyama-san, they're yours. - Said Shikaku, not bothering to talk to this worthless rubbish, deciding to trust the brother of the Yamanaka clan head.
The handsome, charming blond smiled, and nodded politely to the head of the Nara clan, before looking sternly at the three, and folding a few seals, whispering: - Saiko Denshin!
Three invisible lines immediately formed in the air and entered the heads of all three nukenins, connecting with Yamanaka Inoyama, and from him entered the head of Shikaku, who willingly allowed the line to enter his brain, and could dispel the technique with a single effort of will, so he watched the filtered memories of the three nukenins without much fear.
In five minutes, Shikaku had seen everything. From the ambush of Kasumi's team, to her pursuit, to the collapse of the cave vault. He'd also seen the nukenin leader nearly kill his favourite niece several times, as well as the many times he'd called her insulting words.
After the session ended, Shikaku's anger was palpable, and two of his subordinates flinched back as they saw their master's shadow layered into many strands and snaked off in different directions, looping chaotically.
With a glance at the silent Nukenin commander, Shikaku took a step towards him, and the five metres were over in a flash. The head of the Nukenin trembled, and clenched his eyes shut, resigning himself to his fate. He was no fool, and knew there was no way to survive an encounter with the head of a great clan. Shikaku's shadows terrified the entire shinobi world, and no one wanted to meet him on the battlefield. But the nukenin commander was out of luck, and now this incredibly dangerous shinobi was right in front of him.
Not even a second had passed since the Yamanaka Clan's technique had ended, and Shikaku was already in front of the nukenin commander, and instantly delivered a leg kick. The eyes of all of Shikaku's underlings, and Inoyama's eyes narrowed, and they instantly bounced thirty metres to the side, barely making it in time.
The Nukenin commander never had time to notice this blow, and his entire body was literally torn into tiny shards. The Elite Jonin's blow was so fast and strong that it was several times the speed of sound, and its aftermath tore apart the two Nukenin sitting three metres away from their boss. When it was 'long' over, there was a loud explosion, symbolising the breaking of the sound barrier. Shikaku had already managed to get out of the way when the aftermath of his outburst of anger manifested itself.
The rubble that had not been completely cleared was completely cleared. All the stones had been knocked inside, or scattered to the sides. Huge boulders had cracked or broken, and in some places there were red stains from the bodies of the three Nukenin. The shockwave from the Elite Jonin's impact was enough to crush the huge boulders, and make depressions in the mountain. Even the Jonin standing nearby were wiping sweat from their foreheads, not entirely sure if they could survive such a powerful blow if they angered the clan head.
The shadows behind Shikaku stopped dancing in different directions, symbolising that he had extinguished some of his anger on the bodies of the three slain enemies. But his heart still ached for his beloved niece, whom he had taken into his care after her parents died. He had promised himself that he would take care of her, and now he was especially pained to realise that he might not have kept his promise.