Yugakure Terrorist Arc: Part 1

Three men sat around a fire. One man was tall, strong, and handsome. He was wearing the traditional gear of Yugakure. The other two men were wearing long cloaks, with hoods that covered their identities. One was even taller than the first man, but skinny, while the other was short and stout.

The tallest man spoke up.

"Shishishishi... you wish to strike Konoha, eh?"
"Correct. Name your price."
"We want... a single day, where we are allowed to do what we please in your village."
"Then it's a deal."

The Yu shinobi stuck out his hand in order to seal the deal. The short man offered a sickly green hand in return.

"Lord Third! LORD THIRD!!"
Ray had JUST got back from Suna when he heard the news. Several shinobi have been killed while they were on a mission by outlaws. People from Ray's village were MURDERED while he was away! He's PISSED.

Inatsu almost had a heart attack when Ray barreled into his office. He was in a meeting with several advisors, and the last thing he needed was an interruption.

"ACK! What is the matter with you?!"

Ray proceeded with a kowtow. Inatsu's advisors were silent, but confused.

"LORD THIRD! I must apologize for being absent from the village while such a tragedy happened!"
"Oh, the attack. Yes, I suppose you weren't here for that, were you? It truly is a shame-"
"NO, LORD THIRD! You don't understand!"

Ray proceeded to strip his clothes off. Inatsu's advisors were silent, but even more confused.

"Ray, what are you doing!?"
"Look, Lord Third!"

Ray actually had a surprisingly deep wound on his left shoulder. It was mostly healed, but it was obvious that it still hurt a little. Inatsu's advisors were silent, but now curious!

"...Where did you get that?"
"I am sorry, Lord Third. I believe that I had an encounter with the supposed 'outlaws.' They were from Yu, correct?"
"...No one has been revealed that information, as of yet. Keep your voice down."
"ˢᵒʳʳʸ, ᴸᵒʳᵈ ᵀʰᶦʳᵈ."
"Not that low!"
"Sorry, again, Lord Third."

The advisors were murmoring among themselves, but one of them spoke up.

"You did not mention this to anyone, correct?"
"No, sir!"

Inatsu took a deep breath, then looked Ray in the eyes.

"We have recieved word from Yu. They do not claim these rouges as their own. For that reason, we have been asked to publicly call them 'outlaws' as to not hurt Yu's reputation. It would... hamper tourism. Anbu have been sent to deal with them."

This news made Ray even more PISSED. The truth being lost all because it would tarnish a village's reputation... how would the fallen's families feel about that? Of course, Inatsu had agreed to it, so Ray wouldn't complain.

Ray did have other complaints, however.

"Lord Third! While on my way back from Suna, I encountered these outlaws. We got into a scuffle, and I got that wound. I escaped, but it delayed my return for about a day as I nursed myself. I am deeply sorry for not defeating the outlaws when I had the chance, and for taking so long to return to the village. I have useful information on the outlaws that I believe may be helpful. I would like permission to aid the Anbu in their task!"

Inatsu paused, for he was in deep consideration.

"...Permission granted. Inform the Anbu with all information you have, and aid them as they see necessary. I suppose that I will have the paperwork done shortly, due to the urgency of the matter."

With that last line, it became obvious to Ray what he was considering. Maybe.

"Thank you, Lord Third! I will make up for my wrongdoings!"

As Ray left Inatsu and his advisors to their devices, Inatsu shook his head.

"Alright. Someone bring me what I need to stamp."

"So, you must be the leader of the team. Nikuya, right?"

Ray was talking with the Anbu leader; "Nikuya." That wasn't his real name, but like all other Anbu, it was a code name. Nikuya was designated leader of the Anbu team that was sent to deal with the Yu invaders, and he was facing away from Ray, smoking a cigarrete. He dropped the (still lit) cigarrete on the ground, and put his Anbu mask back on before facing Ray.

"Alrighty, then. Tell me what you know."
"I saw 5 of them. The first of them was a swordsman. He seemed... unstable. The second was a summoner. Catfish, specifically. He had a bad right eye. There was a particularly tall man, he didn't do anything. I saw two of them with what I believe to be a kekkai genkai. One had an Elemental Release, I think. The other had... the Ketsuryūgan."
"Ketsuryūgan, huh? Never heard of it."
"I've never seen it, until now. But I know all about it. The first thing? They have a nasty genjutsu effect. Be sure to not look at anyone who has red eyes directly. The second, and the most annoying, is the fact that they have control over metal."
"Control over metal? How precise?"

Ray made a hand sign, and then stretched his arm out to the side. He shot a long metal spike into a nearby tree, with impressive accuracy.

"At around that speed, he redirected my spikes, and he gave me a nasty wound on my shoulder. I don't advise the use of shurikens and kunai."
"Hmph. What about the other?"

Ray shook his head.

"I'm unsure. But I have a suspicion. You know the Gorobuyo?"
"They're one of those bug clans, right?"
"Not just that. Charge Style. The ability to transform themselves into lightning."
"So you saw this guy transform into lightning? Was he a Gorobuyo?"
"Not quite. I saw him transform into fire. I think, anyway."
"You're unsure?"
"Unfortunately."
"Give me your encounter with them in more detail."

Ray put his hand on his shoulder, as if he felt some phantom pain.

"Two days ago, while I was making my trip back from Suna. I heard some commotion at a clearing. It was out of the way; I attempted a shortcut."
"But it ended up making you late, huh?"
"Yep. I noticed they were from Yu. I didn't want to cause them any trouble, so I was about to leave them in peace, but I heard one mention Konoha. Just to be sure, I stuck around a little longer to see what they were talking about. I heard something about an attack, but they were talking about a specific 'target.' In fact, they already sent someone to attempt to get it, apparently."
"So, we're dealing with at least 6 of them."
"I have a feeling there's gonna be more. They mentioned a 'meeting,' as well. Anyway, there was a catfish next to one of them. It's whiskers started moving, and the summoner turned to my location. After that... it was all a blur, really. The swordsman made some bizarre comments that sounded like gibberish before he charged at me, and the catfish just kept coming. They were the worst part, honestly. Look out for them."
"The other three?"
"The tall one and the one with the Ketsuryūgan didn't do anything. I mostly tried to retreat, and I used paper to try and cover my tracks. I messed up when I tried to return fire, because I caught a glimpse of the red-eyed freak just as I shot a spike at them. The spike weng right back to me. No doubt about it; that was the Ketsuryūgan at work."
"And the other?"
"His arm... flickered. A fireball came at me, but it missed. I'm sure that his entire arm flickered, however."
"...Hmph."
"After I got nailed in the arm, I was able to make my escape. Unfortunately, that spike hit me deep. I holed up in the forest, and dealt with my wound. It wasn't fun. After a night, I assumed that they were off my scent and I came back to the village. No further sign of them."

Nikiya seemed lost in thought. Ray assumed he was thinking of counters and strategies, but then he realized he was probably deciding if he should smoke another cigarrete. Apparently, the answer was yes, as he turned around and took off his mask, before reacing in his pocket for something.

"Alright. Your work here is done. Go take a bath."
"What?! But I have direct experience with them!"
"Not much, apparently. Listen, this is an Anbu problem. You can bet that me and my team are gonna deal with this alone."

Ray is at the end of his ROPE.

"...Yes, I understand. I'll leave you to it, then."
"Glad we reached an understanding."

Ray lied straight through his teeth. He's going to intervene, because this is no longer just a mission. This is (in his opinion) Ray's personal failure, and he's going to correct it. But first... he needs a plan.

"I'll report our status back to the village. Good luck."
"...Anbu don't need luck."

As Ray headed back in the direction of the village (obviously where he wouldn't actually go), he waited until he was completely out of sight (if Nikuya bothered turning around) before changing direction to go to the nearest river. His plan was forming.

"Yep, he's dead. That's a shame."

An Anbu corpse was in Ray's path, and it was rather fresh. Ray had finished his preperations, and he was now looking for a fight. The best way to look for a fight was to look for signs of struggle. A corpse is what many would call a sign of struggle. In his search for more helpful signs of struggle, Ray noticed a particularly apparent blood trail. His first thought was that this is a trap. The blood probably had little catfish swimming in it or something. So, he had to weigh his options. He COULD trigger the obvious trap, and try his chances with whatever happens. On the other hand, he could leave a sign notifying any other unfortunate Anbu that it was an obvious trap. However, if any Anbu ignore the sign, they would probably just trigger the trap...

"...Hmph..." (Annoyed.)

Triggering the trap it is! After setting several paper seals in the ground, Ray took a piece of paper, stood a safe (maybe) distance away, and guided it to land on the blood trail. Nothing happened.

"...Hmph!" (Pleased!)

Following the blood trail it is, then. Ray flicked his wrist and caused the paper seals to fly into his hand. It's an impressive party trick. He didn't rule out the possibility that it happened to be a trigger wire of some sorts, and that he was walking into an ambush. So, he kept the seals ready. Also, he went to the side, in view of where the blood is, but not making it obvious that he was following the trail.

"(Alright, I gotta make sure I conserve those seals. I'm gonna have to be fighting 5 of them if I mess my plan up. Meh.)"

Ray followed along the trail, but then he stopped. He stopped, and he listened. And then he threw a shuriken right above him.

"Oh, you saw through my little trick?"

A sleazy looking ninja looked down at Ray from the tree he was standing in, and he sneered at the missed shuriken lodged in the wood beside him.

"Not the greatest marksman, though, are we?"

Ray didn't exactly look above, but he spoke to the ninja.

"Apparently so. Want to have a little chat?"
"Chat? With you, Leaf Ninja? I'd rather gut you."
"What are you doing in Konoha? Yugakure not to your liking this time of year?"
"As if I'd answer that."
"...I guess our chat's over, then."

Ray made a hand seal; Snake. Snake is the hand seal used whenever you would like to detonate something. In this case, the paper bomb that Ray had folded up and attached to one side of his thrown shuriken.

BOOM

Ray turned his head up as fast as he could, and he caught a glimpse of his adversary.
The Ketsuryūgan user.
Ray had no time to lament his misfortune.
In a blink of an eye, he jumped to a branch around the same verticality as the one that had just exploded.
The red-eyed freak also had a similar idea.

"You love a dirty trick, don't you? I like that. Call me Tetsugyō."
"I'd rather not call you anything at all."
"Tetsugyō Ketsugyō, specifically. Ma and Pa loved rhymes."
"Fascinating."

Ray made sure to not look directly at the chatty psychopath, but he threw another volley of shurikens, but these were all made of paper.
Tetsugyō stuck his arm out to redirect them, but they landed directly in his palm.

"AGHH!? What? Oh. Alright, now I'm just mad."
"I thought you didn't like to chat?"

Ray launched another volley of paper shurikens, but the Yu ninja got the memo.
He jumped from branch to branch, and he pulled out shurikens of his own, deftly dodging his opponent's.
Ray jumped onto the trunk of the tree he was standing on, clinging to it, using a technique ninja were taught to cling onto walls.
He pulled out a paper seal and unleashed it with the Snake hand sign, causing a ball of mud to appear in his hand.
He placed his hand back onto the tree, but swung his arm horizontally in a crescent, while the mud followed along like an ink brush.
Upon his hand meeting the other side of the tree, the mud solidified, creating a barrier, which stopped the shurikens.

"Shuriken Redirection!"

Tetsugyō made the Horse hand sign, and the shurikens were pulled away from the mud, hanging in the air. He followed this with another volley.
Ray frantically grabbed another paper seal, one of many that were hanging at his side. This was an attempt to counter the attack, but the hanging shurikens began to move.
Like wasps, the shurikens went above and below the muddy wall, in an attempt to strike their prey, but Ray was quick enough.
Ray used a variation of the Tiger seal with one hand to detonate the paper seal he was holding, causing paper fragments to spin in the air around him, each one smashing against a shuriken in order to send it away. One got through.

Instinctively, Ray raised his arm above his head, and a Snail Fang spike erupted out, bouncing the shuriken away. Of course, it slipped his mind that the spikes were made of magnetic metal.
"(HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT THAT?!)"
Tetsugyō sent a third volley of shurikens, and his second volley was coming up at Ray, all from above.
Ray stuck a paper seal to the mud wall that he used for defense, and he smashed the branch below him with his metal spike via a backhand, plummeting straight to the ground.
Tetsugyō responded by causing the shurikens from the first volley, which had hit the ground by now, to fly directly at Ray from below.
Ray thought ahead, and he detonated a paper seal he stuck on his shoe during preperation with a Snake sign, causing a sturdy mud wall to appear from underneath him, stopping and pinning the shurikens to ground he fell on.
The second volley had gotten lodged in the mud wall Ray was using for defense earlier, and the third volley hanged idly in the air, but now Tetsugyō had a new opening.

"Wait! You're that guy with the spikes! Ooh, I'm gonna pay you back for wasting our time earlier!"

With another hand movement, Tetsugyō took control over the spike attached to Ray's arm, and he impaled it right into the tree Ray was standing in front of. With a second movement, the third volley was approaching rapidly.
"(I have to think fast...!)"
Ray took a seal from his hip and held it out. Using a one hand Tiger seal with the arm connected to the unhelpful spike, a stream of mud burst out of the seal, splashing and stopping the volley.

"GYEHAH! That's not enough, spike boy!"

Tetsugyō slammed his arm down with a large amount of force; the shurikens lodged in the mud wall connected to the tree started spinning, cutting through the earth.

"Detonate!"

BOOM

With the hand seal Ray had been using previously, the paper bomb he put on the mud wall earlier was utilized. The mud wall went flying at Tetsugyō, who had to jump to another branch. This was the plan he had for it when he first applied the seal, but now it had the added benefit of scattering the shurikens!

"Cheeky..."
"(!! That could be it!)

Ray looked at the part of tree where the wall was connected, and it was now completely splintered. Not only that, but the top half of the tree was seperated, and it fell to the ground with a thud.
First, Ray stomped on the ground twice; once where the mud from the paper seal that was used to deflect the third volley landed, and again right next to the roots of the tree he was pinned to.
The mud erected itself into pillars, buying Ray some time, while the second stomp created a small hole right under the tree, which Ray slipped a paper tag into as the tree fell. He disconnected his arm from the spike in the tree, and the spike was broken free from its resting place when it connected from the ground. Ray scooped it up.

Tetsugyō jumped on top of the pillars, and he formed several hand signs. He aimed the palm that was hit with the paper shurikens from earlier directly at Ray, and smiled like the psychopath he is.

"Blood Weasel Cutting!"

A jet of blood sprayed from Tetsugyō's palm!
Ray barely dodged it, getting grazed on his left arm in the process. From the gash, a small amount of blood seeped out.

"Blood Weasel Constriction!"

The blood from Ray's wound wrapped itself around his arm, preventing it's use. As more blood seeped out of the wound, it's grip grew stronger.
"(AGAIN!?)"
Ray, despite his inner monologue, kept a calm appearance. He took the spike he wielded in his working hand and jabbed it into the mud that led up to the earth pillars Tetsugyō was standing on.
Tetsugyō readied a fourth volley of shurikens, and he launched them at Ray, who used the mud he jabbed the spike into to form a dome, blocking the attack.
Ray could tell that he needed a break. He had to decide if he wanted to use up a ton of chakra to go for a gambit, or if he had to attempt a short escape so he could take a breather.
Normally, Ray would decide to go for a breather. But today? He was sloppy. The past couple of events he just went through had caused him to slip up, and he was going to do it again.
Ray broke the hardened blood off of his arm with Snail Fang spikes, and then he submerged the arm into the mud. He took a paper seal with his free hand, which he also submerged into the mud.
Ray could tell that the fourth volley of shurikens was attempting to cut into his dome, and he focused all of his chakra on his next attack.

"Earth Style: Slime Imitation Sludge Trap Jutsu!"

The earth became far more mallable, and the shurikens that were cutting into the dome were submerged into it.
The pillars Tetsugyō was standing on became soft, and they collapsed into a mound of sticky mud, with Tetsugyō trapped in the middle. Ray's protective dome collapsed as well, leaving him exposed.

"BAAHH!! W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Tetsugyō pried one arm free; the same arm that he previously used for the blood attack. He aimed directly at Ray.
Ray had one last chance. He could attempt to flee now, or he could try and finish the fight.
Ray focused, and made his decision.

"Earth Style: Magnet Imitation Cutting Geyser Jutsu!"

Ray manipulated the muddy earth by detonating the seal he had stashed within it. Specifically, the paper seal contained a jutsu meant to help shape mud in the area.
He gathered all the spikes and every shuriken Tetsugyō threw within the mud, and he stored them right under Tetsugyō.

"GYAHHHHHHH!!"

Ray raised his arms, and the spikes and shurikens erupted all around Tetsugyō, giving him brutal cuts.

"You... YOU'LL PAY!!"

Tetsugyō mustered up the willlpower to create a whirl of his own blood, his shurikens, and the spikes.

"DIE!!"
"Detonate!"

BOOM

Ray detonated the paper bomb in the hole under the tree that he had slipped in earlier!
Due to the manipulation of the earth, the hole, and the angle the tree was at, was altered. Now? It was pointed directly at Tetsugyō! Good thing Ray was to the side.
Like a spear, the tree flew threw the air, and it collided with the whirlpool of iron, clashing with it!
The clash ended with the tree being completely splintered, and the whirlpool being dissipated, blood and metal flying everywhere.

"ACKK!"

One metal spike landed directly in Tetsugyō's eye.
The top half of Tetsugyō collapsed, the lower half of his body still submerged in mud.
Ray wanted to collapse.
But he still had a job to do.

"...Are you dead?"

...No answer.
Covered in mud, blood, and sweat, Ray made his way over to Tetsugyō's body, so he could check it for any notes or clues.
Just as Ray started to pat the Yu shinobi down, he felt a cold chill run down his spine.
"(Something's not right!)"
Ray looked around, frantically searching for any other opponents.
Then, Tetsugyō woke up.

"GOT YOU!"

Ray was grabbed by Tetsugyō, and in his confusion, he made eye contact. Tetsugyō only had eye that still worked, but that eye had the Ketsuryūgan.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Ray knew all about the genjutsu of the Ketsuryūgan. Specifically, it could alter memories.
Paralyzed, Ray's memories raced through his mind, as Tetsugyō ripped the spike out of his eye, and pressed it to Ray's neck.

Ray remembered so many things...
He remembered his favorite ramen...
He remembered his least favorite clan meetings...
He remembered... Taiki?
Taiki?!
"(What the hell, Taiki!? Get out of my last moments! GO BACK TO THE RAMEN!)"

Then, a tree trunk was smashed against Tetsugyō's head, this time most definitely killing him.

"Ray! Are you ok?"

Ray was coming back to his senses. His memories were left intact, and it turned out that Taiki was very much real.

"Ray! Ray! Are you in there? Ray!"
"STOP YELLING AT ME, TAIKI!"
"Geez! Alright!"

Ray had shooed Taiki away from him, and Ray was holding his head with his less damaged arm, probably because he had one of the worst headaches ever right about now.

"Ugh... I can't believe that I messed up that badly..."
"Ah, don't sweat it! You almost had him! Anyway, I got your message."
"Huh? What message?"
"...Your message. The one you sent me."
"I don't remember that at all. Well... thanks for saving me."

Taiki suddenly got tensed up.

"...Can't thank me yet."

Ray turned around and saw what Taiki was looking at.
Another Yu ninja. The other one with the kekkai genkai.

"Well, looks like ol' Tetsugyō kicked the bucket! I suppose I have to avenge him now, huh?"

A ring of fire surrounded the three ninja.

"Ray, stay close to me!"

To be continued.