Chapter 50 – 5 v 3
Slowly bending his knees, he sprung downwards like a bolt.
Defending against such an attack from an unexpected place was easier said than done. The man who considered himself the hunter, didn’t expect to become the hunted so fast. Thus, he barely avoided Sango’s strike by a stroke of luck, but not completely as a long bloody gush appeared starting at his left shoulder along his chest and ending above his ribs.
*Guhh!* A gasp of pain barely suppressed was heard. The man tried to counter Sango only to find no one where he should have landed.
The man took a lower posture trying to lure Sango in as his movement was impeded by the wound inflicted.
Sango was observing all his movements from behind, nothing escaped as he also paid attention to the other fights.
Kurenai had the upper hand against her opponent, he was already in a sorry state. Her illusions and experience were very effective against her enemy.
Ino, Sakura and Hinata were slowly gaining the upper hand the more they fought. They started off at a disadvantage but improved at an outstanding peace so now they were pushing their opponent back.
Looking back at his opponent, Sango saw he was already sweating and didn’t dare to move. Everything was proceeding well so he decided it was better end it while it was so.
Sango took out a knife tied with a string to another knife and embedded one into the wall close by while throwing the other to the left of his enemy, then he teleported to his right and slashed with another knife in his direction. The man dodged to the left, but he didn’t expect to find himself in the path of a thrown knife only to be hit from behind just as he did so.
*Kuh!* Another gasp left his mouth, this time less suppressed, he understood his situation was worsening at a visible peace. Understanding that they underestimated this group, he was now desperate to find a path that led to survival. He tried to extract the knife from his back, but intense pain assaulted him when he tried, no matter how he tried, the knife didn’t want to come out.
“What is this?” He was surprised as he discovered the string attached to the knife while he tried to extract it. He had never experienced such a thing before, but he knew that it won’t result in anything good.
“Illusion: Mist World!” The man shouted, no longer trying to hide his presence as it became clear that his opponent had no trouble finding him.
Immediately, his body split into three, then six and then more copies of himself.
Taking advantage of this situation and the supposed confusion that should overtake his enemy, the man tried to use chakra to cut the string tied to the knife in his back so that it couldn’t be use to find the real him between the illusions.
“What?!” But it was no use, the string was sturdier than an iron bar. It was bad for him that he couldn’t see chakra, because if he could, he would have seen a strangely colored chakra flowing through it, it’s density would have shocked him.
“Game over.” A voice reached the man, it seemed to come from everywhere at the same time.
It was unusual for Sango to speak to his enemy, usually he would have just executed him. It was indeed true that he was changing in ways he didn’t truly know or won’t know until later, that was what he realized.
*Boom!” A loud explosion followed a very strong wave of chakra that rushed through the string, turning it to ashes as it passed. The chakra exploded into the man’s body, sending pieces of it everywhere.
Sango had to admit that he ended it in a rather messy way, not like his style, but he also wanted to try new things. What mattered was that the fight ended fast and his enemy couldn’t properly respond to his actions.
The mist began dispersing now that the caster was no more. Kurenai had her opponent completely covered in vines, restrained in a way he couldn’t even bite of his tongue if he tried. She looked lively, only small beads of sweat sliding along her soft skin.
The three young girls were looking very tired, but that fight was also ending.
One of their opponent’s hands was limp to his side and his face was swollen, that probably being Sakura’s doing. Sango also saw that Hinata sealed many of the man’s chakra points, gradually weakening him to the point of no longer being able to fight back.
Next, Ino used her Mind Body Switch technique on him, he tried to dodge, but his leg gave way and he kneeled on one knee, unable to move out of the way.
“It’s over.” Sango proudly stated. He and Kurenai worked hard to have the girls reach their level. In the anime they wouldn’t have been at this level even years later, but it was also thanks to the girls blood and sweat.
The man stopped moving, then he smiled.
“We did it!” He spoke in an unusually high voice, it was Ino who took control of his body.
“Yes! Did you see that?!” Sakura jumped while throwing a punch upwards and looking towards Sango.
Seeing the state of Sango’s enemy, she almost gasped.
“You did great.” Kurenai came along while dragging a tightly tied man behind her. Looking at Sango she nodded in approval.
“Hinata.” Sango closed in on them as he focused on Hinata.
Understanding his meaning, the Byakugan activated and she began looking into the distance.
“They didn’t move.” She said.
“I understand. What do you say?” He focused on Kurenai next, since she was the leader of the team, it would be disrespectful to ignore her.
“We don’t know when they will suspect that something went wrong, but we can’t assume it will take long. Lets rest and question them while Hinata watches their movements.” Kurenai told them that and so they began doing exactly that.
The young girls sat nearby while resting and watching over Hinata. Sango moved closer to Kurenai and spoke.
“How do you want to question them?” He asked.
“Interrogation isn’t my strong point, but I have no choice.” She sourly said. They were all trained in interrogation techniques, but they weren’t specialists.
“Let me handle that.” After a few seconds, Sango firmly said.
“…Are you sure?” She didn’t know how good he was, but she was optimistic if it was Sango. She didn’t treat him like an innocent child at all.
“Yes.” Seeing the confidence in his voice, she agreed.
“Very well. I will also come help you.” She said.
“No, I want to do this alone.” He said, then, seeing her about to disagree, he continued. “I don’t want you to see me like that.”
After the surprise passed, she smiled to him like the sun. “I understand, but don’t underestimate me.” Firm was her voice.
Sango was surprised at her unexpected words, but thinking about it, he understood.
“… I’m sorry, you are right.” He admitted his wrongdoing by apologizing. She was right, he didn’t want her to come to fear him, so he asked to interrogate him alone, but he now remembered who he was talking to.
“Let’s go over behind that rock.” He pointed towards a huge rock not far away. At least there the girls won’t see anything; they weren’t yet ready for that.