Chương 322: The Kill Zone

Shisui spoke, his voice grim and cold.

"Draw your weapon, Noa. We are walking into a warzone." I drew my short sword from the scabbard on my back and focused my breathing as Shisui continued.

"I know you have some reservations about taking human life. However, do not hesitate here. The situation might become extremely grim, and a single moment of hesitation will mean your death." I nodded firmly while my eyes assessed the horrifying scene in front of us. The small boat finally approached the ruined docks. We looked around carefully, waiting for the contact person who was supposed to have secured the small pier where we were stopping. He was nowhere to be found. Shisui looked at me.

I immediately knew exactly what he was asking for. I gathered my energy and sent out a powerful, wide pulse of chakra, silently scanning a large area all around us. Immediately, I turned my head to the left. Shisui tensed, his three-tomoe Sharingan flaring to life as I spoke.

"Someone with Chunin-level chakra was hiding at the very edge of my sensing area. However, he ran away the exact moment he noticed my chakra pulse." Shisui jumped lightly from the boat, landing on the blood-soaked pier without making a single sound. I followed right behind him, keeping my grip tight on my sword. The Konoha shinobi who manned the boat spoke up in a hushed tone.

"It has been getting harder and harder to send any food or aid to the Land of Waves civilians due to the violence plaguing this port, which is exactly where we usually send our shipments. However, it was never quite this bad before. Please be careful out there." Shisui nodded back to him in quiet thanks. Without another word, the boat slowly began to reverse away from the docks, charting a course back toward the safety of the Land of Fire coastline and leaving us completely alone on the island.

We started walking, the heavy fog clinging close to the ground. The dead bodies appeared like grotesque islands of rotting flesh breaking through the thick white mist. Their glassy, lifeless eyes stared upward, reflecting the dark and smoke-choked sky. I uttered a silent prayer for the dead as we navigated carefully between the corpses. Multiple warehouses near the pier were partially destroyed, their collapsed roofs still glowing with hot, dying embers. Shisui suddenly called out to me.

"Noa, come here." I walked over slowly, keeping a tight grip on my hilt. Shisui was pointing at a thick, fresh trail of blood smeared across the cobblestones. Judging by the massive splatter, someone had been struck with bone-shattering force right here, then mercilessly dragged by their legs into a narrow side street. Shisui flared his chakra, and I did the same as we followed the bloody trail into the dark. As we stepped into the narrow street, I suddenly felt something.

For a split second, I caught the faint hum of an active barrier nearby. I opened my mouth to warn Shisui, but the words died in my throat. We both froze in our tracks, utterly paralyzed by the sight in front of us. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Pinned against the ruined stone wall of an alleyway was a scene of absolute horror. It was the contact person we were supposed to meet. He was hanging by his neck from a rusted iron hook.

His body swayed slowly in the cold wind from the sea, making a sickening creaking sound. His neck was broken at a sharp, unnatural angle. A heavy hit had completely crushed the left side of his head, leaving broken bones and brain matter exposed to the wet air. Thick, dark blood covered half of his face and soaked his upper body in red. His shirt had been violently ripped open to show a final, cruel message. The word "TRAITOR" was carved deeply right into the bare flesh of his chest. It was a sickening nightmare.

The enemy did this just to shock and scare whoever found him. I wanted to tell Shisui about the faint barrier I felt earlier. I opened my mouth and spoke.

"Sensei," At that exact moment, a huge burst of chakra exploded from the ocean behind us. I turned my head quickly toward the boat in the distance. Shisui followed my eyes just in time to see a giant Water Dragon rise from the sea. The roaring water beast crashed into the small boat with a terrifying, loud force. The boat broke into a million pieces instantly. The Konoha ninja driving it did not even have time to scream before the heavy pressure crushed his body.

His blood exploded outward, turning the clear water dragon bright red before the jutsu fell back into the ocean. For the second time in a few seconds, we were completely shocked. That moment of shock made us too slow to react. The hidden barrier I had felt earlier suddenly dropped. Many chakra signatures appeared all around us without any warning. Before I could even shout a warning, the whole street shook violently. We almost lost our balance as the stone ground under us melted away.

It turned into a deep, sticky mud trap. Our legs began to sink right away. At that exact moment, the ground on both sides of the narrow street broke open. Two huge, thick walls of solid rock shot up and slammed toward us from opposite sides with incredible speed.

"Damn it. From how flawlessly that trap was executed, it is most likely Iwagakure ANBU!" Shisui cursed quietly as we both pushed chakra into the bottoms of our sinking feet and jumped straight up as high as we could. We jumped in opposite directions, stepping onto the walls of the opposing warehouses and kicking off them to go higher. We barely escaped the trap by a few inches. Below us, the two huge rock walls crashed together with a loud boom that shook the buildings around us. The attack was not over.

While we were helpless in the air, many powerful earth bullets fired up from the shadows, aiming at us perfectly. My eyes went wide as a wide-range jutsu of sharp rocks flew right toward us. The attack would turn us into chunks of meat if it hit. But Shisui was an experienced fighter. Before the rocks could reach us, he twisted in the air and kicked me very hard. The force of his kick sent us flying in totally different directions as we dodged the deadly rocks by just a hair.

One of the earth bullets passed so close to my face that the wind violently threw my hair around. I spun awkwardly in the air, but managed to fix my balance just in time to land heavily on the metal roof of a nearby warehouse. Shisui landed on a building across the street and shouted over the noise.

"Stay close!" I gathered my chakra, ready to use the Body Flicker jutsu to reach him. Suddenly, the bottom of the warehouse I was standing on shook violently. An enemy ninja had used an earth jutsu on the building's pillars. The whole roof collapsed under my feet. I quickly kicked off the falling rocks and jumped into the air. I tried to aim my fall toward Shisui, but a second wave of fast rock bullets shot through the smoke, blocking my path to him. I clicked my tongue in frustration.

Knowing the narrow streets were a death trap, I changed my direction and jumped toward a nearby, unbroken warehouse. I started heading back toward the open space of the ruined pier where we first landed. I looked over my shoulder quickly and saw Shisui notice my direction. He immediately followed my path from the opposite rooftops, matching my speed as we tried to outrun the hidden assassins.