Amaya Uzumaki POV
– Shisui! – I yelled to my brother when I noticed the rocks breaking loose from the ceiling, falling right where he was running.
I tried to run to him, but the moment the first boulder hit the ground, the impact threw me back. I landed hard, completely drenched by the massive amount of water already covering the floor.
I tried to get up, but my head was spinning. I felt something warm trickling near my right temple and already had a good idea what it was. A dryness rose in my throat and I started coughing weakly.
Even unable to stand, I forced my body to look around, trying to locate Koji. The first thing I noticed was that my glasses were gone. Probably fell off when I was thrown back... and are surely broken now.
Putting the glasses situation aside, I tried to sense Koji's chakra. I felt it for just a moment before it vanished completely.
I needed to stay put for a bit, to recover partially from the hard blow I'd taken. But when I heard a loud crash coming from the maze's ceiling, I knew I wouldn't get the time I needed to recover.
Rocks above me threatened to come loose. I tried to move, to get up, but my body still wasn't responding fully.
Dammit! At this rate, I'm gonna... I cut the thought short. No. I can't afford to die. Not here, not now, I affirmed to myself.
I focused everything on moving my arms. With great difficulty, they began to lift. I'd never had such a hard time making my body obey me.
Just as I was about to bring my hands together, a sharp cracking sound rang out clearly above me. The huge rocks broke free and began falling at an insane speed, right where I lay.
Thirty, twenty-five, twenty..., I counted mentally, measuring the meters left before the rocks would hit me. Fifteen, ten...
Finally, my hands met. I released my chakra for the technique all at once, letting my arms fall back to the ground.
Low earthen walls erupted from both sides of my body, creating a shield to try and hold back the falling rocks.
The sound of the impact became deafening, but I kept my hands firm, releasing chakra to maintain the walls I'd raised.
I wasn't literally holding up the walls around me, but maintaining my chakra for all of them made it feel like I was holding the entire weight of the stones falling outside. Just a little longer..., I thought.
Cracks began to form and spread across the walls, indicating they could collapse at any moment. The water beneath me was also rising fast, ready to submerge me if I stayed on the ground. Dammit, dammit... I can't stay here, I'll be crushed in seconds!
I looked at the walls I'd formed above me and forced my body, with difficulty, to move towards the most intact one, on the right. Then I let the other walls crumble along with the rocks they supported.
It was my only option if I wanted my plan to work. But I didn't expect the walls to give way so fast. Because of that, one of the rocks from above fell on me, hitting my side hard.
I gasped low from the blow and the pressure the rock put on my body. The adrenaline was doing its job, conditioning me to think faster and making my body start responding again so I could escape.
I raised my hands, still with some difficulty, holding one of my kunai and quickly formed the hand signs for the Lightning Style. Even though it wasn't an Earth Style jutsu, they were still rocks, and they were weak against lightning, provided there was enough of it.
I discharged the electricity all at once into the stones beside me, destroying them and opening a passage through them for a fraction of a second. In that moment, I threw my kunai far away from the collapsing area, released my chakra again, and teleported to where the marked kunai was.
I landed on my side and started coughing again, this time it lasted longer and was bloody. Once again, I felt my body signaling my injuries, which I was now certain were serious, given how much they bothered me.
But I still don't have time to think about them..., I warned myself and forced myself to stand. I need to know where everyone is... Kakashi, Shisui... Please be okay!
I took a step, with some difficulty, towards where most of the collapse had happened. I concentrated, trying to sense their chakra nearby, and noticed two faint concentrations further ahead.
– Kakashi! Shisui! – I called out.
– We're here! – I heard my brother shout, clearly louder so I could hear him – Are you hurt?
– I'm fine... – I deflected, but it was hard to disguise the exhaustion in my voice.
– Is Koji-san with you? – Kakashi asked next – Is he injured?
– I... – I started and pondered for a moment – I don't know where he is...
– What? – Shisui asked – Do you think he might have ended up... – But I cut him off quickly.
– No! – My tone turned more serious – I felt his chakra until a moment ago, but it suddenly vanished, completely. – The two boys remained silent for a few moments.
It seemed like, just like me, they had noticed something about Koji felt off on this mission from the very start. I had tried not to judge him, but my instincts had never been wrong before.
And because I hadn't listened to them entirely, we ended up in this whole mess...
I looked around, seeing the numerous rocks scattered about, and the water that continued to rise, faster this time.
– Listen... – I started again – Keep following the smell of the ether to get out of this maze. You don't have much time, the water won't stop rising.
– What about you? – Kakashi asked quickly – How will you get out of here?
– I'll find a way out, – I said simply – Right now, you just need to focus on yourselves and getting out of this place, okay?
– Alright, – Hatake replied promptly.
I expected his answer to be like that, immediate and following my request, even if he might not agree. I know him, after all. But regarding my brother...
– How can you ask us to leave you behind? – He demanded, clearly angry – Especially here, in this damn place where you've suffered so much?
I didn't answer him right away. Just as I knew the two boys on the other side of the collapse, they knew me well too...
– Because this is a mission, – I replied in the coldest, driest way possible – And that's my order to you, as your team leader. – I clenched my jaw for a moment – Are we understood, Shisui?
I didn't want to act that way with anyone in my life, least of all my brother, but... I needed them to survive. If they worried about me, the chances of dragging them to their deaths were high.
– Yes, ma'am, – the Uchiha replied, clearly against his will.
– Now go! – I finally said to them.
I only moved from my spot when I felt the two boys' chakra moving away, on the correct path they needed to take. And now, regarding me..., I thought. What do I do?
The only path I knew to the maze exit was the one Kakashi and Shisui were taking, but there was no way to get to the other side of the collapse, at least not with the little chakra and time I had.
The water kept rising rapidly, already up to my waist. I concentrated chakra on the soles of my feet to stay on top of the water and started walking, because if I stayed put, I'd end up worse off than if I hit a dead end.
My mind was restless at that moment. Everything happening at once was driving me crazy!
My worry for Kakashi and Shisui's well-being, my search to understand Koji's objective and the reason for his abrupt disappearance, and my own situation for getting out of this maze, and the laboratory itself.
Everything was piling up... Fear, worry, apprehension, distrust, nervousness, pain... So many things I couldn't think calmly. I went through several corridors, always finding dead ends. And the water kept rising, indicating my time was running out.
I had tried to guide myself by sounds from somewhere the water might be draining out, but I hadn't found anything yet. And the darkness I was in wasn't helping at all.
The water was reaching the maze's ceiling, and I was forced to start swimming, since I couldn't walk on water anymore. My movement became slower, but the water accumulation didn't.
I stopped swimming for a moment, trying to think more calmly and also assess my surroundings. If I can't hear where the water might be draining to, I pondered, maybe I can follow its flow...
I tried to stay as still as possible and follow the water's movement, to see where it seemed to be going. And I soon noticed. I promptly started heading in that direction.
The water was up to my neck. I had, at best, two minutes left. I tried to swim faster, but my body wasn't in the best condition for that either.
And to my misfortune, the path the water was taking led me to another dead end. I stopped in front of the wall, completely disheartened. No, no, no... It can't be...
I slammed both hands against the wall in front of me, utterly frustrated. I agreed to come back to this damn place, I brought us here and promised to take care of everyone, and now I'm going to end up dead like this?! I asked myself angrily. Dammit! I hit the wall with my hands again.
Shisui and Kakashi could be in a situation like mine..., I thought with my eyes closed. Maybe even worse... I need to get out of here, one way or another, I determined. They need me, just like I need them.
I had lost over a minute of the air I had left before the place would be completely flooded, but finally, my mind was calmer. It's not just my life on the line now..., I admitted.
Only then, with a more ordered mind, could I hear a low sound, apparently close to where I was. That sounds like... Water dripping, I realized. But it's too low to be here. I put my hands against the wall again.
I noticed that with each drip, a brief echo resonated from the other side. There's a room behind this wall! I just need to... But I didn't finish the thought as I had to hold my breath because the water had finally reached the ceiling of the maze.
I let my body sink a little and let my vision briefly adjust to being submerged. I approached the wall where I'd heard the water dripping from the other side and felt it, tapping lightly on various points.
The vibrations resonated in the water, each with a different intensity. I needed to find the weakest vibration, as it would indicate the thinnest part of the wall – and on the seventh tap, I found it.
I moved back a little from the wall, still aiming at the point where its structure was thinnest. I brought my hands together and formed the hand signs for the Water Style to finally leave that place.
Although Water Style techniques use a lot of chakra, since I'd be using the water already present around me, the expenditure of my own chakra would be minimal, without losing potency.
My air was almost completely gone when I focused my entire attack on the same point on the wall in front of me.
At first, I thought it hadn't worked, since the wall remained intact after my attack, but I soon felt small vibrations in the water and saw cracks forming across the entire length of the wall before me.
The wall exploded, and just like the water, I was pulled into the room I'd bet was on the other side. I crashed onto the floor again and started coughing repeatedly, trying to recover the air I'd been deprived of.
The water continued to flow, but this time, moving away from my body. For a moment, I felt a sudden chill and opened my eyes, tired.
But that tiredness vanished the instant I realized where I'd ended up: The completely white floor, just like the walls stretching out, without any ornamentation. A large mirror on the left side of the room, and the right side, where the weapons were, destroyed, since that's where I had come from.
The combat room..., I realized, worried. I felt my heart beating faster and my breath quickening. Why here, of all places? And why now?