Shota disappeared into a blur as he activated his Hiding with Camouflage Technique.
He suppressed his chakra to the lowest level possible so that the sensor would have hard time detecting him.
He took a wide detour through the trees and rocks, circling around so he could approach the three Kumo shinobi from behind.
'They would surely see me disappear from their range, so they would definitely be alert. But since I am the only one that disappeared and the other entourage along with the Kazekage are moving at the same pace, they would not be that suspicious that I am coming to attack them alone.'
Shota moved carefully. He stayed low and silent. The three Kumo shinobi were still two kilometres away from the main group.
With a quick body flicker, Shota appeared close enough to see them clearly. The three Kumo shinobi were all muscled men in dark blue armour. One of them was a sensor nin. The sensor felt something. A sensor was more sensitive to chakra signatures, the closer they were to them.
He turned his head sharply. He warned his comrades. "We have incoming."
The three Kumo shinobi looked toward the direction of the approaching Suna ANBU. Their eyes narrowed when they saw the small figure in black gear with the white binding cloth scarf around the neck.
As per protocol, Shota stopped a safe distance away and spoke in his flat, monotonous ANBU voice.
"Why are you following the Kazekage?"
The Kumo nin in the front looked at the binding cloth that was wrapped around him and gritted his teeth.
"You are Shota Aizawa, aren't you? The Eraserhead of Suna. Did you help kill the Third Raikage with Iwa?"
Shota looked at him impassively. He did not answer right away.
Another Kumo nin stepped forward with anger in his voice.
"TELL US!"
Shota spoke calmly.
"Yes."
Shota realised that while the Kumo nin was angry, he was also changing the topic. They were not really here to kill him for revenge.
If they wanted revenge, they would have attacked without talking. They were here to spy. They wanted to know why Suna had allied with Iwa. They wanted to know what deal Suna had made. They wanted information, not blood.
Shota looked at the small eye made of gold dust floating near a tree branch above them.
'So the Kazekage is watching. It means that I would have to restrict my use of Erasure to only one person at a time. Where can I even complain about stalkers when the village head is stalking me?'
Shota almost laughed inside his mask.
'Well, he might be just worrying about the safety of his village's weapon and his cute little ANBU. How sweet of him.'
There was sarcasm in his thoughts. He knew Rasa was being careful. Shota was too valuable to lose. The Kazekage wanted to watch everything. He wanted to make sure nothing went wrong.
But it still felt like being babysat by the most powerful man in the village. Shota found it both annoying and a little funny.
"Then you would die for it. You made a mistake of coming here alone." The first Kumo nin said as he brandished his sword.
Shota sighed.
"Very well. But for what it's worth, the Third Raikage fought to his last breath to ensure that his subordinates escaped."
He activated Erasure on the sensor nin standing in the middle of them. The sensor's eyes widened as he felt his chakra disappear completely.
The next second, someone put a kunai to the side of the stomach of the Kumo nin who had taken out his sword.
The Kumo nin swung the sword to his attacker, but he missed.
He put a hand on his wound where blood poured out. He looked at another Suna ANBU. More specifically, a shadow clone of Shota.
Shota moved and engaged with the sensor nin and the other Kumo nin while leaving his shadow clone to deal with the injured one.
His shadow clone sadly could not use Erasure. Shota had lamented on that fact a lot. He would have been unstoppable if he could use Erasure from his shadow clones.
He could have had 360-degree vision with four clones. Enemies would have nowhere to escape his gaze. He could erase multiple people at once. He could win any fight. But the ability was tied to his real eyes only.
The shadow clones could fight, they could use jutsu, but they could not erase chakra like him.
Shota's binding cloth extended as it engaged with the two Kumo nin.
The other Kumo nin tried to use a jutsu. Lightning crackled in his hands. Shota's focus shifted to him. Erasure activated again. The lightning vanished. The man's jutsu failed before it started.
Shota himself weaved hand signs.
'Wind Style: Great Breakthrough Jutsu.'
Huge amounts of pressurized wind blew from his mouth. The gust was strong enough to knock down trees. The two Kumo nin flew backward. They collided with trees and rocks. They crashed hard and rolled on the ground.
They were still in the Land of Earth, where the ground was barren and rocky. The wind threw dust and small stones into the air. The two Kumo nin struggled to stand.
They had no chakra left to reinforce their bodies. They could not protect themselves from the impact.
Before they could get up, Shota, still standing at the same spot since the battle started, said in his calm voice.
"It's over."
The binding cloth had extended there and wrapped itself around the limbs of the two men. It climbed up to their necks. The two tried to resist. They pulled and struggled.
But without chakra, they could not overpower the high-grade chakra binding cloth.
Shota was using Erasure on both of them at once. The Kazekage would just believe that he was switching using Erasure between both of them.
With a twist, the cloth broke their necks.
Shota looked to his side. His shadow clone was already finished with the injured one. The clone gave a small nod and dispersed.
Shota walked to the bodies. He burned them with a small fire jutsu to leave no trace. He had checked their pouches for any scrolls or messages. There was nothing useful. Just standard weapons and rations.
He looked up at the gold dust eye floating in the sky. It watched him for a second, then dissolved into particles and vanished.
'On to Konoha, I guess. I wonder if I would be able to try Ichiraku ramen there.'
-----Author Notes---------
Y'all can now read the next 15 chapters of the fanfic on my pat*reon.
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