Another path

The Swamps - 5th day

< Coucou tout le monde, j'espère que vous allez bien ! I feel like randomly inserting french in my sentences ! Don't mind me, I'm just having fun !
As you might have noticed, my update pace has become erratic once more, which is basically just a fancy way to say that I'm a mess and I'm trying to do everything at the same time only to fail in every single domain. So, I'm going to update whenever I can, I'll try to edit at least a chapter every ten days and I hope it'll work out.

As always, I hope you have a nice day, take care of yourselves and thanks for reading ! >
_____
Asuma saw a blur fly across the forest and collide with a tree, snapping it in half.
Looked like Gai was in great shape. The man seemed a bit tired but considering the circumstances, his energy was quite astonishing.
For all Asuma knew, Gai had been fending off against wild animals since the beginning of the trial. He remembered vividly watching the man land in the middle of the forest and taking in his surroundings before a bear jumped on him. A kick later and the predator was down.

For his part, Asuma made sure to remain hidden but somewhat close to Gai. Experience had taught him that people such as him were a good distraction. So long as he minded where Konoha's green beast was at all times and watched his own back, this was safer than wandering alone where danger could come from any direction.
He didn't feel really reassured though. He kept having the nagging sensation that someone was watching him. However uneasy it made him feel, it didn't alarm him that much. The presence seemed familiar after all.

Once more, the sensation returned and he scrutinized his surroundings to spot the its origin and for just a second, he saw a faint glint from a bush. It wasn't a metallic glint, it was one of the reflection of light in an eye.
And Asuma only knew one person with eyes that dark and able to spy on others like this without being spotted immediately.
His worry wore down as he now knew there was nothing to fear from this individual. If anything, the fact they would stay there and let him spot them without struggle shows that they were confident the cost was clear.

Unbeknownst to Asuma, the hidden person smirked from the shadows, knowing exactly what train of thoughts was going through the jōnin's head.

***

A tall figure walked through the woods, not even bothering hiding themselves. There was no point in doing so as their presence could unmistakably be recognised. Surprisingly, despite being such an obvious target, the man standing in the middle of the forest was rather unbothered. After all, it wasn't his towering stature that made him unable to go unnoticed, it was his aura. He oozed off danger. Unlike humans, animals are very sensitive to such things and hardly any of them would try to take him on.
However...

Fwoosh

A gigantic stream of fire barely missed the white haired man. He gazed up and his eyes met with familiar almond-shaped ones.

« - Greetings, Daji.

- Greetings, Enma. I guess you don't intend to hide ?

- That would be pointless.

- Agreed. »

For a moment, there was a deafening silence, not even animals making a sound.

A kunai flew and everything became a blur : Daji leapt in the air, threw a volley of needles at Enma who rolled to the side before casting a fire ball. The Kitsune jumped once more to avoid the attack and landed on a tree branch while Enma ran after him to catch up. Immediately, the summon turned on his heels to face his opponent and another batch of needles flew toward Enma who easily dodged them and stroke back by splitting the ground in half with his left foot. The tree Daji stood on collapsed, forcing him to flee to another location but the tall shinobi was having none of it. A few hand signs and a fire dragon was hurling at blinding speed toward his opponent. Flawlessly, the Kitsune dodged the blow and gracefully landed on the ground before casting needles once more. Not missing a beat, the white-haired man rushed toward him but quickly halted as the soil started to glow. Daji slammed both of his hands on the ground and red markings appeared on the bright spots on it, forming an intricate web around Enma. The jônin found himself completely paralyzed and could only watch as his adversary readied another jutsu. Not even a second later, a strong fire stream similar to the one Daji had used minutes ago collided with Enma, completely engulfing him. The white-hot blaze burned everything to the ground, dirt, leaves and metal alike.

The fire kept raging for a couple of seconds before Daji decided he should put it out. But right before he could-

A strangled gasp escaped from his mouth. A hand made of spiritual fire had suddenly shot from within the fire and was now constricting his throat. Enma slowly approached as he held his physical hand up in the air, the immaterial one mimicking its every movement. With a strong punch, the shinobi knocked the summon out and his chakra-made hand vanished in the air.

He looked down and noticed how a great part of his clothes were burnt to ashes, not really shielding him from the cold air anymore. A slap of his fingers and a new han-gamishimo appeared on his body. He took one last look at the passed out Kitsune, checking if he wasn't about to jump back on his feet, but eventually concluded that it was unlikely and made a dashing but careful retreat.

A few minutes later, a toad landed in the now devastated area and noticed his fellow summon laying on uneven ground. Much like the summons did with the disqualified shinobi, he put a paper seal on Daji's forehead and he was sent back to the HQ. Sighing, the remaining summon tried to figure out where the winner of the match had gone to chase them down. Though he hoped he'd do better than the Kitsune...

***

Muzai was having a hard time ever since the beginning of the trial and he was faring worse and worse. After he had first seen Gamatatsu, the toad had also noticed him and things went south from there. The chase had gone on for now two days and a half and the summon still wasn't quitting. It was actually a bit unnerving how the orange toad was able to keep up with him even in the trees. Almost vexing...

The brown-haired teen stopped in a tree and climbed to the very top of it. The view was quite wide from up there but he couldn't stay for too long least he wanted to be spotted by even more ennemies. He retreated just underneath the canopy and gazed down at Gamatatsu who seemed to be looking for him. It seemed as though the toad couldn't discern him. Probably because his hair, skin and eye-color blended quite well in the scenery. He waited for a bit and as he had anticipated, Gamatatsu kept hopping away, unaware that his target was right above him the entire time. Waiting for the presence of the summon to completely fade away, Muzai remained in the tree a bit more. Once he was sure the toad could no longer notice him, he ran in the opposite direction as fast as he could, trying to find a good hiding spot. Finally, he could get some rest...

Or not.

"I'm glad you think this is a good hiding spot as well, Muzai. How regrettable I found it before you though !"

This had to be a joke. There was no way that right after he finally got rid of the toad, he'd come face-to-face with one of the Kitsune. Seriously, what were the chances ?!

As he dodged the slash of a glistening katana, Muzai concluded that once and for all, he definitely hated swamps.