Zero Shinobies ( Shinobi Hunter Naruto)

ch 27

(The next day)

Many, many miles away from Konohagakure, far out of reach of any governments or spheres of significant influence, a team of ninja were currently in the process of mopping up.

Situated in the centre of a ruined clearing, surrounded by thick evergreen forests and mountainous terrains, a band of approximately twenty four shinobi wearing Konoha colours and headbands, were quietly huddled around a series of large, black corpses lying charred and burnt inside a wide crater.

Bearing the wounds and marks of what'd most likely been a fierce battle, the winded but altogether fighting fit shinobi and kunoichi took a moment to catch their breaths and clear their heads. At the same time they held their defensive positions around the site, which only moments ago had been burning with the flames of a violent battle.

"That… was close," the gruff, haughty voice of Tsume Inuzuka spoke as she knelt beside one of the bludgeoned bodies at the edge of the fissure, along with her canine companion Kuromaru. Taking a deep breath, the woman then looked across at the Uchiha standing next to her. "What the hell are these things?"

Taking a closer look at the body lying before him, the male shinobi wearing ANBU plate shook his head and shrugged. "I don't know. But whatever they are, they're strong." That was putting it lightly.

The corpses lying before them, while battered and roasted, were not too far gone to still make an accurate description of them. Each of them stood at about seven feet tall and were completely naked, but their flesh had an almost stone, armour-like appearance to it. What's more, each of the beings bodies were hollowed out and, while they were active, had fire burning inside of their chests and heads, and were visible through the cracks and orifices of their faces. It was almost like these walking furnaces used these flames as a sort of fuel, allowing them to move and fight much like a human.

Of course their strength and aggressiveness was nothing like a person's. No. These things, whatever they were, fought more like wild animals and demons than anything with an intelligent disposition. This explained why the Konoha team sent out on this mission had such a tough time bringing them down- partly because of their builds and partly because of their combat styles.

After surveying the area for a few moments longer, a Sarutobi male shinobi standing at the edge of the perimeter turned his attention to Mikoto, who he could see was glaring off into the distance. "These beasts fought like they were protecting something. But there are no temples, shrines or castles anywhere near here." Approaching the woman and stopping just a few feet from her, the young man with the goatee shrugged. "Are we sure we're in the right place?"

"Yes," Mikoto answered with a stiff nod. "There's no doubt about it. These creatures belong to her. I'm sure of it."

The Sarutobi then glanced towards the ditch where the demonic bodies were lying. Taking note of the fact that each of them had large, buffalo-like horns growing out of their skulls, the shinobi shook his head and placed his hands on his hips. "Well, since all of us are out here, we may as well have a look around to see if we can find anything. If our target is anywhere in the vicinity or is out there hiding in the mountains, then there's bound to be a-" When he looked back to where the leader of their party was standing, the man jumped when he saw that she was gone. "Huh? Mikoto?"

The rest of the group there also became aware of the woman's disappearance, with Tsume quickly standing up and looking about in alarm.

"Mikoto? MIKOTO?!" the Inuzuka kunoichi shouted, at the same time the rest of their platoon started scanning the surrounding forest. Seeing and sensing no trace of the woman, the group quickly began to fall into a bit of a panic. "Shit. Where did she go?"