Chapter 29: The Gang of Three
2 DAYS LATER
It took a little bit, but eventually Amikiri found herself in front of a small hut, deep inside the forest. After following a letter chain throughout the whole country, she had finally discovered what she presumed were two members of the Gang of Four.
She silently stalked her prey until she stood over them.
The first one was called Kusuna, he wore the white robes typical of the Gang of Four and had long pink hair tied up in a ponytail. He looked focused as he was reading the letter that Amikiri had followed here.
The second was called Shizuku, also wearing white robes and had orange hair that reached just past her shoulders. She was standing next to Kusuna, arms crossed, while watching him read the letter with disinterest.
Amikiri transferred into Kusana's shadow before splitting herself into two, one of them staying hidden inside Kusana's shadow, and the other traveling through the shadows into the forest behind the hut.
After traveling a good distance away from the hut, Amikiri sprouted out of the shadows in her true form before letting out a loud rumbling chirp.
"What the fuck was that?" Shizuku asked, sounding tense. "That didn't sound like any animal I know..."
Kusuna put down the letter and stood up.
"Silence, and be prepared." He pulled out a pair of scalpels from his robe.
Shizuku nodded and drew her kunai, keeping guard while they waited for something to happen.
They didn't have to wait long, Amikiri let out another, louder chirp as she approached the hut, intentionally letting out heavy footsteps along with it.
"That thing is coming closer," Shizuki noted. "It sounds big..."
Amikiri finally reached the hut, looming over it with her full 5 meters in height.
The two cultists tensed as they spotted her through the window.
Shizuki immediately started weaving hand seals, before shouting out. "Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
She inhaled deeply before unleashing a large dragon head made of water from her mouth. The attack shot towards Amikiri at high speeds, but she just tanked through it, letting herself be pushed into a tree that cracked under the force.
Amikiri simply rose up again and screeched at them threateningly, rushing forward and swiping at the hut with one of her claws, tearing half the building away like it was made of paper.
Kusuna reacted instantly, a dark snake made of twisted flesh flowing out from his sleeve and attaching itself to Shizuki's neck.
A couple of seconds passed as the snake burrowed into her neck. Her skin turned almost white, blue stripes covered her face, flowing down her body, and she grinned widely.
"Let me help you, little birdie..." She cooed sadistically. "With your demise."
She raised her hand, and water tendrils emerged from the ground around Amikiri, shooting forward to impale her.
Amikiri jumped up and avoided the tendrils, using her power of flight to throw herself straight at Shizuki.
Shizuki immediately created a giant bubble of water in front of her, intending for Amikiri to get trapped inside of it, but instead of flying into it like she wanted, Amikiri simply flew over it.
As she was about to reach Shizuki, a wave of black snakes grabbed her and pulled her away from the claw swipe that would have cut the woman in half.
Kusuna glared at Shizuki. "Stop trying to play with your food! Just kill it already."
He turned his attention towards Amikiri, who let out another screech and charged forward.
"Fine." Shizuki said sulkily, before weaving more hand seals and raising her arms.
A large amount of water began pouring out of the surrounding forest, enough to form a small lake.
She then formed one last seal and clapped her hands together, which made the water flow upward into the sky, creating a massive dome of water around Amikiri.
"Water Style..."
The top of the dome bulged upwards, a massive pillar of water forming, towering over the trees.
"God's Hammer."
With those words, the pillar shot down, shaking the ground and the trees with its force as it hit Amikiri with the force of a mountain.
The dome turned red as blood started mixing with the water, Shizuki's skin turned back to normal, the white returning to a normal tan color and the blue stripes vanishing.
"I hate this damn jutsu..." She grumbled out, holding her head as if she had a headache. "Why is it so exhausting to use?"
She looked at Kusuna with an irritated expression.
But as the dome was collapsing, a beam of white fire shot out from where Amikiri was trapped, piercing straight through Shizuki.
She reached up with her remaining arm, looking at the half of her chest that was now missing, in shock.
"W-" She didn't get to finish her sentence before she collapsed, dead.
Kusuna cursed and immediately jumped into the trees, the water flowed away, revealing Amikiri's current state.
Her lower body was gone, only her upper half remaining, though that was also badly damaged.
Amikiri screeched loudly, even louder than before, while white flames gathered in her beak.
Kusuna didn't stop to wait and see what happened next, he immediately started running away, trying to get as far away as possible.
The Amikiri behind him raged and roared, crawling forward with its arms, but Kusuna knew it would die soon, so he kept running.
Eventually, the roaring faded away, allowing him to finally let himself relax slightly.
The Amikiri next to the destroyed hut stilled for a second before disappearing, leaving nothing behind.
And the Amikiri inside Kusuna's shadow waited patiently.
For the dog to go back to it's master.