Zero!

-Chouji POV-

After we made sure that it was Manda in the forest, Asuma-sensei sent another report to the Hokage and we proceeded to secure this Shinno guy. Shikamaru and I went onto the southern route in case he escaped through this route.

We already investigated the ruin before and we knew there were only two routes that could be used. With Asuma-sensei and Ko-San blitzing through the main path while we guarding this route, I hope that it's enough to ensure our success in apprehending him.

"Oy, Chouji. Why do you think our first mission besides the D-ranked one turned out to be this complicated? I bet the difficulty of this mission already escalated beyond B grade..."

I raised my eyebrows at Shikamaru, I agreed with his piece about the difficulty of the mission.

"If you ask that to me, Shikamaru. Who am I supposed to ask?" I sighed, this mission really getting out of hand.

"What a drag..."

We waited for some time and sounds of battle could be heard and by the sound of it, the battle was intense. I can't believe it, an elderly was able to fight two Jounin at once. I got it that Shinno was a former shinobi himself, and I guess I underestimated him too much.

"Say, Shikamaru. What do you think the Kyuubi chakra will be used for?"

Hearing my question, Shikamaru's forehead creased. He took a deep breath before saying, "Whatever this Shinno person wants the Kyuubi Chakra for, it's our mission to stop him. As for what the Kyuubi Chakra could be used for... I'm not sure about it myself. Looking back at Naruto, it has healing properties of some sort. And based on what we felt from it, those chakras carrying a malevolent berserk aura."

As if proving what Shikamaru said, we felt pressure from the battle site. From the aura that it emanated, we felt a strong negative emotion.

"Speak of the Devil, and he shall come..." Shikamaru muttered lowly then clicked his tongue.

"We help!" I said with an unrefutable tone, which was answered by a nod from Shikamaru.

"Let's go..."

---

-Asuma POV-

Ko-san and I were looking at the target, and as we approached him a few Kunais suddenly flew toward us. I immediately pull my trench knife to deflect the incoming kunais. As we deflected the Kunais, another wave of Kunais flew without giving us any chance to prepare ourselves, this went on for a minute until we realized that this wave wouldn't stop any time soon.

"I don't think this gonna end..."

"Byakugan!" Ko-San immediately activated his clan's Kekkai Genkai, the Byakugan. "There are several of them, approximately thirty in total. They held something in their hand, a kind of machine that fired Kunai rapidly.

"This is an ambush! Ko-san, Flare the signal to retreat!"

Ko-san took his signal flare to give the other an alert. But, unfortunately for us, as he took out the flare, a Kunai hit the flare and made it fly out of Ko-san's hand. 'Damn!'

As soon as I took notice that the signal flare was dropped, I told Ko-san to retreat then we flickered away from the battle site. But, before we were able to pass through the encirclement, a blast of malevolent aura took us by surprise.

"They all retreated..." Ko-san frowned, our enemies have suddenly retreated and I bet my whole saving that this is not part of good news...

Fortunately, the Kunais hail was stopped along with the enemies' retreat when the malevolent aura spread. I know whatever this thing that exuded this kind of aura definitely did not come in peace.

"Is this part of the trap that they prepared for us? Who is this Shinno anyway..." I sighed, I wondered why this ordinary beast extermination mission turned into an A-ranked strategist item retrieval mission. And I predict it will soon turn into an S-ranked secret mission.

*GROWL!*

"..."

That's one heck of a loud roar...

"Asuma-san, two of your students are on their way here. The good part is they decimated the retreating enemies on their path and the bad part is..."

Ko-san turned his head toward me and grimly said. "There's a strong creature from inside of the ruin, and its chakra signature has some resemblance to the Kyuubi's chakra. Although it's not as massive as the Kyuubi, its Chakra is as dense and... How do I say it, it's horrifying to look at. It's dark in color and flows in a chaotic pattern."

After I heard Ko-san, In response, I loosened my neck, brandished my trench knife, and whispered, "[Hien]..."

I flow my chakra into my trench knives to augment the cutting power of its blades. A dense blade of chakra is formed around the knives, extending its reach. I transformed my chakra into wind-natured chakra so that my blades became sharp enough to cut through even stone or metal with ease.

Not long after, the said creature came outside. It resembles a reddish-purple leech with a serpent-like body. On its face, it wears a blank white colored Noh mask that has the kanji for "Zero" on its forehead. On its head, it has five thick hair-like strands sprouting from it with four at the top side and one at the bottom side.

I have to be serious, this thing smells like bad news. My instinct screamed danger at its presence, and cold sweat unconsciously drenched my back.

In tacit understanding, I split up with Ko-san. I rushed to its right side while he jumped to its left.

With a twist of my hand, I raised my left trench knife and swung it downward, aiming at its side. While at it, Ko-san coated his hand with chakra and struck that creature with a palm.

To our surprise, that creature sprouted a few hands from its body and redirected our attack with them followed by a strike to our body as a counter. For a moment there, I felt many emotions slightly well up inside me, and from Ko-san's expression, I bet he too felt the same. And with our experience, we precisely know that it's not us, it was this thing's influence. This is bad, contact with it can influence the emotion.

After we stabilized our position, Ko-san hit one of his tenketsu points. To my surprise, a dark-colored chakra escaped from the said tenketsu point through his pore.

"It tried to corrupt our mind, this thing is getting more dangerous the more we know it...."

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

"It seems you two already met Reibi, this baby reacts better with the Kyuubi chakra than I thought. And you shinobis from Konoha will be the perfect lab rat to test this baby's ability..." From the ruined entrance, Shinno confidently stepped out.

"Hang on well, friends from Konoha. The real thing has just begun."