Survivors

As the strange light resembling an inferno died out from Rei's eyes the feeling began to return to his body. Kimimaro was lying flat on the ground with his back to the ceiling. Exactly where Rei had cut him was caramelized causing him to wonder something. Looking down at Ryujin Jakka, Rei spoke.

"Ryujin Jakka did save me again?" Speaking weakly Rei didn't have to wait long before getting a reply. "Yes, I temporarily released my form and possessed your body. Though it seems you're still too weak to handle my released form for too long." Rei's brain shoved the insult from Ryujin Jakka to the side and focused on the word 'possessed' instead.

"Wait what do you mean possessed? So you are like a ghost? You can just take over my body whenever you want?" Trying not to raise his voice due to the pain in his chest Rei couldn't help feel nervous about this. The feeling of not having the ability to control your body at any time was nerve-wracking.

Responding to Rei, Ryujin Jakka gave him a straight and cut through response. "It was necessary or you would have died. I will begin repairing your body but I advise you not to fight someone that strong for a while." Rei heard as Ryujin Jakka dodged his question before going dormant.

Anything else Rei wanted to say to Ryujin Jakka had to wait. In the midst of him trying to get Ryujin Jakka to reply to him, he suddenly heard a cough come from Kimimaro's body. He immediately took a step back as he looked down. 'I almost forgot I need this guy alive. If he had died due to Ryujin Jakka then I Would really be in trouble."

As he looked at Kimimaro he suddenly heard a muffled sound come out of his mouth. "Wh… D… Ca- Lo-" Only able to hear bits and pieces of what he was trying to say Rei realized something. Sheathing Ryujin Jakka he saw his clothes had been ripped to shreds due to the fight and once again he looked like a homeless person.

Singing, he flipped Kimimaro over so that his face was no longer on the floor. "There now you can speak." Kimimaro looked up at Rei with a neutral face. "I've never heard someone speak to themselves like that." Hearing Kimimaro Rei realized he could hear him speaking to Ryujin Jakka this entire time.

Keeping a wary look on his face Rei didn't respond to Kimimaro as he spoke again. "Why do you want to find Lord Orochimaru?" This question caused Rei's eyes to narrow and for face to turn grimmer. He paused before responding in a less cheery tone than before. "You should already know what he did."

Burning down the houses in the village killing everyone he knew including his family. It was enough to make his blood boil. Despite Rei not speaking, Kimimaro could see the hate in his eyes which caused him to turn his head to the side. "In truth, not everyone in your clan was killed. Lord Orochimaru took a few of them to his lab for experiments though they were supposed to be disposed of on his return."

Hearing the first part of Kimimaro's words left Rei in disbelief as he looked at Kimimaro trying to tell if he was lying. Guessing his thoughts Kimimaro continued. "I have no reason to lie to you now. My only reason for living was to serve Lord Orochimaru. Now that I have failed him I have lost that reason."

After speaking Kimimaro coughed once again this time more violently. "I won't be able to survive with my wounds. Just leave me be…" Planning on dying there Rei spoke to him. "You can die if you want but I still need you to tell me where Orochimaru is." Hearing that caused Kimimaro's face to flinch slightly as he looked up at Rei was standing above him.

"Just because I told you where your clan members are and I'm dying doesn't mean I'll betray Lord Orochimaru." At that moment Rei smirked. "Well, Orochimaru did want to capture me right? If you tell me where he is, I'll definitely meet him so it's not really betrayal then." For the first time since Rei had met Kimimaro, he saw him smile slightly.

"You're strange that's for sure… I can't tell you where Lord Orochimaru is but I can tell you where he is going…" Leaning in closer to make sure he could hear what Kimimaro was saying. As he spoke Rei's eyes grew larger as his thoughts flashed back to that group of leaf ninja from before. 'But why would he be going there Orochimaru was exiled wasn't he?'

It didn't make sense but before Rei had a chance to ask Kimimaro he heard a whooshing sound flying towards him. Launching Ryujin Jakka from his sheath the hilt of Ryujin Jakka he knocked into the flying kunai stopping it in its tracks. Looking upwards at the higher platforms within the base he saw over a dozen sound ninja had gathered.

"I thought I dealt with all of you already.' Feeling slightly annoyed he saw that they all have paper bombs attached to their kunai ready to be thrown. Preparing himself Rei was ready to try and avoid their attacks but surprisingly their volley was aimed at Kimimaro instead. 'Dammit!' Before Rei could reach Kimimaro's body in time the bombs went off blowing the entire area apart and launching Rei back.

The entire base shook as rocks began to fall off the walls and the floor began to cave in. 'They destroyed my only source of information and now this place is coming down. Orochimaru must have told them to do this in case the base was compromised.' Having done their jobs the sound ninja quickly retreated.

Not having the time to chase after them Rei knew it was only a matter of time before this place came down. Quickly running to the stairs Rei began searching every room and corridor for the lab Kimimaro told him about.

"Not this one."

"Or this one either."

As Rei checked door to door he could hear the sounds of explosions ringing from outside. If he had to guess the sound ninja were probably trying to bury him alive. "Come on where is it!" Running down a long corridor Rei checked every single room as rocks began falling from the ceiling. It was only then that he noticed something at the corner of his eye.

A slight part of the wall was protruding outwards as if it wasn't connected to the wall itself. Not having time to think about it. Rei drew Ryujin Jakka from its sheath and used his remaining energy to cut straight through the wall. And just like that, the protruding wall collapsed revealing a secret room. All kinds of containers holding floating heads and limbs were lined across the walls.

Along with that, an operating table covered in blood was being shined on in the center of the room with light. All of this together made Rei want to throw up but he held it in as he began to search every corner of the lab with his eyes. It was only after a couple of seconds that he noticed a large cell in the corner.

Walking over to it his eyes adjusted to the darkness as he spotted three different kids cowering in the corner of the cell huddled together. "Pl… Please don't hurt us…" One of the older children was holding two younger ones though it was clear they weren't treated very well here.

Other than wearing rags on their body's they were clearly not being fed properly and were even beaten at times. Suppressing his anger Rei held his hand out in front of him. A dim red light appeared in Rei's hand letting the children see his face better. On the other hand, Rei was surprised that this was the best he could do. 'I really am out of energy.'

Knowing they didn't have much time left Rei spoke quickly. "You guys recognize me right?" Being the Clan Leader's son meant almost everyone in the village knew him including the children. Even if he didn't know these children personally they had probably seen him before. And indeed they almost instantly recognized Rei's face.

"Your…" Rei nodded to them as he gestured to them to stand back. With one quick stroke of the lock on the cell was cut clean off. "We don't have much time, let's go." Reaching out his hand the children only hesitated for a moment before following Rei. However, as they reached the entrance of the lab Rei noticed they were all slow.

They were weak from all their time here if he slowed down to their speed they wouldn't make it in time. 'Guess I don't have a choice.' Turning around and looking at the children Rei bent down slightly. "I want you all to hold on tight alright?" Rei proceeded to put one of the children on his back while he put the other two under his arms. All in all, Rei wasn't that much bigger or older than them and this would be impossible if he wasn't naturally stronger than a normal person.

Still having to do this after dealing with Kimimaro would be challenging and he would have to do it quickly. Talking to the three of them Rei made sure they were all secure. "Remember don't let go no matter what." The three kids all nodded. "Mhm…" Then with a large burst velocity, Rei began to run full speed.

The pain in his body began to return as he was massively pushing himself but he decided to ignore it. Running into the main area Rei jumped over the large gap in the center landing on one of the walls. Before gravity had a chance to take effect he quickly launched himself off that wall upwards to a different one.

Dodging rocks as they fell Rei had to be quick while making sure not to use either of his hands. It was tough, to say the least, but eventually, he made it to the top area. Finding the hall that let outside. Moving top speed Rei held on to the two children as he ran towards the exit.

'So close!'

Dashing out of the exit Rei's figure was like a bullet to all of the sound ninja outside. None of them could even see where he had gone after he exited the base and by the time they tried to chase him he was already gone. Rei didn't let up this pace until he felt they were a safe ways away before finally finding a cave and landing there.

The moment Rei took a step in the cave it felt as if all the fatigue from fighting Kimimaro had returned and his body had finally reached its limit. Letting go of the children Rei passed out right then and there.