Chapter 53: betrayal

The news of the Clouds army approaching exploded in the Land of Wind.

Everyone from Sunagakure prepared for war at a moment's notice.

Pakura in particular was ready to go as soon as requested.

But then, she received a secret Mission from the Kazekage--

Secret S Grade Mission•Assassinate the heir of the Raiden clan.

Initially, she thought it was just a tough mission, but then she got some of the details and wanted answers.

"Lord Kazekage, this..."

No amount of shinobi training could stop her from the shock he was feeling.

Are you trying to kill me?

How about you go and assassinate Hachiro Raiden instead!

That was a bonafide Mid-kage at least.

Plus how am I meant to sneak into Kumogakure within such a short time period?

She calmed down after she read the attached note.

This mission concerned the Sands survival.

If the village entrusted such an important task to her, then the least she could do was accept it and have a shot.

Even if she was only an elite Jonin, she could potentially succeed if she managed to pull off a sneak attack with her Scorch style.

In the village, she was an elite Jonin but officially she was registered as a chunin.

The reason was because the village attached less importance to keeping ranks accurate during the war.

Thus it was possible for her to pretend she was a genin, her young age helped as well.

"Don't worry, I've sent a secret force to sneak into the Land of Lightning in advance. They will join you when you attempt the assassination."

Rasa replied casually,

"With how urgent the situation is for the Sand, you should hurry and set off. This is a confidential mission, do not spread word of it."

She wore a pensive smile before responding with "I understand" and leaving with the Body Flicker Technique.

After she left, Rasa, gave a sigh, and slapped his forehead.

"Damn Cloud Ninja, they're lunatics!"

…

…

Even with her speed it took ten days to run from Sunagakure to Kumogakure.

On the way, she heard about the Clouds small army and perfect jinchuriki stationed on the border of their land.

Not far behind them, Konoha seemed to be deploying troops and preparing to join forces with the Cloud.

"I can't waste anymore time, I'll have to try going for the kill myself soon."

She gritted her teeth and tried motivating herself.

This would be her first fight against a Kage-level ninja... Could she really win?

That was the question she wanted an answer for.

She slapped herself and shook her head.

"I'm a reliable shinobi from the Sand! No matter the task, I have to give my best for the village."

She sneaked through the territory of the Land of Lightning, she came to a small village along the Southern border, this is where she was meant to meet the rest of the team.

"They're not here yet? Don't tell me they went ahead because I took so long?"

She wandered around the village only to find it was like a ghost town, no one was there.

Whoosh!

Pakura raised a kunai in alarm.

Dozen of ninja wearing different masks based on ghosts and mythological gods appeared.

She recognised them as Anbu from the Sand.

"I am under direct orders of the Kazekage to assist your team in assassinating Hachiro Raiden."

She lowered her kunai but didn't lower her guard.

She asked cautiously,

"Assassinating the heir of the Raiden Clan... sir?"

The leader(presumably) took a few steps towards her and muttered something under his breath.

She quickly noticed something was wrong, however, her opponents had drew their swords and completed several hand seals by the time she reacted.

The 'Sand Anbu' tried surrounding her.

"Scorch Style·Extremely Steaming Murder!"

In response, she executed several hand signs of her own in a weird order.

Several clusters of heat appeared around her.

The fireballs floated around her body in an attempt to protect her from harm.

This was her kekkai genkai, Scorch release!

Unfortunately, her opponents likewise possessed Jonin level strength and knew her weakness to water style.

What's more, is that there were other users of kekkai genkai's present.

"Storm Release•Laser Circus!"

From the finger tips of the 'Sand Anbu' leader, beams of lightning that seemed to maneuver around her orbs

"Storm Release?! Cloud ninja!"

Pakura yelled in Surprise.

It didn't take a genius to figure out the true identity of these shinobi.

"Lightning Style·Thunder Beam!"

Thanks to her moment of shock, a fist hit her from behind and sent her flying into a house, causing it too collapse.

Before she could recover, the cold and shiny edges of kunai kissed her neck.

"How... unless... I was betrayed..."

Tears dropped from her eyes upon realization.

Like other ninja, she was not afraid of death.

But it hurt her immensely, knowing her own village which she swore loyalty to had abandoned her.

"Yeah, you're quick. But your right."

On the top of a nearby tree, she heard a familiar voice.

Sitting on a branch was Hachiro waving a letter, by enhancing her eyesight with chakra, she could vaguely see what it said.

"Rasa Kazekage."

Those two words set her over the edge.

Hachiro said,

"You can let her go. She can't go far."

The false Anbu took off their masks one after another.