Snippet #2653311

"What? Exterminating some ninja from Kirigakure?" Shinso said to himself, as they dotted swiftly from tree to tree with their various masks being almost the only thing telling them apart. Two groups of nameless and emotionless hunters, sent from the deepest reaches of Konoha. Only these guys don't answer to the Hokage, no... they answer to the most powerful man in Konoha; Lord Danzo. "The Root is what is supporting the tree. No branch is stronger than the root." Shinso had been told ever since his parents were "convinced" to let him join up with Danzos militia. Everyone sings the praise of the great third Hokage "the strongest of them all and taught directly by both the first and the second hokage, knowing every jutsu in the world."

"I hardly think that's possible..." Shinso scoffed, thinking back to how every genin and chunin seemed to adore this old man, who was to direct opposite of what a good ninja was supposed to be: Caring and with an open heart. "But once they turn jonin, the clever ones know, that this is not the man protecting Konoha. The one protecting Konoha is Lord Danzo, the "lowest standing" man in the village!" Shinso mumbled, as he squinted to try and see what was happening in the horizon. They had been tracking their targets for a couple of hours on the outskirts of Konoha close to the land of Rivers, but Shinso was unaware whether or not they were gaining on them and if they had found out they were being tracked or not.

As usual Lord Danzo had said nothing of "why", but only of "how", and seemingly he wanted them all, very, very dead. Because this was not any normal band of ninja, these were all skilled killers, and even though he didn't recognize everyone here, he knew he wasn't the only jonin present. Sending two teams consisting of some of the very best among The Root wasn't unusual, but it just meant that failure was absolutely not an option, and he clenched his fist around his kunai, as they reached a clearing. "Shit! We've reached the river, and their not here!" one of his fellow ANBU members exclaimed angrily, as Shinso watched the deep canyon with the raging river underneath it stretching out as far as they eye could see to both sides, and with at least 30 meters to the other side. "What have we been tracking then..?" Shinso said partly to himself, as he picked up one of the stones from the gravel underneath his feet, studying its shape closely.

"They must have fled to either the left or right! Now, who here was tracking them?!?" he said, looking around, trying to find the scout of the group, noticing the two groups present were only counting seven ANBU ninja. "Where is tha..." he said but abruptly stopped in his tracks, taking half a step ahead, as Shinso saw what he had stepped on. "Tags!!!" Shinso yelled, and jumped for cover on the ground, as the explosive tag his fellow ninja had stepped on exploded with an immense force, flinging Shinso into the bushes, as he heard what sounded like dozens of ninja emerging form the woods on the other side of the clearing. "This can't be?!? They were only supposed to be three!" he said surprised, forcing himself up on his knees, trying to refocus his eyesight and divert his attention to whatever happened around him, instead of the tinnitus in his ears. Shinso peeked out through the bushes. "Sunagakure ninja! But how did they get into this part of The Leaf? Only ones allowed access are... the ones granted access..!"