Naruto: Echoes of a Distant Home

The sharp barbs extending from the arm-thick branches were bright red, like the color of blood, vivid yet deadly.

The first Mist ninja, whose knee was scraped, fell confusedly from the air and landed silently on the ground below.

Seeing this, the remaining five Mist ninjas were shocked. Not fully understanding the situation, they watched the chakra-exhausted Kotoe, who was using Wood Release, and formed a surrounding stance.

Kotoe, breathing lightly, quickly glanced at the Mist Anbu at her three o'clock. A shallow cut marked his arm.

"Even though I seized the opportunity, I only managed to hit one? Four are still left, but I've already used more than double the amount of chakra."

The green-haired girl stood coldly amidst the field of red-thorned brambles. Centered on her, countless red spiked branches spread outward, nearly covering the surrounding trees.

Standing there among the red thorns, she looked like a queen of thorns in full bloom.

"Uh..."

The Mist ninja with the cut on his arm suddenly trembled, a stabbing pain flaring in his heart. It came so suddenly that he couldn't even muster the strength to cry out, and as he tried to clutch his chest, he fell from the tree, lifeless, just like the first Mist ninja.

This sudden turn of events shocked Mei and the remaining four.

"It's poison. Her thorns are poisonous," Ao quickly deduced, warning his companions.

The two fallen Mist ninjas had both been scraped by the thorns before they died, and both wounds were minor.

"Poisonous thorns?" Mei's eyes narrowed. With two types of Kekkei Genkai that could restrain the brambles, she hadn't wanted to expend too much chakra, so she had avoided using her Boil and Lava Releases to suppress the thorns' growth.

Seeing Kotoe using so much chakra for such a seemingly harmless thorn jutsu, she had assumed there was little threat, thinking she could let Kotoe waste her chakra.

Unexpectedly, the thorns were laced with poison, making her break out in a cold sweat. She realized how close she had been to the edge of death due to this small miscalculation. The other Mist ninjas were also caught off guard by Kotoe's relentless chakra usage, mistaking it for slow self-destruction, and had simply chosen to evade.

"I absolutely... will not let you pass here."

Kotoe's face was cold as she spread her fingers, gripping several green senbon between them.

With her trump card revealed and no reinforcements in sight, it was difficult to employ her assassination techniques. But no matter how dire, she could not betray Ye Zi's trust.

Boom!

In the distance, a thunderous roar echoed.

"That's… Lord Mizukage's complete tailed beast transformation!"

Kotoe had her back turned toward Ye Zi, so she couldn't see, but the Mist ninjas facing that direction could all see the form of Isobu.

Ao's expression shifted. He hadn't expected that the Mizukage had been forced into complete tailed beast transformation so quickly. Just how strong was this Konoha rogue ninja?

"You two, go support Lord Mizukage. We'll handle things here." With this realization, he ordered two nearby Mist ninja to go assist the Mizukage.

"Understood!" The two Anbu responded without hesitation, attempting to slip past Kotoe on either side.

"Don't even think of leaving!" Kotoe's green eyes narrowed, throwing the senbon at the ninja on the right while directing her thorns to slither toward the one on the left like a snake.

Mei and Ao covered them.

"Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique!"

"Water Release: Green Dragon Palm."

Mei exhaled a boiling mist that melted the approaching thorns into green liquid, while Ao's hand emitted blue ripples as he deflected the senbon aimed at his companion.

"Stop getting in my way!"

Kotoe bit her lip, chakra draining rapidly. Suddenly, the brambles across the area began to boil and spread along the ground like a nest of snakes, writhing outward.

"Stay here! Strangling Vines!"

With a clear yet icy command, the writhing brambles suddenly sprang up as though loaded with springs, forming a net aimed at trapping the four Mist ninjas.

Mei's eyes widened as she noticed that her companion heading to support the Mizukage had moved out of her range. In the current situation, she couldn't cover him.

She leapt into the air, widening the distance from the thorns to gain time for forming hand seals. Then she spat out a large amount of corrosive slime toward the thorny brambles below.

The highly corrosive slime fell onto the brambles, releasing an acrid white smoke and burning a large gap in the tangled vines.

On the other side, Ao didn't follow Mei's lead in jumping up. Instead, he activated his Byakugan, and seeing an opening, leapt downward. With blue ripples glowing on his arms, he sliced through a section of brambles, creating a path to escape.

Though the two successfully avoided the encircling brambles, the two Mist ninjas counting on their cover were caught in the mass of thorns, now enveloped as if trapped in a budding flower.

Swish!

The brambles closed in, resembling a flower bud yet to bloom. Although the two Mist ninjas were not immediately poisoned, the constricting vines were deadly enough to take their lives.

After using up a large amount of chakra for this attack, Kotoe dropped to one knee on a tree trunk, panting heavily.

She had given her all to prevent the Mist ninjas from advancing, and her chakra had dwindled to less than a tenth.

When she executed this move, she had mentally prepared herself for the possibility that the woman might evade her final attack. But the reality was even harsher than she expected.

Not only had the woman evaded her Strangling Vines, but the white-eyed man had also escaped.

"Only two left…" Kotoe's gaze flickered with exhaustion as she clenched her teeth, fighting the fatigue from chakra depletion, and turned to face Terumi Mei and Ao.

The thorny bud, shaped from her chakra, stood motionless nearby, as Kotoe no longer had enough chakra to sustain it.

Watching the weary, swaying Kotoe, Mei and Ao regrouped.

"It seems her chakra is almost depleted. Should we support Lord Mizukage or finish her off first?" Terumi Mei looked slightly fatigued herself, having used considerable chakra, though she was in better shape than Kotoe.

"Finish this woman first," Ao responded coldly.

Their conversation was not masked.

Listening to their exchange, Kotoe, now cornered, suddenly broke into a radiant smile.

"She's… smiling?" Mei was momentarily stunned, unable to fathom why Kotoe would smile in such a desperate situation.

Ao, watching her through his Byakugan, remained expressionless. "Her chakra is indeed almost gone. She can't cause any trouble. Let's end her quickly."

"Alright." Mei nodded, though her suspicions lingered.

Kotoe's face was lit with a flower-like smile, like the bloom of the final flower.

"Ye Zi… I tried so hard to catch up to you, but in the end, I'm still useless. Even if I die… I'll delay them as long as I can. That's all I can do."

Her bright smile gradually faded, like a blooming flower withering away.

Then, her gaze turned resolute, accepting death.

In that instant, both Mei and Ao's expressions grew solemn.

Check out the patreon and get 50 chapters in advance -> SaintXI

Currently on Chapter 321 - Two Against One