Naruto: Wolf of the Hidden Leaf

"Sayuri, Daigo, we have twenty incoming cultists from the tunnel towards our right side." I instructed as I prepared a substitution beforehand.

"What did you see in the cave, bro?" Daigo asked with nonchalance that was not at all reflecting the current situation.

Good. He can be cool under pressure. That can be useful. Sayuri was not the same though. I can clearly see signs of fear spreading through her body. She must've seen how strong our opponents were with her Byakugan.

Sometimes, ignorance truly can be bliss.

If I was going to do this, I needed my teammates in a top-notch position mentally. We've already been traveling non-stop since this morning and our bodies were tired. If we were at least mentally not ready then it would be a problem. This won't do. She needs to get her act together.

"Guys, I haven't known you guys enough to actually say something to inspire you. But if we survive tonight..." I said as I looked right towards them, "Let's try to get to know each other better."

Daigo being the natural follower agreed instantly.

"Yes! We are definitely having a BBQ party tomorrow! We can eat soo much meat. I can feel my hunger coming back just by thinking about it. Also Rei, don't think I will forget that you didn't give the bandit's meat to us."

Sayuri also seemed as if she was out of the trance she was just seconds before as she laughed lightly hearing Daigo's words. There was hope in her eyes again.

"Thanks for that" She said with an embarrassed smile, "I said that I wanted to be in battle more often just a few hours ago and now I'm the one being most hesitant. It's shameful." She said as her veins popped out in the side of both her eyes.

"Tell us what you have planned Rei. You must have a devious plan. I can already see that smirk you have on your face."

My grin just got wider hearing that.

Tatsumi POV:

The three-way barrage continued, Reiga holding his ground with his massive greatsword. At first glance, it looked like he was being overwhelmed. He seemed to be dodging narrowly, forced on the defensive. But as the seconds passed, a shift began to show. His movements grew sharper. His blocks more precise. He started predicting their attacks before they even landed.

What was more surprising was that he hadn't taken a single hit.

The smug grins of the Jashinists began to falter. What they thought was a sluggish swordsman now looked like a coiled predator. He wasn't weak. He had never been weak. He had just been biding his time, reading them like a book.

Tatsumi, realizing their mistake, clenched his jaw and raised a hand in signal. Enough games.

With a flurry of hand signs, he slammed his palm to the ground. Earth surged upward, molding itself into a hulking golem. Over eight feet tall, it was all muscle and mass, each step shaking the ground beneath it. The two other Jashinist jonin backed off, giving the golem room to charge.

It lunged at Reiga with terrifying speed, its rocky limbs ready to crush. Reiga had not shown any feat of his speed till this point. And that made Tatsumi sure of his attack.

'He's done,' Tatsumi thought. 'No one can swing a sword that big in time. He'll be flattened before he can even move. This is what happens when you bring a large chunk of metal to a fight against shinobis.'

But then—his instincts screamed. Something was wrong.

Chakra began to pour out from the sword itself and before their eyes, earth began clumping around the blade, fusing with it. The already massive weapon grew larger, thicker, broader and yet it held its shape perfectly. It transformed, becoming an earth-forged replica of the same greatsword, only now twice the mass and twice the size.

Reiga didn't flinch. He raised the ten-foot monstrosity like it was nothing and brought it down in a single, fluid motion.

The earth golem didn't stand a chance. The blade cleaved through it cleanly straight down the middle. Stone shattered on impact, chunks flying, dust exploding into the air. But the sword didn't stop.

It kept going.

The ground split beneath the force, a long, jagged crack spreading forward as if the earth itself was wounded. Trees in the arc of the swing buckled and fell with loud crashes. The Jashinists jumped backward, barely escaping the edge of the blow. Even from a distance, the sheer power of the swing sent shockwaves through the clearing.

Tatsumi's eyes widened as he saw the blade graze the arm of their wind-style user, Rolo. It was a glancing blow, barely even can be called a touch. But it sent him tumbling backward with a scream. His arm twisted unnaturally, bruising dark and fast like ink bleeding beneath the skin.

Reiga stood at the center of the destruction, his massive sword resting on his shoulder, expression unchanged.

It was pure, terrifying brute force.

Tatsumi still didn't falter as he realized much chakra was needed to use the jutsu Reiga had just used. A plan started to form inside mis mind. But before he could even finalize anything, he felt lightning prickle skin.

As lightning prickled Tatsumi's skin, Tatsumi noticed that Reiga was not in his previous spot anymore. His great sword had also vanished.

Rather now he was inches away from his face with a lightning katana by his side. His dead looking eyes conveyed the same apathy it had shown the entirety of the battle. A look that conveyed to him that 'You don't matter.'

The katana flashed again as Reiga slashed it right towards Tatsumi, targeting to bisect him in a surprise attack.

Instinctively Tatsumi made an earth barrier to soften the blow somehow. But it was ultimately for naught as the lightning katana slashed right through the barrier like it was nothing. The affinity advantage clear in the exchange, the katana slashed through Tatsumi's torso.

With frantic movements, Tatsumi got out of the range of that katana as much as he could. But yet, he could not properly get away as he found himself with a large gash through his torso.

Just a few inches and he would've been cut in half.

Thankfully, the two of his teammates rushed in before Reiga could come along and finish the job. His apathetic, cold eyes met his as he spoke in a voice that seemed more demonic than human,

"You survived that. It seems that I've been slacking off too much lately. No worries. I've only used three of my weapons. This might be as good a time as any to get some training."

Where the hell did his greatsword go? Is he a weapon specialist or an elemental specialist?

Reiga's techniques were too weird. He had just used two opposing elements back-to-back without even weaving any hand sign. His weapons were coming out of nowhere without a summoning scroll and each of the weapons had different elemental powers to them.

Tatsumi racked his brains more, Reiga had just said three weapons. And then it hit him. That the first sword attack he had used to kill the fake chunin was not a normal sword. It had a wind element to it. Making it much faster and deadlier.

Wind. Earth. Lightning.

A rough estimation of Reiga's ability began to take shape in Tatsumi's mind as he bit down on a military-grade food pill. The bleeding slowed just enough, but in its place came a wave of searing agony. It rippled through his nerves like wildfire, and he welcomed it.

His body trembled, not with fear, but with delight.

Oh, the pain. Sweet, sacred pain. It clawed at his insides, burned through his veins—and he laughed, a low, ragged sound. This was no curse. This was a gift. The agony was clarity, ecstasy, devotion. Each throb a hymn, each gasp a prayer.

Soon Lord Jashin would bless him with immortality. Then, oh then, he would bask in suffering for eternity. His own, and everyone else's. No limits. No end. Just endless, glorious torment. This was the only reason he joined this cult to begin with.

With his manic grin, he got up with the support of two of his teammates.

"Ah! This is fun, leaf shinobi! Show me how much pain you can give me! Just this much is not enough for me to get riled up! Show me your worth in the presence of Lord Jashin!"

In response Reiga just groaned and muttered under his breath,

"Agh! Fucking cultists. Why do they always need to be creepy as fuck!"