Chapter 48.3- Gamer of the Desert

XXXXX- MANGETSU HOZUKI OF THE SEVEN SWORDS

For this mission, he’d chosen to wield the thunderswords. It was the most effective of the seven to use against the Tailed Beast they sought to capture, and being limited to only of them meant that he had to pick based on the prey he would be hunting. He almost scoffed at the thought. The bitch had the gall to suggest that he wasn’t powerful enough to keep the swords safe. Like he hadn’t wielded most of them all on his lonesome. Winning a single battle with some bullshit genjutsu made her look down on him. Made her order him around like he was one of her dogs to be summoned and directed at her will. It irritated him.

The fact that she’d sent her pet Hunter nin to summon him and then sent the mission assignment through a messenger instead of facing him herself had almost made him decide to damn the plan to the depths and kill the bitch right then and there. He’d wait though. If there was one thing he’d learned from his Sensei, it was that waiting before having your meal could make it taste a million times better. That was the goal here. He’d wait. And when the time came, he’d be the shark that got the last bite.

“Are you paying attention” The Hunter nin asked, getting nothing but a grunt from him.

“This is a highly dangerous mission, boy. Mizukage-sama has made it clear that we are to attempt to use diplomacy to return the traitor jinchuriki to the village. With the world going to the hells, we can’t afford to not have a jinchuriki. That means you can’t attack him, boy. No trying to kill him” The pretentious bastard spoke.

“And what then am I here for?” He asked, unsure of his role in all this madness. Mangetsu had never been a master of diplomacy. He’d honestly doubt that Kiri had anyone who could claim such a specialisation. But that was neither here nor there. If he wasn’t being brought on this mission to fight, then what the fuck had he been called for. 
“Your Uncle was the Jinchuriki’s teammate for much of his time as a loyal Shinobi. Reports say that the two of them developed some form of friendship and camaraderie over their years together. Your presence here is out of the hope that he refrains from attacking us or running away immediately out of respect for your Uncle.” The cyclops explained, making Mangetsu want to slam his head against a tree.

“What kind of retard came up with that bullshit?”…”Be careful how you speak of the Mizukage boy” Cyclops had lost the little warmth in his voice, turning to pin Mangetsu with a dead stare from his single eye. Mangetsu, uncaring of what threat the old washed up shinobi could present, marched on nonetheless.

“For one, my Uncle is long dead. Secondly, even if that wasn’t the case, how is that going to matter here? That I’m related to a former teammate of his?”

“It is not your job to question your superiors, boy. Stay quiet and do as you are told” That was the end of the conversation and silence reigned. Just as Mangetsu would have preferred.

XXXXX

“Utakata, Jinchuriki of the Rokubi” Cyclops said in greeting. Mangetsu resisted the urge to facepalm again. Was he the only one with a thread of wisdom in this entire catastrophe? If Cyclops didn’t want to have a fight, then confronting his target right in the middle of his ramshackle hut was a terrible way to go about it. The man had foregone wearing anything that could have identified him as hunter nin, but had forgotten to pick up a new personality where he got the new clothes.

Mangetsu could see the second that the Jinchuriki came to a decision. There was only one question that mattered in life, Mangetsu had learned in his decade as a shinobi of Kirigakure. Fight or Flight?To no one’s surprise and Mangetsu’s eternal disappointment, the Jinchuriki made the wrong choice. It made as if to dive at them before jumping right through the window to the left. Neither he nor the Cyclops were foolish enough to jump through the same exit and made use of the open door.

Mangetsu, through the corner of his vision, could make out the bubbles that flew through the window before he was tossed off his feet from the shockwave of the explosion behind him. He used the momentum to throw himself forward and wasted no time to continue his purchase once he found his bearings.

Looking up told him that both Cyclops and the Jinchuriki had made good distance in his second of distraction. He wondered how the old man had managed to keep his feet considering Mangetsu had made it out of the house before him and he was closer to the explosion. Out of mind it went as he picked up speed to catch up to both of them while unsheating the thunderswords from his back.

“Stop moving, Jinchuriki. I don’t want to kill you” He lied with a bold face.

“Your voice sounds just like Singetsu’s when you lie” The Jinchuriki tossed back at him with a laugh.

Drats. Mangetsu shrugged before pointing the swords at his fleeing prey. He flexed his chakra and then fed it to the sword. Out of nowhere, he felt his footing get disturbed as his legs were swept out from under him. The attack missed and he was forced to watch the lightning sail right past his quarry. “No killing shots, idiot boy” Cyclops said from above him with a harsh tone.

Mangetsu, however, was not paying much attention to him. Not when the lightning attack tore through several trees in the small forest they were running through before suddenly stopping. It stopped, and then it disappeared. With his vision no longer blinded by the light, he was assaulted by the vision of the strangest man he’d ever seen. Black stud jewellery pierced every visible opening on his face. Even the most ridiculous civilians had not gone so far into the craze. Mangetsu wondered how he could ever have missed the man. Even surrounded by tress, the man was the most imposing thing in the forest. He put down his hands and Mangetsu was forced to remember just how his attack had turned into nothingness. It was like the jutsu had been absorbed for some reason.

“Utakata, runaway shinobi of Kirigakure. Surrender” Another voice rang out. This time, it was a much slimmer man with hair long enough to belong a woman. He walked forwards, not a care in the world. Mangetsu noted the similarities between both men. More piercings than he’d thought reasonable along with the same black cloak spotted in red clouds. Was this some sort of entertainment troupe?

A/N; Swapped perspectives for a bit.