"Seeing those bandits in such a condition is making my stomach turn inside out." Sakura said as she cleaned her face and came back beside Tazuna.
Tazuna looked at her with pity in his eyes because he knew that one day even she would have to do something like this to her enemies.
The battle on the right side of the bridge where Guy and Neji were waiting had also started. Guy was kicking and punching every bandit coming near him. The sound of bones crushing could be heard with every punch and kick. Many of the bandits died on the spot after getting a lethal hit on their chest or head.
Neji on the other hand was targeting the joints of the bandits making them unable to use their limbs. He hadn't killed as many as the others but his taijutsu was showing its prowess at defense. He hadn't let a single bandit pass through him and reach near Tazuna and the others. From time to time, he and Sasuke would look at each other to see who is ahead.
The bandits kept coming and Kakashi and Sasuke didn't use any other jutsu as it would damage the bridge as well. Kakashi didn't use Chidori as mere mercenaries weren't worth it.
The bandit leaders didn't even bother looking at their dying people. The money and work Gato had promised them after a successful mission was worth way more than those crude bandits whose only job was to tire out the shinobis.
After fighting for quite some time, Neji and Sasuke started feeling tired. They were completely soaked in sweat and they were breathing heavily. Guy and Kakashi noticed this and told them to go back a few steps and recover some part of their strength so that they could jump into battle again.
'We didn't even use our dojutsu but still got tired. We need to go back into battle as soon as we can. These damm bandits aren't stopping at all.' they both thought. Sasuke sheathed his sword and kept it on the table near Tazuna. Neji and he both came near Tazuna and Sakura. Sakura gave them water and gave them some ointment to put on their wounds. Sakura tried to put the ointment herself on Sasuke but he denied it. He didn't want to look weak.
As they were both treating their injuries and Sakura was helping them they heard sounds of tapping on both their sides.
The three genins looked up and saw 20 hooded figures standing on the railings. All 20 of them had sickles in their hand. The sickles had a green substance on their edge.
Sasuke and Neji quickly stood up. Neji looked at Sasuke and Sakura and said
"Careful...the sickles seem to have poison on them."
Yami who was laying on the stack of wooden planks raised his eyebrows as he heard that
'This was the first time Neji has taken the initiative to be a team player and even warn genins from another team.'
Neji and Sasuke both looked at Kakashi and Guy but both their senseis were busy fighting a horde of bandits. They understood that it was now up to them to handle these bandits.
They both got back in their fighting stance. Seeing Sasuke's hand on the sword shivering and the multiple cuts on Neji's hand Sakura couldn't help but feel angry at herself for being so powerless. She mustered all the courage she had a pulled out a kunai from her pocket.
" I will fight with you guys." she said making a stern face but inside she was panicking.
Neji turned toward Sakura and instantly concluded that she wasn't up for the task. He then looked at Yami who was laying down comfortably. Neji wanted to ask Yami for his help but he could do so. He knew Yami had already done a lot in this mission by getting rid of the shinobi groups and asking him to do more would be shameless behavior on his part.
5 cloaked mercenaries from each side of the bridge jumped at the 3 genins. They knew that Neji and Sasuke were already tired and Sakura wasn't a hardened fighter like the rest of shinobis.
Neji looked back at Yami who was still resting. Yami looked as if he was unbothered by what was happening. Neji wasn't even sure whether Yami would save his elder brother much less him and Sakura. But still Neji decided to fight the mercenaries and protect Tazuna even if it is his last battle.
'Even if me and Neji take on 4 bandits, Sakura still has to take on 2 and except me both of them don't use weapons so they might get infected with the green substance. Sakura's kunai won't be much of a help if she can't use them properly.' thoughts were racing through Sasuke's mind as he saw the predicment he was in.
Sasuke slashed his sword at one of the mercenaries who got a slash on his shoulder. The cut wasn't deep enough to cut of the man's arm but still Sasuke heard the man wince in pain and jump back. The one beside him quickly took the opportunity and swiped his sickle toward Sasuke's neck but Sasuke stopped it with his sword before it could touch his neck. He expected the man to jump back as well seeing that his attack had failed but the man applied more pressure.
'He wants to keep my hands and sword engaged with his sickle so that his comrades can attack me.' realization dawned on Sasuke and he saw a mercenary run from his other side a with a sickle in his hand. He aimed for his waist and the sickle was lathered with the green poison.
Before the man could get close to Sasuke, Sakura stabbed that man's neck with her kunai. A jet of blood sprayed on her clothes. The smell of blood and the red scene in front of her horrified her. She was able to match the mercenaries speed only because she used chakra to boost her speed instantly. It was a trick shown by Kakashi to dodge attacks quickly.
"I-I k-killed someone." Sakura said. She looked at Neji and Sasuke only to see the two of them on their knees resisting the bandits.
'Are we gonna die? Is this it for me?' she thought but then she heard a voice coming from behind her.
LEAF WHIRLWIND...
SHADOW CLONE JUTSU...
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