Samui dove to the ground, rolling in the mud, and activated her own jutsu: Raiton: Lightning Blade. Her tanto extended with an electric aura, and she sliced through the winds like paper, charging the first ninja. She opened his belly with a horizontal strike, his entrails spilling in a disgusting SPLASH!
The two other Fūton-users tried to pincer her, one launching explosive kunai, the other summoning a Fūton: Tornado. Samui dodged the explosions, her reflexes honed by years of combat.
She jumped into the tornado, using her chakra to anchor herself, and launched a lightning bolt from her blade. The Anbu who'd summoned the jutsu took the discharge full in the chest, his body convulsing before collapsing, smoking. She landed near the second, severing his legs with a low strike. He screamed, crawling, and she finished him with a heel to the skull.
The last three Anbu, more cautious, opted for a group tactic. One launched a Genjutsu: Mist Illusion, enveloping Samui in a vision of chains strangling her. She growled, shattering the illusion with sheer will, her eyes blazing.
"Pathetic," she spat, spotting the genjutsu-user. She leaped, her tanto piercing his heart before he could react. The other two attacked together – one with a Katon: Dragon's Breath, the other with frenzied taijutsu, his fists reinforced with chakra.
Samui blocked the fire with an electric barrier, the heat singeing her hair. She dove under the taijutsu-user's punch, slicing his leg tendons. He crumpled, and she crushed his throat with a heel strike, blood splattering her boots.
The last one, desperate, attempted a Katon: Wall of Flames. Samui charged through, her Raiton chakra barely protecting her, and planted her tanto in his sternum. She twisted the blade, a morbid wet sound accompanying the ninja's last gasp.
Breathing hard, covered in blood and mud, Samui sheathed her tanto, her breasts heaving beneath her torn tunic. The clearing was a massacre – mutilated bodies, broken trees, ground soaked in red.
She spat on the ground, a fierce smile on her lips. "Bunch of amateurs," she muttered, before glancing toward the cave where Makima had disappeared, ready to rejoin her mistress.
Makima had vanished from the clearing, leaving Samui to deal with the Anbu. Her keen senses had guided her to a presence lurking in the shadows, not far from the camouflaged entrance to Orochimaru's hideout.
Beneath the cliff, in a crevice lined with twisted pines and damp rocks, she found Yamato, one of Konoha's legendary Anbu. He stood motionless, his wooden mask half-raised, revealing a dull face.
His dark eyes fixed on her, and an aura of raw chakra emanated from him. He was a Suiton, Doton, and Mokuton user. Makima stopped, her heels sinking into the mud, a mischievous smirk on her lips.
"You're not an insect like the others," she said, her voice soft but sharp as a blade. "Yamato, right? Konoha sent you to play guard dog?"
Yamato didn't respond immediately. He adjusted his headband, his hard gaze analyzing every detail of this strange woman who reeked of danger. "You're not from around here," he growled finally. "What do you want with Orochimaru? Talk, or I'll bury you."
Makima burst into light laughter, almost childlike. "Bury me? Oh, I'd love to see that." She spread her arms, provocative. He's strong, but he's already dead. He just doesn't know it yet, she thought, her golden eyes sparkling with a sinister light.
Yamato struck first, his hands forming seals at lightning speed. Mokuton: Strangling Forest! The ground exploded beneath Makima, thick roots like tree trunks bursting forth to ensnare her. They coiled around her legs, their sharp tips aiming to pierce her flesh.
But Makima raised a hand, and a telekinetic wave shattered the roots into splinters, sending wood chips flying in the humid air. "Cute," she sneered, before leaping toward him, her invisible claws – an extension of her telekinetic power – aiming for his throat.
Yamato dodged with a Shunshin, reappearing on a rock. Suiton: Raging Wave! A roaring torrent of water surged from his mouth, a liquid wall charged with chakra that rushed toward Makima like a tsunami.
She didn't move, letting the water engulf her. Yamato narrowed his eyes, wary, when suddenly, she emerged from the wave, drenched but unharmed, her smile still plastered on her face. "Is that all?" she taunted, before extending her fingers. A spectral chain shot from nowhere, wrapping around Yamato's arm.
He growled, severing the chain with a kunai, but Makima was already on him. Her fist slammed into his jaw, a CRACK! echoing as he flew across the crevice, crashing into a tree that split in two. Blood dripped from his lip, but he got up, forming a new seal. Doton: Stone Wall!
A rock barrier surged up, blocking Makima. She struck the wall with a telekinetic blow, reducing it to rubble, but Yamato used the diversion to summon Mokuton: Wooden Prison. Thick beams encircled her, closing in like a cage.
Makima found herself trapped, the beams' sharp tips lacerating her arms and thighs. Blood flowed, staining her white shirt, and Yamato thought for a moment he had the advantage.