Book One: The Rise of the Blue-Haired Devil.

      There was silence. The legendary shinobi studied me intently. His perceptive gaze travelled all over me, easily spotting where the hidden weapons were. I, on the other hand, was simply waiting for the moment when my enemy would try to negotiate. Obviously, I was the one he was luring out. I carefully watched all his movements so that I could react in time to an unexpected attack. My perception was at its peak at the moment..... all my senses were heightened to the extreme... I was prepared for any outcome. Now my plan had drastically narrowed down to two possible ramifications. My opponent wasn't very confident, as he hadn't brought any hostages with him, but his confidence was enough that I could still take advantage of it.       - My name is Sasuke Sarutobi, and you are Michiko Yuki? - stretched out the head of the Sarutobi clan. He was literally tasting my name, savouring this moment. Apparently, he already thought he had me stumped. In fact, the carelessness in his voice made me very angry.       - Yes," I said coldly, noting that his ninjas had surrounded me. Most likely, while we were talking, another squad had arrived, so I was now standing surrounded by five ninjas, not counting the other five who were guarding the child.       - Aha-ha-ha-ha. - Suddenly, even for me, my companion laughed. I only raised my eyebrows in incomprehension. What's so funny? Maybe I just don't understand something....       - I didn't think a teenager could fool two shinobi gods. What an amazing world this is. - he said in a mocking manner, still stretching out each word.       - Is that funny? - I asked a logical question, staring at him intently.       - What's funny is that you, like the hero of some story, came to save Mito-san. It's just so ridiculous. - He explained to me as he began to smile.       - What about the other girl? - I spoke in a calm tone, but the aura that was beginning to form around me made my psychological state clear.       - Erm, if you mean the yellow-haired one, she is unconscious right now, but as soon as she wakes up, she will be fed to my clan members. It's been a while since they've had any fun. - he sang with a note of joy in his voice.       - She's been in your custody for a week. You mean she's been out for a week? - Literally growling with anger, I hissed the next question. Only now my adversary's face changed. He realised that he had hit me in the face. This ninja knew well that it was easier to defeat an enemy who didn't control his emotions.       - We tortured her. For five whole days, yet she never said a word to us. Even her delusions were like pure loyalty to her clan. It was amazing at the time, but now I understand why she was so firm and resolute in her intentions. She's not afraid of death... that's very commendable... but you are afraid of her death..." he grinned slyly. He really liked to look for the weaknesses of his allies and enemies. It was his hobby... It was a hobby that helped him conduct almost perfect politics for his clan, which was why this man's clan could compete with the Ino-Shiko-Cho clan alliance for the third place in terms of influence in the territory of the Fire Country. The first and second place were shared by the Uchiha and Senju clans.        I clenched my fists to the point where blood gushed from my hands. At this rate, I would die from blood loss, but I didn't care about that right now. I was so angry that I simply had no control over my actions. My eyes lit up with a blue glow from the lust for killing. The former ninjas surrounding me took a few steps back. My aura was too sinister and frightening at that moment.       - Michiko, give up and we won't kill those two girls. Otherwise, the outcome will be very bad for them. - The head of the Sarutobi clan demanded with a commanding tone in his voice. His gaze became serious and puzzled. Every cell in his body was now screaming danger. My behaviour had alarmed the man. My consciousness cleared slightly and I decided to give my best in this fight. I slowly raised my hands, starting to pull out my hidden edged weapons from my inner pockets. For the most part, they were senbon. Why was I doing this? It was very simple. I needed to loosen the seals of resistance on my body, which were currently severely limiting my speed. The enemy simply couldn't know my unthinkable speed, because I had never shown it before, using only my improved ice genome. And I hadn't unlocked all the techniques of my element yet. After emptying all my pockets, I slowly kneeled down with my hands on the back of my head. The ninja immediately walked over to me, placing several chakra-blocking seals on me and shackled me. Sarutobi's squad immediately took me in a ring, however my keen perception noticed that they had relaxed. Except Sasuke didn't let up on the slack, coming up to me and examining me closely. It was obvious even to me that the man's intuition was screaming for a catch. However, he too calmed down slightly once he was sure that my chakra was blocked. Good thing I was a good sensor and could hide my chakra.       - It's nothing personal mate. I just want to make money for my men, and Madara has put a crazy bounty on your head. - spoke the head of the famous clan with sympathy in his voice. At this moment, everyone's attention was weakened by the illusion that their enemy was completely weakened. I decided to take action.       - Ice Element. Ice Oblivion Technique. - I muttered the name of the technique to myself. In this case, no seals were needed for this technique, because manipulating ice at a high level or in huge amounts was not required. Several ice spikes burst out of my body, targeting the vital points of my opponents. The ice spurs were spears of equal length. All of them left my body with the same speed and amazing accuracy. The attack was unexpected and fast. Not all shinobi were able to react in time to this ice ninjutsu. Four of the gawkers died because of their mistake. Sasuke was able to react in time by jumping aside. Another ninja repelled the attack with his katana at the very last moment. I, on the other hand, wasted no time, using the few seconds of delay to close in on the heir to the Sarutobi clan. In a moment, I tore the shackles, the structure of which I had already begun to freeze from the inside from the very beginning. Even though the kid was protected by five ninja, I was too fast for their gaze.       - The summoning technique! - I said the name of the technique, folding a few seals as I went. I needed blood for this technique, and normally ninjas would bite their finger to summon their contract animal from another world, but I was summoning a blade that was the embodiment of Morgana in this world. The blade was uniquely shaped. It had a rather thick blade of three millimetres, and it also stood out as if it was half broken: it was about half a metre long, but the width of the blade was different. Part of the blade seemed as if it had been broken off. The sharp part was fifteen centimetres thick, but the blunt part occupied only half of the required volume, that is, according to the whole design idea, the blade should have been twenty-five to thirty centimetres wide, and it was for this thickness that the handle of this weapon was intended. The handle held the sharp blade only due to the fact that the first ten centimetres of the blade had its normal width. The blade was a pale blue colour, with black spots in places. The most frightening thing this weapon possessed was its own will. I highly doubted that anyone but me would be able to use this cold weapon. Such an attempt would result in the thief's painful death, for Morgana would not tolerate such a thing. In this case, the word cold took on a new meaning. The aura of the sword was grave..... empty.... It literally froze the soul of its user. This blade was very thirsty for only one thing - spilled blood. It wanted death, so I was afraid to use it in battle on a subconscious level, because if I lost control of myself during the battle, I could become an executioner, obeying the will of his weapon, and that was a very unenviable fate. But now I didn't care about the consequences. I had to give my best to save Yumi. With one horizontal swing, I planned to kill the two opponents in front of me. To my surprise, they had time to take countermeasures. One of them put out a kunai in an attempt to block my attack, and the other one managed to move aside in preparation for a retaliatory attack. But things weren't as rosy as they wanted. My weapon easily sliced through the kunai, cutting off the head of the first ninja, and Morgana, controlling the very nature of the blade, suddenly extended the blade of the blade, cutting off the arm of the second ninja. A cry of pain rang out over the battle scene, but it was only for a moment, after which the Sarutobi clan member passed out from pain shock. I didn't dwell on it, moving on. Sasuke was already approaching me from behind, as were the surviving ninjas from the squad that had come to his aid, so I couldn't delay. I had to reveal another of my trump cards. It took about a second for Morgana to return the blade to its original state, and then I made a few swings of the blade while running, releasing waves of cold wind in an arc-shape. We had already entered the Sarutobi settlement. Again, my attack had a decent speed, so the ninjas didn't have time to fold their seals. I could tell from their actions that they had come to realise that it was better not to be hit by my techniques. They began to dodge several of my ninjutsu. One of them was holding an heir behind his back. It was towards this shinobi that I moved. The enemy had no way to use the technique or dodge the attack, for he was in flight. Morgana extended the blade of her weapon once more, piercing through the opponent's chest through and through. I snatched Sarutobi's heir from the dead ninja's hands, and then stopped with my blade at the child's throat, showing my intentions. A whole crowd of Sarutobi clan ninjas, led by Sasuke, were already moving behind me, but they all stopped when they saw my actions. The man's eyes, which had a brown hue, looked at me with such hatred and anger that if looks could kill, I would have died several times over.       - My terms are simple. - I began to speak calmly. My voice was cold and confident. - You give me back Mito Uzumaki and Yumiko Yuki, and I let your son live. - I made my demands in the same tone.       Some might say I'm the last scum, and you'd be absolutely right. What I'm doing is very low. even despicable. but it's the only way I can save two people dear to my soul. The man across from me is clearly a master of intrigue, and he is also a very good warrior and politician. This person is capable of the lowest deeds, because he killed a group of Uzumaki merchants, who simply could not oppose him. Why kill those who can't make a difference... those who can't fight back? I didn't have any positive feelings towards this Sasuke, and I don't care if he was doing all this for his clan. It's all excuses. Even Madara isn't as badass as this Sarutobi, because at least the head of the Uchiha clan only kills ninjas. He doesn't touch peaceful people, which shows that this man has some principles, but the man in front of me has only one principle - the principle of consolidating power and enriching his wallet. This is very low and stupid. To have no more values in life. So it's very difficult to consider the ninja in front of me as a human being. Good intentions should not cover up your rotten actions. Actions are more important than words and promises. You should behave with such people the way they behave with you, so I felt no remorse for my actions.       Sasuke stared into my eyes for about a minute, trying to detect even the slightest bit of bluff or doubt in my actions, but he failed. I was too sure I was right. - Bring in the two girls. - He hissed to the nearest subordinate, who shuddered at the tone of his superior, but he quickly regained his composure and went somewhere on the rooftops. I jumped down from the roof, starting to move slowly towards the exit of the settlement.       - Where are you going? - Sasuke asked me in a hostile tone, noticing my actions. - I'm leaving your settlement. It is not profitable for me to exchange hostages here. - I explained to him in the same cold voice. At that moment I was beginning to feel weak and tired all over my body again. The adrenaline was no longer holding these factors back, and my condition had deteriorated, and I was travelling at such a great speed for the first time. Many muscles in my body were ready to tear now, but I had to be patient. I was almost one hundred per cent sure that my opponent would not let me go so easily.       - Stop right there. - Sasuke growled, taking a few steps in my direction, but he stopped quickly as I turned my whole body towards him and pressed lightly on his son's throat, releasing a few drops of scarlet liquid onto the ground.       - The exchange is either on my terms or none. - I stated in the same callous tone that sent shivers down to my knees. The legendary ninja growled, but still let me through, ordering everyone else to allow me to leave the village. With a slow and leisurely pace, I walked towards the gate. Why was I taking my time? It was very simple. My body was aching and my joints were cramping. I had to be very careful. Moving in a hurry would affect my perception a lot, so it was better to be sure that there would be no surprises than to finish things quickly. It took me about fifteen minutes to get out of the settlement with the hostage. Sasuke, along with his ninjas, kept fifteen metres away from me so as not to provoke me. I had already felt two familiar chakra moving in our direction for about two minutes. When I turned around, however, I saw Mito holding Yumi's mangled body in her arms. She had already taken a few steps in my direction when Sasuke stopped her by grabbing her arm.       - First, release my son. - He demanded in a firm voice. Do I look like such a moron to you? As soon as I put this brat in his hands, that's it.... the fairy tale is over. a bunch of ninjas are going to jump on me. So I shook my head back at him as a sign that I didn't agree to such conditions.       - Let them go at the same time, Sasuke-san. Let the hostages slowly switch places. - I said in a serious voice. It was a very delicate situation right now. We couldn't provoke them, or they might do something. As long as the girls were in danger, we couldn't take any chances. Sarutobi nodded back at me, agreeing with that decision. He let go of Mito, and I let go of the kid. They began to move towards each other with slow steps. Uzumaki was shallow, so she discreetly explained to me in sign language the situation, which would be very bad if Mito wasn't from the clan of seal masters. From her gestures, I realised that she had several explosive seals and one chakra blocking seal placed on her. She also made it clear that I shouldn't worry, as she had already disarmed all those seals. I just made a subtle nod, letting her know that I had taken note of what she said. Even nature stood still, waiting for the denouement. They had been walking for a very long time. It seemed as if it lasted for hours. After passing the middle, Sarutobi's heir and the daughter of the head of the Uzumaki clan met gazes. If the child looked at the girl with hatred and anger, the girl answered him with a cold look, through which one could understand that she did not care about the fate of this person. When the hostages reached their positions, Sasuke threw a hateful look at me, by which I understood everything.       - Mito, run. The Uzumaki will meet you. - I shouted to the red-haired girl.       - But what about... - the girl wanted to object something, but I stopped her.       - There's no time, run before it's too late. - I added in a serious voice, looking into her eyes with a confident gaze. She flinched at this action, but she obeyed me and started running into the forest.       - Stop her! - shouted the head of the Sarutobi clan in anger. He was truly furious because someone dared to blackmail him, Sasuke Sarutobi himself. It was incomprehensible, but the fact that it was done by a teenager, who looked no more than fourteen years old, also hurt his conscience. The man would have been overcome with pride if he'd just let his abuser go. I didn't hesitate, folding the seal of concentration in response.       - Explosion. - I said dryly, and then there was a hissing sound throughout the clearing, where about two hundred ninjas were. Many jumped into the air at once, using chakra to end up in the nearest trees. Sasuke noticed in time that the sound of hissing was coming from his son, so he was able to save his heir's life only due to his intuition and reactions, by ripping off his jacket, on which I had left an explosive seal. How come there are so many explosive seals? Simply, every step I took with the hostage, I was accompanied by placing a seal on the ground. From the outside it might have looked like it was just mud on my boots, but Master Uzumaki would have immediately determined that they were explosive seals. Half of Sarutobi's village was now on fire, as there were a decent amount of explosive seals left there as well.       - Ice Element, Storm of a Thousand Needles. - I spoke the name of another technique, pouring the rest of my chakra into it. I was forced to do so, because about two dozen ninjas managed to pass the danger zone. They were already moving towards the forest, where the red poppy was still visible. I had to delay them. After using this ninjutsu, I fell to one knee, starting to breathe heavily. My muscles were already burning so badly from overexertion that I felt like one more move and they would tear.       - You..." Sasuke said in a growling voice. - You killed my kin, set my house on fire. Don't expect a quick death. I will torture you so long that you will beg me not for mercy, but for death. - He continued speaking in the same voice while pulling out two unusually shaped shurikens. Each of them was slightly larger than a palm and had four sharp blades. The two special throwing weapons were already flying towards me. I couldn't move anymore, so I decided to fight them off. I repelled the first shuriken, although I had to take a few steps back from the force put into that throw, however, the second shuriken snapped at the last moment, opening up into several sharp throwing weapons at once. I noticed that my opponent had infused his weapon with wind chakra, increasing its piercing power, however what had completely escaped my sight was that the second shuriken was attached to Sasuke's arm with a metal fishing line. Several sharp blades stabbed into my flesh at once. One of them hit my arm, but it wasn't critical. The second one hit my shoulder, clearly damaging the bone. And the third pierced my stomach, which was bad enough for me. I growled in pain as I tried to pull the iron out of me, but it was very deep.       - You must use your main trump card, or you will be finished. - Morgana said very nervously. She sounded anxious, even panicked.       - I know. - I said out loud, trying to catch my breath. I folded the seal of concentration again, so that I could concentrate fully.       - Fuinjutsu, breaking the seal. - I whispered the name of the technique. The opponents had already surrounded me, intending to attack me from all sides. They were amicably folding seals to produce some kind of joint technique.       - Fire element, large fireball. - The members of the Sarutobi clan chorused. Sasuke was also performing this technique, but I noticed that he was using it a little slower than he could so that the stream of fire could combine into one jutsu with the others. At the same moment, the symbols of fuinjutsu spread across my body, and then I covered myself with my blade, hoping to block the enemy's ninjutsu somehow. The wave of fire coming from all sides prevented me from doing anything, and there was no time to use any defensive techniques. I just hissed in pain. The blade increased in size at the last moment, blocking the enemy's attack from three sides, but the fire still reached my back. I was badly wounded... the pain was unbearable. I may have broken the seal, but it's just chakra stimulating my muscles and my brain from finally giving up. I could feel the pain very well, which was very strange because it had never happened before, but there was no time to think about it. My back burned. Probably second-degree burns, but I wasn't sure about that. As long as there was a curtain of dust, which in no way prevented me from fighting, I attacked, releasing several energy waves from my blade at once. While there was an opportunity and the enemy was disorientated from the surprise attack, I cut off all the weapons that hit me with a light movement. My back was covered in a crust of ice. A blissful chill ran through my body. It felt good, but it was too soon to relax. The wounds will take a long time to heal, but my left arm is partially functional now, and the glands inside the wounds keep the blood from leaving my body. I don't need my left arm so much for combat as for clamping the wound in my stomach. If I freeze that wound, I lose a lot of mobility and speed. As it is, I have a few minutes to figure out how to get away from my opponents. Oh, no. I can't get away. Sasuke won't let me go. I have to kill this ninja, otherwise I'll have another eternal stalker, which is very undesirable....       - Why don't you die already?! - The head of the Sarutobi clan shouted, looking at my condition as the dust cleared. I quickly assessed the situation. The explosions and techniques had severely crippled all the opponents. Sasuke had to send half of the ninjas to the village to put out the fire that started to break out after the explosions. There were only twenty men left of the second hundred, and they were all bruised, even Sasuke was wounded, albeit not seriously. There was an even scratch across his chest. It wasn't deep. Apparently he was saving one of his own and didn't calculate the speed of my technique. The other ninjas were no better. One against twenty? It was one against two hundred... before it was one against two hundred, though one shouldn't get cocky.... the fight isn't over yet.        I was once again enclosed in the ring, but now it was not so simple. My blade had transformed, becoming a metre and a half long. It took a lot of chakra, but it was clearly worth it. I could now swing away from opponents at a distance who couldn't hit me with their katanas or kunai. Yes, sometimes they threw weapons at me, forcing me to dodge or block them with my sword, but that was to my advantage, because they thought I had opened up at that moment, but that wasn't the case. With the help of chakra I would accelerate sharply, cutting through the opponent that was attacking me. I had to pay a lot of attention to the lunges of Sasuke, who had pulled out his tanto to reach me. He was very skilful at throwing kunai and shuriken, but I was no stranger to it, so he had to use iron fishing lines. In five minutes, I had cut half of them, though not without loss. A few kunai I did miss to get the ninja though. I took those kunai on my left hand, which had been bleeding for a while now. By the beginning of the sixth minute, I began to feel weakness in my body and the worst part was that no matter how much I fuelled my body with chakra, it didn't help. I had to go all-in. I went on the offensive, ignoring most of my wounds. After two minutes, there were three opponents left in front of me, including Sasuke, who I managed to wound. Blood was now continuously flowing from his side, hinting that he would need emergency medical attention. But I was only getting worse. I still had plenty of chakra, but my body. The muscles in my legs and arms were torn. Even the new adrenaline from the fight for my life wasn't doing enough to dull my pain. I had long since stopped feeling my left arm. The muscles in my legs were already swollen from the strain, and my right hand was holding onto the blade stuck in the ground. Blood was pouring from my mouth... I knew death was near, but I'd take those bastards with me. It was only the blade that kept me standing.       - That's the end of it, though I must admit you're a very strong opponent. - Sasuke noted with respect in his voice. His breathing was heavy. He, too, was tired from fighting me. He gave a wave to the two remaining aides.... they went behind my back as the head of the Sarutobi clan himself was about to strike with his tanto from the front.       - Ice element, instant freeze. - I announced the name of the technique at the very last moment. All the while I was releasing chakra into the space around me, preparing to use my last technique that allowed me to freeze the entire space where I sprayed my chakra. This ninjutsu I saved for last to save my life. I waited until the opponents were within range of the technique, after which I immediately activated it, freezing the last three ninjas. None of them had time to react. With a final swing, I shattered the three blocks of ice, ending this fight. I wanted to relax and fall down, but somewhere on a subconscious level I realised that a good hundred ninjas would soon arrive from the village, so I just by sheer force of will, leaning on my sword, walked towards the forest. Everything after that was a blur. I remember looking for Uzumaki or a safe place. I didn't find the red-haired one, but I wandered into a cave, where I lost consciousness.....