II

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Arc II Chapter 12

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"What do you mean by your entire team is dead?" The chunin gaped, stunned like the rest of the room. Their surprise was understandable.

A battered girl appeared out of nowhere, covered in bruises, and stained with blood.

Asami rolled her eyes. "I mean what I say. They are dead, gone, history, visiting the afterlife, call it whatever you want."

Was the definition of dead so difficult to understand?

"You are joking, aren't you?"

She wasn't.

Even Asami's divine patience was limited. She had a bad week and her mood was terrible. Walking all the way home from Amegakure wasn't fun.

"My friend, do I look as if I am joking?" Asami glared. Her icy glare froze the poor chunin alive.

The chunin gulped. The girl was scary despite her petite stature. "I didn't intend to offend you ..." 

"Asami, do you care to explain what happened?" Hiruzen took over, replacing the poor chunin.

Asami grumbled. "On our mission, we encountered unexpected resistance. After we entered Amegakure, a strong force of unknown shinobi attacked us.“ 

“Outnumbered and ambushed, we were quickly overwhelmed. Masasane, Aritame and Yukihiro fell."

Hiruzen offered his sympathy. Limitless pity was written all over his face, but Asami didn't need pity. What she needed was sleep.

"And how did you survive ... this tragedy?" Hiruzen had a hunch.

The situations were comparable. Once again, Asami ended up being the only survivor.

"I managed to fight off the attackers. In the end, they retreated after eliminating the merchants, sparing me. I survived thus."

"Can I leave now?" Asami didn't hide her gloominess. Everything had been said. She just wanted to go home.

Hiruzen nodded. "This should suffice. We might require a more detailed report later on, but you are dismissed for now."

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Lamps illuminated the dark room. Tall stone pillars supported the wooden ceiling.

Asami stood before Konoha's village council, awaiting her judgement. Unfortunately, they took their time.

The village elders, the jonin commander, and the Hokage were talking, and talking, and talking, not coming to any conclusion.

Asami was already standing here for a few hours. She wished to leave, but she wasn't allowed to. They forced her to stay and defend herself against a series of uncomfortable questions.

What happened? How did it happen? How did she survive?

Danzo's gaze fell on her. "What do you think, Asami. What caused this debacle?"

Asami met Danzo's cold stare. She didn't like Danzo. She didn't like him at all. Her instincts distrusted Danzo since the moment they first met.

"I would say a combination of different factors was responsible for this disaster.“

“My team lacked the necessary strength to complete such a dangerous mission. The mission should have been classified at least as an A-rank mission, but it wasn't. As a consequence, a numerically superior force annihilated us."

"Furthermore, Masasane ignored all of my repeated warnings. In my opinion, we were doomed largely due to Masasane's incompetence." Asami was met by a sea of curious stares.

Did she just call her sensei incompetent?

Shikaku narrowed his eyes. "These are bold claims you make. Your late sensei was after all an accomplished jonin."

Asami disagreed. "Not at all, I sensed the enemy following us and warned Masasane multiple times. I advised him to abandon the mission, but he ignored me, a fatal mistake."

"So you are telling me your detection skills were superior to his?" Shikaku didn't believe her.

Asami nodded, "Indeed, I consider my skills superior.“ 

Shikaku didn't look convinced.

"Shikaku, why don't we test her?" Danzo was always in search of young talents. He knew more about Asami and was interested in her capabilities.

"And how?" Shikaku crossed his arms, slightly annoyed.

"Don't worry, I have an idea."

Danzo smirked. "How many ANBU hide in this room, Asami?"

Asami glanced left and right. "I detect eight signatures. Four ANBU hide behind the stone pillars, two are stationed at the door, two hide among the ceiling."

Locating them wasn't difficult. It was easy, far too easy. The ANBU didn't even bother to suppress their chakra.

Danzo grinned. "Kagetoki, was she right?"

The ANBU captain appeared and knelt. "Her numbers are correct, Danzo-sama."

"Hiruzen, I think we should allow Asami to join the ANBU. Her abundant talent should be put to better use instead of being wasted like this." Danzo's proposal surprised everyone except Hiruzen.

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, contemplating. "Asami, what would you think about joining the ANBU?"

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