[My business is done. How much longer for you?]
[Almost done. I'll send you a location.]
Lexon tapped the communicator, responding.
[Send a location? This thing can do that?]
'It seems you didn't listen properly when I explained how the communicator works... Hmm... Or maybe you just didn't understand.'
Lexon thought, seeing the surprised message from Kakuzu.
(On a side note, Kakuzu, being an old man, couldn't type and only used voice-to-text.)
[Just follow the location guide I'm sending you and meet me here.]
Lexon sent his current location to Kakuzu via the communicator, telling him to come and rendezvous.
"Didn't you say you didn't know where your other two teammates were?" Zhongh, seeing Lexon sending a message, assumed he was talking to his teammates and asked with confusion.
"I wasn't talking to them," Lexon put away the communicator and brushed him off, then turned to Zabuza. "It's about time to go. You good?"
"No problem." Zabuza had more or less recovered. Although he couldn't fight well, he had no problem moving.
"Go?" Hearing what Lexon said to Zabuza, Zhongh's brows furrowed. He, along with his team members and the Kirigakure Anbu, moved closer to Lexon, the heavily injured Zabuza, and Haku.
They vaguely surrounded the three of them.
"Zabuza is a traitor to the village I'm currently part of. We have to capture him, so he can't go with you," Zhongh said to Lexon.
"Ah... actually, I want this one," Lexon said, pointing at Haku.
Haku froze when he heard Lexon. 'Is he abandoning Zabuza-sama? Do his previous words not count?'
"I want Zabuza-sama to come too!" Haku, kneeling beside the prone Zabuza, once again pressed the kunai to his own neck.
"See? The kid's threatening to kill himself if they're separated. So, how about you do me a favor?" Lexon waved his hand at Zhongh.
"Who do you think you are? You want us, the Crimson Knight Brigade of China Central Team 2, to do you a favor? Are you looking to die?" a young man with short, choppy hair next to Zhongh cursed.
"Do his words represent your opinion?" Lexon's expression didn't change at the youth's words. He maintained his slight smile as he faced Zhongh.
"I..." The short-haired youth, seeing Lexon's attitude as if he was looking down on him, grew angry and was about to curse again.
However, Zhongh raised a hand to stop him.
"Little brother, to be honest with you, we're not just interested in Zabuza; we're also very interested in that little servant. We need to capture both of them," Zhongh said slowly, his voice deep.
Clearly, Haku's Ice Style bloodline limit had also caught their attention, and they wanted to take him back for research.
"Oh?" Lexon's lips quirked up. He said warmly, "So you're planning to take them all?"
"Little brother, the principle of our Crimson Knight Brigade is to avoid conflict with other Reincarnator teams if possible, especially teams from the same camp. So, I hope you can take a step back. That way, we can continue to interact amicably in the future..."
"Interact amicably?" Lexon looked at Zhongh with confusion.
The next moment, his body leaned slightly to the left. Then, his five fingers grabbed at the empty air and pressed down.
Even though Lexon hadn't touched the ground, the earth suddenly cracked open, and a human-shaped crater appeared.
Lexon glanced at the unconscious, longsword-wielding person who was gradually becoming visible in the crater. He looked up slightly, opened his hand, and his gaze fell on Zhongh's somewhat stiff face. "Is this what you call an amicable interaction?"
The unconscious person was wearing the Crimson Knight Brigade's armor, and the longsword in his hand was their team's standard issue. He was, however, wearing an extra gray-white cloak, which clearly had an optical camouflage function.
Without a doubt, this person was a member of the Crimson Knight Brigade.
And he had just attacked Lexon.
"Wang Chong!" a team member in the Crimson Knight Brigade cried out in worry.
But he was once again silenced by Zhongh.
'To be able to see through Wang Chong's invisibility, easily dodge his attack, and even grab his head, smash him into a crater, and knock him out before he even realized... This person... is strong.'
Zhongh's expression gradually became grave. He said to Lexon, "Your strength is considerable. It would be difficult for us to take you down. Take Zabuza's servant and go. We only want Zabuza."
After realizing Lexon had some strength, Zhongh made a concession and compromised.
From wanting both Zabuza and Haku, to arranging for a team member to launch a sneak attack, and then, after the attack failed, compromising by letting Lexon take his target.
"That won't do... I want both Zabuza and Haku..." Lexon replied in a placid tone.
Hearing Lexon's response, Zhongh drew the longsword from his waist. The team members behind him also drew their swords, bolstering their imposing aura.
"The Crimson Knight Brigade is not to be trifled with." Zhongh pointed his sword at Lexon and said steadily, "I advise you to make a concession now and take your target. Otherwise, if a fight breaks out, it won't be good for anyone."
"Not good?" Lexon's voice held a hint of a smile. "You guys still haven't answered for slashing at me... You're the ones who attacked me when our conversation soured, and you're the ones proposing a solution after you failed..."
His gaze gradually grew cold.
"How do you figure your calculations are so perfect?"
'Slashed at him? When?'
Zhongh's mind couldn't quite keep up.
He thought for a moment before realizing that the final sword strike aimed at Zabuza hadn't been dodged by some mysterious method. Instead, the giant sword's attack had automatically sensed this even stronger guy and had gone for him.
'In that case, this person's strength is at least above Zabuza Momochi's...' Zhongh thought.
"That strike was an accident. The original target was Zabuza Momochi. Your strength is greater than his, so the giant sword attacked you automatically," ZhongH explained.
"And the rest?" Lexon asked with great interest.
'He explained the sword strike. As for the rest... Lexon was very curious how Zhongh would justify it.'
"..." Zhongh fell silent. Clearly, he couldn't explain the rest.
"What do you want?" he asked, his brow furrowed.
"Whatever I want?" Lexon smiled and asked back.
"..."
"Form up!"
Zhongh suddenly shouted.
'Given the way this is going, it probably can't be resolved peacefully. Since it can't, then we'll just kill him and take Zabuza and his servant back.'
That was Zhongh's current thinking!
Following Zhongh's shout, the dozen or so Crimson Knight Brigade members raised their longswords and stood in a strange formation with Zhongh.
With Zhongh at the head, their auras flared, and a dense red light emerged from their bodies.
"Longsword!"
All the Crimson Knight Brigade Reincarnators shouted in unison.
Instantly, the dissipating red light condensed, gathering into an incomparably huge red longsword.
"Die!"
All the Crimson Knight Brigade Reincarnators shouted together.
Immediately, the giant red sword flashed, and, carrying immense power, it chopped down at Lexon.
"What a foolish move."
Lexon murmured. His eyes suddenly turned blood-red, and a sinister pattern spun continuously in his pupils.
"Susanoo."
Tangible chakra surged, instantly enveloping Lexon. A dark-green chakra giant rose from the ground in an instant, and its invisible, terrifying aura suddenly enveloped everyone present.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]