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His nose twitched as a breeze came behind him and with it came the smell of salt water. What? It didn't make sense since from behind him was nothing but the jungle. Catching the sea breeze or at least the smell of the ocean meant someone who had that scent was headed this way.

Shit! When it clicked he went into a state of panic for a moment, but quickly got a hold of himself and pulled it together. He's probably tracking my footfalls since I shouldn't have a distinctive smell on me. He looked behind him and saw no one, meaning the pursuer was either well hidden or not yet in sight. His arm was still injured, but he rallied up some strength and prepped three marbles in the sling of his sling shot. One went left, one went right, and one went straight ahead. They each sailed low to the ground and were encased in a shell of wind. This caused the flora and grass to get brushed down and appear as if they had been stepped on, hopefully throwing his chaser from a loop.

After this, he climbed the nearest tree and monitored the crossroads he had created. His heart pounded in his chest violently as he did so. Maybe it was that Marine who was effortlessly scoring near accurate shots on him despite having to shoot through trees and other obstructions such as his allies. He prayed to the Gods above that it wasn't and made sure to conceal himself in the foliage around him. He moved branches this and that way to make a secure hiding spot, where he could also surveil this intersection he created.

Spoiler:

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Perched comfortably up about 25m from the forest floor, in due time his predator came into sight. Just as Susanoo hoped, he stopped at the crossroads, obviously thrown off by the three way split the teen had created. Taking in the details of his appearance, the first thing he noted was that the guy definitely wasn't a Marine. He wasn't dressed like one at least and that's all the convincing Susanoo needed. There was also the fact the guy didn't have a firearm, so he couldn't have been the dude that was shooting at him from afar, so just who was he?

He thought about taking a shot at the guy, but the fact he arrived so quickly to the scene, meant he was much faster than Susanoo and there was also the fact that Susanoo was injured. Starting a fight now wouldn't be smart, he needed to avoid another battle at all cost. Fuck, just keep going, please, please, please, keep going.

Several moments went passed and the guy just stood there motionless. Literally motionless, wasn't moving at all, not even a gentle up and down of the chest as he as breathing. Then out of nowhere, Susanoo swears he didn't blink, the guy vanished. Susanoo's heart stopped beating for a moment. He didn't know what to do or even think of the situation. How could someone just vanish out of sight like that. There was no sign of movement, not a crouch or slight bend of the knees at that, he was just gone.

He stayed in his spot for a while longer, hoping that magically the image of the guy would reappear but it didn't, he stayed gone and Susanoo stayed scared. That was until a high pitched noise began to ring in his ears.

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On Thanatos' end he didn't know how to react to the crossroads laid out in front of him and with the slim chance his reaction was being observed, he didn't want to the mark thinking he got the one up on him. Utilizing his knack for speed he dashed off quickly not ahead, but back where he came from, but left an after image that'd eventually expire in his place. This would surely throw off anyone watching him who couldn't perceive his high speed movement. Since he moved backwards, he assumed he had privacy and no eyes on him. There he transformed into his zoan form, the form of a Bat.

First he flew up above all the treetops in his immediate vicinity, trying to see if he could notice some movement down below that could be his target. After he saw nothing, he released a high pitched screech, a wave of echolocation that'd not only damage his opponents ears and frazzle them, but also give him a reading of their location. "Bingo." He went into his hybrid form and with webbed wings under his arms and his katana unsheathed in his clawed hands, he began to descend upon Susanoo's location. He had to admit that he was thrown for a loop and if he didn't have the bat zoan, he probably would have had to give up on chasing him, but he did have this power, so he'd end this all right now. He felt like it was really a shame though. He hopped he'd be put to the test and not accomplish his goal on the first day. It just went to show how powerful and well honed he was though, so he proudly would execute the youth.

Gliding downwards, he reverted to his human form once he was within 10m and sailing on a crash course with Susanoo's body. His blade would plunge right into him and send them both hurdling to the forest floor, but before collision, Thanatos would again assume his bat form and fly to avoid crashing with his foe. Before all of this could play out though, a new foe reared its ugly head into the mix of things.