Apparently there was a little confusion in the note after last chapter. An anonymous reviewer told me it was ridiculous that Katsuro wouldn't be able to beat Mystogan. I agree. When I said he'll have trouble with Mystogan I meant he would have to make use of all his skills. He wouldn't be able to hold back on the sharingan because he doesn't know how to break an Earthland illusion, and if he gets caught in his five layered magic circle he'd need Susano'o for defence. And the reason he could stand up against team seven is because not only were they not trying to kill him, he only needed to put down Kakashi to disappear into the mist.
Anyway on to the next chapter, I hope you read, review and enjoy.
Chapter Start - Katsuro Tsurugi - A little over a month after last chapter
Just over a month, and almost nothing of any interest happens. Despite my best efforts I wasn't able to find a way home, on the bright side I did get a letter from home. I also fixed up my Akatsuki cloak.
Hey I may not like how the thing looks, but it's the most comfortable thing I've ever worn in the cold.
Guess I should recap on everything that happened, this won't take long.
I've taken about a dozen missions. Mostly escort or courier missions. None of the missions on the board are anywhere near the level I would be doing if I was still a Konoha Ninja, the pay's a hell of a lot better though. I managed to rent out a hotel room after the first job.
Levy and her team took me out to where they found me. It was a complete waste of time, there was no evidence I had been dropped off there at all. I eventually told them it was a teleportation experiment screw up that got me stuck here, might as well give them a believable explanation.
After that I spent as little time in Magnolia as possible, preferring to search for anything that might help. Which also ended up introducing me to the major modes of transportation in Fiore. Man are they slow. Trains are pretty much the only things that can match my speed in long distances, and I can beat a train over the first thirty miles or so.
All that searching around came to an end a few days ago though. After summoning Ethon to see if there was any news, he came with a letter from Kakashi.
The letter was both a disappointment and a relief. From the looks of it, Kakashi had written it. To sum it up, the Jyuubi was sealed away again. Both Madaras had been beaten. The Elemental Nations were at peace. And Tsunade had stepped down as Hokage. All good news. The bad news is that I was sentenced to indefinite exile, I was prohibited from returning on pain of death.
Tsunade stepped down after giving that order, then gave the hat to Naruto. Yes, Naruto. What the hell? He can't sit still for ten minutes, how is he ever going to sit there and do paperwork? I give it three weeks before he dumps it all on the council.
There wasn't really much else there. Sakura had taken up a full-time position at the hospital. Sasuke was a tracking specialist with ANBU, heh, kinda funny he accomplished the goal he set four years ago after he kills the guy he wanted to find. Naruto of course is Hokage, according to Kakashi he tried to change the uniform so that all the women had to wear miniskirts... I hate to say it but I would have loved to see that.
I didn't send a message back. I had nothing left to do or say to them. I did my best to cut our ties before I joined the Akatsuki. If exile is my punishment, best to leave those ties to rot.
Anyway that brings me to the present. Standing in front of the Fairy Tail guild hall.
I just finished my last job, another easy courier mission. Normally I would walk right in and do what I needed before leaving. I tried not to get attached to anyone, I had thought I would be leaving them soon enough.
This was the first time I had actually considered the fact that I might not be leaving. Sure the thought had crossed my mind, I had fully expected to be executed if I did find my way back. But I persisted in trying to find a way back simply so I could find out what happened. Now that I know, that treacherous part of my mind wouldn't stay quiet. Besides, it was an order from the Hokage as well.
I also met some guy named Jason during one of my brief stops at the guild. Man that guy was annoying. I resorted to replacing myself with Gray to get away from him. When asked about it I just said a ninja doesn't reveal their secrets. I get the feeling I'm going to regret that.
Oh well, enough stalling.
I walked right through the doors, and tripped over Makarov.
Dammit, why does that guy have to be so short!?
"Watch were you're going brat!.. Oh, Katsuro. Not exactly who I was hoping for, but you'll do."
Eh?
"Stand up boy. I have a job for you. Normally I'd ask Erza or Mystogan, but they're both away."
Obeying the short man, I stood up and dusted myself off.
"A job? S class I take it?"
The short man nodded.
"Yes, there's been whispers that trouble is brewing with the dark guild Eisenwald in Oshibana. Someone needs to go and deal with them before they become a problem."
Eisenwald? I'd heard of them. I've never faced them before though. It would be a good chance to learn what to expect from a dark guild. He handed me a job request, it had the information Makarov had given me as well as a reward sum. Six million jewels. That was a fair bit, but I have no idea how it stacks up to other, similar requests.
"I hate to ask you to do something like this, but there's really nobody else available."
I waved off his concern, something like this was well within my abilities.
"It's no problem at all. I used to do things like this on a fairly regular basis."
True I used to have a team, but I've been in worse situations with the Akatsuki.
"Well then, I'll leave it in your hands. I have a conference to get to..."
He turned to leave, but stopped himself.
"You know, I have no complaints about the way things are. It's good to have someone with some restraint around. But there's no need to be so distant. We'd be happy to have you join us."
Having said his last piece he left.
It's annoying having someone offer something you were considering. Still I had work to. Off to Oshibana then.
First I had to pick up a few things.
There wasn't anywhere I could just walk in and buy Kunai and Shuriken. There probably weren't many people that even knew how to use them. So I had to have them custom made. On the positive side I could have them made out of the same material as a magic sword and they'd conduct chakra quite well.
Which was weird. And prompted me to use the Sharingan to see just what magic energy was. To be honest, I still have no idea. All I can tell is that it's drawn into a mage's body from the atmosphere then processed into a usable form somehow. According to some books I've read mage's have a container in their body that does all that. I stopped reading after it became apparent I couldn't use magic. The important difference is that magic seems to be a lot more flexible. It moves in ways that chakra simply can't. Other than that they seem to react the same.
Anyway once I've picked up my replacement equipment I can get going.
Later - Outside Oshibana town
It wasn't too long before I was outside the Eisenwald guild. It was a large Gothic building just outside the town of Oshibana.
The gates were also wide open.
My Murphy's Law senses were tingling.
It took me a few minutes to decide on a strategy. The main problem being balancing the value of any potential loot I might get from raiding a dark guild over safety.
Ah, that ever persistent question.
Loot.
Or safety?
After a while I made my decision. The fact that the gate was open meant it was more than likely an ambush. There was really only one course of action when the enemy has the advantage of home ground.
Burn everything to the ground.
Running through hand seals I used two jutsu in rapid succession.
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu" (Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu) "Fūton: Daitoppa" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)
The wind technique doubled the size of the small phoenix flower fireballs. Quickly spreading flames across the building. I aimed away from the main entrance, it would be best to herd anyone inside towards a single entrance and not encourage them to make their own exits.
Once the flames were well and truly raging, I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Thirty minutes later the building was practically collapsing in on itself... And nobody had come out.
So I created a shadow clone to check it out.
When the memories from the incinerated clone hit me my face met palm.
I had just burned down a completely empty building. Nobody can ever learn of this.
Sighing heavily to myself I started trekking back to town. Somebody had to have noticed a bunch of dark guild members leaving all of a sudden.
If not... I dread to think how long it could take to find them. I couldn't track a berserk rhino in a china shop.
A short while later - Back in Oshibana
So far I haven't seen all that many people around. I was hoping to find someone with any information, so the best place to go would be the train station.
Of course when I actually got to the train station I found out why I hadn't seen anyone around.
For some reason there was a massive crowd around the station.
...Typical.
I go through all the trouble to go and find them, and probably just missed them.
Well, I guess I have a job to do.
Making my way through the crowd I heard a familiar voice on the other side of the living wall.
"What's going on!"
Then there was the sound of two dense objects colliding.
That process repeated two more times before I got past the crowd.
The moment I got past the crowd I noticed three things.
One, there were three unconscious railway staff.
Two, there was only one conscious staff member left.
Three, a red-headed girl was getting dangerous close to removing point number two. I swear that is the single worst interrogation method I have ever seen. If you're going to hit the guy, make sure he stays conscious enough to answer questions afterwards.
Fortunately I was close enough to stop point number three from going any further by grabbing her arm.
"Good morning Erza. Do you mind if I speak to him before you knock him out?"
Startled she turned to face me.
"Katsuro? What are you doing here?"
Seeing that she wasn't going to knock the guy out I let go of her arm as I answered.
"I got a job request. Speaking of which..."
I turned to the staff member and spoke in a quiet voice. It wouldn't do to panic the population for no reason
"I accepted a job request to take care of the Eisenwald guild. Am I correct in assuming they're in the building?"
The guard seemed relieved that he wasn't going to be taking a nap any time soon, and happily answered my question with an enthusiastic yes. Also telling me that a small army unit stormed in but hadn't been heard from. Either dead or captured. My money's on the latter.
After speaking with him I immediately made my way up the steps to the station. Erza and her team easily caught up since I wasn't in much of a hurry, forcing me to match their pace if I wanted to get their at the same time.
Gray, a member I had met in passing and thrown to Jason, was the first to make a comment.
"Good to have another set of hands. But what're you doing here?"
Well I did say it was a job request, maybe I should elaborate a little more.
"Makarov asked me to take care of Eisenwald as an S ranked quest since Erza and Mystogan were away. I think the question should be, what are you doing here?"
Erza answered.
"I heard some distressing rumors while returning from my last mission. After arriving back at Fairy Tail I asked Natsu and Gray to accompany me in defeating the Eisenwald guild. I apologise, I wasn't aware that it was an official mission."
I waved off her apology.
"No problem. Many hands make for light work. Since we're all doing this together I'll split the reward."
It was then that a smaller voice i wasn't familiar with met m ears.
"Ah, how much would that reward be?"
Looking back I saw a blonde haired girl carrying Natsu. I was tempted to ask what was wrong with him, but I really didn't care all that much. If they were carrying him to a fight it was likely temporary.
"The reward is six million jewels. Come up to think of it, if we include the flying cat that makes six of us.
"The name's happy, aye!"
Ignoring the last comment I continued.
"I don't remember seeing you around. Are you new or have we just not met?"
"Ah, I'm new. I've only been with Fairy Tail a few days. I'm Lucy."
Nodding to myself I replied with my name.
"Katsuro Tsurugi. I'm a freelancer."
"Wait. The Katsuro Tsurugi? The Ninja Fairy!?"
And suddenly my momentum stopped entirely as I fell flat on my face.
"WHAT!?"
I heard Gray laugh. I definitely heard Erza chuckle.
This is not appropriate for the situation.
But... FAIRY!?
I somehow managed to get back on my feet and catch up with them.
"S-Sorry. That's what they called you in sorcerer weekly. They said you beat Erza as well. Is that another Katsuro?"
Erza answered for me. I was still too shocked and horrified by the name.
Fairy, really?
"No, that is definitely the right person. Though I don't think he likes the new moniker."
Is she mocking me? I swear she's grinning. I can hear it. I can't see it since I'm behind her but she's definitely smiling.
"Alright. One, I will never. Ever. EVER. Respond to that name. It doesn't exist. Two, I hate whoever came up with that none-existent name."
There were a few more chuckles at my expense.
It seems as though I have found worthy pranking targets. Let it never be said that the student is the only one that learns. I learned plenty from Naruto.
After we saw the remains of the army unit. It appears as though I lost my bet, not only are they not captured but they're all also alive.
Kind of weird for a dark guild to leave survivors.
Slowing down, we walked past the fallen soldiers and into the main area of the station. There were no more chuckles or jokes, it was time to get serious.
As we entered the main area we were met with a laughing voice and the entire Eisenwald guild.
"Welcome to my parlour, Fairy Tail flies!"
Oh, I hate this guy already.
Back in the doorway Lucy was trying to wake Natsu up, apparently he was suffering from motion sickness. That was a kind of crappy weakness for a mage. Jin can get away with it, ninja rarely use transportation after all... Now if only the Hiraishin didn't set off his motion sickness.
Apparently someone had a problem with Natsu, but I ignored him in favour of the guy with the scythe. He looked like the guy in charge.
Erza spoke up.
"We aren't threatened by any of you. Tell me what you're planning to do with Lullaby."
Lullaby? It must be bad news if Erza is asking about it.
The guy with the scythe, probably Erigor from what one of his guild members said, used wind magic to fly on top of a speaker as he spoke.
"Oh, you haven't heard yet. What do all train stations have?"
? Trains?
"You plan to broadcast the Lullabys song?"
So... Lullaby is an object that does something bad to people who hear it?
Erigor laughed evilly before answering... well he tried to laugh evilly. I've heard better.
"Thousands of nosy onlookers flocked to this station to get a glimpse of the action, who knows. If I raise the volume enough I may be able to extinguish the entire city with my melody of death!"
Okay. Now I see. Lullaby = Sound based killing Genjutsu. Or at least that's what it sounds like.
"What reason do you have to commit such a heinous act against the innocent people of this town!?"
"This is a cleansing of all the fools out there that fail to appreciate the rights that they hold so dear. Who remain willfully ignorant of the plight of those who have had their rights stripped away. They've committed the sin of turning a blind eye to the worlds injustices therefore, the reaper has come to punish them!"
That's the flimsiest excuse I've ever heard.
I unsealed and threw a kunai at his head in a single movement, catching him off guard and nicking his shoulder. Just as the kunai passed him I performed a seal-less replacement technique with it. Placing myself with him just behind me to the right.
Unsheathing my katana I intended to end this in a single strike, removing his head from his shoulders.
Unfortunately his reaction speed was greater than I anticipated, and he managed to launch me towards the windows with a burst of wind magic.
Thankfully I landed feet first on the concrete pillar between the windows, and was able to stick to it with chakra.
"You may be the reaper, Erigor. But I intend to send you to the Shinigami before the day's out."
Erigor sent me a look of mixed rage and hatred.
"I wish I had the time to put you in your grave, fly. But I have more important matters to attend to. I leave them to you, show them the terror of the dark guild Eisenwald."
As he was speaking he disappeared. If I had to guess I'd say it's a short range transportation technique like the shunshin.
There was a burst of movement down with the rest of them as one member sent shadows to attack Lucy, thankfully Natsu was feeling better and was able to block it. Making a decision I called down to Erza and her group.
"I'll alert the civilians that they need to leave. You can all concentrate on fighting."
I waited just long enough for Erza to acknowledge before using a shunshin to clear most of the distance to the exit. I didn't join in the fight because it would quite simply be overkill. The cannon fodder deserved at least a chance to not die or be brutally maimed. Erigor was a dead man though. I don't take kindly to people killing for the sake of killing. People like that, are no longer human.
I made my way out onto a balcony so that I could more easily address the crowd, then walked up to the edge and used a minor wind jutsu to make my voice clear enough to be heard by everyone.
"Attention citizens of Oshibana. This station has been taken over by a dark guild. They are being dealt with by mages of Fairy Tail, however they intend to broadcast a dangerous technique using the loudspeakers. Please move as far away from the station as possible."
Despite my best attempts to deliver the news in a calm manner, chaos still ensued. I suppose it was better than letting them all die.
I then heard the sound of heavy winds coming from behind me. Having heard that noise from many wind jutsu in the past I immediately span around to face the source.
There was a giant wind barrier encasing the station... But sound has difficulty travelling through a wind technique... A bluff!
Spinning back around I had enough time to attach my feet to the floor before a wind attack slammed into me.
Its force was simply too much, I wouldn't be able to avoid being thrown backwards. So I replaced myself with a discarded item from when the crowd panicked. The cloud of smoke produced ensured that Erigor didn't notice the exchange before leaving.
It took me about half a second to decide it would be best to chase after the flying man. I was certain I could beat his speed, but before I got close he flew over a canyon. Forcing me to run on the train tracks, which were far from straight.
It took a few minutes before I was close enough to launch an attack. It only took a moment for me to decide on what attack. Throwing another kunai, I replaced myself with it as before. But this time I had another follow-up.
Erigor slowed for a moment in surprised, it took half a second to line up my target. Then I flashed out of existence, reappearing on the tracks in front of Erigors position. Blood sprayed from a deep wound on his arm.
Kiken Tenmetsu Ejji (Flashing Hazard Edge)
Had he not tried to reverse his movement, he would have at the very least lost his arm. Maybe his head.
"What the hell are you doing here fly!?"
He seemed to be having trouble speaking through the pain. I didn't have that problem.
"I did say I intend to send you to the Shinigami."
The wind seemed to wrap itself around Erigor, obscuring his body from view as he span his scythe in front of hm.
"No more delays, fly. First you, then the guild masters. Those senile old farts won't even know what hit them!"
Guild masters? Those are his target?
Makarov.
He's in clover.
Which is at the end of these tracks.
He intends to kill him.
That.
That pisses me off.
"Erigor. You won't make it one step past me."
Forget hiding my abilities. This guy is dead. I don't need to hide anything from the dead.
Forcing chakra into my eyes I activated my Sharingan. Suddenly I could see everything.
"Is that so!? Here I come fly!"
Holding his scythe with his uninjured right arm, he swooped down from the sky. Intent on bisecting me.
I ran lightning chakra through my blade. Preparing for a single attack.
When Erigor was in range, we both swung our blade, locking them together for a moment. Our eyes met. And it was game over.
My blade shattered under the stress, wind beats lightning after all. But I managed to jump back without injury, Erigor wasn't able to follow. Despite being between me and Clover, he couldn't attack or flee. Because my genjutsu had completely sealed his movement. To his eyes, he would be completely chained and impaled with a dozen steel railway spikes. For the sake of sparing my ears the screaming, he also thinks he's gagged.
But he still has that wind barrier up. Which makes it tricky to actually harm him. I only had a handful of techniques that could effectively break through that barrier. I could burn him out, but the pain would likely break the genjutsu before he dies. So that only left one reasonable option.
Jumping back so I was a good hundred meters down the tracks from him, I thrust my arm towards the ground.
This was a jutsu I based my Raikiri no Tsurugi on. A jutsu which fills the air with the sound of a thousand birds.
"Raikiri"
Lightning gathered in my hand. Enough to make an almost physical blade as it chewed through the railway tracks beneath me.
After a moment of waiting. I shot forward to my trapped target. At speeds almost impossible to track without the Sharingan.
I slammed my hand against the barrier of wind, carrying Erigor along for the ride as my Raikiri fought against his barrier. Dragging him along the tracks, my hand getting closer and closer to his rapidly beating heart.I wouldn't be satisfied until that beating ceased.
The lightning flickered, as the smell of burnt flesh met my nose. Then gave out entirely at the same time Erigors barrier broke.
He was certainly out for the count. The area around his heart was burnt to a crisp, I could see the bones burnt to an unrecognisable black mess beneath my hand. I wouldn't be surprised if he died without my help at this point. but I wasn't about to take any chances.
I let my Sharingan fade simply because it was unnecessary, then unsealed my Tanto into my right hand. It wasn't as good as my Katana. TO be honest, it was more of a sentimental object than a practical one. It was a gift from Itachi, so I wasn't ready to break it against Erigors barrier.
I didn't mind cutting his throat with it though.
Looking back down the tracks, I saw an orange blob on the horizon. What I was more surprised by was the distance I had carried Erigor. It was almost half the distance between Clover and Oshibana. They were definitely not using these tracks any time soon. The Lullaby flute was on the ground nearby.
Turning back to the corpse to be I leaned down to cut his throat and put an end to all this.
I wasn't expecting to get bowled over from a sneak attack. And it wasn't even from Erigor!
"What the hell are you doing!"
Springing to my feet I realised Natsu had hit me. That was... Unexpected.
"I'm killing a murderer. What does it look like?"
My blunt reply stunned him for a moment, almost enough time for me to finish the job with Erigor. Unfortunately Natsu threw a fiery punch at me, which I'd rather avoid so I had to jump back.
"How can you say that? He's already beaten!"
Oh dear god. An idealist.
"Give him long enough to recover, and he'll try again."
I was debating how best to kill Erigor.
"You don't know that! He deserves a chance at least!"
It's becoming more and more attractive to simply remove the idiot from the equation.
"He's already killed countless people, why do you think he's called 'the reaper'?"
But how to do that without killing him too?
"That doesn't give you the right to kill him!"
I know most of his tricks, he doesn't try to hide them when he's fighting Gray.
"Then what of the people he killed? Did he have the right to kill them?"
Then again, he's got me beat in taijutsu alone. I don't want to use my tanto. I'd rather hide my sharingan. what does that leave?
"Of course not! But nothing gives you the right to kill another!"
I'll have to use the sharingan then. It's ability to predict movements will put my taijutsu level ahead of his. It's the minimum required force in this case.
"Then you won't let me past?"
I channeled lightning chakra to my limbs. The effect being an increased reaction time for my arms and legs in addition my blows would cause paralysis, for about half a second.
"Not a chance. You've never given me the chance to fight you before."
The idiots face didn't light up like I expected it to when he said that. In fact, this is the most serious I've ever seen him. His fists did light on fire though. From what I've observed, those flames seem to only increase the power of his strikes. Looks like I'll find out first hand. I sealed my tanto.
Channeling chakra into my eyes I let the Sharingan appear once more as I stepped forward into a fighting stance, inviting him to attack.
"Hey, what's with the freaky eyes?"
"Beat me, and I might tell you."
That was all he needed to hear before he launched himself at me.
Despite my less than adequate taijutsu for a shinobi of my level, I could see that Natsu relied on brute force and his fire attacks to win the day.
It wasn't really much of a fight. I admit, Natsu would beat me any day at taijutsu if I'm not allowed to use my Sharingan. But using the Sharingan I was able to evade his first strike than hit him with a trio of electrified punches which put him down.
Or at least, they should have.
After stepping over him to get to Erigor, he climbed back to his feet.
"Don't count me out yet... After your fight against Erza. I can't go down that easy."
That's what I get for not going overboard. What is it with Fairy Tail mages and getting up after everything?
Well, he's a fire dragon slayer right?
Wouldn't it be ironic if he got beaten by a fire dragon?
Running through the forty four hand seals as quickly as I could, I managed to get the jutsu off before Natsu went on the offensive.
Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu)
After spitting out the colossal flame I stopped to think, could that have been too much?
Then the flames started disappearing and I saw Natsu...
Is that freak eating the fire!?
"Oh yeah. That's pretty good! Ah ha, I got a fire in my belly now!"
He was now grinning at me, and I'm pretty sure I was gaping under my collar. I'm really glad the Akatsuki cloak covers my mouth now.
"Ready for round two?"
Oh shit.
The only two thoughts that ran through my head before I was eating the tracks. His punches really hurt.
Right, focus. So he's a freak, nothing new. No reason to stop paying attention.
Natsu of course wasn't giving me time to think. He breathed in an insane amount of air, bringing his hands up to his face. I didn't need the Sharingan to know I needed to get out of the way, so I threw a kunai across to the ground on one side of the canyon.
"Fire Dragons Roar!"
Before the wall of fire could hit me I replaced myself with the Kunai.
Alright it's official. He's tougher than he looks.
I created two clones before working on hand seals, as soon as Natsu notices I'm over here he'll probably jump the damn canyon.
Contrary to my prediction, he used Happy to fly over to me. I'd actually forgotten about the little cat.
It didn't matter though, because as soon as he was on dry land my clones let rip with their jutsu.
"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu" (Water Release: Water Bullet Technique)
The effect was twin torrents of water racing towards Natsu, which Natsu decided to brute force his way through. While the jutsu was still in effect though I finished my own.
"Raiton: Jibashi" (Lightning Style: Earth Flash)
The effect of this was a large way of energy with enough power to tear through stone racing down the water, dispelling both my clones and electrocuting the thoroughly soaked Natsu. By the time the jutsu was finished, he was well and truly out for the count.
"Geeze, that was way too much effort."
Walking over to where he was I decided it would be better if I brought him with me, and used a quick Shunshin to get us both back on the tracks near Erigor. Natsu would probably be awake soon. So I didn't have long.
Unsealing a Kunai I went straight for my target...
I then turned on reflex and caught a flying projectile, which turned out to be a sword.
Why? I just want to murder a serial killing assassin. What's so bad about that?
Looking to see where the sword came from, I found myself almost getting run over by a magic, wheely, carriage thing which forced me to jump over it.. A very unhappy looking Erza was driving.
I tried once more to finish what I'd started, only to have Erza dismount and intercept me herself. Her sword locked with the one I had stolen. Gray and Lucy weren't far behind but chose to check on Natsu.
Erza was the first to speak. String right into my Sharingan eyes. Guess it's pointless hiding them now.
"What do you think you're doing, Katsuro?"
I really hate explaining the same thing twice.
"I'm getting rid of a murderer."
She pushed back harder against my sword.
"Killing him would make you no better."
Ha. Like I am anyway.
"I don't care about being better, I just want to make sure he doesn't kill again."
For a long moment, neither of us said anything as we both tried to push the other back.
Then the car thing started moving away, quite quickly too.
"Shouldn't have let your guard down, flies!"
Strangely enough there were shadowy arms coming from the person that said that, who is he anyway.
A second later my mind registered just what was in one of those shadowy hands.
Lullaby.
Or at least, I think it's Lullaby. It sure looks creepy enough.
Abandoning the deadlock between myself and Erza, I decided to chase the potentially lethal flute.
Who makes a lethal flute anyway?
Well there was that girl in the sound four, but that was just a normal flute.
As I ran across the tracks, I brought my hands up into he cross seal. I might not normally need it to create clones, but I would need it to create a clone beneath me standing upside down. It was a bit tricky doing that. But since no-one would expect it, no-one would think to hide Erigor from it.
I almost managed to catch up to the car. By the time I did though, the person who stole the flute had left. And by the time I found him, the guild masters were already dealing with him.
It was a few minutes before the rest of the group made it.
Erza gave me a look that could cut through steel, but the idiot with the flute was definitely a bigger problem than me.
Then again I'm starting to believe the creepy master of Blue Pegasus is worse than that flute.
I only kept one ear on what they were saying as I leaned against a tree. All I cared about at this point was making sure that flute didn't get played. Given the fact there were a dozen or so guild masters around I don't think I'll be needed for that. I still made sure I knew what was going on though.
I was surprised when I heard someone walking up to me, I was more surprised when I turned to see Lucy.
"...Hey, Katsuro?"
"Hm?"
"We, well I guess I, don't really disagree with you. About Erigor. I just think that, people should be given a second chance. I think everyone else feels tha same way. Don't you?"
I turned my head to the sky.
"I've never believed in second chances."
...Funny, thinking about it now. Maybe being sent here gave me one.
When Lucy didn't say anything, I started to feel like I'd somehow disappointed her. Then again, maybe I had. She seems like she has high expectations for people associated with Fairy Tail. Or maybe it was something personal.
I didn't get a chance to find out, because the nameless goon dropped Lullaby. Surrendering himself to Makarov.
I guess the old guy's a guild master for a reason. Other than the fact he's one of the few people I've met here that I couldn't beat. That whole speech about people being weak was pretty good even if I didn't believe it. I believe that people can become strong if they have something to protect, I guess that makes me one of the few of Uchiha blood that holds the will of fire.
After the little reunion among the Fairy Tail members I moved to give Makarov a report on the situation, he'd know how to deal with all the Eisenwald members scattered from here to Oshibana.
Of course I didn't get the chance as a massive magic circle appeared in the sky and the flute started talking...
No seriously. The flute started talking.
I stopped paying attention to the words after the thing made it clear the whole speech was about eating everyone, I was concerned with trying to figure out how the hell a flute of all things could talk.
Of course that ended when the flute turned into a giant wooden monster... I miss only ever having to fight human opponents. Some of these things are just too weird. Then I remember Jugo. He was decent enough when sane though.
I heard something about the monster being a demon from the book of Zeref and it being living magic, but that didn't help me at all. So I put my brain to better use. How do I destroy a giant wooden monster?
It was then that the monster leaned down and started speaking again, effectively grabbing my full attention.
"Now then, which of these delectable souls should I devour first?"
Natsu of course asked if they really tasted that good. I would have face palmed if we weren't in serious trouble.
"I know, I'll take all of them!"
The monster then inhaled, sucking the life out of the vegetation around us. It took me a moment to figure out that it could probably still kill with it's song.
Erza yelled out to cover our ears.
I had a more effective way to deal with that. Even if I did hate using it.
"Just one note, and your souls will be mine!"
Channeling more chakra into my eyes, they morphed from the Sharingan, to the Mangekyou. Ready for what I needed.
The monster looked ready to sing.
"Koto-Amatsukami"
Blinding pain erupted in my right eye as I invaded the monsters mind, distorting and creating memories. I could feel blood running from my eye, enough that I would be unable to see even if that technique had not robbed me of my sight. The pain brought me to my knee and, even though I knew my sight would return, but I wasn't sure if there would be lasting consequences.
It worked though; the monster looked down at us in contempt as it spoke.
"You filthy creatures aren't worthy to hear my song. Be crushed instead."
A moment later the monster was being assaulted from all sides by Erza, Natsu and Gray. I'm not sure if they would have made it in time, but my changes should stop it from using it's song again.
Erza and the others were actually pretty impressive. They had greater control over their elements than almost any Shinobi I had met. Those with a bloodline excluded of course.
"Katsuro! What happened, are you okay?"
Looking to the side I saw Lucy was still there, looking at me with a worried face. It was then I noticed I was clutching my right eye. The pain still hadn't left but I still managed to get out a response.
"Fine. Give me, a second."
I forced myself to my feet, just as I saw something I didn't like the look of.
The monster managed to reattach an arm Gray had blown off.
If it can pull itself back together, it needs to be destroyed in a single attack.
Groaning; I realised that those three probably didn't have an attack like that, so I began the preparation for my own. It would certainly be the last I use today. Koto-Amatsukami alone took over half my chakra.
Placing my hands in the tiger seal, I carried out the first part of my attack.
"Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu" (Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique)
I spat out a number of flaming dragon heads; aiming not at the monster, but at the clouds above it.
Normally this technique would require a wind user, a water user and a lightning user to pull off. But in these conditions Natsus fire means I can use a simple fire jutsu to replace wind and Grays ice can replace water.
The heat from where my attack hit in combination with the heat from Natsus attacks created a massive are of low air pressure. That caused all the clouds in the area, and the mist from Grays evaporated ice, to gather above the monster. Creating the perfect conditions for a storm.
This jutsu, is the predecessor to Kirin. Normally a combination attack, it takes too long for a single person to set it up under normal circumstances. If Kirin is a single unblockable, undodgeable attack, then this jutsu is a rain of undodgeable, unblockable attacks. Admittedly it works best with my old team as opposed to just me. Hideaki could use his Byakugan to spot targets and Wind Release: Kaiten for the wind jutsu, Jin would add the water and help control the lightning. That more or less made me a spare wheel, but I had better control than Jin so it worked better if I was there.
Bringing my hands up in the dragon seal, I reached out with my chakra. Channeling my natural element to control it in it's purest form. My hands crackled with lightning.
The lightning in the clouds could be seen, gathered around a single point.
The monster realised something was wrong, and gathered energy in it's mouth to fire at me.
It would fire before I could hit it. That realisation almost prompted me to break the technique, but a silver glint stopped me.
Erza is flying around in steel armour. She is higher than any other conductive point. If I break the technique, I lose control of that lightning. She'll die.
Gritting my teeth, I prepared myself.
The monster fired. So did I.
"Let the skies fall. Take-Mikazuchi."
A colossal lightning bolt fell from the sky. Tearing right through the monster, leaving nothing but ash in its wake as it fell to the floor. I would have liked to split the power into two bolts, but I only had enough time for one.
I had a half second to drop to my knees and slam my hands to the ground.
A flimsy rock wall rose up.
The beam from the monsters dying attack broke right through and sent me flying.
Hitting the floor I realised I was alive, but completely drained of chakra. I was sure that I was going to have bad case of chakra exhaustion after this. In fact, I don't think I can even stand at the moment.
I blame Erza.
On the bright side, memories from the clone that I sent to Erigor came back. The guy is well and truly dead. If anyone ever finds his body, they're dirty stinking liars because there is no body.
I heard footsteps coming rapidly closer, at least four pairs.
Opening my one good eye I checked to make sure it was who I think it was.
Yep, the four annoying mages. Come to think of it, I blame the whole monster flute thing on them. If they'd have let me kill Erigor earlier it would have ended right there. probably.
Oh, Makarov's there as well.
They didn't bother to slow down as they got close to me, that was weird. And why is Makarov crying?
It got weirder when Erza proceeded to pick me up and throw me on her shoulder without breaking step.
What the hell?
Looking back I saw an angry mob chasing us.
"What the hell did you do!?"
Gray answered, sounding more than a little annoyed.
"You blew up the conference hall, you idiot. Now they're blaming all the damages on us."
I did that?
Oops.
Chapter end
Man, that started getting long. I didn't think it would be half this length when I started. I might have rushed a few parts, I can't do massive fight scenes. They just get too chaotic. I prefer one on one scenes.
