TangentOne: What do you think of Kojiro's new apprentice?
TangentTwo: I don't think Kiyoshi will keep her alive, but she's cute at the very least.
TangentOne: Why would Kiyoshi kill her?
TangentTwo: A feeling in my funny bone!
TangentOne: Of course, what else could it be? An actual answer? Oh no... that would be too much to ask for.
As soon as Kojiro had reverse summoned himself back to Kiri, Kiyoshi made his way back to the shore. Again sitting on the turf with his legs bobbing in the spring.
Why can't he see this from my perspective? Kiyoshi wonders to himself, for once thinking without his usual charm.
A large feline makes its presence known by body flickering into the scene.
"Have you seen Kojiro?" Riborubā asks, sitting himself next to Kiyoshi.
"I sent him back to Kiri." Kiyoshi states blandly, his eyes locked onto the lake.
"Why would you send him home? We're in the middle of a war, and you think it wise to send one of our strongest assets and warriors home?" Riborubā argues..
"Let me think. Because he nearly fucking died? Yeah that's a good enough reason. If I could, I'd send all of you home and deal with the fat fuck myself." Kiyoshi fires back at Riborubā, his killing intent flaring and his eyes turning block red.
"Sometimes you really need to open yourself to the people around you. Kojiro feels the same about you, he worries and you act as if you alone feel the burden of the others safety," Riborubā starts, moving himself next to Kiyoshi and maintaining eye contact. "You need to understand that simple fact, doing so will free the burdens you carry."
"I didn't ask for a fucking life lesson, Riborubā. I just need to perfect my usage of Hell Incarnate. With it I'll kill that Bear Sage cunt and slaughter all those close to him. All while keeping Kojiro safe." Kiyoshi seethes, anger flaring his killing intent further.
Kiyoshi's hair starts to tinge red, flaring upwards. His sclera turn void black, black markings appear around his eyes and bridge his nose. Kiyoshi enters Hell Incarnate of his own willpower for the first time. The power radiating from him is slight stronger then it was while in his fight with the Bear Sage, Hideo.
He lashes his killing intent to its fullest, standing and walking to the center of the spring. The intent feels much akin to his intent during the first fight, only larger and more imposing than before. Even Riborubā is noticeably on edge while looking on at Kiyoshi trying to gain full control over his only real chance at beating the Bear Sage without his brother in the way.
Riborubā sits again, carefully watching his summoner push every limit he has. The spring itself was feeling the strain of his training. The surface bubbling around Kiyoshi's feet. The air around him becoming heated and blurring whatever lies on the other side of the viewers vision. Kiyoshi starts to perform hand seals for a jutsu, wanting to test his abilities while in his True Path.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu." Kiyoshi voices lowly, allowing a deep and thick mist to cover the spring and a large portion of the bank surrounding it.
Riborubā closes his eyes once the fog invades his position, allowing his innate sensory ability to take over. He surveys the entire area and them some. He is able to sense for miles around himself, distinguishing between friend and foe at glance. He's able to sense Kiyoshi, who is again flying through hand seals for another jutsu.
"Hell Release: Water Dragon Whip." Kiyoshi utters next.
He holds his arm out to his side, allowing water to wrap itself around it and forming a whip thirty metres in length. The whip itself laid atop the lake, never merging, holding itself together with large amount of pulsing red chakra. The end of the whip shaped like the elemental dragons he's so fond of. Kiyoshi starts to spin the whip above his head, the mist holding firm. With each revolution of the whip, the mist thickens, replacing the area where the whip was. After a few moments he lashes out with the whip at the spring, cutting it in half, parting the water itself. Creating a fissure that passes through the spring, around a hundred meters in length.
"It's not enough!" Kiyoshi roars out, letting the whip merge with the spring and again flying through more hand seals. "Hell Release: Raging Storm of the Dragon."
Kiyoshi takes a deep breath, focusing large proportions of chakra into his chest. He turns his head to face the sky, releasing his breath and the chakra with it, into the sky. Fire spews out, forming tens of Elemental fire dragons, each radiating the same aura as Kiyoshi himself. An aura that hell itself is said to radiate to those who are unfortunate to enter. Each Dragon was as large as Kiyoshi's normal elemental dragons, yet dwarfed them in power. The mist hiding their presence unless they were right in front of you.
Riborubā is still sitting at the edge of the now semi-destroyed spring. His eyes still closed sensing every move Kiyoshi makes. His demeanor was that of awe and worry. Awe of the power Kiyoshi is displaying and the serious killing intent that comes with his true path. Worry for the strain it's putting on his chakra network and his body.
After a minute of spewing fire into the sky, Kiyoshi finally stops, lowering his head. The fire dragons still flying around around thirty meters above him. He jumps back next to Riborubā, landing hard and cratoring the ground. Kiyoshi let's time pass, flexing his control over the dragons and pushing his abilities to their limits. Twenty minutes flies by before he finally holds his hand out in front of him, clenching his fist. The moment his fist finally closes, the dragons start to rain down onto the half destroyed spring. Each hitting and fulminating, changing the landscape in such a way that not even the strongest sage could return it to its previous state.
Upon the last of the dragons discharges, Kiyoshi exits Hell Incarnate, and falls to the floor unconscious. Riborubā grabs him by his collar, and throws him over his back, taking him back to the camp.
The next day Kiyoshi wakes up and finds himself back in his hammock. Riborubā sat beside his bed, currently strategizing while he waited for him to rouse. Kiyoshi pushes himself up, attempting to get up as his summon glares at him with mild annoyance.
"Where do you think you're going?" Riborubā asks, continuing his soul-piercing glare.
"Back to the spring to continue training, where the fuck else would I go?" Kiyoshi answers sassily.
"What spring? There's only craters where I dragged you from. Also why did you even try to go into your true path with only a third of your chakra? Do you have a deathwish I didn't know about?" Riborubā chastises him.
"I don't give a fuck how much chakra I had, I need to get stronger to kill the obese fuck, Hideo. This is the only way to do it." Kiyoshi states, standing up from his bed.
"Why don't you just get Kojiro back from Kiri? You've always done best as a team, it would make sense to confront the Bear Sage as such." Riborubā reasons.
"We've been over this, I'm doing this alone." Kiyoshi asserts as the flaps of the large tent opens.
Kōmori, a rather large bat enters, making his way straight to Kiyoshi and Riborubā, a worried look overtaking his face. Well, what Kiyoshi would guess a worried look would look like on a bat.
"Kiyoshi, do you have any idea why I can't find your brother?" Kōmori inquiries, Kojiro's personal summon.
"I sent him back to Kiri, and before you ask, no I'll not bring him back." Kiyoshi informs the bat.
"Why would you do such a thing? Riborubā did you know about this?" Kōmori asks.
"I found out yesterday. I decided to try and reason with Kiyoshi myself, but as you can see, it was to no avail." Riborubā remarks.
"What are we to do without him? What if there is another attack? We can't do anything without him, he's our commander!" Kōmori starts to panic.
"I'm still here, and I fully intend to kill the Bear Sage by myself. I refuse to bring Kojiro back until I can ensure his safety." Kiyoshi declares.
Both Kōmori and Riborubā stand contemplating Kiyoshi's words.
"We'll have to inform our respective leaders. I'm guessing Daisuke will not be happy, but he'll understand. Kōmori how do you think Shuryō will take the news that his summoner has been sent home by Kiyoshi?" Riborubā asks, still deep in thought.
"He'll want to know the exact reason. I honestly don't know what he'll think either way." Kōmori states while clicking his tongue flying out of the tent as he finishes.
"Why the fuck don't you trust my decision, Riborubā? I thought you'd understand." Kiyoshi voices, donning a fresh set of clothes and battle gear.
"I never said I didn't. It's just the war is my main focus at the moment, and your brother is a rather large piece of it whether you like it or not." Riborubā remarks, making his own way out of the tent.
Kiyoshi follows once his gear is all on. He looks over the scenery that surrounds the camp, this time with a much harsher outlook than when he first arrived. This had been hard on Kiyoshi, something he'd deny, yet the signs are there. He's more focused on fighting the Sage than he is in maintaining his jovial attitude, much to his displeasure.
After a few minutes Kiyoshi begins to head for the spring, or what's left of it. Riborubā takes note of his direction and heads off to inform Daisuke about the past few days events. The confrontation with the Bear Sage, the details of the injuries and losses sustained. Most of all Kiyoshi's current mental state. He's been like this before and that was not good for anyone, least of all Kiyoshi. This time it's different. He's still all there, still pushing himself and working towards a goal unlike last time.
Kiyoshi arrives at the spring in about a two minutes, flexing his heaven path for the extra speed. As he lands he is finally able to realise the true damage he had caused here the day before. Craters littering the field, the spring now two separate masses split with a fissure. The water from the spring occupying the fissure.
"So Hell Incarnate is as strong as I thought it was, and this was with only a third of my chakra. That Fat Sage is fucked the next time I see him," Kiyoshi mutters to himself, a malicious grin occupying his features. "Now how the fuck do I activate the True path?"
Kiyoshi sat himself down and began to enter a trance like thought. Trying to rebuild the battle with the Sage and yesterdays training, to see how he was able to achieve the form. He pushes himself further, remembering the day he slaughtered his own father like he was a bug under his sandal.
Time starts to fly by, minutes then hours passed unnoticed. Kiyoshi never once moved from his position, his eyes closed to help rebuild his memories. After ten hours of his deep mental training Riborubā had arrived to inform Kiyoshi of Daisuke thoughts on sending his brother home. The ocelot knew better than to interrupt so he laid himself down waiting for his summoner to exit his trance himself.
A further five hours pass before Kiyoshi emerges from his contemplating mind. Riborubā himself had fallen into a slumber, one Kiyoshi didn't find any problem waking him from.
"Oi, Riborubā! Wake the fuck up! You must be here for a reason?" Kiyoshi queries the half asleep Ocelot.
"Hm? Oh yes, I came to tell you what Daisuke thinks of your recent actions. Short version, he's understanding." Riborubā informs his summoner, much to his surprise.
"Wait, you're telling me that he's not mad or disappointed with me for a change?" Kiyoshi says with confusion.
"It seems he's rather happy with your handling of the issue. He knows how protective of Kojiro you are, he only asks that you think deeply on whether or not this is truly the right call. Before you answer, think about it, from all perspectives, not just your own for a change," Riborubā states, picking himself up to leave for the camp. "I'm returning to the camp, if you need me, you know what to do."
From all perspectives? Kiyoshi muses, completely ignoring Riborubā's goodbye.
The large Ocelot sprints towards the camp, leaving Kiyoshi completely alone to ponder on his words. Whether Kiyoshi would or not, only time would tell. After he finishes musing he sits himself down again, entering his trance like state again.
A couple of weeks pass before the summon realm, the war was turning out to be a lot worse than anyone could have expected. Every day, the cats and bats are losing ground, inch by inch. Since the Kawaguchi brothers confronted the Bear Sage, their attacks have only increased in intensity. Kiyoshi has had several encounters with the Bear Sage, Hideo, each more brutal than the last. Each ending in a stalemate. He's been able to enter his True Path each time, but only at a fraction of it's true strength. He's still hindered, but by what, he doesn't know.
Even though the Bears are winning the war, they have yet to seize any new territory. They've only had success in besting their enemies at the borders. Any attack into the cats or bats territory has proven to much, with Kiyoshi reacting to each of them. A total of seven raids into the cats and bats territories, with around seventeen skirmishes on the borders. The felines and pteropines are feeling the pressure, with injuries and losses mounting at a rate they cannot sustain for long. The bears have had losses too, but not of the same degree.
In his rather limited free time, Kiyoshi kept trying to enter and perfect his Hell Incarnate path. Some days pondering on what his summon said to him. Both were only slightly productive, yet neither fixed his personal and his summons issues. He may have accessed more of his True Path, but still not enough to face and kill Hideo. Something that angered him greatly.
In the command tent, a large ocelot comes into Kiyoshi's periphery and sits, staring intently at his summoner until he recognizes the new presence.
"Kiyoshi, we can't keep this up much longer, you need to bring Kojiro back." Riborubā demands.
"I can't. I don't know why anymore, but I can't allow myself to bring him here. I still feel the need to protect him, yet there's something else there too." Kiyoshi explains.
"This isn't a debate anymore, we need him!" Riborubā roars at his summoner, trying to break his melancholy.
"This was never a debate to start with, this is my decision not yours or the fucking leaders. All I need is a little more time and I'll be able to kill the fucking Sage." Kiyoshi fires back, letting his anger take ahold of him.
"No, the time I gave you is over, there is no option but to bring Kojiro back. We've suffered too many losses, just because we've lost little territory means nothing. I thought you'd understand since it's also your summons that are dying." Riborubā tactfully points out.
Kiyoshi doesn't respond. He stands still, a look of deep thought clearing the anger from his face. Moments pass, Riborubā waits silently for his summoner to come back to him. A few moments later, Kiyoshi snaps back to himself, a half hearted look of defeat adorning his features.
"Fine, I'll get him. You're right, I can't stand the fact the fat cunt and his summons are killing mine. I guess I'll have to push these issues of mine back for now." Kiyoshi concedes to Riborubā.
"Good, I'll inform Daisuke." Riborubā confirms, turning and leaving the tent.
Kiyoshi moves over to his hammock, lying down once there. Again he enters a deep thought. One filled with worries that he knows he has to push out of his mind. Maybe bringing his brother back will help alleviate the burden they bear. Maybe they won't, but either way he has a job to do. Letting anymore of his summons, or his brothers, die is not something he intends to allow.
After an hour of thought, he finally gets back to his feet and performs his reverse summoning jutsu, sending him home to Kiri.
Kiyoshi puffs into his Hunter-nin room, the smoke disappearing quickly to reveal a half dressed kunoichi. His instincts react for him, pulling a kunai from his pouch, reaching for her and grabbing her around the neck. Placing the kunai to her throat, cutting slightly into her. Deeper then he would normally do, she was in his apartment.
"Who the fuck are you? How the fuck did you get into my room?" Kiyoshi demands, his killing intent flaring to its fullest and his eyes now block red.
Asuka squeeks in fright and looks at Kojiro sitting on the bed to the right with pleading eyes.
"So, brother, I take it you need me or the war is over." Kojiro states, ignoring the young Kunoichi.
"Oh, so this is your whore?" Kiyoshi asks, digging the kunai deeper into her neck, blood beginning to trickly from the wound.
"Something like that, answer my questions first. How many died?" Kojiro demands.
"Too fucking many. Kojiro, I was wrong, about a few things, but sending you back the most." Kiyoshi admits, keeping his hold on the young girl.
"Wow... That's a first. Just so you know, this isn't over. Anyway, this is Hayabusa Asuka, Gozou's daughter." Kojiro says.
"Her name won't matter once she's dead." Kiyoshi readies to slice Asuka's throat.
"Actually, I'm training her. I'd prefer my student alive." Kojiro states nonchalantly, standing from his bed.
Kiyoshi doesn't reply, he merely begins to laugh with every fibre of his being. The first time since his first battle with the Bear Sage.
"You can't be fucking serious? This wimp? She'll last an hour if that!" Kiyoshi voices, between each maniacal laugh.
"When I started training her, yes. Now? Maybe two hours." Kojiro replies with a chuckle.
"Just let me kill her, I've not killed anything but fucking bears for weeks! At least she'll die a clean death." Kiyoshi requests, still laughing between each word.
"Nah, she could be useful later. Let her go, she's had a rough day training. It was a double workout day." Kojiro says with a mischievous grin.
"Fine, but give me half an hour before we return to the summoners realm, I got somewhere I want to go." Kiyoshi relents, letting the girl fall to the floor in a heap of tears and piss.
"Where's that?" Kojiro wonders aloud.
"Don't worry about it, it doesn't affect you. Her on the other hand, I don't know." Kiyoshi replies, a grin of pure malice appearing on his face.
Kojiro grunts picks Asuka off the floor, shouldering and moving to the bathroom where he drops her down.
"Shower, and if you ever piss on my floor again, I swear on the Mizukage I will skin you alive. Clean it up when you're done. Then you're on your own til I'm back from the Summons realm." Kojiro states to the mess of a kunoichi before slamming the bathroom door and turning back to his brother.
"She's well trained, I bet you ten thousand ryō she's dead by the time we return." Kiyoshi offers his brother, making his way to the door and opening it.
"Deal, but only because I don't think she has the guts to leave the apartment." Kojiro agrees.
"Good. Now I'll be back soonish, as I said, I got somewhere to be." Kiyoshi leaves the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
"Wonderful. I suppose I can head back to the summons realm." Kojiro mutters.
"I'd wait if I was you." Kiyoshi shouts through the door.
"Or not…" he mutters again as the shower turns on.