Yes, I'm not dead. I know it's been long since I've updated, but that's how it is. Don't think I took a long break or something; I actually started writing the day after posting the 6th chapter. As you can see it took a while, but it's also the longest chapter I have written so far.
I thank you for all the reviews that wanted me to keep going, and don't worry, I will. For any questions you asked that weren't immediately answered by me, please read the notes at the end of the chapter.
!There's also an important question at the end of the chapter, please answer it!
Enjoy the chapter,
Faroush
Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor Fairy Tail
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Demonic Entity"
Chapter 7: Fighting Fate
At this very moment Lucy thoroughly hated her life. Not only was she participating in a guild extermination that had turned into nothing short of a total war, but her opponent used bugs. Bugs! Why was it always her that had to fight the weird ones? Shaking her head the blonde pushed those thoughts aside. She was a mage of Fairy Tail, she had to win this fight, no matter how gross it was!
"Open the Gate of the Scorpion, Scorpio!"
As the bugs of her opponent continued to close in on Lucy, the Celestial Spirit mage decided that it was the best to keep the insects at a distance. Thus with a flash of light Scorpio appeared, a confident grin on his face. It took the spirit only a short moment to assess the situation and why Lucy had summoned him. His grin got even wider as he raised his large tail cannon and took aim.
"We are alright! This our – "
Shino, who was hidden in the shadows of the buildings around them, raised an eyebrow at the strange summoning creature his opponent had called. It looked human, but not quite. However, his analysis would have to wait until the battle was over, especially since the girl and her partner apparently were planning something –
"SANDBUSTER!"
To Shino's great surprise a huge wave of sand shot out from the tip of the red and white haired summoning's tail, blasting away his crawling comrades. The wave of sand was so strong that even Shino himself was hit and sent flying for a bit.
When the sand died down, Lucy carefully scanned her surroundings. After making sure that it was safe for the moment, she turned to Scorpio.
"You think we got him?"
The Stellar Spirit looked cautious, his confident grin replaced by a serious expression.
"We are not sure, the attack definitely hit him, but it'd be quite surprising if a single attack were enough to take him down."
The duo carefully walked through the sand covered alley, making sure that no one was trying to sneak up on them. However, to their great surprise they soon found Shino's body almost completely covered by sand and apparently out cold. Lucy prodded him experimentally and hurried back to Scorpio afterwards. Shino didn't move.
"Huh. Maybe he was a lot weaker than he looked." Lucy wondered out loud.
Scorpio just laughed. "We are perhaps just too much to handle for him and squashed him like one of his bugs! Hahaha!"
"What an interesting summoning. It looks so very human… Truly fascinating."
The blood of the mage and her partner ran cold when they heard the flat voice of their opponent directly behind them. Before any of the two could react, the buried body before them dissolved into countless insects that suddenly latched onto Scorpio, covering every inch of the spirit's body.
"Scorpio!" Lucy shouted in alarm. Who knew what those bugs might do to her friend?
But before Lucy could reach for her key to cancel the summoning, the bugs dispersed again, leaving behind a barely conscious Scorpio. The spirit with dichromatic hair only vaguely heard Lucy calling out to him.
"Lucy…" He began, straining himself to remain in the human world just a little longer.
"Be careful, those bugs… they drain magic. Don't get caught… by… them…"
With a puff of smoke the spirit disappeared, leaving behind a stunned looking Lucy.
'Magic draining bugs? Is he an anti-mage?'
Her thoughts were interrupted when Shino appeared from the ground, sand falling down from his long jacket. He looked perfectly fine and had escaped the attack unscathed it seemed.
"So this is 'magic'. It's truly different from chakra, but since it is still a form of energy my allies were able to eat it. This is very reassuring. Why is that? Because it means that my clan will have no trouble to fight against the attacking mages."
Lucy's eyes widened at the statement. "Clan?" She asked out loud. "You mean there are more of you?"
Shino looked at his opponent, his expression completely unreadable due to his shades, hood and high collar. The heir of the Aburame Clan had no qualms about answering her. Psychological attacks were also perfectly useful in battle, and it appeared that the news of more fighters like him were deeply unsettling the girl.
"Of course. The Aburame Clan is one of the many clans in Konoha, and although we are not as famed as some of the others, we have always produced loyal and strong warriors."
After giving his answer he started to walk towards Lucy, who immediately got into a guarded position. While the bugs began to swirl around their master again, the blonde had no idea whom she should summon next. The only other spirit with an attack that would hit all the bugs that were crawling around was Aquarius, but she couldn't call her without a water source.
'What should I do?' Lucy thought frantically. 'Loki isn't suited for this kind of opponent and those damn shades would probably half the effect of most of Loki's light attacks! Damn, I have to try!'
Lucy drew the key of the lion, but the moment she prepared to summon Loki, she stopped. Her eyes widened when she saw countless bugs crawling across her hand, which she could already barely feel anymore. Her opponent simply raised his arms and a huge swarm of new bugs came out of his sleeves, joining the ones flying around and circling around the hooded shinobi.
"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to continue fighting. Why is that? Because you are an enemy."
The bugs surged forward, ready to drain Lucy's magic completely. The blonde could only watch in horror as the bugs were about to engulf her. However, things came differently.
"Karyū no Hōkō!"
"Ice Make: Geyser!"
A huge fireball descended from above the two fighters and incinerated the incoming bugs while a fountain of ice erupted from the ground. The ice slammed into the surprised Shino's unguarded gut and instantly knocked the Aburame heir out cold.
"Ha! Take that you stupid bugs!"
"Aye! You shouldn't bug Lucy!"
"Shut up Natsu! We're in the middle of a war, don't tell everyone where you are!"
"Shut up yourself, Gray! At least I don't leave a trail of clothes for my opponents to follow!"
Lucy had never been happier to hear the bickering voices of Natsu and Gray.
"Take that!"
With a swing of his mighty fist Elfman sent an unfortunate Shinobi who had neglected his guard flying. After skipping across the road like a pebble over the water's surface a few times he finally came to a halt and didn't move. Elfman let out a satisfied grunt. One clean hit of his fists was enough to take out most of his opponents it appeared, but since they had the tendency to move around quite quickly it wasn't easy to get said hit in.
"At least that one didn't suddenly turn into a log again… Where did that thing come from anyway?"
Elfman stopped his musings with a shake of his head. There were more pressing matters at hand. Falling into a slight jog so he wouldn't exhaust himself by running all the time Elfman started to proceed through the village. There had to be some clues about Erza's whereabouts somewhere. After running past several buildings, the sounds of battle always clearly audible, Elfman stumbled across a sight that let his blood run cold.
In the middle of the street lay two of his fellow guild members, both completely still. Due to their unique clothes Elfman had no problem identifying the two.
"Alzack! Bisca!" Just a moment later the silver haired man was at the side of the two western mages. Both were covered in bruises and looked like they had been thoroughly put through the wringer. However, at hearing Elfman's shout Alzack's form twitched a little. The Take Over using mage carefully picked up the form of his defeated comrade to find out just what had happened to those two who were an excellent team.
"Alzack! What happened to you and Bisca?" Elfman urged.
Alzack grimaced as he forced his body to respond even though the pain he was experiencing was doing its best to keep him from it. "How is… Bisca?" He managed to get out. Even now the girl he had a huge crush on was more important to him than his own condition.
Elfman took a quick look at the unconscious girl. Besides her bruises she seemed to be fine, at least Elfman couldn't see any life threatening injuries on her.
"She'll be fine, she's just knocked out. But what the hell happened to you guys? You are an excellent team, who could beat the two of you down like this?"
Alzack winced a little when the unpleasant memories resurfaced. "It was just a single Konoha mage… But he was so incredibly fast; we couldn't even properly aim at him. Be careful, Elfman, that guy's… a… beast…"
After that Alzack lost consciousness once more, the last of his reserves used up. This slightly worried Elfman. During the Fighting Festival Alzack had proven to be quite strong and possess quite a lot of stamina. For a single opponent to defeat those two… Elfman began to realize that Konoha was even more dangerous than he had thought.
Elfman clenched his fists. "How can I let this go by and still call myself a man…? Whoever did this, I will put you DOWN!"
As if to underline his words, suddenly a wall behind Elfman broke apart as a body was sent flying through it at high speeds. Turning around Elfman saw another Fairy Tail mage, knocked out and with a little blood coming from his mouth.
"Macao!"
But before Elfman could see to his comrade's health, a voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Yosh! Another one of the unyouthful invaders has been repelled! And if I can't ten more before the hour is up I shall pound ten logs into the earth with my bare hands!"
The Konoha mage before Elfman was dressed in one of the strangest getups he had ever seen, and considering the number of weird people in Fairy Tail that was saying a lot. Who the hell wore a green spandex with orange leg warmers?
Elfman's eyes narrowed. Despite the rather ridiculous clothes, this guy had still beaten Macao, and if his intuition was right he had also beaten down Alzack and Bisca. He had to be careful.
Lee had also noticed the silver haired wizard. One the one hand he was glad that there were so many evil mages in his area since it meant he didn't have to search for them. On the other hand fighting all of them one after the other was rather tiring. If it hadn't been for the grueling training sessions Lee always put himself through he probably would have collapsed from exhaustion by now. The Chunin could see that his opponent was also not in top condition anymore, he probably had fought his fair share of battles as well before coming here.
Still, he had to defend his home. He couldn't allow something as simple as exhaustion tostop him from it. "Greetings, mage of Fiore! My name is Rock Lee, the Green Beast of Konoha and I hereby challenge you to a fight!"
The silver haired wizard scowled at his next opponent. That guy had some nerve, acting like this was some sort of sport festival rather than a bloody battle. But when his eyes fell on the beaten forms of his comrades, the annoyance he felt turned into righteous anger.
With a yell of determination Elfman transformed his right arm into the form of the Black Bull and attacked the slightly surprised Lee with it.
"Bring it you punk!"
The fist crushed into the ground when Lee dodged by jumping into the air and left a large crater. Lee retaliated with a fierce spinning kick that Elfman evaded by ducking beneath it. To his great surprise however the warrior of Konoha had enough spin to attack him a second time, this kick aimed low enough to hit him for sure if he didn't act fast.
Elfman grunted as the foot grazed his face. The silver haired wizard then lifted his right arm again and tried to hit his opponent with a backhand spin, but to the green clad warrior proved to be quite agile and simply used Elfman's arm to support himself by landing on it in a handstand. Lee didn't remain there for long and jumped away with a series of back flips, creating some distance between his opponent and himself.
Lee intently scanned his opponent. Then he suddenly nodded to himself, slightly confusing his silver haired opponent.
"Yosh! I think I have a good measure on your strength style now. Now that we've warmed up, let the real battle begin!"
With these words Lee shot at his opponent, his right arm shooting forward like a cannon ball. However, the punch was a straight one and Elfman knew he could counter it with a punch on his own. His transformed arm shot forward and met Lee's fist. The Take Over user had expected his opponent to lose this direct battle of strength, but to his astonishment their punches had been completely equal and had cancelled each other out!
The battle continued and it was not going good for the Fairy Tail mage.
Elfman scowled. His opponent was simply better than him. Despite his relatively unsuspecting build his punches were quite strong, even equal to the arms of some of the weaker beasts Elfman had access to. He also had the advantage in form since Elfman was more of a brawler, but this kid had probably trained in Martial Arts. Unfortunately there was also no contest in speed; the damn bowl cut was running circles around him – backwards even. Just what kind of magic was he using? And he was so subtle at using it that Elfman could have sworn he wasn't using any magic at all!
'Damn, it doesn't matter how many punches I can take if I can't dish out any! I guess I have no choice!'
"Take Over!"
Magic enveloped Elfman's form and transformed him into the very beast that had once caused him to go berserk. The mage of Fairy Tail sent a powerful glare at his opponent, who had stopped his attacks in surprise when Elfman had transformed.
"I'll end this quickly now. My friends are counting on me to help them find Erza."
Lee meanwhile was quite surprised by his opponent's transformation. It reminded him a little of the Orochimaru's Curse Seal, but at the same time the monster before the green clad youth didn't emit the same dark presence he normally associated with it.
"I see you too are a beast." Lee spoke with a serious tone. "Still! I shall not let you pass! I will defend Konoha with all my might!"
"Bring it on!" Both of them yelled at the same time as they lunged at each other.
Elfman began with a powerful swing of his right arm and Lee noticed that he had gotten a lot faster than before. The Chunin narrowly dodged the swing and felt the wind rush over his face before he countered with a roundhouse kick to Elfman's exposed torso.
The transformed mage felt the attack coming with his sharpened senses and immediately brought his left hand up and caught Lee's left leg in it. Not one to waste the moment of surprise Elfman spun around quickly before throwing Lee into a wall, the momentum accelerating the black haired shinobi enough for him to actually crash through yet another wall on the other side of the building.
Lee grunted a little under the debris that covered his body. He had underestimated his opponent's increase in speed and power and he had paid for it. It didn't help that Lee was still exhausted from fighting all the other mages before, even his almost legendary stamina was slowly running dry.
"I don't want to use it not knowing what battles might still wait for me after this… But I can't allow myself to be defeated as long as I can still fight on! Forgive me, Gai-sensei, but I have to use that technique…!"
Outside of the building Elfman was wondering what had happened to his opponent. Was he already down? Maybe he had been far more exhausted than he had expected… Which would mean that the magic he had used to transform had been somewhat of a waste.
"No…" Elfman muttered to himself. "All those guys I fought so far were incredible hard to keep down. He's not done yet…"
True to his prediction Elfman soon found himself assaulted by several rocks flying towards him at high speed. It was easy for Elfman to either dodge or simply crush the incoming rocks on this form and he knew that this was just a diversion. He had to keep his guard up.
"Too slow."
Elfman's eyes widened in shock when he heard a voice from behind himself. He whipped around and immediately sent a punch at whoever had sneaked up on him. But his fist sailed through the air without hitting anything. Suddenly all of his senses screamed at Elfman to move. Elfman could feel the beast inside him screaming at the danger it was sensing. But where was the source?
"This battle… is over!"
Elfman only noticed he had been hit when he was flying through the air. It was the same guy he had sent flying through the wall.
'Impossible - ! I didn't even sense him leave!'
Meanwhile Lee was still standing on the ground, his body completely still. Yet it was bristling with unreleased power, begging to unleash it. Lee's skin was blazing red and his eyes looked like they had turned pure white.
"Hachimon Tonkō."
To the normal eye it looked like Lee simply vanished. In truth however he had jumped so fast that most eyes just couldn't follow him.
Elfman, who was still in the air, was trying to regain his bearing from the sudden punch to the chin that had catapulted him upwards. He felt his opponent approach and he knew that if he didn't stop him now the battle would end with his loss.
The Take Over using mage tried to swat his quickly approaching enemy away with his large hands, but it was futile. Lee was already too close to him to be hit.
'Damn! I have to block him quickly or - !'
Elfman's thoughts were interrupted when a fist buried itself deeply in his stomach. The punch had been so fast that it had burned Elfman. The beast man's mouth opened in pain and a mixture of blood and spit flew out. But Lee wasn't done yet.
Lee's fists shot back and forth at such a high speed that it was nothing but a blur. His fists were moving so fast that they were set ablaze by the friction they created and shot orange flames both at his opponent and past him. This was Lee's ultimate technique, the forbidden art he had learned from his master.
"Asa Kujaku!" (1)
Lee's triumphant shout mixed with Elfman's cry of pain as the attack heavily damaged the mage's entire body.
The attack ended, and Elfman fell to the ground, the impact creating a large crater. He had transformed back into his human form and was out cold. His body no longer had the strength to maintain the transformation.
Lee landed shortly afterwards, but he was only in a slightly better condition. He had pushed his exhausted body even further by opening the gates and he knew that he would pay the prize for it once the adrenaline left his body.
The green clad shinobi winced as he straightened himself. His legs were wobbly and he could barely stand. "I need to find a medic…" Lee said to himself before he started to slowly walk away.
He didn't make it far.
Just as Lee was about to leave the area, a whizzing sound reached his ears. He didn't have time to react in any way before something hit him and electricity started to course through his entire body.
Lee screamed in both surprise and pain until unconsciousness claimed him and he fell over. Several yards away Alzack dropped his gun. He had used his last reserves of magic with this attack, but at least they had taken him down. A smile grazed the western mage's tired features as he once again felt his awareness slip away.
It was a battle without victor.
While Lee's battle had just come to an end, his female teammate was having problems in ending hers. Tenten really hated her life sometimes. Why was it that she was always pitted against the worst opponents possible for her? In the Chunin Exams she had been forced to fight a wind user who could simply blow all her attacks away and keep her at a distance. And now…
"Take this!"
A true hailstorm of bladed weapon fell upon a wide area, covering the ground entirely with metal.
Tenten was breathing heavily by now. She really had the worst luck. Her opponent was a master of water techniques, which was already hard enough. But she also had the ability to morph her entire body into water, not unlike a certain clan from Mizugakure Tenten had heard about. Which meant that even if her weapons hit, they just passed right through her.
'And to make things worse, I don't know any Raiton Jutsu. Damn, this doesn't look too good.'
Slowly the dust created by her latest attack receded and revealed what the bun-haired girl had feared all along. Her opponent was completely unharmed.
"Juvia is impressed. You can use just as many weapons as Erza can, though your control isn't the same. You cannot hurt Juvia."
Juvia looked at her opponent with her usual stoic expression. Truth to be told she had gotten really lucky with this girl as her opponent. Unlike Erza this girl was unable to channel magic through her weapons which would have been able to hurt her. She had seen of the other Konoha mages fight, and their abilities hadn't been restricted to a single type of magic.
"Juvia is sorry, but she has to end this."
Tenten immediately raised her guard again, but in her exhausted state it was of no use. As the female mage rushed at her, she braced herself for the impact. The Konoha Chunin felt how the currents of water mercilessly assaulted her body, her attempts to block nothing but a nuisance to her opponent.
The attack stopped and Tenten fell to the ground, coughing heavily to get the water she had swallowed out of her lungs. Her opponent simply stood before her, not using the opening she had to attack Tenten. The brown haired girl got really angry at that. The girl before her didn't even take her seriously enough to attack her when she was down! To her she was someone she didn't need to exploit an opening for to win.
'I refuse to lose like this again. I'm not just someone who provides backup from a distance! No, if I want to become a kunoichi like Tsunade-sama I can't stop here!'
But what could she do? Tenten's mind was racing as she tried to think of any weapon that could help her in this situation. But it was no use. She didn't have any weapon scrolls left. The only thing she still had on her was a single smoke bomb and the scroll were she kept weapons that either needed to get fixed or she wanted to sell as scrap metal.
At this point it didn't matter to her anymore. With a yell of determination Tenten pushed herself up and jumped back, drawing the scroll in the process.
Juvia watched with both curiosity and a little concern what her opponent was going to summon this time. She doubted it was something that could turn the battle around; otherwise her opponent would have used it from the start. Still, underestimating an opponent was something she would never do.
A poof of smoke covered Tenten's form and soon Juvia was assaulted by yet another set of weapons. With a raised eyebrow the water mage noted that these weapons were in a rather bad condition if not downright broken. Her opponent seemed to get desperate.
The smoke bomb caught her by surprise though. Not one to take any chances, Juvia transformed her body into water again and prepared to end this with her next attack.
There! A shadow in the dust!
Juvia lashed out with her liquefied right arm and struck her opponent heavily. The Konoha mage was apparently far too exhausted to dodge by now. The attack connected, but somehow Tenten found the strength to push on, her makeshift weapon firmly in her hands. With a final yell she rushed past the water and executed a perfect cut against Juvia's exposed side before collapsing yet again, the damage she had sustained too much for her to bear.
The former Phantom Lord mage watched with no discernable expression how her opponent fell. She had almost admired the girl's will to face her, even though she had been heavily outclassed. But just as Juvia was about to leave, pain suddenly erupted from Juvia's left side. Her eyes widened in shock as her gaze travelled to the spot where the pain was coming from. Blood. She was bleeding. The brown haired girl had managed to cut her! The wound wasn't very deep, but it wasn't shallow either.
With no real way to treat the wound by herself Juvia decided to look for Wendy. If she continued to fight like this the wound would get only worse.
As she was leaving the battlefield, leaving the barely conscious Tenten behind, Juvia wondered what had just happened.
'Juvia doesn't understand. These Konoha mages are so strange… Why do they keep fighting even though they are heavily outmatched? Why don't they try to escape and hide? And how did this girl manage to suddenly wound Juvia? I must ask Gray-sama about this…'
On the devastated battlefield, Tenten was only clinging to consciousness, her eyes getting heavier and heavier. She had bet everything on this last attack, and strangely enough it had apparently hurt the water mage. Even though she had lost, she was a little satisfied now.
'I wonder how I did it…' Tenten wondered as her mind went dark. 'I just attacked her with this old metal rod, it's not even that sharp aside from the tip… were did I even get this…?'
It was only after the battle that Tenten would realize just what she had used to attack Juvia.
When Team Gai had returned after the invasion of Pain, Tenten had been with Neji who had been tending to the grievously wounded Hinata. Seeing her surrounded and pierced by some strange metal rods, Tenten had picked up some of them to see if they were any good as weapons. However, shortly afterwards they had been sent to this strange place and the rods had been forgotten.
Rods that were essentially the blood of Gedō Mazō, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Realm.
Once again a demon raged in Konoha. This time however it was not a several stories high beast like Shukaku or the Kyuubi. No, this demon was just as tall as a normal human, which didn't make it any less deadly though. In this battle Mirajane showed the world why she had been feared once more. The Satan Soul ablaze the silver haired woman tore through the enemy ranks like a hot knife through butter.
"We must hold this position!" An unnamed Chunin shouted at his comrades.
"It's no use! Let's retreat and regroup before – ARGH!"
The words of the Chunin's fellow shinobi died on his lips when a blast of pure magic power tore the ground asunder, throwing stones the size of boulders left and right like paper weights, catching the unfortunate shinobi on their journey. And amidst the destruction stood Mirajane, her hair whipping around as if it was a living being. An angry scowl was prominent on her demonic visage as she stared at the fallen Konoha mages around her. She didn't care whether they were dead or just unconscious. The demon inside her screamed at her to cause more and more destruction; and for the first time in her life Mirajane saw no reason to disagree with the voice.
Konoha would bleed for what they had done.
Suddenly her tail sprung alive and almost lazily swatted two shuriken away that had been aimed at the back of her head. She turned around glanced in the direction where they had come from. One of the warriors that had been caught in her blast from before had forced himself in a sitting position. Although one of his legs seemed broken and he was bleeding from a cut above his right eye he was still fighting. Mirajane found herself impressed and intrigued by the tenaciousness her enemies were displaying.
'What is it that drives them so hard?'
Calmly she approached the downed man of Konoha who didn't even try to escape. He knew that he didn't stand a chance in his condition, yet his expression remained defiant.
Mirajane hoisted the man up, holding him by the collar of his green flak jacket. With a voice as cold as ice she asked: "Tell me, where can I find the man you call 'Maelstrom'? He and I have unfinished business to attend to."
To her surprise the wounded man simply chuckled.
"Tough luck, bitch. The shinobi of Konoha never betray their comrades! Pray that you far away once the one you seek arrives! The Hero of the Leaf will never forgive the likes of you for what you have done!"
The Demon of Fairy Tail tightened her grip, her eyes narrowing. The man in her grasp began to cough when his air supply was drastically reduced this way. "You're going to tell me everything I want to know. I have my ways of making you talk."
But before Mirajane could do anything to realize her threat, a hand wrapped itself around her right wrist. The grip was incredibly strong and when it tightened the strength of it along with the surprise caused her to drop the man she had been holding.
"Destroying our homes, threatening the people of this village… I've seen enough."
A brutal kick connected with Mirajane's abdomen and sent her flying through a nearby building.
As the S-Rank mage recovered from the surprise attack, she winced when she stood up.
'That kick… what an incredible strength. Even though I'm using Satan Soul it dealt this much damage. But who was that? I didn't even sense anyone approach.'
Once Mirajane had completely freed herself of the debris that surrounded her she saw something she definitely hadn't expected to see. By the man she had just threatened stood a woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties. She had blond hair that was tied in two low pigtails and reached to the end of her shoulder blades. If Mirajane had been asked if the woman had any other distinguishing feature the female mage would probably noted the impressive bust size of the newcomer.
All in all the woman did not look like she was able to send Mirajane flying with a single kick that probably wasn't even full strength.
Pushing these thoughts aside for now Mirajane concentrated on the blonde who stood a few yards away. She was currently talking to the wounded man from before.
"I healed your leg as well as I could for the moment. Try to keep the strain to a minimum and see another medic once you've gotten your comrade and yourself out of here."
The man didn't seem to thrilled about the idea of leaving. "Tsunade-sama, are you sure you want to fight her alone? She's a demon!"
The woman's answer was a harsh shout. "You fool! Who do you think you're talking to? I may have passed on the hat of the Hokage, but I have been fighting on battlefields before you were even born! A youngster like you would only get in my way. Now get out of here!"
The man hung his head in defeat. "Yes, Tsunade-sama."
After picking up his unconscious comrade the man sent a last look at the blond woman before he leapt away. Mirajane's eyes went wide at that. She had clearly broken the man's leg. How was it possible that he was already able to jump like that again?
"Finally they're gone… I really don't want anyone to get caught in the crossfire that's sure to come."
Suddenly a wave of killer intent washed over Mirajane. The blond woman turned around and her brown eyes sent a glare at the demon that let her blood run cold.
"As a doctor I am normally against battles. But you… you and your little friends… I'll show you exactly why Konoha is known as the strongest village there is!"
Tsunade Senju had returned to the field of battle once again, and this time nothing would stop her from defending her home.
While in one part of the town Mirajane was being confronted by the legendary shinobi Tsunade, another battle of terrific proportions was approaching at another location.
Gildarts Clive, demolition expert and strongest mage of Fairy Tail was something like an organized natural disaster to Konoha. Mirajane might have been a horror to the warriors of Konoha, but Gildarts was more than that. Nothing could stop him People, buildings… all was gone in the blink of an eye in face of this man's magic.
And he wasn't even fighting yet. So far no one had posed a threat to Gildarts, the strongest mage of Fairy Tail besides the master himself. With a flick of his hand thrown weapons were gone, and if he waved hard enough, so were those who had thrown him. This didn't mean he wasn't taking things seriously, this was a full out war after all. But Gildarts knew his strength, and he could also estimate his opponents' strengths. And so far none had been able to match him.
However, even Gildarts was surprised when suddenly chains were wrapped around him.
"We got him Kotetsu!" "Alright Izumo!"
Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, the most infamous Chunin duo of Konoha didn't know what they were in for.
One moment the two friends were trying to stop the bearded mage from his rampage by attacking him with their kunai swords, the next they were violently flung away as Gildarts simply used his "Crash' magic on the chain to destroy it and hit the two attackers flying at the same time. At this moment, Kotetsu and Izumo felt like Gamabunta had stepped on them.
And all of that happened without Gildarts actually realizing he had been attacked.
"Hmm? I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't really paying attention and used my magic on instinct… You guys are still alive, are you?"
From their respective positions both Izumo and Kotetsu stared incredulously. Was this guy for real?
Gildarts meanwhile remained perfectly calm. Sure, he was really angry about what had happened, but if he allowed his mind to be clouded by anger now he might make a mistake he'd regret later. If 'Maelstrom' was any indication Konoha had some powerful fighters.
"Say, you two wouldn't happen to know where I can find a young man with blond hair and blue eyes? There's something I'd like to discuss with him…" Gildarts' voice was completely friendly, and yet the two Chunin felt a shiver run down their spine. The years of experience they had gained as shinobi allowed them to realize that they had vastly underestimated their opponent.
"You're not gonna talk? Damn, that's a shame… Well, I guess I'll just have to keep looking."
Just as he prepared to walk away, a shout notified him of yet another presence. But he never would have expected it to be…
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"
… such an obvious attack.
A green blur sped towards the S-Rank mage who lifted his right arm to block the attack. As the foot of his attacker connected with his arm, he raised an eyebrow. This kick was incredibly strong, despite, or maybe even because of the direct approach behind it.
With a push Gildarts sent his attacker flying back again, but the man simply spun around in the air a few times before gracefully landing on his feet. Now the strongest mage of Fairy Tail got a good look at the newcomer for the first time. Most people would have been shocked by the black bowl cut and the horrendous green jumpsuit, but then again, Gildarts had seen a lot and members of Fairy Tail had generally a very high freak tolerance.
Maito Gai had arrived on the scene.
"YOSH! Although you are an enemy, your youth must shine brightly if you could block my kick this easily! Allow me, Maito Gai, Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey to be your opponent!"
Gildarts smirked, but it wasn't an expression of confidence. No, this was the expression of a warrior who knew that his abilities were about to be pushed to his limit.
"My name is Gildarts Clive… and I accept your challenge!"
At the Hyūga compound Neji continued to stare at the newly arrived mage while he heard Hanabi's steps get further and further away. The young Jonin recognized him. Back when he had met up with the other shinobi in Magnolia, he had seen him among the attackers from Fairy Tail. Thanks to his Byakugan it had been easy to watch them and see their abilities.
'If I remember correctly, he uses metal to attack. I don't know how advanced his control over it is, but I should have a slight advantage due to my training with Tenten.'
Neji's thoughts were calm and collected. He couldn't afford to let his emotions cloud his mind in a battle of such a level. His bloodline limit revealed the man's extraordinary power. It was almost a little like Naruto's Sage Mode. The man before him was incredibly inclined to nature.
A few yards away Gajeel was having similar thoughts. He too remembered his opponent as he had been the one to deflect the combined Dragon Roar attack of Natsu and him.
'I wonder what kind of magic he uses… Maybe it's something defensive, but his eyes… something's telling me that they aren't just for show. Better be careful with this one. But first I have to get Levi and the others out of here.'
"Levi! Wimps! Wake up!" The Dragon Slayer roared, his eyes never leaving Neji. So far the white eyes mage had done nothing, which wasn't necessarily a good sign.
Gajeel's sudden shout caused the mages of team Shadow Gear to slowly escape the clutches of unconsciousness. With a groan the three sat up, every one of them pressing their hands on aching parts of their bodies.
Levi was the first to remember what had happened. With a surprised shout of "Gajeel!" she looked at the Iron Dragon Slayer that had come to their rescue. Her two friends weren't sure if they should be grateful or pissed to be saved by him of all people.
"Listen Levi, you guys get out of here. In our condition you won't be off any help to me. So get going!"
The three looked torn at the idea of leaving their guild member behind, but in the end they saw reason. It was true, Neji had taken them down like they were nothing. They had to regain their strength first. The three shakily stood up and walked towards the exit of the compound, but before they left it Levi turned around one last time.
"You better win this fight, you hear me Gajeel?"
Gajeel heard their steps go farther and farther away, despite the battles that were engulfing the village. Good. Now he could focus on his opponent completely.
"I'm surprised you didn't attack them just now. I thought you Konoha bastards were cold blooded beasts, considering what you did to Quatro Cerberus." Gajeel spoke, his voice serious. Nevertheless a confident grin spread across his face.
His opponent merely raised an eyebrow at that statement. "Quatro Cerberus? I'm afraid I do not understand. As for your comrades, I'm not stupid enough to shift my focus on someone weak when a much stronger fighter could possibly attack me while I'm preoccupied."
"You've got some nerve talking like this…" Gajeel muttered. "Looks like I'll have to beat you to remember the guild you guys burned to the ground.
Neji's confusion continued to grow at his opponent's words. He knew for a fact that Konoha had never interacted with any guild besides the occasional spying mission on them to discover the inner workings of these organizations.
'It doesn't matter now.' Neji reminded himself. 'Whatever he's talking about doesn't change the fact that we are to fight each other. Thinking about something that does not involve the battle would only distract me. However, I should probably remember this and report it to the Intelligence Squad later on.'
Both fighters had fallen silent and simply stared at each other. Their standoff continued for what seemed like hours to the combatants while they actually only had been facing each other for a single minute now.
Then, as if both of them had been alerted by the same signal, the fighters sprung into action. After a short exchange of punches it became clear that they couldn't have been any more different in their chosen style of combat. While Neji attacked with a fluid grace in his attack, Gajeel was blunt and direct. Thus Neji had no problem to hit Gajeel's right arm with a series of swift strikes, all of them cleanly hitting the desired pressure points. At first Gajeel wanted to laugh at his opponent when he saw how he chose to poke him instead of actually punching him. But this feeling quickly evaporated when the Iron Dragon Slayer noticed that someone was wrong with his arm after it had been hit. Gajeel quickly chose to create some distance between his opponent and him by kicking the unguarded side of the brown haired fighter. While it came to the mage's great surprise that his opponent was still able to block an attack to a mostly blind angle, it still forced the Konoha warrior to stop his attack and jump back.
Now Gajeel had the time he needed to take a look at the strange wounds he had sustained. He was confused to see that there were tiny scorch marks on his body, like someone had tried to extinguish a match on his skin, only even less pronounced.
"The hell is this?" Gajeel muttered to himself. It didn't really hurt, but his arm felt sluggish like there wasn't enough blood flowing through it.
It was the voice of his opponent that drew his attention away from his arm.
"Your body is strange… Your skin is harder than it should normally be, so my attacks are less effective than I thought. Very well, I guess I'll have to switch tactics a bit."
With that Neji lunged at Gajeel who was slightly surprised at the ferociousness his opponent was showing now. But it didn't matter, the Dragon Slayer was confident to win against the long haired boy in close combat. The black haired mage channeled his magic power through his body and coated it in scales.
Neji's attacks stopped in their tracks when he hit the scales for the first time.
'What is this? Scales? Where did they come from?'
Gajeel grinned triumphantly when he saw his opponent's surprised expression.
"Now it's my turn."
With a powerful swing of his arm Gajeel sent Neji flying, the Konoha shinobi's bones groaning in protest due to the sheer force behind the blow. But Neji had no time to let his guard down as Gajeel was already starting his own offence.
"Tetsuryukon!" (2)
Using a speed that betrayed his large frame Gajeel was in front of Neji. The Iron Dragon Slayer's right arm then turned into a large iron club which he swung at his opponent with frightening power.
The young Jonin thanked his fast reflexes as his left hand shot upwards and diverted the course of the club with a Jūken strike. Once again however Neji grimaced as he felt the power behind the blow. It was clear that his opponent had the upper hand in terms of raw strength. The grimace was quickly replaced by surprise when Neji saw another attack coming with his Byakugan. With a quick leap to the right the shinobi managed to dodge the smaller metal rod that had shot out of the first one he had just dodged.
'This attack was aimed at my back right after I blocked it. Without the Byakugan I wouldn't have been able to see it. I guess he's smarter than he looks.' Neji thought.
Gajeel scowled when he saw how the white garbed warrior had just escaped his surprise attack. He had been sure that it would get him! How had he seen it coming?
'Wait a minute… seen? Maybe that's what his eyes are for. Before that he also blocked an attack I'm sure that was in a blind spot.'
The black haired mage readied himself. 'And f that's the case…'
"I'll just overpower him head on!"
The Iron Dragon Slayer sprung forward, his entire body now coated in metallic scales. Neji was slightly surprised how confident his opponent still was and soon found himself pushed on the defensive side. But it didn't look too good for Neji even then.
With every strike of Gajeel's iron hard body, Neji felt his strength diminish. While none of the ferocious punches had hit him up till now, the force behind them was almost too much for Neji to block.
The Hyūga grimaced slightly when he blocked another one of Gajeel's heavy punches. The Iron Dragon Slayer's right fist was blocked by Neji's two crossed arms, effectively stopping it from turning the pale eyed boy's chest into a pile of broken bones. But after blocking more than a dozen of these punches, Neji's arms finally gave in.
The Hyūga's eyes widened when he felt his left arm break. He wanted to scream as the pain suddenly shot through his body, but he couldn't. The moment his arm gave in his defense was down. A fact Gajeel immediately exploited.
"Got you now!" With a grin Gajeel sent a vicious roundhouse kick directly at his opponent's chest.
Neji's eyes bulged and a mixture of blood and spit flew from his mouth in the short moment Gajeel's leg buried itself in his ribs. Then, after an agonizing second that felt like an eternity to Neji, the young Jonin was sent flying across the wide area of the Hyūga compound. After a few meters he came to a stop. He wasn't moving.
Gajeel lowered his leg with a cocky grin plastered across his face. "Heh, that will show you Konoha scum. Apparently picking on women and weaklings is all you are good for."
What Gajeel didn't know was that Neji was still awake. True, his entire body hurt and he had probably four broken ribs several cracked ones, but he refused to give in to the darkness.
'I can't lose here! I have to protect the village! I won't fail this time, today I shall fight alongside my comrades'
Neji's guilt had been big when he had heard about the attack on Konoha as he hadn't been at the village at that time. While he had returned to Konoha by the time they had been teleported here, he hadn't been in the village when it had needed him the most. He couldn't fail this time. Not again.
"Never again…" Neji whispered. He summoned the remaining strength of his body and slowly pushed himself up. Gajeel, who had already been in the process of leaving, was surprised to see his opponent get up again after such a blow. No mage without a body enhancing magic should have been able to move for a while after a kick that could shatter bones like glass.
"I will never fail again!" Neji shouted.
With a roar of anger he attacked his opponent, who quickly tried to intercept the attack of an opponent he had thought defeated. But he was too late. This time it was Neji who got into his guard.
"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!" (3)
It was surreal to Gajeel. He was still covered in his scales, and yet those tiny little stabs his opponent used against him hurt like hell. And whenever the Dragon Slayer tried to somehow stop the blows that just kept coming, his opponent would vanish and attack from another side.
'How the hell can this guy still move so fast? He shouldn't even have the breath to do this, I know that I broke at least three of his ribs with my kick and his left arm is no good either!'
Gajeel was getting angry. Was he really going to lose against someone he had underestimated again? No! This time his pride wouldn't get the better out of him!
'I will stop him!' 'This is the final blow!'
The thoughts of both fighters were clashing along with their bodies as they forced their battered forms to strike again. And while Neji was now preparing for the last stage of his attack, Gajeel was feverishly looking for a way to escape it.
"DON'T SCREW WITH ME!" "THIS IS THE END!"
Neji's hands shot forward, his body already going numb from the pain and his lungs feeling like they were burning. But just when his left hand made contact with Gajeel's iron skin, the pain returned full force. Of course a trained shinobi like Neji was able to push past something like this, but it caused him to hesitate for a moment.
This single moment was all Gajeel needed.
With a beastlike roar the former Phantom Lord mage put his entire strength in his right fist and delivered a devastating uppercut against his opponent. Neji's head snapped back like someone had just pulled it backwards with a rope. The pale eyes widened and the veins slowly shrunk.
'No…' Neji thought desperately as he felt his consciousness fade away. 'I can't let it end like this!'
With a thud the Konoha shinobi landed on the ground, his eyes glassy and blood seeping from his probably broken jaw.
Gajeel was breathing heavily. For a moment he thought his opponent would stand up again and continue, but after a full minute the young man still wasn't moving. Slowly the Iron Dragon Slayer began to straighten himself. His entire body was hurting and he barely managed to stand without his legs shaking violently. But that was ok, he just had to find some more iron and he'd be fine again in no time. While catching his breath he kept staring at the downed form of his opponent.
'That guy was dangerous. A magic that can pierce even a dragon's skin… Those Konoha guys are a lot more dangerous than I thought, especially if they have more than one of those fighters.'
The Iron Dragon Slayer took another deep breath before turning around. He had won. He had fought against a challenging opponent and won. This time his pride hadn't caused his downfall. He definitely had to find some iron now though.
"Gajeel!"
A female voice got the Iron Dragon Slayer's attention. Levi and her two rather incompetent teammates were running towards him. Despite the situation Levi was smiling. She was truly glad the Gajeel was alright. The black haired man actually grinned a little at that. He was about to call out to them, when the expression on Levi's face made him hesitate. The look of relief was gone, it had been replaced with an expression of shock, fear and dread.
"Look out!"
The warning came too late. The moment the Dragon Slayer turned around he looked directly into the burning eyes of the opponent he had thought defeated. It was impossible. By all means he shouldn't have the power to move, let alone attack! It almost seemed to Gajeel as if his opponent was moving in slow motion as he brought his hands to Gajeel's chest, and yet he could do nothing to stop him. It was in this short moment that Gajeel realized that by now his opponent was moving through nothing but willpower.
"Hakke – "
Blood flowed freely from Neji's lips as he channeled the last of his strength to bring his opponent down. He couldn't let him walk away like this. On his pride as a Hyūga, on his pride as a shinobi of Konoha, he had to take him down!
" – Hasangeki!" (4)
Gajeel felt as if a sledgehammer hit him. Multiple times at the same spot. The Gentle Fist attack plowed through Gajeel's body as if it was tissue paper, damaging even Gajeel's ridiculously tough body and organs heavily. The shockwave of the attack Neji had unleashed with his last strength was so strong that it even sent the earth behind Gajeel flying.
Silence followed.
For a moment, everything seemed completely still. Both Neji and Gajeel remained in their positions as Levi and the others got back up as the sudden shockwave had sent them flying to the ground. The trio's eyes fell upon the still unmoving Gajeel and Neji.
With a thump the white garbed fighter of Konoha fell to the ground again. He was no longer moving. But if one had stood close to him, they would have noticed a faint smile grace his lips.
From the distance between them Levi wasn't sure what exactly had just happened. Just as the Solid Script mage was about to call out to Gajeel again, overjoyed that he hadn't succumbed to the attack, she froze. Any joy she had felt for Gajeel to be still standing died when the former Phantom Lord mage slowly fell on his back. His eyes were wide and blood was flowing from his mouth.
"Gajeel!"
The battle had ended with a draw. But whether the two fighters would ever recover from this or if they were alive at all was something no one could say at this point.
It was slaughter. Utter pandemonium. Total chaos.
And he loved it. He reveled in it.
This lone figure stood on top of the walls that surrounded Konoha, a manic grin on his normally stoic face. Around him lay several dead shinobi, all of them downright butchered instead of killed cleanly.
"Yes… Burn for me, Konoha! Your time has finally come! And once you arrive, I shall show you the despair of losing everything you hold dear! Come on, Naruto! Show yourself! I am waiting for you!"
Only one person heard insane laughter of Uchiha Sasuke echo across the scream-filled battlefield. And Madara did not care about it. After all, why not give Sasuke one last thing to be happy about before he initiated his plan?
Madara grinned beneath his mask as the rippling portal he had formed revealed the form man with blue skin. Everything was going according to plan.
While Madara and Sasuke were orchestrating Konoha's downfall, Lucy, Natsu, Happy and Gray had no idea of either that nor the furious battle that had just come to a conclusion elsewhere. The Stellar Spirit mage's joy over the arrival of her friends had slowly been replaced by annoyance. Even in the middle of a war those two still managed to butt their heads about everything.
"Guys…" Lucy began slowly. But Natsu and Gray continued to banter about something Lucy didn't even bother to listen to while Happy was eagerly pushing both of the arguing mages' buttons.
"SHUT UP!"
With a satisfying smack Lucy let her fists collide with both Natsu's and Gray's head. The two rivals stopped their little argument to hold their heads in pain, but any attempt to complain to Lucy was stopped by the blonde's dangerous glare.
"Listen guys, I know that this situation is tough and all, and I'm really grateful that you saved me ("Saved you? I was trying to win against Gray in who beat down more Konoha mages!" - "Shut up Natsu, this is not the time to tell her that!") but we can't stay here and squabble like children all day long. Besides, don't you think that something is off about this whole thing?"
Lucy's words were thought-provoking for both Natsu and Gray. To Lucy's great surprise, Natsu too thought so.
"I think you're right, Lucy. Those mages I fought so far… They are nothing like those other Dark Guild mages I fought before. They care for each other a lot and they act like we're the ones on the wrong. But I don't get it how that could be…" Natsu's voice fell quiet after this.
"I noticed it too." Gray continued. "They are fighting furiously to protect this village, I think they have a deep emotional attachment to it. Not only that, one of the mages I fought said that something like this had happened one year ago as well. But we all know that Konoha just made its appearance one year ago. Besides, did you guys notice the many shops here? I think they just don't call it a village, this is a village, with civilian population and all!"
Natsu and Lucy were stunned. Could it be true?
"B-but where are the civilians then? They can't just all disappear, can they? Maybe the mages opened shops to create more workplaces." Lucy tried to explain Gray's discovery in a different way for a very simple reason.
If what Gray had said was true they were currently invading a village filled with mages AND civilians. The very thought of accidentally killing a normal family made not just Lucy's stomach curl with disgust.
"At this point I'm not sure about anything." Gray said. "It's a fact that we know almost nothing about Konoha, and the Magic Council was pretty tightlipped as well. I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong here."
The ice mage turned towards the fallen form of Shino. "Maybe he can answer some of our questions…"
Just as Gray was about to approach the fallen Konoha warrior, his danger senses went wild. And not just his, Natsu, Lucy and Happy also sensed that something was wrong.
"Above us!" Lucy shouted.
Their heads snapped up and their eyes widened when they saw a huge boulder dropping down on them. Only thanks to Lucy's quick reaction they had managed to escape the surprise attack.
"That surprised me…" Natsu muttered. "Who the hell throws rocks of that size around?"
"Hey, the bug guy is gone!" Happy suddenly noticed.
The three mages turned their heads to the place where the fallen mage had been only moments before. There was no trace of him.
"Someone's here…" Gray said. The boulder had been nothing but a diversion to draw their attention from their fallen foe. And now an enemy was hiding somewhere near them, probably waiting to make his move.
Natsu took a few sniffs with his nose. There was a strange smell in the air, one he had smelled before. It was faint and he didn't remember the smell too clearly, but he knew it for sure. And more importantly, he knew where it currently was coming from.
"Karyū no Hōkō!"
A fireball erupted from Natsu's mouth and soared towards a perfectly harmless looking pile of rubble. But the fraction of a second before the fireball hit the debris, a shadow rushed away from it.
The person that had just escaped Natsu's attack was a young man with unnaturally pale skin and black hair. His clothes were also black but strangely enough left his midriff exposed. But the strangest thing about him was his smile. It was so fake it was unsettling.
Gray and Lucy immediately recognized the face. 'That guy – he's one of the mages that helped Maelstrom and his partner escape the city!'
"I'm impressed you managed to detect me… I was sure I was perfectly hidden."
The smile never left the newcomer's face as he spoke.
With a confident grin Natsu tapped his nose. "Yeah, you were well hidden. But you smell of ink, so I had no problem to find out where you were hiding."
The black haired boy nodded to himself, even though Natsu, Gray and Lucy were already going into a fighting stance.
"I see… you have pink hair and a good nose… Maybe you're related to the ugly do – "
Out of nowhere a little pebble collided with the back of the black haired boy's head and instantly silenced him. Suddenly a new voice could be heard, and this one was definitely female.
"Sai… I think I already told you that there are right times for jokes. And this definitely isn't the right time."
The boy named Sai turned around to the approaching form of a pink haired girl. For a moment the fake grin on his face became a little truer.
"Sorry, Sakura. But I read that by displaying an attitude that implied I wasn't taking them serious would unsettle them, thus I tried to make a little fun of them."
Sakura sighed heavily. It was always the same with Sai.
"One of these days Sai… Still, I have healed Shino enough so that he could move again. Now we can take on those three…"
The Fairy Tail mages ignored Happy's little comment about how they were four and not three.
"Be careful guys." Gray said seriously. "Those two are really strong."
"Yeah, I can tell." Lucy agreed. "I can feel that there's more to them than meets the eye."
"Alright!" Natsu exclaimed. "Let's show them who's the boss around here!"
Two groups, both trying to protect what they held dear… Who would win this battle?
No one could say for how long the battle had already been going on. To some it seemed like mere seconds while others thought they had been fighting all day long. And although the number of fighters decreased with every step Makarov took, the intensity of the battle was as fierce as ever. The old master walked through the main street of Konoha with a pace most people would have associated with taking a stroll. However, everyone from Konoha who came anywhere near him immediately felt that the Wizard Saint was not just taking a walk. The pure magical energy that bristled around him with every step he took was just one clue. The poor shinobi who had foolishly confronted him would say that the fury in his eyes was far worse. Not that any of those were in a condition that allowed them to talk.
He could feel it. The battles of his beloved children were also coming to an end. And he felt those who had been defeated. Even Gildarts and Mirajane were going all out, a sign just how dangerous Konoha was. To think that they possessed a mage who could pose a challenge Gildarts…
Makarov shook his head. This was not the time. He had the feeling that someone very powerful was still lurking around. Was it that young boy that had taken Gildarts' arm, Maelstrom? That would be very fortunate indeed; Makarov still had to ask him where they kept Erza. The normally peaceful guild master was feeling a little regret that he had to keep the boy alive to ask him.
The legendary mage finally reached what appeared to be the main plaza. A huge round building stood proudly before him and Makarov was sure that this was the place where the leader of Konoha resided. The moment the old wizard took another step in the direction of the building, his danger sense screamed at him to move out of the way.
The old man dodged with a surprisingly nimble jump and easily avoided the strike of a sword that had been aimed at his neck. Not a moment later a typhoon of black and steel charged at him. Using his small figure to its fullest the master dodged the incoming strikes and was soon sure that this was more than one opponent. A small burst of magical energy erupted from him and pushed his opponents back. His guess proved to be true when Makarov saw that not one, but four enemies stood before them. All of them wore the same black cloak and white masks, only their hairstyles and the markings on the masks were different.
"Mage of Fiore. You will not go any further." One of the figures spoke in an emotionless tone. "We are the elite guard of the Hokage. You will not pass."
Makarov raised an eyebrow, his stare still cold. "Hokage you say…? Sounds like an important person. I think he should know where Erza is. I advise you to take me to him. Every other choice will have… unpleasant consequences for you."
The monotone voice of the elite guard didn't change at all at Makarov's threat. "Hokage-sama is the man who leads this village. As long as he stands, the village won't fall. Therefore we will protect Hokage-sama with our lives."
The moment Makarov wanted to reply, a new voice beat him to it.
"That won't be necessary."
Makarov's head whipped around when he heard the new voice. Despite being completely alert he hadn't sensed this new arrival approach at all. And even worse, the newcomer stood directly behind him like he had no care in the world.
The wizened master wasted no time and immediately lashed out against the unknown man, only for the person in question to almost lazily dodge the magic enhanced punch by gracefully jumping into the air before landing on the ground without making as much as a single sound.
Makarov realized one thing from this little show. The man wasn't being cocky by choosing such an extravagant entrance. This was pure confidence. The way he had dodged had been as natural to him as breathing. No doubt, this man was easily the strongest of the black clad warriors, although his outfit slightly differed from the rest. Instead of an animal mask his face was only almost completely covered by a black cloth mask over his mouth and a metal plated headband over his left eye. His only visible eye held an almost bored expression, but Makarov was not one to be fooled by this. He could feel how the white haired man was calmly analyzing him.
"Hokage-sama, please let us handle this – " One of the men began. He was quickly interrupted by a simple dismissive wave of the newcomer.
Makarov's eyes narrowed when he heard how the masked man had addressed the white haired warrior. 'So this is the 'Hokage' they have been talking about. He certainly is a class of his own, that much is true. I cannot let my guard down against him.'
He decided to address the man who was probably the mastermind behind Erza's abduction. "So you are the 'Hokage', right? I'm glad you decided to come out of your hiding place on your own, it saves me the trouble of looking for you."
Makarov could almost feel how the four black guards tensed as he spoke to their leader in such a disrespecting manner. Normally Makarov was all for hospitality, but the moment one dared to touch his beloved children it was as good as a death sentence.
Kakashi calmy replied, his voice not betraying any his emotions. "Well, I wasn't really hiding, you know? After all, a clear chain of command must be established if one wants to survive in such a situation. Though, I am actually wondering one thing."
At this point his voice turned cold. "Why are you attacking us? I know that your country wasn't too fond of us since our patrols killed some of your council's scouts, but those were special circumstances. Besides that we never raised a hand against the people of Fiore."
The fury in Makarov's eyes that had calmed down a little since their little discussion began returned with full vengeance. "You never raised a hand you say…? You DARE to say something like that? Not only did one of your mages kidnap Erza, no, your despicable bunch of monsters also attacked our comrades and burned their guild to the ground!"
Kakashi blinked at that. Even his normally stoic ANBU guards looked confused. What was that old man talking about? But then a disturbing thought began to form in Kakashi's mind.
"It couldn't be… Not even he should possess such powers. But if it truly was him…"
The Rokudaime turned his attention back to the guild master, his body already shifting into a battle stance.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I have to cut this short. If my assumption is correct, I'm afraid there's an even greater danger approaching the village."
Makarov narrowed his eyes. "I can assure you… the greatest danger to you right now is none other than me."
Magic began to circle around the wizened mage as he too prepared for the inevitable clash.
The battle of the masters had begun.
At an unknown location
"Are the preparations complete?" A cold voice asked.
"Yes. We'll move out on your command." The man who had answered spoke without the barest hint of an emotion in his voice.
The first person nodded. "Very well. It's been a long time since we last saw our home. Deploy the troops!"
"Yes… Danzo-sama."
Spells/Jutsu:
(1) Asa Kujaku: Morning Peacock: This technique requires the user to open at least 6 of the 8 Gates. The opponent is then kicked into the air and assaulted by countless punches that are set ablaze by the friction they create through their speed.
(2) Tetsuryukon: Iron Dragon Club: Gajeel transforms his arm or leg into a large steel club, increasing punching and kicking power. He can also create multiple smaller clubs from the end of the original, hitting many enemies at once.
(3) Hakke Rokujūyon Shō: Eight Trigrams 64 Palms: Do I really have to explain this one?
(4) Hakke Hasangeki: Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher: A more powerful version of the Empty Palm. In "Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja 4", this is Neji's ultimate attack. It sends a powerful wave of chakra into the enemy's body that deals massive damage to the organs and even devastates the landscape behind the opponent.
Omake: The Green Beast Reloaded
Elfman scowled. His opponent was heavily outclassing him. Despite his relatively unsuspecting build his punches were equal to the arms of most of the beasts Elfman had access to. Unfortunately there was no contest in speed. The damn bowl cut was running circles around him – backwards even. Just what kind of magic was he using? And he was so subtle at using it that Elfman could have sworn he wasn't using any magic at all!
'I need a plan or I'm toast! As a man I can't allow myself to lose here!'
Then an (in his opinion) ingenious idea flashed through Elfman's head as he was busy blocking the blows the green blur was raining down upon him.
'That's it! He introduced himself as the 'Green Beast of Konoha'! He must have a beast spirit inside him that maximizes his physical powers! And if that's the case then I can - !'
With the speed of desperation Elfman's right arm shot forward and even managed to grab Lee when he was about to deliver another kick.
"Take Over!"
With the last of his strength Elfman activated his magic. And indeed, it did work! Elfman could feel an incredible power flowing into his body. In fact, it was so powerful that Elfman was slowly getting swallowed up by it.
"W-what is thiiiiiiiiis?"
A blinding flash occurred and when it died down, only one person could be seen.
It was Elfman, his white hair now in a perfect bowl shaped hair cut and his muscular body clad in a skintight green spandex. The horrifying creature's eyes snapped open and onlookers would have sworn later on that flames had erupted from them.
"YOUUUUUUUUTH!"
Then the creature that would later on become known as 'Leeman Elfrock', an SSS-Ranked beast, took off, challenging every person in Konoha to manly/youthful competitions. In the end both the mages of Fiore and the shinobi of Konoha agreed that the war had been less evil than that.
And that's the end of the chapter, I hope you liked it. I apologize if some scenes seem rushed (especially the Elfman-Lee fight or Gildarts confrontation with Gai), but after writing at this for so long I wanted to finally get it out. I might work over them again at a later point.
Still, with this the plot thickens and the Konoha War Arc will come to an end in the next chapter (I hope) and immediately initiate the next one. Can anyone guess what it will be about?
A quick note about Mirajane: I know that normally she can't hold Satan Soul for long, but here the duration has been extended. Also her rather violent behavior can be explained with the dark soul inside her being more aggressive now since Mirajane is really angry.
On a side note, a lot of the reviewers mentioned that there were more Shinobi in Konoha than mages that attacked them. I know that there were a lot more Shinobi in the manga, but since the manga has been dropping in quality ever since Shippuuden, I chose to ignore certain facts, it's called Fanfiction for a reason after all.
It's like this:
Outside of Konoha: Rahal's remaining troops + Blue Pegasus (750) vs Yamato and ANBU (300)
In Konoha: Army of the Council + Fairy Tail (750) vs Konoha Forces (700)
And before you scream about one side dominating the other now, remember: Yamato and the ANBU have the advantage in the forest since they can fight freely there, whereas the mages are stuck to the ground. I know it looks bad for Konoha, but I have everything planned out, so trust me.
!Now for the question!
The way I have the story planned out, the name "Dark Guild Konoha" will no longer be able to reflect what this story is about. Should I end this story after the next arc ends and begin a sequel or should I just rename the story and keep updating this one? I'd like to hear your opinions on this.
And now, as a special preview, here are some more battles you can look forward to:
The Battle in the Sky – Konan vs Evergreen!
Mind and Body against Mind and Puppet – Bixlow vs Ino & Hinata!
The Ultimate Showdown – Naruto & Erza vs ?
Until we meet again,
Faroush
