[REWRITE STATUS]: Previous Chapter 11, unchanged save for minor tweaks (like double quotation marks.)
Naruto sat back in his chair, a thick leather-bound book in his hands. In front of him, the Hokage sat, filling in some forms. He glanced down at the page again, which was from a rather… boring historical encyclopaedia filled with information on many of the more notable characters in the shinobi world. It was similar to a bingo book, but contained much more background and irrelevant knowledge.
An actual bingo book would be better suited for the reason Naruto was reading it for, but it was illegal for anyone who was not jounin or higher to possess a copy. As such, Naruto was forced to trawl through a great deal of trivial and extraneous waffle that wouldn't help at all if he was, for any reason, to face one of these shinobi. And although he constantly told himself that that it was necessary for his survival, Naruto felt his determination to continue reading through the long-winded and wordy text fading by the second.
He decided to take a break for a few seconds, and looked up from the enormous block of words on the page. He took care to look at the floor and then up the wall sideways, in order to stop his hypersensitive eyes from reacting to the bright sunlight that streamed in from the window. This long-time habit reminded him that he was soon to be rid of his handicap, and made him giddy with delight.
A small smile almost burst from his tightly leashed facial expression, and only the thought that he was in front of the Hokage allowed him to retain his composure.
He looked back down to his book, and was reluctantly about to start reading again when the Hokage hesitantly cleared his throat.
"Um, Naruto?" he started nervously, "I need to meet the delegation from Suna in about five minutes, so I'll have to leave you. You can go now, or you can stay here and read if you wish. I trust you won't touch anything you know you shouldn't?"
Naruto nodded.
"I expect everything that might be important to village security, even in the slightest, would be sealed away anyway, correct?"
The Hokage, getting up from his seat, only deigned to smile mysteriously and give a single- almost proud- nod.
Naruto closed the book slowly and also stood up, moving to place it back into its previous position.
"Well, then, Hokage-sama, I'll take my leave. Until next time," he said gravely, with a slight bow.
Hiruzen frowned at the formality, but said nothing of it, instead waving farewell.
Naruto nodded to the ANBU secretary and walked out of the Hokage tower, wondering what to do now. Acknowledging that his muscles felt a little stiff after sitting down for so long, he decided to go train a little in the training ground.
His training sessions were much less frustrating now that his mother had removed the restrictions on his body. The sessions were now only limited in the frequent surges of uncontrollability that his body provided. His stamina was sufficient to last him for as long as he wanted, and his strength, speed and durability were all above average. However, upon questioning the Hokage, he had learned that although they were definitely better than a normal shinobi's, his increase in power was still much less than what a full-fledged Uzumaki would have.
He paused and considered going to train with Neji, but his body was still a little sore from yesterday's training. He had fought with the young Hyuuga for what seemed like the entire day. Every single battle ended up with a defeat for Naruto, but he felt that he was steadily closing the lead that Neji held on him, forcing him to utilize stronger and more advanced Gentle Fist techniques. He could avoid Primordial Eclipse almost all the time now, and was starting to counter Consecrated Smite already.
No, decided Naruto, I will train at the training grounds by myself again.
Naruto sighed as he slumped against a tree. Although training by himself was probably, in the long run, less effective than constant sparring against a constantly evolving opponent like Neji, it was still good to go out somedays and just wear himself out with repetitive drills.
It was a shame he didn't have a taijutsu style that he could repeat katas for, but he still made do with basic movements and practiced manoeuvres that he had come up while fighting against Neji. Although the ones his quicksilver mind had come up with were undeniably sound techniques, they were still no match for Neji's own skill. They seemed to be… missing something.
Although his mind found countless possibilities, trawling through the numerous options would take too much time, and Naruto was content with just working along as he went, confident that his taijutsu skill would grow naturally as he continued to train with Neji.
He got back up to do some limbering exercises when he heard the distinctive sound of the Hokage's sonorous voice. Curious, he leapt up onto the branch of a tree, his hands easily finding handholds as he scrambled up to his perch.
He leapt from tree to tree, careful to find stable footing and handholds before moving, to prevent himself falling due to the untimely muscle spasms that he was prone to suffer.
Only a few metres away, Naruto came to the edge of a clearing. It was another training ground, evident by the training dummies that had been installed in one corner of it. And, in the middle, standing in a small group, were five men.
One was the Hokage, and next to him stood his student, Jiraiya. Naruto recognized these two immediately. The other three must have been the delegation from Suna.
Hiruzen gave a short laugh as one of the men in front of him recounted an amusing anecdote about his travels through Marsh country. It was the first day of the Suna delegation's month long stay in Konoha, and Hiruzen and Jiraiya were trying to do their duty as good hosts and make them welcome.
After introductions had been made in the Hokage Tower, Hiruzen had suggested that they get more acquainted with each other with a tour through the village. Their tour had culminated in a lunch at a quaint little restaurant at the edges of the village, and then one of the Suna delegates had asked if they could all go on a walk through Konoha's beautifully scenic outskirts. Hiruzen and Jiraiya had, not seeing any harm in the request, acquiesced without hesitation.
Hiruzen had not met any of the men before, but was familiar with their reputations. They were three of a famous group of five shinobi in Suna, similar to the Sannin in renown. The 'Five Winds of Suna': notable for their powerful battle-changing specialist skills, they had turned the tides of battle in Suna's favour many a time.
This delegation consisted of the North Wind, the West Wind and the South Wind respectively. Suna probably would have sent the other two Winds as well, but international shinobi protocol dictated that having more than three S-class shinobi in a foreign shinobi village was tantamount to a declaration of war. There were exceptions, of course. If the host village gave explicit permission specifically for a specific S-class shinobi to be allowed to attend in addition to the limit of 3, then it would be admissible. However, this clause almost never got invoked, because there weren't that many S-class shinobi just floating around anyway.
Caught up about thinking about the reason behind the visit, Hiruzen almost missed when the South Wind, who had been telling the joke, suddenly altered his body language and thrust out a knife hand glowing with wind chakra at his gut.
His instinct screamed into action, and his elbow dropped to block the strike. However, the attack stopped well before it managed to pierce his skin. A large hand had gripped the South Wind's wrist with an iron grip, preventing it from moving. All eyes flickered over to the owner of the hand… Jiraiya.
The man in question placidly sipped from a saucer of sake held in his other hand, his attention seemingly elsewhere. His manacle-like grip, however, never faltered.
"Oh dear," he muttered without a hint of panic, "looks like a couple of fools overstepped their bounds."
He dropped his empty saucer, and it landed on a rock, shattering with a tinkling sound. His free arm snapped up to point at the three Winds in front of him.
"Smells like treachery. Foolish children…"
The three Winds only saw the '9' that blossomed into existence on the forearm pointed towards them before the same thought went through each of their minds.
Splitting Leaves, Flying Shadows!
"Chakra Forme," stated Jiraiya calmly, "Flash Cannon."
And an enormous blast of white energy erupted from his palm and struck the three men in front of him, launching them away.
Hiruzen blinked, unconcerned, as the three Winds in front of him picked themselves off the ground.
"I didn't think that you would take such a foolish step, Minami-dono. I would have thought that you, in particular, would have known the folly of attacking us on our home ground," he said gravely.
The man known as the South Wind shook his head to shake off the shock of being thrown to the ground by Jiraiya's attack. He winced.
"Forgive me, Hokage-sama," he rasped out with difficulty, as if he couldn't get enough air into his lungs.
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, before nodding in understanding.
"So it's your doing, Shiraishi-dono," he deducted.
The West Wind nodded, a snake-like smile adorning his face.
"My 'Winds of Change' are irresistible. Forgive him, but Minami has no choice but to attack. But don't worry about him. Can you really strike down someone who has no intention of attacking you, Hokage-sama? You, the kage with the reputation of being 'peace-loving'?"
Hiruzen smiled.
"Do you really think I can't incapacitate a single ninja, even if he is S-class, by myself?"
"Ah… you have a point. Which is why there isn't only one ninja. Have a taste of Suna's finest!"
Suddenly, the large clearing was entered by a dozen Suna ANBU, all armed to the teeth.
Almost unconsciously, Jiraiya and Hiruzen moved so their backs were touching each other, facing the ring of Suna shinobi that surrounded them. Hiruzen shifted slightly and nudged his student in the side, conveying an unspoken question. Jiraiya's eyes shifted the slightest fraction of a centimeter to the left, then he gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Smirked fearlessly, he slid his left eye shut. When it opened, the sclera contained a jet-black number seemingly inscribed on his eyeball- '16'.
"Yep," he breathed to his sensei, "they're all under the influence of the Winds of Change… except the North and West Winds."
"Tch. You sure?"
"Please. The Hunter Forme is never wrong. I can smell the stink of it from their chakra, I can hear it in their heartbeats… I can almost see it coming off them like an aura."
"Damn. We need to take them all down without killing them, then."
"Yeah."
"Fighting both the North and South Winds would be… tricky. But the West Wind is pretty much useless once we take out all his pawns… can you take the North Wind out of the battle?"
"Sure. Can you handle the ANBU as well as the South Wind?"
"...who do you think you're talking to?"
All the while as they were talking, the ANBU slowly tightened their ring around the pair, subtly shifting their weight to prepare for any unexpected assault. And even though the Konoha pair kept their conversation light-hearted, their reactions were on hair-triggers, bodies ready to explode into action at the slightest provocation.
Naruto picked himself off the ground gingerly. Although he had been holding onto the branch that he had been standing on tightly, he had not been prepared for the light that had emitted from Jiraiya's palm. The light had been so bright that it had seared straight into his eyes, rendering him blind again for about ten seconds. As well as the light, Jiraiya's technique had also brought a buffeting wind that had been sufficient enough to knock Naruto off his perch. Without the help of his eyesight, Naruto was unable to protect himself and toppled to the ground without anything breaking his fall.
Now, after his eyesight had returned back to normal and he had checked himself for injuries, Naruto debated what to do while he slowly climbed back up the tree. He knew that he could be of no help… unless he drew on the power of the Kyuubi resting inside of him. However, he hadn't made contact with the beast yet (not that he'd tried), so the chances that it would succeed this one time were very slim indeed.
But upon seeing the scene in front of him as he reached his previous position, his blood boiled. Two of the men he respected most in the world were surrounded by hostile shinobi, all with drawn weapons and closing in an unmistakably predatory manner.
His vision started to go red, even as his brain began to blare warning signals, telling him to stay in control. But his rage could not be contained. It continued to mount silently, as Naruto clenched his fists so hard that blood started to drip where his nails dug trenches in his palms. His body shook wordlessly.
Naruto may act as if he had no emotions, but the truth is that he was, and always would be, an extremely emotional person. He created bonds very easily, even though he himself tried to prevent this. He tried to throw himself into the shinobi principle of never showing emotions, but he could never fully suppress them.
And now that two of his 'precious people' were being threatened, nothing could curb his reprisal.
Jiraiya subtly tensed his muscles, ready to leap at the North Wind. But before he could move, before he could do anything, an enormous pillar of chakra exploded out from the treeline directly in front of him.
He almost jumped in shock, but years of discipline and battle-tested control allowed him to retain his stance. His sensei was the same, still standing still and ready, despite the unexpectedness of the occurrence.
However, judging by the way the North and West Winds had reacted in surprise, the chakra burst had not been part of their plan. Jiraiya surmised that the ANBU and the South Wind would have done the same if they hadn't been controlled by the Winds of Change.
But despite the reassuring feeling that it wasn't even more reinforcements for their attackers, Jiraiya still couldn't stop the small shiver of apprehension slide up his spine, as he prepared himself for what might reveal itself from the swirling energy. Whoever would reveal their presence so readily by expending such a large portion of their chakra must be either very confident or very stupid.
And when he finally saw the source of it, Jiraiya couldn't stop his mouth from dropping open.
Standing confidently on the branch of tree, Naruto stood, glaring defiantly at the enemy ninjas.
But instead of the gloomy, stone-faced boy that he knew, Jiraiya now saw something much different, much more frightening.
An avatar of wrath… was the phrase that ran, unbidden, through Jiraiya's mind.
And it wasn't difficult to see why.
A stark contrast from his usual posture, Naruto was now crouched animalistically on the branch, seemingly no longer interested in securing his position. His fingers were curled into claws, which were in turn brandished at the objects of his ire. His golden hair, wildly spiked, framed his irate expression, the long blond strands flapping over his face in an unseen wind. His eyes, usually a beautifully deep ocean-coloured blue, seemed to have frosted over, now adopting an almost glacial hue. The streaks of red that were visible in his eyes almost made Jiraiya think that the Kyuubi was having an effect on the boy, but a closer inspection revealed that they were simply bloodshot.
And, most noticeably, even more than the disturbing and intimidating picture that Naruto made, was the huge qualities of chakra that was being released from his body. It burst from his pores and escaped into the sky like a reverse waterfall, the sheer amount of it distorting his image.
It was in many ways very similar to the Third Hokage's Damage Forme, was the first thing that Jiraiya thought upon seeing it. But where the latter's chakra burst upward without stopping like a solid pillar of light, Naruto's chakra instead billowed upwards in 'waves', irregularly flickering upwards like enormous tongues of flame. It brought to mind the swaying bodies of vipers, ready to strike at any moment, ready to inflict pain, suffering… death.
Jiraiya wondered exactly what had happened to the quiet boy he knew to force him to such measures, but then remembered that he had more pressing matters to deal with. The Suna shinobi, although rattled by the strange, unpredictable appearance of an unknown variable, were much too well-trained to allow it to shake their composure for long. The North and West Winds were both S-class shinobi, and although the others were all under the control of the Winds of Change, they were obviously no slouches either. The South Wind was also S-class, and no village would have active assassination ANBU lower than A-rank.
They all subtly shifted their stance to be able to react from attacks from either the Konoha pair or the newcomer, and then also began edging- ever so slightly- towards the former, determined to initiate, even with the introduction of a new variable. Perhaps, normally, they wouldn't have been so eager to charge a duo of two of the strongest shinobi in the world, but the Winds of Change that controlled their body didn't actually give them a say in it.
Jiraiya clicked his teeth in irritation. He had harboured a slight hope upon feeling the chakra that it would be reinforcements, but he knew fully well that Naruto would be of almost no help at all. In fact, with his body's unique peculiarities, he would actually be a hindrance.
Jiraiya wondered if it would help at all if Naruto used the Kyuubi's power, but then dismissed it out of hand when remembering that Naruto had no experience in controlling a bijuu's power, and would probably rampage out of control, being just one more problem to solve.
Suddenly, Naruto's flaring chakra spiked skyward, bursting into the sky like a rocket and separating from his body. The wildly flicking energy formed an enormous ball in the sky, like a heatless, colourless fireball.
Jiraiya furrowed his brows until, with a sudden flash of inspiration, saw through Naruto's plan.
It's a signal flare! He's purposely creating a commotion with his massive chakra! The ANBU will be here in no time! But… even the ANBU can't take on three S-class shinobi alone. Sensei and I need to take out the North and West Winds. I'm confident that the South Wind doesn't want conflict… and the Suna ANBU are simply out of their depth. Once we take out the West Wind, the tides will turn. So, before the ANBU arrive, we need to take out at least one Wind. I'll initiate.
Turning his head ever so slightly, Jiraiya nudged his sensei's arm with his elbow, subtly tilting his head to the North Wind. Equally discreetly, Hiruzen nodded his head.
Jiraiya's mouth tilted upwards at the corners. It was time to execute one of his favourite manoeuvres.
He tensed his muscles, his Hunter Forme allowing vastly superior muscle control, and leapt towards the North Wind in one swift movement. The leap was carefully calculated and performed, as it was integral in the next part of the combo. But, even as Jiraiya was moving through the air, he was already changing Formes.
His muscle mass expanded in mid-air, the increased bulk significantly speeding up his descent towards his target. A combination of both this and the speed of his leap meant that his opponents had almost no time to react.
Before they had even fully turned to attack him, he had already landed on the ground, creating a small crater and shockwave, and then belted the North Wind in the face. His new Forme, the Power Taijutsu Forme, was strong enough to send the North Wind straight into the surrounding forest, breaking a couple of trees as he went along.
He had successfully separated the North Wind from the West, but he had no time to celebrate as a barrage of assorted jutsu and weapons bombarded his position. Quickly switching to Agility Forme, Jiraiya nimbly dodged the attacks and skipped backwards.
He couldn't resist poking his tongue out impudently as he retreated slightly, an action that almost made Hiruzen facepalm. But he didn't. Instead, almost simultaneously, both he and Jiraiya performed two sets of handseals. The first was to change into Earth Forme. The second was in preparation to use a single jutsu in collaboration.
"Earth Style: Dirt Domination Rampart!" they yelled in unison.
Two enormous walls of earth burst from the ground. Stretching across the training field, they completely blocked off the North Wind from his comrades. Entirely deliberately, Jiraiya was also on that side of the wall.
It was all part of the plan.
Hiruzen turned his attention to the shinobi in front of him. In return, the West Wind narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Immediately, a Suna ANBU rushed towards the earthern wall and tried to tree-walk over it. Unfortunately, even as he took the first step, the platform beneath his feet began to shift and move.
Unlike the more common Mud Wall, the Dirt Domination Rampart wasn't made of packed earth. Instead, it was a construct made from loose soil and dirt. The chakra binding it together made it sturdy enough to withstand moderate damage, but its real purpose was to hinder escape or pursuit. Because of the complexity of the chakra needed to form it, it usually wasn't used by anyone who wasn't an Iwa ninja or a Konoha shinobi using Splitting Leaves, Flying Shadows.
The Suna ANBU's momentum allowed him to traverse a fifth of the way up the wall, but it could only bring him that far. The lack of footholds and stable ground was too much of an obstacle to overcome. Even when he tried to drive his hands into the earth to hold on, the loose soil continued to flow away from his hands, leaving him scrabbling at nothing. Finding it futile, he finally flipped off the wall and retook his place back among his colleagues.
Behind him, the dirt that had fallen to the ground at the foot of the wall quickly and efficiently slid back up, mending the holes and gaps. The entire process took almost five seconds.
Hiruzen hadn't reacted at the ANBU's attempt to scale his wall and now grinned viciously.
"Well, looks like it's my turn to take the offensive."
Naruto slumped against the tree trunk, exhaling heavily. He had only just barely managed to exert some control over his rage-fueled emotions. He had been on the verge of throwing himself in the fray, which would have gotten him killed almost instantly.
At least he had managed to channel all that pent-up frustration and rage into a flare signaling the ANBU, but Naruto still felt a deep-set feeling of dissatisfaction with his strength. He wanted to protect his precious people, but at the moment he was useful for nothing except being a glorified lantern.
"Goddamn it!" he yelled, punching the tree trunk.
He clenched his bleeding fist as his eyes anxiously followed the many figures arrayed before him. As if in response to the emotions flickering inside of him, the flare in the air seemed to burn brighter and more ferociously than before.
The North Wind cracked his neck threateningly as he picked himself off the ground. Although he had been hit in the face with Jiraiya's Power Taijutsu punch, he still looked fine, with the exception of some slight swelling around his jaw.
Jiraiya stared at him impassively, a few paces away. He was still in his Earth Forme, which wasn't exactly the best choice to fight with when in a close combat situation. However, knowing full well the danger that his opponent represented, he dare not let his concentration waver for the slight instant it took to change Formes.
The two S-class shinobi stared at each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move. However, neither was willing to give in. The first to make a move had an advantage, but an appropriate counterattack could potentially be even more devastating.
Finally, the North Wind seemed to get impatient and made the opening gambit. He was probably aware that the longer he dallied, the longer his comrades would have to face the wrath of the God of Shinobi. Although there were two Winds and a whole squad of assassination ANBU taking him on, he still wasn't convinced that they could hold him off.
The Third Hokage was a legend. His many exploits, his many achievements, stretched far beyond counting. Surviving all three Shinobi World Wars and retaining a seat as Kage for a record-breaking amount of years, Hiruzen Sarutobi was indeed almost godlike, as befitting his epithet.
Someone as monstrously powerful as he would not let something as trivial as age dull his skills.
Yes, the North Wind promised himself, I definitely need to take care of Jiraiya quickly… the Third Hokage is definitely the bigger threat.
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow as he saw the North Wind rush at him. He didn't expect something so reckless… but then he quickly understood. The telltale aura of condensing chakra around his arm made him realize that his opponent wasn't pulling any punches. He was aiming for a swift kill right from the start.
Jiraiya snapped backwards, only to realize that the North Wind was much faster than he expected. He was approaching very fast, with a huge white arrow-shaped blade held in his hand- obviously a chakra construct of some sort.
Jiraiya gritted his teeth in irritation and dropped to the ground, and hands pressing against the ground.
"Earth Style: Demesne of the King!" he cried, his chakra pouring into the earth.
The affinity that Jiraiya held with the earth while in Earth Forme was incredible. Even as the chakra exited his pores, it was already almost fully converted into earth-natured chakra and Jiraiya could start moulding almost immediately.
Demesne of the King was the strongest earth defense he could throw up in as little time as possible, and Jiraiya was very confident in its strength. Because of this, he leapt up even as the soil and dirt began to rise all around him in a bowl-like construct. Pressing himself against the wall of the jutsu, he promptly summoned a rock blade from the surroundings.
The Seismic Shard.
This was one part of a tried and true combo that Jiraiya had used to great effect in the past. One of Seismic Shard's special properties was that as it moved through earth, it collected vibrations, striking the first enemy with accumulated force that much resembled a natural earthquake. So, his next step was to use his Mica Schist Mirage to move through the Desmesne of the King to hit his enemy. The more he moved with Mica Schist Mirage the stronger his Seismic Shard would become, but he couldn't risk wasting time when facing an S-class opponent.
Jiraiya smirked. One of the crucial parts of the combo was knowing where the enemy was. This was where the last skill he was using came in handy. It was a very simple technique, with such small chakra cost that when in Earth Forme, Jiraiya kept it active all the time, almost unconsciously. It was called Tremor Sight, and just allowed him to sense his surroundings- as long as he was touching the ground- in a limited area. It could be used as in buildings, despite the artificial floor, but was less effective and took more effort.
And right now, Jiraiya could easily feel that the North Wind was heading directly towards the section of wall that he was hiding behind. Jiraiya felt a flash of excitement.
Easy… he thought, before a terrible thought struck him.
Although Jiraiya knew the abilities that the Five Winds of Suna possessed, he wasn't exactly sure which Wind possessed which skill. Suna was notoriously secretive about their prominent shinobi's abilities, perhaps due to the enormous number of 'specialist' branches of shinobi abilities that existed there. Although some of them, such as puppetry and Wind Mastery were already common knowledge, the Five Winds, with their own unique powers, promised the start of even more specialist branches.
Jiraiya's extensive spy network had uncovered the abilities of the West Wind (Winds of Change) and the East Wind (Tragedy in a Dust Storm), but he currently wasn't certain about who possessed the remaining three abilities.
However, he knew only one of them possessed one that could counter his Demesne of the King, and he had a terrible feeling that same person was rushing towards him at the moment.
Deciding that it was prudent to take the safer option, he immediately leapt back, instead of continuing with his planned combo. And not a second too soon, as a glowing white blade suddenly sliced through his Demesne of the King as if it were paper. Four more swift strikes created a rectangular opening, through which the North Wind confidently strode. In his hand, the arrow shaped blade was still held, tightly clenched, glowing with an odd light.
"There's no doubt," breathed Jiraiya, "So your ability is the 'Diamond Peacock'."
The North Wind smiled.
"You are as good as they say, Jiraiya of the Sannin. Correct! My special ability is the Diamond Peacock… the ultimate weapon! Constructed purely from the unmatched slicing power of the wind, the this is my unstoppable blade."
He gestured casually with the arrow blade, before unexpectedly dashing forward, moving to decapitate Jiraiya with a single blow.
Jiraiya knew that he had no earth defenses that could stop the Diamond Peacock, so instead, he sacrificed as much time as he could afford in order to try and pull off a Forme Change. Almost too late, he managed to switch to Agility Forme in the nick of time, neatly dodging the deathblow by ducking and juking backwards simultaneously.
He turned and leaped onto the side of a tree and then bounced back onto one of the walls of his Demesne of the King, his knees bending to cushion the impact and send him back into the air like a spring. Even without looking back, he knew that the North Wind was closing in on him, but he didn't let up, his Agility Forme working without pause to move him all around the battlefield as he tried to think of a plan.
Finally, he decided that if Diamond Peacock was a wind jutsu, then his best bet would logically be fire jutsu. Now armed with a plan, Jiraiya pushed his Agility Forme to its limit to try and gain even a slight advantage over his pursuing opponent.
He launched himself into the air, scrambling up over the Demesne of the King and then throwing himself as far away as possible. As he made that final leap, Jiraiya immediately changed out to his Fire Forme, his concentration never wavering despite the breakneck pace of the battle.
He landed from his leap, Fire Forme fully primed, and immediately spun around to try and take down his pursuer, a flaming ring around his palm. His trained and experienced eyes immediately took in the situation… which was that the North Wind was about a metre away from him, his Diamond Peacock primed to pierce through his chest.
Jiraiya reacted as fast as he could, but his Fire Forme wasn't equipped for that sort of action. He only barely managed to throw himself backwards out of the thrust that aimed to pierce his heart, but the Diamond Peacock still grazed his arm.
To his amazed horror, the glowing blade, instead of making a shallow cut, effortlessly sliced a huge wound into his bicep. Blood immediately started to gush from the wound, pouring down his arm without pause.
Jiraiya hissed in pain. Even compared to wind jutsus' supreme cutting attributes, the Diamond Peacock was unnaturally powerful. It had felt more like a laser had cut through his arm than a blade. He hadn't even felt any pain until blood started to flow.
Luckily, even though it was dangerously deep, it was still a single cut. Jiraiya reached over with his uninjured hand and pressed his finger against the edge of the wound.
"Fire Style: Searing Torch Tip," he murmured, all the while retreating as fast as he could.
A flame flickered into being from the tip of his finger and then spread along the cut, cauterizing the wound. It didn't even hurt, because Jiraiya used the barest minimum of Emperor of Flames to make the surrounding flesh into flame in order to temporarily negate the damage.
Wait a minute… thought Jiraiya abruptly, If the North Wind could keep up with me when I was using Agility Forme, how has he not attacked me while I'm in Fire Forme, which is much slower?
Jiraiya stopped to take stock of the situation, not wanting to fall into a trap… which was lucky, as the North Wind suddenly dropped out of the sky, his Diamond Peacock aimed where Jiraiya would have been if he had continued with his pace.
The blade hit the earth, but it did not impale it like a normal blade. Instead, it slid right through without resistance. The North Wind, familiar with his blade's special characteristics, used this to his advantage as he yanked it straight up through the ground to point at Jiraiya. It was like a ghostblade, so efficiently it moved through obstacles. An unstoppable blade of light- whisper light and unbelievably fast.
But despite the speed, the moment Jiraiya had suspected that he was falling into a trap, he was ready. His hands snapped up, and his fingers formed a rectangular window. Normally he would have used handseals, but he had no time. A weakened, seal-less version would have to suffice.
"Fire Style: Cyclonic Firestorm!" he yelled.
A burning spiral of flame burst from the rectangle that his fingers formed, engulfing the North Wind in a scorching inferno.
Jiraiya, despite knowing the power of his Fire Forme, just waited, his next jutsu held at the ready, unsure whether his opponent was still alive and kicking.
