Fire, earth, water, and air are probably some of the most common elements of the earth known to people. They each serve their purpose in life, have their advantages, and have their weaknesses. Of course, some weaknesses for each element are – each other.
For example, water usually defeats fire, but what about fire and air? Which is the stronger element? That… was what Hotaru was just about to find out.
Even before the exploding fire began to expound out, Hotaru, or rather, the demon in him, sucked in a whirlpool of air, and blasted it out at the fire. The force of the two blows knocked Hotaru up into the air, but he maintained balance, and kept on blowing at the fire, like an enraged dragon.
From a safe distance, the other 3 of the squad watched as fire, smoke, and unexplainable gushes of air clouded their sight. They did not know what to do, and they watched helplessly, waiting for any sign of… anything.
The air from Hotaru's mouth kept on flowing out, trying to contain the fire, but the 3 tags were too powerful, and in a matter of seconds, flames engulfed Hotaru's entire body, sending him flying out of the clouds of smoke and fog.
Hotaru's burnt up body spun around as it landed, this time, heavily on the floor. Aimi rushed over to him and tried to touch him, but her hand quickly retreated when it felt the burning heat. Ichirou and Katashi were worried, but nonetheless, kept guard for the criminal ninja.
Thoughts and questions flooded into Aimi's mind as she studied Hotaru's body. Even through the darkened burn marks, she could see that the skin and body was completely healthy. She gasped in surprise as his body began to shift back into his real form. When it was finished, grotesque images filled her mind.
The blow to his real body was too severe, even in a demon form. His left arm was entangled too much sideways, if you catch on with me. Patches of heat and slightly burning flames were everywhere on his body – his arms, legs, neck, and face. Skin turned to ash in seconds and fell down. When the fires on his body cooled down, Hotaru looked even scarier than in his demon form.
And suddenly, it began to heal unexplainably. The burnt skin mended itself, ashes rising away, and skin returning to normal color. Aimi's eyes grew wide with shock, what's happening? In a matter of seconds, Hotaru's body could pass as a normal kid who got beat up, instead of a ninja who was burnt crisp.
Meanwhile, Ichirou and Katashi searched around the area, looking for the man who caused this. Katashi stopped moving, he had heard something… He closed his eyes and began to concentrate, looking for a sound. And then it was there, a tiny little cracking sound… from under.
His eyes grew wide in alarm, slid a kunai down his hand, and leaped backwards just the man lunged out of the ground underneath, arm stretched out ready for a punch. His fists flared a purple color as it charged forward at Katashi's body.
The instructor swung his kunai at the incoming hand – PANG! – the kunai was deflected off as if the fist was metal. Katashi kicked his leg at the hand with all his strength. Just as the leg was about to touch the hand, the man's fist rotated to the side and grabbed Katashi's leg. The man sneered viciously, spun in the air, and hurled him straight down at the ground.
Katashi landed on his head and his body bounced heavily on the floor. Ichirou took the events as a distraction and leaped into the air, kunai and shuriken in hand. With a large snarl, he hurled them at the man with accuracy.
The man spun around – suddenly, Katashi's body erupted into a tree stump – and the real Katashi appeared right next to the man, and wrapped himself around him, turning the man's back at the kunai. The blades struck deep into the man's back and he grunted in pain. With his chakra-infused hand, he elbowed Katashi with all his strength and Katashi was sent flying back.
Ichirou gracefully landed on the floor and his hands moved into hand signals. The man stared at him for a moment, and snarled.
"Fire Style Jutsu!" Ichirou slid to a stop, sucked in a large breath, chest expanding out, and blew it out. Flames erupted out of his mouth and blew towards the man who, instead of running away, started to run towards the fire. The fire completely covered the man. Smoke and ash were everywhere and the surrounding lands were burnt to the core.
When the fire died finally died out… there stood the man, grinning just like before. Suddenly, he leaped up high on to a tree and saluted them, as mockery. He spoke for the first time ever, and Ichirou, Aimi, and Katashi listened intently.
"I am Natsuki, follower of the Tsuki. You will be seeing me again soon…"
He gave his widest devilish smile at them, and with that, the man dashed away into the falling sunset.