Chapter 10: Continuation! Time for the Training to Resume!
Yuki stood there in the middle of the rain glaring at Toyotomi furious about him killing everyone in the Shirakawa sub-village and for freezing his wife. By this time the rain was coming down heavily running down Yuki and Toyotomi's faces.
"Why, why did you do this!?" Yuki shouted furious tightening his fist as Toyotomi slowly got up again.
"But big brother… didn't you tell me to make sure and do the job Leader requests? I was just doing what Leader wanted of me so I could make big brother proud. I could not leave traitors live any longer, they all had to be purge from the village for the future of the village! But I knew big brother couldn't have any part in this so I decided to get rid of the one poisoning you, didn't I do go big brother?" Toyotomi asked thinking he was in the right when Yuki punched him again with his right hand.
"Idiot, why would I want you to kill our family and my own wife!? If it's about Taki and Masakatsu, Pein should've come after me since it had nothing to do with Manami!!" Yuki shouted full of rage.
"Big brother? No, you're not my big brother - you've been poisoned by that woman! She poisoned your mind with treacherous ideals! Then I will have to knock some sense back into you!" Toyotomi shouted determined putting his hands together. "I'm no match for him with Taijutsu and I cannot perform Genjutsu so Ninjutsu is the only thing I can rely on." He thought getting ready to fight. "Water Style – Water Dragon Bullet!" He shouted forming the hand seals: Ox, Tiger, Ox, and Tiger creating a large body of water in the form of a dragon from the lake flying straight at Yuki.
"Pathetic, you announce your attacks so loudly in a real fight?" Yuki said coldly as his eyes started to transform into a cold slate instead of his warm eyes he had before. "Freeze." He said extending his left hand with half of a reversed Boar hand seal with his fingers facing up towards the sky nearly instantly freezing the body of water before it even touched him.
"What!?" Toyotomi gasped surprised since he hadn't learned how to do that yet.
"Little brother, if you are truly an ice user, then you should know how to freeze water since ice will always nullify it. Now, it is my turn. Ice Style – Ice Shard Forest!" He shouted not caring if Toyotomi heard it or not while making the hand seals: Snake followed by Bird with his hands separated.
"Even though he announced the move, there is nearly no way to avoid the move!" Toyotomi thought moving to his right when an ice shard came up stabbing through his left leg. "Argh!" He shouted in pain when another shot up through his right arm.
"Farewell, little brother…" Yuki said when he looked at Toyotomi's face. "I can't do it… why? After all he's done, I can't do it?" He thought disappointed in himself. "Get out of here and never show yourself in my presence again or next time I will kill you with no hesitation." He said holding his head down as he turned around walking back towards where Manami had been frozen.
"Big brother…?" Toyotomi asked as the icicles receded back into the ground.
"Leave now, there is no discussion left. If you don't leave now - I will end your life now." Yuki said coldly walking away while Toyotomi reluctantly started moving away limping due to his injures.
Yuki sat in his bed thinking about what all had happened during the war with the four onlookers staring at him in his room back in the Mangetsu Village.
"What's wrong?" Yuki asked confused looking at the four of them.
"So it was in fact Toyotomi that killed them all. I had heard rumors but I wasn't sure until now." Masakatsu said remembering what had happened.
"I wonder what happened to Sensei's wife – he never said what had happened to her." Ayaka whispered to Kazuki.
"That's a good question, let's ask…!" Kazuki whispered when Ayaka grabbed his collar and started shaking him violently.
"Idiot, what in the world are you thinking!? That is not a question you ask so easily!" Ayaka shouted scolding Kazuki.
"The two of you are always so noisy…" Takeo said shaking his head. "They're even giving me a headache, though that might be because I just recently recovered from that technique but just how strong is Yuki? He seems weak at times but at other times he seems oddly powerful." He thought watching Yuki.
"What question might that be?" Yuki asked looking over at Ayaka and Kazuki.
"Huh?" Ayaka and Kazuki asked surprised he had asked them that.
"It was about your wi…!" Kazuki started to say when Ayaka shoved him over knocking his glasses off. "Ah! My glasses!" He shouted reaching for them.
"How much longer till we can resume our training, we did catch that criminal after all." Ayaka said with a smile on her face.
"Wait, training?" Masakatsu asked confused looking at Yuki and then at the three Genin blinking blankly. "Huh…?"
"Did we forget to mention Yuki was our sensei?" Ayaka asked with her right index finger on her lips thinking.
"Sensei? This just keeps getting stranger by the second, since when has the Ice Demon become a 'Sensei'? I would have never expected this after all the Genin you turned down I suddenly meet you again and now you have some students… so what made Sensei change his mind?" Masakatsu asked turning to look at Yuki.
"Oh be quiet, Masakatsu. These three just kept stalking me and said they would continue… and I didn't want their deaths on my conscious so I decided to give them a little training to hold their own." Yuki said shrugging lying back against the wall. "Even so, they're all still annoying."
"I see. So that is the excuse you're using to rectify your reason for training them. Maybe I should give them a little test then?" Masakatsu asked glancing over at the three Genin with an evil grin on his face.
"W…what's with that grin?" The three Genin asked taking a few steps back seeing the gleam in his eyes filled with evil intent.
"Sure, knock yourself out but keep in mind that I was unable to actually train them since they failed my first test." Yuki said quickly to make sure that point was clear.
"Sounds like you're not very confident about their abilities. Fine, while you're here resting, I'll take them out for a little test, that is until you are well enough to do so yourself." Masakatsu said looking over at the three Genin but they had already snuck out the front door. "Looks like the rats got away but I'll gather them up just in time for some training!" He stated confident about to take a step forward.
"Masakatsu, keep an eye on the one known as Takeo. Something strikes me odd about him." Yuki said looking at Masakatsu while he looked back at Yuki confused.
"What do you mean by that? I'm sure I can handle a Genin." Masakatsu said with a slight laugh.
"He is definitely no Genin, that one has skills beyond that of a Genin. I wouldn't go easy on him, he was able to hold up for a short time against Kisame Hoshigaki of the Akatsuki, though it was only while he was playing with him, but that is still notable since he considers himself a Genin." Yuki said in a serious tone.
"Understood, if the old squad leader thinks this, then I have no choice but to be weary of him." Masakatsu said in an unusually serious tone walking out of the room closing the door behind him.
"Why not come in? I know you're out there." Yuki said when the window above his bed opened up and Shikamaru jumped in. "You again? What business do you have here now?"
"I was asked by Lady Hokage to watch the one known as Takeo Furukawa. She has the same concerns as you do, though it really is a pain having to do this instead of my job with the Chunin Exams." Shikamaru said sighing while scratching the back of his neck.
"Then I am not mistaken about what impression I got from him. Well, it really doesn't matter to me as long as he doesn't interfere with any of my plans so I leave the spying up to you." Yuki said lying down on his pillow.
"Yeah, I'll let you know how that goes." Shikamaru said stepping out through the window. "Man, why did I have to get this mission? I'm sure there were better ninja suited for this than me." He thought as he saw the three Genin walking away from the Full Moon Inn with Masakatsu following them close behind.
Masakatsu watched the three Genin as they moved ahead of him trying to figure out which one was the one Yuki had been talking about. He looked at Kazuki and Takeo trying to figure out which one was the one he should be keeping an eye on.
"Which one is this Takeo character? Maybe I should've paid more attention to when they were calling each other by their names? Oh well, too late to remember now so I'll just go with this guy being him." Masakatsu thought looking at Kazuki.
"So what did you mean by 'testing' us?" Kazuki asked stopping in the middle of the street with people walking by them.
"Also, where should we go?" Ayaka asked stopping and looking around to see the square that had been destroyed in the last battle with Toyotomi being repaired by the returned villagers.
"I'm sure Yuki put you through the test before." Masakatsu said when the three of them suddenly started frowning.
"Don't tell me that you are going to have us fight you as Yuki had us do?" Takeo asked with his head tilted slightly to the side.
"What… do you three have a problem with that?" Masakatsu asked surprised to hear them sound disappointed.
"I knew we should've run further away." Ayaka said turning around and started walking away.
"Yeah, I would rather learn from Sensei." Kazuki said following Ayaka.
"Waste of time." Takeo said walking the opposite direction of Ayaka and Kazuki.
"Huh?" Masakatsu asked standing there dumbfounded. "Please tell me you three are joking…" He said with a blank look on his face.
"Nope, if you need us, we'll be around the village." Kazuki said walking away with Ayaka. "So where did you want to go?" He asked looking over at Ayaka.
"Well, I'm starving so you'll be treating me to something!" Ayaka shouted slapping his back cheerfully.
"Eh!? What do you mean treat!?" Kazuki asked surprised reaching into his bag for his wallet. "Do I even have enough to last through this…?" He thought worried when he noticed he had saved up a good amount of Ryo.
"This should do!" Ayaka stated happily snatching Kazuki's wallet and taking off.
"Hey! Wait!" Kazuki shouted running after her.
"…are they serious…?" Masakatsu asked with his jaw dropped watching Ayaka and Kazuki and quickly turned to look for Takeo but he had already vanished. "So fast… What am I talking about!? I still want to test them out! Get back here you three!!" He shouted running after Ayaka and Kazuki.
Ayaka and Kazuki stopped off at a little restaurant sitting across from one another after ordering their food. Kazuki had his head down on the table holding his half empty wallet in his right hand.
"What are you so down about? It's not every day I allow you to treat me to a meal!" Ayaka stated crossing her arms.
"So…mean…my…money…gone…!" Kazuki stated devastated by the loss of half his Ryo.
"I see. The two of you slipped out of the test so you could come out on a date, huh? If you would've said that in the…!" Masakatsu started to say when Ayaka swung at him but he moved out of the way forcing her to hit a waiter knocking him out cold. "What a punch…!" He thought watching the waiter go down hard.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you!" Ayaka shouted quickly apologizing to the waiter but he was out cold.
"Will he be okay…?" Masakatsu asked looking at the waiter concerned as some other waiters came over and started dragging him back to the back.
"Doubt it. Ayaka's punches are deadly, piss her off and you're dead." Kazuki said with his head still down on the table when Ayaka slapped his head.
"Don't say it like that!" Ayaka shouted angrily.
"Okay, okay, sorry." Kazuki said as he was being pushed over by Masakatsu. "If I didn't apologize she would've killed me with one of her deadly punches." He thought not noticing Masakatsu sitting next to him.
"Little girl, usually I wouldn't bother two young people out on a date but since you three ran out on the test, I had no choice but to chase you all down and start the test on the spot but since we're here now… let's get to eating!" Masakatsu stated happily when a waiting came over.
The waiter was a young man in his mid-twenties wearing a formal kimono with a pad and pencil. He had light brown eyes and black short hair.
"I understand the two of them have ordered already but what would you like, sir?" The waiter asked looking at Masakatsu.
"Let's see… I'll keep it nice and simple. I'll take an Okonomiyaki with everything on it! I'm starving!" Masakatsu stated happily while the waiter wrote it down.
"Very well, sir. I will be back when it is ready." The waiter said walking away.
"I haven't eaten this good in… I don't know how long! I've mostly been a scavenger since leaving the Village Hidden in the Rain." Masakatsu said leaning back in the seat noticing Ayaka glaring at him.
"You've done it now." Kazuki said turning his head on the table to look at Masakatsu.
"What do you mean by that?" Masakatsu asked confused looking over at Ayaka.
"Hey, Sensei, let's get the test going then, shall we?" Ayaka asked slowly getting up avoiding eye contact with Masakatsu and heading for the exit.
"Hey, Ayaka, we just ordered, what about the food?" Kazuki asked still depressed about his money.
"I. Don't. Care." Ayaka said glaring back at Kazuki with an extreme killing intent that Kazuki quickly ducked under the table.
"Sorry!" Kazuki shouted cowering under the table rocking back and forth holding his legs. "Keep that scary woman away from me…!" Kazuki stated in a nearly traumatized state.
"…what is that about?" Masakatsu asked surprised before looking under the table. "Are… you okay?"
"You better not keep her waiting or it'll get worse." Kazuki said pointing towards the door.
"Oh no, you are coming with me." Masakatsu said pulling Kazuki by the arm as he walked to the door.
"No! Don't force me to go with you to meet that devil woman! I don't want to die!" Kazuki shouted as Masakatsu dragged him out of the restaurant.
"Secret Technique – Fire Dragon!" Ayaka shouted as soon as they stepped out of the restaurant.
"Huh?" Masakatsu asked turning to see a large fire dragon heading straight at him so he quickly picked Kazuki up and used him as a shield. "Protect!" He shouted as if casting some kind of spell.
"What!? I'm not a shield!" Kazuki shouted when he was fried to a crisp by the fire dragon leaving Masakatsu nearly unharmed.
"You make a great fire shield. Pass." Masakatsu said dropping Kazuki and giving him a thumbs up.
"Looks like I missed. What a shame." Ayaka said as Kazuki laid on the ground smoking with his glasses reduced to dust.
"Hot… it's so hot…" Kazuki mumbled while Masakatsu stepped over him.
"Looks like you're fired up, literally. So, why don't we move this over to the woods so we don't get any distracti…ons?" Masakatsu said while Ayaka quickly turned and started walking towards the woods before he finished talking. "Is she always like this…?" He asked glancing over to Kazuki on the ground.
"No, you made her angry. I wouldn't dare get her this mad." Kazuki said sitting on the ground with his legs crossed pulling out another pair of glasses from his tools bag.
"I…is that right…?" Masakatsu asked starting to sweat. "Right, then let's go face the music. Hahahaha!" He said starting to laugh.
"No way." Kazuki responded shaking his head.
"Eh?" Masakatsu asked surprised with a fickle smile looking at Kazuki.
"She's your problem – you calm her down yourself." Kazuki said getting up. "See you later then - I'll just go check on Sensei…!" He started to say walking towards the Full Moon Inn when Masakatsu grabbed his right arm. "Huh?" He asked surprised by the sudden stop.
"Where do you think you're going? You're her friend, right? Besides, you are in this test as well." Masakatsu said with his eyes gleaming full of evil intent. "You must take responsibility, right?"
"No, please don't take me to that devil woman!" Kazuki shouted trying to get away furiously but Masakatsu grabbed him by the legs and started dragging him towards the woods while he clawed into the ground trying to stop him. "Noooo!!"
"Hahaha, I'm sure we'll be fine! Don't worry; Sensei will be right there to help you if you get into any trouble!" Masakatsu stated confidently while laughing.
"That's not what I'm worried about! I'm worried about you using me as another shield!" Kazuki shouted leaving a trail in the ground behind them with his claw marks.
Masakatsu and Kazuki arrived a little ways into the forest when some flames went flying by the two of them. It hit a tree next to them that quickly turned to ash. Kazuki turned around quickly sweating heavily about to run in the opposite direction when Masakatsu grabbed him by his collar.
"We're in this together, partner." Masakatsu said looking up at Ayaka in a tree a few feet ahead of them.
"'Partner'? Since when was I your partner!? You mean shield, don't you!?" Kazuki asked stepping back from Masakatsu.
"Of course." Masakatsu calmly replied. "Let the test begin!" He shouted when Ayaka suddenly appeared next to him swinging her left fist at him. "Sorry, too slow." He said swiftly moving Kazuki in the way while sticking his tongue out at her.
"What do you think you're doing!?" Kazuki shouted getting punched in the face by Ayaka's left fist and sent flying across the ground and finally stopping with his head hitting the bottom of a tree. "You're… evil!" He uttered in pain blinking and suddenly seeing two evil aura's in front of him. "Th…this is a battle between demons!?" He asked slowly getting up.
"You… called me a little girl and went on to calling it a date - that is unforgiveable!" Ayaka shouted furious twirling around with her left leg up while getting on her two hands swinging her foot at his head.
"Not bad little girl but still not enough." Masakatsu said slapping her left foot away when she was able to keep her balance and come around with her right in his back making him stumble slightly. "Oh? Even better than I thought… for a Genin that is." He said before vanishing in a puff of smoke leaving only a stump behind.
"Substitution Jutsu?" Ayaka asked surprised getting up when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"You left yourself open, little girl." Masakatsu said with a smile.
"Jerk!" Ayaka shouted lifting up her left leg to hit him in between the legs but he jumped back. "Good, now's the chance I needed. Secret Technique – Fire Dragon Jutsu!" She thought quickly making the hand seals: Snake, Tiger, Rat, and Ox next to her mouth firing out a large body of fire in the shape of a dragon at Masakatsu.
"Then the fire jutsu from before wasn't a fluke after all but you should've done your homework on me." Masakatsu said noticing the ice from Toyotomi's storm melting. "Secret Art – Water Tornado!" He thought making the hand seals: Tiger, Ox, Bird, Ox, and Rabbit in about a second when the water from the melted ice started swirling up in the air turning the fire dragon into steam while still heading for Ayaka.
"W...what kind of jutsu is that!?" Ayaka asked surprised to see what he had done.
"Ice Style – Ice Wall Jutsu!" Kazuki shouted standing in front of Ayaka making the hand seals: Tiger, Serpent, Tiger, and Horse creating a large wall in front of them freezing the water in the tornado making it fall to the ground.
"Kazuki…?" Ayaka asked surprised he had done a jutsu correctly.
"The kid knows ice jutsu's? That's right; his headband says he's from the Village Hidden in the Snow… our clan's old home." Masakatsu thought with a grin on his face. "Looks like I'll have a little more fun with you being my opponent instead of a shield." He said about to form some hand seals with Kazuki appeared behind him without him noticing. "What…? How did he move that fast…?" He thought puzzled by Kazuki's abilities.
Kazuki stepped forward throwing his right fist forward with all his might into it. Masakatsu tried to move his hand to slap it away but noticed he was moving too slow so he switched to defending with his arms crossed in front of him. On impact he was sent skidding back across the ground while on his feet.
"That is defiantly not Kazuki." Ayaka said surprised by what was going on when she remembered what she had seen just before Kazuki moved forward. "His Ninjaken! It was glowing like his eyes were before!" She thought as she watched Masakatsu trying to catch up to Kazuki's speed.
"Little girl, what's with this kid? He suddenly has an outrageous amount of chakra!" Masakatsu shouted when Kazuki appeared behind him in an instant kicking him in the back and sending him into a tree front first. "Ugh!"
"Little girl…?" Ayaka asked tightening her fist and shook her head. "No, I have to focus on what's going on." She thought trying to remember what Kazuki had told her about the Ninjaken.
Kazuki pulled the Ninjaken from its sheath and dove at Masakatsu's back but he dodged at the last second and stood next to Ayaka.
"Got any ideas before I have to get serious on this kid?" Masakatsu asked glancing over at Ayaka.
"Yeah, put this on his Ninjaken as soon as possible!" Ayaka said handing him a mamori she had pulled out of her tools pouch. "Sorry, Kazuki, I kind of took one from you that day you told me about it… I'll just apologize to him later but it did come in handy." She thought watching as Kazuki noticed the two of them.
"A mamori, what good will that do…?" Masakatsu asked when suddenly Kazuki was in between the two stabbing his Ninjaken at Masakatsu catching him in the abdomen. "Think you really got me?" He asked turning into a log. "Got you!" He shouted slapping the mamori on the Ninjaken just as Ayaka said and that is when he noticed Kazuki's glowing pale turquoise eyes. "What's with his eyes?" He thought as what appeared to be some kind of electricity shot through the Ninjaken and Kazuki before he fell to the ground unconscious.
"Kazuki, geez, you keep making us do so many unnecessary things…" Ayaka said sighing walking over to Kazuki.
"Kazuki? You mean this kid's name is Kazuki…? And your name is…?" Masakatsu asked looking at Ayaka.
"That's right, we haven't had the time to introduce ourselves… even though we met the other day…" Ayaka said under her breath.
"What's that?" Masakatsu asked not able to make out what she had said.
"Nothing – I'm Ayaka Inoue." Ayaka said lightly bowing to Masakatsu as his face turned pale. "Something wrong…?" She asked noticing the face he was making.
"Crap! Th…then the other guy – the one that went off alone, was his name Takeo by any chance?" Masakatsu asked poking the tips of his index fingers together nervously.
"Yes, why do you ask…?" Ayaka asked looking over at Masakatsu confused.
"Wrong one… I went after the wrong one…" Masakatsu muttered falling to his knees in shock. "Failed, I failed… no, wait, there was someone else following him. Right! There was that guy following him so I should be okay… right? Yes, that guy should be able to do it!" He said getting up energetic again.
"He rebounded pretty quickly… is this guy really sane?" Ayaka asked glancing over at Masakatsu while looking closer at Kazuki's Ninjaken. "Right, the previous mamori was burnt up during my attacks… so this was all my fault? Well, let's not draw attention to that now, right?" She thought slipping the mamori Masakatsu had placed on the Ninjaken under the grip while cleaning off the burnt one.
"Now that he's under control – is he going to be okay?" Masakatsu asked looking over at Kazuki on the ground.
"He'll be fine! Right, Kazuki?" Ayaka asked slapping Kazuki across the face repeatedly until he slowly started to become conscious.
"Huh?" Kazuki asked when he was slapped three more times. "Hey! What are you doing!?" He shouted when she slapped him two more times.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't know you woke up…" Ayaka said laughing lightly. "See, he's awake now." She said standing up and reaching down and lifting him up by his collar.
"This girl might be just as bad as me…!" Masakatsu thought with a terrified expression on his face.
"Something wrong?" Ayaka asked holding Kazuki up on his feet by his collar looking over at Masakatsu.
"N…no, nothing at all." Masakatsu responded with a nervous laugh. "Anyway, let round two of our training begin!" He shouted jumping back from Ayaka and Kazuki.
"Round two…?" Kazuki asked in a daze still unaware of his situation now standing on his own rubbing his throbbing red checks.
"I'm ready when you are!" Ayaka stated getting in her fighting pose when Masakatsu appeared next to Kazuki kneeing him in the abdomen immediately.
"Ugh!" Kazuki uttered in pain flying up in the air a few feet before Masakatsu turned and quickly followed through with a left kick to his chest sending him into a tree.
"What happened to his speed from before?" Masakatsu asked surprised by how slow Kazuki was.
"Don't let your guard down!" Ayaka shouted coming down towards Masakatsu's back with her hands together ready to fully thrust her hands down on him with all her weight.
"And you should stop announcing where you are!" Masakatsu shouted quickly putting his right hand down on the ground while kicking his legs up slapping away her arms with his right foot followed by a kick to her ribs with his left foot while jumping back to his feet.
"He's better than I thought!" Ayaka thought gaining her balance on the ground sliding across the ground with her feet and right hand.
"Ice Style – Ice Projectile Jutsu!" Kazuki shouted making the hand seals: Snake, Bird, Ox, and Tiger screwing up the jutsu again. "Ah! That was the wrong hand seal! I meant to do Horse!" He shouted when the ground below Masakatsu froze over with ice.
"Huh?" Masakatsu asked as his feet slipped from underneath him from the ice.
"Eh?" Kazuki asked surprised at what he had done and quickly looked over at Ayaka. "Now!" He shouted to her slipping on the ice himself.
"Right! Secret Art – Fire Dr-!" Ayaka started to shout when she too slipped on the ice. "Kazuki! You need to learn your hand seals!!" She shouted lying on the ground looking straight up at the sky.
"You're telling me this was on accident?" Masakatsu asked sitting up looking over at Kazuki.
"Yeah… sorry, I meant to actually do an Ice Projectile Jutsu but I accidently did an Ox seal instead of a Horse one." Kazuki said laughing nervously scratching the back of his head with a nervous smile to match.
"He does this all the time but somehow it usually gets us out of a bind… except for this time since I was caught up in it as well." Ayaka said sighing as she continued to lay there.
"Kazuki, I'll teach you a sure way to remember your hand seals… once by butt stops throbbing that is." Masakatsu said rubbing his butt.
"Really!? Yes, I'll finally be able to remember the correct hand seals for once!" Kazuki shouted excitedly getting up from the ground and proceeding to jump around happily.
"Kazuki, you really shouldn't do that right… now…" Ayaka said just as he slipped and fell back down.
"Ouch… once we're all healed, let's get to working on those hand seals, Sensei…" Kazuki said in pain lying on the ice.
"Yeah, once we're all healed…" Masakatsu said lying back on the ice.
Author Notes:
Next week's chapter will either be delayed or postponed until the following week due to a lot of work I need to get done this following week. So, during this time, why not leave some reviews and I'll keep an eye on them so I can mold the next chapter to be a lot better.
-Steve Masters