Hello, everyone, here's the next episode of the "Ronin" story. Enjoy!
* Review response:
fuuinkami, Umbra8191, Highvalour, ebm6969, Silvdra-zero, Akira Stridder, god of all, Naginator, xstofer, miner249er, ChaosLord SilverLink310, BloodBlackStar, Lycan91, fanficreader71, Kreyn, Still Not Dead Yet, griffin blackwood, deadal, Hanzo of the Salamander, Jits, Timetravelviajutsu, XoreandoX, eclipseX, LbcLostKid, Wyrtha, Kel'thuzad The Summoner, saiyan prince1, thanks, folks!
sseasshark, there is such a thing called 'tactical retreat' - if you saw twenty of your comrades slaughtered, will you attack with the five you have left, or will you retreat for the moment and then attack with more men / ambush / etc. your opponent? But I think, I have already explained this via PM. Elemental Dragon Swordman, this also answers your review.
Tutenstein, please, do not mistake 'strong' and 'godlike' - Naruto is strong, but he can be wounded too.
Toa Naruto, I have explained what I&ID center is in this 'chapter'. Just read and find out.
Rixxell Stryfe, like it is said at the very end of this ...post, the fight Naruto vs Yagura will be in the next chapter.
666 Kage, where?
Garuda 1 Talisman, in the third chapter, including this one into the count.
luffyxrobin-luffyxnami, I think I said that it was either these short ones, but more often, or a longer one, but with much longer wait, before I post it.
ShadowCub, aye!
dbtiger63, no, the final reunion is planned for later.
roboguy45, why should I give you spoilers? It will be revealed soon anyway.
ogihcI ikasoruK, weapons... still had little time to process the idea. As for Naruto's parents, like in canon, they are - technically - dead.
Nero Strauss, friendly rivalship with Choujirou? Even if both know that they are not on the same level.
ranma hibiki, who do you think Mei got that idea from?
* Jutsu list:
Katon: karyuudan no jutsu - (unknown rank) Fire style: fire dragon projectile technique - User exhales a powerful stream of fire.
Fuuton: daitoppa - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - A strong gust of wind. Can be used to empower fire jutsu.
Youton: youkai no jutsu - (bloodline technique) Lava style: melting specter technique - User spits out a stream of lava. It can be used to place barriers on the battlefield, or to damage the target directly.
Katon: zukkoku - (B-rank) Fire style: head minching pain - A powerful fireball that explodes when it hits something that can't be burnt.
Suiton: suijinheki - (unknown rank) Water style: water encampment wall - Surrounds user with a water wall.
Suiton: suiryuuben - (unknown rank) Water style: water dragon whip - User creates a sphere of water that emits water whips that can impale the target.
Hiramekarei: kai - (sword ability) Hiramekarei: release - Activates the ability of the Hiramekarei sword to form 'weapons' from user's chakra.
Fuuton: shinkuu gyoku - (unknown rank) Wind style: vacuum sphere - Projectile of compressed air.
Suiton: suidan no jutsu - (C-rank) Water style: water projectiles technique - Original technique. User shots small balls of water towards the target.
Suiton: suiryuudan no jutsu - (B-rank) Water style: water dragon projectile technique - A column of water in a shape of a dragon that attacks the target.
Suiton: suihashu - (unknown rank) Water style: water wave hand - User emits constant streams of water from his hands.
Suiton: mizurappa - (unknown rank) Water style: violent water waves - Strong jets of water in a form of blades.
Suiton: gousuiwan no jutsu - (B-rank) Water style: strong water arm technique - User reforms his arm into a more muscular and strong one with the usage of water.
Fuuma hijutsu: garasu shi - (secret technique) Fuuma secret technique: glass death - Jutsu based on Fuuma's special talents with the chakra strings. The jutsu user attaches chakra strings to the target's heart (or any other internal organ), and the the other end of the strings to a hollow glass ball. When the ball is crushed, the same happens to the target's organ.
Futton: koumu no jutsu - (bloodline technique) Boil style: skilled mist technique - User creates acidic fog.
Ni-kon hei: rengou - (secret technique) Two soul warrior: union - Naruto allows Akasha's spirit into his body, and they control it together. This allows wider range of attacks and greatly increased situation awareness, but maintaining this 'mode' is mentally straining as one needs to control only certain muscles of his body, while completely ignoring other.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto or its characters. I do not own Rosario + Vampire II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own Red Eyes either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.
"speaking"
'thinking'
"speaking of the higher beings / jutsu / Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki"
'thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind'
written message
This chapter is yet to be beta-read.
chapter 9: Siege of Kirigakure no Sato, part II
Yagura stood in his office, watching the events transpiring in his village through a large window, and, while his face didn't betray any emotions, on the inside he was surprised by how effectively the rebellion worked its way through the defenses of the Hidden Mist village... Under normal conditions, sieging of a fortress – and like any other hidden village, Kirigakure no Sato was a fortress – with garrison that had more men than your forces was an utter suicide, but the tactical geniuses of the rebellion commanders allowed the bloodline users not only to enter the village, but be successful in taking it under their control... With the warehouses and the Intelligence and Information Distribution (I&ID) center already taken over, his forces no longer were able to act coordinated and have unlimited supply of ninja tools...
The Yondaime Mizukage sighed. The situation seemed to be quite grim. But then again, so far the rebellion was fighting against average ninja – the elite of his forces still hadn't entered the fight. So, the chances were, the attackers would be defeated. Too bad, his forces already took a blow that could cost the Hidden Mist its position among five strongest villages... Well, at least, if his side won, there will be no bloodline monsters in the Water country anymore, and if he lost... he won't have to care about the status of the village anymore...
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Ao's infiltration squad finally reached the rendezvous point, where the fifth and third groups were, with the generals of the rebellion themselves in the lead. Mei approached the team – since they were of her front, they were her responsibility there too.
"Report." She ordered. Ao sighed – the last attack from the Mizukage's forces had him wounded in a way that, while not particularly dangerous, was very painful for the man, and it took him a lot of self-control to continue to this point – before replying.
"Both beacons for the mortar squads were successfully placed and activated. We ran into several groups of the Mizukage's ninja, but were able to defeat them. Unfortunately, Kaede was killed during one of those skirmishes. Kagerou-san has minor wounds and is in a need of small rest, before she can take part in any serious battles. Uzumaki-san had numerous cuts and was hit by a shockwave from an explosive tag at one point, but he looks fine now. I myself need medical attention, before I can be of any use in further fights." Ao reported. The red-haired general nodded.
"I see. Ao-san, you can go the third medical squad for the help you need." The man nodded, and doddered towards where the said medical squad was. "Kagerou-san, the fifth group you were assigned will move towards the Mizukage's palace in ten minutes. I suggest you take a soldier's pill and stay in the center of the group until your reserves are replenished." The green-haired kunoichi did as she was said. "Uzumaki-san, are you up for some serious fights?" Mei asked.
"My chakra reserves are currently at about sixty percent, but should we not face any serious resistance before we reach the palace, I should be good enough." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki replied.
"Very well, in that case I want you to be on the left flange of the group, next to Choujirou." The South-West general said, before turning around and heading back to her position in the front of the group... Nodding to the woman, though she didn't see that, Naruto headed to his assigned position.
Choujirou, it appeared, was a ninja of about fifteen years old with short spiky light-gray hair. He was dressed in more or less standard ninja clothes of the Water country, with a sword on his back that looked an oversized kitchen knife. He wore glasses and quite large headphones... And since Naruto didn't remember seeing this Choujirou anywhere before, it was most likely that the boy hailed from one of the clans of the West part of the Water country, though, South was a possibility too.
"H-Hello, Genocide-san." The young swordsman greeted, when the other swordsman took his position next to him.
'He has some confidence issues, even though he is quite strong for his age.' The Kyuubi jinchuuriki thought as he tried to estimate the power level of his fellow sword user. 'I'd say he is a high-B or low-A rank by now, and that is not counting special abilities of his weapon, if it has any.' "Just Uzumaki, please. My nickname is for scaring the enemies only." Naruto said. Choujirou nodded.
"V-Very well, U-Uzumaki-san." Shrugging, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki switched his attention to the commanders, who were giving the final orders, before the group headed towards the Mizukage's palace.
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Getting to the central square was surprisingly easy, but once the group got there, they understood why they faced little resistance on their way: at least four hundreds of Mist ninja were on the square, ready to destroy anyone who got too close to their leader's palace.
"Walls!" Mei shouted as soon as the platoons of enemy shinobi started doing handseals for their jutsu. A moment later, thick earthen wall, followed by a water and fire ones, rose in front of the rebels, and these walls were created just in time, as not a second later an assortment of various powerful ninjutsu hit them. "Fall back to C-3." The redhead commanded. Dropping the walls, the group of the rebellion's shinobi retreated a couple of hundreds meters back, while several kunai were fired into the enemy platoons... It actually took Naruto more than a moment to understand what was done: the beacon seals were planted into the mass of Mizukage's ninja. He was proven correct, when forty seconds later he heard first mortar shells approaching enemy troops...
The result of all three mortar squads attacking single target simultaneously was, well... devastating. At least hundred of Kiri shinobi were killed by the first volley, before they even could understand what was going on. Second and third volleys together took down about as much, while the forth killed another thirty or so... And as soon as the forth – and the last one – volley hit the target, Mei commanded the rebellion's forces to attack the disoriented enemy that no longer had even numerical advantage...
After a quick, but brutal battle, in which the rebellion lost about thirty five from their ranks, the platoons of Mizukage's shinobi were eradicated. Still, there was one more problem on the way into the palace – thick iron gates with seals that would absorb chakra from ninjutsu, making them very ineffective... A quick soviet later, it was decided to try to break the gates with a ram, created from stone by doton ninjutsu users. The said ninjutsu users, forty three in number, moved to the center of the square, preparing the ram, while the rest of the group took positions around them to protect them from enemy attacks... The Kyuubi jinchuuriki watched in fascination as a giant ram – as tall as a four-story building, and at least four hundreds tons heavy – was created in under three minutes.
As soon as the ram was ready, the same ninjutsu specialists that created it, using earth manipulation, sent in forward, towards the gates... There was a very loud sound of crash, as the stone monstrosity broke the gates and continued forward, into the inner yard of Mizukage's palace, slowly falling apart as the chakra that kept the whole thing together was drained away.
With the way clear, the rebellion forces streamed into the yard, only to stop, as they faced seventy five elite jounin, including three members of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Leading the center platoon of Kiri's elite was Munashi Jinpachi with his Shibuki sword. The man wasn't very tall with an eye-patch over his left eye and had bandages covering his hair, while his split in two beard lay atop the bandages he wore around his neck.
The right group was led by Akebino Jinin with the Kabutowari sword – well, an axe and a hammer – in his hands. He had thick black mustaches and a short beard, and a big 'potato' nose. He was dressed in a baggy dark-gray clothes, with some customary bandages around his neck.
The left group had Kuriarare Kushimaru, the wielder of the Nuibari sword, as their commander. Unlike the previous two, this man was very lanky and had his face hidden behind a white and blue mask, surrounded by his long and unruly whitish hair. Kuriarare was dressed in dark-gray pants and a sleeveless shirt of the same color and, like the two other Swordsmen of the Mist, had bandages wrapped loosely around his neck.
The Kiri ninja didn't wait for the rebels to make the first move, and attacked, trying to disorganize their ranks, but instead were split into two groups themselves by Mei's two walls of lava. This breach in their mass allowed about two dozens of rebels slip past them and into the palace itself. Mei, Kagerou, Choujirou and Naruto were among them. And once they all were inside, the red-haired general once again used her lava element to seal the doors – they didn't need a chance of someone attacking them from behind, no matter how bad they felt about leaving their comrades outside to their fate against the elite of the Hidden Mist village...
Inside, Mizukage's palace was more like a labyrinth, and finding the way to the Yagura's chambers was really hard, especially with a multitude of traps and several squads of jounin getting in the way... Finally, the group reached a large chamber with stairs going up to the final level of the palace. Mei was the first one to enter the chamber, followed closely by Naruto and Choujirou. Kagerou and two jounin of the rebellion – Komaru Kasato and Takara Idoyuri – got in too, but then the door sealed itself, leaving the rest of the group outside of the chamber.
"Welcome to your final destination." A disembodied voice said, as the six ninja tried to find their opponent in the room. Finally, a jar of water that stood behind some flower vases released its contents, that, in turn, became a man. This man just happened to be the current leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, the infamous Houzuki Mangetsu. He was of average height and had light-gray, almost white, hair. He wore light-gray pants with some bandages as a replacement for a belt and a dark-gray sleeveless shirt. Like other Swordsmen of the Mist he had bandages around his neck too. Attached to waist there was a bottle of water, and on his back there was a strange sword with two handles and its very wide, shaped like a fish, blade covered by more bandages – the Hiramekarei.
"Oh, damn!.." Takara moaned. "Fighting him will take forever."
"Shut up." Komaru hissed at his teammate. "We shall distract him, while Mei-sotaicho and Uzumaki-san will go forward – they are the strongest among us." Takara and Choujirou nodded, while Kagerou didn't show her emotions about this. Mei too nodded, though she once again felt bad about the need to 'sacrifice' her fellow rebels to complete the task.
"Very well, let's do this." The red-haired kunoichi said.
"Katon: karyuudan no jutsu!" Takara exhaled a powerful stream of fire towards the leader of the Seven Swordsmen. Moment later Naruto used fuuton: daitoppa to further increase the power of the flames, thus forcing Mangetsu to step aside, lest he was burnt to a crisp. "Now, taicho!"
"Youton: youkai no jutsu!" Mei spit out a mass of lava, creating a wall between the Kiri swordsman and her and Naruto's way to the stairs. Not wasting even a moment of their precious time, the duo ran forward, hoping that they will be able reach the top of the stairs and exit the chamber, before Mangetsu could stop them.
"Katon: zukokku!" another, even more powerful than the previous one, fire jutsu was sent towards leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist to keep him occupied. Alas, the man wasn't chosen for the post for nothing...
"Suiton: suijinheki!" The white-haired Kiri ninja created a water wall around himself, and the only thing the fire did, was creating a lot of vapor. "Suiton: suiryuuben!" The water wall shifted into a ball of water in front of Mangetsu, before multiple 'spears' shot out of it, trying to pierce the four rebellion ninja he could see. Not caring much about the results of his attack – his main task was not to let rebels go past this chamber – he drew his sword. "Hiramekarei: kai!" Bandages that previously covered the blade were blown away, as a giant blade of pure chakra grew out of the sword's physical body. Mangetsu swung the sword at the waist level, easily cutting the lava wall... Naruto managed to duck under the blade of chakra, though it did cut the hood of his cloak, while Mei jumped over the said blade.
"Fuuton: shinkuu gyoku!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki fired a ball of compressed wind into what was left from the lava wall, making it explode into a rain of shrapnel towards Mangetsu, forcing him to create a water wall to protect himself. And since he couldn't attack while hiding behind the wall, the rest of the rebels started firing their jutsu at the Kiri swordsman, letting Mei and Naruto successfully reach the bottom of the stairs... Seeing that he was failing his mission, Mangetsu let out a roar and had the water wall surrounding him explode outwards with such power that were it not for Kagerou's earthen wall, the four rebels would having been knocked into the wall of the chamber... Turning around, he saw several 'pair' of Naruto and Mei running up the stairs.
"Suiton: suidan no jutsu!" Multiple water projectiles shot right out of his hands, but as soon as they hit their intended targets, these target exploded into poofs of white smoke, revealing themselves to be shadow clones. "Suiton: suryuudan no jutsu!" The Kiri swordsman sent a water dragon to keep the four rebel that were still on the floor on defensive, before switching to another technique moment later: "Suiton: suihashu!" Torrents of water exploded from his arms, trying to wash everything from the stairs back onto the floor. But Naruto and Mei jumped over these water torrents and, before Mangetsu could attack them again, reached the top of the stairs.
"Youton: youkai no jutsu!" Not wasting even a moment, the red-haired kunoichi, created a lava wall around the exit from the chamber, preventing anyone from following them... Seeing that he no longer could do anything to stop those two, the leader of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist concentrated on the four rebels that remained in the chamber.
"Suiton: mizurappa!" Sending several water blades towards his four opponents, Mangetsu summoned five water clones and charged towards the rebels, the Hiramekarei in readiness in his hands. As soon as he was close enough, he created something akin a sledgehammer of chakra around his sword, and hit Kagerou with it, sending the green-haired kunoichi into the wall, where she lost conscious upon impact.
"Katon: karyuudan!" Mangetsu was forced to evade a wave of fire sent towards him, but that wasn't very hard for him. His clones, though, were a different story, and four out of five were destroyed... Giving his last clone a mental command to go fight the rebel's sword user, the Kiri swordsman attacked the other two, quickly wrapping his turned into water body around the fire user Takara, and starting to drain the water from him. The man, though, managed to activate a mass of explosive tag that were hidden on his body, before he was killed by dehydration... The explosion was very powerful and, were Mangetsu not in his water form, he would have been killed for sure... But he was just blown apart instead – nothing too serious, though, it would take him several seconds to reconstruct his body. With Choujirou still occupied by his clone and Komaru not having any jutsu that could harm him in this state, the Kiri swordsman wasn't afraid of being 'defenseless' while he reassembled his body...
"Suiton: mizurappa!" The leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist sent a water blade towards the unoccupied rebel. Komaru used a wall of stone to deflect the technique, but he wasn't prepared for Mangetsu to attack him with Hiramekarei changed into an axe moment later, and this cost him his life...
"Die!" Choujirou yelled – he had finally defeated the water clone he was fighting previously – as he swung his sword at his opponent, almost catching the Kiri swordsman by surprise – Mangetsu once again changed his body into water, and the blade passed through him without wounding him. Switching Hiramekarei into the form of a normal sword, the leader of Seven Swordsmen of the Mist tried to behead Choujirou, but the boy twisted his own sword and blocked the attack... And the glasses-wearing boy was damn strong, Mangetsu had to admit – he couldn't overpower him as he was...
"Suiton: gousuiwan no jutsu!" The water formed additional muscles, allowing him to throw Choujirou into the wall. Having his Hiramekarei change into an axe again, the Kiri swordsman attacked his opponent, only to have his attack blocked again... Trying to overpower the younger boy, Mangetsu didn't notice Kagerou rejoining the fight, until the green-haired kunoichi palmed him on his back. Without turning around, the leader of Seven Swordsmen of the Mist kicked the annoying girl on her stomach, sending her flying backwards... Unfortunately it wasn't enough to break her concentration and the chakra strings that went from her left hand – she held the right one over her broken ribs – and into his chest. Kagerou then took a hollow glass ball from within her pouch and attached chakra strings to it.
"Fuuma hijutsu: garasu shi!" She whispered as she crushed the ball... Mangetsu, though, not wanting to find out what this technique could do, had his internal organs changed into water, thus negating any damage that could be done to them. But this partial shifting of his body between its states had him drop his concentration on Choujirou, and the boy managed to jostle the Hiramekarei away and counterattack, 'beheading' the Kiri swordsman... Only for him to become water and start reassembling himself... "Katon: karyuudan!" The green-haired kunoichi, ignoring the pain it caused her, exhaled a stream of white-hot fire, that evaporated normal water and did damage Mangetsu's body, turning it into something like a whitish paste, while the Hiramekarei sword returned to its normal solid state... As Kagerou continued the attack, the body of the Kiri swordsman was taking more and more damage, till he stopped moving at all and started getting charred... Suddenly, the green-haired kunoichi stopped the jutsu and coughed some blood.
"Are you alright, Kagerou-san?" Choujirou asked as he appeared by her side. "You shouldn't strain yourself this much." The girl just shook her head.
"I'm fine." She whispered in a barely audible voice, before losing her conscious. The rebellion's swordsman sighed and picked Mangetsu's sword up.
"Hiramekarei: kai!" A hammer made of chakra burst into the existence, and the glasses-wearing boy brought it down onto the 'head' of the leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. There was a sickening sound, like an over-ripe fruit being crushed, and Mangetsu's head was destroyed. The man was now dead... Being too tired to do much now, Choujirou sat Kagerou against the wall, before taking place next to her, and closing his eyes too...
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Mei, who had split with Naruto a minute ago, entered the chamber that she though was the Mizukage's office. But it was empty. Completely empty... Other than for the four Mist ANBU that were hiding there in the shadows.
"Futton: koumu no jutsu!" She breathed out an acidic mist, while dodging a wind blade that was send to decapitate her. Getting closer to the window, so that she could keep an eye on all of the ANBU at once, she flashed through handseals. "Let's play boys. Youton: youkai no jutsu!" She spat a torrent of lava towards the pair of ANBU to her right, killing one and dealing a lot of damage to another, before they could do anything to protect themselves... "Yeah, let's play."
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The Kyuubi jinchuuriki reached a large door at the end of the corridor he was following. He stopped there and drew some yoki from the nine-tailed demon to amplify his senses... It appeared that he chose the right pass, as behind the door there was only one man. A man with Sanbi sealed in his gut. Yagura himself was behind this door... Redirecting the yoki flow towards his muscles, Naruto sent a message to Akasha that he would need her help now. Get a positive reply from the vampires, he ran though handseals.
"Nikon hei: rengou!" After getting ready to evade whatever attack the Sanbi jinchuuriki would launch at him, Naruto kicked the door open, only to find out that Yagura was sitting behind his table drinking some tea... Seeing that someone from the rebellion had reached his office, the Yondaime Mizukage stood up and, walking into the open space in front of his table, took his zanbatou into his hands.
"The Genocide..." He acknowledged his opponent in almost bored tone.
"Why, hello there, three-tailed bastard." Naruto replied, while pointing his sword at Yagura.
Choujirou's sword (unnamed) - A quite large single-edged sword that looks a bit like an overly large knife. It has a blade of about 50 inches long and 5 inches wide. (look up Asuna's "Ensis Exorcizans" from "Mahou Sensei Negima" if you have troubles imagining what Choujirou's sword looks like). For the most part it is like any other sword, but it has the ability to block any weapon, be it solid, chakra or specter. Some say that this sword can block even the Totsuka no Tsurugi (Storm God Susanoo's sword), but this was never tested as no one knows where the Totsuka no Tsurugi is.
That's all, folks!
Leave me a review.
next time: Naruto vs Yagura