Chapter 13: Counter-attack of the Alliance

Makoto and Mayuri skidded backwards as a slew of kunais came flying towards them, missing them by inches. They looked up at where their attackers stood, grinning down mischievously at them.

" Wow, to miss that, I must have underestimated you…" one of the assailants, a female, spoke to him.

Makoto panted slightly. All the events that happened recently were in a blur. He remembered getting up all of a sudden, then moving off north along with Mayuri in a quiet, zombie-like state. It then dawned on him that he was being placed under a very powerful genjutsu. The thing that irked him the most was that he took a ridiculously long time to break out of it. He prided himself in being fairly proficient in breaking out of genjutsus, with Suzumi giving him enough practice, but to think he would be placed under a genjutsu that would drag him away from his companions and do nothing for a full 5 minutes while he was perfectly aware that he was under a genjutsu spell.

" Makoto…" Mayuri whispered quietly.

" I know…damn it, how could I've been so careless…to think that they could fool me this long with such a genjutsu," Makoto remarked, gritting his teeth in frustration.

" There is no need to get upset. Against a genjutsu of my level, I must congratulate you that you even managed to break out of it even," the female assailant replied, clapping her hands mockingly at them, while her three companions merely looked down at them. " Looks like our plan is going smoothly. Everything is falling into place."

" Who are these people?" Mayuri asked.

" I don't give two cents who they are," Makoto exclaimed, pulling out two trench knives that he kept on his back, before charging them with his wind element. " The only thing that is important is that they are the enemy, and we will annihilate all of them!"

-

" Wait, what do you mean they are gone? Have they been abducted, killed? Or something worse? How can they just suddenly disappear into thin air?! This is not possible!" Mai exclaimed, sounding terrified when Hiroshi woke all of them up and told them of the situation.

" Pipe down woman, you are hurting my ears," Masaki replied.

" I don't exactly know, but this does not bode well," Hiroshi replied. Suzumi and Mai looked rather scared at their current predicament, but Masaki and Hayate were quite cool about it. Hiroshi was nervous as well. It was certainly not natural that five of their members could just suddenly disappear without a trace. Was this an enemy attack? If so, they had just taken out their best fighters already.

" I…can hear noises of combat…" Hayate replied.

Hiroshi seemed to be able to hear it to, as the sound of clashing metal and the loud bangs of jutsus ringing some distance away. It was most likely their companions fighting, but from the sound of it, it sounded like they were some distance away. Hiroshi could not imagine how in the world did they end up that far away.

" Tch!" Hayate muttered.

Something flew in their direction. Three kunais to be specific. Hayate moved in front, raising his katana, the one Hiroshi gave him earlier. Whipping it out with his God-like speed, he knocked all kunais to the ground in an instant.

" Damn it, enemies!?" Hiroshi exclaimed.

Four figures appeared in front of them, not even bothering to conceal their presence. Hiroshi figured they must be feeling very confident that they can come up like this, arrogant to think that they can taunt the enemy and still win, but they probably have their reasons. He had two genins who had no combat potential, and a chuunin who claims he only has limited combat experience with the sword, and an amnesiac jounin. Things did not look well at the moment.

" I am sure discussions aren't necessary. You know what we want," one of them spoke to him.

" Don't be so over-confident! 4 on 1! I think the odds are good!" Hiroshi snapped back, pulling out his scroll, preparing to do battle.

" Correction, 4 on 2!" Suzumi replied, taking out her senbon needles.

" Suzumi! You can't…"

" Hiroshi, thanks for your concern, but even if I am suffering from amnesia, I still can fight. I think I can instinctively follow the battle. Possibly not as good as when I had my memory intact, but I think I am a more than sufficient combatant," Suzumi replied seriously. " Do not worry on my account. I am perfectly capable of handling myself."

Hiroshi was a little lost for words. " …Alright, I'll be counting on you to back me up then," he replied.

" No problem," Suzumi replied confidently, so confidently Hiroshi had to break into a smile.

" Shall I join the fray?" Hayate asked.

" No, stay here and guard your companions. If they break through us, I'll need you to delay them long enough so that we can come to your aid," Hiroshi replied, forming a few hand seals, before slamming both his palms on the ground. " Earth Release: Earth Barrier Wall!"

A ten foot solid rock wall suddenly formed up behind them, 10 feet wide and half a kilometer long. Most jounins were required to pick up a second element manipulation to add to their arsenal, and Hiroshi decided to pick up the Earth element after his Sensei, Shikamaru.

" …Wait, are you cutting off our escape route?" Mai exclaimed.

" No, he's just cutting off the means for the enemy to surround us. Good call," Hayate replied.

" Sure…shall we?" Hiroshi asked.

Suzumi merely nodded her head in agreement, before they initiated their attack.

-

Ryouta fired a massive blast of fire towards his target. Two of his targets leaped to the side, avoiding his attack by mere inches. Ryouta persisted, firing multiple shots of fire all over the place, setting the place alight with his fire, his fire flying towards their targets in curved arcs. The roar of his fire could be heard ringing in their ears.

Sora skidded into view in front of one of them, trusting her fist towards him. The shinobi dropped his body, her fist whizzing past his head, before throwing himself forward, knocking himself right at her. Sora gave a grunt of pain as he hit her, knocking her down, but she wasn't ready to go down just yet. As she hit the ground, she tried to strike him on his shoulder, but he caught her hand promptly.

" What!?" Sora exclaimed.

" Not quick enough!" he replied.

Ryouta flew to her aid in an instant. The shinobi instantly leaped off Sora when Ryouta approached, wary of his body being shrouded in a cloak of intense heat. Multiple arcs of fire started to shoot in all directions, and the shinobi managed to gracefully avoid Ryouta's attacks, doing backflips a couple of times before landing some distance away.

" Damn it, Sora, I can't focus on my attacks if I have to constantly get you out of danger," Ryouta exclaimed, slightly irked. " You are better than this! Why aren't you fighting at your best capabilities?!"

" God damn it, I am trying my best," Sora groaned. " ...It's that bitch. She's been playing with me with her genjutsus from the start. I cannot fight with her disrupting my style."

Ryouta stole a look at the kunoichi who spoke to them earlier, who was now kneeling on one of the tree branches, grinning at them. It wasn't as if Sora couldn't recover from the effects of opening one gate. Sora's constitution was way beyond normal to even continue fighting despite opening the first gate, but the genjutsu expert in this team was giving them trouble, not to mention the other three combatants were not people to be trifled with.

The one who attacked Sora previously was an expert in taijutsu, more than capable of handling himself in Sora's presence. One more was an insect user, bees to be exact, from the now extinct Yamamoto clan, which used to hail from the land of Rock. The final kunoichi had not shown her abilities yet, and Ryouta suspected that she seemed to be hiding them.

" I'll deal with the genjutsu one. Hang on for a bit!" Ryouta replied.

" Three opponents?! Are you mad?" Sora exclaimed, before grinning madly. " …I like it!"

Ryouta dashed towards the direction of the genjutsu user on the tree, but the other kunoichi moved in-between both of them, wanting to block his advance. Fortunately, Sora launched herself at her, colliding her leg on the kunoichi's arm, forcing her backwards, allowing Ryouta to charge forward.

He slammed his fist onto the tree the genjutsu user was standing on, the trunk exploding the moment his hands touched the tree. The genjutsu user leaped off the branch she was standing upon, only to find Ryouta right behind her.

" What the…?!" she exclaimed.

Ryouta had been improving his signature fire technique ever since he created it when he was a genin. Using the tremendous amount of energy being produced, he managed to jettison himself across an area within a split second, something like a body flicker technique but which can be executed instantly at his will as long as his Immortal Phoenix Technique was active and done without the need for hand seals.

" You are the troublesome one in this bunch. I shall have to deal with you first!" Ryouta replied, before aiming both of the palms of his hands at her direction. " Fire Release: Roar of the Eternal Flame!"

An incandescent blast of jet blue flame shot out from Ryouta's hands, firing off like a massive pillar of rushing fire. A wild vortex of wind was warping around him, distorted throughout the space of the area as Ryouta was sucking in copious amounts of oxygen to burn. The amount of heat produce was able to disintegrate anything that stood in its path.

" …Shit!" Ryouta muttered.

The genjutsu user was unharmed, having merely blocked the blast by just raising her palm at him. Ryouta had no doubt that she managed to erect a barrier in time, preventing herself from being charred to death.

" Ryouta, watch out!" Sora cried in alarm.

The kunoichi who had engaged Ryouta previously had managed to break free from Sora as the taijutsu user and the bee user managed to keep Sora busy. Just as Ryouta ended his attack, she launched herself like a hunter towards Ryouta, just before clamping her jaws hard on his neck.

" Gah!" Ryouta exclaimed.

He could feel her molars sink into his neck like a set of fangs, piercing his arteries. He felt his warm blood flow down his neck as he was bitten, not before feeling the sensation of her sucking out his blood and chakra, ebbing slowly out from his neck. He reached over, trying to ward her off, only to have her split off from him in an instant.

" Shit…the hell was that?" Ryouta replied, groaning in pain.

" Mmm, tasty…very healthy, the kind that I like," the shinobi replied, licking her lips, savouring the taste of Ryouta's blood that was dripping off her lips. " Such vigour and passion. I need to feed on you a little more, pretty please?"

Sora skidded in-between Ryouta and the kunoichi, snarling like a rabid dog. " Back off, you old crone. You better stop hitting on my pal, or I will give you a pair of balls and bust them!"

The kunoichi looked irritated. " Old crone?! I'm only 19, you little twit! And the name is Tagawa Tsubaki!" she snapped back.

" Bah, pathetic! You will be henceforth known as the old crone, from now on!" Sora declared, pointing her finger at her and grinning fiercely.

" …Okay, I shall mutilate you first, hag! And I won't even bother 'drinking' YOU!" Tsubaki howled.

" Enough, Tsubaki. She's just trying to get you to attack. No need to fall for her pace. After all, we have the upper hand here," the kunoichi who used the barrier jutsu to block Ryouta's attack earlier suddenly spoke up. " After all, if this is the extent of the Phoenix of Konoha, I guess we don't need to worry too much…Tsubaki, Yashamaru, Haji, let's end this!"

The four of them moved into a tight group, with Haji and Yashamaru in front, while Ryouta and Sora merely braced themselves. Haji merely waved his hand in front of him, and several bees shot out from his sleeves, flying towards his targets like missiles. Ryouta raised his free hand that wasn't stemming the bleeding neck of his and snapped his fingers, channeling the chakra to his fingertips, before setting the bees alight from afar.

As soon as Ryouta attacked, Yashamaru slammed his fists on the ground, sending up a massive shockwave, throwing up tons of earth. This was no ninjutsu, but done using pure taijutsu alone. Ryouta and Sora quickly retreated, jumping backwards. Very quickly, Ryouta fired out a small ball of fire towards the on-coming earth, which exploded in a large bang, sending chunks of rocks everywhere.

Sora felt something move behind her, and she whipped around, only to have Tsubaki grab her from behind. " Alright, gotcha now, bitch!" she replied, smiling sadistically.

" Bad move," Sora replied. She then blasted shockwaves through her body, aiming them to rebound off on Tsubaki, only to have them hit an invisible cloak that surrounded Tsubaki, before rebounding them back to her again, hurting her own self with her own technique. " …Damn…barriers?" Sora gasped, coughing out blood.

" Most certainly!" Tsubaki replied, before her hand shot up towards Sora's neck. She caught hold of her hand, only to feel something repelling her hand from holding on to her arm. Tsubaki caught Sora's neck, holding it tight.

" Sora!" Ryouta cried in alarm.

" Don't. Take one step, and she gets it!" Tsubaki warned him.

" …Don't bother analyzing my barrier. You won't be able to break them, not even using brute force," the kunoichi replied. " Give it up. If you don't, then I cannot guarantee her life."

" …But, you know what, I think I'm going to take your life anyway, cos I don't like you…not one bit…" Tsubaki whispered into Sora's ear. Sora merely raised her hands, preparing to perform a double backhand. " Don't try, Yuuko already said…"

But Sora did not care. To everyone's surprise, she backhanded an invisible object behind her, slamming into something solid, before the sound akin to glass breaking at the volume of a thunder echoed around the area, just before a cloud of chakra expended out of nowhere, like a popping balloon. With a powerful tug, Sora yanked herself free, before slamming her foot into Tsubaki's gut, sending her flying backwards into a tree. Yuuko was visibly surprised that Sora managed to break her barrier, and from the looks on Ryouta's face, he was astounded as to how she managed to do that.

" Lesson number one for all bad guys in the vicinity: Never, ever, give a God damned monologue to me! I hate your fucking monologues, it hurts my ears," Sora replied, stretching her arm as she turning it around several times. " Lesson number two: I don't ever recall having Ryouta or me saying that we are showing the full extent of our powers of yet!"

It then occurred to Ryouta as to how she managed to free herself. Barriers were formed by forming a field of chakra surrounding an area. Two things were important in barrier making: chakra load, and chakra precision. Using barriers saps quite an amount of chakra, since it has to have more than enough power to withstand an on-coming attack. Next was properly holding it in place, and for this, precision in chakra usage was needed. To ease stabilization, all barriers were fixed with a wavelength, a sort of sound wave that reverberated through the barrier and fixed it in place. Sora, being an expert Sound user, merely emitted a wavelength of sound into the barrier to puncture it easily.

" Final lesson, number three: My name is Tanaka Sora! Hear my name and die!" she roared loudly, before activating her gates once more. " First Gate: Open!"

-

Makoto rushed in, before stabbing his trench knife at his target. The shinobi before him merely caught the blade in his hand, and the blade sank in deep through the palm of his hand. With a sudden realization of the situation, he recognized this technique, and instantly released his trench knife and leaped backwards. His opponent, seeing his hesitation, immediately pulled out the trench knife from his hand and flung his blood onto Makoto, the blood splattering on his chest. Without wasting too much time, Makoto ripped apart his standard issue vest and tossed it aside as if it was a diseased animal.

In his rush, he didn't hear his enemy approach him from behind, despite knowing that he was facing two opponents. A massive blast hit him from the side, a shockwave of energy sending him flying. He curled himself up, before rolling on the ground to reduce shock damage, getting to his feet as soon as possible. A few kunais flew in his direction, but they fell before him as he whipped his trench knife at them, cutting them cleanly in half.

" Oh, you seem to know my abilities well, Kisurugi Makoto," the one who sprayed blood on Makoto's vest replied. Makoto merely kept silent, keeping a close watch on his two opponents. A loud explosion diverted his attention for a second, just as he spotted Mayuri escaping from destroying one of the several rock golems that one of the shinobis had summoned, while avoiding wind blades that were flying in her direction. She managed to regroup with him, pressing her back against his.

" I've…meet your family members before…Sakata Matsuda," Makoto answered quietly.

" Hoh? I am honoured…" he replied. " After all, I am facing the Reaper of the Winds. Your abilities are a threat to us. I will have to deal with you personally here and now!"

The front part of his vest had now disintegrated. The Sakatas' have a bloodline ability to make their blood corrosive, so anything it comes into contact with will dissolve. Makoto had no idea what it was made off, but it was highly potent. If he had not taken off his jacket, Matsuda might have burned a hole in his chest.

" Hahaha, I think your long hair is getting in the way, girl," one of the kunoichi's replied, who was standing on one of the golems, while the golem summoner was hidden behind the wall of stone golems, careful to not expose himself. " Why don't you just cut them off? Maybe I can help, if you let me…"

Mayuri merely looked up at her with a pained expression. From the looks of it, Makoto figured that she wasn't holding up well, and he could sense her having a broken rib, although she did her best not to show it. They were at a serious disadvantage here, having to fight the four of them, and all of them were competent in their own right.

" …Who…who are you?" Mayuri asked.

" Huh? Why'd you want to know? Have you lost your mind?" the kunoichi asked.

" Makoto, she's obviously from our village. She uses trench knives just like the way you do, and the wind blades are so reminiscent of our village's style, there is no way she is not from our village," Mayuri replied. " Only thing is I don't think I've ever seen her before, and she looks like our age."

It did bug Makoto somewhat. The kunoichi using wind blades fought in a style similar to his, with some variations, but it was obvious that she picked up this style in his village, but her face was indeed unfamiliar. He could not imagine who she actually was.

" Who am I? My name is Nagato Akira," she replied, sounding slightly mad. " How's that? You know who am I now?!"

Mayuri's eyes widened in shock, and Makoto looked as if he was utterly confused. " What?! That's impossible! Are…are you Suzumi's sister?!"