Chapter 20: Grand Archangel Summoning
" What the hell is that kind of weapon?" Kouma demanded.
" Come a little closer, I'll let you experience it up close," Hiroshi dared him.
However, instead of waiting for Kouma to respond to his taunt, Hiroshi ran away, jumping up a tree, not before glaring back at Yuuko, who had her hands in the form of seals. " I saw that coming. Try something harder next time," Hiroshi taunted. He flicked his sword towards Yuuko, and the area around her erupted in a large bang, sending chucks of rock and soil all over the place.
In a split second later, Kouma leaped towards him from behind, while he instructed two of his stone clones to attack him as well. Hiroshi was a bit wary of Kouma's ability to survive explosive notes head-on, so he decided to deal with his stone clones first. He threw himself towards the stone clones that leaped at him, swinging his weapon right at them, and they exploded upon contact with his Ash Saber. Hitting the ground, he moved himself as far as he could from Kouma, who was following him closely from behind.
Spinning around in a 180 degree turn, he then charged himself towards Kouma, not before thrusting his Ash Saber to strike Kouma on his chest. The resulting explosion sent Kouma's body hurtling back and slamming into a nearby tree, destroying it in an instant, but Kouma merely picked himself up, apparently unharmed by the attack.
I didn't sense any form of chakra shielding being supplied by Yuuko. I thought his abilities were limited to creating stone golems…is there something up his sleeve? Hiroshi thought to himself.
" Sorry, kid. I can take more than that," Kouma replied. " Listen up, it's obvious from the explosive notes on his weapon that it has a finite amount of uses. Considering that I can take his attacks, I'll deal with him. The rest of you focus on the two girls over there!"
The instant he finished his sentence, Hiroshi threw himself towards Kouma, his Ash Saber drawn back to prepare for a strike.
" Foolish! I'll take more than an exploding bokuto to take me down!" Kouma retorted, raising his arms to shield himself.
Hiroshi whipped his Ash Saber in a slashing motion. To Kouma's utter surprise, a slash wound suddenly opened up on his chest, and although the wound was not deep, Hiroshi somehow managed to land a strike on him.
" Never did I say this was a bokuto! I said this was my customized katana, and if I recall correctly, katanas cut !" Hiroshi exclaimed.
He drew his arm back, not before aiming for another strike, but the kunoichi who was armed with the katana slipped between them, parrying Hiroshi's strike with two kodachis. " …I see…Wind manipulation….that's where you get your sharpness…a nice combination…" she replied.
Hiroshi tilted his arm slightly, and after a slight sizzle, an explosion blew up in front of him, but he could sense that he somehow managed to miss his target. A second later, she came swooping in from behind, only to be interrupted by Hayate, who came in from nowhere to parry her attack.
" Heh, did you think you could conveniently forget about me?" Hayate chided her. The kunoichi merely did a couple of back-flips to gain some breathing space, not before whipping her hands in slashing motions. Recognising then for what they were, Hayate and Hiroshi leaped out of the way as invisible windbladed tore through where they previously stood.
" Kouma, deal with that puppeteer! We don't want him to go lose with his explosive weapon of his!" the kunoichi replied.
" You got it, Sakuya!" Kouma replied.
Kouma instantly moved towards Hiroshi's position. Hiroshi whipped his Ash Saber towards Kouma, but surprisingly, it didn't even lay a scratch on him this time. Kouma quickly grabbed Hiroshi by his neck, not before slamming him down on the ground. Raising his second arm, he was preparing to smash Hiroshi's head in when all of a sudden large coils of hair wrapped themselves around his arm, stopping him from delivering the final blow. Mayuri leaped out from behind him, not before landing on his shoulders.
" If we cannot destroy you, then perhaps we should drown you!" Mayuri replied.
Drawing in a deep breath, she started to spew out water in large amounts, submerging all three of them in a large globule of water. Hiroshi was a little worried that Mayuri might be drowning him as well, but was pleasantly surprised that she somehow managed to surround his head in a bubble, as well as hers.
" Tch, irritating pests!" the shape-shifting kid replied, slamming his hands on the ground.
" Heihachi, watch out!" Yuuko exclaimed.
Heihachi dodged as a cloud of poisonous looking gas came flying towards him. Several senbon needles flew out from the cloud of poison, and he blocked it quickly by turning his hand into a shield, blocking the attacks as the senbon needles bounced off his shield as if it was made of metal. A vial was suddenly thrown towards him, and upon smashing upon his 'shield', it started to corrode his arm.
" Crap!" Heihachi exclaimed, not before detaching a part of his arm off, the area where it had been doused in some potent acid. The small part came off like a large drop of honey, hitting the floor before dissolving into nothingness. Returning his attention towards Suzumi, he saw that she was running towards him at full speed. He fired out more spikes from his arm, striking her neatly in the middle of her chest, only to explode in a cloud of poison gas, and to emerge from the gas cloud while continuing her assault.
Heihachi prepared to shoot out several more spikes from his body, but Suzumi raised one of her hands towards her face in the form of a seal, before closing her eyes and focusing on her chakra. Heihachi sent out more spikes towards her, not before sensing a weird sensation taking over his body. The spikes mysteriously missed her body, despite having quite an accurate target acquirement earlier.
" Genjutsu?" Heihachi muttered.
Suzumi was close enough now, and she flicked out several senbon needles from her hands, not before preparing to sink them into his neck. Multiple spikes protruded from his body, only to find them passing through Suzumi's body as if they were made of nothing. Suzumi's body continued forward, not before slamming her senbon needles into his neck. Heihachi avoided them at the last second, but she still managed to strike the lower end of his neck, although the wound was non-fatal.
Suzumi leaped up high as one of the stone clones threw several kunai at her. Normal people she could deal with, but she was unable to cast a genjutsu on a piece of solid moving rock, unlike a normal human. The stone clones were a bit troublesome for her to deal with, not to mention except for her explosive notes which did not work, she lacked any form of firepower to deal with them.
" Tch! Expanding barrier technique!" Yuuko exclaimed.
The water globule Mayuri used to submerge Kouma suddenly expended and burst like a huge bubble, washing all the water away, while breaking Kouma free, although he didn't seem to be having difficulty holding his breath as of yet. He broke out of Mayuri's grip, some of his stone clones helping by attempting to attack her, forcing her to break grip using her hair on him. Hiroshi smashed through the stone clones, his explosions not dampened by the water.
Kouma instantly rushed at him, his hand ready to grab him again. Hiroshi set off another explosion, not to attack, but to propel him aside to put a lot of distance between himself and Kouma. Kouma still continued, his movement speed close enough to rival Sora's. Just as Hiroshi's feet hit the ground, he braced himself, not before raising his Ash Saber above his head, pointing the tip of the sword towards Kouma, who was heading towards his direction.
" First Seal: Unleash!" Hiroshi exclaimed.
The Ash Saber suddenly lit up in flames, the fire licking against the katana. Hiroshi could feel the heat of the blade scorching his hands, but he paid no heed to it. Kouma seemed confident in taking whatever Hiroshi wished to dish out to him, as he sped up his advance, ever so close to Hiroshi now.
" Ash Saber Special Technique: Flame of the Requiem!" Hiroshi shouted, not before thrusting his katana in a single, strong thrust towards Kouma.
Kouma didn't even need to reach him. He merely exploded in a fiery blast, as if his body was suddenly ignited by 10 explosive notes. Still, it merely stalled him slightly, and as the flames and smoke died down, he could still be seen unharmed, only slightly charred on the outside, but having sustained no serious injuries or burns. His Ash Saber's explosive notes now had lost all their seals, now rendered non-explosive.
" Son of a…" Hiroshi cursed.
" Hah, see, I can deal with him easily. Miyako, why the hell are you so afraid of this bastard? Come and join in the fun!" Kouma urged her on. Miyako, who was still quivering on the spot where she previously stood, merely shook her head wildly. " Why? You aren't making this easy, you know…"
" …Because…he's not even the real Hiroshi…" Miyako stammered.
" What?" Sakuya snapped.
There was a ripping sound, something akin to someone ripping loads and loads of paper, and the sound was amplified multiple times till it was cracking one's eardrums. At a nearby tree, one could see it being torn apart, like a person ripping apart a wallpaper, coming out in the form of zipper. A figure of Hiroshi emerged from the hiding spot, not before whipping out a puppet arm and attaching it to his left arm slot, a whirling sound signifying he had managed to attach his puppet arm successfully.
" Guess the jig is up, but I've managed to fix my arm in time," Hiroshi replied, while the puppet that looked like him cluttered on the ground, having served its purpose. He pulled out a scroll, a green one marked with a black cross, not before presenting it to them. " Back off, or else I shall unleash the grand fury as to why I am called the Azure Forest."
" Why don't you try us?" Yuuko asked.
" Fine…Suzumi, Mayuri, Hayate! 30 seconds starting now!" Hiroshi exclaimed.
All of them understood what he meant, and they moved into position just as their enemies attempted to attack Hiroshi to stop him from completing what he was setting out to finish. Mayuri skidded in front of him, not before forming her hand seals as quickly as possible. Suzumi could feel the immediate build-up of raw, potent chakra in her body, ready to be unleashed.
" Water release: Grand Tsunami Technique!"
Mayuri instantly fired out a large body of water, which formed a massive tidal wave, standing 100 feet tall. The body of water was sent crashing towards their enemy's direction, knocking most of them, including the stone clones away. Yuuko and Miyako managed to back off and seek refuge in a couple of tree which were tall enough, while the others managed to burst out from the water, struggling to keep afloat.
" Secret Arts Technique: Garden of the Azure Forest!" Hiroshi exclaimed.
As he rolled out his scroll, he bit his lip and spat some blood on the scroll, summoning his weapons. All of a sudden, thousands of weapons scattered themselves all over the place, forming a field of weapons. Swords, kunais, mallets, spikes, windmill shurikens, and the sorts. All weapons possible were located here before them, and Hiroshi had them all under his disposal. However, his technique looked funny. Mayuri noted some items which were not weapons, namely long metal poles, screws and bolts and metal frames in weird shapes.
" I thought your famed Azure forest used only weapons. What's with the extra junk?" Mayuri exclaimed.
" That is one of my techniques: Blades of the Azure Forest, which summons a set of weapons for me to use. My Garden of the Azure Forest is different, as it does not summon a set of weapons for me to use," Hiroshi answered.
Suzumi was confused by his words. " Hiroshi, if it does not summon weapons, what exactly did you just bring out?" Suzumi asked.
" Suzumi, even before, you have not seen my technique as of yet. Behold, for this is my ultimate trump card!" Hiroshi exclaimed. " Azure Forest Secret Technique: Grand Archangel Summoning!"
Flaps opened up on his left arm, and a hundred chakra strings shot out from the inside of his puppet arm frame. They started to attach themselves to a myriad of items on the field, from katanas, screws, metal frames and wind-mill shurikens. The rest of them could only look in awe as the pieces suddenly converged together, all of a sudden forming into one large collective ball. However, the ball of weapons started to take shape. Four joints started to emerge, not before forming what could be described as rudimentary hands and feet.
The mass of weapons began to take the shape of a body. Weapons big and small started to fly towards this body as if it was a magnet, attaching themselves as if by will onto the mass. The arms and legs started to take a defined shape, not before the middle area began to fix itself. Through this process, Hiroshi allowed himself to be taken up inside of it, being swallowed into the mass, as if he was part of a piece as well. The head took shape as well, and before long, what stood before them was a 20 feet tall humanoid statue of sorts, made purely out of weapons. The entire body was made out of blades and spikes of every nature, formed from kunais, circular razors, swords and shurikens, so coming close to this statue would be a painful experience. The entire body was pulsating, as in razor blades and spikes were rotating and spinning all over the body, promising to tear anything it touches apart. Despite being made out of a mass of weapons, there was still a whole load of weapons scattered on the ground all over the place.
Once the body was formed, two red jewels flew up from the ground, not before attaching themselves on the head to form what could be described accurately as its eyes. As soon as they were attached, they started to glow brightly, like an ominous beast, ready to feast. The statue suddenly moved, taking a stance like it was preparing to beat the shit out of something.
" The Garden of the Azure Forest summons me a puppet," Hiroshi's voice replied from within. " Say hello to Archangel…"
" Fucking cool!" Masaki exclaimed.
" Azure Forest: Devastating Rain!"
Archangel stomped its foot hard on the ground, not before sending a hundred weapons that still surrounded the area into the sky. Waving its hand forward, the hundred weapons shot towards their target at breakneck speed, smashing through trees and rock alike. Their enemies dodge and ducked for cover, while the stone clones merely got peppered with weapons.
Archangel leaped towards the first stone clone, grabbing it up in its sharp, painful fingers, not before squeezing it tight. The combined might of the rotating and spinning weapons on its body shattered it to pieces, turning the stone clone into a pile of dust. Several more leaped at him, but the Archangel detached its right arm, not before sending the multiple weapons that make up its form break apart and skewer the stone clones. The multiple weapons lying on the ground next to it were suddenly, as if by magic, sucked them up towards it, not before forming a brand new arm.
" This is unbelievable…Hiroshi is really kickass~!" Mayuri cooed.
Moving with an alarming speed considering its size, the Archangel grabbed hold of Kouma in a vice-like grip using both its arms, not before squeezing Kouma in its sharp fingers. The blades started to rotate violently, and Kouma was induced to what felt like a massive grinder. Kouma tried to free himself, but it was to no avail. Sparks flew out from his body as the razors started to grind against his body, exploding akin to something like a fireworks show.
Damn…even after such force, he can still withstand this kind of damage…Hiroshi thought.
However, while he was distracted by attempting to grind Kouma, Heihachi all of a sudden sneaked up behind him, not before forming his hands into flexible spikes, sending them through his body. Since he could contort his body as he liked, the spikes shot through the Archangel's entire body, multiple spikes emerging from all over the place. The Archangel seemed to stall for a bit, not before something that looked suspiciously like blood started dripping from its chest.
" Hiroshi!" Mayuri and Suzumi exclaimed in alarm.
" Heh, gotcha!" Heihachi snickered.
A figure burst out from the ground in front of where Heihachi stood, not before slamming a short blade onto his upper chest. Heihachi managed to alter his body to a metallic form on his chest just before it struck, but the blade managed to pierce him slightly, and the person who attacked him merely smiled back at him.
" Why you…" Heihachi stammered.
" No, it's me who has got you…I'm a puppeteer, trickery is second nature to me…" Hiroshi replied, smiling. " Ash Saber: Miniaturised version! Set!"
Heihachi stole a glance at the blade that was stuck on his chest, only to notice that there were several explosive notes wrapped around its handle. Hiroshi gave him a swift kick and the explosion erupted, knocking him clean off. His upper chest was severely wounded, but thanks to his shapeshifting ability, he somehow managed to avoid death.
Kouma broke through one of the Archangel's fingers, not before escaping from the puppet's clutches as Hiroshi was slightly distracted in attacking Heihachi. " Well, looks like we lost the advantage…again. I suppose it was our fault to begin with. I guess the puppeteer of the leaf isn't someone we can really trifle with, huh?" he replied smugly. " How about we make it out of here?"
Yuuko merely looked very displeased, but she was mostly glaring at Miyako, who was still too afraid to make any moves. Hiroshi had no idea what was up with the girl, but he wasn't in the mood to press for it.
" Fine, we are leaving…" Yuuko replied, clasping her hands together. All of a sudden, the five of their attackers suddenly vanished, as if they dissolved into thin air. That technique again…Mayuri thought.
" Hiroshi, are you okay?" Suzumi asked.
" I'm fine. I didn't sustain any injuries," Hiroshi replied, his breathing slightly hard and sharp, having evidently used up a lot of his energy stores. Controlling a puppet of Archangel's size and type was no such easy feat, not to mention having to minutely control over a hundred weapons at one go. " Come on, we need to fix up our friends and get the hell out of here."
" I agree to that. Mayuri, I think we can safely take them out now," Suzumi replied.
" Okay~…Hey, both of you, help me carry them!" Mayuri snapped at Masaki and Mai, who came running over to help.
As Suzumi and Hiroshi went to help, they passed Hayate, who was keeping his weapon. Hiroshi stopped just as he was about to pass him, and he merely looked up at Hiroshi innocently.
" …Is something the matter?" Hayate asked.
Hiroshi reached out and drew out his katana, not before taking notice of a chip on the blade. " You broke it slightly," Hiroshi replied, not before sheathing the sword and drawing the entire thing from Hayate's waist. " Lend it to me for a bit to fix it up."
-
" Well, your arrival was timely, I must say. Do you actually rehearse this shit often? I seem to notice you do this often," Makoto said as Hiroshi was carefully bandaging his wounds. " You would have saved us a lot of trouble if you could, you know, come on time."
Makoto winced slightly as Mayuri nudged him in his ribs using her foot. " Hey, I think an appreciation is in order, right~?" she replied.
" It's okay, sarcasm is my usual form of thanks," Hiroshi answered politely.
Hiroshi and Suzumi were busy treating the rest of their wounded friends, who thankfully didn't suffer anything life threatening with immediate treatment. Suzumi had managed to administer first aid before hand, so their conditions were stabilized. Both Hiroshi and Suzumi were now busy dealing with their problematic injuries, but Hiroshi was quite relieved that none of them had been seriously incapacitated.
" You guys sure must suck if a kid could beat you all," Suzumi replied jokingly. " Does this mean Hiroshi is the best amongst you all?"
" No…" Everyone curtly replied.
" Damn it…" Hiroshi muttered to himself.
" Still, what kind of abilities did that kid have? It felt like I was almost fighting a supernatural being," Ryouta replied.
" I have the answer for that, but first, we need to address a very important issue here," Sora replied, tightening the bandages on her arms.
" And what is that?" Hibiki asked.
Sora turned to Hiroshi, not before looking at him angrily and asked " Since when did you alter your right arm to become a puppet arm?"