Chapter XXVIII - Konoha's Fall: Twilight
"I never would've guessed that it'd take Sasuke Uchiha to finish me off," said Atoma with a defeated tone of voice. Sasuke, gritting his teeth, intensified the currents of electricity inside of Atoma's chest.
"I don't care for your compliments, you Hidden Sound scum. You all have attacked this village long ago with the Sand and failed, what makes you think this time will be any different?" Sasuke asked him, now unsheathing the sword that rested on his back.
Atoma coughed out some more blood as he tried to back away, but to no avail. His body was now completely paralysed due to Sasuke's Chidori Sharp Spear.
"I couldn't sworn you were also of the Hidden Sound, Sa-"
"That's enough out of you!" Sasuke yelled as he sprinted towards Atoma, holding his sword in front of him. Atoma slowly closed his eyes as Sasuke neared him even faster.
"Drop dead!" the Uchiha clan member yelled, quickly turning his body before slashing at Atoma's chest.
"You first."
Suddenly, Atoma bounded forward, before Sasuke's electricity dispersed without warning. Sasuke's eyes widened as he read the male's movements with his Sharingan, instantly dodging the heavy punch Atoma aimed at his body.
A smirk formed on Sasuke's lips as he turned his body around, moving his arm to the left to successfully cut Atoma deep in the chest.
Wait, what is this?!
Sasuke widened his eyes once more as the air in his lungs was forced out. His body was sent sprawling back in the air, crashing into some debris some distance away.
Atoma stood still, a bit of smoke escaping his right fist. It appears that he actually dealt a massive blow to Sasuke's chest.
"Even with your Sharingan, you can't counter my special genjutsu," he chuckled out. Sasuke slowly stood up and clutched his chest with a light pant. A bit of sweat glistened on his forehead as he glared at his opponent.
I know I cut him down, but there's not even a wound on his chest. What is this, some cheap version of the Izanagi? Sasuke thought before averting his attention to a moving pile of debris behind Atoma. Akazo crawled out before appearing to Sasuke's side, panting lightly while kneeling.
"Akazo, you alright?" Sasuke asked, slowly performing hand seals. Atoma rose an eyebrow and started to walk towards them.
"I'm fine, I managed to take down this guy's partner. He packs a hell of a punch though," replied Akazo, rubbing the back of his head. Sasuke let out a soft chuckle, nodding.
"One of his abilities is similar to the Uchiha's Izanagi genjutsu, in which one could rewrite reality to fit in his favour," said Sasuke.
"Damn. So we're going with Formation..."
"Formation J, yeah. Ready when you are, Akazo."
"Right."
Akazo reached into his pouch before throwing multiple shuriken towards Atoma. At the same time, Sasuke breathed out a ball of fire, igniting these shuriken. Akazo dashed forward, his body just underneath the flying weapons. Atoma gritted his teeth as he jumped to the side, holding his arms out in front of him as an act of defence.
The dark haired male collided into Atoma, directing quick punches and kicks to Atoma's arms to push him back. After a while, Atoma occasionally launched a few blows of his own to Akazo, who blocked them.
"Switch!"
Akazo bounded backwards to reveal Sasuke in the air, with his sword in hand. He made swift movements with his body and arms, attempting to cut Atoma, who kept effortlessly dodging.
An annoyed Atoma then grabbed Sasuke's sword, applying force to try and crack the blade in half. Sasuke smirked as electricity escaped the blade before engulfing Atoma's body. Sasuke then directed a kick to Atoma's face, sending him backwards.
"Nice one, Sasuke!" said Akazo in the background, performing a hand sign. A shadow clone appeared at his side, dashing to where Sasuke and Atoma were.
What are these two plotting? thought Atoma, sliding his feet on the ground. Sasuke appeared in front of him, slashing at him once more. Atoma jumped backwards, not noticing Akazo's clone behind him. The clone would quickly unsheathe its own sword, jabbing the blade into Atoma's back.
In an instant, the shadow clone poofed away as Atoma was now in front of Sasuke.
"That jutsu again?!" Sasuke gasped, before Atoma directed an elbow to his stomach. He hunched over, wheezing at Atoma's knees.
"Foolish Sasuke, it's just as I said earli-"
Atoma widened his now bloodshot eyes as he slowly turned around to look into Sasuke's Sharingan.
"You fell prey to a simple Sharingan genjutsu. Now as I said before, stand still so I can kill you," Sasuke said softly. His sword was sticking out of Atoma's chest. Blood slowly dripped off of the blade that glistened in the light.
Damn you, Sasuke Uchiha... I underestimated... you, thought Atoma as he fell to the ground. Akazo walked towards Sasuke, looking down at Atoma's body.
"Wait, that's it? Why didn't he use that genjutsu like the first time?" he asked. Sasuke's Sharingan deactivated as he turned to face his partner.
"As much as he wanted to ignore it, he knew that his genjutsu was inferior before my Sharingan. I just simply saw through his genjutsu and broke us out of it," he replied.
Explosions, as well as screaming, boomed in the background. Both Sasuke and Akazo put on their ANBU masks as they dashed forward, heading towards the centre of the village.
Suddenly, a large gust of wind pushed them both back. The two ANBU members drew their weapons as several Otogakure shinobi quickly surrounded them.
"Akazo, once we take these guys down, we have to find Lady Nori," said Sasuke. Akazo nodded.
Hikari sighed to himself as the sounds of battle started to annoy him. He stood at the gate of the village, slowly unzipping the top of his cloak, letting an arm hang out. Seiko crossed her arms, scoffing at him.
"Why the hell are you looking like that? Lord Gyatsō's dreams are coming true, and here you are... looking like a little bitch!" she said, spitting at him. Hikari wordlessly looked at her, the wind picking up his long, blonde hair.
"Don't you know? Our deaths are drawing near, just as Nagato and Konan's were. Don't you wish to die without any regrets, especially when we're in this chaos right now?" he asked softly, looking away after asking. Seiko squinted at him, confused as to why her comrade spoke to her like this.
"What are you talking about?"
Hikari slowly stood up, pointing to his left.
"Never mind it. Someone's here."
Zuko Taisega revealed himself, his dark hair covering his eyes. His clothes were torn, and dried blood rested on a long cut on his chest.
"Zuko?! What the hell are you doing here?!" Seiko exclaimed, walking towards him with a smirk. Zuko didn't give a reply.
"I thought you were gonna stay at the hideout since that poison's gonna fuck ya over soon," she giggled out before gasping for air.
Zuko held her by the neck as his left eye gleamed red. His Shaolin was activated in his left eye, but his right eye was closed. Seiko slapped Zuko's hand multiple times as her body slowly grew numb, her eyes losing its light.
Hikari watched silently as a line of blood ran down Seiko's mouth as she now stopped moving.
Zuko... you killed her... which means...
The Taisega clan member threw Seiko's corpse to the side, slowly walking towards Hikari.
"Relax, Zuko. I won't get involved in anything you're going through. Actually, you did me a favour by getting rid of her. I told her that she was going to die soon," said Hikari, smiling lightly.
Zuko suddenly clutched his chest and fell to his knees, breathing heavily.
I see, thought Hikari, that's the effects of the Sin Sword's poison...
"Where is... Lord Gyatsō?" Zuko faintly asked him. Hikari helped Zuko up and wiped the blood off of the boy's mouth.
"I believe he's in the far south of the village," replied Hikari. Zuko smiled at Hikari before turning around, still panting.
"Thank you," said Zuko. He slowly walked forward.
"...This is the last time I'll be seeing you, isn't it?" asked Hikari. Zuko still walked forward, not responding.
Hikari let out a soft sigh before walking forward, clutching his fist as a single tear ran down his eye.
Only you and I remain then, Hide. Looks like I'll be the only one who gets to stay at Lord Gyatsō's side in the end.
