Chapter 34: Awakening
As the army advanced Shoryu gave an occasional glance back to check how far away his friends were. Half a minute passed and they'd reached the base of the stony slope they traversed earlier. Good; the sooner they got over it the better. What worried him though, was the fact that the Stone fleet stopped in place. Looking closer proved that they each readied a projectile. Would they aim for the retreating forces or for him: the lone attacker stood a hundred yards away?
There was only one way to be sure, and that was to draw their fire. Luckily Shoryu had something stored within him ready to explode. He was more than happy to draw both swords, raise them to the skies, fill his lungs with air and scream at the top of his voice:
"SSCOOOOOORRE!"
The platoon hesitated as a smile came to Shoryu's lips. Behind him Ayako would be blushing as red as her scrolls, Free would be confused, Jinga would be close to tears and Kazuya would be chuckling to himself, proud that Shoryu could go out in such a way. Opposite him however, the story was much different. Stone ninja looked left and right at each other, trading bemused glances as they tried to work out what kind of a threat he was – whether it was some kind of strange battle cry or just a ninja who'd lost his mind in fear.
"Ahhhh, that felt good," Shoryu said to himself. Nothing else remained but to charge them with everything he had. Half a mile of open space separated him from the forces opposing, giving them a whole three minutes before he smashed into their vanguard with both swords ablaze. Shoryu wondered whether he'd last that long.
As he ran a second blanket of shadows swept over him, indicating another cluster of sharp objects he'd be forced to avoid. At least he managed to divert their attention away from the fleeing squadron; they saw the lone ninja sprinting towards them as their only threat for the time being, and so with another shower of blades they aimed to finish him once and for all.
"Oh look at that, more shuriken," he mused. Crossing both swords, the commander harnessed chakra to a fine, sharp point. "Cross Slash Jutsu!"
As an X of piercing wind Shoryu's technique erupted from the two blades. As the rain of metal fell the twin arcs slammed into them, forging a convenient hole through the storm as it blew away shuriken, senbon and kunai. Aiming it ahead of him, Shoryu was able to carry on without stopping. Blades fell to the earth all around him like a flash flood, yet his path was the only one that remained safe.
When the attack passed Shoryu had ended his route through the steel, leaving behind the clutter of projectiles like a clone graveyard as he reached his top speed. Too easy, he told himself, though the shuriken sticking out of his hip told another story. He couldn't deflect them all; Shoryu's defence was nothing compared to Ayako's.
Closer now; Shoryu could make out the weaponry and individual hair styles of the leading Stone ninja. Most pitched back projectiles for another metallic shower, yet this time some split off from the group, running towards him as a small strike force. A dozen strong, they were designed to take him out before he reached them – if the next wave of blades didn't do it for them.
As the Stone grew more impatient their tactics grew in severity. Rather than relying on the sharp edges of their weapons, this time a small fraction of the projectiles had been augmented. They barrelled towards Shoryu at a faster rate to the others, spinning with sparks, droplets, flames, dust and zephyrs as evidence that Chunin had given them a lick of their elemental chakra.
Shadows pooled by his feet as Shoryu levelled another Cross Slash to the air. Sheer force wouldn't cut it this time – he merely diverted a few on their paths. Sheathing his swords, Shoryu cast a number of hand signs and sent forth an older technique of his.
"Wind Style: Galeforce Jutsu!" From the Jonin's fingers a hurricane came into being. Slowly it ripped apart the rocks by his feet, twirling in crazed rotations as its force alone made Shoryu draw swords and thrust them into the ground as an anchor. He rarely used the jutsu anymore, purely due to how rapid and unstable it had become with his chakra growth in four years.
Anything above it was sucked into the vortex and anything approaching from the side was sent flying in the opposite direction. Crouching beside it, Shroyu put himself in the ideal position to wait out the rest of the attack.
Just as before though, not everything was repelled. A palm-sized throwing star wasn't enough this time around; instead a fully formed windmill shuriken had been hurtled into his shoulder, this one damp with water-based chakra that sent the wound into unbearable agony. Chlorine in the technique was designed to sting and eventually infect it if it wasn't dealt with immediately.
As the blade protruded from his flesh rivulets still clung to the edge, trickling off the metal to make water run like a tap down his wound. Above him the storm raged on, the Galeforce Jutsu still doing its job. Shoryu pulled out the shuriken with a groan, but not before a stray senbon nailed his foot to the ground.
"Son of a bitch!"
In the end swearing did very little to ease the pain as the hailstorm ended. Exhausted, Shoryu sank to one knee. In front of him the small squadron neared, and with his foot still pinned to the canyon floor his options were limited. Luckily he still knew of one person who'd be happy to help. Stringing together hand signs, Shoryu palmed the floor with a grin on his face; he couldn't wait to see what they made of this.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
He never got to. Instead of the familiar ink pattern and puff of smoke the ground remained still – nothing happened. As he made a noise of bewilderment Shoryu remade the five seals, convinced he'd simply screwed up the jutsu. Even then he knew it made no sense; he'd committed the Summoning Jutsu to muscle memory – he hadn't gotten it wrong in years.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Again nothing happened. What the hell? He asked himself. I've got more than enough chakra so where the hell is Kyoh? What could he be doing at a time like this?
"Summoning Jutsu! Summoning Jutsu!" Again and again Shoryu slapped the ground in desperation. He'd counted on Kyoh's support for this fight; had he known the dragon wouldn't show he would've saved the cocky remarks and false promises to his team. Without Kyoh he wasn't sure he could save them. "Summoning Jutsu!"
When nothing happened for a fifth time Shoryu found himself alerted to the presence of the enemy. The strike force was upon him, its leading Chunin starting the fight by swinging down a heavy set of knuckle-dusters. With a sudden, primal roar that frightened the men Shoryu was back on his feet. He jerked the senbon from his foot and swayed into an opening before burying it in the Stone ninja's mouth.
A metal skewer drawing blood from the back of his neck became the last those ninja saw of their captain. In a frenzy they charged at Shoryu with weapons, fists and jutsu at the ready as the commander let his instincts take over. His left hand snapped up to release the blood-soaked shuriken he pulled from his chest.
Two more followed after them as Shoryu flung a pair from his belt, making four down in the space of just two seconds. But Shoryu didn't stop there. As another three approached he drew swords and loosed a single Cross Slash Jutsu, its arcs making wounds so deep the men were almost cut in half on the spot. Some odd blast of telekinetic force shot out from the survivors, but the Jonin swerved to avoid it before diving towards them.
The two ninja had barely raised fists when Shoryu finished his forward roll by sticking swords through their guts. As he rose to full height a flourish of his shorter blade decapitated a third, and after parrying a few blows Shoryu's kick drove a fourth to the ground. It was in the midst of another killing blow when another technique struck the Jonin.
His sword was halfway through a Stone ninja's sternum, but the lad found himself avenged as a fireball met Shoryu's hip. He felt the fabric of his shirt go up in flames as his side burned hot with the ninja's attack. Again he sank to his knees, both swords clattering to the ground; he was beginning to lose consciousness.
Not yet! Get up Shoryu! They can't be safe yet! He told himself. It was little use; his ribs, stomach and back glowed with a single chakra-induced burn, a pain so paralysing that even the slightest twitch of muscles made him feel like screaming. Through half-lidded eyes he saw the final ninja approach. From the looks of things he was enraged by the death of his comrades. Shoryu couldn't blame him; this wasn't personal – the guy was only following orders after all.
Move, move, move you idiot! Shoryu thought, cursing his body. Deep breaths helped him calm himself, a technique he'd learned only the basics of from Kazuya. Using it he could theoretically block out pain, but in a real fight he'd never attempted it, and now was hardly the time to start experimenting. His eyes searched for a way out – to kill this last ninja and carry on fighting until he reached that army.
Fortunately a chance came without the enemy even realising. The last Stone ninja stood before him, casting hand signs before ending on the tiger seal and pointing it at Shoryu's face – no doubt some fire technique designed to blow his head off. Unlike the commander though, he'd failed to notice the quilt of shadows that had fallen upon them. It seemed the Hidden Stone were prepared to take Shoryu out at all costs, even if it meant taking their own men down with them.
For Shoryu this was an opportunity. Once again his hand gripped the hilt of his longest katana, and with a swift stroke the man's final seal went flying away, his hand severed from his wrists by a lick of the sword. As the ninja shrieked and clutched at his wound Shoryu grabbed him and sank to a crouch, using him as a human shield for the next rain of metal shards.
It was a cruel tactic to be sure. Shoryu almost felt sorry for the man; he screamed and screamed, shuriken pelting his body in a downpour. Slick rivers of blood flowed in a fountain to Shoryu's left and right as the shrieking finally stopped.
The boy was suddenly thankful his enemies were now human and not clone; Shoren's clones disappeared upon death – that was the only fundamental difference between them. The fact that this man was human meant Shoryu could continue using his corpse as a shield until the blades finally stopped falling.
In the wake of the attack Shoryu rose to his feet, and with a jerk tore off the dilapidated rags of his flaming shirt, exposing a bare, blood-soaked torso for the enemy to see. He found himself running again, his unresponsive limbs spurred on by the thought of Ayako and the others in danger. Through swimming vision he noticed the enemy decided to launch another dozen ninja at him.
"Bring it!" he cried, half mad from adrenaline.
The next events were hazy in Shoryu's memory, but from what he remembered he met the twelve-man cell screaming in mania. His swords took control, hacking apart ninja one by one without any regard for his own wellbeing. The edge of a sword bit into his thigh and a supercharged punch broke a handful of ribs, but as his desperate, demented berserk reached its strongest and loudest all twelve fell to his swords.
The pain was dulled by his fury. By the time the ninja were dead he could scarcely feel the life-threatening wounds drawing blood from his limbs. "Is that all you've got?" he shouted at them. The army lay just ahead; twenty yards or so – within range of his shuriken and jutsu. Unfortunately he too was close enough for an assault.
Once more the shadows at his feet told him the projectile ocean was upon him again. Three more hand signs saw another Galeforce Jutsu as his protection, but this time it wouldn't be enough. As Shoryu crouched low beside the vortex he noticed the vanguard making hand signs.
Drawing again, Shoryu found himself swarmed by a multitude of jutsu. As the twister by his side repelled the blades from the skies his swords danced to swat away those before him. Jutsu he'd never seen before rushed to him, with even his frantic swings failing to keep them all away. He batted most aside, channelling chakra to the swords he wielded to deflect fireballs and lightning bolts alike to the air.
A good number got past him though. Even when giving it everything he had the jutsu still snuck between his blades. Shoryu's exposed body was pummelled by rocks and pierced by tiny drops of water as fast and as deadly as bullets. Before he knew it a great fist of the canyon itself sprouted from the ground in front of him. He crossed swords to defend, but the impact still knocked him off his feet.
That jutsu was his death; he knew it the moment it struck. Like a discarded doll Shoryu was hurtled ten strides back and onto his rear, his swords landing by his side. This was it; he'd left the protection of his miniature tornado. Looking up he saw the last remnants of the projectile fleet descending upon him.
Too late to cast hand signs – too late for anything. The only thing Shoryu could do was cover his face with both hands and pray that he survived.
Ayako's face flashed to his mind's eye as he cowered. Kazuya's too, followed by his mother and then all the rest he'd leave in death. In his last seconds Shoryu knew he had no regrets. He'd leave this world with his dignity intact, knowing he did all he could for a better cause. True, there was still much left to do, but he left his mission in good hands.
He'd forsaken his name as a child, trained under the Twelfth Raikage, fought beside ninja and samurai of unequal courage, undertaken missions beyond his years, become a Jonin and kissed the girl of his dreams. Everything he'd done had come from his own merit; through grafting and hard work whilst at the same time shrugging off seventeen years of bad luck.
Only then did his luck begin to change.
A sound like a charging generator sounded across the canyon as Shoryu heard a plethora of louder noises; hisses and snaps blending together in quick succession like a sudden hailstorm. He sat shrunken with his hands over his face for a full five seconds until he finally decided to open them, catching the last few moments of the phenomenon.
Above him the tirade of shuriken came to a close, but the final handful – those that made straight for his body – were repelled in an instant by blue sparks bouncing off thin air. As the blades stopped Shoryu scrambled to his feet and grabbed both swords, looking around in blind confusion. Silence descended, leaving him alone to start formulating wild theories.
Reizo? He wondered, for his old mentor was the only one he'd seen who displayed that kind of power.
Then it hit him, a crippling pain that drove Shoryu back onto his knees before keeling over on all fours. It started below his fists; a sensation like twin needles dragging across his skin as visible lines began to etch into his hands. He found himself crying out as the pain took over. Slowly the inkless tattoo began to spread. Starting at the base of his second knuckle the scars carved themselves into a jagged pattern: the shape of a lightning bolt.
The Raikyogan? He realised. Why now? After all these years?
To his amazement the markings carried on. Hairs on his arms were singed away as tribal patterns began to form upon his forearms. Only three people living had this strain of the dojutsu, and Reizo was the only one he knew of. Daimyo Raikyogan? He asked himself, staring in wonder, unable to believe his luck. 'Hey you never know, maybe you'll inherit it one of these days.' Reizo's words on the day he joined Squad Thirteen came back to him.
But the markings didn't stop there. The pain worsened as the scars spread up his biceps, then collarbone, neck and chest. Then Shoryu realised it. He smiled to himself, knowing that at long last his Alpha Gene had awoken.
At birth, the Alpha Gene attaches itself to a single aspect of combat, and then automatically bolsters it to the absolute pinnacle of what that aspect can achieve. . . The Alpha Gene is designed to be a failsafe – a kind of last resort. It only activates when the user is in mortal peril. Free had told him that only last week, and now it all made sense.
The rest of the Zawa clan had all received their dojutsu between eight and ten years of age. Shoryu's had never had because it was attached to his Alpha Gene – something that didn't activate until the moment before death.
"Of course," he said, grinning as he rose. "It couldn't have been anything else."
Four Years Ago
"Daimyo Raikyogan!" Along with the markings on his hands and arm, Reizo's eyes lit up like tiny, electric blue bulbs that surged with thunderous chaos far more volatile than the regular Raikyogan dojutsu.
"Whoa! What's that? I've never even heard of that before!" exclaimed Shoryu.
"No, I don't suppose you would have. This is the 'Daimyo', or the 'Lord's' Raikyogan." Reizo explained. "It manifests by sheer chance in only one in fifteen members of the Zawa bloodline. It's a far more powerful variant, allowing the user to manipulate external bioelectric fields as well as the standard internal ones. The user's speed is also increased thanks to the rapidly vibrating cells within their body."
"Sweet! I didn't even know there were different forms of the Raikyogan. Are there any more?"
Reizo laughed to himself as he felt a difficult discussion incoming. "Technically there is a third."
Shoryu raised an eyebrow. "Technically? What do you mean by that?"
Reizo drew the spiked baton he constantly carried and Shoryu watched in amazement as it extended into a spear of a similar length to Kazuya's double bladed sword. He swung the pole three times at enemies he'd conjured up with his mind before using the power of his advanced dojutsu to blast a concentrated bolt of lightning from his left hand.
"There's a third level called the 'Kanzen', or the 'Perfect' Raikyogan," he then said. "It was wielded by the very first member and founder of our clan just after the fall of the fifth Raikage. His children inherited it, and the power lasted the reign of the sixth before disappearing completely – the bloodline became too diluted. It hasn't been seen in over a hundred years, and probably never will again."
"Awesome! They must've been really powerful!"
"Indeed they were, or so they say. There's no one in the world alive today who actually remembers it, we only have records of its existence. Some even claim it never actually existed at all, but most members of the clan would like to think otherwise; myself included."
Shoryu watched as his vision shifted, in an out of a deep blue haze that showed the bioelectric makeup of every ninja opposing him. Thunder surged to his fingertips and sparks leapt from the ground in a circle about him. Slowly the shapes upon his body began to fill.
Starting at the bolts upon his palms, the multitude of assorted patterns suddenly brimmed over with a dark shade of electric blue. Faster and faster his eyesight began to flicker, back and forth between regular sight and the vision his cousins had seen for years now. By the time the scars on his arms were filled his eyes glimmered so quickly he thought he was about to faint.
At last his enhanced vision fixed in place as the colour covered his torso and neck. A final burst of lightning escaped the ground. The Stone ninja shrank back in fear when Shoryu's eyes became two thunderstorms compressed into glowing marbles, and as he strode towards them bolts of lightning began to surge up and down the length of his swords, his transformation complete.
"Kanzen Raikyogan!"
The first thing Shoryu noticed was the added sixth to his five senses. This, he knew, was an ability limited to the Kanzen only, having never heard anything about it from Reizo or his mother. Like all Raikyogan users he saw through his eyes he saw the electric makeup of each ninja before him – sensitive clusters of the nervous system to be struck for massive damage.
What he hadn't anticipated was the extra sense, one which let him detect signals on an instinctual level. Even closing his eyes, Shoryu found himself aware of every being around him – a three-hundred and sixty degree field where a mouse couldn't enter or leave without him noticing. He saw the uneasy throbs of each individual Stone ninja, the smaller pack of frightened fighters fleeing behind him and even the wildlife of the canyon. A lizard scuttled thirty yards to his right, and far behind him a snake feasted upon a poor mouse caught in the shuriken barrage.
Having a built-in sonar thrilled Shoryu. No longer would he have to worry about hidden enemies or fighting in the dark; nothing hid from the Kanzen.
The next thing he noticed – much to his delight – was the improvement on his physique. Constant shocks biting at his muscles made them permanently tensed, and with synapses firing at twice their usual speed basic motor control became a conscious effort. Lifting a hand to scratch his nose might result in him slapping himself in the face thanks to the knee-jerk quickness of every single motion.
The only thing left was to try it out.
As a small group of ninja broke off from the vanguard Shoryu rushed ahead to meet them, sending waves of energy to his calves like Reizo did to increase his speed. The result was unreal; faster than even Kazuya's twenty-five seal Jikogan, Shoryu was an electrical bullet as he ploughed forward.
But he went too far. Shoryu only meant to charge ten paces, though when his legs came to a stop he'd tripled that distance, ending up right in the heart of the enemy armada. For Kazuya the world slowed around him, allowing precise control. With the Kanzen Shoryu didn't have that luxury; everything was experienced in real time – right away its drawback was apparent.
This might take some getting used to, he decided, grinning as a ninja beside him leapt back in fright. Oh well. Let's see what else it can do.
Crossing his arms in an X across his chest, Shoryu channelled all the lightning he could muster from his own supply. Blue ringlets of it wreathed his arms, running from elbow to wrist as Shoryu himself became a human conductor. His arms shook under the pressure of it, but once he had it all charged Shoryu expelled it one burst.
"Raiden Pulse!"
Throwing out his arms made a shockwave erupt from Shoryu. In a small circle around him ninja were felled by a waist-high tide of concentrated thunder passing like a ghost through their systems, clearing the area for Shoryu to drop into stance.
The twitch of a signal behind him told Shoryu another attack was inbound. His sixth sense created the picture visibly; of three ninja at his flank reaching into pockets and following up with a throwing motion. Shoryu ducked low, and sure enough three shuriken and a windmill variant sailed over his head to impale the Stone ninja opposite.
"Idiots! We're surrounding him! Don't use shuriken!" one of them said.
Shoryu turned and fired a new attack their way. With his swords already coated with a shock of bioelectricity the Air Slash Jutsu surpassed itself, forming a crescent of propelled lightning fast as a whip with a rumbling thunderclap to accompany it. More pulsing signals got Shoryu's attention as ninja broke off from the surrounding circle to attack.
A quick spin and a flick of his arms found Shoryu facing a different direction with both swords raised, flawlessly blocking the two kunai-armed ninja before pushing them away and carving two neat strokes into their chests. Next he set off again, darting three times to the surrounding circle. When he returned to the centre only a moment had passed, though the blood of three dashing ninja stained his blades.
Casing his swords Shoryu fell once again into hand signs. He didn't need to add any extra; once his jutsu materialised he simply pushed into it a healthy dose of bioelectricity.
"Wind Style: Kaminari Tempest Jutsu!"
As a more powerful variant of the Galeforce Jutsu Shoryu's technique burst into being as he propelled it through the legion. Bolts surrounded the twister as it wrecked apart their formation, striking ninja at random with lightning and chargrilling any unfortunate enough to get caught in its path.
The move made Shoryu clutch at his wounds and stagger before catching his breath. Blending his own energy with the Wind Style sapped brutally at his chakra; in fact the whole Kanzen did. Its extreme nature coupled with his inexperience using it made Shoryu realise that the Kanzen Raikyogan could've easily sucked him dry without him even noticing.
I have to finish this quickly, he judged.
The Kage's run was a blur as he shot free of a dirt road and pressed ahead towards the lip of an outcrop. The trail ended as dry muck turned to sandy stone, so Reizo stopped to get his bearings. Deactivating his dojutsu, the Raikage surveyed the area.
Before him was the basin of a canyon, barren and featureless, ten pitches wide. At its far end he spied the Stone army he'd been searching for, but something was amiss. Arcs of his clan's blue thunder ricocheted from the crowd, with each burst sending five men flying in a sizzling heap. In the commotion one ninja zipped about – the cause of it all – with two swords gleaming in the sun as he took on the entire force alone.
At the distance his face was impossible to make out, but Reizo was no fool; two swords? It could be no one but Shoryu. The Kage's heart skipped a beat and his breath left him like a club to the stomach. The Raikyogan covered not only his student's hands, but also his arms, shoulders, chest and even his neck – markings absent in even the Daimyo strain. Without being told he knew what happened; it all made obvious sense now: Shoryu had been faced with an immediate death, and this was his body's response.
There's no way, Reizo told himself, doubting his own eyes as the Kanzen Raikyogan of his family's legend turned out to be not only real, but alive again in the hands of its only outcast. He laughed upon imagining his father's face if he could see this moment. This would cut Saito deeper than any sword.
Lost in Shoryu's frantic attack, Reizo was blind to the score of samurai and ninja at the foot of the slope beneath him. Only when the close sound of swords being drawn met his ears did the Raikage notice his company. Samurai heading a herd of summons pointed blades towards him, though a handful of the Leaf's ninja begged his pardon.
"Put them away or you'll get us all killed!" they pleaded of the samurai. Reizo sighed; they really didn't know him well after all – what kinds of stories were told about him in the Land of Fire?
"That's the Raikage!" one added.
But samurai refused to regard the titles of a ninja. "What do I care who he is?" asked a younger one, clearly unaware of just how elite the word 'Kage' required one to be.
"He's your leader's sensei!"
"Honestly, learn to read the symbols already." Kazuya pushed his way through the ranks to the head of the group, his teacher aghast at the state of his eye. The Taisho ignored his concern as he carried on berating the men. "I've told you a thousand times: no attacking Cloud ninja." Finally he turned his attention to Reizo. "Sensei! Shoryu's still down there. You're the only one who might be able to save him."
Save him? Reizo looked behind them, to the thunderstorm of a battle just across the canyon. Shoryu didn't look like he needed saving; could it be that they still hadn't noticed his new power? With a wave Reizo motioned to the battle.
Kazuya turned to see the spectacle for himself. A look of shock painted his face before he eased swiftly and grinned in amusement. "Well would you look at that. . ." he mused.
Just then Ayako burst out from the squad, paler than usual with what appeared to be tears running down her cheeks. Like Kazuya she too seemed to have vowed to not look back. If by any chance she turned to the moment when Shoryu was cut down the sight would haunt her forever; emotional scars were the burden carried by those who both survived and cared. Masking her tears, the kunoichi nearly crashed into Reizo in her state.
"Ayako, look," he ordered.
She shook her head and looked instead at the ground, refusing to speak for fear of showing weakness.
"Ayako," Reizo went on, placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's alright, you can look." Slowly he span her around as she struggled against his grip. When she finally faced the battle it still took a few seconds to muster up the courage, but once her eyes gazed the battlefield life filled them again. She stood upright again and gasped, crying replaced by joy. Shoryu was alive and stronger than ever; whatever had happened to him didn't matter.
"I'll go get him," said Reizo. "Then we can all go home."
For all the Alpha Gene's power it did nothing for his wounds. Close to two hundred had fallen before him when Shoryu noticed the sorry state his body was in. In an ideal battle he'd stop and switch out with another ninja, but stopping here would kill him; his only option left was to go all out and hope to finish them all before blood loss made him lose consciousness.
Once the adrenaline simmered the pain was worse than ever. The fireball that claimed his shirt hurt like a bee sting wide as a football, and numerous small cuts incited painful pricks every time he moved a muscle. A sheen of red coated his chest and rivulets clung to the shaking blades he held with him.
Every movement was an effort. Shrugging off the pain he'd dance between jutsu and give another great surge of bioelectricity to fuel his massacre, but doing so only left him worse in the aftermath. His tired body screamed at him to stop, and he would've gladly obeyed if not for the throb in his temples telling him when an Earth ninja was about to blindside him for a fatal blow to the back of his head – that got him moving again.
With another desperate roar Shoryu coated his entire body with the Kanzen, using its speed to slam into the human barricade and shock whoever came within five feet of his sudden rush. After that a cyclone with both swords sent arcs of lightning flying from his left and right, clearing the area to give him some room to breathe.
A giant pang in his chest doubled Shoryu over. Driving his leading sword into the rocks allowed him to stay up this time, but the show of weakness wouldn't go unnoticed by the enemy. Just give me a minute, he thought to himself, vision blurring before his eyes.
With his few seconds of solace Shoryu gave himself a check-up. Medical ninjutsu was well beyond him, but he'd endeavoured to at least learn the warning signs – what he could expect when his body was well and truly at its limit. All of them were present: shaking hands, a drain of colour, dizziness, a dry mouth and a slow, deliberate pulse despite the constant shocks coursing through his system.
It was only when another group of specialist ninja burst from the ranks that Shoryu leapt back into action. He readied a sword, charged thunder down the steel and prepared himself for another chakra-fuelled swing at the enemy. Like a striking cobra his arm snapped up in a single broad stroke. Tendrils of blue cracked from the blade in a gust of hissing electric snakeheads.
Blackened and burned the ninja fell before reaching him, but the audible snap of steel so close to his ear was something hard to miss. Stopping to look, Shoryu noticed it was his sword. The sight nearly made him shed a tear; his right-handed, leading katana was gone after the first three inches, broken into a dull shard of jagged metal. It was his twelfth birthday present, and since that day it became an extension of his right arm on the field of battle.
The loss of his weapon coupled with another volley of pain to put an end to Shoryu's fight. Without his primary weapon the battle was lost; he knew that better than any. With a great gasp and a clutch at the burn upon his hip Shoryu fell. His will and vigour were both gone; even with another sword, that had been his final attack. He watched as blue faded from the patterns on his body, savouring his last moments with a smile.
At least he'd gotten this far. Kazuya, Ayako and the others would be safe by now, and with the ranks of the Stone left in such a state he doubted this amateur group of ninja would be in any position to pursue them. As long as that truth remained Shoryu judged that he'd played his part well.
A sudden scream then sounded to his right. Shoryu dismissed it; no doubt it was a wounded ninja giving his final wail. He told himself that, but then another man cried out, then a third and fourth. What felt like a cool breeze brushed through his hair as something passed over Shoryu, followed by a heavy, pronounced footfall stomping just next to his ear.
Shoryu opened his eyes slowly, finding that now he lacked the strength to even control them. His vision was fixed; paralysed in a single frame. He saw the foot next to him and the crowd of fearful Stone ninja looking toward this new foe, but without the ability to arch his neck the newcomer's identity was a mystery to Shoryu.
Then a spear hit the ground before his eyes, burying itself a new groove in the canyon as pebbles exploded from the lightning-streaked tip. The mystery was solved in an instant; it couldn't be anyone but his sensei.
"You see this?" said Reizo, motioning to the pointed hat shading his features, the one that proved his status as a Kage. "You know what this is, don't you? You know who I am."
Shoryu glimpsed the nervous faces as the Stone ninja looked to one another in panic, but Reizo didn't give them a chance to consider their options as he continued his speech.
"The way I see it, there's been enough bloodshed for today. I've run a long way to get here and I'm in no mood for a fight, but if you still insist on taking Shoryu here then you'll leave me with no choice."
More gasps and heated murmurs descended over the ninja. One looked about to step from the crowd before Reizo stared him down and pointed his spear, singling him in an instant as his friends scampered away.
"Go on then, I dare you. See what happens," he said.
The man shuffled back, so intimidated by the Kage that the mere thought of challenging him was gone in an instant. From the flat of his back Shoryu's heart began to flutter again when he heard the last order of the Stone's commander; the verdict that decided whether he lived or died.
"Alright men let's retreat for now. We won't forget this Raikage!"
"Oh I expect you won't."
A failed attempt at a laugh forced Shoryu to swallow another mouthful of blood as the stampede of ninja began to move away. His sword was broken and his body in tatters, but none of it mattered anymore. He could look forward to slipping into unconsciousness and then waking up after a dreamy, painkiller-aided sleep in a safe tent – maybe with a concerned Ayako at his bedside.
Looks like I survived after all, he thought, smiling.
Author's Notes: And there you have it folks! Sorry this one took so long by the way, I've been moving house, had assignments, other writing projects and this chapter itself gave me real problems. Hope it was worth the wait - I've been waiting to write this since day one. I know some might say it completely goes against Shoryu's character and that's perfectly valid and all, but the idea was that Shoryu trained to be a Jonin powerhouse all by himself, so when he gets a super-powerful one of a kind ability then he's on another level. it just immediately escalates him to being in the top 20 most powerful living ninja, sort of like when Naruto gets Sage Mode.
So yeah this Kanzen Raikyogan business is a real game-changer. That flashback where he's talking to Reizo about it is actually from all the way back in chapter 6 if you can believe it. I had to do some serious research on bioelectricity as well. Shoryu's 'sixth sense' that you see is actually a real thing called 'Electroreception'; a lot of fish and eels use it to avoid predators and sharks use it to hunt food. I kinda figured that might be a useful ability for a ninja.
There's a drawing of Shoryu using the Kanzen up on my profile if anyone's interested. Figured it was the least I could do since this is the turning point of the whole series. Looks pretty badass if I do say so myself, although the crap quality of my new scanner means that it didn't come out great. His trousers are supposed to be a dark orange but for some reason that didn't get picked up when I put it through :S
So, where do we go from here? The mission is over but there's still a bunch of enemies out there waiting to screw our heroes over. Next chapter we get drama, drama and even MORE drama! Urgghh yeah this might be a bitch.
PS: Anyone else read last week's Naruto (chapter 610)? I know some translations of it read differently but Killer B's battle cry at the end of that chapter had me in stitches, I was in TEARS laughing at the 'I ain't a porn star' speech.