Chapter Forty-Five
Hikaru's heart was pounding.
Here it was. The proof that he wasn't the inferior one. That Lord Orochimaru hadn't just casually dealt out a cursed mark, that he'd had a reason for afflicting Hikaru with it.
The Jounin sprang for Uchiha, it was high speed combat at its very best, he struck with all the speed of a humming bird flapping its wings, and Uchiha countered with even greater speed.
Hikaru knew the remaining Konoha Shinobi would try to intervene, but with luck Kaori could handle them, and if Tetsuo would join them then there'd be no stopping this duel. This was between him and Uchiha!
Sasuke drew forth a sword, Hikaru scoffed and dodged a strike that would have carved a slower man in half at the waist. Lightning coursed through the blade, and Hikaru had to move even faster to avoid getting zapped.
He saw the black marks on Uchiha, knew that this was the sort of opponent he'd always longed for. It defied his very ideals, his ninja way, to have a vendetta against a single foe but the more he thought on it the more he demanded proof that Sasuke was better than he.
He wanted to see a valid reason that Lord Orochimaru would abandon him and take up with Uchiha instead. Move his camp so that Hikaru could not find him, leave Hikaru to fend for himself amongst the Kumogakure Shinobi who would not understand or trust him if they knew of the mark.
For that purpose he'd invented the Impenetrable Darkness Jutsu, so that he could freely use his gift against unsuspecting foes.
But this once, just this once he didn't care if the whole world knew he was cursed. Because he'd prove that he was greater than Orochimaru's pet. That he should have become the master's apprentice, that the secrets and jutsus of Lord Orochimaru should have been his and not Uchiha's!
Hikaru struck repeatedly and reached into his pocket for a Jutsu.
He pulled forth a card and stole a glance at it. One of his abilities was to seal his jutsus into cards for instant use later. No hand seals, no way for the Sharingan to copy them. By using the Jutsu before hand he could spare most of his chakra when using a Jutsu, paying only a small activation cost.
The card he'd drawn forth was his Twin Blade Jutsu. He smirked and held it up, infusing it with chakra, "This will be useful." He taunted Uchiha.
Hikaru leapt back and let the Jutsu take effect. He felt his flak jacket get cut open from the back as two long scythe-like blades erupted from his shoulder blades.
Skeletal arms followed, resulting in a look similar to wings. Hikaru felt flesh grow over the bones and as nerves and blood formed the blade became sharp and strong.
The whole process was excruciatingly painful, but the healing properties of Minoru's curse mark restored him almost instantly. Had he used such a Jutsu without his cursed mark he'd likely have died from the pain.
He now had four arms.
Let Uchiha match his Taijutsu now.
"That's a neat trick." Uchiha smirked, "But you're not the only one who can sprout wings. Let me show you the full extent of what our so-called lord gave me!"
Hikaru scowled and like a fool he stood back to allow Uchiha the time he needed to fully transform.
Huge wings erupted from Uchiha's back. They were more like grotesque, webbed hands with long sharp claws. Uchiha's skin turned to an ashen brown, his eyes became darker, his nails became like claws.
Hikaru laughed bitterly, "The master truly favored you, didn't he?" The Jounin shook his head, just more to prove himself against. Even without this strange transformation he'd prove he was superior, that developing almost completely on his own had been all he'd needed, that he'd become stronger than Lord Orochimaru could ever have dreamed.
Even though he could not transform as Uchiha could he would win and he would prove himself to himself, he would show the world that he was the stronger.
Though it defied his own Shinobi way to expose himself and his power this way this fight meant more to him than his way or his life, this was a fight to validate his very existence!
Tetsuo was shocked and horrified by the battle he was witnessing. It was literally the clash of monsters, nightmares made reality viciously attempting to kill one another.
He held the unconscious Ami in his arms as he backed away from the fight. It wasn't worth it to get involved but the amount of power radiating from these two was incredible!
And terrifying. He'd always thought that if the need arose he could defeat Hikaru. Had assumed Hikaru to be little more than a run of the mill Shinobi with barely enough talent to be considered Jounin.
But now he wasn't so sure.
He left his shadow clone with Kaori and hoped it'd have the wisdom to get out of the way of Titans at play.
Tetsuo grabbed Kaori's arm and said "Let's go!"
Kaori shook her head, "This is getting out of hand." She said, "They're going to destroy everything."
"Exactly. Now lets go." Tetsuo insisted.
Kaori ignored him and she ran for the two fighting monstrosities.
Tetsuo followed her, "You can't stop them!" He shouted.
"I don't mean to!" Kaori scoffed and phased through one of Hikaru's swipes.
It hadn't been aimed at her, but the battle was so high paced that he could have cut her in half and not noticed. She heard Tetsuo grunt as he dodged one of Uchiha's great fist wings. Kaori leapt forward, "Take one!" She screamed to Tetsuo, whom she hoped would understand her.
She grabbed the girl, frozen by Hikaru's poison and together they phased into the safety of the earth.
Tetsuo took the boy whose insects had no doubt killed Ami, and together they melted into shadow.
The two cursed Jounin paid no heed to their surroundings and the odds that they would eventually have killed the two frozen Genin were dangerously high. These two were no longer Kaori's enemies, and she was tired of seeing children die.
Sasuke laughed, he'd been such a fool to deny himself this pleasure, this power!
And a flood of ideas rushed to his mind, he had such capabilities now it wasn't even funny. He dodged Minoru's blades, he blocked the Kumo ninja's fists.
He extended his giant palms and began to form hand seals with them, it was difficult performing a seal with hands unfamiliar to him and not being able to see it, but soon he felt the old sensation, the burning tingle in his arm of Chidori.
With a Lightning Blade in each hand he forced the Jutsu further, gathering more energy. From the corner of his eye he saw Hara and his team withdraw along with Saizo, he had no idea what had become of Shiroi or Kurai.
And for some reason he didn't care either, the euphoria was far too overwhelming.
He gathered more and more energy, let Chidori Nagashi rip through his body just to keep Hikaru's hands off of him, struck out with his sword to block those blades, and then let his large wings absorb the chakra from his own Nagashi!
And they struck! Lightning shot off in all directions, it tore into the ground and it ripped the earth asunder, it shot into the sky, it pulverized trees, bolts of lightning as thick as a man's arm, or even as thick as Akimichi Chouji ripped the surrounding area apart!
And many of them struck Hikaru.
Minoru Hikaru roared in outrage and pain, the power of his cursed mark might have been the only thing keeping him from dying outright, though Sasuke couldn't imagine how, he didn't recall any of Lord Orochimaru's curse marks providing immortality or invulnerability.
Hikaru's blades struggled forward as Sasuke shocked him, Sasuke felt his Chidori rip into him as well but kept his sword up to block the mantis-like blades from descending on him even as Minoru's hands were used to punch him repeatedly in the stomach.
"You . . . can't . . . beat . . . me!" Sasuke laughed as the lightning zapped them both.
He of course wasn't terribly bothered by his own Jutsu.
It hurt to a degree, but the Nagashi he'd never technically stopped using was only intensified by the electricity coursing through him via his connection to Minoru.
The Kumo Jounin's hands became bloody as he kept on punching Sasuke, too wild with rage perhaps to draw a kunai and simply stab him.
But the blood was a passing thing, he seemed to slowly be regenerating, and it amused Sasuke.
It was like fighting Naruto, and if this new Chidori Strom Jutsu he'd just invented was any indication, he might just be able to use it on Naruto as well.
Minoru's glowing red eyes avoided Sasuke's and it was almost as an afterthought that Sasuke realized he could use his Sharingan to truly break this man. He held his sword with one hand and reached out for Hikaru's face with the other.
He forced the man to look into his eyes and used the Sharingan.
But to his surprise it was no easy task entering Hikaru's mind.
There was a darkness there too, like a barrier, and Sasuke felt some sort of jolt run through his head as if he'd just had a brick slammed into his skull!
He staggered back, his Jutsu ended.
Minoru staggered as well, both Jounin glared at each other for a moment.
And then Minoru's extra limbs detached from his back, falling to the ground and he lurched forward, stumbling to his knees, but did not fall completely.
Sasuke was far too low on chakra to continue using the curse mark, he let his body revert to its natural state and began to breathe heavily.
Minoru looked as if he were about to say something, but didn't. Sasuke tried to make a witty comment, but couldn't.
They stood there in silence for a moment, and then finally Minoru fell forward, unable to continue kneeling.
Sasuke fell to his knees, and would have fallen over completely, save that a pair of hands caught him.
He glanced up at the sickeningly familiar face, and smirked weakly. "Naruto."
"I missed the fight, but I bet that crazy light show was your doing. Made you really easy to find, believe it!" The Whirlwind said with a grin.
Sasuke looked at the opposite side of the field. Kaori and the unnamed Jounin appeared again, holding Shiroi and Kurai respectively. The female Jounin helped Hikaru off the ground and the Jounin slowly struggled to bring two fingers to his brow, "This poison is best left to a medic ninja, but I should be able to do something. Release!" He grumbled, and Shiroi and Kurai fell to the ground and picked themselves up.
"Sensei?" Shiroi gasped when she saw Sasuke, "U-Uzumaki? What's happened?"
"We'll fill you in later." Hitomi said, "Right now we've got company."
Another Cloud Jounin appeared, he was identical to the one who'd had Kurai, and he held Ami in his arms. Sasuke knew she wasn't his enemy anymore, but he was still a little annoyed that she hadn't been killed. The one who'd had Kurai disappeared, a shadow clone. This new one said "Uzumaki, the war is over. Kumogakure makes peace with Konohagakure."
"I know." Naruto said. "That's why they dispatched me to get Uchiha here the moment the hawk arrived with word of your withdrawal from the alliance. And my sympathies for your daimyo's fate."
The Jounin with black eyes smirked, an odd reaction to Naruto's comment. "In that case you can thank Hanabi for the peace between our people."
"I'll mention it next time I see her, believe it." Naruto said. "Good to know you guys didn't dice her up and steal her eyes. So what's all this?"
Sasuke looked past the Cloud Jounin quartet to see a small army of Kusa ninja as well as two more teams of Cloud ninja and six rather large horse drawn wagons.
The convoy and the gold.
One of the Kusa ninja stepped forward, "I'm the head ninja of the Village Hidden in Grass. And I know you're Uzumaki Naruto, the Konoha Whirlwind. I know your friend there must be Uchiha Sasuke, the last of the Uchiha." The grass ninja glanced at the Cloud ninja, "If they are now your allies then we stand no chance against you. We surrender and ask that you take the gold and leave us in peace."
"All right! Mission accomplished, believe it!" Naruto said, "We accept your surrender and Iwa's gold, believe it!"
"We did it, sensei!" Hara laughed, "And the only person to get injured was Uchiha-senpai!"
"Ahem." Saizo coughed into his fist.
"Oh yeah, and you." Hara nodded.
"This gold will be vital to Konoha, as long as we have it we know Iwagakure doesn't, believe it!" Naruto said.
Sasuke shook his head and stood up straight, "Actually Naruto, I had other ideas."
"Hmm?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.
Sasuke looked at the grass head ninja, "Iwagakure abuses its allies almost as much as its enemies. We'll take half the gold back to Konoha, but we're going to leave the other half with you, the ninja of Kusagakure to use as you see fit for the development and protection of the Grass country."
Naruto gawked at him, "That's a lot of gold Sasuke!"
Sasuke nodded, "It's not for free. This show of good will does come with a condition. An alliance between Hidden Leaf and Hidden Grass."
The head ninja looked stunned, "I can't speak for the daimyo." He said.
"But you can strongly suggest it." Sasuke said. "And now that Kumogakure is our ally as well you have two great nations to support you if Iwagakure attempts to attack you. Just as Konohagakure's ninja protected the grass country from the village Hidden in the Stones in previous Great Wars we should be allies once again."
The head ninja nodded. "I . . . I will suggest it to the daimyo. Strongly suggest it." The ninja said, sounding awed and just a little confused. "You have our thanks, Uchiha, Uzumaki."
The cloud ninjas said nothing as they withdrew, but Minoru gave Sasuke a look that said quite clearly that this had only been round one. They weren't finished.
Sasuke knew the feeling, though his and Naruto's rivalry was friendly enough he was also intensely interested in defeating the Whirlwind. He nodded to Minoru who limped away supported by Koari and one of the newly arrived ninja.
Tetsuo handed Ami over to another ninja and turned back to Naruto. He said "From what I've heard of you, Uzumaki, you're quite close to Hanabi-chan's older sister."
"Hinata? Uh yeah, we get on okay I guess." Naruto said evasively. Sasuke smirked. He knew Naruto wasn't ignorant of Hinata's infatuation with him, he just didn't seem prepared to acknowledge it for some reason.
Perhaps he felt the same way and couldn't express it, or perhaps he didn't want to hurt Hinata by rejecting her. Perhaps he was keeping her in reserve as a fall back girl, Sasuke didn't know.
"Please tell Hinata-san that her sister is perfectly safe and the honored guest of the Hattori clan for the moment. She has also taken a position as a Shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Clouds , though I sense it may have been a temporary move. Assure her that before any harm comes to Hanabi, that I, Hattori Tetsuo would die. Her sister is in very good hands."
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'll tell her, believe it."
Tetsuo nodded and withdrew with the rest of the Cloud Shinobi.
Naruto nodded to Sasuke, "So . . . got your butt kicked, huh?"
"It was more of a tie." Hitomi said.
"Lies, I won that one!" Sasuke scowled, "He fell on his face, I just staggered, I would have finished him off if he weren't our ally!"
"You'd have fallen over too if not for Naruto-sensei." Miyuki commended, "Now let me examine you."
"Keep your hands to yourself." Sasuke said with a glower. "I'm fine, I'm just low on chakra."
"Okay I'm still waiting to know what happened." Shiroi said.
"It's a long story." Sauske told her.
"Long my eye, your little duel was over in two minutes." Hitomi said.
"Duel? You had a duel sensei? You're not a samurai, you're a Shinobi! You should know better!" Shiroi cried, "And I can't believe I missed it!" She jabbed Sasuke hard between the eyes the way he usually did to her. "Bad sensei!" She scowled.
Sasuke glared at her. "You're going to be sorry once I can walk again."
Shiroi scoffed, "Yeah but until then," She jabbed him again, "See how you like it sensei! Take that, and this, and that one too!"
To Be Continued . . .
