Chapter 5: Settling In.
A decade.
10 years being on this planet, 10 years learning about this world's cultures, strengths, and weaknesses to perfectly blend with society and Jago had to admit. He blended well. Stand 6 feet which is uncommon in japan at age 16 was Jago hayabusa and he had gone through some changes. He had tattoos on his arms, and head. His left had tattoos of fuinjutsu seals, his right arm had a black-bellied grey two-mouthed eastern dragon wrapped around his entire arm surrounded in a thunderstorm (A/N: Think of slifer the sky dragon.) and the last tattoo was a kanji 鬨 which stood for "Fight" tattoo on the left side of his forehead and his hair is now swept back, with a strand hanging down his face. He wears a grey tattered sleeveless open hooded trench coat which shows a black shirt with silver scorpion design with black pocket drawstring loose cargo pants with black shoes with grey trims. He also wears black fingerless gloves with red designs and a black mask with a half-skull design to conceal the half of his face. All in all he looked like a gangster, especially with the scar and tattoo.
Although he looked like a gangster you can be sure he can play the part well. Because not even two minutes later reality decided to test him. Jago was loitering around on a city street sidewalk to find eight teenagers his age looking at him predatory, all wearing a uniform of a different color; black. A different school in the area obviously.
"What are you doing on my turf? Interrupting my break?" Jago asked, looking them over with his dead white eyes and his deep and ethereal voice that whispers nothing but death to those who listen, even though he already knew the answer to that. It was the same thing and it had always been the same thing since middle school. Groups of jerks meant one thing.
"To kick your ass!" The main one, at least Jago presumed he was the main one, said as he stepped forward. The others followed behind and the people that had been crowding the sidewalk cleared out upon seeing them try to face off with Naruto, "Just because you run Tamagawa Minami High doesn't mean you're the toughest guy in Aohura City!" Jago gave them a deadpan look, sparing a glance at the badge on the breast of his uniform that did indeed identify him as a student of that school, "… And you're comparing yourself to me? The best in the world at what he does and what he does is the best in the world? Surely, you better have the skill to back up that bravado or you'll be dropped like the rest of the flakes."
This insult pissed all of the boys off while Jago took their emotions in stride. It had always been like this to an extent since the first day he had first been forced to venture into school by this country's law enforcement, he wanted to look for work but people kept asking where his parents were and when he responded that his creators were dead, mutilated, and buried in the nameless mass graves they deserve to be in had horrified them. One woman burst into hysterical tears before fainting which he found amusing. His manic white eyes weren't necessarily par the course for citizens of this nation and made him stick out like a sore thumb not even mentioning the jagged vertical scar on his right eye that some people swore bled grey. By the end of school that day, a group of boys wanting to "show him how things were done" tried to strong-arm him and intimidate him. When Jago didn't cow and they tried to push him around he proceeded to strong-arm them… by beating the attackers within inches of their lives and going home.
From that point forward he was nicknamed the "Gangster Ninja" and periodically got into fights with every tough guy that had a chip on their shoulder and didn't like Jago's concealed face. By the end of his middle school tenure he had more or less cleaned his entire school out and ruled it when it came to kids like that. Then the World Warrior tournament was broadcast around the world and every flake that could throw a punch halfway straight started thinking that they were the second coming of Ryu. Especially in Aohura City. Punks without training that learned of his 'prowess' made his high school experience up until that point one big battle. It was decent training to keep himself in shape anyway. When he got home if he couldn't have gotten much better he could have at least kept what skills he had sharp. With that mindset, Jago calmly looked the lot of them down through squinted eyes as he pulled out a cellphone and quickly dialed a number.
"Emergency response? I'm at Hamada Intersection and I'm going to need…" Jago trailed off to count the number of his would-be attackers, "Enough ambulances for eight people soon to be battered flakes." Hearing that Jago was prematurely calling ambulances for them pissed all of the boys off. "Get here soon."
The leader ran forward at Jago with his fist drawn back to strike him, "You're just full of jokes aren't you, you-!" He was cut off from both his attack and his rant by Jago's closed phone bouncing off of his forehead hard enough to draw blood followed by a rising knee planted under the chin that knocked him ten feet into the air. He floated up into the air gracefully landing almost fully upside down on the ground on the back of his head, unconscious with a thud that had the others looking at their leader in abject shock and awe at how quickly he had gone down. Looking up at Jago they saw him picking his phone up off of the ground and placing it back into his pocket and folding his arms behind his back.
"Flawless victory." With that he began walking down the street, turning into an alley and drawing a line with his foot. "Those that want a round, step across this line and get dropped." He challenged them as he faded into the dark alley. The fear he put in their hearts was palpable but there will always be that one idiot that can't accept their weakness.
"We can still beat him, just take him all at once!"
With that, they chased him down only for each boy that went inside to come flying back out rather authoritatively, some of them landing in the street and disrupting traffic. The last one standing didn't go into the alley immediately, instead stopping short of going in and pulling out a pocket knife, standing there to wait on Jago to make his exit instead of charging in after him. Numbers obviously didn't work, "You've got to come out sometime Hayabusa! Let's see how tough you think you are now huh!" After a few seconds, nothing, "I can stand here all day! The longer you wait, that's just time for my boys to wake up, and then we all get another shot at you!" He noticed the people crowding around but keeping their distance and turned on them, "What are you all looking at? You want some too?"
Suddenly, a black mist formed on the side of the pocket knife holder and a hand shot out of and twisting the knife holder's hand and an audible snap was heard as he screamed in agony and dropped the knife. The mist evaporated to reveal Jago who had teleported and snapped the flake's wrist and to finish him off he jumped towards the opponent and grab the flake's head in a three-quarter facelock while parallel to the ground, and then slammed the flake's face to the ground knocking him unconscious with a broken nose and concussion. It was quick, clean, precise, and most importantly, it was outta nowhere. (A/N: Kudos to whoever gets that reference) Jago did a kip-up and observed his work.
"Ah. The R.K.O. The Rapid Knockout. Truly the most beautiful technique I've ever made. All it takes is just one. A perfect defeating and killing move worthy of shinobi such as I" Jago complimented himself in content and satisfaction. Walking at a slow pace, he planned to vacate the scene until a sharp clearing of one's throat got him to stop in his tracks. Sensing the person already behind him, he turned around and found that it was also someone his age and a female. The female was 5'2, had short brown hair and eyes and wore the uniform for girls of his school; a short blue skirt, a white and blue short-sleeved top with a yellow scarf tied in the front around her neck, a pair of red Converse shoes, and a white headband wrapped around her head. Of course he wasn't about to be caught dead in their drone like uniforms when his attire spoke of his unique individuality.
"Ah, Sakura of the Kasugano clan. What brings you to my turf during my break from the communist prison?" Kasugano Sakura. Jago's first actual friend that he managed to make for better or worse in Japan.
"First of all, stop saying that every time you meet me. Second of all, your "break" ended when lunch was over at the communist prison which is called "school" and lastly, you said we were going to meet up out front after school was over with Jago-kun." Sakura said with her hands on her hips as she stared at the amused Jago down which she could tell by the raised eyebrow. "You haven't trained with me in almost a month you know."
Ah, yes, The average school girl that became a street fighter. Sakura had met Jago not too long after he had shown up in Japan, and when Jago had first performed his martial prowess, his teleport and RKO to win a fight in the schoolyard after classes that had gotten out of hand, she had hastily introduced herself as a fan of fighters and fighting in general. As his friend she had eased him into the whole experience of living there as best she could in exchange for just hanging around with her and her friends which he had no problems with. Then came the World Warriors tournament two years ago and she had caught a glimpse of Ryu on TV. From then she had seemingly reverse-engineered her own fighting style based on the bit she already knew and from what she had scoped out of watching Ryu's fights in the tournament. It was kind of impressive how effective a little initiative and a pretty good training regimen could be for the girl.
"Indeed, but the turf was challenged and the champ must answer all contenders, no matter the genders." He rhymed as they continued to walk as they were ways away from the scuffle. Sakura shook her head in amusement.
"I still don't see why you won't let me teach you Hadoken. Imagine how strong you would be."
At this Jago only chuckled. "Because you haven't even mastered it like the person you copied it from and a pathetic imitation is still and pathetic imitation." Sakura stuck his tongue out at him, getting him to roll his eyes but the atmosphere was friendly, "That's why I want to train with you. My techniques are better when I'm fighting people and you're the best fighter I know. Well… other than him of course." She finished with a slight blush on her face.
"Ah, yes. The sucker punching flake that everyone calls "World champion." Jago mocked Sakura's idol which caused her to shout at him.
"Hey! I know Ryu-san and he is not a flake!"
"I wouldn't say you "know" him. You met him once… sparred with him… and that's it. It's been a year already, get over it. And the next time you go running all over the world for the summer to look for someone, don't leave me here dealing with the flakes or you'll get dropped as well." He lightly scolded her.
"I didn't have the money for you and me to go…" Sakura defended. Last year she had left Aohura City to go find Ryu and ask him to train her the day after school let out. Jago had to find out when he had dropped by Sakura's house from her mother and little brother. Needless to say he was annoyed because other than the fights he kept getting into he grew bored when he conquered and dominated the city.
"Inadequate excuse. Speaking of insufficient funds, it's time to take this certain D-class mission so I will not be able to train with you." He added when he saw her perturbed pout. Hearing that he had a job got Sakura to narrow her eyes at him, "When you say you have a "certain mission" that usually means only one thing, Jago. What does she want from you today?" She asked in an exasperated manner.
"What mission do you think I have?" Jago said with a raised eyebrow in amusement.
You know Karin hired you to show up again." Sakura remarked with a twitching eye at his cavalier attitude on the matter, "Why can't you just take a different client or something?" She whined, trying to coerce him to shirk his prior engagement to train. The two girls were not particularly fans of each other and from meeting Karin, Jago could honestly see a few reasons why, but it wasn't too bad,
"Because she pays better than anyone else in town would for the same d-class mission." He said just thinking about how one job from Karin had Jago sitting pretty with four months of rent paid forward the last time she hired him. The most he ever did for Karin was beat up a few street toughs that had been caught wolf whistling at her at her school. The mildly challenging thing Karin had ever asked him to do was to courier her last birthday present all the way to Aohura City from a cargo ship in Tokyo. It almost got carjacked on the highways back, but Jago kept it safe, and he got to drive a completely cherry ride that he would have never used himself since he can run faster than it. "Plus, it'll be a stain on my shinobi record of 100% completion rate and bring shame to the clans I plan to build. No matter the mission, from walking the dogs to performing assassination. The mission will be done."
"The way you put that you'd think people ask you to kill others a lot." Sakura said, only to be met by silence that explained all she needed to know, "Wait, you do get asked to kill people?" A shrug met her from Jago as they started rounding into the neighborhood both lived in.
"That's what it means to be a ninja Sakura. I thought I told you about this before."
"Right. I forgot." Sakura said with a nervous smile, "I just rarely see you do anything… ninja-like until you start fighting for real. The thing only about you that's remotely close to being a ninja is the mask which no matter how much I try and beg, you won't let me see your face and the silent footsteps, you're more of a gangster than a ninja." Wrapping her head around the fact that the fabled assassins legends from the past spoke of just hanging out in the open sometimes was difficult, but she'd seen him.
Jago raised an eyebrow, "Your definition and my definition on what a ninja is and what a ninja does is opposite but parallel to each other. Most ninja do walk around in public. How else would I have a place to stay in town or be able to buy groceries if I was just-." He moved his fingers in a frantic, mysterious fashion, "-Lurking in the shadows all the time? Besides, you are friends with the most serious shinobi in the world. You should be expecting secrets like I'll expect secrets from you.
"Alright, I get it!" Sakura said as she tried to move to another topic. Yes, She understood what Jago was getting at. She grew up with him so she knows that there was more than meets the eye with him. He talks when he needs to and is able to have fun, have miscellaneous conversations and express emotions but he was very closed mouth about what his higher class missions were and not revealing his face to her even when he had no enemies to begin with. Jago righted himself as his cellphone rang. "Give me a minute Kasugano." As he answered the phone his tone turned cold. "You speak with the Rinkage. What is the mission?" (A/N: Rinkage was his ninja name from his home planet which stands for "Cold Shadow," the other one didn't roll off the tongue that well.) The tone caused Sakura to shiver due to the intense and disturbing way that Jago can switch personalities on a dime. It's one of the reasons that she goes to meet him instead of calling because he sounded like a murderer.
His cold intensity returned back to stoic indifference. "Ah, it's you." The two walked and a frown made its way to Jago's face, "I'm almost home, what's the deal?" Silence as he listened to the response and answered back, "I got sidetracked on the way back from the prison and I had to walk anyway." More silence to listen to and what was said obviously made him sigh. "Once again, Your definition and my definition on what a ninja is and what a ninja does is opposite but parallel to each other... Very well." Watching her friend hang up his phone, Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. "Who was that?
They rounded a corner and got to Jago's block to see a rather valuable looking car sitting outside of his home. Jago pointed at it and saw Sakura's face get a little angry at the sight of it, "I'll give you three guesses before we get there." He said in an amused tone as they got closer to the car and the back window rolled down slightly. "Front passenger's seat Hayabusa-san." Only the brown eyes of the person in the backseat could be seen through the slightly cracked darkened window, and her voice didn't seem like she was very patient. The eyes quickly darted from Jago to Sakura's glowering form and seemed to twinkle in momentary amusement, "Hello Sakura-san."
"Kanzuki-san." Sakura replied sharply. At that point Jago swore he could see lightning fly between the two girls' eyes. Although his amusement was high, he decided to play rudimentary peacemaker... by increasing his own amusement.
"Well, the sexual tension between the two of you have been increasing these days. Might be an interesting observation when you two start exploring one another." If looks could kill, not even transdifferentiation could save him from the brutal glares both of them are throwing at him which merely increased his amusement.
"That's not funny."
"As if I would perform intercourse with a commoner."
This caused the start glaring back at each other. Opening the unlocked passenger's door broke the tense deadlock of wills between the girls as Jago spared Sakura one last wave, "I'll see you in prison tomorrow. I don't really know how long this'll take so we can train some other time." Sakura nodded before returning to glare at Karin who was doing the same through the crack in her window. Sighing to himself, Jago sat down in the passenger's seat and buckled himself in next to the driver; a tall skinny man with glasses and a grey suit with white gloves. Jago knew this man decently enough as Karin's steward Shibazaki.
"Still a canister of repressed sunshine, butler of the heiress of the Kanzuki clan and Kanzuki Zaibatsu?" The man had little patience for him as Shibazaki took offense to being called a butler and the sarcastic credits that Jago threw at him. "Do not presume that just because you are heading to the Kanzuki family's manor for your job's briefing it means that my eyes aren't on you." The man said in a matter-of-fact tone, "I will be watching you closer than ever now."
"I'd be insulted if you didn't." Jago responded. Karin wasn't even listening to them as she was still glaring at Sakura and when he looked out his own window he saw that his schoolmate was doing the same. She averted her glance to look at him and waved goodbye to him before the car pulled off.
(Just Outside of Aohura City – Kanzuki Family Estate)
When people hear and learn about the Kanzuki Zaibatsu, they think things like "large" and "rich." Those answers are a horrific estimation. The Kanzuki Family is a wealthy family whose motto is "All you need is victory" and, alternately, "The worst we'll ever be is the best''. Their private Kanzuki Estate covers 200 miles of land, and not only has its own geographical features, but its own climate. The Kanzuki family's estate is so large, it has its own rivers, mountains, and savannas. Even though it's in the middle of Tokyo, visitors usually don't arrive by car, they arrive by chartered plane and land at the private airstrip near the mansion. The estate also has its own train station as a green and red sign can be seen on the top of a building, where a train is moving. They were so rich that they have their own satellite called "Red Spider-Lily''. What was Jago's reaction? There was none. Why? Because he was asleep the entire ride. After parking, Jago began waking up and got out of the limo and checked his surroundings.
"Well Hayabusa-san, we don't have all day." Jago turned towards her and began to follow after her and Shibazaki as they walked through the large driveway to get to the front doors.
Kanzuki Karin was a shorter girl than him and had blonde hair much like his own, styled into curly ringlets with a blue bow in the back. Her school uniform was completely red, skirt and all right down to her shoes, with some white trim around the collar and the ends of the short sleeves and a blue scarf tied around the front. "So…" Jago started as he followed them inside and stared at the rather roomy and ornate digs that accentuated the mansion. "What is the level of the mission you wish for me to complete? You never told me over the phone, and I'm pretty sure you don't want me to kill someone." If someone in that family wanted to kill someone it would be Karin's father who ran the family's corporation. He doubted that her father even knew who he was, "You usually just flat out tell me what you want, I go do it, and then you meet me to pay me."
Karin turned around to face him with her painfully pretty features and smirked at him before flipping her hair and continuing to walk. Shibazaki shot him something of a dirty look before leading him along as well. "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy the trip." Karin said as they walked through the mansion. He swore that just one of those rooms could hold his entire apartment three times over, "I know there's some kind of novelty when people like you see places like this for the first time."
"I wouldn't know since I fell asleep on the way here and the only thing I can say by being here is that this is a great place for a shinobi of my caliber to play a phenomenal game of hide n' seek." Other people wouldn't see but Jago could see that the tense muscles on her fingers twitched and hear her light breathing that fluctuated told him that his comment had annoyed the hell out of her and the butler who had his fist clench which only increased his amusement.
"Please refrain from comparing my home to a childish game played at a commoner playground." Karin spoke with impressively concealed annoyance all she got was a chuckle that sounded sinister than it should be and made her, which she would never admit to anyone, slightly tense and apprehensive.
"Touched the nerve there. Then again, you usually act like even meeting to pay me is a hassle for you." Jago pointed out, as their previous face-to-face meetings didn't necessarily scream out that she wanted to invite him to her home. Eventually they made their way into a rather large atrium with a garden, a clear amount of sunlight whenever it was available, pillars, and within the pillars a rather large circular stone brick circle. Suddenly Karin held out her hand behind her without turning around, directing Jago to stop, which he did. She continued to walk forward a ways, probably twenty feet if he had to estimate. Shibazaki held up her school bag and opened it to allow her to reach inside. As she did so she continued speaking to Jago, "Well there is a very good reason you're here I can assure you of that." She pulled out a pair of brown 4 oz. gloves and casually put them on with her back turned to her guest, "Did you know that I fought Kasugano Sakura before?"
She didn't need to see him, she could feel in the air that Jago had tilted his head to the side in a interested manner, eliciting a slight giggle out of her, "Yes, I fought her last year right before she went on her little trip without telling you or anyone. I held a tournament and everything. Where were you?" So that's why they hated each other. A past cat-fight between two attractive girls, and he had missed it.
"I was busy cementing my territory over the city and flake after flake stepped forward to take the championship from me but none could stand up to my RKO and now I rule Aohura City. Also, I did here about the tournament from Kasugano. She said how she fought some "Spoiled, Arrogant, High-class flake which surprised me because although she's a brash tomboy and doesn't use my speech to describe weaklings, she is a very nice and respectful girl to others no matter the class. The high-class figure must have done something to set her off to call the high-class a flake when she came to me about asking for more spars after winning her match against the high-class born combatant." Jago reminisced as he acted unaware of Karen's fists clenching and right eyebrow twitching in annoyance with Shibazaki trying to calm her down which only fueled his amusement.
"So, who won the tournament?" He asked with a raised eyebrow which clearly meant he was amused and knew the outcome. Dodging all questions, Karin had her own query she wanted answered, "Believe it or not but I've heard… that you, Jago Hayabusa, are one of the best fighters in Japan. People don't know who Sakura is, but a lot of people know you by name. I didn't even know who you were until I was told that you didn't enter my little tournament, you were that notable that your presence was missed, and then I found out that you were a local freelancer and hired you for some odd jobs." While he didn't know, or particularly care he was slightly famous, it was amusing traveling around this country and battling the supposed "Next Ryu." A high-class genin could do what he did and it would be slightly difficult to the genin but to him, it was a d-class mission at best which would be compared to everyday civilian chores.
"Hmm, others may consider it famous, I consider it a long-term d-class mission. A mere chore." Taking note that apparently dominating Aohura City and being one of the best of japan is a mere chore to him didn't sit well with Karin because she was not a chore and she was going to prove that. Karin turned around, finally revealing the fighting gloves on her delicate hands, "I've also heard that Sakura has never defeated you. That by proxy implies that you are stronger than me, and I hate mere speculation." She said with her hands on her hips as Shibazaki moved far out of the way. "So I'm prepared to give you 1.5 million yen if you can defeat me cleanly in a one-on-one fight. Right here, right now."
Jago's eyes narrowed. "You are aware that this level of payment goes beyond the level of payment of the usual fee for a d-class mission." He warned her to make her understand what she's getting into.
"I am aware that's why I'm raising the price because I am superior to "flakes" as you call them and I will show the divide in our class!" Karin pulled her brown gloves tightly onto her hands, already knowing that she had him at the mere utterance of how much she would give him, "But if you lose to me then you will tell me how to defeat Sakura." At this, he raised a brow in confusion. Like he had advice for that? Even now that she had some of Ryu's moves copied to memory he could still drop her pretty good. They had never gone all out against one another either. There were just certain attacks that Jago won't use until Sakura forces him to use them.
"Very well." Jago agreed as he took and folded his trench coat and placed it on the ground. Karin got a good look at Jago. He usually had his hoodie over his head and mask on and the only thing anyone ever saw was his madman white eyes which unnerved people. When he revealed some of his appearance he was mysterious but still intimidating. "So what are the rules?" Karin was right on top of having rules set for this little encounter, "You cannot leave the confines of the stone brick ring or else you will be disqualified-." She started with, getting a frown out of Jago, "-You cannot attack a downed opponent, no strikes to the eyes or the groin for what it is worth, no weapons, and we fight until one of us are knocked out of the ring or to the ground for a count of ten. Traditional tournament rules Hayabusa-san. I know you're a street fighter at heart but these are the terms. Take them or leave them."
"I am a shinobi, get it right. But very well." Jago corrected as he crossed his arms behind his back which confused Karin and Shibazaki.
"Why aren't you getting into a fighting stance?" Karin questioned.
"This is my alternate stance style. What weak and arrogant fool puts all their power and strength into beating an insignificant fly? This dual is a C-class job at best. Prove yourself to me and make me see if you are more than just a C-class target." Jago stated with smoldering intensity. A confident expression appeared upon Karin's features but by the intense clutching of her told Jago that she was angry at being underestimated. Karin set herself into a fighting stance with her left leg and arm out forward, her right leg back, and her right hand held cocked at the ready in a knife-hand posture, "Shibazaki, you are the referee, and you will be impartial won't you?" She asked, leaving an underlying tone in the air that said he had better call it right down the middle.
"Of course Kanzuki-sama." Shibazaki said with a half bow as he stood between them in a referee's position. "Are both fighters ready?" Jago nodded while he cracked his neck to the side emitting a loud crunching sound that made the butler shiver in discomfort. Karin nodded as well in anticipation. "Fight!" Neither didn't move when the fight was announced as they waited for each other to make the first move. 'Let's test the waters with genin level speed, strength and skill.' Jago thought as walked forward as Karin tensed before launching a basic jab at her head. She ducked under his punch and cartwheeled away right out of the way of his spin kick that he tried when she moved to his side.
The girl was nimble. He only fought a few people that he would readily register as genin-level outside of Sakura since he turned up in Japan, but from sheer reaction alone he'd say that Karin would have to be added to that list. It must have shown on his eyes too, because her face simply oozed confidence when he faced off with her again, "Are you wondering what my style is? "He actually hadn't been, but sure, why not? So Jago just nodded. "Kanzuki-ryu Kakutojutsu. You can't really learn it because it's something I developed myself." Karin pointed to herself haughtily, "I'm just better. I don't like handling my own business in a physical sense with those beneath me. That is why I hire you. You do good work, but you just cannot beat me."
At this Jago chuckled. "Said the hare to the tortoise." He taunted her before increasing his power to full-power genin-level that caught her by surprise with a leg sweep and punch to the stomach while she was airborne. She almost landed out of bounds but she right herself on time but held her stomach and was panting since he almost knocked the breath out of her. "Did that knock the arrogance and fight out of you? If so, stay down. If not, show me more." He egged her on with a "bring it" motion with his hand. Karin glared at him but calmed down so he couldn't get to her as she got back up and charged him again and began a furious flurry of punches and kicks, trading back and forth. Whenever Karin would lash out and hit him when he's exposed he would take her attacks but either her attacks weren't effective or he had a high pain tolerance because he showed no reaction or sound from her attacks.
When he attacks she would have to contort her body and use her full range of flexibility to avoid his attacks that slightly bruised her stomach but things got harder when he teleported and somersaulted at her and landed an axe kick on her head, knocking her right to the ground. Shibazaki looked on stunned. He had been in awe of the Kanzuki Zaibatsu heiress's combat prowess, Fighting evenly with Jago who still was fighting with his hands behind his back and teleporting just made her have a disadvantage. That was a whole different league of freaky that he wasn't prepared to see. Jago clearing his throat brought him back to the present and from the cold look in Jago's eyes, it was clear that he was looking for a count.
As Shibazaki actually began counting to ten, Karin stood up off of the ground and got back into her stance, "That… was rather interesting. I've never seen anything like that before. You truly are a ninja." Jago chuckled at the compliment, but just like that, Karin tried to turn the tables and went back in on him, "It's not even close to being over yet though! Ressen Chou!" In a show of blinding speed, Karin dashed forward for a pointed elbow smash intended to crack sternums. If she saw what was behind Jago's mask, she would see that he was smiling in excitement. Her pace and power seemed to quicken further from just that one move and she fought him at chunin-level. He blocked her attacks with his forearm but a warm and itchy sensation spread through his arm which told him that she has damaged him since he can't feel pain and the only way for her to damage him was if the person had Journeyman-level power since he was at the chunin elite rank.
He yanked her in, but ate a fast trio of chops to the forehead for his trouble that shook him up. But that was only the beginning of Karin's offensive attack. A fanning, can-can looking double kick combo pressed two shots right under Jago's chin and popped him up into the air, "Mujin Kyaku!" While Jago's was stuck and prone ten feet off of the ground she wasted no time in setting up her next attack, jumping directly at Jago with her arms drawn in a double-sledgehammer motion over and behind her head, glowing somewhat, "Kanzuki-ryu Kou'ou Ken!" She smashed Jago down to the ground hard and with enough authority to get a crack out of a few of the bricks and heard the air easily whoosh out of his body from the strike.
Karin stood over Jago and flipped her curled hair over her shoulder as Shibazaki started the count on Naruto, "Looks like there's no money for you Hayabusa-san." She said, looking at the downed Jago's face, only for her words to register his eyes to pop wide open. She let out a small shriek when Jago pulled his legs inward toward his chest and performed a kip up to handstand and handspring to his feet before cracking his neck and giving her an amused look. "How in the world did you stand back up from that?"
"With ninja discipline." He quipped before seeing how close she still was to him, in shock that he got up from one of her strongest attacks. "You've done well, now here's your reward and a taste of my true power!" With speed that she had no reaction to counter, Jago caught her with the rko slamming into the ground shattering the all of the bricks and ring as an even stronger air whooshed from her body which knocked Shibazaki over. As the air settled and dust cleared Jago stood tall with his arms crossed while Karin laid beaten. Shibazaki didn't even bother counting as he rushed in to check up on her while Jago backed off. "Kanzuki-sama!" He stated as he shook her before looking at Jago with rage but soon turned to fear as Jago stared at him with a horrific gaze as the veins on his forehead and around his eyes pulsated.
"You disgusting rudimentary creature of blood and flesh!" Jago demonically growled at him in disdain. "If you weren't important to her, I'd have ripped your head from your body with the spine intact. The mission is done. I have no need for the money. Farewell Kanzuki, let's try this again some other time." With that he turned to walk away but a struggling voice called out to him. Shibazaki gasped in pleasant surprise when he saw Karin move, lifting her bleeding forehead off of the ground to look up at Naruto on her elbows, "Thank goodness you're alright!"
"Damn it Shibazaki…" Karin grunted out as she tried to stand up, eventually making it back to her feet but ending up falling back down because of possible mild concussion which stated even if she got back to her feet before the ten count she still would have lost due to disqualification or the technical knockout she suffered. "Go get me a med-pack."
"That won't be necessary." Jago replied as he performed some hand seals and caused his hand to glow gold and pointed his hand toward Karin as a tendril of healing energy latched to her head as the wounds and internal damage healed in about 45 seconds. Karin knew all about chi and knows what it feels like but she has never felt energy like this before. It felt like being hugged and massaged by clouds that just took a shower and was just putting on lotion. It was euphoric. Before she could get lost in the energy high. The tendril retracted back to Jago's hand and vanished. Karin grunted out as she tried to stand up, eventually making it back to her feet. Jago walked up to Karin and extended his hand. "Congratulations, Karin Kanzuki of the Kanzuki clan, you are the first to remain conscious from the rko. On the behalf of my clan, I respect you."
Karin looked at Jago's extended hand like it was an unknown gesture for someone like him to do such a thing. Begrudgingly she reached for his hand and shook it, "So now I've lost to two people beneath my station. That's simply no good." She said with a frown adding on the scuffs and light marks of strife marring her pretty face. "However, what was that technique and what do you mean by first?"
"That was merely a healing technique of my clan and you are the very first person to remain conscious from my favorite and fastest short-range technique. Not even Kasugano stayed conscious of my technique so in a way, you did defeat her in something." Jago said with sincerity, but Karin did not see that way as the twitching eyebrow gave away her feelings about it. She then sighed in resignation. "Anyway, Do you want the money or not?" Jago shook his head and turned his back to them.
"All I wanted was a fight with someone strong and you gave me that. The mission was completed and I learned that a warrior was born. I look forward to your future among the legends. Until next time." Jago performed a tiger seal and vanished out of the Kanzuki estate. Sighing in relief, Shibazaki turned to Karin. "Kanzuki-sama is it truly a wise thing to work with that fiend? You must have felt that? That murderous and psychotic intent and the threat. He said it like he's done it before."
"Yes I felt it, it also told me that he was holding back even with his fastest technique, the logical part wants me to stay as far away from him as possible but my pride, curiosity, and warrior side wants to know more about him and see all his hidden techniques. I'll admit, Acting like a gangster to throw off being a ninja might be an effective idea due to most martial artists taking gangsters as an easy experience. The analogy "Don't judge a book by it's cover" has never rang more true. Now that the book has got my full attention, I wish to read the whole book and see if it ends in a satisfying end or disappointing conclusion." Karin stated her opinion. "Shibazaki, run me some bath water so I can wash the blood from my body." Shibazaki bowed and left while Karin looked down while rubbing her chin as thought about the ninja/gangster.
'Just who are you Jago Hayabusa?'
(End of Chapter)
