Hello, everyone! Here is the sixth chapter of Haikyuu! Ninjas! Master Saru and Basara reminiscent their past as they face off once again!
Chapter 6 - Old Friends
"I keep telling you, man. Your form is too unrefined." A young voice commented.
Someone's hand was reaching out for their partner, which the following person allowed their hand to reach the first person's hand.
"Seems you've been getting better, Saru." A voice commented.
"As have you, Basara." Another voice commented.
The voices actually belong to a young Saru and Basara doing a sparring match together. When they… were once friends.
XXX
Back in the present, Master Saru and Basara traded fierce blows with their weapons.
Basara fought ferociously and without honor but with pure hatred. Master Saru fought elegantly and with honor and justice.
Master Saru managed to counter most blows from Basara, weapon and fists alike. But Master Saru was the better master at dodging and managed to strike some blows, finishing with a chop to the neck, causing Basara to gasp a little.
"Like I always say: Unrefined form." Master Saru commented.
Basara managed to control his breathing, and twirled his staff behind him.
"Says the man who shows mercy to his enemies." Basara said.
XXX
In a flashback, the young Saru defeated an anthropomorphic leopard in combat.
The leopard, once fearless, became frightful and held his hands in defense.
"P-Please! Mercy, mercy!" The leopard hollered.
Saru hesitated, but being the better person he is, lowered his staff.
"Get going. But never you or your band of bandits ever show your faces to this village again." Saru explained.
The leopard frantically nodded and ran away. His fellow leopard bandits left in suit.
Saru sighed.
"Why did you let them go?" Basara asked, joining his friend.
"Because they've had enough. There's no honor in beating them mercilessly." Saru replied.
"What does honor do bandits any good?" Basara asked, in an angry manner.
"They may be bandits, but they're living creatures like us. Good or evil, all beings deserve compassion." Saru replied, calmly.
Basara couldn't argue and scoffed before leaving in another direction.
Saru became concern with Basara's recent anger issues.
XXX
"My mercy isn't a weakness. It's comparison." Master Saru explained.
"Compassion is a weakness that sickens me!" Basara hollered.
"Not to me!" Master Saru hollered.
Master Saru charged at Basara and jumped over a staff strike from Basara. He then used his tail to flick Basara in the face then double kick him from behind with enough force to bring him to his knees.
Basara growled as he used his own tail to grab Master Saru by the right leg and threw him upward, allowing the larger monkey humanoid to get back on his feet and swing the back of his right fist into Master Saru hard, sending him into a nearby pillar and crashed into it hard.
Master Saru managed to shake off the pain and recovered, charging at Basara once again.
Basara grinned wildly.
XXX
Hinata and Yachi just arrived at the door near Basara's throne room. Yachi was able to use the knowledge of her counterpart of Basara's entire castle and remembered where the room they were in connected to the room with the door to Basara's room.
"This is it." Yachi said.
"I can somehow sense Master Saru and Basara duking it out in there." Hinata explained, trying to open the door to no avail.
"But this damn door won't budge!" Hinata hollered, trying everything from slashing the door to kicking it.
But the door won't open forcefully.
"We have to hurry or Master Saru could die!" Hinata hollered, now feeling frustrated.
Concerned, Yachi hugged Hinata from behind and managed to give a sweet kiss on his right cheek before laying her chin on his right shoulder.
"I know you're worried, Shoyo. I am as well." Yachi explained.
"But we need to calm down and figure a way how to open this door. Like finding a clue." Yachi continued.
"That's the best way we can help Master Saru." Yachi finished.
Hinata blushed a bit before smiling, wrapping his hands on hers for comfort.
"That's what makes you amazing, Hitoka." Hinata commented.
Yachi giggled.
"So… Hitoka, eh?" Tanaka asked, appearing out of nowhere and surprising the two first years.
"T-Tanaka-san?!" Hinata and Yachi exclaimed, blushing furiously.
"Way to get your girl, Shoyo!" Nishinoya hollered, pumping his arms in the air while appearing behind Tanaka.
"N-Noya-san?!" Hinata exclaimed.
"You guys are okay?!" Yachi asked, trying to forget about her embarrassment and now worried if her senpai are well.
"Aside from Tanaka and Nishinoya screaming Shimizu-senpai the whole time, we're peachy." Ennoshita explained, now appearing.
"That's no surprise." Yachi thought, deadpanned.
"You guys were able to defeat your opponent?" Ennoshita asked.
"Oh, yeah! It was freakin' lion who hurt Hito- I-I mean Yachi-san's feelings! But she and I sent it packing! And I got these cool flames!" Hinata hollered, showing his sun powers on his Ninjatō.
"SO COOL~!" Tanaka and Nishinoya shouted in unison, having star-shaped eyes.
Ennoshita sighed. "Our opponent was an flying eagle. Not an easy victory." He explained.
"Oh! I also have healing powers." Yachi said, showing her healing hands.
The second years were impressed, while Hinata was smirking with pride.
"That's an amazing ability, Hitoka-chan." A female voice commented.
Tanaka and Nishinoya's "Kiyoko-senses" twitched when they saw Kiyoko and Kageyama, and their eyes turned hearts when they saw her.
"Kiyoko-san~!" Tanaka and Nishinoya hollered in unison.
The Chaotic Duo attempted to jump to her goddess, but she quickly ducked down and let them hit the floor hard.
Ennoshita became deadpanned.
"Oh god! What happened to your shoulder, Kageyama-kun?!" Yachi asked, noticing Kageyama's bandaged shoulder and freaked out.
"Are you okay?! You didn't get careless?! You're not dead, right?!" Hinata asked, frantically.
"I'm fine, Yachi-san." Kageyama said, assuring the young manager before turning to his partner.
"And for the record, dumbass… I'm not dead! You haven't struggled as much as I have!" Kageyama exclaimed.
"You kidding me?! At least I wasn't careless!" Hinata exclaimed, getting into another shouting match with his rival.
"Why you little…!" Kageyama growled.
"My, my. What happened to you?" Tsukishima asked, in a snarky tone as he and Yamaguchi just showed up.
"Just some crazy wolf man bit me. Nothing that you should concern yourself." Kageyama replied, turning his attention to Tsukishima and ignoring Hinata.
"We weren't finished talking, dammit!" Hinata exclaimed.
"You guys fared better?" Nishinoya asked, as he and Tanaka got back up.
Yamaguchi began to stutter in the moment his and Tsukishima's fight with Venombite came back, confusing the others that haven't seen their fight.
"Just an insane snake lady. Don't wanna tell the rest." Tsukishima said.
Hinata, Yachi, Kageyama, Kiyoko, Ennoshita, Tanaka and Nishinoya nodded in agreement.
"That's almost all of us." Kiyoko said.
"Almost?" Asahi asked, as he, Daichi and Sugawara just showed up.
"Hey! You guys are alright!" Hinata hollered, waving to greet his senpai.
"Yeah. Just took care of a wild jackal man and a big elephant beast." Sugawara explained.
"It looks like we're all here now." Daichi said.
"But we still need to help Master Saru. He's fighting that big monkey right now." Yachi explained, pointing to the big door.
"Problem is… we can't get in with force." Hinata explained.
The rest of Karasuno are now in a dead end.
XXX
Another flashback of Master Saru and Basara's past showed the young Saru horrified when he saw Basara murdered his opponent in open combat with tons of spectators (both villager and bandit alike) looking on with horror. And that Basara showed a sadistic grin.
"How could you?!" Saru asked, in an angry manner.
"I now realize honor isn't the way to victory. Not with our enemies that we spared, only to let them continue killing and robbing without regret." Basara replied.
"The best way to prevent more tragedy is to enlist fear in them. Control them. Make them obey only you and their will ripped away." Basara continued.
"But those who won't obey me… will be eliminated!" Basara finished, slamming his staff down that released an intense shockwave.
As the many spectators in the area flee in terror, Saru couldn't find it to believe the friend he's known for so long to ever become a monster.
"Why, Basara? We're friends." Saru said, walking towards Basara.
Basara scoffed at Saru and began to walk away. Saru kept walking in a confused mind until he touched Basara's hand.
Basara soon smacked Saru aside.
"We were never friends, fool! You were nothing but a hinderance!" Basara hollered.
Saru became horrified to hear those words.
XXX
The flashback now fast forward to now Saru (just recently became a master) and Basara becoming mortal enemies for years. Saru knew his old friend was gone the moment he became evil. But that didn't stop there. Basara began creating the Red Dragons with like-minded individuals who share the same power-hungry conquest as Basara, almost expanding immensely with the numbers raising to the thousands. Every village or military force that stood in the Red Dragons' way were crushed and torn asunder.
Saru combated him in that time, trying to bear all the burden alone to stop Basara. But along the way, he raised students in the art of Ninjutsu, the same art the two current masters followed. 12 youngsters who are mostly orphans and raised them like his own children. The 12 teens were in actuality the counterparts of the 12 Karasuno students! They heard the whole story from Saru, who once thought it best to keep his past a secret, but rather tell them since Basara will come after him soon enough and knew he needed the help to win.
Nearly over one year the 12 teens fought alongside the new Master Saru against the Red Dragons and now it looks like the final showdown at Basara's castle had just begun, having already defeated the 12 teens who lie bloodied and wounded despite their own victories against the Red Dragons.
Right now, Master Saru just dodged a staff strike from Basara and poke his own staff in the larger monkey's face, annoying him.
"It's over, Basara! This war between us ends now!" Master Saru hollered.
"When I say it's over, it will be!" Basara hollered.
The two clashed ferociously in combat, neither side backing down until one remains standing.
Master Saru decided to end this battle quickly before things got out of control, and devised a technique to deal enough damage to bring him down.
"We'll end this… NOW!" Master Saru hollered, enveloped in a bright golden aura.
"I couldn't agree more!" Basara hollered, enveloped in a dark red aura.
Their auras continued rising until they've "reached the ceiling."
"Sage Impact!" Master Saru shouted.
"Super Power Wave!" Basara shouted.
Master Saru and Basara both fired massive blasts of energy and collided violently. Both attacks struggled with both sides trying to overpower their respective opponents.
But Master Saru's desire to stop Basara won in the end, blasting a hole through the ceiling.
Basara was still conscious, but very wounded. Master Saru walked over and attempted the finishing blow to end his tyranny. But in that moment… he hesitated.
He remembered all the good times he and Basara had together since youth. His honor and the memories he never pushed aside prevented him from finishing off Basara.
"Why? Do you dare show mercy?!" Basara asked, in an angry manner.
"Just leave. Never show your face to me again." Master Saru explained, in a threatening manner.
Basara managed to get up despite his injuries.
"This isn't over… Next year, I'll be back! Back to get my revenge and finish you off for good!" Basara hollered, before jumping to make his escape.
Master Saru turned to see his injured students clinging to life as the little monkey kneed and weeped for letting his weakness get the best of him again.
"I'm sorry… so sorry…" Master Saru said.
XXX
Back in the present once again, Master Saru charged at Basara, who grinned wildly.
Basara swung his staff that Master Saru blocked with his staff, before punching Master Saru unguarded in the stomach before delivering an axe kick to the head, slamming him down.
"So weak." Basara said.
Master Saru struggled to get up, only for Basara to slam his foot on his chest hard.
"How does it feel, old friend. Does your honor make you weak after all?" Basara asked, sadistically tormenting Master Saru as he wiggled his foot on Basara's chest, intensifying the pain.
"Now… scream for me!" Basara hollered, now stomping his foot hard on Master Saru, causing the Ninjutsu master to scream in sheer pain.
XXX
Outside, Hinata and the others felt a terrible sensation after hearing Master Saru's screams.
"He's in trouble!" Yachi hollered.
Hinata's anger soon hit a breaking point and ignited his katanas with his sun powers to the shock of the others.
"That's it!" Hinata hollered, slashing the doors with ferocity.
"Dude! Calm down!" Tanaka hollered.
"Hinata! You can't act recklessly!" Daichi hollered.
"How can I?! Master Saru's in trouble while we're stuck from getting in!" Hinata hollered.
"We get how you feel dumbass, but doing it all by yourself isn't gonna work!" Kageyama hollered.
"Then what?!" Hinata asked, now snapping at Kageyama while stopping his attack on the doors.
"We bust the door as a team." Kageyama replied.
His sudden response shocked all of Karasuno to hear him say the word "team".
"Did the King just say what I think he just said? Or is he kidding-" Tsukishima commented in his usual salty tone, but in a surprising turn, Kiyoko held one of her fans in front of Tsukishima's face with a stern glare.
"Not the time for that." Kiyoko said.
Her act of keeping Tsukishima under control surprised Hinata and the others. But to Tanaka and Nishinoya… they comically prayed with bodhisattva faces.
"We got to see our goddess Kiyoko-san shut that lanky jerk-off up." Tanaka said.
"Now we can rest in peace with that memory in our hearts." Nishinoya said.
Hinata, Yachi, Kageyama, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Ennoshita, Daichi, Sugawara, Asahi and Kiyoko deadpanned.
Screams from Master Saru made them jump and quickly reminded what they should be doing.
"If what Kageyama said could work, then let's do it!" Sugawara hollered, twirling his staff.
"Let's all attack at once!" Daichi hollered.
"YEAH!" Hinata, Yachi, Kageyama, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Nishinoya, Tanaka, Ennoshita, Sugawara, Asahi and Kiyoko hollered in unison.
"Shield Dash!" Daichi shouted.
"Bo Whirlwind!" Sugawara shouted.
"Metal Fist!" Asahi shouted.
"Fan Throw!" Kiyoko shouted.
"Tonfa Elbow Strike!" Ennoshita shouted.
"Swiss Cheese!" Tanaka shouted.
"Wild Nunchuck Flurry!" Nishinoya shouted.
"Lance Strike!" Yamaguchi shouted.
"Crescent Moon!" Tsukishima shouted.
"Elemental Arrow: Ice!" Kageyama shouted.
"Quick Strike!" Yachi shouted.
"Spike Slash!" Hinata shouted.
The 12 Karasuno crows combined their attacks on the door with everything they have.
XXX
Basara continued stomping onto Master Saru mercilessly as Master Saru continued screaming from the kicks.
"Scream for me more, fool!" Basara hollered.
Basara started tormenting Master Saru harder, until the door in front of him came flying straight at him, blowing the dark martial artist away from Master Saru.
The smoke cleared revealed Karasuno with their successful synchronized attack.
"Open sesame!" Tanaka hollered.
Groaning was heard as Hinata and the others look to see the injured Master Saru.
"MASTER SARU!" Hinata, Kageyama, Yachi, Yamaguchi, Tanaka, Nishinoya, Ennoshita, Daichi, Sugawara and Asahi shouted in unison.
Master Saru couldn't reply normally, only groaned.
"Hang on! I'll heal you!" Yachi hollered.
Yachi used her healing powers to restore Master Saru back. Master Saru blinked twice before standing up.
"Nice work, Yacchan." Asahi commented.
"You all… came?" Master Saru asked.
"Before you scold us, we made this choice because fighting them is the only way to get home." Tsukishima explained.
"Our counterparts would've done the same like, plenty of times." Yamaguchi explained.
"It's the right thing to do in taking a stand, Master." Daichi said.
Master Saru couldn't find it to argue since his students would've done the same. Or so have plenty of times the master was in tough spots they risked their lives to save him.
"I'm honored your counterparts made the right call." Master Saru said.
Karasuno smiled.
A maniacal laugh was heard, revealing Basara okay as he kicked the damaged doors out of the way.
"I never would've imagined you children defeated my Red Dragons and make it all the way here." Basara commented.
"But your journey ends here!" Basara hollered.
Master Saru noticed Karasuno that despite being afraid, they're standing together.
"I can't change your minds. But if you're with me…" Master Saru explained.
No words were needed as Hinata drew his Ninjatō, Yachi drew her tantō, Kageyama drew his bow, Daichi his shield, Sugawara twirling his bo staff, Asahi mashing his fists together, Tanaka twirling his sais before gripping them, Nishinoya swinging his nunchucks around, Ennoshita gripped his tonfas, Tsukishima twirling his dual bladed katana behind him, Yamaguchi gripping his staff, and Kiyoko opened her fans.
Master Saru smiled as he twirling his staff once again.
"Let's finish this once and for all, Basara!" Master Saru hollered.
"On behalf of Karasuno both in our world and this world, we're going to bring you down!" Hinata hollered.
"Then come on… this shall be our last battle!" Basara hollered.
The final showdown is about to begin! Will Karasuno and Master Saru defeat the conqueror to get our little crows back home, or will Basara be the victor in the end and continue his never-ending cycle of bloodshed and destruction?
Next time: Chapter 7 - The Final Showdown!
We're getting close to the end! But first… the climax battle begins now! It was quite breathtaking and personal with the relationship between Master Saru and Basara developed from their different views of combat and what eventually drove them apart. Doing flashbacks are never easy, but I did the best to make it believable and understand how it works.