Hopping from rooftop to rooftop, Takao continued to keep his eyes locked on the grey-haired girl leading the army of bandits below as he calmly formulated a plan of action in his mind. He had been following her for at least ten minutes now with little sign that they knew he was trailing them, but with no way to tell when they would reach the rest of Saburo's army, his window of time to attack was finite. Right now he was facing not only the girl but a nearly twenty-to-one disadvantage against her goons; a number that could increase exponentially should she be allowed to reach her destination. If he was going to act, he would need to do so now.
Watching as the group passed through an intersection and once again stood between two long rows of uninterrupted buildings, Takao sprinted towards the edge of the rooftop before him. His foot placed to the edge of the roof's terracotta covering, he pushed enough chakra into his foot to allow himself to fly directly above the group below, at which point he took a deep breath, drew his swords in both hands and descended down onto the group while spinning head over heels like a large, violent wheel.
Caught off guard by the sudden appearance of a figure overhead, several of the group escorting Miyuki could only look up and gasp as the spinning mass of steel descended down upon them, instantly splattering one of the crowd into pieces before spinning to a stop as the girl in the distance as she turned to see what had just happened in horror; the bloodlust in his eyes sending a shiver down her spine as she let out a soft gasp.
Even with his head covered with a hood she could tell that this was the man she had met months prior when her cousin tricked him and his friends into clearing out the Otogakure compound for them, the man who had let her live out of pity, and based on his presence here she doubted that he was there to talk.
"Y-You!" She blurted out with a hint of fear as Takao continued to stare her down for a moment before charging straight towards her, bringing her to gasp as he tore through several gang members instantaneously until finally being held up by two of the swordsmen in her entourage, both of whom held the man's blades at bay with their own.
"Not so fast, shinobi!" One of them taunted as the grinding of sparks between their weapons fell to the ground amidst the snow, causing Takao to grunt in annoyance as he purposely allowed their weapons to close in on him to give his assailants a false sense of confidence before pushing them back with all of his might, breaking their guard and allowing him to kill one of the men before unleashing the fury of both of his swords onto the next.
Seeing his rapid, devastating movements and knowing that those around her were relying on her to act, Miyuki took a deep breath and stepped forward despite the hesitation growing in her stomach. Last time they fought she escaped only because of her sniveling, but if she was going to maintain control of the group of mercenaries around her, or her head on Saburo's orders to act her part, she needed to stand up to the berserker quickly moving closer to her by the second.
"You better run!" She commanded in as menacing a manner as she could muster, bringing the man to snarl as the girl lifted her hands up towards him, raising forth a series of shadowy purple hands from beneath the snow that reached out and tried to grab Takao, though the man simply side-stepped each with a flicker in a zig-zag pattern and closed the distance between them almost instantly.
"Run?!" He exclaimed as he appeared before the girl and brought the brunt of both of his swords down on her instantaneously from above, though before they could split her head in two a series of hands shot forth from behind her and grabbed ahold of the blades, holding them in place.
His attack stalled, Takao snarled in anger as he pushed down on her strange appendages with all of his might.
"How can I run after what you and your brothers did?! I let you live, and you repaid me by killing my best friend!" He shouted into her face in return, causing the girl's eyes to wince with both fear as well as disgusted at his words.
"I had nothing to do with that. My cousins killed your friend… his blood is not on my hands!" She replied, only furthering Takao's bloodlust as his eyes widened in rage.
"Your fault or not, you are all going to pay!" He threatened as he quickly pushed off from his weapons and reached out to grab the girl's hair to pull her forth from behind her protective barrier.
"But I'm coming for you first!" He cried before being speared several times by the men encircling around him, though his body and swords quickly melted to water as he replaced himself with a clone, only to return a moment later amidst a group of the mercenaries in a whirlwind of bloodshed the further caused the woman to cringe. She had never fought against someone who had truly embarrassed the awful epithet of the Hidden Mist, but she had no doubt that was what this vicious man was capable of.
Knowing that she had to try to stop him, she again formed hand signs and caused her purple, shadow-like appendages to shoot forth beneath the snow towards Takao. However, before they could grab ahold of his ankles to drag him to the ground the man jumped up in the air, Takao pulled his feet towards his chest to avoid her grasp and shifted his eyes to her in snap-like motion that once again sent chills shooting across her body before disappearing into a flicker that caused his opponents to turn their attention back to their leader with great concern.
"He's coming!" One of the men shouted as Takao reappeared behind the girl with his blades both posed to strike from over his shoulder, forcing the girl to spin around and raise both of her hands over her face in a defensive manner, again causing her shadow hands to grab ahold of his attack. Unlike last time, however, she did not allow a lull in the fighting to occur and instead launched an attack of her own, breaking his attack and causing him to stagger backwards as she lunged forward with a kunai in hand; it's metal edge quickly beginning to surge with purple electricity as it neared his neck.
Spotting her determined strike, Takao shifted his broadsword inward to use as a shield from her blade. However, as it fell into position one of the girl's shadow hands shot forth from the ground and pulled it away, forcing him to instead shift to use his regular sword to block the attack as it neared his throat, allowing him to stop the attack although not before and arc of her lightning tore into this skin of his cheek.
Compared to their first encounter it seemed that she had developed a metaphorical backbone, allowing her to stand up against him rather than cower in fear like she had done before, though it wouldn't change a thing. He was still there to kill her for what she had done and neither bravado nor her strange abilities were going to stop that.
"Seems you've grown up alot since the last time we met… no more whimpering your way out of danger like the coward you are, huh? " The man said with a sarcastic smirk as Miyuki's eyes narrowed on him in annoyance while letting out a displeased grunt.
"You know nothing about me!" She exclaimed as she unleashed more of her hands from beneath the snow to try and snag the man before her, forcing him to once again evade her attack.
Somersaulting backwards onto his feet, the shinobi quickly mashed his hands together into a short series of hand signs before unleashing a large amount of water from his mouth that quickly formed into a Water Dragon and rushed towards Miyuki, causing her to dash to the side to evade the attack.
Countering, the girl then drew several shuriken from her pouch and sent them flying towards Takao, though the swordmaster quickly parried them away from himself with his sword just in time to avoid the girl's next attack; a large shadow hand that slammed into the ground where he had been standing. Sliding backwards, Takao grabbed a hold of his great broadsword from the ground and jumped into the air before launching it straight down into the ground below and landing with his feet at the pommel.
His body now a few feet above the ground to aid in the detection of Miyuki's strange appendages, the man balanced the smaller of his swords in a lowered position at his right side for a moment as his left hand lifted up to his chest in a single two-finger sign before closing his eyes in a sort of brief meditation.
Seeing his move but not realizing his intentions by standing on his sword's hilt, Miyuki again attempted to ensnare him with her Dark Shadow Entanglement technique, but as the arms burst out through the snow, the man quickly crouched down and shot forward towards her at lightning speed, all while spitting high pressure water bullets at her from his mouth.
Caught off guard, the girl let out a sharp gasp as one of his projectile tore into her left arm, causing her to stagger backwards as Takao flickered before her and with his left fist struck her harshly in the face with enough force to not only spike her into the ground below but bounce her back up into the air as well, at which point he used his right leg to strike her in the stomach.
Letting out a short cry of pain, the girl flew across the street into one of the town's structures with a loud crack, instantly causing the remaining henchmen in the area to gasp out loud in disbelief that their leader had been so easily thrown.
"M-Miss Miyuki?!" One of them questioned as they approached her motionless body, only to turn back towards Takao as he slowly began to make his way towards them with his sword drawn.
"Still think that signing up for their little army was a good idea?" He questioned in a menacing tone, almost instantly causing the remaining men to scramble as he closed in on Miyuki who, by now, had again opened her eyes and painfully attempted to sit up as she watched the brutal man approaching her.
"W-wait..." She muttered under her breath as he came near, causing him to smirk in a sick way before pinning her to the wall through her left shoulder with his blade as she came to a sitting position against the wall, again causing her to cry out in pain.
"You may have become braver since then, but unlike your friends I see that you are still phased by fear and pain… even if you aren't able to be killed easily!" Takao stated as he slightly twisted his blade, causing her to yelp as she reached up and grabbed ahold of his weapon to try and stop his action.
"S-Stop! P-Please!" She cried out as Takao's face hardened and his eyes narrowed in on her with a burning hatred.
"Stop? Please? Were those the words that Jun said to Saburo the night that bastard murdered him? Did he beg for his life just like you are now?!" He snarled in reply, causing the girl to look up at him as tears of both pain and fear formed in her yellow eyes.
"I-I had nothing to do with y-your friend's death, I-I swear! I-I never wanted none of t-this!" Miyuki cried, furthering Takao's anger. It wasn't more than a few minutes ago that he told her he didn't want to hear her excuses and that he held her responsible regardless of who actually killed Jun, so why would she continue trying to convince him otherwise?
"I told you before that I didn't care. If you truly didn't want anything to do with this, you would have never gone along with your cousin's plot to betray us!" He snapped back as the girl continued to grab at the blade; her hands now bleeding from it's sharp edge.
"I-I had no choice! I-I've never had a c-choice!" She again cried, though unlike her previous pleas, something about her words caused Takao to hesitate and his blade to stop twisting into her shoulder.
"You're one of them; a member of whatever fucked up gang he's got going on. Are you really going to try and tell me that they forced you to do all of this?" He questioned in a genuine yet harsh tone, causing her eyes to once again raise up to his as she quickly bobbed her head up and down, to which Takao again twisted the blade.
"You're lying!" He exclaimed as the girl cried out.
"I'm not, I-I swear! If I tell them n-no, t-they will kill me if I d-don't do what they say!" She replied as she again looked up at her attacker in fear who, despite his murderous aurora, stared back in thought as his blade ceased turning in her wound.
"Do y-you think I want to hurt people t-the way they do! I-I'm not a monster l-like them!" She added, causing to look away with indecisive thought.
Could she really be telling the truth? On several occasions since Jun's death he had sat and thought about Miyuki's involvement and wondered whether or not the scared, fragile woman he allowed to escape could ever be capable of such a horrific killing, but never would he have thought his anger would allow him to believe she was innocent. Was she really being forced to participate in the heinous slayings they knew Saburo and Togusa had no problem perpetrating?
"You really want me to believe that you are being held against your will? That they are making you murder other people and eat their flesh?" The man asked after a moment as his opponent looked at him for a moment before nodding, grateful that his tortue had stopped.
"Y-Yes… I'm telling you the truth." She said softly, bringing Takao to bite the inside of his lip in disgust with his decision to believe her. When he chased after her his intentions were to kill her and return to the group, but now it appeared he would be a bit more committed than that.
Letting out a small huff, the man once again strengthened his grip on his sword before swiftly pulling it from her shoulder with one sharp motion, making the girl cry out one last time as he sunk his blade into the snow beside them.
"I'm going to give one chance to tell me everything. How you came to be with these two cousins of yours if it wasn't willingly, why you all eat other people and what exactly it is that you were all planning to do with this merry group of assholes you tricked into following you blindly; all of it." He demanded as he knelt down to a crouched position in front of her with his elbows on his knees.
"And if I was you, I would try my best to be both straightforward as well as convincing. I came here with every intention of killing you without hesitation, just like the others planned to as well. So you best change my mind, 'cuz if not I will kill you, regardless of whatever it is that makes you all so hard to do so." The man added in a threatening tone, causing the woman to shutter as she nodded her head.
"A-Alright, alright." She replied as she placed her hand over her wounded shoulder and took a deep, calming breath; the man's imposing presence keeping her in an uneasy, fearful state.
"S-Saburo and Togusa are my cousins… technically. About twenty years ago or so t-they found me when I was in trouble a-and saved my life, b-but I've been trapped in their grasp ever since." She stated as Takao's brow raised in confusion. Twenty years ago? How was that possible? To him, the girl looked like she was no older than he was, if not a few years younger, placing her in her early twenties. How was it possible that she looked so young?
"You've been with them for twenty years? Based on how old you look, that can't be true." Takao replied in disbelief, leading Miyuki to nod.
"It is true. I'm forty six years old… or at least I should be, if it wasn't for the ritual." She confirmed, again causing Takao to ponder over what she was telling him.
"Wait, wait… what are you saying? Are you telling me that you all are… immortal?" He asked, bringing the girl to look up at his eyes for a moment before staring back down in an almost shameful manner.
"Not exactly… at least, not yet. From what I've been told, Saburo and Togusa never received the final part of the puzzle. They attempted the ritual on themselves without fully understanding what it was they were toying with." She added as Takao stared in silence. Rituals and immortality? What was all of this?
"That… that's impossible. What ritual are you talking about? There has to be an explanation." He questioned as Miyuki shook her head.
"I-I don't know exactly, all I know is a name: Jashin. He… i-it is some sort of ancient god of death that promises immortality to its followers in exchange for them doing its bidding. They attempted to gain this power for themselves by undertaking a ritual they knew little about, and in return cursed themselves to only part of the benefits." She stated as Takao's eyes narrowed on her.
"And you did the same thing in the name of power." He replied sternly, causing the girl to shake her head.
"N-No, I didn't! They… they tricked me into doing it." She shot back, staring at the man for a moment or two before looking back down at the sword beside him and finally her legs before beginning to speak again, knowing he was looking for an explanation.
"My family, my clan, had been involved in a civil war in the Land of Waterfalls… a war that wasn't going well for their side, resulting in my clan being hunted down. We were attacked in the forest a-and out of a fear I ran for my life… but they found me, and I-I only survived because Saburo and Togusa stepped in to save me." She began to explain as Takao's face softened a bit.
"With the way they treat you I'm surprised they would even bother." He replied, bringing the girl's eyes up to his own at the realization that he must have witnessed some sort of transgression against her by either Togusa or Saburo during their first encounter; something that happened so often that she couldn't point out one specific instance.
"Now, yes, but back then it seemed different. When we first met they took care of me… nursed me back to health and made me feel safe. I told them my story, about everything that had happened to me and my family, to which they told me that they knew as they were part of it as well. I didn't believe them at first, as I had never met them before nor did they seem to utilize the same secret technique that I and the others in my clan did." She replied, bringing Takao to interrupt.
"The creepy purple hand thing." He interjected, bringing the girl to nod with a small, pained chuckle at his description of her family's secret technique.
"But as time went on I learned more about them and it became clear that based on their knowledge of my ancestors it appeared they were telling the truth. They were my cousins, but there was something strange. The bloodline of my family they originated from had died off due to war nearly four decades before then, so it made no sense how they were so young… and that's how I found out about the ritual." She continued as she looked back down at her legs.
"Saburo and Togusa are older than they seem… much older. I asked them how this was possible, and that's when they told me that the reason they were alive that day was because of an ancient ritual that many of their fellow kin, my ancestors, had performed on themselves to gain the power to end the wars that so many of them were falling victim to… and over the next few days, having seeing my owns family's demise, slowly coerced me into wanting that same power for myself."
"B-But when it came time to perform the ritual, I knew something wasn't right. T-They took me to the Land of Hot Water, out into some cave in the woods… a-and when we went inside, there was this… body, laying on a sort of stone altar with a large circle with an upside down triangle painted in the middle on the wall behind it in blood… f-fresh blood. A-At first I didn't know what was going on, b-but as Saburo explained what the ritual entailed and how it was that they stayed alive all these years… I panicked. I tried to tell them I had changed my mind, b-but it was too late. Saburo… h-he…" She stated as the hand grasping her wounded shoulder clutched at her blood soaked jacket.
"H-He stabbed me with his sword, and told me that if I wanted to live, I would have no choice but to do as they said. H-He put this… thing inside my wound, a-and once he did he forced me to e-eat that dead person's flesh. Since then I've been stuck eating people to survive… locked in a never ending horror story." She finished, causing a temporary silence to come over the two of them as Takao took in what Miyuki was telling him, almost in disbelief.
Was what she was saying the truth? Could they really have gone all these years unaffected by time, all by consuming the flesh of other people? Who or what was this Jashin and how could they bestow such a power on a human? He never really focused on such things as religion, but was it possible that a deity could do such a thing?
"So that's why you all are so resistant to damage." He stated out loud after a moment or two longer, to which Miyuki nodded, giving him a chance to see that the wound on her shoulder had nearly stopped bleeding and instantly causing him to grunt as he turned his head back towards the direction he had come from. They all knew how hard they were to kill, but there was no way that Kisa and Akito knew that they were nearly immortal, placing them in an extremely dangerous situation. He needed to get back to them. They needed his help.
Reaching over to his right, the man grasped the hilt of his sword and drew it out from the ground in order to replace it in his sheath, causing the girl before him to nervously shield herself with her hand. However, instead of remaining before her in order to hear the answers to the rest of his questions, he stood up and began to make his way back towards where she had separated from her companions.
"W-Where are you going? W-What about your other questions?" She asked as she slid forward in the snow towards him, causing him to pause for a moment.
"I have to warn the others. They don't know what they're dealing with, and I can't let them suffer the same fate as Jun." He stated as Miyuki looked down at the ground in shame once again, though his attention returned to the man as he spoke again.
"Get out of here, and don't come back. If I see you attempting to interfere… I won't let you leave a third time." He warned, but instead of silently doing as he instructed she once again spoke up, again halting him in tracks.
"W-Wait! H-How are you going to stop them if you don't know how to kill them?" She questioned as Takao looked back at her over his shoulder, a bit surprised at what she was asking.
"What do you mean? Is there a way to undo their immortality?" He asked as Miruki shifted her legs so that she was leaning on her left thigh and hand.
"Like I said before, they never fully figured out how to make themselves immortal. I-I can show you what you need to do to stop them." She replied, bringing Takao to turn all the way around back towards her.
"You would be willing to show us how to kill Saburo and Takao? Why? I know what you just told me, I know how badly they treat you and what they've done… but are you really willing to betray your family?" He asked, again causing the girl to look down with a somber demeanor.
"All these years I've stuck with them, it was not by choice. I-If I tried to run, they would find me. If I try to starve myself of human flesh, they would force me to eat it. They've beaten me, used me as a tool for their personal gain. They aren't my family… not anymore." She replied before looking back up at Takao with tears in her eyes.
"I-If you help set me free from their grasp… I will show you how to kill them." The girl added, causing Takao to stare at her for a good few moments in silence before nodding his head. He knew she wasn't lying about what she had been through, he could see it in her eyes, and if she was willing to help them take those two monsters down, he couldn't pass her offer up.
"Alright… but we've got to go. You will have to tell me on the way to them." He stated as he stepped forward and extended his hand towards the girl to help her stand, causing her to stare at it with a bit of embarrassment for a moment before graciously accepting and standing up on her feet as Takao looked around them.
"Speaking of which… you wouldn't happen to have any idea where they might all be, would you?" The man questioned as she came to a stop, though no longer than a second or two after saying so the two were instantly drawn to the large power plant in the distance as it's snowy, distant figure briefly glowed blue before disappearing into a large fireball that sent a massive shockwave coursing through the city, causing the two to cover their eyes to avoid the shards of glass in the air.
Holding their position for a moment or two as the dust settled and snow once again fell unaltered from the sky, both Takao and Miyuki looked at one another briefly before Miyuki huffed.
"I'm going to assume that was them." She added, bringing Takao to look at her and motion towards the explosion as they began to make their way to the epicenter of the large blast, hopeful that the other half of their group were still alive.
Ignoring the warning from the ringing in her ears, a now cursed-seal activate Kisa slowly opened her eyes and gathered her sensed enough to snap back into reality, bringing her to look up at the ice doom she had formed to protect them from the massive eruption of fire and shrapnel around them before redirecting her attention frantically downward at Akito who, in an effort to ensure he would be shafe, she had jumped on top of, burying his head into her chest in the process.
"A-Are you alright?" She questioned as her face darkened from embarrassment, causing the boy to do the same as his eyes opened again and focused on her bright blues with concern. She had protected them from the explosion with her ice but was forced to activate her curse mark in order to do; something he did not wish to happen.
"I'm fine. Are you?" He asked as the girl slowly picked herself up from his chest and sat back on his lap with a nod before looking around at the fractured dome overhead. It seemed that she had activated her dome just in time to ensure that they had not been cooked alive or torn to shreds by the massive boiler explosion, though based on the large pieces of steel stuck into the side of her shield, she knew it truly was a close call.
"I'm okay, I…" She muttered with a lingering bit of embarrassment as she slid off of him and looked around at the burning remains of the village scattered around the large crater they now found themselves in, causing her to gasp of horror.
"Akito..." She muttered in disbelief as she allowed what remained of her battered dome to slowly drop down to the ground, allowing them both to have an unadulterated view of the carnage. Much of the power plant now laid in ruin and as far as he could tell the village itself had suffered quite a blow, including many destroyed and now burning homes and businesses closest to the blast, causing the boy to grind his teeth in disdain. This all felt very much like what happened in Amegakure not long ago, and although he was not entirely at fault he couldn't help but feel responsible; his mind only able to pray that anyone who wasn't directly involved in the trio's plan had evacuated at the onset of their fight.
"Damnit!" He snarled in anger as he slammed his fist to the ground at his side, catching Kisa's concerned eyes as she reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder to reassure him that this was not his fault. Feeling her touch the boy's eyes again connected with her own, though before they could exchange words they both turned to their side as from the debris a large figure emerged with a loud laugh that echoed across the now open area.
"Oh boy, that sure was quite the display of destruction!" Togusa chuckled as he threw a large section of brick wall off of himself and brushed himself clean of dust and debris, revealing large pieces of missing clothing and burned flesh as he did so. Despite the massive explosion it appeared that he had survived with little permanent harm, causing both Kisa and Akito to watch in disbelief as Saburo crawled his way out from beneath the rubble as well.
"Seems this one has a real appetite for it, doesn't he?" He stated as Akito snarled under his breath and stood to his feet along side Kisa, although despite their shock and annoyance they found themselves even more stunned that from the debris-clogged streets of the village more of their personal army emerged with weapons drawn, ready to defend their leaders despite the damage done to their home as well as their earlier losses.
Turning so that their backs were to one another to prevent an attack from behind, Kisa bit her lip nervously. Not only did it seem they had yet to do any notable damage, but it appeared that the militia they had put together remained unwavered, further complicating their position.
"This is bad. We haven't even put a scratch on them yet have already both used a lot of chakra… and now we are again faced with their army." She said as she prepared a handful of ice senbon in her fingers while Akito drew a kunai from his pouch and narrowed his sight on the many foes before them.
"I don't understand. Why are they helping them? They've already suffered heavy losses, especially after what just happened… why haven't they given up?" The boy replied as Saburo, who had slowly begun walking towards the pair as he tore pieces of burnt flesh from his already healing arms, snickered.
"They do it because we are their masters. They have seen our power unleashed on their own number and have come to accept their fate as our servants… in essence, we are their gods now." He stated in a very confident tone, bringing both Akito and Kisa to once again grunt in frustration. They were not gods, they couldn't be, and it was their responsibility to prove that by bringing their reign of terror to an end.
"We have to gain the upperhand." The boy said softly beneath his breath as he looked over his shoulder at Kisa, staring into her eyes for a moment or two in silence as the concern at both the situation as well as what she knew he was about to do became clear. He knew she didn't want him to activate his curse mark despite having been forced to use her own, but unfortunately for her he saw little other choice. He wasn't going to fail, nor was he going to let Kisa suffer the same fate as Jun at the hands of these monsters.
Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, the boy stood still for a moment or two before a grey haze slowly crept over his skin from the seal on the back of his neck, covering his exposed face and finger tips before causing his hair to lengthen enough to make a notable difference, leaving Kisa silent as she watched the transformation with apprehension.
This was the first time she had seen him activate his curse mark since they were reunited save for when she found him clinging to it to survive as Ibaraki, and although she had come to the conclusion that he would likely use the mark against these three, it didn't make it any less unsettling when he finally did so. He was cursed because of her, and not even the reassuring glance he cast towards her as he opened his now darkened eyes and revealed the dim orange glow of his irises was going to relieve that weight in her chest.
Spotting the boy's transformation as they approached, Togusa laughed as the sight of his own glowing eyes caused those around him to pause.
"Well, well. Isn't this a surprise? Seems like both you and your little girlfriend have fallen for that hack's promises of power! Hah!" He taunted with a chuckle as Saburo's eyes narrowed on the boy in an analytic manner.
"It won't matter. The power Orochimaru's experiments offer are nothing more than a novelty; something to gawk at, at best." The other brother added, causing Kisa and Akito both to look at one another in embarrassment for a moment before returning their focus on to Saburo as he once again sped towards the two of them at lightning speed with his electrically charged sword at the ready.
"You're nothing compared to us!" He exclaimed as he neared the two and lifted his sword up, though just as he reached striking distance the boy in front of him knelt down to the ground and pushed his hands into the snow, instantly causing a slew of clay and rock spikes to shoot forth from the ground towards Saburo, forcing him to evade.
Undeterred by the attack the man quickly slid to a stop and prepared to regain his footing to attack again, but much to his surprise the thornbush-like fissure beneath the snow followed him, again forcing him to avoid as the spikes split and divided, lunging rapidly towards the man over and over again in an attempt to snag any part of his flesh; the attack inadvertently claiming the lives of several of the militia around them as Saburo used their formations to try and throw off the boys aim.
Watching uneasily as Akito's attack chased after Saburo while decimating his men in the process, Kisa couldn't help but feel her stomach twist once more. Before the incident in Konohagakure she never would have thought he would be capable of such brutality, and now, seeing it escalate with the use of his curse, she was almost certain it was because of the seal, further filling her with guilt.
Seeing his brother actively evade the boy's rather unforeseen attack, Togusa let out a large huff and recovered his kanabo from the debris to his side before gripping it tight and jumping high up into the air towards the two.
"Knock knock, here I come!" He exclaimed as he then spun himself with the aid of the wind into a rapidly spinning wheel and descended down on top of the two shinobi below, bringing the woman to raise and series of ice mirrors up above them and jump into them in order to unleash a wicked barrage of ice senbon into the giant.
Undeterred, Togusa continued forward to slam his kanabo into the closest mirror to himself, shattering it into pieces with his tremendous strength as Kisa, having launched herself from her second mirror, reappeared behind him with her fist reared back.
"Get back!" She exclaimed as she swung towards the man, impacting his kanabo as he swung towards her to deflect her attack and sending him flying backwards into a building with the surge of strength granted to her by the Fifth Hokage. Her victory was short lived however as despite being preoccupied by her partner Saburo broke free of the boy's unexpected technique and flickered towards the girl as she recovered from her strike.
Lunging forward with his blade the man let out a loud cry of excitement at his impending kill, though before he could land his blow the boy below him appeared between the edge of his blade and his target, allowing himself to be speared as he pushed Kisa out of harm's way.
Unsure whether or not this was the real Akito or a clone, Kisa slid to a stop in the snow a few feet away from where she had been standing and quickly looked up to verify that the boy's body was a clay clone. Waiting for Saburo to kick the inanimate clay doll away, the girl waved her left arm up towards the still airborne assailant to cause a large rush of ice to slosh towards him, again bringing him to dart backwards to avoid the blow as Akito reappeared and went on the offensive.
Slide across her frozen ice terrace, the Iwa ninja formed the hand signs necessary to facilitate a fire attack, inhaled deeply and unleashed a large cloud of smoldering flame down upon the swordsman before him, causing the man to block the flames from burning his eyes with his right hand as he snarled in anger and slid backwards.
Opening his eyes as his opponent then dashed towards him through the fire, Saburo narrowed his view on the boy and swung his blade to strike him, only to have his charge weapon parried away by Akito's kunai as he closed the distance between them, giving the boy a chance to strike Saburo in the face with his right fist, though the man grabbed ahold of his wrist before he could do so.
Caught, Akito quickly jumped up on to Saburo's shoulders to break free of the man's grasp before pushing off of his back and once again sliding to a stop on the ground, at which point he again formed multiple clay clones of himself, all of whom charged forward at Saburo at once.
Grinning at the futility of his attack, Saburo quickly slashed his way through and disabled the first two clones with his electric sword, though as the third clone approached and detonated itself before the glowing chakra could disable its explosive payload Saburo quickly became overwhelmed; caught off guard by a chain-reacting cascade of exploding clones that repeatedly dove towards him and exploded, knocking him further and further backwards until he had no choice but to stab his sword into the ground to create what appeared to be a swirling vortex of electricity around him to disrupt the attacks.
"Enough of these childish tricks! I-" He began to angrily monologue, only to stop as he quickly shifted his head to the side to avoid a large piece of ice fashioned into a spear that flew past him, prompting him to redirect towards Kisa unleashed several more razor sharp ice pikes in his direction, forcing him to cancel his whirlwind to avoid the incoming volley.
Darting to the side and then immediately back towards the girl with his blade charged with electricity Saburo watched as Kisa created a mirror directly behind her and stepped backwards towards it to disappear, though from the corner of his eye he also spotted another bit of movement: Togusa again flying towards the girl in a whirlwind attack with his now splintered kanabo.
Knowing that this attack would be enough to shatter her mirror and knock her towards him based on the direction of Togusa's swing, Saburo instead shifted his blade to prepare to skewer the girl as she was sent flying. However, just as his brother was about to strike the girl with his bat, the ground between the two erupted into a large puff of smoke and gravel, revealing a large, stone hand from below.
Spotting the hand but unable to cancel his swing, Togusa let out a loud yet excited coo of surprise before being spiked backwards into the ground, allowing Kisa to disappear into her mirrors without a trace, only to reappear around Saburo a few moments later.
Completely surrounded, Saburo slid to a nearly face-to-face stop with the girl as she stood safely inside one of her mirrors, prompting him to stab his sword through it in an failed attempt to force the girl to disengage, though she simply shifted to another mirror behind him. Creating enough ice senbon to fill the voids between each of her fingers, the girl's bright blue eyes narrowed in on her prey in anger as she prepared her attack.
"You're going to wish you'd never crossed us when I'm done with you." She softly as he drew her weapons back and unleashed a volley of razor sharp ice needles towards Saburo, forcing him to dodge to the side, only to be attacked from another angle, over and over, landing several hits that pierced into his back and arms; hits that, unbeknownst to Saburo, had been switched up with steel senbon as well.
"Do you really think that will stop me?!" He questioned with a slight grunt of pain as he regained his footing, formed several hand signs and clapped his hands together to cause a thunderous wave of electricity to shoot forth from him in all directions to destroy her mirrors. Before he could do so, however, he found himself unable to move as a surge of electricity from his own strike redirected back into the metal needles in his skin, overloading his nervous system and causing his muscles to seize.
"W-What?!" He snarled with a loud grunt as his back arched involuntarily, leaving the girl to smirk at his pain as she again drew more senbon, both ice and steel, into her fingers as off to the side Togusa stood up from his hit and shook his head.
"I gotta hand it to you kid that was quite the hit!" He attempted to credit as Akito dashed forward towards him from his rising golem with murderous intentions. Seeing the charging boy, Togusa lifted his damaged bat over his head and swung down onto the ground, splitting the ground below as Akito jumped up onto the bat and charged up to the giant's face with his hands at his sides. Nearing his head, the boy swung both hands together in a clapping motion on both sides of the giant's head, igniting his kekkei genkai and blowing Togusa's head to pieces.
Remaining still for a moment in the air as the bits and pieces of the behemoth's head sprayed across both himself and the ground, Akito let out a short gasp of shock as from the mangled remains of the Togusa's skull a single eye rematerialized, locking on to him with his glowing iris and allowing the man to grab Akito's leg with his large hand.
Tightening his grip so that the boy couldn't escape, Togusa immediately smashed the boy into the ground, stunning him and leaving him open as the man then took what remained of his kanabo, stuck it into the ground and used his wind chakra to send a ripple of energy into the ground, flinging the boy backwards into a brick wall with a loud, painful crack.
Rolling to a stop on the charred street below as Togusa moved to engage the now aggressive stone golem, the now bruised boy quickly recovered on to his feet and charged towards the giant with an infuriated growl as he knocked the large golem backwards, unwilling to allow him to recover fully.
Pushing the initiative, Akito split himself into several clay clones and swarmed the monstrosity before him; the first being smashed into the ground with his kanabo as the second jumped over top of the staggering golem, latching onto Togusa's face just as his mouth began to reform.
"Get off of me you little pest!" He exclaimed through garbled lips as he threw the clay clone into a third clone, causing them to both to detonate as a fourth form of Akito prepared and unleashed a fuma shuriken towards the man, who sidestepped the massive blade as he rushed towards the boy, only to turn back towards the metal star as it disappeared into a large puff of smoke, revealing yet another Akito in its absence; a little trick he had learned from a special friend in the Hidden Leaf.
Traveling with the momentum of the fuma he emerged from Akito quickly enacted his trap, throwing a wad of clay towards the giant man with intent of sticking him with his explosives. However, as it neared the man he formed a toothy grin, bringing the boy's eyes to open wide as Togusa use his kanabo to spike the ball up into the sky with an upward swing, sending it flying up high above the fight into the falling snow where it detonated harmlessly.
Pleased by his effective counter, turned around and used his chakra to accelerate his kanabo to incredible speed before smashing the rock golem approaching him to pieces, allowing Akito to enact a modified version of his true plan as he slid to a stop.
Watching the distracted giant as he crushed his golem, Akito quickly formed several signs and placed both of his hands together, causing the pieces of clay that were falling from far above the turn to thin, razor sharp clay spikes that whistled through the air down on to the unsuspecting man, piercing through his flesh and pinning him to the ground; one such strike causing a loud, high pitched shriek to emit from the giant's body as a pulse of energy surged through the city streets around them.
Shocked by the sudden surge of energy as well as the immobilizing attack from above, Togusa turned towards his brother with a look of great concern as the yellow light quickly began to fade from his eyes; a clear indication that something had gone wrong.
"Brother…" He stated aloud as he dropped his bat, to which Saburo, who remained within Kisa's trap as she too stared at the now suppressed Togusa, grew wide eyed as well. He could see that the power of their gifts was fading from his brother's being, not only opening him up to suffer injury from the boy's spikes, but any further damage as well.
"Togusa you need to break free and run, you-" He began to order as from the corner of his eye he spotted his brother's opponent charging towards him with his fist reared back; his eyes dead-set on the giant while he remained trapped and what appeared to be in a vulnerable state.
"No!" He exclaimed as he moved towards his brother, only to be pelted by Kisa's attacks once more.
"You're not going anywhere!" She cried as she prepared duel ice swords in her hands and prepared to advance on him through her mirrors, but Saburo, knowing that his brother was in grave danger, ignored the threat at hand and instead charged head-long towards the mirror separating him from his brother.
Juking the girl out as she jumped towards him before kicking her in the stomach and slamming her backwards into her own mirror, Saburo reached out towards the mirror with his right hand before grabbing a hold of the senbon furthest down his arm towards his finger with his left, at which point he tore the metal weapon up his arm, knocking out several spikes and allowing himself the opportunity to charge his chakra without being stunned, smashing her mirror and freeing himself from the girl's ice prison.
"Akito!" Kisa warned as she quickly jumped up to her feet and attempted to chase him to prevent the man from reaching her friend, though they were both too late, as just as Saburo's feet touched the ground from breaching the dome Akito's fist slammed directly into Togusa's chest, unleashing as large of a Landmine Fist as he could muster; the explosion causing a blindings flash of light followed by a thunderous boom as Togusa's flesh disintegrated into ash and his bones to dust, leaving nothing remaining but small, metal like pieces that rolled to a stop on the superheated cobblestone below.
In a daze because of both his curse mark's adverse effects as well as his exhaustion from such a large attack, Akito remained standing still for a moment or two as his eyes focused down at the glistening, red-hot pieces of metal with the expectation that he would once again regenerate as he had done so many times before, clouding the reality around him and allowing Saburo, who upon seeing his brother death had been thrown into violent rage, to close the gap between them with almost immediately following Kisa's cry.
"YOU!" He cried out as Akito turned towards the threat in a somewhat sluggish manner, locking eyes with the madman just as he moved enough to throw the attack off, causing his electrically charged right hand to miss his torso, instead tearing into his right arm just above his elbow, slicing through his flesh and spraying his blood through the air as the boy's eyes widened.
Reacting as fast as he could, Akito quickly slammed his left palm to Saburo's chest and pushed him back with as much explosive chakra he could muster before jumped backwards in the opposite direction and sliding to a stop his feet, though as the slide continued he collapsed to one knee as his attention swiftly turned to his now mangled right arm. From what he could see his humerus had nearly been cut clean through, leaving a small portion of bone and muscle on the opposite end of Saburo's approach holding his upper and lower arm together as blood profusely flowed from the now exposed artery inside; a gruesome injury without question.
"G-Guah!" He cried out through clenched teeth as he now sat on his knees and grabbed ahold of the injury, immediately beginning to guard the wound against his body in a panic as he reached back to gather a wad of clay to stabilize his wound from his pouch, only to immediately be targeted by Saburo once again; the man charging towards him with his hands charged with lightning once more.
"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!" He cried as he neared the struggling boy, only to be smashed away from him with incredible strength at the last moment as Kisa slid to a stop in front of the boy. Holding herself ready to strike again if need be, the girl remained still for only a moment before falling to her knees by Akito's side as her attention quickly shifted to his injuries.
"Let me see, let me see." She calmly coerced the obviously shocked boy as he desperately tried to connect the two halves of his arm back together with clay, though she couldn't help but become distraught herself at the sight of his wound; her stomach twisting into a tight knot as she immediately reached into a dedicated pouch on her back for medical supplies and pulled out a long, blue colored rubber tourniquet often used in the hospital setting to prepare patients for an IV.
Acting swiftly and without fumbling, the girl then wrapped the band around what remained intact of his upper arm above his injury before tying it as taut as she could to stem the loss of blood from his brachial artery, causing him to cry out in pain under his breath as she placed her hands on to his mangled limb and began to flush her own chakra into him as quickly as possible.
"Akito…" She whispered to the boy to tell him how grievously he had been injured as their eyes connected, though he already had come to a conclusion and shook his head to reject what he knew was coming next.
"I-I'm not leaving. E-Even if Togusa is dead I w-won't leave you to fight Saburo alone… n-not even like this." He argued through his grinding teeth as in the distance Saburo reappeared; his anger even more evident as the man let out a bloodthirst hollar before dashing towards them, prompting Akito to slam his left fist into the ground, throwing the man off long enough for Kisa to form an ice dome to protect them from the man's attack.
Secured behind the dome, the boy let out a short, futile sigh of relief as he began to pant under his breath, again bringing Kisa to stare at him with worry. His body was broken and despite his cursed seal it appeared he was nearly out of chakra, as evidenced by the fading orange light in his eyes. This combined with her own exhaustion was putting them at a disadvantage against Saburo who, despite the elongated engagement, was very clearly still prepared to kill them regardless of losing Togusa, as evident by his now rapid attacks against the ice surrounding them.
"This dome isn't going to protect you forever, even with that curse mark you bitch! You're both going to suffer for what you've done to my brother!" He cried out as he frantically smashed at the ice with his lightning, bringing the girl inside to grunt.
"He's right… we need to get you fixed quickly, but your arm… i-it's not that simple, and if I don't restore blood flow soon..." She said softly in a disheartened manner, causing the boy to look over at his injury as his disoriented mind wandered back to the Land of Sound, where she told him that she couldn't reattach severed limbs, causing him to shake his head as he reached towards his kunai pouch in an obvious motion to draw a knife and cut his wounded limb free. She was wasting the energy she needed to defeat Saburo on trying to save his arm, and he was not going to let her die for it.
"Kis..." He argued, bringing the girl to look at his reach before snapping back to his eyes with shock that he would even insinuate such a thing as she pushed his hand away from his kunai pouch, although before she could reply both shinobi's attention returned back to Saburo as he again struck out at the dome, this time causing a large crack to form across the surface.
Seeing the result of his attack, the man formed a wide, toothy grin as he again prepared to lash out against the structure and surely cause it's collapse. Jumping high in the air, Saburo interlocked both of his hands together above his head and supercharged them with his lightning as he descended down onto the two shinobi.
How, just as the man was about to make contact with the ice, a purple blast of energy shot forth from the falling snow at lightning speed, smashing him backwards with enough force to sending him crashing through the remains of a house and into another before finally stopping amidst the rubble of a third.
Recovering a moment later with a shake of his head, the cannibal ground his teeth together as a growing suspicion in his mind became fact at the sight of his cousin and the sword wielding third of his enemies appeared in the empty street in front of the ice dome, cutting him off from his prey and causing him to become even more infuriated at the developing situation as the blonde man grinned with excitement at the lightning trick he had just rode.
"Oh man, that was wicked! I could get used to something like that!" He laughed boisterously as he slammed his broadsword, the obvious culprit in the attack that had sent Saburo flying, in the ground beside Miyuki, somewhat startling the timid girl as from within the ice shield Kisa's eyes widened.
"Takao!" She exclaimed in relief as a small smile formed on her lips, bringing her friend to turn back to her with a wide grin and a thumbs up.
"Bingo! I told you I'd be alright! Ehh, though it looks like Akito's been better." He replied upon seeing his wound as Saburo stood up amidst the debris and pulled a remaining senbon from his side; his eyes lingering on Miyuki with a growing rage that could almost be felt in the air between them.
"Miyuki? You… you dare betray me!? Look what they've done to your cousin! How could you side with them?!" He growled through his teeth as the girl took a step back away from him in fear for a brief moment before taking a deep breath and pushing herself to stand tall in the face of his intimidation.
"It's over, Saburo. The contract with the Akatsuki, your plan… it's all finished, and I refuse to help you any longer." She replied, again angering her former ally.
"We took you in when you were all alone, fed you, protected you... offered you our gift of immortality... and this is how you repay us?!" He snapped, again causing the girl to flinch as her eyes looked down to what remained of Togusa.
"A gift I never asked for… a gift that forced me to commit heinous crimes against other people in order just to stay alive. You may have taken me in, saved me from death… but what you gave me that day was much worse." She said softly as the memories of all of those they had killed and consumed to stay alive played over in her mind, especially those who Saburo and Togusa had forced her to kill herself as Saburo laughed.
"Unbelievable. You know, when we first found you all those years ago amidst the bloodied remains of your clan, Togusa wanted to eat you. I showed you pity, and instead brought you into our fold out of respect for knowing what it was like to lose everything… but I see now that your purpose would have better been served as food." The man scoffed as Miyuki's eyes returned to Saburo.
"I used to believe that was true… that you saved me because you had a heart. But after everything you've done to me over the years, be it the beatings or trapping me into this evil life… I've grown wiser. You didn't save me out of pity… you saved me because of my abilities… and I've had enough." She added as the ice dome collapsed to the ground, revealing both Akito and Kisa's shocked expressions as they locked to Takao's grin.
"Yeah, she's with us now. And the best part? She knows how to beat them, though it appears you've somehow figured that out yourself." He replied as he turned to what he assumed was the smoldering remains of the giant between them and Saburo as Akito shook his head.
"I-I don't know what happened to him… I-I speared him with a spike and his eyes just stopped glowing, and for whatever reason h-he lost his ability to regenerate." The boy replied as Miyuki looked down at the ashes as well.
"You damaged his totem." She added to Akito's story to clarify what he had done, causing Kisa's head to tilt a bit to the side.
"Totem?" She questioned with a little bit of distrust as their newfound ally, to which Takao nodded.
"Yeah. Turns out that these three… well… the two brothers… worship this 'god of death' name Jashin that is supposed to grant them immortality and what not in exchange for bloodshed, which is why we couldn't ever seem to injure them." The man added as both Kisa and Akito looked to one another before the girl shook her head in disbelief as her memory returned to their brief conversation with Saburo earlier.
"Immortal… how could that be true, especially if Togusa is dead?" She questioned as Takao clicked his tongue, winked his eye and pointed his finger back at his friend in a playful manner.
"See, that's where the totem comes in. Turns out that those two fuck-tards didn't know what they were getting themselves into and fell into some sort of trap, cursing themselves into the immortality that they desired, but at a much, much heftier cost than they originally had intended." He added as Miyuki looked back at Kisa and Akito and subtly nodded her head to confirm what Takao was saying.
"Immortality in the name of Jashin requires blood to be spilled in his name… when they took the totems from his shrine and implanted them in their bodies, they trapped themselves into his servitude not as followers, but as slaves, where wanton bloodshed wasn't enough. In order to survive, we were forced to kill and ingest the flesh of our victims." She added, again causing Kisa as well as Akito's stomach to turn this time; the latter recalling Saburo's attempt to consume his own flesh as they fought after Jun's death.
"I-I can't believe it… it's like something out of a nightmare." Kisa said aloud in disbelief as she looked back at Akito in shock, to which Miyuki stared at her momentarily before looking back to Togusa's ashes.
"There is a way to defeat him, however. Destroying or removing the totems renders that all useless, leaving us mortal, if only for a moment in the event that the totem is damaged instead of destroyed. You saw that yourself when you took his eye, and when you killed Togusa. It is the only way." She added as Akito grunted in pain and looked down at the ground.
So that was how he killed Togusa, then? By accidentally damaging his totem enough for him to become temporarily mortal? He hadn't thought about it until now, but when he first fought Saburo that day he did manage to cause what appeared to be permanent damage after peppering his body with steel ball bearings. So he accidentally damaged his totem then as well? Is that why he lost his eye?
Groaning again in pain as Kisa continued to try and mend his shattered arm, the boy's eyes lifted back up to Miyuki as his attention shifted to another, more important piece of the puzzle that he had still not connected together.
"But what does this have to do with any of all of this? Where is the connection to the Akatsuki, this village or even to the Hidden Sound base out in the Land of Sound? What brought all of this together?" He questioned as Miyuki narrowed her eyes on the boy.
"It's simple, really. For the past hundred or so years Saburo and Togusa have wandered the earth searching for a way to fix what they had done. With the emergence of Orochimaru and his experiments, Saburo believed that he would be their best bet at finding a cure. When he refused, he decided he would just take the Sanin's secrets for himself… that was, until you blew the whole place up." She replied as Akito's eyes twitched at the thought that he was somehow responsible, bringing Takao to speak up.
"At which point he turned to the Akatsuki; striking a deal with their leader that if he could create an army for them to use to their advantage, they would help Saburo break the curse." He added as Akito again grunted under his breath.
"An a-army… f-for what?" He questioned as Takao shook his head to signal that they didn't know, though before either of the four could say anything further they turned their attention back to Saburo as the man began to slowly clap and laugh under his breath.
"Well, well, well. It seems that Miyuki sure did tell you a lot of things, but I regret to inform you that she doesn't know what the Akatsuki planned to do with our army of cowards. Hell, even I don't know, nor do I personally care. Their leader, that man, if you could even call him that, has shown me power that you couldn't even begin to comprehend, and knowledge the likes of which even that crackpot Orochimaru couldn't ever understand. With his help I will undo the nightmare that I and Togusa have been stuck in for the past century, and you ar e all very wrong to believe I'm going to just let you throw that all away when I am so close to success." He taunted as he stepped closer to the simmering remains of his brother, bringing Takao's eyes to narrow on him with conviction.
"I don't expect you will… but I also don't plan on letting you have a choice. It's time you face justice for what you did to our friend." He threatened as Saburo again laughed and shook his head before leaning over and taking the biggest metallic chunk from Togusa's ashes in his hand.
"Justice… pathetic." He belittled under his breath as he stood back up and looked over the remains of his brother's totem, wiping charred blood and skin from it's surface with his thumb as a wide grin spread across his face.
"Soon what you perceive as justice will no longer exist. The Akatsuki, their plans… once the dust clears there will be a new world order, where the true meaning of justice will be entirely based on those who remain standing… It's just a shame you won't be around to see it all before it ends." He added before suddenly taking his right hand, charging it with energy and plunging it deep into chest before taking the metal object in his left hand and placing it inside of his chest, much to the surprise and horror of those watching on.
"What's he doing?!" Kisa questioned rapidly as Miyuki, who herself was unsure of what exactly her former compatriot was doing, stepped backwards in fear at the sight of Saburo next taking a piece of what remained of his brother's flesh from the ground in his hand; the blood from which ran down his hands to the ground below, mixing with his.
"I-I don't know, I-" She began to stutter as Saburo laughed menacingly.
"Poor, poor... stupid Miyuki." He interrupted as he lifted the flesh up to his mouth to ingest it, causing Takao to dart forward in an effort to interrupt whatever he had been doing with his broad sword at the ready.
"Oh no you don't!" He shouted as he lifted the blade up over his head to bisect Saburo down the middle, though as he did so the man closed his eyes, dropped Togusa's flesh into his mouth and chomped down, almost instantly causing a red wave to rush over his skin, originating from the rapidly healing hole in his chest and spreading out to his fingertips until his whole body became a dark shade of maroon.
His ritual completed, Saburo opened his now bright, burning yellow eye just as Takao was about to strike, causing a surge of energy to burst forth from his body, stunning Takao and allowing him the chance to dash forward towards the man at lighting speed.
Seeing the incoming enemy, Takao quickly turned his sword wide to block the incoming attack, leading Saburo's lightning-chakra hand to slide off to the side, though the man instead grabbed ahold of Takao's head and, with extreme force, hurled him backwards into the ground in front of Miyuki.
"Takao!" Both she and Kisa shouted as he slid to a stop by the former's side, leaving Saburo laughing hysterically to himself as he too landed back on his feet.
"Oh? You didn't know about this either, did you Miyuki?" He taunted with a sicker as across his red skin appeared what seemed to be black markings that resembled his skeleton, further creeping out the trio as they watched on in uncertain fear.
"You see, it was me who discovered the path to immortality way back then. I alone was the one who first formed this cursed union with the gods, and it was through that covenant with them that I was able to share this gift with others; parting out the pieces of what was rightfully mine to grant my dear brother eternal life, and then you as well. I will admit that it did weaken me albeit it at the cost of sating some of my hunger, but it was worth it to spread Jashin's will, and out of love for my brother I learned to live with my deficit." He began to explain, prompting the girl to reach up and clasp at where she knew her own piece of totem to be located inside of her chest, all while Kisa desperately tried to speed up Akito's healing as fast as she could at the fear of what was coming.
"But now… oh, now I believe it is time for me to become whole with what was rightfully mine. With Togusa's piece I have once again regained my control of the Butcher's Will, but once I reclaim that little bit harvested from my own totem to keep your miserable, sniveling soul alight all these years, I will be unstoppable in my quest of ascension to the demigod I am destined to be!" He laughed maniacally as his form began to elongate slightly, causing him to grow a bit taller if not more lanky while from his fingers his nails grew sharp like claws, all while Takao stood up to his feet and readied himself once more.
"That's not going to happen! Big, scary skeleton tattoos or not, your life ends here!" He snapped from beneath his sharkl-ike snarl, forcing Miyuki to reluctantly prepare as well for what she knew would be her final stand and bringing Saburo to grin wide once more before charging straight towards the two; hell bent on reclaiming what was now solely his and slaughtering those who had been in a thorn in his side for far too long.