The Okami Hero: Amaterasu

Arc 5: Eight Serpents

Chapter 13: Yamata No Orochi Part 1

[Wednesday20thApril 2281]

[Streets above the Shie Hassaikai Compound, Corusantu]

"I am Okami Hero: Amaterasu, and I am going to defeat you, Yamata No Orochi!"

Izumi maintained her smile as she stared at Orochi's host, pointing her stolen gun at the man's torso. Behind her, Chisaki couldn't comprehend what the hell just happened, while the Heroes and Police watched with equal surprise. Izumi had decided to spare Chisaki's life, even knowing that killing him would result in Orochi returning Inko Midoriya's soul, as well as ensuring Orochi didn't cause trouble for eight years. Instead, Izumi had decided to fight Orochi, and win back her mother's soul with her own hands, while ending the threat of Orochi for good.

All-Might couldn't deny the bit of pride welling up in his chest.

Orochi looked utterly dumbfounded.

"Are you a fool, girl? Has living in the skin of a human for so long addled your mind?! You could have had peace! You could have had your mother back! And you throw all that away for the sake of Chisaki!?" Orochi demanded furiously.

Izumi tilted her head slightly; "Honestly, Chisaki has nothing to do with this. I'd make the same choice no matter who else was in his place. I refuse to become a Murderer just to make my own life easier."

"You precious idol admitted that Heroes kill! He said it himself; he has taken lives!" the enraged Demon shouted.

Izumi nodded; "Yes, he has. He didn't deny it; sometimes he has had to take the life of a Villain in order to save others. But murdering a man that cannot defend himself or fight back is not the action of a Hero. It's cold blooded murder. If Chisaki and I were fighting… if killing him was the only way to end that fight and save lives… then my answer would be different. I want to say I will never take a Human Life, but I know that's a naive wish; however I will never kill someone who can be defeated in other ways. Chisaki is beaten and powerless, and so I will not kill him."

Chisaki felt a flare of anger at being called powerless, but considering the person saying it was refusing to kill him despite his crimes, he decided to keep his mouth shut. Orochi did not have the same opinion.

"Foolish girl! If you will not kill him, then I shall do it myself!" the Possessed Man suddenly declared, summoning one of his Shadow Snakes. The snake he summoned appeared behind Izumi and Chisaki, then released a stream of flames down on the quirkless Yakuza Boss, aiming to incinerate him. Izumi acted fast and produced red ink, which she then used to activate her Inferno Technique, granting her full control over any flame touched by the ink. The Shadow Snake's flame breath hit the ink and was immediately under Izumi's control, allowing her to redirect the flames back at the serpent. The Shadow Snake was bathed in its own flames, hissing and writhing in pain before dispersing back into the shadows.

Orochi screamed in pain, as the damage done to the shadow snake reflected back on him. Thankfully, as the pain was more spiritual than physical, his host wasn't harmed. Unfortunately though, this just made him very angry.

"Fine. You're willing to reject my offer and protect that man despite everything. The idiocy of humans has poisoned you, Amaterasu. We would have made wonderful allies, but you have chosen the way of pain! Now face the consequences of your choice." Orochi spat, snapping his fingers.

At Orochi's gesture, another shadow snake appeared beside him and began manipulating the ground at his feet. A hole opened up, cracking the glass-like surface that Orochi's earlier attack had caused, before the Shadow Snake dove into the hole and came back out again with something in his mouth… something very familiar…

Someone very familiar.

Izumi's eyes widened as the Heroes behind her gasped; "HAWKS!"

Wing Hero: Hawks hung limply in the Shadow Snake's mouth, unconscious and bleeding slightly from a cut on his cheek. His costume was badly singed, and his wings were almost completely incinerated, leaving only the scorched joints and a few feathers that had been charred black.

Orochi sneered; "The fool came to my Host's room in an attempt to "rescue" him. He didn't know I had already possessed this man, and didn't even notice my Shadow Snake until its flame breath was already beating down on his back. It should not surprise you that he lost… a bird like him is easy prey for a serpent like me."

Izumi growled and looked ready to pounce, but Orochi stopped her with a demonic hiss; "Don't try anything funny, Amaterasu. The Shadow Snake holding him has the power to manipulate the Earth, and if you take one step towards me, it will create a stalagmite in its mouth and impale this pathetic human."

The Wolf Girl's face faltered. She remained in a combative stance, but she lowered the gun she was holding (which was honestly only being used as a weapon so Izumi could keep her Mirror protecting Eri). "What do you want, Orochi!?"

The Snake Demon hissed angrily; "I want what I've wanted from the beginning; you as a Demon at my side! Your past lives killed me twice, and I have no way of destroying you permanently or overcoming the Evil One's power without your assistance! I had hoped to use the Shie Hassaikai to soften you up, then come in at the last minute as the saviour and corrupter, making you and your little Pup into my newest Demon allies… all you had to do was embrace the Darkness and kill Chisaki, but you were just too damn stubborn… so now we're doing this the hard way! You will take that gun and use it to kill Chisaki, and you will accept the call of Darkness! You WILL become a Demon, and you WILL serve me! Your chance to be an equal partner has passed; now you will be my servant, or I swear that I will personally reduce this winged human and everyone else here into ash and bones!"

Izumi paled. It looked like Orochi had lost what little patience he still had. He'd been trying to be subtle, making situations to grow the darkness within Izumi without actually implicating himself as her enemy, but now that his plan had failed and Izumi had openly declared him to be her enemy no matter what, he was done with the subtle approach.

Now Izumi was in an impossible situation; Kill Chisaki and become Orochi's puppet, or refuse and allow Hawks to die, along with who knows how many others. Even if Izumi was sure she could protect the others, she couldn't move fast enough to save Hawks before the Shadow Snake kills him. She racked her brain for a solution, but everything was coming up blank!

Sunrise couldn't purify Orochi, who wasn't corrupted; he was a Demon naturally and not as a result of outside influences. It might force him from his host, but that didn't matter since unlike the Brush Demons, Orochi didn't actually need a host, and it would just result in another human being in the way of the fight. Rejuvenation was useless here, and Izumi doubted any plant she could make with Greensprout would be able to hold Orochi down. Cherry Bomb would potentially hurt Hawks or Orochi's Host, Power Slash might be able to cut off the Shadow Snake's head, but if she was too slow, Hawks would die, and Inferno needed outside fire sources to be useable. Her quirks weren't any more useful either… Hawks was unconscious, so she couldn't borrow his quirk and she doubted Orochi's host could give her a useful one even if he could consent. Eri's quirk wouldn't be massively helpful, and she'd buried Overhaul in her Stomach Container where she couldn't use it! If she wanted to use Overhaul, she'd have to transfer it to someone else then take it back and put it in her Heart Container, but the only people close enough for her to do it with were Eri and Chisaki. Izumi couldn't ask Eri to take the quirk that hurt her so much, even for only a moment, and she couldn't risk giving it to Chisaki now that he wasn't wearing the Quirk Restraint.

On top of all that, Izumi had no more than a basic idea of what Orochi could do! Controlling the Earth and breathing fire were only two of the techniques at his disposal… how was she supposed to win!?

"Damn it! There's nothing I can do! S-Should I allow myself to fall to the Dark and try to use the Demonic versions of my Powers?" Izumi thought shakily. She was desperate to save Hawks and escape with Eri, as well as to defeat Orochi, and the Brush Gods themselves had said she could always return to normal if she let go of the Dark Feelings and Desires that transformed her. Heck, she'd done it once already while letting go of the desire to murder Chisaki.

"That would be a bad move." Yomigami replied, "The inverted forms of our powers won't be quick enough to save Hawks before his is slain, and besides; not only is he immune to most Demonic Powers, Orochi was also able to awaken you by filling you with light energy that he'd gathered, so he can likely do the same with darkness. If you fall to Demonhood, he may continuously fill you with Darkness to feed your negative feelings and desires, artificially locking you in that state by preventing you from letting go."

Izumi growled; "Why hasn't he already done that? I was in Demon Mode when I killed Roku-Ju, and again a few minutes ago."

"He was likely still hoping to make you his willing ally. Artificially keeping you corrupted with his darkness would have just angered you and turned your ire towards him instead of Roku-Ju or Chisaki. He hoped you would fall of your own free will, but now that you've made it clear you won't side with him, I doubt he'll be picky about how he corrupts you."

Izumi suddenly grinned as Yomigami finished speaking. If Orochi held back from corrupting her out of fear she would turn on him, then he either REALLY wanted her as a willing ally, or he was afraid of what she could do. If it was the latter, that meant Izumi could beat him! No need to fear someone who can't stop you, after all.

The Wolf Girl's mind began racing through countless different scenarios, analysing everything she could and trying to come up with a plan. She knew the bare basics of Orochi's abilities from the scrolls left behind by Issun and Ishaku, and she obviously knew her own abilities, so all she had to do was try to use what she had to work around what Orochi had. She approached it like a puzzle… but then Eri fidgeted slightly on Izumi's back and the Wolf Girl's eyes widened… this was a puzzle; but not all the pieces were on the table. Some were still behind her, trapped behind a barrier.

Izumi had her plan.

The girl put on a show of being extremely nervous and wringing her hands, lowering them to her sides and fidgeting with her fingers, making rapid and seemingly random movements with them. Orochi watched her closely, briefly believing she was using a technique, but no ink dripped from her fingers, so he shrugged off that idea. Instead he looked at her conflicted face and twitching hands, and believed she was rightly terrified and tormented by the choice he was forcing on her, making him smile.

Behind Izumi, the Heroes had a different reaction. For a second, they saw Izumi's twitching hands and thought of it as a nervous tic, but then Eraserhead and Nezu both spotted a pattern to the movements. The two Heroes nudged the others, who all watched more closely before their eyes suddenly widened with surprise.

Izumi wasn't just randomly fidgeting, she was using Japanese Hero Hand Signals!

Japanese Hero Hand Signals was a one handed variation of Japanese Sign Language, devised and created to be used as a form of silent communication between Heroes while they were in situations where talking wasn't an option, such as stealth missions and hostage situations. The Heroes were momentarily surprised that Izumi knew it, then they remembered that she had a Provisional License and was only a year away from earning the full version. Most Hero Schools taught Japanese Hero Hand Signals in their second year, so it was no real surprise Izumi knew it.

All-Might carefully watched Izumi's hands and deciphered her signals.

"Number One. Support. Underground. Distraction." he muttered.

Eraserhead frowned; "Support is Power Loader. She can probably both hear and smell him with her Wolf Senses. She knows he's tunnelling under the barrier."

Nezu nodded; "And Number One is All-Might. She wants All-Might to tunnel underground with Power Loader, then burst out and distract Orochi. She'll likely use that instance to rescue Hawks."

All-Might slowly put a hand to his ear, using his ear piece to contact Power Loader. "What's your status?"

"I'm under the dead centre of the area within the barrier, just a few inches beneath the surface. One good hit and you can burst right out." Power Loader replied.

All-Might looked to Snipe; "Snipe, what are the exact coordinates of the spot directly beneath the snake holding Hawks?" he asked. If anyone could tell the exact coordinates of something, it was the marksman Snipe.

Snipe eyed the area, then fiddled with a small compass on his belt, before relaying the requested coordinates to All-Might, who in turn relayed them to Power Loader; "Keep digging, but get to those coordinates, and make sure the tunnel is big enough for me to get through."

"Got it, my GPS has locked on. It'll take me about two minutes!"

All-Might smiled. Now to inform Izumi without letting Orochi know…

"Orochi! You truly are a Monstrous Villain!" All-Might suddenly declared, purposely acting overly dramatic. Everyone within the barrier turned to look at him, and his eyes locked on Izumi's for a moment before he suddenly looked away, putting one hand over his face while holding the other out towards Izumi.

"Oh, for one as pure as this child to be forced to commit murder, for the sake of saving a Hero's life! I cannot bear to watch! Forgive me, Young Midoriya, for I must fail you once more!"

Izumi had to suppress a giggle; All-Might was really hamming it up! However, she noticed his outstretched hand begin to twitch and fidget anxiously. It played into his overly dramatic show, but Izumi recognised the gestures and hid a smile as she realised her plan had worked.

All-Might's hand signals were: "Help Incoming. ETA Two Minutes. Stall."

Once Izumi had deciphered the signals, she raised her eyes to meet All-Might's again, the man peeking back from between the fingers of his other hand. Without a word passed between them, they knew their messages had made it across. All-Might then made a show of fleeing the area, running through the crowd of confused Police Officers and arrested Yakuza Thugs before jumping away with incredible speed. In the coming minutes, no one would notice the skinny form of Toshinori Yagi sneaking through the crowd and into Power Loader's tunnel...

Izumi schooled her expression into one of disappointment and despair, then turned back to Orochi. She wore a broken and submissive face, one she had mastered during her year as a Quirkless Foster Child, in order to really sell the dejected image she was putting on.

Orochi grinned maniacally as he looked at her; "Even All-Might sees the futility of resisting me. He knows that you'll kill Chisaki, just as I have commanded, and he has fled like a coward so he doesn't have to see it! He reminds me of that cowardly Susanoo, who first unsealed me shortly before your second life began. He ran like a coward too, and only returned when I took his love as my next sacrifice."

Izumi felt a brief flame of anger roaring in her chest at the Snake Demon calling All-Might a coward while actively holding an unconscious person hostage, but she stamped it down before it got her into trouble. "P-Please Orochi, don't make me do this in front of Eri. She shouldn't need to see the cruelty you want me to show."

"She's seen worse! Chisaki hurt her deeply, do you wish to deny her the joy of seeing his final moments?" Orochi asked, amused by Izumi's new submissive attitude.

"Eri is gentle and kind, she wouldn't enjoy the suffering of another, not even Chisaki." Izumi countered. She just needed to buy a little time! Just one minute and forty seconds!

Eri was silent on Izumi's back, not sure what was happening but trusting Izumi enough to take care of her. Orochi seemed to consider Izumi's request for a few moments, making his host stroke his stubbly chin.

"You could always have the child close her eyes and cover her ears." he pointed out.

Izumi frowned. She needed a new approach. One minute twenty seconds.

"Please, let Eri leave the barrier. I'll do anything." Izumi begged.

Orochi laughed; "Oh, and what could you offer me? So long as I have your feathered friend in my grasp, you have no choice but to obey me, and once you kill Chisaki and become a Demon, I will tether you to my power and you will be my loyal servant for all eternity! So what, pray tell, do you have that I might want?"

Izumi grimaced. One minute.

"I have my leg. My, er, original one." Izumi said nervously, making Orochi's eyes widen slightly, "You said before that the idea of eating me was appealing, but it would deprive you of having me serve you. So why don't I give you the leg I cut off? You can… ugh… eat it, and maybe get the best of both worlds?"

The Possessed Elder whistled; "You really are a clever little girl, aren't you? I confess, even though eating just your leg wouldn't grant me power, the idea is appealing. Tasting your sweet flesh would be glorious! Very well; I accept… on one condition."

Forty seconds. "What condition?" Izumi asked, feeling a little sick at the idea of feeding her own flesh to this disgusting serpent.

Orochi's expression became cruel again; "I want you to present it and feed it to me like a proper serving girl. Come forward, get on your knees and serve me your flesh with a bowed head, addressing me as "Lord Orochi". It's the least you can do, since you're begging me to let the girl go free."

Izumi flushed. So Orochi wanted to humiliate her, huh? Fine… Izumi could play along. Swallowing her pride, Izumi whispered for Eri to close her eyes so she wouldn't see the next part, then walked forward. She stopped a pace away from Orochi's host, then slowly got on her knees and used Ishiko's Storage Quirk to release her stored leg. Since time didn't advance within the Storage Space, her leg was still warm and dripping with fresh blood when she released it. Orochi eyed it hungrily as Izumi bowed her head and raised her bloody offering up to the Possessed Man.

Twenty Seconds. "Your meal is served, L-Lord Orochi." Izumi said, staring fixedly at the floor, seeing her own reddened cheeks in the reflective glass-like ground.

Orochi grinned and snatched the leg away, before ripping into it with gusto. "It is still warm! Delicious… the flavour of a pure, virgin maiden mixed with the spice of a quirk and the delectable taste of the Divine! Truly, it is a unique and worthy offering! I am pleased, Little Wolf." the Snake said, happily chomping away, Izumi's blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

Izumi felt sick watching it, and many of the Humans watching beyond the barrier looked away in horror, with some actually vomiting. Only Eri, who kept her eyes shut tight, was spared the awful sight, though she did flinch when Orochi crunched on the bones. Orochi wolfed the leg down in only fifteen seconds…

Which left just five seconds for Izumi to stall.

Feeling the earth rumbling slightly beneath her knees, Izumi looked up at Orochi with a confident smile. "I hope you enjoyed that, "Lord" Orochi… for it will be your last meal!"

Orochi didn't even have time to look surprised before a loud "I AM HERE!" pierced the air and a loud crash echoed off the interior of the barrier.

All-Might suddenly smashed his way out of the ground right beneath the Shadow Snake holding Hawks, and with a mighty "DETROIT SMASH!" punched the snake hard in the throat, right next to where Hawks was grasped. The Snake choked and dropped Hawks, who was quickly caught by All-Might and tossed to Power Loader, who was waiting in the hole All-Might had burst out off. The damage done to his snake also made Orochi choke and splutter, staggering back a few steps and giving Izumi an opening to run and grab Chisaki, then throw the man to Power Loader. Chisaki made an undignified squawking sound as he was tossed, and Power Loader was much less gentle with him than he was with Hawks when carrying him, but even with the rough treatment, Chisaki was more than happy to be leaving Orochi's sight, as Power Loader carried him and Hawks out of the tunnel he had dug and away from the barrier.

That left only Izumi, All-Might and Eri within the barrier with Orochi (as well as Ishiko, who was still tied up in one of All-Might's bangs), though Izumi was determined to get Eri out. She didn't want to just drop the little girl into the tunnel and send her through by herself though, so Izumi waited for Power Loader to make a return trip, as she had no intention of leaving the barrier until Orochi was beaten, something that felt much more possible with All-Might at her side. Unfortunately, just as Power Loader was about to return to his tunnel again for a second trip inside the barrier, Orochi made his move.

"Ugh… you just can't let things go the way they should, can you!? All you had to do was kill some worthless human, but no, you had to go and make that difficult. Fine then… if I can't make you my ally, I'll just make you my meal after all! After all, that leg of yours made for a tantalising sample… I think I'll take the rest of the dish as well!" the Possessed Man growled, all eight of his Shadow Snakes emerging from the ground around him and whipping around, forcing All-Might and Izumi away from the escape tunnel. Once the two Heroes and their passengers were forced to the edge of the makeshift arena, only a few feet from the barrier, Orochi began to exude a huge amount of Demonic Black Smoke as he prepared to leave his host and fight with his true form.

Seeing the smoke, but not knowing what it meant, All-Might turned to Power Loader, who was outside the barrier with Hawks, Chisaki, and everyone else; "Power Loader! If I can hold him off, can you get through the tunnel again to evacuate with the girls?"

Izumi moved to protest, knowing full well that her power would be needed, but Power Loader made it a moot point. "All-Might, the barrier around the place has been reshaped! It's not just a dome now, it's a sphere! It covers the underground too and I can't get past it by tunnelling! You have to break the barrier or knock out the guy making it!" The Excavation Hero yelled.

Izumi frowned and looked at Orochi; "So you learned from your mistake and made a barrier underground too. But you were stupid to make it while All-Might is still here! With him helping me, there's no way I can lose!" she said confidently.

All-Might flashed her a smile; "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Young Midoriya. Ah, excuse me, we are working right now! I should call you by your Hero Name; Amaterasu!"

The Wolf Girl blushed and nodded shyly; "T-Thank you, All-Might! Now I need you to listen to me! I know a lot about this guy, but only my power can defeat him. If someone other than me or someone wielding my power defeats him, then he'll just reform and come back!"

"I see! Then you shall be the brains and I shall be the brawn. What can you tell me?" the Number One Hero asked.

Izumi watched Orochi carefully, but it seemed like he was focused on preparing something big. She couldn't stop him by herself, so she used the opportunity to fill All-Might in on everything she'd observed. "Orochi is supposed to be an Eight Headed Snake Demon, but he's using the Old Boss of the Shie Hassaikai as his host, so we can't risk killing him while he's in there. Each of his heads can apparently use a different elemental power, though I've only seen Light, Earth, and Fire, and been warned about Darkness."

All-Might nodded; "Yes, I witnessed this before he woke you up. He also possesses power over Water, Wind, Lightning, and Poison."

"All eight of those powers are potentially deadly, but I don't think he can swap the powers between the heads. Also, I think those Shadow Snakes are actually partial manifestations of his true form, in other words, they're his heads. That's why they can use his powers, why he can only summon eight of them, and why hurting them also hurts Orochi. I can nullify his fire with my Inferno Technique, and his light techniques won't work on me. I can probably also redirect his energy based attacks, like Lightning, back at him with my mirror, but doing that would leave Eri exposed." Izumi explained.

"Got it. My Smashes should be enough to deal with his Earth based attacks, and I can likely stop his wind and poison attacks with the air pressure from my stronger moves. Water shouldn't be much harder either. The only elements I'd have trouble with, you can stop. However, I have no idea what to do about the Darkness. It seemed to decay things earlier, and if you are as Light-oriented as you appear, I doubt it'll do you any more good than it would me." All-Might pointed out.

The Number One was right; between the two of them, they could effectively no-sell seven of Orochi's eight attacks… now all they had to do was figure out how to defeat an Eight Headed Snake Monster that could shrug off All-Might's smashes and spew darkness that rotted flesh!

Izumi grumbled. No pressure.

Just as the beginnings of a proper plan were forming in Izumi's head, the ground beneath her began to shake. Everything within the spherical barrier was shaking and shuddering, while those outside the barrier also experienced the tremors… at least until the barrier rose up out of the ground, taking the massive chunk of earth inside it into the sky.

The entire arena Orochi had prepared was now trapped in an impenetrable Demon Barrier Bubble, floating a hundred feet above the ground.

Eraserhead summed up everyone's thoughts in one sentence; "What the hell is this guy!?"

Within the barrier, the shaking stopped once they stopped moving, but Izumi, All-Might, Eri, and Ishiko were all shocked to suddenly find themselves on a floating island with no way off or down.

"We're in the sky..." Eri whispered in amazement.

"Yes, I decided it was time for a change of scenery." came the deep, menacing voice of Orochi, overlapping his host's normal voice, "Honestly, as furious as I am, I admit to being impressed. For all your weaknesses, you Humans do show a remarkable ingenuity. Don't be too surprised at this ability; any demon worth a damn can freely control the size and shape of Demonic Barriers, as well as move them around." Orochi explained, though he didn't mention that only a Demon General like himself was capable of doing what he was currently doing with his barrier.

"He brought us into the air to prevent any more tunnelling, even though he'd already extended his barrier underground… he's trying to psyche us out with his power!" Ishiko growled. All-Might flinched, suddenly remembering the Poncle in his hair. Said Poncle huffed at his obvious reaction and untied herself from the Blond's hair, then hopped off his head and onto Eri's, were she nestled carefully into her long white locks. "I'll keep Eri calm while you two fight. Plus if I'm with her, you only have to worry about defending one spot instead of two."

"Thanks Ishiko. Eri, don't worry; All-Might and I will handle this monster, and then everything will be fine." Izumi smiled over her shoulder, reassuring Eri. The little girl nervously returned the smile and nestled a little closer to her mother figure. In response, Izumi untied the bandages on her arms, exposing her scars, and used them to make a comfortable sling to hold Eri to her back while she inevitably jumped around in the coming fight.

With Eri and Ishiko secure as they could be, Izumi and All-Might turned back to Orochi, who was still surrounded by his eight shadow Snakes and releasing copious amounts of black smoke.

"I've beaten you twice before, Orochi. The third time will be the last!" Izumi declared, hiding her fear and nervousness behind a confident smile.

Orochi growled furiously, before forcing himself to calm down. "I will give you one last chance, Amaterasu. Slaughter All-Might, rip his still beating heart from his chest, and offer it to me, and I will let you continue living, along with the Poncle and the Girl. Refuse, and all of you will die screaming, as well as everyone waiting in the streets below."

Izumi growled, the ears and tail of her Demi-God Form sticking up in anger; "You won't be killing anyone, Orochi! Why? Because We Are Here!"

All-Might grinned beside her and performed his signature pose. "Well said, Amaterasu! Let us skin this snake together!"

Orochi snarled; "Fine! Killing you may not stop you permanently, but it'll take you nine months to be born again and a further fourteen years to get back to your current state. I'll hunt you down and corrupt you before that happens!" he declared, suddenly causing the black smoke to spew from him more viciously.

The smoke polluted the air, leaving it thick with the stink of rotten meat, while Orochi's host slumped to his knees. The poor man convulsed like he was having a seizure, then suddenly went still as a monstrous stream of black smoke suddenly burst from him, forming a thick black cloud in the middle of the arena. Orochi's Shadow Snakes looked towards the cloud, then dove into it, disappearing into the vortex of blackness. The now Demon-Free Shie Hassaikai Boss was tossed out from the cloud, where All-Might could easily catch him and tie him to his back, using the remainder of Izumi's bandages.

All-Might had just finished fixing the former host to his back when the Cloud of Darkness finally dispersed, revealing the Eight Headed Demon Serpent: Yamata no Orochi, in all his evil glory. Orochi's true form was that of eight monstrously large snakes tied together, their combined bodies forming a large mass of writhing and wriggling serpents with a layer of earthen armour on the top. From this mass of squirming flesh sprouted eight long serpentine necks with dark grey scales and bloody red underbellies, each as long as an Olympic Swimming Pool and as thick as a tree trunk, and each with razor sharp barbs running down their spines. Atop each of these necks was a draconic head, with gleaming red eyes, rows of razor sharp teeth, and a wicked forked tongue dripping with acid. Each of Orochi's heads wore a Samurai Helmet, with a few plates of armour protecting the first foot of neck beneath it, and each helmet had a large decorative crest representing the element that the head could wield, complete with a black engraving of the kanji for that element. The Fire Head, which acted as the dominant one, bore a red flame crest. Starting from this central head and going clockwise around it's body, there was the Earth Head with a crest shaped like a brown mountain range, the Poison Head with a purple skull and crossbones crest, the Light Head with a white sun crest with long beams sprouting from it, the Lightning Head with a thunder bolt shaped crest (which covered one of the head's eyes), the Water Head with a blue droplet shaped crest, the Wind Head with a green S-shaped crest, and lastly the Darkness Head, with a black crescent moon shaped crest. On the central body, which looked a bit like a small island thanks to the earthen armour, was Orochi's personal Dark Instrument; a Japanese style archway with a large temple bell hanging from it. The bell rang eight times, filling the air with its sinister tones, and causing a bizarre golden aura to appear on Orochi's skin.

Orochi's Fire Head roared at Izumi and All-Might; "Gaze upon the true might of a Demon General! I am Yamata no Orochi, and you are my prey!" he declared, before his heads darted forward.

The battle had begun.

Next Chapter: Yamata No Orochi Part 2

To be Released: July 16th 2021

And so the fight begins! A few things I want to mention here, the first being Hawks. I'm sure some of you are annoyed that Hawks got taken out of the fight so early. I sort of foreshadowed it when Hawks said he was going to look for the Old Boss while All-Might rescued the girls, and hey, if Dabi was able to sneak up on and take out Hawks, then I think the literal shadowy Demon Snake could do the same. Plus, I mostly just wanted this battle to be All-Might and Izumi fighting together.

Between Hero Hand Signals and a rather disturbing end to her severed leg, Izumi has finally left Orochi with no hostages to use, even if she and All-Might have to babysit Eri, the old boss, and Ishiko since they couldn't get out of the barrier in time.

And of course, we get to see Orochi's true form for the first time, and the battle takes place in a giant sky arena! The battle truly kicks off in the next chapter!

It'll be a big one too; 12,000+ words!

I hope you enjoyed! Please Comment and Review; it really encourages me!