Chapter 5: Zankoku vs. Yorukō – Endurance, Part 1

Date Posted: 27-May-2021

Author's Note: Our first major set of fights is here! I'm really excited to write this part, expect a lot of Yorukō's abilities to be shown, and maybe even something else… wink, wink. On that note, enjoy this chapter. As always, stay happy, stay blessed, and be chill.

I don't own any Naruto characters except my OC's.

Both Zankoku and Yorukō dashed towards each other, each man trying to reach for their swords early. While it took Zankoku some time to grab his sword due to its size, it took Yorukō little to no time to unsheathe his, allowing the boy to slash at the much larger man's abdomen. Reacting just before the sword connected, Zankoku jumped back, forming some hand seals in the process.

"Earth Style: Stone Wall!" Zankoku exclaimed, a wall made of travertine formed in its wake. This bought the man time to properly unsheathe his larger sword. Forming a hand sign, he quickly broke the wall he made, grinning at the boy after it broke completely.

"Not bad, kid." Zankoku said, grinning. "If I was a bit more careless, I would've probably lost right then and there." Gripping the broadsword in one hand, this slightly confused Yorukō, wondering why he decided to use one arm instead of two to wield that large sword.

"Wait a second," said Yorukō, "you're Zankoku of the Broadsword, aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah. Didn't Shū tell you who I was?"

"This makes this easier for me, then." Yorukō replied. The two men dashed at each other once more, their swords clashing each time they meet. Shū and Kori watched atop the tree branch they resided themselves to, admiring the dance of swords between the two men.

"Wow! Yorukō-kun is so cool!" Kori exclaimed; her eyes focused mainly on the boy than her teammate.

Remembering what Kori told him, Shū could not help but cringe at her comments towards the boy, no matter how she put it. Still, he had to admit that the two men were clash for clash.

"Something isn't right," Shū said out loud, catching Kori's attention. "It's almost as if Yorukō is holding back, while Zankoku is going all out. Why?"

"I dunno," Kori replied, "but don't think! Just focus on the fight!"

Zankoku was moving rather fast for someone using a broadsword with one hand, but he still hasn't been able to land a successful hit on the boy, while Yorukō managed to land a few slashes here and there.

"Why can't I hit him?! The records said he was only good with two blades!" Zankoku angrily thought, "There must be an opening…there! I see it!" While Yorukō kept aiming in the middle with his slashes, Zankoku took the opportunity to use his free hand to land a clean punch to the boy's face, causing him to fall on his back.

"Yorukō-kun!" Kori exclaimed.

"You may be faster than me, boy," said Zankoku, who took his sword in both hands before jumping high in the air, "but you can't outpower me, not in a million years!" Aiming the blade at the boy's stomach, Zankoku aimed to impale him using the weight of the broadsword and his own weight. As the blade inched closer to Yorukō's stomach, he managed to substitute himself with a tree log, managing to evade the fatal blow in the process.

"That was clos-" Yorukō did not have any time to react before Zankoku's fist made contact with his gut, causing him to double over. He didn't stop there, as Zankoku took his knee to the side of Yorukō's skull with such force that it caused the boy to be thrown into a nearby tree in the vicinity.

"You weren't all that impressive, Yorukō." Zankoku said, walking over to the boy's body, broadsword gripped tightly. "Where was that speed you had earlier?"

Reaching the boy, Zankoku noticed that Yorukō was bleeding from the wound he caused on the side of his head and through his mouth as well. Admiring his work, Zankoku took his broadsword and stabbed the boy straight through his chest, killing him immediately…or so he thought. Before Zankoku's sword made full contact with Yorukō's flesh, the boy's body was covered in a moderately thick layer of ice, preventing any lethal or fatal blows happening.

"Ice Style: Body Wrap," said Yorukō as he slowly stood up from where he was flown into. The blood that seeped from his head began to cease, much to Zankoku's shock and horror.

"Y-You're not human!" exclaimed Zankoku, "What are you?!"

"Didn't I tell you," said Yorukō, walking closer to Zankoku, "that this makes it easier for me?" Almost immediately, Yorukō took the hilt of the sword and rammed it into the larger man's abdomen, causing him to double over from the sudden impact. Before he could recover and respond to the attack, Yorukō took said hilt of the sword and drove it into the man's neck, causing him to fall to the ground, writhing in pain.

"Zankoku, your worst mistake was facing me." Yorukō informed the fallen hunter-nin. "I know about your exploits, taking sick joy in murdering your own men for the village, and raping any women who just happens to be your enemy." Putting his sword back in its sheath, Yorukō took a deep breath.

"Now here's why I said this makes this easy for me," the boy said before driving his foot into Zankoku's side, causing the older man to scream in pain. "You're not…" he landed another kick into his ribs, breaking it in the process.

"…going to…" another kick was landed.

"…beat someone…" he moved to the fallen man's head and stomped it into the ground.

"…WHO HAS EVERYTHING TO LOSE!" Yorukō began to form hand seals after stomping Zankoku's head one more time. The boy jumped back after he made his last seal as he was certain Zankoku would not get up from the beating.

"I guess at least you won't be the one to kill me for the 'sake of the Frost Village", Zankoku," said Yorukō, "You won't even be alive to even capture me. "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" after incanting his jutsu, Yorukō released a massive ball of fire which burned everything in its path, eventually stopping at Zankoku's fallen body. The fireball engulfed the man whole, burning away at his skin until there the flame eventually died out, taking Zankoku's body with it, and leaving a scorched earth in its wake.

"That takes care of one of them," Yorukō said before falling to one knee, his ice defense beginning to fade from his body. "Damn it, it seems I've reached my limit. Seems the wound is about mended, but it used up most of my chakra."

"So, Zankoku's really dead, huh?" asked Shū, looking over at Kori.

"Yep!" replied the girl, "Yorukō-kun took him out with that fireball. That's strange though, I never recalled him knowing any fire style techniques."

"People keep secrets, you know." Shū said before hopping off the tree. Landing gracefully on the ground, he slowly walked over to the kneeling boy, grabbing his red tantō from his hip. Stopping at a close enough distance, his red tantō was fully unsheathed, Shū holding it in a reverse grip.

Noticing Shū walking towards him and subsequently stopping, Yorukō chuckled to himself. "I almost forgot there was three of you guys. Guess you're gonna finish what your buddy started, huh?"

"Oh please, I never really cared about Zankoku," Shū scoffed, "but it will be a waste to kill you. Such talent, such prowess, such speed with a sword…all wasted because Taiyōkage-sama wishes it so."

"Then why follow him? Why follow his order when you see my worth and he doesn't?"

"A mission is a mission, no matter what it is, Yorukō-san." Shū replied, the hand holding the tantō extended out, facing the boy. "You of all people should know that."

"Yorukō-kun won't survive that hit from Shū," thought Kori, "I really wanted to hit him with another genjutsu and make him fully mine…"

"Fire Style: Burning Crescent Wave!" yelled Shū, bringing his extended hand to his chest in a quick motion, a flaming crescent forming and going after the kneeling boy. Yorukō tried to get up and escape the attack but was unable to due to his fatigue and not wanting to irritate the wound he closed not too long ago. Before long, the flaming crescent made full contact with the boy, his screams so loud it could be heard at a meter-wide radius before falling on the ground. Once the flames dissipated, the boy's moderately burned body remained, much unlike the fire that claimed Zankoku's body whole.

"Kori! Get down here!" Shū yelled, not bothering to turn to the girl. With little time wasted, the girl hopped off her branch and ran to her partner.

"We need to dissect his body and bring it back to the village," Shū said, slightly cringing at the thought.

"But…but…Yorukō-kun…" Kori stammered, the girl trying to form the right words.

"A job's a job, Kori. The sooner you realize that, the better."

Kori nodded, the two forming hand seals, summoning a toolbox of sorts. They both opened their own toolbox and took out their especially sharp kunai blades, ready to behead the boy and dissect the lower body. However, before they could begin their work on his body, Yorukō began to glow in a white aura. The two hunters jumped back from the body, opting to observe the change. The burn marks that were on Yorukō's body began to disappear and returned to his normal skin color. His shirt was burned off due to the jutsu used on him, revealing his toned chest, abs, and weird markings all over his body. He slowly stood up from the spot he was burned at, the white aura fully enveloping the boy. His hair came undone, his braids flowing freely about, his irises disappearing from his eyes.

"Just…what the hell is this?!" Shū yelled, forming hand seals immediately after. "Take this! Water Style: Water Bullets!" Shū fired a multitude of water bullets from his mouth and aimed it at the boy, only to watch in horror at the boy countered them all with his own water jutsu.

Shū and Kori noticed that the air around them became noticeably colder, Shū being able to see his breath coming from his mouth. Ice and snow began to form on the terrain surrounding them, the two hunters completely caught off guard.

The two hunters looked at the boy and shared one thought in unison; "We're outright fucked, aren't we?"

Meanwhile, a mysterious figure watched from a tree branch not too far from the fighting area, a smile gracing her lips.

"I thought this would be a boring run," the woman said, "but it looks like I found someone for Orochimaru-sama…"

Whew! Another chapter is done, our guy is in a pinch! Who is the mysterious woman, and what is that new form Yorukō has?! Find out next time, on Yorukō Shinden!

Next Chapter: New Power – Endurance, Part 2