Chapter 12: "Truth" vs. Reality - Finale

Date Written: 30-Jun-2021

Date Published: 04-Jul-2021

Author's Note: Another chapter out! We're leaning closer to the end and the fateful meeting between the two brothers. The final arc of Yorukō Shinden is coming to an end, the final major fight ending this chapter! I'm still working on a good Author's note for you guys, bear with me. Couple of things before I get into the chapter:

- I have a discord for you guys if you want to join it, I'm very active up there (so is demigod) and I'd love to hear how you guys feel about reading this story, tell me where things could've gone better. I'll link it at the end of the chapter.

Yorukō and Tatsuya charged towards each other, each of them hoping to land the first blow before colliding into each other and falling to the ground. Tatsuya, more experienced in taijutsu, managed to recover before Yorukō and aimed his heel at the fallen boy. Yorukō managed to react in time, bringing both hands up and blocking his attack. Still blocking Tatsuya's foot, Yorukō pushed his arms forward to stagger the man and recover back to his feet. Smirking under his mask, Yorukō took the opportunity to sweep Tatsuya's legs off the ground, making him fall on his back.

"Kid's fast. Such a shame he couldn't see the truth behind Okiri-sama's words." Tatsuya thought to himself while on the ground. He readied himself for a counterattack when he noticed Yorukō standing with his arms folded.

"When will you stop holding back?" the teen asked, disappointment clear in his voice. "Surely this isn't the best you can do?"

"I'll admit, you're rather fast for a teenager." Tatsuya admitted while getting back to his feet. "Most kids around your age aren't even chūnin level in speed and yet you're on par with an average jōnin's speed."

"You flatter me, Tatsuya." Yorukō replied before dropping into another fighting stance: "How about you get serious and fight? Remember: you're coming back with me."

"What makes you think I'll come with you willingly?" Tatsuya remarked, dropping into his own fighting stance.

"Simple. It's because…" Yorukō trailed off, appearing behind Tatsuya faster than the man could react, delivering a kick into his lower back which made him stagger before falling to the ground again. Yorukō walked in front of the fallen Tatsuya with his arms folded yet again: "…if you won't take this seriously, I won't take it seriously either."

"This needs to stop. If we were using our techniques, this fight would be over. It's too bad I agreed not to fight him with jutsus, but he didn't say anything about collateral damage…" Tatsuya thought darkly to himself before glancing at the tree Aya hid behind. Looking at Yorukō once more, he continued: "Such a shame. I wanted to spare the girl, but she might be a good bargaining chip if this fight goes south any further."

"You done being on all fours, you dog?" Yorukō sneered, his arms still folded.

"Did your parents ever teach you any manners?" Tatsuya countered, getting on his feet once more.

"What my parents taught me is not your concern. Your main concern is to take me seriously."

Tatsuya chose not to answer, opting to dash towards Yorukō with added force. He swung a fist at Yorukō which was narrowly avoided, but brought his other fist to Yorukō's midsection, causing the boy to double over. Not giving Yorukō any time to react, Tatsuya kneed the boy in the same area he punched and brought his elbow down to Yorukō's back, causing the boy to immediately fall to the ground.

"Such a shame, you're down already." Tatsuya commented. Grabbing Yorukō by his hair, he went for the boy's mask (something that was seemingly unscathed during that entire exchange) to try and remove it. Before Tatsuya could remove the mask, Yorukō sprung back to life and landed a square punch in Tatsuya's left eye.

"My eye!" Tatsuya screamed while clutching his eye which led to him releasing Yorukō's hair. Yorukō immediately took advantage of Tatsuya's situation and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks to Tatsuya before spinning around and delivering a mighty kick to the older man's chest, sending the man flying a few feet away.

"That one actually hurt. A lot." Yorukō commented before cracking his neck and shoulders. He began to slowly walk to Tatsuya, the latter slowly getting to his feet while clutching his left eye. Seeing Yorukō walk towards him, Tatsuya began to slowly inch away from the boy, gaining more distance between them. Yorukō kept walking towards Tatsuya at the same pace he was going before, undeterred he was running away from him.

"What…what are you?!" Tatsuya screamed while creating more distance. He tried to make more distance when he found his back against a tree, unable to move. He tried moving elsewhere when he saw Yorukō stand directly in front of him with his arms folded.

"Just your average shinobi. Nothing more, really." Yorukō simply replied.

"'Average Shinobi' my ass! No average shinobi should be this strong, powerful, and fast! My attack should've at least knocked you out by now!"

"It would have, had I not been bred for this life. Fighting you is really nothing compared to the harsh, brutal, and rigid training I had since I was even able to form a sentence." Yorukō countered.

"The rate this fight is going, I'll definitely lose if I continue to fight this kid. I do recall sensing Jakazu a few moments ago – maybe he can help me out in taking this kid down." Tatsuya thought to himself before allowing a chuckle to escape his lips.

"What's so funny?" Yorukō asked.

"You, really. Such talent, such power, such speed, such intellect, such charisma!" Tatsuya remarked, looking up and down at the boy with a glint in his eye. "Someone like you would be perfect for executing Okiri-sama's truth to the villages. Make them see what's truly wrong with the world, and what we can do to help mend such a world, you know?"

"Spare me the praise." Yorukō countered before landing a punch in Tatsuya's face which caused the man's head to violently whip into the tree and back. Before Tatsuya could recover from that, the teen kicked the older man in the side of his knees which caused him to lose his footing and fall to said knees. Yorukō was about to knee Tatsuya in the face when he used a shunshin jutsu and appeared behind Aya, grabbing her and reappearing before Yorukō.

"Screw not using jutsu, I'll die before I let a teenager cause this much damage to me." Tatsuya angrily thought to himself before looking at Yorukō who seemed oddly calm.

"If you come any closer, I'll kill this girl!" Tatsuya yelled while holding the girl by the neck.

"H-Help me!" Aya screamed while kicking and punching wildly, hoping to break free from the man's grip.

"Look at you, Tatsuya. You are afraid. Afraid of me. Afraid that a teenager showed you up. So afraid to the point that you resort to grabbing a little girl – in a village you're preaching bullshit to no less – to gain an upper edge on me."

This caused some of the villagers to talk amongst themselves in their homes, some beginning to question the validity of Tatsuya's claims. Others decided to continue supporting Tatsuya – even when he took one of their own as a hostage, citing it as a 'necessary sacrifice'.

"I don't care anymore!" Tatsuya countered, tightening his grip on the girl.

"Let me give you some praise, dog." Yorukō spoke, dropping his arms. "Out of everyone I've faced this week, you are honestly the best I've ever had to deal with. However…" he clenched his fists in rage. "…all that respect flew out the window when you took that girl hostage." He walked closer to Tatsuya, the latter's free arm beginning to blur with wind chakra.

"Didn't I say, step back? If you come any closer, this girl dies!"

Undeterred, Yorukō continued to walk closer to Tatsuya with his fists clenched so hard the knuckles became white and he started to bleed. The older man tried to taunt him some more, bringing the wind blade closer to Aya's neck. Standing a few inches away from Tatsuya, Yorukō lunged at the man when he saw Tatsuya retract and swing his arm towards Aya's neck at a speed where Yorukō could not react in time.

"Damn it! Just a little closer, move, FUCKING MOVE, Yorukō!" Yorukō screamed in his head to motivate him moving faster.

Before Yorukō or Tatsuya could continue, a kunai was thrown into the ground. In a split moment, a blur grabbed Aya from Tatsuya's clutches just before he could decapitate the girl. In the same motion, that same blur delivered a roundhouse kick square in Tatsuya's face which forcibly snapped it to the side, making the man fall to the ground instantly. Confused on whether this blur is a friend or foe, Yorukō attacked him with a barrage of attacks until he caught Yorukō's wrist and started to swing back. The two men stared into each other's eyes before a faint smirk graced both their lips. The stranger jumped back with Aya in his arms when he felt a wind jutsu aimed towards him, causing him to body flicker from the scene.

"What… just happened?" Tatsuya numbly asked while getting back to his feet, repositioning his neck which made a sickening pop.

"What 'happened' is that you just lost your one chance at survival." Yorukō coldly replied, standing directly in front of Tatsuya. The older man tried striking Yorukō with his fist, but the teen easily caught the man's closed hand before breaking it. While Tatsuya screamed in pain, Yorukō simply walked away from the man to his swords.

"People like you…" Yorukō continued as he dragged his swords from the ground, placing one in each hand: "…I really, really, hate."

"You brat! You'll pay for this!" Tatsuya screamed while making one-handed seals: "Wind Style: Jutsu Break-"

"Go ahead. Cast that jutsu." Yorukō calmly said, surprising Tatsuya: "Nothing you do will stop me from kicking your ass from here to the corners of this village."

"Your funeral! Wind Style: Jutsu Breaker!"

The boy shrugged before leaning into his own stance. With Tatsuya's jutsu active, Yorukō knows he can't waste any chakra on the man, but now he simply does not care. To him, Tatsuya was the kind of man to take even children hostage just to cover his hide. He does not care about preaching anything, he only cares for his survival. This made Yorukō shake with rage as he charged towards Tatsuya.

"That's it, come closer! Not even taijutsu can work against me, you'll only break your bones!" Tatsuya triumphantly thought to himself as the boy charged towards him, swords in tow. Yorukō let go of one sword to land a punch in Tatsuya's injured eye while using his other hand to grab his sword. The boy winced a bit when he made contact with Tatsuya's face, but did not relent.

"That's right, break your limbs and die – wait – why isn't the jutsu working?!" Tatsuya frantically thought to himself. "Why did I feel that attack, this jutsu should be able to 'break' all contact, whether it be taijutsu, ninjutsu, kenjutsu, or even genjutsu!"

"My guess is that you can't 'protect' injuries that already occurred to you. And now for my next guess: I 'guess' that you can't keep that jutsu up for long, either."

"Kid's really smart too. What type of fate did you bestow on me, Okiri-sama? Who did I forsake?!" Tatsuya thought to himself before taking another punch to the stomach from Yorukō. The boy – again – winced in pain from punching the active jutsu but continued. He took his other hand holding the sword and arched it back in an attempt to swing at the older man, but Tatsuya managed to switch out with a log before Yorukō could attack.

"Running again? How unsightly of you." Yorukō remarked.

"I'm going to finish this with my most powerful jutsu, and for that I needed more room!" Tatsuya commented before flashing through one-handed seals: "It may not be as effective because I'm using one hand, but whatever."

"Fine, if we're going to end this, then let me use one of my most powerful jutsu too!" Yorukō said before dropping his swords once again to flash through hand seals of his own.

"Wind Style: Divine Dragon Jutsu!"

"Ice Style: One Hundred Strikes!"

Tatsuya summoned a giant dragon of wind and sent it after Yorukō. While the dragon inched closer to the teen, everything around it would fly about in the air in swirls, including some buildings and structures. Before the dragon would collide with Yorukō, a hundred giant hands of ice began to form over Tatsuya's head, each one beginning to fall towards him. Tatsuya managed to dodge a good amount of the fists before one broke into smaller pieces and hit him in his injured eye, causing him to fall to the ground. The other fists began to fall on the man, hitting him in different places. Screams of agony were heard around the village as each fist continued to hit him until the last fist landed on his head, knocking him out instantly.

"Don't worry. Although hard, I managed to avoid your vital spots and organs, so you do not die. I need to bring you back to Orochimaru, after all." Yorukō told the unconscious man before turning his back to him: "I need to find Aya anyway, she must be worried about me!"

Turning to Tatsuya one last time, Yorukō commented: "You were the best I've faced this week, and that Jutsu Breaker was innovative to say the least. Too bad I couldn't learn it for myself, but I will learn that divine dragon jutsu of yours. Might come in handy, you know?"

Scanning the area for Aya, he spotted her in another volatile area where two more people were fighting. Cursing to himself, he grabbed his swords and ran towards the group. As he got closer to the group, he noticed the man who saved Aya was no longer there, the little girl being comforted by a pink-haired kunoichi. Soon after, he also noticed the other man returning, another man on the ground. With little time to spare, Yorukō performed a shunshin jutsu and appeared in front of the group.

"I must thank you for protecting Aya. You have my thanks." Yorukō said with a slight bow.

"She screamed for help, so I helped her. Thanks for allowing me to protect her. We could have fought earlier, but I guess we prioritized her protection." The other shinobi said, staring at Yorukō.

"Excuse me…" Aya interjected, both men looking at the girl: "What was your name again?"

"Ah, that." Yorukō said before taking his mask off: "I am Yorukō Hasegawa."

The other shinobi's eyes widened in shock when Yorukō revealed himself. "Y-Yorukō?"

"Do I know you?" Yorukō asked.

"I'm Kazuma." Kazuma replied.

"Kazu?" Yorukō said before pulling Kazuma into a hug: "It's been so long! You've grown up to be a splendid ninja!"

Yorukō felt a mix of emotions when he hugged Kazuma. Since their days as kids, he never got the chance to interact with Kazuma as he was always busy training, playing/hiding from Yuina, or immersed in his studies. He lived with the regret when he found out Kazuma was banished from the village, not letting anyone see it on the outside but inwardly searching for the boy ever since, until today. The two broke out of their hug soon after.

"I barely recognized you, Yoru. I imagine since you made it back, you managed to beat that scum. I didn't think he was that strong, but I could be wrong." Kazuma said.

"He was…somewhat strong. Definitely someone to get a good workout on, but I don't think he'll wake up any time soon. Kazuma nodded before feeling a shift under his foot.

"There's a lot that happened Yoru, but I do not have the time to tell you everything. I've been… okay… so you don't have to worry. As much as I want to sit here and talk to you, which I really do, someone desperately needs my help. I hope you can understand." Kazuma said in a serious tone.

"I understand; I have something of my own to take care of as well." Yorukō replied before glancing at Tatsuya: "I have a favor to fulfill."

"That's fine, I live in the leaf now… so whenever you want to talk, you can stop by. I guess this is where I put Aya back into your hands, right?"

"Right…" Yorukō said, taking Aya's hand: "Well, after I'm done conducting business, I'm heading to the Leaf anyway. Seeing as you're here, you ran into Kori and Yuina, right?"

Kazuma nodded: "Yes, but I was sort of in the Land of Lightning when I ran into them. The main reason I'm here was to kill Okiri, but unfortunately he isn't here." He looked down at Jakazu: "Regardless, I consider this a success."

"Fair point. When I'm done with what I'm doing, I'll make it over there, okay?" Yorukō said, extending his fist to Kazuma.

"I won't take that as a promise, but I'll see you around… maybe." Kazuma replied, meeting Yorukō's fist.

Nodding to each other, Kazuma gently nudged Aya towards Yorukō, watching as the girl got closer to him. Yorukō looked to see Kazuma grabbing Sakura and Jakazu and vanishing from sight. He kneeled in front of Aya soon after.

"Aya, how would you like to be my student?" Yorukō asked.

"Y-your s-s-student? I'd love that!" the little girl happily replied.

"Great. There's just a few more things I need to do…" Yorukō said, his tone and mood slowly turning dark as he got up and looked over towards the village center. "Want to come with me, or do you want to stay here?"

"I'll come, Yorukō-sensei!"

"Calling me that already, huh?" Yorukō wistfully said before patting the girl on the head and giving her a small smile: "Well, not that I mind it, anyway."

Aya and Yorukō walked towards the village center where they saw all the villagers crowding Tatsuya's unconscious body when some turned to face Yorukō when they spotted him. Some looked at him in fear, hope, and anger. He brushed past the entire group and grabbed Tatsuya's body, dragging it away from the crowd. The crowd continued to look at the teen while he dragged the body.

"Is there a problem?" Yorukō coldly asked, glaring at the villagers.

"You killed him. Killed the only hope we had as a minor village!" an angry villager accused, pointing a finger at Yorukō.

"First off: He's not dead. I knocked him out. Second: You don't actually believe this crap he's talking about, do you?" the teen countered.

Yorukō watched as some of the villagers looked in other places while he asked the question, some with tears welling in their eyes, and the others getting equally as angry as the villager who asked the question. The mix of emotions got to the boy and he did not know how to readily react to this. Instead, he made a hand seal, summoning a box of kunai knives.

"What are these kunai knives for, sensei?" Aya asked, concerned and confused.

"Aya, I may have asked you to be my student, but this is your one and only chance to back out now. If you want to back out, stand with the villagers. If you don't want to back out and come with me after all of this is over, stand behind me, and I promise you I won't let any harm come to you. What will it be?"

"I…I wasn't treated very well by these guys here. I-I'll stand with you!" Aya said, walking behind Yorukō.

"This girl holds promise." Yorukō thought to himself before turning to the villagers with a deeper scowl on his face. He pointed at the kunai while looking at them: "Here's how this is going to go. The people who still believe the crap you heard not too long ago, feel welcome to grab a kunai and try and attack me. Get your revenge! However, the ones who aren't too sure or just don't believe, leave from the center and stand behind me. The Hidden Cloud is not too far from here. Go, tell them you need refuge and you were sent from the Hidden Frost."

Some villagers brazenly took up Yorukō on his offer, walking to him and grabbing a kunai from the box. Some who weren't too brazen but still believed in Okiri slowly grabbed a kunai from the box and walked back. A small couple were arguing amongst the disgruntled group.

"Why aren't you grabbing a kunai knife?! He robbed us of our hopes!" a man asked angrily.

"I-I don't think Okiri's words are what they say they are." The man's girlfriend slowly replied, dropping her kunai and walking behind Yorukō.

"You bitch! I knew you were a good-for-nothing!"

Soon enough, some more villagers who had their doubts walked behind Yorukō, leaving a small yet big enough group who firmly believed in Okiri's and Tatsuya's preaching with Yorukō's kunais in hand. After all doubters got behind the boy, he looked at the remaining group with a cold look in his eyes. He took a deep breath before folding his arms.

"Now that the ones with sense are plucked out of the idiots, I'll feel no remorse for what I am about to do next. The ones behind me will not feel what I'm about to do next." Yorukō began flashing through several hand seals. "To protect them, we'll be underworld for a while. I'm not the best at Earth ninjutsu but this should be able to protect and keep you guys safe for the next minute."

"Earth Style: Earth Mover Jutsu!" Yorukō yelled, placing his hands on the ground. Soon after, the ground began to sink, bringing him and everyone around him in the jutsu's radius into the ground before he jumped out back onto the surface and sealed off the villagers.

"As for you guys: I'm going to slaughter you all until there's no one left to spread this bullshit. Guys like you aren't just allowed to live." Yorukō said, looking at the group remaining.

"Rather cocky to think you can take us all on when we have kunais, don't you think?" one villager asked.

"Yeah, it would be cocky, but when you're – and I quote – built different like me, a village like this is easy to infiltrate and kill."

"I've had enough of you! Let's kill him!" the villager yelled, the other villagers roaring and charging at the boy.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Yorukō said before biting both his thumbs and slamming his hands into the ground. "I've used this technique to wipe out a village like this before on a mission."

The villagers didn't hear what he said, opting to charge at the boy to kill him. Before they got close, the entire ground began turning to ice, causing some to slip and fall in their backs. Grinning evilly to himself, Yorukō took his hands off the ground before jumping on a tree in the village and made a hand sign.

"Ice Style: Sphere Strangledome." The teen calmly said, watching as the ice formed on the ground spreading to the entire village, beams of ice shooting from the ground and impaling the people running, walking, or even downed on the ice, the ice sucking chakra from those impaled and extending to cover the village whole.

"I suppose I should make my exit. I'm not even safe from the effects of this technique." Yorukō remarked, using a shunshin to appear just outside the jutsu's range. He performed one more set of hand seals before taking another deep breath.

"You guys will melt to the ground." Yorukō said. "Fire Style: Strangledome Melt!"

The construct made of ice began to melt completely, the contents outside and inside the dome beginning to melt into the ground, each skin, bone, and body part melting with the ice. After a minute of the construct being melted, a bronze pool was left in its wake which soon dissipated right afterwards. Yorukō performed a hand seal, the people inside the earth beginning to reappear back on normal soil.

"Tempest is no more. Do what I said, and I pray we never meet again. Let's go, Aya." Yorukō told the survivors while putting Tatsuya's body over his shoulders and gesturing for Aya to follow him. After the two were clear of sight, everyone let out a sigh of relief before noticing that their village, or lack thereof is completely gone, all that's left is scorched earth and an awful, rotting smell.

"That…could've been us." A woman commented, letting out a sign of relief.

"Yes, but it wasn't. Honestly, we should take this as a sign and do as he say, obviously he was strong enough to protect us and kill the others at the same time." A villager noted, the rest nodding in agreement.

"Where are we going, sensei?" Aya curiously asked.

"I need to deliver this body for someone, that way I can finish and honor our agreement we made before I left here." Yorukō replied, the two continuing their journey; Aya as the follower and Yorukō (with an unconscious Tatsuya) as the leader.

And done! I was kind of tired when finishing this chapter, so let me have it if there were any inconsistencies. We finally got to the meeting with Yorukō and Kazuma, while it was short-lived, it was very emotional (the two haven't seen each other in so long!). I hope you liked this chapter, at first, I did not get this story (and I'm the writer, imagine that), but now I'm invested and happy I wrote it. The ending is coming soon to this part, so stay tuned for that. Ancient signing out, peace!

Oh yeah, the discord server I run for you guys who has it: /SpKTm92Pgh

Enjoy!

Next Chapter: Favor Fulfilled!