Mind, Magic, and Sword…wait what?
Chapter 9
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
While Naruto and Zabuza were having their duel, Sasuke and Haku were continuing their own battle under the frozen dome Haku had formed around them. Haku was proving to be quite the formidable opponent for Sasuke, with his skill and accuracy with senbon Sasuke was forced to keep moving lest he lose feeling in another limb, and even with that, Haku had managed to spear him in several non-critical areas, causing minor numbness and stiffness across areas of Sasuke's body.
Sasuke's opponent hadn't come out unscathed though, as shown by several tears and scorch marks across Haku's outfit, in fact, the masked Shinobi received yet another as he failed to dodge completely a blast of lightning that Sasuke launched via a rune spell.
"I have to say that you are proving more challenging an opponent than I expected," said Haku as he patted out some smoldering embers on his outfit.
"Likewise," muttered Sasuke as he drew another glowing rune into the air, "and I can't let you stop me here. Ignis exiet!"
The spell cast by the young mage sent another ball of flames flying at Haku, but the ice user rolled out of the way, only getting a slight singe on his robe as a response. As he rolled to his feet however, he turned to face Sasuke and was surprised to see that the teen did not look disappointed that his attack had failed, in fact it seemed that he had been expecting it…
"Just as I thought," murmured Sasuke before he pulled several liquid filled vials from the kunai pouch on his leg and held them between his fingers, "now, let's fight seriously, shall we?"
"Orcorum tenebrarum," incanted Sasuke, causing the vials to glow"incendio concidentem!"
Sasuke then threw the vials towards Haku, prompting the ice-user to leap back to avoid the attack, but as soon as his feet left the ground, the glowing vials detonated with repeated rapid explosions, the shockwave from said blasts slamming into Haku and sending him tumbling across the surface of the bridge.
"You see," said Sasuke as he pulled out more vials, "I've figured it out. You're a fighter that focuses on speed and agility to land precision attacks on your enemies while avoiding the same from them. Knowing that, there is a clear way to counter your style."
"And that is?" asked Haku as he warily picked himself up.
"Simple," said Sasuke, "I just don't give you any space to dodge."
Haku's eyes widened behind his mask as Sasuke cast the spell again and threw the vials, dashing back in the hopes of avoiding the blast, only to find himself backed against the wall of the ice dome he had trapped them in. It was at that time that the vials detonated and Haku was pressed hard against the icy surface by the force of the explosion.
"I have to thank you," said Sasuke as he drew out several more vials, "if you hadn't limited our battle space with your dome, I wouldn't have been able to take advantage of it."
"I see," said Haku as he pulled himself to his feet yet again, "I must apologize, Uchiha-san. I initially underestimated your skills and treated you as such. To be honest, I did not wish to cause you untoward harm in this battle, however, I cannot allow you to interfere with Zabuza-sama's duel. Therefore, it seems I too must stop holding back."
"Do not dismay," said Haku as he raised his hand above his head, "with what I've seen of your abilities, you'll probably survive…"
"Hijutsu," intoned Haku as he made several single-hand hand-seals, "Makyō Hyōshō!"
The ice dome suddenly shattered around them, but before Sasuke could make a dash for Naruto's location, the shards of ice liquified and reformed into an array of crystal mirrors that formed into a tall dome around the two combatants. Sasuke quickly cast his spell again and threw the vials at Haku, but the ice user responded by jumping over to one of the mirrors and, to his surprise, merged with it, entering his own reflection to avoid the blast.
"Now," said Haku, his voice echoing across the dome as his image appeared in every mirror simultaneously, "as I said. I'll stop holding back."
Suddenly, Haku leapt out of the mirror at blinding speed and threw a Senbon at Sasuke before arriving at another and entering it, only to repeat this process again and again. If Haku had been classified as fast before, this new level of speed made his previous one seem like a snail's pace as he shot from mirror to mirror and bombarded Sasuke with a rain of Senbon. Sasuke managed to cast a quick defensive spell, but during the time it took to erect, Haku was able to hit him with dozens of Senbon, fortunately missing several vital areas, but his movement was still hindered by the many senbon needles now stabbing into his flesh.
"Please surrender, Sasuke-san," said Haku from the mirrors, "I do not wish to hurt you further, but I cannot simply stand aside and let you interfere."
"Let me?" growled Sasuke, "As if you can stop me. I'll just smash your mirrors until you have nowhere else to go. Orcorum tenebrarum incendio concidentem!"
Sasuke drew out two more vials that glowed with power upon the casting of his spell, and threw them at the closest mirror, causing explosions to detonate upon impact, but when the smoke cleared, the crystal surface of the mirror was pristine as ever.
"I see," said Haku disappointedly, "if that is your response, then I shall reply in kind."
Haku leapt out of his mirror again and began to launch another barrage of Senbon at Sasuke, but the mage, being ready this time, drew a quick rune in the air and incanted, "Obice luminis!" causing a glowing barrier to form around him that deflected the attack.
"You cannot keep this up," said Haku as he barraged the teen, "you cannot defend against my onslaught and counter at the same time."
'He's right,' Sasuke thought as he felt the barrier weaken, 'but I can't lose here! Not if I want to defeat him!'
xXflashbackXx
It was late at night under the light of a full moon that found Sasuke standing amidst the corpses of his family, their blood staining the stones that lined the paths of their clan compound. As he stood there, he faced down a cloaked figure holding a scroll in one hand and a ritual blade in the other, said blade slowly dripping the blood of their slain kin onto the ground.
"Why?!" Sasuke demanded of the man, "Why did you do it?"
"I wanted power," said the man, "and power requires sacrifice."
"Then why spare me?" Sasuke asked angrily, "Why me when you killed everyone else?"
"Perhaps I wish for you to grow," said the man simply, "perhaps I still have use for you."
"You'll never escape!" growled Sasuke as he prepared to cast a spell, "You'll pay for their deaths."
"Hmph," scoffed the man, "my dear brother, you won't be able to stop me. Hidden Arte: Corvus Regalia!"
Six jet black wings suddenly emerged from the man's back in a burst of black feathers, and all Sasuke knew was darkness.
When he next awoke, he was alone and the sun had risen, but he vowed to find his brother Itachi and seek vengeance for what he did.
xXflashback endXx
"If I want to face him, then I have to push myself further," breathed Sasuke, "I won't hesitate!"
Bringing his hand to his mouth, Sasuke bit his thumb to draw blood and quickly began to draw a runic array into the air in front of him, "Hidden Arte!" he incanted as the array glowed bright crimson as it accepted the blood sacrifice, "Corvus Regalia!"
As the spell activated, Sasuke could feel the mystic energies surging through his body, burning at his nerves like molten steel as he fought to contain them. Sasuke let out a cry of pain and two black wings erupted from his spine, shattering the barrier and sending out a shockwave that scattered the needles that had been stabbed into his body.
"Inperialis fulmen iecit!" yelled Sasuke as he swung his arm out causing a glowing rune to appear that launched bolts of destructive energy at the various mirrors, shattering them like sugar glass. Haku was barely able to jump from the one he was hiding it before it was reduced to shards of broken ice.
"Harenae captionem!" yelled Sasuke as he fell to his knees, slamming his hands onto the ground as Haku rolled across the surface of the bridge, creating a quicksand trap that quickly ensnared the ice user, trapping him from the neck down.
"Good," breathed Sasuke as he fell to his knees, the wings dissolving away into feathers that scattered to the wind, his energy spent and magic drained, "now just stay there for a bit."
And with that, Sasuke collapsed to the ground utterly spent and praying that Naruto would be alright.
To be continued…