Chapter 16:
Kankuro watched carefully for openings in his opponent as he began planning. Even if he didn't have a concrete idea at the time of the opening, it would be an opportunity to take him down and prevent him from rising.
"Any time now." Aiyoru grinned. "I had you beat last time, so you'll need a handicap I suppose. Make the first move… or would that be a disadvantage? Tell you what, make the choice for me."
Scowling, Kankuro pulled on his charka strings and sent his little soldier flying.
"So vulnerable to instigation; I expected better of you."
Concentrating charka into his feet, Aiyoru charged towards his opponent, drifting to the right. Not particularly threatened by the hooded opponent, he decided to dispatch him with simple measures.
Bouncing to the left and forward while extending his left arm, Kankuro's chin found itself resting quite uncomfortably atop Aiyoru's arm. Unable to breath, he collapsed to the grass.
"Holy… Kankuro!" Naruto shouted once the body hit the floor.
"Relax, I know how to pull my punches; he'll be fine. Who's next?"
Naruto stepped up.
"Very admirable; it is your fight, of course. I hope your training has paid off."
Receiving only an angry grin, Naruto pulled out a shuriken and threw it.
Calmly sidestepping, he concentrated charka into his feet and began running. When he got into close proximity, he curled his right hand into a fist and brought it in, pouring in charka as Tsunade does for her strength.
Moments before the blow landed, wisps of smoke appeared before him. On impact, he found his hand caught in a bunshin's hands.
Releasing the stored charka, it burst, leaving a smokescreen; one that, before disappearing, allowed a kunai to find its way between Aiyoru's eyes.
Dead once more, he fell to the earth.
Knowing what would happen shortly after, Naruto set to work on a rasengan and thrust it into his back.
The force of the spirally winds shredded the mercenary's torso, barely leaving anything for the man's arms to remain attached to.
Staring down at the bloody mess, Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Hey Neji, do you think I overdid it?"
Temari let out a noise to notify Gaara that she had discovered something. "It seems that the only way to stop his regeneration is to seal off the demon."
"Isn't it already sealed away?" He asked.
"Yes and no. Like with you, the demon is only sealed inside of you, but its powers still mix; that's why you can still control the sand. A second seal would need to be added to cut off the power. The only way to do that is by adding an odd seal to an even one or vice versa. Aiyoru's is even so…"
"Then we can only hope that someone in Naruto's group can figure it out and pull it off." Gaara sighed, considering it for a minute. "Well, he has a way of having everything work out."
One of Aiyoru's arms twitched, like that of a recently crushed insect's, momentarily before snapping around and clutching the hilt of his katana.
The hole in his torso filled with charka seconds before being replaced with flesh, and he got back to his feet.
"You've improved, Naruto." He laughed, drawing his katana. "Are you prepared for round two?"
"Naruto, take a break. I'll fight him this time." Neji announced, placing a hand on his shoulder as he stepped forward.
"Neji…"
"Damn it, not him! If you're not careful, we'll really be killed!" A silky voice cried from inside Aiyoru's head, causing his eyes to go wide.
"Kaiho-"
"If he seals off your charka points, you'll be fighting with my capacity only. In that weakened state, he'll be able to seal you off again and then you can't revive!"
"Shit…" Aiyoru muttered, sheathing the katana and imitating Neji's stance.
"Instead of using your weapon, you're going to fight me with my own style?"
"I know your abilities." Aiyoru replied flatly. "I can only counter speed with speed, and the katana slows me down. As a matter of fact…" Trailing off, he unfastened his mask, sheath, and geta, dropping them all to the ground.
Neji could only offer a confused look. "I understand the sheath and geta, but why the mask? Is it weighted like with Lee?"
"No… but every little bit helps, ne?" Aiyoru smiled.
The two shinobi dashed straight at one another and began their melee that even Naruto found difficult to follow.
Between attacks and parries, Aiyoru performed one seal at a time. In time, Neji realized his intention and hastily put a fair distance between himself and his opponent.
Finalizing the jutsu with the seal of the tiger, innumerable sigils appeared in the air about him.
"Phoenix Flame: Death and Rebirth." He shouted as the sigils shot out until the area was enveloped in a done. Rapidly, everything in sight began turning shades of red and orange.
The world inside the dome began increasingly hot; within thirty seconds, Neji and Naruto were breaking a sweat.
"What do you think? This is the ultimate power bestowed upon me; if I let this go until the end we'll all die, but I'll be resurrected. Surrender now, relinquish Hinata-sama, and never return or else I'll be forced to kill you."
"This had better work, Kaiho. I'm not going to kill anyone, and this moves needs to use your charka in addition to almost all of my own."
"Don't fear. If necessary, just wait until the heat makes them swoon."
Aiyoru nodded and looked down to notice a small fire breaking out on his sleeves.
"Hey boy, you're not going to let something as small as this take you down, are you?" Kyuubi growled. "Damn it, here; let me take care of this."
The infamous red charka began flowing from Naruto, forming a protective shell, repulsing all heat.
Neji, knowing his charka reserves could not save him from the now breathtaking heat, did the only thing he imagined possible: attack.
I'm finally back!Updates will continue as normal, though not for much longer, as the story is coming to close. Everything might be wrapped up by the end of Chapter 18.
And thank you SolaNin for voting. Yes, he can be such a pervert some times' like why did he know what a harem was at that age? And he's was idiot.
