Toshida Gaiden Part 3: Betrayal
Shin and Kunashiro stand only several paces from one another, ready to engage in mortal combat with the drop of a hat. Just as Kunashiro begins to spring off toward Shin, he can feel the air behind him splitting and he quickly ducks, as a kunai flies over his head striking Shin in the chest and dispelling a shadow clone used as a distraction. Kunashiro quickly hops to his feet and throws a shuriken toward the real Shin who has started to charge against Kunashiro after moving out from behind a small rock formation.
"Nice try Shin, but this isn't some school yard brawl." Kunashiro then meets with Shin just behind the guard tower. The two exchange a series of kicks and punches, both fighters attempting to quickly assess the other's strength.
The exchange quickly upgrades to high speed strikes with kunai and Shin soon finds that he is at the disadvantage. "This guy is unreal. His speed and technique is incredible, not a single flaw in it. He moves fluently and strikes with unparalleled precision. Where the hell is my backup?"
Kunashiro attacks Shin again this time attacking all out with a thunderous roundhouse that makes a direct him to the side of Shins face, sending him tumbling to the ground. Kunashiro is quick to make a follow up attack, leaping into the air with the intention of crushing Shin's chest with a high speed knee drop. Shin kicks up to his feet and raises' Kunashiro's own sword up to deter the shinobi. The ploy works and Kunashiro loses his balance and tumbles forward, rolling out of the way of the sword and quickly back up to his feet, just in time to see Shin make a careless swipe at Kunashiro with the sword. Kunashiro grasps the sword tightly, pressing it flat between his two straightened palms as he kicks Shin's wrist causing him to lose his grip on the sword.
"You are a fool Shin. You are weak in comparison to me and you knew it from the start." Kunashiro skillfully twirls the sword around three times in his hand, bending only at his wrist and then readies his blade for the next strike. "And just a tip, if you aren't a swordsman, don't even think of laying your hands on my blade!"
With a mighty scream, Kunashiro swings his blade downward at the petrified Shinwho has become paralyzed in his own fear. The blade comes down hard against the top of Shin's head slicing him completely in half from head to toe.
"Pathetic Shin, it is a wonder why the Raikage would choose you as his personal bodyguard." As Kunashiro takes in a deep breath and readies to walk away, he notices that the blade seems to be stuck in part of Shins corpse. Kunashiro can then hear a voice laughing at him from the corpse.
"He chose me because he knows I am hard to kill, and a lot smarter than you!" Says the voice, which has become apparent is the voice of the recently killed Shin.
Kunashiro then looks on in disbelief as the corpse begins to pulsate and throb, as Kunashiro backs away he notices a small fuse, light on either side or his blade. He tries desperately to remove the sword from the corpse but before he can successfully remove it, the corpse explodes in a huge explosion and sends Kunashiro hurdling through the air badly burned and bruised. Kunashiro lands against a series of rocks and falls unconscious.
Out of the smoke left behind by the explosion, Shin walks out with his hand in the seal of the tiger. He walks over to Kunashiro, laying prone on the ground and laughs at his fallen opponent.
"Hmpf, my own little twist on Bakuretsu Kage Bunshin no jutsu (Exploding Shadow Clone). Just before the clone is dispelled, it explodes outward, but with my version, the clone can be completely disemboweled, and then I can still detonate it whenever I wish." Shin kicks the unconscious Kunashiro in the ribs, rolling the wounded shinobi onto his back.
Roughly an hour later Kunashiro awakens in a daze, his head still clouded as he tries to realize where he is. He can feel the texture of dirt and gravel scraping across his legs, and the entire weight of his body resting upon his shoulders. When Kunashiro's vision completely returns, he realizes that two masked shinobi are dragging him through a seemingly endless wasteland desert of the Raikou Colony.
"Wh-where are you taking me?" Kunashiro manages to mutter in his confused state.
"Well well well, welcome back their pal." Shin says, as he walks from behind Kunashiro and kneels down in front of him. "I was worried that maybe I killed you with that technique, so I guess it is fortunate that you regained consciousness. Otherwise, it would have taken all of our fun away."
Kunashiro glances to take a quick look at himself and notices the amount of bruises and burns on his body, however there is no blood to be seen. "Hmpf, they were smart in not letting me bleed. If I could summon right now, none of them would be standing here."
"All right, this is far enough." A voice says from behind Kunashiro. "Shin, stand him up."
The two masked shinobi lift Kunashiro to his feet as Kunashiro grimaces in pain from his injuries. Kunashiro manages to catch a quick glimpse of three other masked shinobi standing behind him, and Kunashiro slowly and silently manages to remove a senbon needle from his left sleeve without either of the guards noticing. When Kunashiro returns his attention in front of him, he notices the shinobi behind the voice, as the Raikage comes out from behind Kunashiro.
"Well Kunashiro I must say that you have done very well indeed." The Raikage says, with an arrogant smile across his face. He notices Kunashiro beginning to boil in anger and his smile only increases. "Hey now, don't go getting too angry their Kunashiro, you did a great job. I chose you to take care of this mission for your efficiency and your willingness to follow orders. I knew that you would fulfill this mission without any questions being asked. The bottom line is, you're too stupid to know any better, too ignorant to ask questions."
The words of the Raikage begin to burn a hole in Kunashiro as he gets even more and more angry with every dagger that the Raikage speaks.
"You are just too jaded to believe that maybe something sneaky or underhanded was going on around you. Let's face is Kunashiro, I picked you for this mission because . . . you're an idiot!"
Kunashiro has had enough of the Raikage's insults and his own feelings of betrayal, and he stabs the restraining shinobi on the right with the senbon needle. The needle enters the shinobi's temple, killing him instantly, causing the shinobi on the left to draw his kunai in an attempt to stab the escaping Kunashiro. The kunai comes within a foot of Kunashiro's side before Kunashiro manages to grab the shinobi's wrist and force his momentum in the other direction. At the same time, Kunashiro kicks out the shinobi's legs causing him to fall to the ground hard, and with the kunai still in his hand, the shinobi is stabbed in the chest with Kunashiro's help.
The three other shinobi charge at Kunashiro with their kunai drawn ready to attack, when the Raikage shouts orders to them from behind Kunashiro. "Don't let him bleed! He cannot be allowed to summon!"
The shinobi attack Kunashiro with taijutsu attacks, attempting to subdue him with fists rather then with cuts and stabs. One of the shinobi comes in low with a sweep kick to Kunashiro that is avoided by the betrayed shinobi as he leaps into the air. The second shinobi attacks Kunashiro in mid air, connecting with a left hook that is counter by Kunashiro, who kicks the shinobi in the ribs with a back flip style kick. As Kunashiro lands on the ground the third shinobi has started a jutsu. Ox, dragon, horse, rat.
Raiton: Shuurai no jutsu (Lighting Element: Lightning Strike) A large amount of chakra begins to form in front of the shinobi's hand seal. Electrons begin to snap together in the surrounding area, and a quick bolt of lightning shoots out toward Kunashiro.
"Shit!" Kunashiro says out loud, as he throws himself to the ground in an effort to stop the electric strike from making a direct hit. The bolt singes' Kunashiros left shoulder and he rolls across the ground as he clutches his burn. Kunashiro reaches into his right boot and pulls out a kunai that he kept for emergencies. With a sidearm throw, the kunai makes a direct hit in the shinobi's throat, sending him to the ground clutching his neck in a vein attempt to prevent him from bleeding to death.
The two other shinobi charge at the injured Kunashiro in unison, leaving Kunashiro to try and quickly mount a new strategy. "Dammit. It was no fluke that these shinobi were picked to be the Raikage's guards. If have to get my sword back, maybe then I will have a better chance of making it out of this hell hole."
As Shin and the Raikage look on in amusement, Kunashiro charges toward the two shinobi, with his fists clenched and his arms thrown behind him. Just as it appears Kunashiro was about to make contact with the two charging shinobi, he slams his left foot into the ground and pushes off toward Shin. Shin is caught by surprise and he quickly reaches for Kunashiros sword which has been sheathed at his right side. Shin cannot move fast enough as Kunashiro plants him with a hard left hand to the face, sending Shin to the ground.
The Raikage lets out a smirk as he strikes Kunashiro with a spin kick so fast that Kunashiro barely saw it coming. The kick sends Kunashiro flying through the air and into the grasp of the other two shinobi. Kunashiro regains his composure quickly and manages to grasp one of the shinobi's Adams apple in between the knuckles on his middle and index fingers. With a quick twist, he crushes the esophagus of the shinobi sending him to the ground where he would soon choke to death.
Kunashiro takes advantage of the opening, and bites down hard on his left thumb, drawing blood. Kunashiro makes then starts the summoning technique with the proper hand seals, Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Ram. As he tries to slam his hand to the ground, completing the summoning technique, the last remaining shinobi manages to jump on Kunashiro's back grasping his left arm in an attempt to prevent him from summoning. The shinobi grasps Kunashiro's torso with his legs, and uses his other arm to restrain Kunashiro around the throat. The shinobi struggles desperately to pull Kunashiro to the ground, rocking back and forth, choking Kunashiro and testing his strength. Kunashiro soon falters and lands on top of the shinobi who is still firmly grasping Kunashiro's arm, body and throat. Kunashiro reaches with his right arm and tries to remove the kunai from the shinobi's holster, he comes only inches away from grasping the knifes handle when Shin rises to his feet and removes the sword of Murakakumo from its sheath.
"There will be no summoning for you Kunashiro, and those murderous hands will be silenced. Today you die!" Shin moves quickly to the two struggling shinobi and raises the sword up and over his left shoulder. The restraining shinobi understands Shin's plan and does what he can to extend and restrain Kunashiros arm.
"NOOOO!" Kunashiro screams, as the sword comes swiping down, cleanly removing Kunashiro's hand halfway up his forearm from the rest of his arm. His severed hand flies through the air and lands several meters away from the three shinobi. Kunashiro lets out an intense scream of agony as the shock of his amputation sinks in. The restraining shinobi releases Kunashiro as the injured former assassin clutches the remnants of his arm.
Shin stands over Kunashiros wounded frame laughing menacingly as Kunashiro screams in pain. "Well isn't that ironic. You steal this blade, you steal peoples lives, I steal the blade from you, and then I steal your life!" Shin inverts the sword and raises it into the air, ready to inflict the fatal stab to Kunashiro, when the Raikage stops him from completing the task.
"Enough Shin!" Shin turns around as the Raikage shouts to him. "I have better plans for this man. You did well in removing his hand though Shin. Now we don't have to worry about him using any of his jutsu's anymore. And with his not having his sword, this man is no physical threat to us anymore."
The Raikage walks over to Kunashiro still laying in pain on the ground and lays into the wounded shinobi with a series of heavy kicks. "We will leave this man out here in this wasteland, and let this hell do the work for us."
Shin sheaths the sword after using Kunashiro's shirt to wipe his own blood off. "Are you sure that is wise Raikage-sama?" Shin asks, unsure at whether or not Kunashiro should just be left to die out in the Raikou colony.
"Whatever will be more of a humiliation to this man Shin. That is the path I decide to send him on. No one can survive in this place, and he will die within a few days." The Raikage turns around and readies to walk away from Kunashiro. Before he moves, another thought enters the twisted Kage's head. "But before we leave him, let's have a little fun."
Shin and the last masked shinobi lift Kunashiro up, raising him to his feet and leaving him prone and at the mercy of the Raikage. The Raikage readies his hands in the seal of the snake and prepares a jutsu.
"Raiton: Seidenki Senbon!" (Lightning element: Static needle) The Raikage separates his hands and his left hand is filled with static electricity in the shape of small needles all tossing, turning and swirling in his hand. Kunashiro tries to escape from his captors grasp but only ends up being restrained harder. The Raikage then thrusts the needles into the body of Kunashiro sending thousands of electric shocks throughout his body. Kunashiro can only scream out in pain as all the muscles in his body begin snapping all at once, as the electric shocks prove too much for his nervous system to handle. Kunashiro soon falls limp from the pain in the grasp of the shinobi only seconds away from falling unconscious.
Shin looks on at their handy work and cannot help but laugh heartily to himself, "Hmpf, the static needle technique is one of the highest level lightning skills. The Raikage developed that technique and only uses it in a serious battle. It is surprising to see him use the technique just to torture this man."
Kunashiro musters all of his strength to make a final strike against his captors, but appears to be all for not as Kunashiro can only raise his head to look into the eyes of his executioners. He makes eye contact with the Raikage who brandishes a sinister smirk across his face.
"Sorry Kunashiro, but I think I have had my fun for now. I think it is safe to say that this is goodbye Kunashiro. And thank you for all your help." The Raikage then raises his hands in the seal of the dragon as he has begun another jutsu.
"Fuuton: Kadou Bakufuu no jutsu" (Vortex blast technique) The Raikage then points both his hands out at Kunashiro with both hands flattened out. A large bubble like ball of air begins to form in his hands, filled with a swirling vortex of gale force winds. The bubble begins to push against Kunashiro almost to the point of popping, and the two restraining shinobi, quickly let go and move out of the way as the Raikage finishes the technique.
"See you later Kunashiro. HA!" The Raikage shouts as the bubble pops unleashing an enormous vortex of wind sending Kunashiro flying high into the air and off into the distance more then several hundred meters. "Well Shin, shall we be going?"
Shin nods in approval as the Raikage begins to make his way out of the Colony toward the carriage on the outskirts of the colony. "Yes Raikage-sama," Shin says as he follows suit, "It should take us about an hour to get out of this hell hole, and an additional three hours to return to the Cloud village."
"Very well then. Leave the bodies and lets go home." The Raikage replies.
The Raikage and his two remaining shinobi then leave the Raikou colony and board their carriage that had been waiting just outside the wasteland. The carriage sets off toward the cloud village with the final shinobi guard, the Raikage, Shin and Kunashiros sword inside.
Meanwhile, Kunashiro has landed after his painful flight over the desert of the Raikou colony. When Kunashiro awakes, he is barely alive. He is bleeding profusely from his severed hand and is also still in intense pain from his bodies' electrocution. The fall to earth also damaged Kunashiro greatly. He received four cracked ribs, a punctured lung and numerous hairline fractures to his legs, arms, skull dozens of snapped muscles throughout his body and a break in his clavicle bone. Kunashiro is in so much pain and is so weakened from his ordeal that he cannot even rise to his feet, let alone attempt to leave the wasteland. At that moment . . . Kunashiro can only wait for death.
The winds in the wasteland pick up sending a large amount of dust and sand into the air, causing chaos to all of Kunashiro's systems. The dust storm blinds his eyes, and the sound of the heavy winds' make his hearing useless. As his eyes begin to glaze over, Kunashiro can see the silhouette of someone walking toward him. At first he tries to use his last remaining strength to move away from the dark figure, but he soon begins to believe that the silhouette is only a figment of his imagination.
"I . . . can't move . . . who would be out here anyway . . . this . . . is no way for . . . a shinobi to . . . die. Damn you Raikage . . . damn you Sin . . . I will have my revenge . . . in the next life . . ."
Suddenly, Kunashiro feels a hand grab against his shirt in an attempt to get a response out of him. Kunashiro tries to open his eyes, but all his strength has left his body. As he loses consciousness, he can hear two voices talking to one another but cannot make out what they are saying due to the loud rumbling of the storm above, and the piercing sound of the blowing winds.
The two figures are dressed in dark robes, their heads covered in hoods, and garments covering their face from the sand. The two then examine Kunashiro's wounds, paying special attention to his amputated hand. One of the figures quickly tears off a piece of their robe and wraps it around Kunashiro's hand tightly, temporarily stopping Kunashiros near fatal blood loss. The smaller of the two figures then calls out to the other.
"Father! We have to get this man back to the village, his wounds are severe and he may bleed to death." The voice of the smaller figure is that of a young woman, calling out to the taller and older man.
"It is non of our concern! You were born in that village, but you should know that if this man is here, that he must have done something wrong! It is his punishment and who are we to say that he didn't deserve it?"
"But father you were once in his situation before were you not? And you were guilty of your crimes. Yet you were still saved by someone just like us. Now help me carry him. If we hurray we can get back to the village in twenty minutes. The bandage I gave him should keep him from bleeding to death in that time, but if we leave him out here he won't last the night."
The young woman then starts to lift Kunashiro to his feet, struggling greatly as he tries to lift Kunashiro's weight by herself. The woman's father shakes his head in frustration and soon begins to help his daughter. The old man lifts Kunashiro's left arm over his head and braces his weight over his back while his daughter does the same on the opposite side. The two then carry Kunashiro into the furthest recesses of the Raikou colony, coming to a large opening in a dark and blackened rock face. The two then carry Kunashiro through a series of caves and tunnels until they reach a bright cavern lit by torches and candles. The cavern is filled with people, young and old, with men woman and children alike. All of the people in the cavern divert their attention to the three intruders in their area. The man and his daughter are greeted as they enter the cavern with open arms, but all attention quickly falls upon the new arrival in the village as Kunashiro remains lifeless in his saviors' arms.
"Where is the doctor!" The young woman cries out, "This man is serious injured, we need a doctor immediately."
From the back of the cavern, and old man enters into view. His hair is long and white and he wears a pair of glasses that have been broken and taped together numerous times. He beckons the two to bring the wounded Kunashiro into a separate room that is blocked by a makeshift tarp, which appears to be consisting of numerous garments, rugs, and blankets. The two then lay Kunashiro down on a table in the middle of the room that appears to have been made of rock and hardened clay.
"What happened to him?" The old doctor asks as he examines the extensive wounds of Kunashiro. "He has had his hand chopped clean off by a sword, that much is clear."
Hours would then go by as the old doctor did his best to treat Kunashiro's wounds. He is wrapped in bandages and has numerous splints made out of tree roots, string and long stones. Kunashiro would awake soon after most of his wounds have been treated.
He awakes to find the old doctor and four other men with their backs turned to him, facing a fire at the back of the room. The smoke from the fire bellows out and exits through a series of man-made holes in the rock face, leading all the way to the outside. The fire pit is surrounded by large slabs of stone in a pyramid like shape, creating a makeshift fireplace for the room.
Kunashiro does his best to remain quiet but as he struggles to regain his composure and balance, he knocks over bowl of water that had been place beside him, filled with bloody rags and worn off dead flesh. The site would normally be nothing to Kunashiro, but in his weakened state, it takes all of his remaining strength to keep from vomiting. The sound of the bowl being knocked over gains the attentions of the five men at the other end of the room that seem shocked and unhappy to see him awake. The old man nods to the other four who then advance on Kunashiro. Kunashiro tries to get away from the four men, his eyes filled with fear for the first time in many years, but his injuries prove to be too much for him and he cannot move. The four men then grab a hold of each of Kunashiro's limbs, restraining his movements and preventing him from struggling.
"Wh-what . . . are . . . you doing . . . to me?" Kunashiro manages to say as he continues to struggle to remain conscious.
The old doctor responds, "I am sorry young man, you suffered some very serious injuries. I had hoped that you would remain asleep while we treated all of your injuries. I am afraid that all of the injuries have been treated, except for that hand of yours."
The old man pulls a fiery red-hot poker out of the fire and begins to walk over to Kunashiro slowly. Kunashiro's eyes widen greatly as he begins to struggle to free himself from the four men restraining him. But his injuries prove too much to handle and the pain prevents him from fighting any longer. His eyes fill with fear as the old man gets closer and one of the detaining men covers his mouth.
The old man stops his advance and addresses the men. "Stop! Do not cover his mouth. This man is a shinobi, we decided how we would treat him, but let him maintain his honor and decide how he will receive it." The man removes his hand from Kunashiro's mouth, but Kunashiro's expression remains filled with fear. "Do not worry young shinobi, no one will think less of you if you show fear or pain."
As the poker gets closer to Kunashiro, he closes his eyes and grits his teeth in an effort to lessen the feeling of panic surging through him. Kunashiro cannot help but find himself becoming even more afraid, as the heat from the poker can be felt on his body. Beads of sweat roll down his face, and he can feel the hair on his arms begin to burn. Before Kunashiro passes out, the last thing he can smell is his own flesh being burned by the hot poker.
Outside the operating room the entire settlement, has the hair on the neck standing on end as Kunashiro's blood curdling screams echo throughout all of the tunnels and caves.