The Village Of Sin

by Spyderjsr

The war in Konoha rages on and Hinata is forced to protect Naruto as the white shinobi closes in. Tsunade must fight a heartwrenching battle against her ressurected loved ones. And Keinea has a surprised in store for Sasuke

22. Forever Rivals

Chapter 22: Forever Rivals

Toshida runs full stride with his arms swept backward through the dirt and dust in the village of sin, running toward his charging target, Seshen Raiken. As the two close in on one another, they both grind their teeth together before lining up each other's strike. The moment of the strike comes and goes leaving both competitors in the air connected in a rugged shamble of body parts. Toshida's foot planted in Seshen's chest who in return lands a heavy punch to Toshida's face. The two fall to the ground hard but waste no time in continuing the skirmish. They both kick up to a vertical base and begin trading lightning quick taijutsu strikes with one another, block after block, kick after kick and punch after punch, the difference in each others strength fails to rear its head.

Seshen knees Toshida hard in the stomach causing him to lean forward just enough for Seshen to strike Toshida maliciously with an elbow to the back of the head. Toshida plants his hands on the ground and retaliates with a flexible flipping kick, planting both of his heels hard on the top of Seshen's head knocking him off balance. Continuing his rotation, Toshida grapples Seshen's left leg, pulling the limb out from under him and dropping both competitors to the ground. Toshida tries a thrust kick to Seshen's face but is unable to connect, and is quickly forced to block Seshen's nearby left leg from striking him in the face only to have to let go to dodge the spinning kick from his right leg. Toshida changes his ground bound position and lunges forward, striking Seshen in the face with a hard left hand before flopping limp on the ground. The two fighters once again kick up to a vertical base and exchange another series of high speed kicks, punches and blocks.

Seshen breaks the sequence with an open handed strike to Toshida's chest, cracking the buckle to the strap connected to his sheath and causing his sheath and sword to drop to the ground before he is sent tumbling to the ground backward. Toshida rolls backward and gets to his feet only to be struck hard in the face by a firm crescent kick. Toshida flies backward and focuses his chakra to his feet as he lands. However, instead of grasping the ground tightly and stopping his skid, he creates a thin layer of chakra between his foot and the ground and completely omits the effects of friction and continues sliding backward at high speed.

"And where the hell to you think you're going?" Seshen yells, as he gives pursuit.

Seshen catches up to Toshida after a minute of chase and gets himself within five meters of the skidding nin. Toshida reverses the effect of his chakra and stops dead in his tracks and lunges forward at Seshen who finds himself unable to stop himself or dodge in time to avoid a thundering forearm shot from Toshida. A large gash opens up above Seshen's left eye as he quickly cartwheels back to his feet to see Toshida charging yet again. An open hand strikes fail to land on Seshen who retaliates with a forward kick to Toshida. Toshida catches Seshen's leg in between his and spins around 360 degree's to trip the shinobi up, leaving him open for a firm backhand strike from Toshida. Seshen spins around and catches Toshida in the side of the head with a spinning heel kick, releasing his leg and allowing him to regain his balance.

Toshida back flips several times to get distance between him and Seshen before throwing a kunai at his target. As Seshen readies to dodge, he notices a thin piece of kurot wire attached to the ring of the kunai. Remembering their last encounter, Seshen's readies for the next move. As he dodges the kunai, he quickly spins around as Toshida yanks hard on the wire, causing the kunai to abruptly reverse direction. Seshen spins around in time to grab the kunai before it hits him without stopping his rotation.

"You won't catch me with the same technique twice Toshida." Seshen says just half a second before the kunai he grabbed disappears in a puff of smoke. "Wh-what?"

Toshida only smiles as he says the words, "Kage Kunai no jutsu." (Shadow Kunai technique)

As Seshen completes his spin, he is unable to get out of the way of the real kunai that was hiding in the shadow of the fake one that he caught. The kunai stabs Seshen in the left side of his stomach, piercing his flesh and just barely missing his vital organs. Seshen grimaces in pain and removes the kunai without a second thought.

"Well I suppose that was a new technique don't you agree Seshen?" Toshida says with a confident smirk on his face.

"Shut up you bastard." Seshen's Raigan eyes begin to glow as he channels his bloodline yet again, absorbing the numbers electrical particles in the sin village. Yet again, he stores the electrical energy in his cells and begins to convert it into chakra. His body glows blue with the intense amount of chakra flowing through his system and once again, Seshen is ready to fight. He grimaces in pain again at the grumbling of his stomach and painful tremors become more random and more frequent, with their intensity increasing every time. "This is not good. I can't keep channeling like this. I haven't had a fight this drawn out in a long time, and the pain has never been this bad." Seshen shakes off the pain and readies himself in his fighting stance again, ready to fight. "But the pain doesn't matter . . . I cannot let this monster get away with trying to assassinate my father. I will not let this murderer leave here unpunished!"

Toshida looks on at Seshen's weakening condition and cannot help but feel concerned for his former classmate. "His body is reaching its limit. Dammit Seshen, this fight has to stop or your body will simply give out." Toshida rises from his fighting stance to Seshen's surprise and addresses the shinobi's current condition. "It's over Seshen."

"Wh-what!" Seshen exclaims in both anger and surprise. "You think that just because I have some minor flesh wound you can simply declare victory and expect me to concede?" Seshen readies himself for another attack and brushes off Toshida's words.

"I'm sorry Seshen, but you and I both know that your body is not equipped to handle the amount of energy that you are channeling. If you keep up with this strategy you are going to be killed. Give up now and leave this place." Toshida stoically says with a blank expression on his face.

"Believe me Toshida, my body may eventually give out, but I assure you that this body is more then capable of destroying a son of a bitch like you!" Seshen's teeth grind together as his breaths whistle through the small spaces along the sides of his mouth

Toshida lowers his head and closes his eyes briefly before shaking his head and returning his attention back to Seshen. "Seshen Raiken . . . why is it that you hate me so much? Even after all these years . . . you have grown to hate me, to the point that you are willing to sacrifice your own life in hopes of taking mine. Why Seshen? Why?"

"Why? You arrogant bastard, you ask me why!" Seshen seethes with anger as Toshida's words erupt and intense anger within him. "You . . . who tried twice now to murder my father have the gall to ask me why I hate you so much!" Seshen's chakra flares up to mammoth proportions as he gives in to all his anger and hate for his eternal rival. "I will kill you if it is the last thing I do before breathing my last breath . . . before I leave this existence, I will look down on your corpse and smile from ear to ear!"

Seshen charges like a man possessed, focusing his bloodline and increasing the muscle reactions in his legs, boosting his speed to the point that the cartilage in his legs almost separate from their bones. He strikes Toshida hard in the face with a heavy fist before Toshida can even react. The blow sends Toshida flying backward and into the rock face of the sin village, causing a small landslide to partially cover the surprised shinobi in rocks and rubble. Toshida shakes off the punch and regains his composure just in time to see Seshen charging like a man possessed directly at him. Seshen tackles Toshida back into the rock face, knocking him deeper into the mountain side causing a small cave in that buries the both of them beneath hundreds of pounds of rubble.

Seshen leaps out of the rumble and into the air, tying an exploding tag to a kunai and tossing it at the rubble pile, exploding on impact and sending hundreds of pounds of rubble air born. When the dust clears, Toshida has several deep gashes on his left arm as well as numerous burns across his body. The wounds are of no concern for Seshen who quickly follows up with a barrage of shuriken. Toshida leaps into the air after avoiding the shuriken and quickly starts a jutsu, intending to catch Seshen as he falls back down to earth. Dog, Rat, Dragon, Tiger, Snake, Hare.

"Hyouton: Hieaisukoki no jutsu! (Ice Element: Chilling ice breath technique) Toshida exhales a thick cloud of icy blue mist and ice shards at Seshen impacting against him full force freezing him almost instantly.

"Dammit!" Seshen exclaims out loud as he strives to touch his hands together. He muscles through the intense chill of the jutsu as Toshida continues breathing out wave after wave of the icy mist. Seshen connects his middle and index fingers and interconnects them in an "X" shape in front of his chest. "Rai Bunshin no jutsu!" (Lightning clone technique) Suddenly, Seshen splits off into four other separate clones that fall back down to earth, leaving one of the clones to take the brunt of the icy slaughter. The clone falls to the ground frozen stiff, and shatters upon impact with the ground below.

As Toshida lands on the ground, he finds himself under the assault from three lightning clones. The first clone dives in attempting to strike high with a diving punch, only to be dodged by Toshida who quickly ducks low and into the oncoming sliding kick of the second clone. The clone explodes in a wave of electrical energy, also causing the explosion of the second clone. The clones explosions trap Toshida in the middle, covering him with an onslaught of small lightning bolts that devastate the helpless shinobi and the surrounding area.

"You fell for a technique as basic to cloud shinobi as rai bunshin?" Seshen says to himself as he and his final clone survey the smoke cloud in front of them. Seshen grows impatient with waiting for the dust to clear and he rushes into the cloud of smoke, using his Raigan eye to detect any heat source that may be what is left of Toshida. "What!" Seshen exclaims as the smoke clears revealing only a charred log where Toshida used to be. "Kawarimi?" Seshen asks out loud, just before the ground cracks underneath him as Toshida's left foot rises up from beneath the earth.

"You're getting sloppy Seshen!" Toshida yells as his kick falls just short of connecting under Seshen's chin. Seshen back flips several times before stopping to stare down his worthy opponent as he sends the final clone after Toshida. Toshida lands on the ground in front of the charred log as he turns his attention to the charging clone. Toshida kicks into the dirt by the log and connects with the replacements underside, sending it straight into the air. When the log reaches the height of Toshida's chest, Toshida swings his arm laterally and bats the log out of mid air and straight into the face of Seshen's charging lightning clone, causing it to explode upon impact.

Kakashi looks on as the fight continues at an incredible pace. "Nice move Toshida. It seems like you and Naruto have more in common that either of you originally thought."

"I . . . will not . . . BE DEFEATED!" Seshen screams, as he grinds his teeth together and once again clasps his hands together in the seal of the tiger. The ground begins to shake again and the rocks along the mountain side begin to slide down the rock face. Smaller chunks of rock and rubble are actually sent hurdling toward Seshen as if sucked in by some divine force. The rocks collide with Seshen's increasing aura and instantly incinerate under the tremendous pressure of the shinobi's chakra. Seshen's body glows with the blue aura of his ever growing chakra as he channels more of the ambient energy in the sin village into his body, converting it to chakra in his ongoing effort to best his opponent.

"Dammit Seshen . . . you're not going to do anyone any good by killing yourself here. If this was any other place, you would be fine. But the constant electrical storms in this village are too much for you to channel. Please just give up. I don't want you to die." Toshida can only think the words he wishes to speak as Seshen's eyes glow brighter then ever. Not due to his bloodline . . . but due to his unwavering determination to see Toshida killed.

Seshen grimaces as the pain he is experiencing is enough to make any normal human pass out due to pain. As his body's reserves continue to deplete, Seshen is unwavering. "More . . . MORE!" Seshen says to himself as several lightning bolts strike down on him from the heavens only increasing the heavy burden that lays upon his shoulders.

Then to Toshida's surprise, Seshen's aura begins to flicker . . .

"What in the hell is this?" Toshida asks himself. "Seshen . . . your body is giving out . . . STOP IT!"

Toshida's words go unheard as Seshen continues forcing his body past the breaking point. The aura then strangely begins to flicker its colour from blue to green and back again. So fast that the two colour's soon become indecipherable from one another. Seshen slams his hands together in the middle and index cross in front of his chest as his aura continues to build and flicker.

"Tajyuu Rai Bunshin no jutsu!" (High Volume Lightning clone technique) with a puff of smoke and a flicker of electricity, Seshen is soon surrounded by more then thirty lightning clones. "Now Toshida . . ." Seshen says, as his aura begins to simmer down. "Lets see how resourceful you are now!" With a charging gesture from his left arm, all thirty clones begin to swarm around Toshida, surrounding him and closing off any exit.

"So many lightning clones." Toshida says to himself. "To muster up the chakra for even three of them is a challenge. Using chakra to collectively bind electrons into a clone shape is something that requires a lot of practice. I have heard of the Raikage being able to produce as many as twenty. But I have never even fathomed someone my age to be able to produce this many!" Toshida looks around as he can see no possible escape from the army of clones. "Ok . . . no escape surrounded by an enemy I can't touch. Shuriken only work as conductors . . . even if I had my sword it is still made of metal. Even the scabbard has a metal trim." Suddenly Toshida is hit with an epiphany. An amused smile comes across Toshida's face as he looks behind some of the clones to see his sword and sheath laying on the ground roughly twenty meters away. "Well . . . this is definitely going to hurt."

The clones begin to charge and Toshida quickly picks a spot just behind his left shoulder where there are only two clones blocking his path. He quickly turns around and charges head on toward the two charging clones, colliding shoulders with both of them. "With the average voltage of these clones being about three thousand volts, I should be able to take the dispelling of two of them and still have enough motor control to make it to the sword without losing too much in my stride."

Toshida crosses his arms in front of his face as the clones disperse in an explosion more then twice the size of the standard lightning clone dispelling. Toshida emerges from the smoke cloud singed over most of his body and still surging with the electrical after effects. "Ok . . . that was REALLY stupid!" Toshida falls to the ground, his knees and palms the only thing to stop him from landing a painful face plant. "But why? These clones packed an intense punch. He created so many of them that the energy should have been dispersed amongst them and only been around three thousand volts each." Toshida notices the rest of the clones charging toward him, and he tries to attempt an escape. However, he quickly notices the damage done to him by the exploding clones is far more severe then he originally thought as his entire body begins to tense up as if covered in hundreds of muscle cramps and spasms. "Shit! Not good!"

Toshida tries to crawl away, but soon realizes the futility of his plan and stands to his feet using almost nothing but sheer willpower as his muscles don't want to obey his commands.One clone finally reaches its goal and leaps on Toshida, grappling him with its arms and clasping his legs around Toshida's frame as it explodes in another wave of electric shocks.

"AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Toshida screams loudly as the massive surge of bolts render his flesh and almost shocking his muscles of the bone.

As Toshida tries to regain his composure he finds the task to seem more than herculean in stature. "Chikushou! Chikushou!" Toshida finally gets to his feet in time to see three more clones charging head on toward him. Making the seal of the tiger, Toshida causes a quick puff of smoke around him that produces ten regular bunshin replications.

"He's getting desperate now." Kakashi observes from the sidelines. "The lightning clones are solid. Packed with millions of stray electrons from the air. Toshida's clones are no more than an illusion. His clones won't stand any hope in dispelling the clones. He must be trying to buy some time."

Toshida's clones all struggle to get to their feet as well, mirroring Toshida's unfortunate disposition. The lightning clones attack on multiple vectors, dispelling the clones left and right with the greatest of ease. The real Toshida uses the time to get a better angle between himself and his sheath still lying now less then ten meters away. With a flick of the wrist, a strand of kurot wire unravels from inside his gauntlet. He swings his arm sideways as he leaps into the air and the kurot wire flies out toward his nearby sheath, clasping it along the tip of the sword scabbard. With a firm yank of the wire, the sheath flies toward Toshida's open left hand, but the force of the yank and the impact of the swords fall to the ground have lessened the swords firm confinement in the sheath, and the sword flies out completely separate from the sheath that now is tightly grasped in Toshida's left hand. Toshida pays the sword no mind, as his real goal is now in his possession.

"Got it!" Toshida exclaims as the he grabs underneath the scabbard and removes the cloth tie that conceals the other weapon in his sheath. Toshida then pulls out his wooden flute and readies it like a sword in a defensive position. "All right boys . . . let us continue."

A wave of seven lightning clones charge Toshida in an all out assault, spreading out over a span of twelve meters in a horizontal line. Toshida readies his wooden flute as the clones get closer, and two of the clones charge ahead of the pack, aiming to strike high on Toshida's frame. Toshida twirls his flute around once in his right hand before bringing his flute parallel to his left hip and using a backhand strike to the head to dispel the first clone quickly followed by a forward strike to the stomach to dispel the second. The rest of the clones move in fast and Toshida lowers his head, giving all of the clones an intense look of determination as the dragon's eyes begin to glow.

Toshida moves almost too fast for either Kakashi or Seshen to follow as he dispels all five clones in an almost inhumanly fast combination. Toshida's first move was a quick three hundred and sixty degree spin to smack the first clone across the side of the head, quickly followed by an upward strike that stabs a second clone just under the chin, lifting the clone up off the ground before it dispels in mid air. Toshida notices the next clone moving in for a shoulder like spear to his mid section and he quickly dispels the clone with a downward club like blow to the back of the clones head. Toshida dispels the next clone with a forward stab to the next clones chest dispelling it instantly before swinging his flute over his shoulder and striking the final clone on the top of the head.

"Ten clones down . . ." Toshida looks over at Seshen's remaining lightning clones all spread out through the area and counts them up in his head. ". . . twenty to go."

Toshida swings his arm backward as he takes off like a bullet toward the real Seshen, using this time to recover as much of his strength as he can in the short time he has available. Toshida runs through the army of clones on his way to Seshen, striking, slashing, clubbing and stabbing his way through seven more clones on his way to his opponent. As the way is now clear to Seshen, Toshida increases his speed as he charges the recovering Seshen.

Suddenly, Seshen gestures to two clones that are closest to him. The move with great speed, leaning over to grasp fist sized stones from the ground as they run toward Toshida. The clones reach Seshen first and the drive their rock filled hands into each others faces, causing a large explosion in front of Toshida at point blank range as they dispel one another.

"Ah crap! Good move!" Toshida laughs as he tries to stop in vein as the clones explode in front of him sending a mass of dirt and rubble into the air.

"Did that get him?" Seshen asks himself as he uses his Raigan eye to peer into the dust cloud to see a small heat source on the ground. His curiosity is soon sparked as he can here the faint sound of a crackling fire and the smell of burning paper. As the dust clears, Seshen can see a set of four exploding tags laid strewn across the ground, giving the illusion that Toshida's body was laying on the ground. "Cleaver bastard!" Seshen hollers as he leaps into the air just narrowly dodging the large explosion that causes a large section of the cave face to collapse.

While in mid air, Seshen's attention is soon captured by Toshida's shadow looming over his shoulder. As he turns to face his attacker, Seshen is left prone to a thundering punch to the face from a smiling Toshida. Toshida's smile soon fades from his face as he notices Seshen smiling as well. Seshen turns his head further into Toshida's fist causing the skin on his cheek to crinkle up slightly just before his body begins to glow. Toshida soon realizes what has happened and he tries to guard himself as the real Seshen soon is revealed to have been another lightning clone that dispels and explodes right in front of Toshida sending another brutal surge of electricity through Toshida's already battle ravaged body. When the smoke from the explosion clears, Toshida's frame falls limp out of the sky before landing hard on the ground below.

"Chikushou!" Toshida rolls over on to his stomach and tries to rise to his feet, but soon finds that his strength is seriously weakened. He grabs his flute and uses it for leverage as he tries once again to reach a vertical base. Toshida finally gets to his feet only to have to go on the offensive again as six more clones charge in fast. Toshida's speed has become much slower and his reflexes more sluggish as his muscular system is in havoc. He uses his flute to dispel three of the clones with slashing strikes but the remaining three keep their distance, stalking Toshida like a pack of predators. As the three clones form a triangular shape formation surrounding Toshida, Toshida does what he can to formulate a strategy with his wounded body.

"My body hurts everywhere . . . I can't keep this pace up. These clones are as fast as Seshen and they pack one hell of a punch. My body won't take much more of this . . . and I have almost passed my limit for chakra. I still have plenty left . . . but if I use too much more then I am almost certain that the dragon will take notice. And out here is the last place that I need that monster rearing its head." As Toshida looks across the battlefield to his sword and then behind one of the clones to the downed shuriken training posts that he and his father used to train with. "What should I do father? How the heck am I going to pull through this trash?" Suddenly remembering his fathers teachings and plethora of jutsu, the right technique finally comes to mind. "That's it! I have never successfully pulled that move off to perfection, but against clones I don't think it would be a problem."

Before Toshida can finish his thought, the clones charge in all at once and Toshida is forced to use the technique that his father originally invented. Toshida leaps high into the air, back flipping in the process before bringing his hand's into the seal of the tiger while still holding his flute tightly in his grasp.

"Kirigesshoku no mai! (Dance of the moonlight fog) With a quick spin, Toshida's body disperses into a thick black cloud that circles the area around the lightning clones. The jutsu allows Toshida to move freely throughout the cloud that works as a genjutsu, a henge technique and combines the use of swordplay to make a deadly combination of techniques. The fog surrounding the clones churns and swirls like a perverse black witches brew making Toshida's movements throughout the cloud completely indecipherable from the random rolling of the black fog. Suddenly Toshida emerges from the fog unbeknownst to one of the clones that cannot see more than a foot in front of him. Toshida plunges his flute straight through what would have been Seshen's orbital bone had it not been a clone. The clone disperses instantly seconds before another clone is dispelled by a swiping blow too fast to clearly see. The last clone is easily dispersed as Toshida spins horizontally out of the black cloud and aggressively swings his thick wooden flute taking the clone's head clear off. The fog disperses and Toshida is left standing with his flute in hand.

The last four clones charge a tired and angry Toshida with kunai drawn in a panned out line formation. "I am getting really tired of this Seshen!" Toshida yells as he places his hands together in the seal of the monkey. He swipes his hands out releasing four shuriken made of wind directly at the clones. "Kaze no shuriken!" Three of the clones are dispersed by the shuriken while the fourth manages to evade. Toshida and the clone then charge head on toward one another growling and screaming at one another as they charge. Toshida channels some of his chakra into the flute and he underarm throws the flute head on toward the clone just before he leaps into the air. The chakra allows the flute to impale the final clone straight through the chest and Toshida lands the insulated souls of his sandals on the clones shoulder before he grabs the flute and coarsely rips the flute out from the clones chest before it disperses in a bright flash of light.

Toshida then searches the battlefield for any signs of the real Seshen until a massive chakra build up is felt coming from the very top of the rock face where Seshen is standing poised with his knees bent and the seal of the tiger made. Three lightning bolts extend from the black clouds of the sin village and connected directly into Seshen's body fueling his bodies thirst for energy and feeding his ever increasing rage.

"More! I NEED MORE DAMMIT!" Seshen curses atop the mountain as he once again forces his body to convert more of the massive energy reserves of the sin village into chakra for his bodies use. Seshen leaps from the mountain top and lands hard on the ground causing a small crater to be formed under his feet. He continues channeling the energy as much as he can, fighting off the intense pain and fatigue that reaps through his body every passing second. Seshen's body begins to give out and he is forced down to one knee as he can no longer stand and two of the lightning bolts dissipate. "No . . . NO NOT NOW!"

The site of his former senpai going through great pain and risking death in hopes of killing him is too much for Toshida to bare and he lashes out against the young cloud shinobi. "Dammit Seshen stop it! You know as well as I do that you are just going to end up killing yourself!" Seshen does not answer as he grimaces, grunts and screams in pain from his bodies agony. "Please Seshen I beg you . . . let us just stop this fight! No one needs to die here today! Please just . . ."

Seshen interrupts with a blood curdling scream, "I HATE YOU!" Seshen bellows at the top of his lungs, scrapping harshly on his vocal chords almost choking on his own rage as the pain in his body becomes only secondary to the hate that plagues his heart. Seshen rises to his feet again and tries once again to successfully channel more chakra. His aura begins to flicker violently until disappearing completely. "No . . . chikushou . . . CHIKUSHOU!" Seshen rears his head back and screams loudly once again just before his body gives out and he slowly falls backward.

Toshida looks on in horror and his emotions begin to get the best of him. GOD DAMMIT YOU BASTARD . . . I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN!" Toshida's words speak not anger . . . but pain and sorrow as the only friend he has ever had . . . has seemingly killed himself in order to end his life . . .

(Music: Queue "Need To Be Strong" from the Naruto OST)

Suddenly, without warning a large spherical wave of green chakra forms around Seshen levitating him off the ground slightly and raising him quickly back to his feet. The green chakra explodes outward leaving a large crater around Seshen and sending mounds of debris and dirt into the air.

"Wh-what the hell is going on!" Kakashi asks out loud as he guards his face from the flying dirt and rubble.

"I . . . I . . . I don't know!" Toshida responds as he too tries to guard himself from the immense destruction this mysterious aura is causing around them.

Back in the center of the crater, Seshen is as equally confused. "Wh-what the hell is this? This chakra is . . . is green . . . but it doesn't feel like normal chakra . . . its . . . different." Seshen walks out of the crater and faces Toshida as the dust clears. His Raigan eyes glow ferociously burning brighter than ever before as this new found chakra surges through his system. "My body . . . doesn't feel right . . . I'm not hungry anymore . . . and my body doesn't hurt as much." Suddenly, Seshen's hands form into the seal of the dragon. "Wh-what the hell! I'm not even controlling my hands!" Seshen's body then forces him to complete a long and rapid series of hand seals too fast for anyone to identify. Rat, boar, tiger, snake, monkey, dog, hare, rat, tiger, dragon, snake, rat, dog, monkey, dog, bird, boar, tiger, dragon, hare, ox, bird, monkey, horse, tiger, hare, rat, horse, ox, tiger and then into a sideways open faced clam position with his arms stretched out straight in front of his chest. "This is too weird!"

Dozens of voices then echo throughout Seshen's mind as many individuals say the same thing to him over and over again without stopping. "What . . . what the hell do you want?" Seshen asks the voices that do not respond. Lightning shaped energy begins to form in Seshen's palms surrounding his hands with a massive orb of energy. The voices finally get the best of Seshen and he repeats the phrase they have been echoing to him.

"OMEGA RAIKOU!" (Omega Lightning) The balled lighting explodes out in a massive blast of electricity that branches off into dozens of large lightning bolts that intertwine amongst one another as they blast toward Toshida at high speed, ripping apart the surrounding area as it bulldozes through anything and everything in its path.

"OH . . . SHIT!" Toshida screams as he runs away from the speeding wave only to have the blast quickly over run him. Toshida makes the seal of the horse and then connects his thumbs together as he leaps to the ground. The blast engulfs the area where Toshida once stood and blast off into the distance as Seshen stops the energy flowing from his body.

Seshen looks down to his hands in awe as he is dumbfounded by what has just happened. "What is going on here? This is starting to creep me out."

As Seshen survey's the damaged landscape he cannot locate Toshida anywhere. His attention is soon drawn to the shadow that the mountain top has been casting across the ground, now with a deep trench forged in it because of the immense power of Seshen's new found artillery. A heat signature is located in the shadow and Seshen can make out Toshida's silhouette rising from the shadow behind the cloud of dirt and dust in the air.

"Damn you Shadow Walker!" Seshen hollers.

Toshida's flute flies out from the dust cloud quickly being caught by Kakashi who places the flute down on the ground with the rest of Toshida's belongings.

As the dust clears, Toshida stands with his ponytail unraveled and his dark black hair blowing in the wind as he stares Seshen down with his trademark stoic glare. His pants are tattered and torn and he has numerous cuts across his sleeveless shirt and bare arms. His right gauntlet has been shattered and only the palm strap remains with a small piece of the thick and hard leather remaining on it. Toshida has a thick gash over his left eye that is bleeding profusely being fueled by the sweat that runs down his face. His right hand holds his sheathed sword at the top of the scabbard that is firmly attached to a reserve obi on the side of Toshida's belt. His thumb presses down firm on the rounded end of the cross guard and his left arm hangs firmly at his side with his fist clenched. "I don't know where that came from Seshen, and quite frankly I don't care. All I know for sure . . . is that this fight ends now. One way . . . or the other."

Seshen walks calming over to his sword still laying on the ground several meters away. He picks up the large claymore like blade and slings it over his left shoulder. "Agreed. Let us finish this now . . . senpai."

Toshida switches his thumbs position to under the rounded cross guard and uses his thumb to unlock the scabbards hold on his weapon. Without hesitation both fighters charge at one another, their blades still restrained. As they come within three meters of one another, Toshida grabs a hold of the sword handle with his right hand and in a quick Iaido style move draws his sword laterally toward Seshen's neck. Seshen swings his sword down off his shoulder and the two find themselves once again staring each other down in a stalemate as the sparks fly from the warriors blades.

Meanwhile just outside the fire country, the alliance of sound and cloud have gathered all of their forces together and an army of almost 300 stands in formation all dressed in sound village uniforms awaiting the signal to move in closer. The army stands in an open plateau atop a large hill with tree covering surrounding the area. From this point, they are only an hour's journey from the leaf village. Orochimaru and the Raikage stand at the front of the fighting force and Orochimaru's dark hooded subordinate stands behind him and to his right. The Raikage is the only standing cloud village symbol in the group, dressed in full jounin's gear and wearing his thunder shadow hat.

"What is it that we are waiting for Orochimaru?" The Raikage asks of his unlikely ally. "We have been standing here for twenty minutes already."

"Patience Raikage-dono. We are just waiting for word from my informant in the leaf village. He has been on a search and destroy mission all morning, taking out all ANBU patrols between us and the leaf village." Orochimaru then takes notice of one of his shinobi moving toward their position from the direction of the leaf village. "You can understand Raikage-dono, we need the element of surprise to succeed with as little hindrance as possible."

Orochimaru is handed a scroll from the sound shinobi. Orochimaru opens the scroll revealing a small sealing jutsu writing and inscribed on the paper. Orochimaru raises his fingers in a half ram shape, "Kai! (Release) Orochimaru shouts, dispelling the seal on the scroll. A faint looking illusion rises from the scroll in the shape of a miniature version of the white robed shinobi that has been killing the ANBU patrols.

(Authors Note: For you manga readers, just picture a smaller and more condensed version of the jutsu that the Akatsuki have been using to keep in contact with one another of great distances.)

The hologram then speaks a prerecorded message to his master. "All of the patrols have been taken care of Orochimaru-sama. The ANBU threat between the village and your position has been eliminated. The exploding tags have been set in the village and they will be ready for detonation on schedule. You may proceed on your end now." The white shinobi speaks in a calculated and static filled message, letting Orochimaru know that all of his plans are about to come to fruition.

"Excellent. Let's move out Raikage-dono."

"All right then." The Raikage soon finds himself distracted as he begins to worry about Seshen's whereabouts. "Hurray back Seshen. I need you here today. I hope you're alright."

Back in the sin village the swords of steel negating steel echoes throughout the wasteland. Seshen and Toshida continue dueling with one another, the sum of all their anger and frustration is spoken through their blades as both gladiators give it their all in defense of what the believe in. Strike after strike and parry after parry, each attack is negated by the opponents defense and neither individual can reach an advantage over the other. The two break off their attack and take defensive positions twenty meters apart, both men striving for air as exhaustion's effect is becoming more and more evident.

Toshida kneels to one knee, holding his scabbard's end in his left hand and the handle of his sword in the right. The sword blade touches the earth as even its weight has becoming an unwelcome burden in Toshida's hand. "This is madness . . . even after this long of a fight . . . we are still so evenly matched. I know that his body has to be got to be ravaged by pain due to his insistence on using that bloodline of his. Please Seshen . . . forgive me. But I must use "that" jutsu if I am going to defeat you. When we meet in the next life . . . I hope it will be as friends."

"DAMMIT! My body is back to where it was a few minutes ago. Where did that mysterious power go?" Seshen asks himself as he stand hunched over with his sword being used as a cane to remain standing. "This fight has to end . . . or I will not be physically able to catch up with father. At this rate I will be lucky if I am even able to leave this village under my own power."

Toshida then stands to his feet and switches his sword to be held in his left hand freeing up his right. Toshida extends his right hand out to his side and opens his hand wide open parallel to the ground. "I'm sorry Seshen . . . but this fight has to ends now. I will show you . . . the last of the techniques I have created in conjunction with the dragon's power. Behold . . ." A thin layer of light green dew begins to form on Toshida's palm and the dew soon drips off and hits the ground. The dew works like an acid and the ground begins to dissolve around the area of the drops and a light green smoke rises from where the drops hit. The smoke soon spirals upward and into Toshida's hand, further mixing more with the green dew coming from his hand. The ground beneath Toshida begins to crack and a crater begins to form around the sin shinobi as the sturdiness of the rock just seems to break away beneath him. The smoke soon turns to a bright yellow and red flame is Toshida's hand that is soon capped by a green orb of chakra that forms around the flame. More and more energy and smoke rises from the ground and surges into the green Rasengan-like jutsu forming in his hand. Grey and black smoke then spews out from the sides of the jutsu and Toshida takes an offensive stance with his hand drawn backward and his sword forced forward with the tip pointing at Seshen. A bright green flame can be seen burning in the center of Toshida's hand as the black smoke billows out from the technique engulfing Toshida's entire forearm giving the jutsu the appearance of a burning green pyroclastic cloud from the summit of a volcano.

"Behold Seshen," Toshida says as his Ryuugan eyes begin to glow green yet again, staring deep into Seshen's soul as the tremendous power and heat generated from Toshida's technique is evident across his face as smoldered ashes blow off from the technique. "Kissu no Ryuu" (The Kiss of The Dragon)

"The kiss of the dragon?" Seshen asks himself. "What the hell is this technique? I can feel the power of it . . . but there is very little chakra in use. How can this be?"

"What a strange jutsu." Kakashi says as he continues watching the battle unfold. "Almost no chakra use, yet there is such an incredible power behind this technique."

"Since this will be the last thing you will ever see in this world Seshen . . . I will at least do you the honor of telling you how it works. The bond between me and the dragon, is far from symbiotic. The dragon is a parasite that feeds off my chakra and my body. The more chakra I use, the more aware the dragon becomes. When it wakes up . . . I lose control and I am at its mercy. Using too much chakra is enough for the dragon to wake up, but the dragon gets stronger with every person I kill. You know as well as I do what happened at Tarawa Creek . . . that was when I first became aware of this. The moment before death, the dragon's chakra extracts the souls of its victim and incorporates it into its being . . . growing stronger. The stronger the dragon gets, the easier it is for it to wake up . . . and the more it is awake . . . the more it kills. The souls that the dragon consumes allows it to take a stronger grasp on my body. The dragon uses its influence and strength to slowly convert my body . . . into its own."

"Into its own? What the hell are you talking about?" Seshen blurts out.

Toshida returns his sword to its sheath and uses his free hand to move some of his hair off to the side to reveal a patch of green scales running along his hairline and up behind his ear. "This is what I mean Seshen. The dragon is slowly converting my body . . . into the container that was destroyed many years ago. I am the container for its soul. But my body is not enough for it . . . it wants its old body back . . . and my body is the canvas in which it plans to create its newest masterpiece."

The announcement is an intense shock to Seshen as he had previously been unaware of his former classmates burden. "Wait a second . . .you said that . . . the dragon takes over? What do you mean?"

"It means that I no longer have control over what my body does . . . the dragon is in control of everything."

Toshida's words send chills up Seshen's spine as what he is being told contradicts what he had previously believe to be the truth. "If he wasn't in control . . . is it possible it wasn't him that tried to kill my father?"

"This technique Seshen, uses the perks of having your body being slowly eaten alive. My unique bond with the monster allows me to temporarily access some of the dragons chakra allowing me to create techniques like the dragon's claw and tail. But I can also convert parts of my anatomy to those of the dragons. In this case, I secrete some of the dragon's stomach acid from the sweat glands in my hand."

"Stomach acid?" Kakashi repeats. "That explains why the dew was able to corrode the ground."

"After secreting the stomach acid from my poses, the acid dissolves almost any material that it comes into contact with. The rock face and mountain area around here is made up primarily of limestone which is high in calcium. The calcium and carbon that are present in almost every substance around here, and in most solid materials, produce hydrogen fumes when they are dissolved by the dragon's stomach acid. I can harness all of the hydrogen fumes into my hand and combine it with more stomach acid producing a swirling ball of acid . . . and highly flammable hydrogen. I then use a very small amount of chakra to contain the combustible elements in an orb that makes it easier for me to manipulate and control. The smoke, ash debris coming from the technique, signifies that the technique has become hot enough for my liking. This jutsu can reach temperatures hotter than a pyroclastic flow. Making this technique . . . the hottest one around!"

Ending his explanation abruptly, Toshida charges Seshen for what he states will be the last time. His throws his right arm back, keeping his face away from the intense heat leaking out from his jutsu. As Seshen looks on, he can see Toshida's glowing reptilian eyes piercing through him as he runs with the smoldering hot technique, creating the illusion of a snarling dragon charging at him with the intense fire burning in its mouth. Seshen backs up quickly, tripping slightly over Toshida's dropped backpack. Seshen places the tip of his sword an inch into the ground as he stands fast and awaits Toshida's strike. When Toshida gets close enough Seshen channels his bloodline once more and increases his speed just as he swipes his sword along the ground, sending a wave of sand into Toshida's face to blind the attacking nin, and using his speed to safely move out of the technique. Toshida trips over his backpack and his hand hits the ground and the jutsu disappears spread out through the ground and returning it to the ground below.

Seshen swings his sword around only to have it blocked by a partially blind Toshida. The two exchange a quick series of sword attacks with Toshida using only his sense of hearing to determine where Seshen's strikes are coming from.

"Dammit! Even blind he is the better swordsman!" Seshen curses.

Toshida manages to tear up and removes the sand from his eyes, leaving brown streaks of dirt and tears down his cheeks as he continues to fight with Seshen in another intense duel of swordsmanship. Seshen striking high and hard, using his strength and weight advantage and Toshida blocking with one hand, as he tries to get the remnants of the dirt out of his eyes.

(Music: Queue "Hokage" from the Naruto OST III)

As the two continue battling one another, Seshen uses continuous downward strikes to force Toshida to one knee. Toshida fights desperately not to be overcome by Seshen onslaught and Seshen pours more and more of his aggression into his strikes forcing Toshida back. Toshida grits his teeth ad he continuous his defensive with no sign of a change in the situation becoming evident. Seshen finally changes his tactic and catches Toshida off guard with a lateral slash that Toshida blocks. But the strike is hard enough to knock Toshida's balance off and his sword comes away from his front quarter as he uses his arms to correct himself and regain his balance leaving his chest and stomach completely open.

"Got him!" Seshen says, as the distance, direction and Toshida's disposition have become perfect for Seshen's finally move and the cloud nin firms his double hand grasp on his sword as he thrusts forward with a high speed slash that appears almost in slow motion.

Toshida quickly recovers and counters with a stab of his own. Toshida lunges off his feet from his prone and crouched position with both hands on his handle and performs a sort of barrel roll as he extends his sword. The sword tips connect with one another, with Toshida's forces being pushed upward and Seshen's downward both striking with their weight to the left. Toshida's position and his sword placement combine with his spin allows him to twist underneath Seshen's blade, grinding his own blade along it as he goes, parrying Seshen's attack and leaving Seshen completely prone. Toshida reaches to the ground and grabs a hold of his backpack, feeding his hand through the shoulder strap. As his hand emerges out the other side of the strap, all of the energy and form from Toshida's attack suddenly emerges from the ground and back into Toshida's hand, leaving a trail of pyroclastic ash in its wake. Toshida's arm crosses in front of his chest as he dashes to Seshen's right side with his blade finishing its parry against Seshen's, leaving Seshen's mid section completely prone and helpless to dodge the upcoming attack.

Toshida comes up slightly behind Seshen as the attack moves slowly toward his solar plexus. Toshida closes his eyes, consumed by regret, and whispers to Seshen without making eye contact, "Suminasen (I'm sorry) . . . Seshen-kun."

Seshen looks on helplessly as Toshida suddenly whips the backpack into Seshen's stomach with a flick of the wrist and then drives the jutsu into the back pack and pushes hard against Seshen's body. Toshida grits his teeth and does not look as his eyes begin to water slightly just before the jutsu explodes and Toshida finishes his pushing motion and his arm follows the motion of throwing a side arm throw and forces Seshen to go flying backward, skipping along the ground several times before smacking hard into the rock face.

Seshen's vision becomes blurred as he bounces off the rock face and drops to his knees. "Chikushou . . . chikushou . . . Tosh . . . ida . . . why did you spare my life. This . . . changes nothing . . . Chikushou . . ." Seshen's vision then fades to black as he falls forward, passiing out before he even hits the ground. "I'll . . . get you . . . you bas . . . tard . . ." Seshen's body hits the ground with a loud thump signifying the end of the epic battle.

Toshida stands with his hand covered in minor burns, still simmering and smoldering from the technique. Toshida's breaths are heavily labored as the young shinobi succumbs to exhaustion and Toshida falls to his knees, only to be caught by Kakashi who slings Toshida's left arm over his shoulder. "Thanks . . . Kakashi." Kakashi simply nods and helps Toshida gather up his belongings. The two walk over to Seshen's unconscious frame, and Toshida leans down by Seshen's head and places his fingers along the side of the wounded nin's neck. "Ok . . . he's alive."

(Music: Queue "Swaying Necklace" from the Naruto OST III)

Toshida stares down at Seshen's battered and broken body laying unconscious on the ground. Toshida cannot help but feel upset and somewhat distraught as he stares down at his former senpai. Toshida moves his hair back and out of his face as his stoic look is replaced by one of deep sadness. "He wanted to kill me Kakashi. The only person in my life, that I ever would have called my friend. Not a teammate . . . nor one of my kin. A neutral third party that even though . . . I sometimes hated . . . at the end of the day . . . I would call him my friend. And he wants nothing more . . . then to see me dead. And I can't blame him either. I hate this situation Kakashi. I'm tired of seeing the people I care about suffer because of me."

The two shinobi then move back toward the rest of Toshida's clothing and Toshida puts his jacket and hat back on. "We have to get all of this information back home Kakashi. And we need to hurry back as fast as we can. This fight took a lot out of me and I am going to need to have my seals tightened. Sorry to disappoint you . . . but I won't give you the chance to kill me today."

"I wouldn't dream of it. You still have much that I wish to know. I won't let you die until I know what I want to know. After that . . . I could care less." Kakashi says as he gathers up his belongings as well.

"So warm and caring as always Kakashi." The two then leap into the air and continue leaping from perch to perch on their way back to the leaf village, choosing a new path straight through the thunder country to lessen the time necessary to return home.

Little would the two shinobi know, that the home they were returning to, would soon be under fire from one of the most dangerous and determined alliances the five countries had ever seen. Little did they know, the condition of the home they would be returning to . . .