Fire
After triumphing over the 4 strong group, no other squads were sent to take care of them. The burgeoning squad of prodigious shinobi seemed to be the last team that would be sent to their deaths, and so their bodies, like the rest, were left to rot at the marshlands comprising their former camp.
When they moved out, they had lost most of their equipment, Kumori needing to source the materials for a new set of armour and Shi wanting a new, stronger katana. They were cautious moving around, anticipating that their change in circumstance would lure the Order out again, but they stayed away, most likely still licking their wounds after the loss. They kept a routine of moving around, using the underground shinobi rings and missing nin links to source equipment anonymously.
Eventually a year had passed, and then they were sure they were safe, for a time. The only way to release the 3 tails now would be via unsealing, and they would need a sealmaster, and a much stronger team to do that. Either the Order didn't have that, or they weren't willing to disturb the peace just yet.
A change of pace, the duo were mercenaries, but usually only protection detail. It kept them less bloody, and usually safer. On one occasion, a group of infamous missing nin, called the Left ones struck on a mission, yet they didn't stand a chance. Kumori and Shi got a lot of (unwanted) fame after, which had the side effect of making their lives more dangerous. The bounty hunters sent after their appearances by villages suspicious of new power and other mercenaries alike would compromise the safety of their escorts anyway, so they soon had to go back to assassinations.
…
"Have I ever told you how dumb it is to make guns, here?"
Kumori looked at his partner, finger on the trigger of a long-barrelled rifle, interlocked mechanisms containing a high calibre bullet, the round on the inside inscribed with sealing script.
"No, and why?"
Shi looked back, taking his eyes away from a set of black rimmed binoculars.
"Well, everyone who got reincarnated is going to know as soon as the weapons get seen. Factor in the relative weakness of the thing and it seems to be pretty useless, a pretty bad deal for the attention you would get."
"Well, it was made as a way to give Rain a lot of power pretty quickly. Guns are ineffective, yes, but only at a pretty high level, and you've seen my fixes to that problem" Kumori answered, motioning to his weapon.
"Oh yeah. I forgot you were once Mr High and Mighty, Leader of rain and herald of a new era. If I was leading, I'd just give everyone katanas, and get strong that way."
"So, you just like katanas more, that's it?"
"Katanas are better than your oversized-"
Then a shot echoed, interrupting Shi.
"Well, target's dead. We're done here."
Shi looked at his teacher again, faced unimpressed.
"Katanas are still cooler"
…
They kept underground. Kumori still had both Stone and Lightning trying to cut off his balls and feed them to him after his misadventures, and Shi would always be in high demand due to his jiinjuriki status. Neither wanted their face to be a common commodity, so they employed aliases and masks and henges and a shadowy cloak of bullshit and half-truths.
Spies existed, some fanatically loyal, some comedically corrupt. If Kumori ever saw Jiraiya, he would be forced to kill him or run with his tail between his legs. Shi would be fine as long as nobody recognised him. The boy had learnt to be an adept shinobi, the rough marble of attempted subterfuge chipped away to become hatched plots and whispers in the wind.
Truth be told, Kumori was no longer his teacher, but his near equal. He had more experience, but Shi had more brute strength, and they had reached a level where that mattered. If the two worked together, they would be able to kill the 3rd Hokage. It would be a hard fight, but they wouldn't even lose any limbs.
They felt unstoppable.
…
Another year passed, and an underground web of faux links and dead ends let Kumori and Shi take a hold of their own little sector of intelligence. Drunk shinobi and loose tongues with a side of corrupt shinobi and looser pockets led to a dish rich with information. They kept ahead of the war, and led astray any bounty hunter attempting to employ them with a debt they would never have to pay without their heads as recompense. It had been Shi's idea, Kumori too paranoid and ambition burnt up after his goals had been cut off.
One day, he was asked about this by Shi.
"Well, honestly, I can't blame them. I was a loose cannon, I was a megalomaniac, and I was their best bet for the future. How would you feel if the person paving the path forward was the same as you were opposed to. They loved the Leaf, wanted peace to imitate it rather than perfect it, become vassals and pawns of the Hokage, and spend their lives irrelevant. It's genius, and I mean that. It really, was the only way to attain peace, that being ignoring war. Yet it's the cowards way out."
He grabbed a pipe he had picked up at a market nestled deep north in Stone territory from some indigenous peoples from which the Stone clans that controlled the village had originated from, placed some powdered herb into, lighting the end with fire chakra and taking a puff, exhaling with a sigh as the smoke trailed in the air in front. Then he continued.
"I envy their cowardice just as I despise it. That ability to forsake what was important, to give it all up, is befitting of a ninja, yet I never wanted to be a ninja. A warrior, a king, alive, yes, but never living to be used by the rich, never selling your soul for useless power. I haven't been back to Rain. I want to go. Every time I think on them, I am filled with the greatest hatred, yet the strangest nostalgia. I want to see what cost my death."
Yet they stayed away. It wasn't really fear, but more apathy. They explored the world, seeing so many different parts, and cultures. It was their happiest days of their second lives. The highest cliffs you have ever seen, wind harsher and more powerful than gods, peaks that stretched above the sky and waves wider than the coasts they batter.
Sometimes there was death. The Third Shinobi War was in full swing, and destruction was as common as mercy. Craters of dead, unmarked graves and unburied marks. It was a reminder that for all the beauty the world offered, there was equal hell to the heaven.
…
Kumori continued to investigate his link to the nebulous 'flow of battle', as he called it. Shi had told Kumori he had no idea what he was talking about, so Kumori looked elsewhere. Killing intent is a powerful yet mysterious force, becoming increasingly effective the stronger the emitter was, yet less intense the stronger the receiver was. Somehow, killing intent managed to know how strong the fighter wielding it was. Kumori hypothesised, that the more fights you win, the more experience you have, the greater control you have of your intent, and how others intent affects you.
Interesting, he thought, that both this 'flow of battle' and 'killing intent' both came from nothing and were received as if by magic. Kumori needed to do more research, yet it seemed true to him that these two things were linked. They had a common factor, that hopefully, he could exploit. He had already keyed the ability into his kit, presenting itself as a great boon in his and Shi's daily spars.
It worked as if he had some ability to predict the future, yet not. He wasn't just predicting what his opponent would do, but also what the best option was for himself. Via some probabilistic impossibility, by centring himself and understanding where the battle was heading, he could find the best possible option for the exact option his opponent would choose. It didn't make him invincible though, as he still needed to find an opponent's weaknesses himself. That process of analysis and understanding wasn't a part of the ability, neither was the skills he needed to beat them or the experience in combat he had.
If a fighter took him by surprise, it was useless. He had to depend on himself to make the most of the possible openings and take advantage of his opponents. Whilst very powerful, it needed work to function optimally.
Shi had continued to train his body, spirit, mind and blade. His touted end goal was to be able to fight forever, which, considering his jiinjuriki regenerative prowess, got closer and closer every day. He had also communicated with Isobu over the past years, coming to not and agreement, but more of an understanding.
…
"You ever think about your past life?"
The question was asked as if an afterthought, Shi speaking with his mouth half full, muffling the sound, and Kumori sitting across from him, both sat at a sushi stand. As always, Kumori had planted a modified seal, changing any of their words into unintelligible messes to fight off potential eavesdroppers. Kumori knew however, that Shi wanted an important answer to an important question, so he swallowed his roll, and though for a moment.
"I don't think it matters. You shouldn't be defined by who you used to be. All that should matter is who you want to be."
Shi looked perplexed for a second. "Aren't they linked though? Like how I used to be lead to me becoming my current self."
"It is more advice on how you should think. We shouldn't judge a person if they were a saint or sinner in the past, all that matters is who they are now."
Shi scoffed at that. Looking away in amusement. "Come on, don't try to tell me you wouldn't kill a guy if he raped somebody in his past life."
Kumori took the information in, then stretched him arms behind his back. They were sore after the journey after all.
"Well yeah, I would strangle the guy with his own intestines, but I never said I was a moral man."
He said, grinning at Shi as they laughed together.
"Ok, yours done, now mine. What do you want your life to lead to?"
The jinjuriki calmed down, then looked the same way, lost in thought.
"Don't laugh, I'll kill you if you do, but I want to create peace."
The expression he received was not one of ridicule, but one of consideration and intrigue.
"You're not one of those people who think 'Naruto-sama' is the only way to peace, right?"
"God no, if any jinjuriki is going to save the world it's gonna be me, not some child of prophecy bullshit. I know I'm not a hero, and I'm self-aware enough to know it's selfish, but I don't care."
Shi put the last piece of sushi in his mouth, chewing and finishing before continuing.
"Plus, as grumpy as Isobu is, he wants some measure of piece. Mainly he wants us to stop killing each other, but whatever."
"Is he willing to help you with that?"
In response, he grinned. "We'll see."
…
Rain was still out.
Cloud wanted Kumori dead.
Mist wanted Shi.
And the Leaf weeded out enemy spies like no other, their loyalty to their land eclipsing that to their own troops (or provincial allies).
Obviously they couldn't go back to Stone territory. Kumori had a bounty bigger than most country's GDP's on his head after the 'Stone village massacre', and no matter how complacent the village itself was in their deaths, Kumori still had the blood of so many's family members on his hands. He didn't feel guilty, more angry. Foolishness didn't grip him with a vice enough for his woes to manifest in a self-hatred for the self he was forced to defend, so he focused the intense feelings he had into a rage instead.
One day Kumori feared what that rage could do when he got the chance to release it.
They were then, paradoxically the safest in Grass, set up in a little-known town called Sendai. Despite being the centre point for the war, Grass allowed some protection against bounty hunters as opposed to the more neutral countries, and the reduced influence all sides had here meant they could hide much better, and getting discovered had little consequence, hard and long fights fuelling an apathy to anything that isn't directly the enemy for either side involved.
He and Shi had split up and went to contact two individual links they had to the underground that they had planned to meet up with. They wanted more information on the Order, and they had to start somewhere. They hadn't told them anything yet, they weren't complete idiots, but they did ask for a meeting. It had the risk of splitting them up but in the long run separating the two would be better, keep things simpler.
As Kumori walked closer, boots moving silently across the dirt path, overshadowed by the buildings creating the alley, his destination, he inspected his person. Almost all of his clothing contained containment seals, but for use in combat they had to be minimal. You didn't want them to overlap, lest you have 5 swords and a log dropped on you mid combat. His newest armour was the lightest one yet, the metal fibres creating it allowing flexibility as befits a proper shinobi, yet keeping form with microscopic seals inscribed on the silver fabric woven into the material. The alloy, strong and intricate as it was, was created by seals as well, a spider like construct through which chakra would be fed through, allowing it to take in any supplied molten metal and forge it into anything you would like, as well as inscribing seals automatically. It still took a while, but it gave him yet another advantage, and he wasn't one to desert the possibility of power when it presented itself.
He was masked. He didn't want to reveal his identity to his contact and henges didn't work at a certain level. He was definitely a much better shinobi than the one in front of him, yet he didn't want to destroy trust and demonstrate his power just yet. He would keep that for later.
As he neared the contact, he noticed the rapid moving of his eyes, the general feeling of the alley, and the darkness that proliferated some corners. Kumori and Shi had handpicked the rendezvous, and knew where the blind spots were. The fact that they were larger than he remembered tipped him off. It was a trap, and he was in the middle of it.
He took note of all the possible routes of escape, those darkened spots, the eyes of his contact flickering, and moved.
His body flicker moved faster than the eye could see, it ending with a kunai sunk into his target's throat, his motion through the alley obscuring the explosive notes he had spread out behind him, now sequentially detonating and demolishing those hidden places. Running up his mark's torso into the air, he turned as 3 foes stabbed their weapons into his flesh platform, leaving the middlemost vulnerable to a headshot courtesy of a new 7 round revolver, high calibre sinking into flesh and rending bone with ease, a red explosion splattering their allies as they scattered, Kumori only nailing the remainder with a shot to the shoulder.
Mid-air, Kumori scanned the buildings around, catching a flash of steel and an accompanying flurry of shuriken from a dark lit apartment, then catching the flurry again with an iconic scythe and chain, shooting the head out with a gunpowdered seal, rocketing the blade through the door to the balcony and into a target, where Kumori zipped himself forward using the chain and seal, legs both crashing through the balcony and into the impaled foe, Kumori removing the weapon and wrapping it around the now surprised room of shinobi, sharp head carving through limbs and body with ease, perpendicular to Kumori's motion in a cyclone of blood red wind and steel, a bloody tornado as he pursued the near dead body of the balcony sniper, still flying through the air, both of them coming out the building to the other side, all those behind dead. Jumping above the target, Kumori recognized a hint of fear as they saw the chain come down, before splitting them in half.
Landing in a roll in a now redder garden, Kumori focused himself, feeling for the easiest option to pursue. Shi was far away, but he could handle himself. He needed to take care of those pursuing him first.
He started by ducking under a horizontal swipe from a sword, then flipping away, launching shuriken as he retreated the 3 new targets, rushing towards a fence then somersaulting over it whilst throwing a kunai equipped with an explosive note. As expected, the sword fighter leapt over and was blown forward by the explosion, colliding with Kumori's knee, before having his neck snapped after being grabbed by Kumori. Leaning down to collect the sword, Kumori rushed forward, blocking the other two kunoichi's kunai, a flurry of strikes, until kumori flipped of the rightmost's face, aiming the sword and launching it like a spear mid-air, impaling her face on impact. Kumorj, still in the air, spotted reinforcements on a roof in front, and unsealed a wooden plank, pushing of it, sliding into a nearby house and unsealing a high-powered sniper rifle, aiming and firing at the last remaining kunoichi, caving her chest in with one shot.
He changed position to a window nearby as the inhabitants of the house rushed out in fear, the scope aimed at a tall bald guy in the front. He fired, but a magnetic field diverted it. Frustrated but far from defeated Kumori sealed the rifle, unsealed a revolver, dived through the front door, ran the chamber through some dirt, then fired a dirt bullet at the man. The first pierced his eye but didn't kill, the field destabilizing the bullet. Another went to the same eye, and the man's head exploded.
The rest of the group was still well through, Kumori forced to roll out the way of a fire ball enhanced by a wind bullet, the flames wiping out the doorway. Silence fell as Kumori stood, his view obscured by the orange monster consuming the wooden walls. He unsealed a semi-automatic shotgun, appearance similar to a SPAS-12, then neared a wall as he walked through the hallway slowly. Then he stopped, as a katana pierced the wall in front, two shells tearing a hole through the thin walls and the ninja behind as he unloaded a vicious attack, twin blasts like two wolves fierce.
Rushing up the side of the wall, flipping over a railing to get to the second floor form the first, Kumori came across two interlopers attempting to flank him, him responding with a blast to scatter them into two separate rooms, then spawning a clone to go right where he went left.
He came into a rundown room, rolling under a powerful elbow blow as he entered, a large, tanned man rushing after him to try and punt him. Kumori blocked the blow with his gun, then moved the limb to the side as he aimed at the man, shot blasting his head off, but only chakra dissipating. Looking for where the original was, Kumori was surprised by a smaller version of the man charging at him again, before twirling around 3 of Kumori's shots with surprising speed. Kumori retreated to the back of the room, waiting as the ninja jumped at him with a fist out faster than his gun could respond to. Fortunately, as he had been directed to by the flow of combat, his clone had shot their own shell through their charge through the wall in front, into the man, stunning him with tiny pellets as kumori grabbed his head with one hand, slamming him into the floor, then with the other, fired the final shell at the man's torso, just as they shrunk even smaller, the shot still hitting the man, killing him instantly. The weak floor however had become too unstable, and Kumori dropped through the newly made hole, surrounded by new opponents.
A moment passed between the first attack and the supposed impact where Kumori stopped, and focused, and knew what to do. He grabbed the fist incident to his face, pulling it and it's owner towards him, then swinging them through a nearby wall, dust blowing from the new hole, as Kumori turned blocking the two jabs thrown by two enemies, Kumori responding by smashing the right hand man with a left hand haymaker, then slamming fists, and legs into the other one, until he was against a wall, where Kumori smashed a barrage of dozens of fists into the man's chest, collapsing it, making the man's lungs well up and flood with an oxygen rich red fuel, before his corpse vomited it out.
A ninja jumped at him from behind so Kumori uppercut him higher into the air, then grabbed his leg, slamming him into the floor, then crushed the foes' neck with his boot. The one from earlier, taken out by a haymaker had climbed up a sink, propping himself up, before Kumori dashed close, taking their head and slamming it against the counter.
1
2
3
4
5!
And Kumori let him go.
Then he looked up and saw the final man, covered in dust and wall from earlier, stepping back with trepidation. Kumori breathed for a second, the man saw vulnerability, and charged, then a kunai went into his kneecap, Kumori rushing, a palm strike crushing his upper clavicle, a kidney punch rupturing said organ, a right knee into the man's stomach, followed with an elbow straight into their nose, the same arm unfolding to whip against their temple, then a uppercut with the same arm again, crashing through ribs before Kumori spinned, allowing him to unleash a side kick and launch the now dead body through the door, tearing it off its hinges with the force exerted.
Covered in blood and dirt, his clone dispelled after killing the Kunoichi, and the house burning behind him, Kumori emerged on the main road through the town, aiming to link up with Shi and assist him with his own bullshit, when he saw an army of shinobi blocking the way, headbands from different villages, bodies of all types represented, Genjutsu's slamming into him with the silence of the situation.
There could have been 200 people on that road, and a hundred more on their way.
The message?
Flee and we will not pursue.
Kumori unsealed his scythe, and tapped into the flow of combat, understanding the movement of the entire group.
Because Kumori Dokusei is not fool enough to desert his friend.
The two sides rushed at one another.
Kumori swiped his chain.
The front line caved in, a grotesque show of blood, guts, gore and pain. A mini fountain of blood was the signal shot to an almost eldritch origin of a new blood bath, caused by a new god, at least to them.
Then he prepared the next swing.
…
Shi swung his katana to the left, metal blade arching through flesh, quickly carving through a shinobi as Shi dashed to his next charge, parrying a weak dagger's thrust with a swipe of his sword, knocking it out of the way as Shi slashed down, carving a line through the man's torso, obliterating vital organs with the force of the blow. He stepped back as 6 spikes rose intent on impaling him, Shi slashing horizontally to stop their advance as with his now free hand he started the hand signs, made for a newly spotted enemy. The earth style kunoichi spotted the turn in focus, and panicking, mad a stone wall from the paved dirt from beneath blocking any attack from the two that went above the ground. However, that ignored the fact that Shi was a jiinjuriki, and so the wall was destroyed by a flurry of metre long water senbon turned spears, sweltering with added chakra, water stained red as it Peirced the kunoichi's lithe body.
Body soaked with battle earnt ichor, evidence of brutality and skill, Shi left the thin street alley he had been stuck in, dead bodies of would-be assassins at his feet, leaking with a life's liquid now rendered useless for anything except the sustenance of lesser beings, those who feed of what they cannot kill. He calmly walked, senses stretched out, as he came into a deserted market area, food scattered on the floor, as well as shuriken nailed into the floor as if a fight had happened earlier, yet no bodies or blood to be seen.
Venturing further still, Shi spotted a crumbled wall, and a silhouette in the shadows of the building, obscured. Shi grabbed 3 kunai he had liberated from 'willing donators' and launched them at the figure, yet before they could hit them the wall reformed from its broken state, the broken plaster coming together and creating a block for the kunai, stopping them in place.
Shi then heard nothing but silence, and the gears of his minds turning. This enemy felt different, more focused and prepared. Also, he had no fucking clue what that ability was, so that meant it was dangerous. Sword out in his right hand, seals for a water wall done in his left, Shi crept with silent footsteps, walking with a due pace and inherent paranoia, eyes flickering left and right, up and down, looking for any sign of an attack. Suddenly, from the ground, a fan of 3 shuriken picked up, flying towards Shi, speed such that he barely had enough time to avoid the attack, the stars slicing thin lines into his flesh. However, when trying to pinpoint the origin of the fan, another levitated of the ground, heading into Shi's back, sticking into his body. A final fan came, and Shi flipped over this one, pain clouding and focusing his mind at the same time paradoxically, him looking at the path of the weapons in front, seeing a white-haired man in a body suit, leather harnesses draped over his body, tools of war strapped into each section.
They had almost crimson eyes, and a sadistic smile, framing sharp lethal features. The man was lithe, not skinny but not a bodybuilder either, more the build a typical shinobi was supposed to have, but in a more refined prefect way. The fan of 3 shuriken was slotted into his hand, velocity reducing until it fit easily without him looking, almost as if he knew it would happen.
That was just enough for Shi to get an idea of what to expect from his opponent.
1; he had some way of reversing his attacks.
2; he wasn't strong enough to crush him, and he preferred to keep away
3; he was a fucking sadist, and he wanted to make Shi bleed.
So, Shi attacked.
His left hand changed as new seals sprung to life, a lightning strike smashing down at his foe, yet them unnaturally moving out of the way, eyes now crazed as Shi dashed forth, blow reaching as he did his target. A sword, equal the length of Shi's gravitated to the man, finding its place in his hand and blocking Shi's own blow.
The two began clashing, though with Shi gaining the advantage, pushing forward steadily, slashing in a spin whilst launching a ring of kunai around in a lethal rotation (did he hear the pop of a clone dying?), his target jumping and tucking his legs over each attack. Eyes now fearful, he flipped back, springing of his hands as a market stall reformed underneath him, then from it, a barrage of kunai launched at Shi. However, the kunai had been launched the wrong way, blunt end, so the massive number was pointless. Sensing something array, Shi leapt over, casting an air scythe at the space behind the kunai, and cutting a near invisible wire. Then he landed, kneeling back to barely avoid the man coming from the ground with two swords in tow, Shi kicking the opponent in the ribs, and avoiding a reverse roundhouse kick from above from a shadow clone, though one that moved weirdly, blinking too quickly the wrong way and breathing in reverse. They body flickered as Shi slashed at the clone, yet he came a second to late for the blow to hit, yet the foe still looking of balance from the earlier strike, allowing a follow up that barely didn't hit, then the blade being thrust at the clone, yet cleanly entering the man's crevasse between his arm and rib and being held there, unceremoniously wrenched from it's new home as Shi and the clone leant back to avoid a new fan of shuriken picking up from the floor and flying to the White haired man, looking at the battle with intrigue.
Dismissing the clone for its boss, Shi dashed, floor cracking under the force exerted by his legs. Looking to his left, he stared in shock as the clone began running backwards with speed, as if following him in reverse. Shi was almost shocked enough to be skewered by the cloned blade thrown by his enemy, which he deflected to the side as he body flickered to his opponent just as the clone by his now side popped in a signature smoke. Shi clashed with the man's blade, steel cracking under the pressure as he pushed more and more force into the blow, his target having more and more fear pool into their features, until-
Shi was stabbed through the chest with a sharp, steel scythe head, the massive blade cutting across his entire body.
The owner spoke with an intent and strong baritone.
"Pathetic, a mercenary who nearly failed their job. Needing help from the employer should put you out of business"
Shi didn't pay attention to the words, not really, they weren't for him, and they didn't matter because the guy who said them was going to be dead. He raised his sword in the air, intent on cutting the head of the man behind him to pieces.
The blade came down with every bit of the jinjuriki's strength, supersonic speed supercharged with the 3 tails' chakra, slashing down as Shi pivoted, cutting through the right eye of the man's head, blade going all the way through their skull. Then, the other eye, 3 tomoe spinning, glowed, and the man disappeared, as the world rippled around Shi.
The now identified Uchiha stood before him this time, straight dark hair shoulder length over framed glasses, nearly shielding a now blind left eye, proof of Izanagi and its terrible power. He now had an additional ally next to him, looking equally confused as Shi, and Shi had another blade, a sword stabbed into him, Uzumaki make with Biiju chakra seals inscribed on the metal. The Uchiha started walking at a sedate pace towards Shi.
"Shame you had to go this way too. Would have been so much more convenient had you just died a few years before. Alas, the 3-tailed beast needs to be released, and your death will facilitate that. Mirao? Start the unsealing." The dark-haired man said, single sharingan peering into Shi's eyes one last time, before he stepped behind and ripped the scythe out in a diagonal fashion, body flickering away.
A brown-haired young-looking man, creases under his eyes telling of tiredness, walked up to the paralyzed Shi, and started the process.
…
Kumori knew only a few things.
What his opponent would do
What he would do
And that he would win
In that moment only the cool calm wind of peace peaked his mind, submerged with a liquid fuzz of bloodlust manifest and undying elegant focus.
He had not been hit once. Not even his armour marred any mark.
Knee deep in blood, half way through the 200, he had completed his connection to the flow of combat.
This flow of combat was a manifestation of that natural hate, bloodlust, and pain that drives battles, war, defence. It is that in a similar way as to how Nature chakra is a manifestation of the passiveness, peace and solidness of the planet itself.
Essentially, like how Hashirama and Hagaromo before had tapped into the natural power of the planet, Kumori had become a sage of killing intent, like only one other before.
He had found the nature chakra inherent to humans, and had cultivated it, and was charged with it.
So when he dodged, the attack missed. When he attacked, it hit. When he took out his cannon, it took out half the remainder, and when he looked at the survivors, he knew every single fear they had in that moment, all those terrors pointing to him.
He took out his rifle for the last few, a loathsome painting of bullets climbing up a spine as it reached a head, half a clip spent in a bullet filled collage.
He rushed ahead, keen to help Shi with any fight he may be in the middle off yet felt an imbalance. If his senses weren't improved, his self not elevated, he might not have felt it, but he was further away now than he had been before. It wasn't as If he had been moved or as if the street had been lengthened though, more like the world here was always just a bit longer, as if reality bended to somebody's whim.
He put it aside, dashing ahead faster and faster, reaching Shi's chakra signature in the middle of the market, where he saw a massive hole sticking out of his stomach, and a seal script stretched across his body.
Kumori ran.
He ran to save a friend.
He ran to kill the person that tried to ruin them.
Yet he wasn't fast enough.
It took 200 and some people, but they had managed to keep him busy for just long enough.
Shi exploded with chakra.
And the world drowned.
…
They washed up on a mountain. In a scene reminiscent of Shi casting the tsunami type jutsu those few years past.
Kumori got up, and spotted Shi's corpse next to him. He walked over, face blank and despondent, until it settled on a deep frown, and he knelt by the body, two fingers coming down and covering two eyes.
Kumori didn't cry, sorrow didn't grip him so, but it left him empty, took his self, and the only thing left was a burning hole where there should be a brother.
His own eyes looked up, focusing on a weak, near drowned survivor, crawling onto the green grass of the hill like shore they had ended up on, away from the rampaging Isobu, legs deep in their own created water, thrashing around in their attempted escape.
This brat, the one who unsealed the beast, couldn't have possibly beaten Shi. He wasn't big enough to wield a weapon that would cause the hole in his chest, find a genuine sealing sword, and they didn't have pouches befitting the fight Shi had with a projectile user before being caught. Kumori also couldn't feel the same malice, or hate, or power from this boy, only weakness and relief.
Relief?
Kumori sped up a march he didn't know he had started, full on sprinting at them before launching a kick straight into their face, flipping them onto their back, where he straddled them, punching once, then twice, then again, then again!
He stopped, looking into the fear-stricken eyes, his foe, his source of hatred feeding him a syrupy sweet feeling of terror, of whole and complete regret that was intoxicating.
It nearly dulled the flame in Kumori's heart.
Nearly.
He grabbed them by their throat with his left hand, casting a stone pillar with the other, casting a shadow clone to help gather some wood as he tied a chain around the brown-haired amateur seal-er, ignoring their gargled screams of mercy, lost to the wind and the blood in his ears, as they were strung up to the stand.
Then the wood was set down, bundles of sticks and partial logs set beneath the feet of the fool.
Then, it was set a flame. Then screams. The fires could have been said to be so hot that they quenched the flames of Kumori's own rage, mad him see good, and forgiveness.
However, His rage was a fire that blocked out the sun, that burnt the people that are and were going to be, and ever had been from history. That killed and destroyed and ate and hated so violently it was a beast on its own.
Kumori was going to everyone that had led to this.
Thankfully, he only had two left.
A/N: Longest chapter yet, and longest break, I think. Sorry, I got sick, and had to take a break for work. Anyway, pretty big chapter here, though this entire section of the story was way longer than I planned honestly. Shi was meant to get introduced and die in the same chapter, but I wanted to develop both him and the Order, so the story took a different focus than what was originally intended.
This next section can be considered a new saga, arc, whatever, similar to pre and post rainfall, where it's Kumori vs the Uchiha.
Btw, The Uchiha is a new character, not an older one from canon, and an 'SI/OC', so Is the merc, who has bullshit time powers.
On the time fight, I wanted to do a Tenet inspired fight, then realised how difficult that would be to balance properly, so I had it so the fighter can bring stuff in from alternate timelines to let him get a bit of an advantage. Also, he is an asshole.
For the timeline, it's 1 year before minato is 24, so a tiny amount of time until the Kanabi bridge thing. Just a hint, that's going to be a big thing. Also, the Uchiha wants to have the 3 tails get sealed in rin, but why? Something to think about.
Thanks for reading and reviewing.