Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!
Xionremind22; Thanks! Yeah, if he knows Lightning Release then he could do it. Female Sai, yeah sure maybe. Maybe he will use the Mangekyou powers at some point~ Ameyuri's gonna be doing some stuff.
danielhaywoodsnow; Thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoy those kind of scenes. I could see a scene between them like that.
raio10; Thanks very much! I'm happy that you're enjoying it! I'm not sure how big it is going to become, but suggestions always welcome, thanks very much!
LezarioFanficio; Thanks very much! I'm glad that I am~ I'll try my best!
ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks! They did yeah, Ryouta and Naruko showed their honest feelings. He did yeah, he showed his stuff. Glad you enjoyed it. Naruko was yeah~
Guest 1; Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it~ I've got some ideas for Orochimaru, and what he's going to be doing. I'm sure Anko would be super angry if Orochimaru does that.
Silver crow; Thanks! Mei might end up doing yeah. Ryouta and Ameyuri will have something between them. Maybe something like that happened between Ao and Shisui here. Maybe Mei could say that. Anko is more peppy yeah~ Haku and Naruko had a small moment between them yeah, Satsuki certainly noticed. Yeah, Naruko and Ryouta had their talk, and got everything on the table, and are now closer than ever. Ryouta did yeah. Ameyuri and Kushimaru came in yeah~ Karin sensed it right away~ Ameyuri and Kushimaru have a special relationship. Ryouta handled himself rather well. He used chakra in conjunction with his blade to make some unique shapes, he's been training with it and we've seen things like that in the main series. Naruko did her best, and got over her worries, joining the battle. Zabuza's still got some uses for them yet. Anko and Kakashi were impressed yeah. Naruko shared her thoughts yeah. Ryouta did his best yeah. We'll see what happens with Gato. Maybe Ryouta could do yeah. Delta could be cool. Fu could be yeah.
GuoYaohui; Something's will be the same, something's will be way different.
Guest 2; Yeah, lets hope it works out for them. They really do care for Ryouta who in turn cares for them. Yeah, even if the Nine Tails did, Ryouta wouldn't hate Naruko for it. Glad you liked the fight! Yeah, Ryouta's got a few tips and tricks up his sleeve. Ryouta knows quite a bit about losing someone so can see it from a few perspectives. Thanks! There isn't a time on it, just when I decide. Thanks for the suggestions!
Brainstorm Sorcerer; Thanks! Yeah, Ryouta's been training to fight people on Tobi's level, while not there yet he can handle himself. He does yeah, he sees Naruko like that. I thought it would be good to put it here, as you said Naruko didn't have that experience yet. Ryouta is yeah, he is kind and honest with what he feels. Those would be cool ideas for team up between Kakashi and Ryouta. Satsuki's going to have a moment in this fight that will show some sides of her. Tobi could do. Yellow's a good choice, I've thought between yellow or pink. I've thought about a few people that would fit Kakashi, I'm not sure how they'd meet and interact just yet. Ao is going to be fun to meet with Ryouta. Yeah, it's going to be quite the confrontation.
MDM11; Ryouta is going to fight Kushimaru yeah. He could use some of those yeah. They could learn them yeah. It would be cool if he could save those people. Thanks for the suggestions! They'd be cool Kage's.
maxbrevan; Thanks! Thanks for the suggestions!
Andrew123456; Yeah, I will be covering that.
War Sage; Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed their conversation! I'm happy you enjoyed the fight! We'll see what Mei's decided~ Yeah, he's growing in strength. Yeah, they might end up doing just that. He might've picked up one or two. I wouldn't be surprised if that was true, it could make sense. The Demon Brothers will appear here. Thanks for the suggestions!
IntricateHummingbird; We will do yeah. She surely is~
Guest 3; It surely does, Ao is quite scared. Hehe, maybe he might be worried about Ryouta one day. Lets hope it does pay off yeah. They do really care for Ryouta, and it could affect Satsuki on a few levels. Yeah, even if he did, Ryouta's treatment of Naruko wouldn't have changed. Yeah, Kushimaru and Ameyuri showed their stuff, and also showed that they understood their opponents. Yeah, we'll see moments like that. Thanks for the suggestions!
Guest 4; Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, we'll get talks between them like that. Glad you enjoyed the fight. Ryouta will have to if he overuses his Mangekyou before gaining Shisui's eyes, so he might be training in hearing, touch and some other sights also. With his Sharingan, it is possible that he could copy their Jutsu's. I could see Itachi doing something like that. We'll see what Mei has decided~ Thanks for the suggestions!
Well, with those reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!
Battle of the bridge part one!
The next day had come, preparations were underway for what was going to happen next. Ryouta could see the seriousness on the faces of Anko and Kakashi, it was clearly evident that they knew this was going to be a huge event.
Ryouta glanced towards the others, seeing the uneasiness that they all had within them.
Ryouta also felt down that he couldn't do what he had promised for Haku. If Zabuza attacked today...then most likely, he was going to be killed. Kakashi or Anko would do the job, while Haku would have to feel the pain of losing him.
Ryouta hated it, he wished that he could change that reality.
"Alright, it's time for us to leave." Kakashi began, and they all went to move, when he placed his hand out towards Ryouta, and Naruko. "Not you two."
Naruko's face dropped.
"Eeeeh! Are you benching us or something Sensei!?"
Naruko complained, Kakashi shook his head a single time.
"No, that isn't the reason. Naruko, Ryouta. You both will remain here until we are aware of all of the opponents and their locations. While it is a calculated risk...Ryouta, you managed to fight off two yesterday, and with Naruko by your side, I'm confident you'd be able to hold on until one of us arrive. We can't take the chance they'd kidnap Tsunami, or Inari, to stop Tazuna."
Ryouta understood the reasons behind it, and while he did wish to be beside Haku, now knowing that there was little to be done about Zabuza, he also understood that he was a Ninja, and he had a job to do, protect those that needed it.
Naruko didn't look happy, it seemed that she wished to get in on the action.
But at the same time, she also understood, and accepted it without worry.
"Yes Sensei, we will do what we can here."
Ryouta spoke for the pair of them, seeing Naruko was reluctantly doing it, but she was doing it which was the main thing for him.
"That's good, then we'll go." Ryouta and Naruko nod, so Kakashi turns to the others. "Lets go everyone."
They all incline their necks, and walk out of the door one at a time.
Ryouta glances towards Haku, seeing the pain in her eyes.
He wished he could say something, anything to make it better.
But all he could do was watch as they all left the scene.
Naruko then sits back, and sighs while Ryouta takes out his tanto, and pulls it in front of his face.
"Seems like we've got sometime Naruko-chan."
"Ehehe...we've been left with guard duty huh…? Aah well, it will only be because Kakashi-sensei couldn't trust Satsuki to do it!"
Ryouta gave a bemused look.
If that's what Naruko thought, he wouldn't stop her.
He then cast his eyes out of the window, looking up at the sky.
"I'm sorry...Haku-chan."
Ryouta mentally apologized, and hoped whatever was going to happen now, Haku wouldn't suffer too much. He also knew he'd try his best for her after the fact, even if he couldn't prevent such a thing from happening.
Teams Six and Seven minus Ryouta and Naruko made their way to the bridge, and upon arriving on said bridge, they saw that it was quiet, a little too quiet for their tastes. Each of them knew that this was going to be the time that the enemy would appear.
And they were proven right with heavy footsteps.
Compared to how they usually would be, stealthy and silent.
They decided to take the direct approach.
Kakashi saw them first, and soon did the others.
Zabuza, Mangetsu, Suigetsu, and Ameyuri.
Zabuza looked between each of them, his eyes settling for Kakashi.
Mangetsu's eyes found the sight of Haku, who's eyes were solely focused upon Zabuza.
Suigetsu's eyes went towards Karin who cringed when he smirked at her.
Each of them showing menacing looks to their faces, while Ameyuri's eyes went over the Genin.
"Aaargh! Come on, really!?"
Zabuza gave an annoyed look.
"What's wrong?"
Ameyuri shot him a look for the tone that she had used.
"I wanted payback against the Uchiha boy for fighting me and actually managing to beat me back! Damn it all! That degenerate is going to fight my Uchiha opponent! Damn it all to hell!"
Anko gave a dirty grin.
"Guess she's my opponent then."
Kakashi's lone eye went towards her.
"Be careful Anko, she's got the lightning swords. They can shock you through your connected weapons, and launch powerful lightning type attacks towards you. Perhaps it would be best with my Lightning Cutter to..."
As he spoke, Zabuza's sword went towards Kakashi.
"Kakashi of the Sharingan."
Kakashi's lone eye went towards Zabuza.
"What?"
"It's just, seeing you in the flesh...I can't help but be pleased Konoha sent you after me."
"The honours all mine."
Kakashi replied coolly, Zabuza continued to smirk as he overlooked the entire team.
When his eyes landed upon Haku…
For a moment, he paused.
He looked at Haku, and saw that rather than freezing as she had done the first time, she was showing that she was ready for battle.
Though her hand was shaking slightly, she still had determination in her eyes.
Zabuza thought "Haku...it seems that this will be the last time we see one another...you're no longer a tool...you're more than that." then his eyes shot for Kakashi once more.
"I once fought Shisui Uchiha." Satsuki's eyebrows narrowed, Zabuza noticed that as he continued. "I recently fought his brother also, my what a boy. Though, because of that, I've had battle experience against two Sharingan's, so seeing one isn't going to frighten me, I'll know all your tricks."
Kakashi began to chuckle while pulling out a kunai.
"If that's the case then I don't mind showing you my skill. Though I will admit that even now, perhaps I'm not Shisui Uchiha level, but my usage of the Sharingan isn't to go to waste either."
Zabuza began to laugh wickedly.
"Ameyuri, you don't care if I fight Kakashi, do you?"
Ameyuri waved her hand.
"Be my guest, I'll fight the purple haired chick. She might give me a challenge."
Anko, feeling slightly insulted by that, huffed.
"Ooh, so I'm supposed to be second choice? You clearly don't know who you're messing with."
As she said it, Mangetsu stepped up, carrying the exploding sword on his right hand side. His eyes went towards Haku, who's eyes were a mixture of worry, and determination, something that Zabuza seemed to notice as well.
"Zabuza-sama, I'll fight this girl."
Anko recalled the ability of Mangetsu, and even with Haku's ice ability, knew it could be difficult for her to fight, along with the fact she also understood that Zabuza or even Mangetsu might try and manipulate her former situation against her.
"Satsuki, fight with Haku!"
Satsuki looked towards Mangetsu, before huffing.
"Fine, I'll fight with the ice Queen."
Anko felt more assured if that was the case.
However, that left Suigetsu, and his eyes were set on Karin with Sakura stood close by towards her.
Kakashi didn't like that idea, from what he had heard, Suigetsu was still quite skilled and could use his ability like his elder brother to become like water, and if they went up against him, then Karin and Sakura could get seriously hurt.
"No, I'll be fighting-"
"Me!"
Zabuza dashed forward, and allowed his sword to be swung down for Kakashi who managed to block in time, only to see that Suigetsu was running towards Karin and Sakura, his lone eye narrowing, only to feel Zabuza's blade cutting cleanly through his kunai, Kakashi's lone eye widening as he was forced to jump back several feet.
His eye went towards Zabuza, seeing Ameyuri, and Mangetsu also go towards their targets.
"I guess I'll have to finish this quickly."
Zabuza began to laugh darkly.
"You're going to finish this in a body bag."
Kakashi worried for the others.
But he knew they'd have to handle it.
They didn't have a choice right now but to do that.
While he himself fought Zabuza to the best of his ability.
As that was going on, Ryouta and Naruko continued waiting together with Tsunami and Inari. The former of the two civilians looked worried, while Inari's mind was reflecting what had been said the previous day.
Ryouta used his Sharingan to see when the enemies were going to be coming. He could see a good distance with his eyes, the chakra colours wouldn't escape his eyes if they tried to sneak up on them, and Ryouta had made sure that there was only one location the enemies could come in.
"The waiting is what gets me..."
Tsunami admitted, Ryouta offered a reassuring smile.
"No news is good news, Tsunami-san."
Tsunami adopted a small smile.
"I suppose that you're right Ryouta-kun."
Ryouta smiled back towards her, and continued looking outside for anything that could be perceived to be the enemy.
However, that was soon stopped when Ryouta's eyes caught the chakras of incoming sources. Ryouta grit his teeth.
"We've got company. Come on Naruko-chan."
"Right, lets do this." Naruko looked at Tsunami and Inari. "Stay in here, we'll go and deal with this, alright?"
They both nodded, so Ryouta and Naruko went outside together.
Upon doing so, Ryouta's eyes caught the people trying to hide themselves.
Revealing themselves, was Kushimaru, and the two Demon Brothers. Ryouta also noticed the chakra signatures of others. Though they were much weaker than the ones before them, Ryouta presumed they were the thugs of Gato's.
Ryouta glanced at the two Demon Brothers, and saw their gauntlet like weapons, coated in some kind of liquid. Ryouta remembered Haku telling him that they used some kind of poison, so he presumed that was what it was.
"Hahaha! I got him! I really did!" Kushimaru excitedly announced. "The Uchiha boy is my enemy. I'm itching to kill an Uchiha, they were legends back in the day, right? Before you were all murdered of course."
Ryouta scowled as Naruko shot back.
"Hey! Don't forget me!"
Kushimaru waved his hand with not much concern at all.
"Even if you're here, it doesn't matter. The Demon Brothers will be enough for you."
The brothers showed menacing looks towards Naruko who scowled right back towards them.
"Grrrr..."
Ryouta could see the anger on her face, so Ryouta pulled forward.
"Naruko-chan, be careful of their weapons. They're laced with poison from what I can see. One scratch and you could be done for."
"Right...you got wire guy?"
Ryouta nodded, showing his tanto to Kushimaru.
"I'll handle this one."
Naruko believed in Ryouta, so she turned her attention back towards the Demon Brothers.
Ryouta first of all knew that Kushimaru would be dangerous, so he would force Kushimaru away from Naruko and the house in case he tried to use his wires to cut down the others, so he started by shooting off a large fireball towards his target.
Kushimaru scowled and jumped back, as the fireball suddenly split up into several ones that went towards him.
"Tricky kid. Try and get by this."
Kushimaru took his blade, and tossed it forward, allowing the wire to come to form a protective barrier.
"So that's his tactic huh...alright, I'll not allow him to get by me."
Ryouta however, thought that he'd do something like that, so rather than allow the fireballs to hit the wires, he used his chakra to control the direction of the fire, allowing them to slide between the small spaces that had been left open and continued for his body.
Kushimaru was surprised to see that, so he brought his needle sword to his right, and swung it forward, cutting through some of the fireballs with several swings, with only one managing to get through and hit his left arm, the scorching heat enough to cause a burn to appear on his shoulder, he winced at the feeling.
Ryouta didn't let up, and sped towards the injured side to try and take advantage of it, only for Kushimaru to swing his wires surrounding him towards Ryouta, creating a dangerous number of wires in his path, each in patterns that could slice him apart.
"How do you like that huh?!"
Kushimaru yelled, and thought that he had won.
However, using his Sharingan powers, he allowed his body to move through each of the wires formation, all the while still in the air. Bending his body, he accurately predicted the place each wire was going to be and thanks to his speed, he was able to move quick enough to dodge all of his attacks.
"Haaah!"
Kushimaru remained shocked, even when Ryouta's sword went for his body.
Kushimaru barely pulled away, but he received a strong gash on his chest, bleeding to the point that his blood was dripping down onto the ground.
Kushimaru looked down at his wound, then towards Ryouta, and his eyes showed his disdain.
"You're serious...you actually cut me?"
"You're my enemy, I have to go serious against you."
Kushimaru looked mildly surprised by his words, before Ryouta's eyes focused upon his form.
"I'm glad to be fighting you, because I'll be able to finally beat the Sharingan! It's your fault that Jinpachi died!"
Ryouta blinked.
He recalled who that was, it was the man who originally owned the exploding sword.
"No it wasn't, Zabuza-san killed him."
Kushimaru scowled when Ryouta said that.
"Whatever, I didn't care for him anyway!"
Ryouta truly didn't know what to think of Kushimaru, he was clearly insane, or at least loved killing to the point that it was all he thought about.
"You really are heartless, aren't you? What are your true motivations?"
Kushimaru chuckled like a school boy.
"That's my secret~ Though it has to do with Ameyuri-chan! Isn't she so great? Have you seen her? Skilled, strong, and is able to kick major ass! I fell in love the moment I saw her killing her first enemy, and my love has intensified since then!"
Ryouta didn't believe it was love that drove Kushimaru.
It was desire.
And it felt rather disturbing to hear it from Kushimaru.
"Then I'm sorry but you wont be seeing Ameyuri-san again."
Kushimaru scoffed.
"Is that a threat kid?"
Ryouta twirled his blade, taking aim for Kushimaru.
"It's a promise. If you try to harm Tazuna or his family, then it's my job to take you out."
Kushimaru shivered.
"Ooh, I'm shaking in my boots!"
Ryouta's Sharingan eyes glowed as he readied himself to take down Kushimaru, knowing he couldn't hold back anymore.
As Ryouta fought off Kushimaru, Naruko charged her opponents.
Seeing the two Demon Brothers circulating her, they ran so quickly that Naruko was getting annoyed, and saw that a chain of connected shurikens were going between the two of them.
"This is going to be easy."
"Yeah, lets finish her off quickly so we can go and fight the Uchiha brat."
The brothers rushed Naruko from the front and behind, the chain followed and tried to bind and slice Naruko up.
Naruko however was ready this time.
She placed her hands together.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Creating two clones, one of them jumped up together with her, while the third Naruko grabbed a kunai, and swung it for the chain, trying to stop the progression of said chants, but the chain of shuriken moved around that, and sliced the shadow clone apart with ease.
But due to Naruko being in the air, the clone grabbed her arm, and twirled her in the air, before launching her towards one of the brothers, at such speeds that the man was surprised by the speed she was going.
"Look out!"
The man's brother called, the man himself raised his gauntlet to try and block, but Naruko's foot came out, the pressure of her kick which hit his face before he could block was enough to send him flying backwards, and spinning at the same time when he hit the ground.
"Gozu!"
The brother of Gozu, Meizu called out.
Gozu winced as he came to a stop, only to see that Naruko was running towards him with a kunai out.
Taking his gauntlet, he came at Naruko together with Meizu, the chain of shurikens between them whipped towards her, like a skipping rope held between two people, only different would be that this would slice Naruko in half.
"Haaaah! This wont stop me!"
Naruko angrily stared at the incoming chain, before she summoned another clone, who she grabbed by the arm, and threw towards Meizu this time, at the same time doing it with the other clone that she already had with her, trying to stop them in place with that movement.
Though when seeing the clones, the brothers used their claws to cut down the clones before they could reach their forms.
However, when they exploded into smoke, Naruko used this chance to get in close, bringing up a kunai and tried to make a move against the man, only for him to block with his gauntlet, pushing Naruko back, then swung for her body once more to cut cleanly through her body and poison her at the same time.
Naruko used her kunai to stop the incoming attack, as she landed on the ground, the weapons collide and sparks run between the two of them, while Meizu came up from behind her, his weapon aimed to slice right through her.
"This girls a joke, she can't even give us a good fight!"
Meizu laughed, getting closer and closer.
Naruko struggled with Gozu who gained a sadistic smile.
"You're right Meizu. At least they could've given us something better to fight. This ones just weak."
Naruko watched as Gozu used his strength to force her kunai away.
At the same time, Meizu came up from behind her, his gauntlet ready to slice her down.
Naruko tightened her hand…
She didn't want to let anyone down.
She could see Ryouta was fighting hard, and yet she…
She was going to be sliced, and poisoned.
"Naruko-chan! They're going to the house!"
Ryouta called, Naruko's eyes went towards the house, seeing the grunts making their way there, and saw that Ryouta was fighting one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, so she knew that she'd have to go, and make sure that they're safe.
Her eyes shifted to Ryouta, seeing him parrying the attacks of Kushimaru's.
Seeing him fighting so hard, remembering how hard he fought.
The support he gave her.
He needed her now.
"Alright then! Leave it to me!" Naruko's hands placed together. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
From doing that single Jutsu, the brothers were astonished to see that she created over ten clones. Usually she'd create more, but for this, she didn't think that she'd need that many, so she used this chance to run forward, her clones beginning to follow her.
Then they began moving around the battlefield before her, zipping in and out of her path, mixing together with her, confusing the enemy.
"Wait, which ones the real one?"
Meizu asked, Gozu ground his teeth.
He didn't know either, so they regrouped together.
The clone continued running around, confusing them, so they went to move, when they saw one Naruko throwing a large shuriken towards them.
Dodging left and right, the brothers watched the shuriken go between them.
However, as it did, it suddenly transformed into Naruko, who brought out several kunai, and launched them close range towards the two Chunin.
Meizu and Gozu raise their arms to block the kunai's, only to see that Naruko's clones were running towards them.
Meizu raised his claw, and began swinging it left and right, trying to cut down the clones coming for him, and he succeeded in subduing some of the clones, cutting them out of existence, however Naruko managed to get behind him, pushing her power into her arm, before punching him in the back of his head.
His eyes popped out of his head as he was slammed deep into the ground.
Seeing Meizu go down, Gozu's eyes widened in shock.
"Meizu!" His eyes burned for Naruko, who in turn showed her teeth. "You little bitch! Taking out my brother like that!"
"You shouldn't attack innocents then!"
Gozu scoffed, and shot for Naruko.
He moved fast, faster than she thought he could.
A few clones tried to intercept the man, but he managed to cleave through them, turning them into puffs of smoke, and got in close to Naruko.
Naruko knew she couldn't dodge, and wielding only a kunai, she turned it towards him, seeing the hole were the chain used to come out of, and stuck the kunai in that hole, inches from being pierced by the poisoned claw.
"What the..."
Naruko's eyes fierce with determination, pushed the man's gauntlet towards the ground with enough force to make Gozu bend down.
"People are counting on me! I wont run away! And I wont lose to yooooooooooooooooooou!"
Naruko's foot went up at high speeds, connecting with Gozu's chin.
The force of the blow blew him up into the air, where Naruko created one more clone, which grabbed her, and began spinning her around.
Within a few seconds, she was launched, and because of the force of the throw, and her own fist sticking out, she embedded her fist deep into his torso, Gozu coughed out bile as he was smashed into the earth.
Naruko skidded when she returned to the ground, panting.
"I...I did it!"
"Naruko-chan!" Ryouta called, blocking Kushimaru's blade. "The others!"
"R-Right! Celebrate later, save them now!"
Ryouta nodded, pushing Kushimaru back and watched Naruko rush to the house.
"Hehehe, so she's gone, now we can have our real fun? I heard Uchiha were strong, but they all got wiped out, didn't they? By a single person?"
Ryouta's eyebrows furrowed.
"That man you're talking about, is very powerful. Zabuza-san, is very powerful. And you are skilled, but I wont allow you to win this fight."
Kushimaru scoffed.
"And why's that?"
Ryouta's hand tightened on his blade.
"Because I don't give up, until the end. And until I accomplish my goals, I wont die by your hand."
Kushimaru felt a sudden chill come over him.
Almost taking over him.
He didn't know what the feeling was…
But it was quite strong, whatever it was.
Meanwhile, on the bridge, each of the opponents split up the Konoha group, with Anko looking down her opponent. She seemed to be truly annoyed with something, though Anko didn't seem to care all that much.
"I take it that you are pissed you couldn't fight my Uchiha?"
Ameyuri scowled as Anko smirked at her, showing her that she wouldn't be backing down in the slightest.
"Damn straight I am, I couldn't even repay him for what he did to me and...aah, screw Kushimaru, I hope he suffers for taking this battle away from me."
Anko...was surprised to say the least.
Because it was supposed to be her comrade, even as cold as she saw these Ninja being, she thought she might care a little bit.
"You and this Kushimaru..."
"Don't talk to me about him, he was supposed to be my entertainment, but he's ended up being an annoyance that degenerate. Though he is a good fighter so it's nice to have someone watch my..." As she spoke, she paused when she began coughing, something that Anko noticed. "...suffice to say, it doesn't matter what he does anymore."
"Nice, you can't bring yourself to care for your comrades."
Ameyuri shrugged.
"What can you do?"
"Not much it seems. My Uchiha wont die by his hands."
"That's what I'm counting on~"
Anko furrowed her brows.
"Why are you interested in the Uchiha?"
Ameyuri's lips curled upwards.
"My little secret~ Now come on!"
Ameyuri didn't waste time, ignoring the fog around her for stealth, she simply charged forward and shot off a huge wave of electricity, which Anko dodged out of the way of immediately, only for Ameyuri to come after her, Anko gritting her teeth, but placed her kunai out, as she began to charge for the lightning user as well.
Meanwhile, Mangetsu approached both Satsuki and Haku. The former allowed her Sharingan eyes to be shown, while the latter clutched a senbon in her hand, readying herself to fight.
But Mangetsu had other ideas.
"You know Haku, I really do hate you."
Haku's eyes widened.
"...What?"
Mangetsu didn't hide his hate for Haku, it was evident on his face.
"Zabuza-sama was someone I looked up to as a child, I saw his carnage as something that I should be able to emulate, and one day even surpass. Right now, I haven't surpassed his fighting prowess, yet seeing you standing here, it makes me sick. Because you hinder Zabuza-sams's talents."
"I don't understand what you mean..."
She admitted with an unsure gaze.
Mangetsu raised his exploding sword, pointing it at the pair.
"You Haku, have a place within Zabuza-sama's heart that simply can't be replaced. He tells me that it is all lies, and that I see nothing. But I know through all of these years, he saw you as his ultimate tool. We were replacements, and I...I hate you so much. I wanted Zabuza-sama to be proud of me, he was my idol. At the back of his mind though, I could always tell he was comparing my brother and I to you, the one that had the natural ice Kekkei Genkai, the talent that would surpass his own one day."
Haku in an odd way felt rather touched by hearing that.
Even after all this time...Zabuza truly hadn't forgotten her.
He always thought of her.
Even though Mangetsu sounded angry at such a thing…
She was happy to know that.
Mangetsu began to chortle though, which sounded so dark to her ears that it felt like he was trying to scare her with a laugh alone.
"But, that doesn't matter. It ends today, your feelings about Zabuza-sama, and his love for you shall go. He ordered me to take you down."
"..."
Haku didn't reply, her eyes stayed fixed on the ground.
Mangetsu, seeing a chance to drive the emotional knife in, did so.
"That's right, to kill the last part of his humanity. I was more than willing to accept the mission, because I want you to disappear as well. It should've been like that from the beginning, where you should disappear and die. You originally were only a girl from the dreaded Yuki clan, a clan that should disappear from the sights of Zabuza-sama. It was luck that he found you that day, it was luck you were blessed with talent to appease Zabuza-sama. But your luck is about to run-"
"Shut up, will you?"
Satsuki demanded, catching Mangetsu off guard.
"E-Excuse me?"
"I said shut up, I've had just about enough of you as I can stand."
Satsuki said while giving him a glare.
Mangetsu's hand tightened on his handle.
"You're a cheeky one, aren't you?"
"Perhaps, but your tactic is trying to mentally destroy Haku, so I'm stopping you right there. Besides, she's moved past those hard feelings that you're trying to drag up now, so it's time to deal with the pair of us."
Haku looked to Satsuki, appreciation in her eyes.
Mangetsu huffed.
"Fine, then I'll just have to kill you."
Mangetsu brought up his sword, and readied himself, which Satsuki and Haku did the same...
As that fight went on, Zabuza and Kakashi were clashing together.
Kakashi showed his Sharingan eye, and used it to predict where he was going to be next, Zabuza though moved rather fast, and surprisingly nimble also, with how he moved, it almost looked like a dance form.
"Zabuza, I've seen your future."
"Is it death by chance?"
Kakashi looked surprised.
"Why say that?"
"That tactic to try and psyche me out, I wont allow you to do it."
Zabuza brought up his sword, and sent it towards Kakashi, letting go of it briefly, which in turn caused it to spin like a propeller blade.
Kakashi was forced to duck out of the way, seeing the blade moving rather fast which he knew if he took head on could have split him in half with how Zabuza used his speed and strength.
When he pulled his head back up, fully prepared to take on Zabuza, he saw that Zabuza was weaving through some hand signs.
"Water Release, Water Bullet Jutsu!"
Gathering the water from below the bridge, he shot it off towards Kakashi as high pressurized blasts of water. The size and range of the technique was enough to even cause Kakashi to sweat, who weaved through his own hand signs.
"Earth Release, Earth Wall!"
Slamming his hands down, earth shot up, and created a strong defensive wall that blocked off the first shot, but he saw the water surprisingly was blasting through the earth, with the second attack shattering it completely, allowing Zabuza to shoot forward, grabbing his sword that landed near Kakashi, then took a swing for Kakashi's upper body.
Kakashi's eyes widened as the blade cleaved him in half…
Only to reveal that it was a Substitution, where Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza, his kunai aimed right for the man's back.
Zabuza huffed.
"Nice trick."
As he said it, Zabuza's body erupted into water.
"A Water Clone...smart."
Zabuza's real form appeared to the left of Kakashi, having used this chance to circle around him and attack from a blind spot.
Kakashi barely had time to dodge out of the way, but his top was caught and it received a sizeable cut to the material, but his flesh was protected.
Kakashi back flipped several times before landing, seeing Zabuza's blood curdling smile erupting onto his face.
"You're more impressive than I had heard."
"I had been training to fight Shisui Uchiha once more, but it seems his death wouldn't allow that."
"Why him?"
Kakashi asked, Zabuza twitched his neck as he replied.
"Because he was the best enemy that I could've asked for. We met under circumstances that forced us to fight, then we were forced to work together to survive, but more than that, he was a man that had talent, and strength. Yet, he was a rather fascinating one. I had wondered what it was, I believe that my answer came when I saw that boys face again, his little brother. Though I've been aware of Shisui's death for years, that boy, still keeps going on...is that the will Shisui left to him?"
"I don't know about that, but while I'm not Shisui, allow me to accommodate you."
Zabuza smirked.
"Fine, lets do this."
Once more, the pair clashed together in a violent array of heavy attacks, neither gaining the advantage over the other. They moved so fast that only Jonin level opponents would be able to see them, even with the heavy sword Zabuza was moving, he was able to keep up with Kakashi, a feat in of itself.
Meanwhile, Karin and Sakura were going up against Suigetsu.
Suigetsu's blade went out between the trio, Sakura, Karin and Tazuna who was behind them.
"Now, which one shall be my opponent huh?"
Sakura and Karin looked between them, feeling awkward about the situation that was at hand.
Seeing neither were going to make a move, he began laughing, and aimed his finger towards Sakura.
"Then I'll start with you."
Suigetsu shot his finger like a gun, Sakura had been told about this technique beforehand, and jumped as a high pressure bullet of water pierced the ground in the place Sakura was, Suigetsu continued to laugh as he pointed his finger at Tazuna.
Karin gasped, but Sakura jumped into the fray, and tossed several shurikens towards Suigetsu.
Suigetsu laughed as the shurikens went through his body.
"Did you forget the part where I could shift my body to water? Are you stupid or something?"
Sakura scowled, pulling out a kunai, and twirled it around, before allowing it to slide towards the right hand side of her.
"Maybe you are untouchable, but I wont know if I don't try, right?" Suigetsu looked baffled as Sakura's eyes went towards Karin. "Karin-san, take care of Tazuna-san."
Karin looked into Sakura's eyes, seeing her determined state.
Understanding what Sakura was saying without truly saying it, she nodded.
"Right, leave it to me."
Suigetsu thought that it was amusing to see this going on.
Sakura wanting to fight him by herself…
He just didn't have any confidence that she'd be able to do anything.
"Aah, and here I thought I'd get the chance to fight the red head again. Well, it doesn't matter, I'll deal with diet red head here." Sakura pointed to herself, Suigetsu nodded. "Right, don't you get pink from red?"
Sakura looked towards Karin, who brought Tazuna back away, so Sakura stared at Suigetsu once more.
"I guess that you do."
Suigetsu peered into her green eyes.
He saw that she looked ready to fight, no hesitation within her eyes.
"You're confident, is that over confidence I see?"
"No, I'd never do something like that. By all accounts, you probably are stronger than I am."
Suigetsu rubbed the bridge of his nose with a cocky smile.
"Ooh yeah, singing my praises~ I might let you live if you ask-" Sakura suddenly tossed a kunai for his face, so he shifted to water, and allowed it to go through. "-me! Geez! I was going to let you live! But, if that's how it is, then you're going to die!"
Suigetsu rushed towards Sakura, who in turn gripped her kunai tightly.
She felt worried, but she knew she had to do this.
"Remember what Ryou-kun said...read the attack patterns...strike when you have the chance...everything has to be apart of your plan...even if it is a minor thing...it all has to be apart of the plan, and it has to mean something...right, I remember Ryou-kun. Everything I do now...is going to be apart of the plan, I might not be as strong as my teammates just yet...but, I wont back down until there's nothing I can do!"
Declaring that within her mind, Sakura was determined.
"Come on then girl!"
Sakura watched as Suigetsu get in close, and swing his katana sharply for Sakura's neck.
She manages to pull away, only to see that Suigetsu has his finger pointed towards her.
Grimacing, she jumps right as he shot off a bullet, piercing the railing, and broke it apart.
Sakura looked back to see that Suigetsu was running towards her, so she took offensive action.
As his blade came at her, he tried to strike right, when Sakura held her kunai, and blocked the strike.
Surprise came over Suigetsu.
"You blocked my sword…?"
"Right!"
Sakura pushed back the boy, before tightening her fist, and sent it forward.
The strength she had, managed to hit Suigetsu's face, which burst into water.
Sakura used this chance however to force his sword away, giving her an opening to deliver a sharp kick to his body.
"Again, did you forget that I could merely turn into water? You can't hit me~"
Sakura watched as Suigetsu's arm enlarged, filling with water before he punched towards her.
She used both of her arms to block the giant fist, but the impact blew her back, hitting her back to the point that her body slammed against the metal railing, breaking it from the impact, and Suigetsu still wasn't done as he came rushing towards her with his fist.
"Aah..."
"Did that hurt? Aah, maybe you should go back to the Academy little girl~"
Sakura grit her teeth, seeing some blood coming out of her mouth.
"Come on Karin-san...hurry..." Sakura stood back up from the attack, showing her resilience. "...Not on your life. I am a Ninja of Konoha, I wont go down!"
"Hahahaha! All Ninja's eventually die!"
"This one, wont die until you're stopped."
"Good luck with that."
Sakura pulled out a few kunai, before throwing them towards Suigetsu's enlarged arm.
The watery form naturally allowed him to pass through the kunai's, only for Sakura to jump away and managed to put distance between them.
Sakura then placed her hand into a hand sign, before she pumped chakra through her legs, to her feet, and began running forward.
"Her speeds increased..."
Suigetsu noticed.
But when she came up towards him, his sword intercepted her, clashing blades together.
"But your speed isn't enough for me!"
Suigetsu placed his palm out, gathering water around said palm, before shooting off a torrent of water at close range.
Sakura ducked under the blast, seeing it cracking the bridge.
Suigetsu then lowered his hand, so Sakura pulled towards the right, but so did Suigetsu.
The water followed her, the high pressured blast of water which was even enough to crack the bridge and would cause her a good deal of damage, she ran away before it could hit her, however, she was aware that it was following her.
Her eyes went to Karin, Suigetsu hadn't noticed what she was doing, which she was relieved about.
"Karin-sans not ready yet...so I'll have to take a risk against this guy, and keep fighting."
Sakura pulled out a paper bomb, attached it to a kunai, and launched it for the water.
The paper bomb slid into the water, before Sakura detonated it, scattering the water all around their forms, becoming rain that drenched the pair of them.
"Geez, even to dispel my Jutsu like that? Haha, I guess that you are a little strong and smart."
"Thanks."
Suigetsu laughed, turning his fingers towards Sakura.
"Come on, lets dance for a little while~"
Using his clans power, he shot off many bullets of water towards Sakura.
Sakura, armed with a kunai, rushed forward to the shock of Suigetsu.
The water bullets travelled rather fast, and he was surprised to see that Sakura was actually beginning to dodge out of the way. Twirling her kunai, she even sliced through one of the bullets of water that was going to hit her.
"I thought that she'd be pretty weak, yet she's able to even dodge and dispel some of my water bullets? Though mine aren't to my big brothers level, the fact that she can do it as well is really crazy..."
While Sakura was dodging, Suigetsu ran closer. Continuing to fire bullets of water for her, Sakura did her best to dodge them, however one managed to catch her leg, cutting deep into her right thigh, causing her to wince.
Suigetsu used the chance to get above her, and bring his sword on her, swinging like a pendulum for her body.
Sakura eyes widened as she saw his blade getting closer and closer.
To the point that she felt worried.
Despite the pain in her leg, she pushed herself harder and harder.
Gathering chakra to her feet, she kicked off the ground with enough force to propel her backwards.
Suigetsu's surprised eyes showed themselves, seeing her managing to dodge the entirely of his blade besides the tip which caught her right hand side, cutting into her, and drawing some blood.
Sakura landed heavily on the ground, panting.
"You actually dodged my attack..."
Sakura felt the wounds she had, then she turned to see Suigetsu turning his blade back towards her.
Her hand pulled out a kunai, while Suigetsu got in close, and slashed it out of her hand.
"Don't bother, you did a pretty good job. I've been told I've got the skills of a High Chunin by Zabuza-sama, so you being able to last this long against me, isn't so bad. Be proud, you are going to be killed by..." As he went to bring his sword towards her, he suddenly felt something restraining him. "...what is this?"
"You're sealed."
Karin's voice came in.
His eyes turned towards the right, and saw that she had her fingers in a hand sign.
Below him, was a complex looking formula that he didn't understand.
"What the hell is this?!"
"Thanks Sakura-san, you distracted him long enough for my seal to take effect."
Sakura nodded.
"No...problem. Cutting it close...though..."
"Sorry about that, just had one last thing to do before doing this."
"W...Why can't I move my legs?! What the hells going on?!"
Suigetsu yelled, his body attempting to move but proved to be useless.
"It's a Sealing Jutsu." Karin revealed. "I'm not so bad at using Seals, and restraining movements like this. Though to make a strong one, I had to have some time, and Sakura-san provided that." Suigetsu's eyes burned with rage as Karin continued. "You are right when you say your skills are above our own, but you underestimated us, and because of that, you didn't even think about what I was doing."
Suigetsu's eyes widened as Karin brought out what seemed to be a tag. A number of tags in fact.
"Y-You stay away from me!"
Suigetsu tried to move, pushing his chakra through his body.
Karin could see that he was beginning to indeed move, so she tossed some sealing tags towards Sakura, who caught them, and began placing them on the seal that Karin had used.
"Usually, it's impractical for this kind of tactic in a one on one battle, to set it up takes a bit of time that we usually wouldn't have. Especially because of his ability to turn into water, an ordinary seal wouldn't have worked, he'd simply have escaped it before it could fully take hold of him, at least from the ones that I know of anyway. But thanks to Sakura-san, I was able to set it up, and with these tags reinforcing my seal, he wont be hurting anyone for a little while now."
Suigetsu watched as his movements became constricted, he couldn't fight it as Sakura and Karin managed to trap him.
Worry came over him, even his watery form wouldn't help him out.
Sakura fell to the floor, while Karin went over to her.
"Sakura-san, are you alright?"
Sakura nodded, as Tazuna walked over.
"Well done girls, you beat him."
Sakura laughed lightly as Karin stuck out her tongue.
"Somehow, it seems that we did."
Karin giggled out, while Sakura continued to laugh.
But that was replaced with a wince, so Karin pulled out her arm.
"Here, bite me."
Sakura's face turned white.
"W-What? Why!?"
"So you can heal, obviously!"
Karin snapped back to the perplexed Sakura.
"Heal…?"
"I guess I didn't ever really say to many before, but biting me, can accelerate the healing process by sucking on my chakra. It can only be safely done once a day."
"...It does huh..." Sakura looked down at herself, then towards the others, the best she could do with the mist forming around. "...Thanks, but, best save it for someone that might need it. These are just scratches anyway."
Karin blinked in surprise.
But then her face turned down.
"You're thinking about Ryou-kun healing you, aren't you?"
Sakura's face turned slightly mischievous.
"And so what if I am huh?"
"Y-You wont get far by doing that, you know?"
"We'll see Karin-san."
Karin scowled as did Sakura.
But that soon was replaced with a genuine look of friendship between the two.
"Thanks, Sakura-san."
Sakura waved her hand.
"No...we did it, together."
The pair clasped hands together, showing their bond together as friends.
Tazuna smiled at the pair.
Though Suigetsu underestimated them, they came together, and managed to defeat an opponent that was stronger than them alone.
Back with the battle of Ryouta's and the others, as the battles raged on, inside of Tazuna's house, two men came in, and saw Tsunami and Inari. Tsunami became protective over Inari, and pushed him behind her.
"Leave here immediately! The Ninja will come and stop you!"
One of the men smirked.
"Sure they will. A bunch of brats are supposed to stop us?"
"You don't know these Ninja, they will be able to stop you."
A man with a spear like weapon pulled even closer.
His spear pointed at the woman's throat.
"You don't hold any power here woman. Now if we take you, then Gato will get what he wants..." His spear bent down and aimed at Inari who began to shake. "Or maybe I should take your son out instead?"
"No don't! Not my son, please!"
Tsunami begged, with Inari's eyes beginning to leak some tears.
His Mother was being brave.
Throwing herself in front of him to protect him.
Even though she didn't have any hope left at all.
Inari recalled what happened with Naruko, and the words from Ryouta.
His Stepfather Kaiza.
How they all stood up, and fought despite their not being a chance.
"Move it lady! Or I'll cut you to pieces!"
"Go ahead! I wont let you harm my child, or my Father either!"
Tsunami showed her strong side, the desire to protect her family.
Inari began to cry at the sight of her doing that.
She...truly was being brave right now.
Inari faced down the fears he felt bubbling, shoving himself between his Mother, and the men of Gato.
"Inari, don't-"
"He wouldn't...He wouldn't let you get hurt Mom..."
Inari began with tears in his eyes.
"Inari..."
"I...I've been a coward Mom...I...I didn't want..."
Tsunami understood what he was trying to say.
"Sweetheart..."
"I wont...I wont lose you Mom! I wont! I can't! S-So I'll stand up...and do what he did...what Dad did..."
Tsunami couldn't help but cry.
She was seeing a change within her son.
Before, he was cynical, and didn't ever stand up for anything, always relying on others.
But now...he was doing it.
He knew he didn't have a chance against Gato's men.
But he remembered Kaiza, he saw the efforts of his Grandfather, his Mother, and the Ninja that showed him how they'd always do what they could.
The men of Gato didn't seem to care, and raised their weapons.
"You asked for this kid!"
The man with the spear points it towards Inari.
But Inari didn't move.
He was shaking.
He was scared.
But he still wouldn't move.
He was showing that he wouldn't give up.
Tsunami worried for her son, but didn't know what to do.
However, the moment the men tried to attack them, Naruko came bursting in through the door.
Without wasting time, Naruko tossed several shurikens for the men's hands, piercing them and caused them to drop their weapons.
Using that chance, she rushed closer, one tried to punch her, but she dodged, and delivered a kick to his face, then followed that up with a punch to the other's face, hitting them hard enough to force them against the wall.
Naruko then summoned some clones, to grab and detain them.
Tsunami and Inari were both relieved to see Naruko.
"You're both okay?"
Tsunami nods, and looks to her son.
"Inari...he stalled them long enough for you...he showed real courage...and protected me."
Naruko looked towards Inari, and grinned.
"Well done Inari! It takes real courage to do that...and I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called you what I did before."
Inari shook his head.
"No...I was, but now...thanks to everyone...I will stand up...I'll be like Dad..."
Tsunami was so happy to hear her son say that.
So much so that she was showcasing a large smile on her face.
Naruko also was happy to see that they were safe, and wondered how Ryouta was going on...
Just outside, Ryouta and Kushimaru continued their battle together. Swords clashing together, Ryouta could see why he was apart of the Seven Deadly Ninja Swordsmen, but he still believed that Zabuza was above Kushimaru in a fight.
Even then, Kushimaru wasn't a joke, Ryouta could see the movements of his blade thanks to the Sharingan, and managed to avoid being sliced apart thanks to that, and his reaction speed, he knew that this man was going to be annoying to defeat, though Ryouta had some ideas on how he was going to win.
"Hahahaha! I'm having so much fun right now!"
Kushimaru yelled, as he weaved his wires underneath the ground.
Then he tried to have them appear to cut off Ryouta's feet, however Ryouta saw through it with his Sharingan eyes, jumping at the moment the wires came up, then landed on top of one, all the while flinging his kunai towards Kushimaru's face.
"A single kunai wont hit me!"
Kushimaru dodged out of the way, only to see Ryouta's form appear beside him, grabbing the kunai that he had thrown, and came at him with a violent swing of his kunai, trying to pierce through the man's body to stop him.
The elder male attempted to avoid, but received a kunai in the leg, blood shooting out as it slid through his skin like butter, as he tossed several senbons for Ryouta, one managing to cut his right cheek due to Ryouta being so close when they were thrown, drawing some blood, but Ryouta avoided the rest thanks to his speed increasing.
"Aah...shit..."
Kushimari winced as he allowed his wires to come out, attempting to wrap around the boys body in a single hand movement with his long sword, but Ryouta twirled around while in the air, cleaving through the wires, landing on the ground as Kushimaru pulled away.
He pulled the kunai out of his leg, and growled.
"You are quite the annoying boy."
Kushimaru gripped his sword tightly, and began pouring his chakra within it. Using more and more chakra, the wires that he was summoning began to form a fist in the air, all of them were vibrating to the point that the air sounded as if it was being cut apart.
The fist was double the size of Kushimaru himself, therefore bigger than Ryouta himself. Ryouta even saw chakra added to the wires, which explained in Ryouta's mind how he was able to keep the wires in a fist shape.
"I call this the Longsword Style, Fist Slicer! It's large, but I'm in charge of this!"
Ryouta watched as he swung his sword down, directing the wires down so Ryouta dodged out of the way.
When the fist hit the ground, Ryouta saw that rather than be crushed under the impact, the wires were slicing through the ground in the form of a fist shape, then he directed the hand towards Ryouta himself.
Ryouta tested the waters, tossing his shuriken towards the wire, and watched as it was sliced apart.
He tried to have the shuriken slide between the wires, seeing if there was anyway to get through it.
But all he saw was just that.
Nothing.
Scowling at the sight, Ryouta knew he'd have to take the wire hand down before doing anything else.
"Hahaha! I've been practising this technique boy, you're the first one ever to see it! I was trying to impress Ameyuri-chan, but I guess I'll just have to use it to slice you apart you little bastard!"
Ryouta watched as he swung the massive fist down and towards him.
Ryouta didn't dare block with his sword, knowing that his blade would be cleaved through, and then his body would be next, so he had to dodge, and using the Body Flicker, his body moved fast enough to dodge each of the fists that came for his body, which in turn sliced everything in its path apart.
The hand then dug into the ground, slicing it apart, and finely controlled by Kushimaru, flicked the wire hand towards Ryouta, and shot off massive chunks of the ground towards him.
"Dodge that, I dare you."
Kushimaru baited.
Ryouta eyes went back, and saw the house Naruko and the others were in.
"If I move now, then they'd be hit. I'll have to take them out."
Ryouta inhaled and exhaled, before sticking out his tanto.
"Going to dodge it? Those guys in there will get hurt. And it will be all your fault~"
"Involving innocents in our battle? Is that how you win? By dragging others into it?"
"That's how you're raised in the Mist Village. You have to look out for number one, and do what it takes to win."
Ryouta looked towards his blade, then he began to breathe fire, which in turn clung to the sword via Chakra Flow technique. Igniting the blade on fire, Kushimaru was quite surprised.
"You're wrong."
"Is that so? Do you know about Kiri?"
"I know Mei-san, and she'd never stoop so low as to hurt innocents to get a win in a fight."
Ryouta then activated the Body Flicker, within a moment, he disappeared.
Kushimaru looked on, stunned as he saw the large pieces of the earth he had chucked at Ryouta, being sliced apart before his very eyes into very fine pieces, the directions Kushimaru saw the pieces of earth being cut seemed to be from all directions, and because of the fire, it spread across the other cut up pieces of earth, incinerating them out of existence.
Once they had been dealt with, Kushimaru's eyes showed his disdain, and allowed the wire fist to reel back.
"You little shit! Why don't you just die already?!"
Rather than attack him however, he aimed for the house once more.
Ryouta's eyes displayed anger when he did that.
Not once...but twice he tried to endanger others in their fight.
"Another cowardly tactic."
"I told you kid, you have to do what it takes to survive."
"Maybe you do, but not me."
Ryouta knew what he'd have to do.
He flashed between the fist, and the house, before gathering his chakra.
"Fire Release, Flame Whirlwind!"
From his mouth, a vortex of fire was released, and it became a spiral like pattern. The flames travelled rather fast, burning the ground below as the flames reached the large fist of wires, clashing together violently in the middle.
The shockwave proved to the so much that the ground below cracked with the intense pressure.
"Hah! Can't you see the wires cutting your fire?! Your fire Jutsu is going to be cut apart, and there's nothing you're going to be able to do about it! I'm going to win, you're going to lose! Once you're dead, I'll look after your corpse! Maybe I'll string it up for your comrades to find! Or maybe I'll manipulate you like a puppet! What about it!?"
Ryouta could see that he was telling the truth.
The cutting aspect of the wire made it so that even his fire was being sliced apart, and thanks to the chakra that he had on the wire, the fist was strong enough to not melt under the intense heat that Ryouta's fire was outputting.
Fortunately, he had another idea.
"Ryou!"
Naruko came out with the others, seeing the dazzling battle that was going on.
Ryouta glanced at her, and smiled.
That smile relieved her enough for him to know that he had an idea.
"Is he going to be okay?"
Tsunami asked, Naruko thrust her hands behind her head.
"Sure! He's wicked skilled! People say he's a genius! So he's got this!"
Tsunami hoped that was the case.
Inari looked on, seeing the cool side of Ryouta, and began to smile brightly.
"Come on Ryouta-kun! Do it!"
Ryouta glanced at him, and offered a small but happy smile, before his eyes caught the sight of something approaching in the sky…
It was a bird.
But a bird Ryouta recognized.
"Could it be…?"
He thought, then knew he'd have to finish this fight quickly.
Ryouta's Sharingan eyes locked onto the sword Kushimaru was wielding through all of the obstructions in the way.
His mind calculated what he'd need to do for his attack to reach there.
He did it within a few seconds, so he took out some shurikens, and tossed them in seemingly random patterns to someone like Kushimaru while keeping up his whirlwind of fire against the wire hand.
But as they began to ricochet off of one another, he saw that they were flying towards him in patterns that he didn't know where they'd go next, it seemed to be a dance of shurikens in the air, and he couldn't move his sword either, if he did then the wire hand would have to move, which allowed the flames to get in the way.
"Shit...this kids trapped me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, I can't move, my sword will move, and my body will be caught up in the fire, especially if I jump, the flames will travel up the blade. Then there's where these shurikens are going, I don't know what he's trying to do...I thought the power gained from our benefactor would give me an edge yet still this kid is..."
Kushimaru weighed up his options and wondered what he was going to do next.
Drop his attack and dodge, try to power through.
It was difficult.
He didn't even know what the shurikens were going to do, if he'd be able to dodge them all if they came for him.
While the shurikens were flying all over the place in the air, Kushimaru was distracted by that, and didn't realize the real attack wasn't even from there.
The real attack came from Ryouta's next thrown pair of shuriken, Ryouta coated them on fire and tossed them from the right.
Using the Shurikenjutsu to manipulate them, one bounced off another, and headed right for Kushimaru's hand, Kushimaru only realized it when he heard roaring fire from the location of the shuriken, and saw it coming for him…
No, it was coming for his wire.
He tried to move it, but the wire was cut in half thanks to the intense heat and power of the fire.
Because the wire was cut, the giant hand wire lost its shape, and fell towards the ground, allowing Ryouta's flames to come for him.
"No!"
Kushimaru jumped up as high as he could, avoiding the flames.
Ryouta used his chance to propel himself off the ground, his sword went into his own flames, and used Chakra Flow to wrap the fire around his weapon, before his body came close towards Kushimaru's own.
Because of the Sharingan, Ryouta saw how Kushimaru was going to move next, so he took out a shuriken he had, and tossed it towards the still dancing array of shurikens, hitting one off course, and came flying towards Kushimaru's arm.
"Aaaaah!"
Piercing his arm, and weakening the grip on his blade, Ryouta spun, kicking the blade out of his hand which shot for the ground like an arrow, piercing the ground, shocking Kushimaru.
"During the entire fight, you kept your eyes away from my own, believing that you had the advantage...but you forgot I had other skills besides Genjutsu. Now disappear."
As the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen was shocked, Ryouta continued spinning, building momentum, and sliced right into the body of Kushimaru.
From the tip of his right shoulder, to the bottom of his left hip, the fire burned Kushimaru's body, inside and out as blood shot out of him like a geyser.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Kushimaru screamed as he slammed into the ground.
Ryouta flipped in the air, landing on the ground, watching his dancing shurikens harmlessly fall down to the ground while his large flaming vortex smashed against the water near the house, creating a massive wall of steam.
Ryouta panted as he sheathed his now normal blade, seeing Kushimaru bleeding heavily, and seemingly unable to move at all.
"W-Whoa! That was so amazing Ryou!"
Ryouta turned back to Naruko, and smiled lightly.
"Thanks, you too. You managed to protect them."
Naruko rubbed underneath her nose, laughing lightly.
"Yeah totally! It was nothing!"
Ryouta smiled, as he remembered the bird in the sky.
He called it down.
But as he was, Kushimaru, bleeding and in pain, saw Ryouta and Naruko looking away.
Inari and Tsunami were a bit of a distance away, so he silently took out a kunai, and made his way towards them.
Running as silently as he could, he crossed the distance within a few seconds.
Tsunami noticed him first when he got close.
"Aaaah!"
"Hahahaha! Don't worry bitch, I'm just going to-"
Before he could finish, he felt something pierce him.
His chest.
More exactly, his heart.
He looked down, seeing a blade was sticking out of his front, indicating the blade came from behind.
His eyes went back and saw Ryouta on one knee, his blade stuck up at an angle.
"Y-You can't...kill me...you can't..."
"It seems you were a coward, and heartless till the end."
Ryouta took his blade out of Kushimaru's chest.
He fell face first into the ground, his lifeless eyes staring at the body of water close by, blood pooling around him.
Tsunami and Inari were stunned for a few moments, before Ryouta sheathed his blade.
"I'm sorry I had to do that in front of you, it was the only way to stop him."
Tsunami shook her head.
"We understand completely. You saved our lives, thank you."
Ryouta gently smiled as Naruko came over.
"Was it...hard to do that?"
"Killing is never easy...Naruko-chan. Sometimes...you have to do it when there's no other option. I don't like killing, but if it is to protect innocent people...then I can do it. Besides, he wasn't the first person I had killed."
Ryouta recalled the first person he had killed, then looked at Kushimaru's deceased body.
As he stared at Kushimaru's lifeless body, he felt a hand holding his own.
He looked down and then towards the owner of the hand, seeing that it was Naruko looking towards him with a bright smile.
That caused Ryouta to smile in appreciation.
"Thanks, Naruko-chan."
"Hehe, no problem! But, now what should we do? Stay here? Or go and help the others?"
Ryouta thought about it, while retrieving the letter, along with Kushimaru's wire blade.
He overlooked the letter.
His face was confused at first.
But as he finished the letter, hope came to him.
"...Naruko-chan, we need to get to the bridge, now!"
"Eh..."
"With this letter, we might be able to prevent some of the carnage here today!"
"Right, lets go then!"
Ryouta nodded, and wrapped wire around the two Demon Brothers.
He moved over to them, and placed a Genjutsu on them via his Sharingan.
They then turned to Tsunami and Inari.
"We have to go..."
"I've left some clones behind, to protect you."
Naruko added, Ryouta smiled and thought that it was really good for her to do that.
"Yes, we understand. Please go and protect my Father, and thank you for your bravery."
Ryouta and Naruko look to one another, before Ryouta grabs Naruko, and puts her on his back.
"Eh? What are you doing?"
"We need to go fast, so I'll take us there."
"Okay..."
Suddenly, Ryouta disappeared in a burst of speed, shooting across the body of water within a second, then across towards the bridge.
Tsunami and Inari look at one another, before turning towards the village.
"Mom..."
"I know, this is our fight too."
"Right, then we have to...for Dad...and for everyone."
"Yes, lets go sweetheart."
Together, the pair ran towards the village, wanting to do what they could and not back down anymore.
End chapter!
So a number of things happened this chapter! The fights began, with Kakashi vs Zabuza, Anko vs Ameyuri, Satsuki and Haku vs Mangetsu, Sakura and Karin vs Suigetsu, Naruko vs the Demon Brothers, and finally Ryouta vs Kushimaru.
Focusing on the fights for Sakura and Karin along with Naruko and Ryouta, each showed their fights this chapter.
Sakura fought hard against Suigetsu, and held him off for Karin to use a sealing Jutsu, something I thought would be good since she is an Uzumaki and their thing was seals, the girls managed to pull off a victory.
Naruko showed her strengths against the enemy, and managed to even trick them at some points, along with her fierce determination, managed to fight and beat them. She also managed to save Inari and Tsunami while Inari remembering the courage of the others stood up, to protect his Mother.
Finally, Ryouta showed his skills this time, fighting off a Ninja like Kushimaru, pulling out some shuriken tricks, along with some Fire Release, and even coating his blade in fire, his swordsmanship being to the point even Kushimaru was surprised by it, and despite the tactics Kushimaru had by endangering innocents, Ryouta overcame that, and killed him in the end to protect Tsunami and Inari from one last evil and cowardly act Kushimaru had.
Then they received Mei's letter, so Ryouta and Naruko are off to the bridge to see what they can do!
Well until next time, thanks for reading!
Ryouta; Satsuki, Sakura, Naruko, Hinata, Gaara (fem), Ino, Haku (fem), Kurotsuchi, Karin, Konan, Mei, Anko, Samui,