I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

Final Showdown

"Let's go!"

Ryuu shot forward, flickering long enough for the greatsword to pass through him before jumping and planting both feet in the hammer homunculus's chest, launching him at Mhao. Mhao raised a hand, catching the homunculus so easy that he made it seem as though the homunculus were merely a paper ball, then without any perceivable movement, sent him rocketing back at Ryuu. Ryuu growled in annoyance, activating his Sharingan, his right hand turning a dark brown before he slammed the back of his fist into the homunculus, sending him crashing through multiple pillars before he crashed to the ground and rolled to a stop.

"Let's finish this Mhao," Ryuu growled.

"I would, but you're about to have your hands full," Mhao said.

Suddenly, four hammer homunculus appeared around Ryuu, all swinging their hammers horizontal to the ground. Ryuu growled, his entire body hardening just before the hammers hit, all denting in the shape of his body. Then, he threw his arms up, forcing the four homunculus to stagger backward before he spun, a ring of flames shooting outward from the arc his tanto slashed, exploding against the four homunculus, three of them exploding into clouds of smoke as the last flew backward, crashing into the wall beside Mhao. Then, Ryuu stopped spinning and raised his still-hardened left hand, catching the greatsword's blade as it slashed at him from behind, holding it for a moment before Suigetsu's massively expanded right fist exploded into the homunculus, launching it away from Ryuu. Ryuu spun, drilling his left fist into the hammer's head as that homunculus swung it at him again and the hammer stopped, Ryuu's arm elbow deep in it.

"Fire Style, Flash Palm!" Ryuu snarled, the head of the hammer exploding, leaving barely more than the hammer's grip and throwing the homunculus away. "Once again, let's finish this Mhao."

"And once again, I would, but you're about to have your hands full," Mhao smirked.

Ryuu turned, watching as the greatsword homunculus kicked Suigetsu, sending him blasting backward along the ground. At the same time, Fu flipped away from the female, whose khakkhara had lightning flying along it constantly, and Tobi drove a wooden spike into his own opponent's abdomen, a dozen more wood spikes suddenly erupting from the homunculus's body, failing to kill it still, but making it impossible for it to move. Ryuu sighed, vanishing just ahead of the hammer homunculus's fists as they crashed into the ground, reappearing in the center of the line his friends had made.

"This is getting to be very annoying," Ryuu said. "We can't kill them unless we take Mhao down."

"Assuming Mhao actually is the thing keeping them alive," Kabuto said. "And you need to be careful. He'll be more powerful than you expect."

"If he's not on level with the Akatsuki-"

"He might be," Kabuto said. "If you try to fight them both, you'll probably lose."

"I see," Ryuu nodded. "Very well. Then I'll just have to go all out. Maybe it's time to finally find out what my Mangekyo Sharingan can do."

"No," Kabuto said. "It's too much of a risk. You might accidentally activate Izanagi."

"What?" Ryuu asked.

"It's a genjutsu that you cast on yourself to rewrite reality," Tobi said. "It can erase your death and allow you to keep fighting. However, as a trade, each use of Izanagi causes one Sharingan to go blind."

"Fuck that then," Ryuu snorted. "I need my eyes."

"So then what do we do?" Tayuya asked. "We've bitten off a bit more than we can chew here."

"Yeah, just a bit," Ryuu nodded, eyes flashing around, taking in as much as he could. "I'm missing something."

"Would you like to know the secret?" Mhao asked. "I'll tell you. You see, all this time I wasn't attacking you, I was working, perfecting my design, and that of my family." He gestured at the others. "Shin, Yumi, Ban, and Khan. Those copies of me that attacked you in the desert were failures. For my family, I found partial success. My family can always heal, so long as their core is not damaged."

"Core?" Ryuu asked.

"That's right," Mhao said. "Their core. A creation of Orochimaru's. A parasite that infects a host, and does one of two things. Either it kills them immediately, or over an extended period, during which time, they have a massive increase in power, and have the ability to regenerate endlessly so long as the parasite survives."

"Orochimaru abandoned that research as too dangerous, and as a failure," Kabuto said. "The parasites kept taking over their hosts, and none were ever able to survive."

"But it wasn't a failure," Mhao said. "He simply didn't have the patience to make it a success. I carefully selected and cultivated the cell cultures that were most resilient to the parasites' control, as well as those that withstood the inevitable breakdown the best. And now, my family can resist their parasites influence under all but the most extreme of circumstances."

"And what about you?" Ryuu asked.

"I have finally been perfected," Mhao said. "You have no idea how long it took to find it. I searched for so long. Everywhere I could. Did you ever wonder why my flames are blue?"

"Hotter flames turn blue, then white after that," Ryuu said.

"And yet, your flames are able to withstand mine," Mhao said. "If mine were hotter, they'd win by default, wouldn't they?"

"So what then?" Ryuu asked.

"His newfound power," Kabuto said. "He's been touched by Agni, the fire god."

"I don't believe in a fire god," Ryuu said.

"Perhaps it's not a god," Mhao shrugged. "Perhaps it's a demon. Perhaps it's some other being. But that's not what matters. This is."

Then, Mhao was on fire. No, it was more like he was fire. He grew, his grin stretching into a wicked smile as his body grew upward, turning blue. Then, it solidified again, Mhao now towering over them, almost triple Ryuu's height, his sword having grown proportionally.

"That's..." Ryuu felt his tanto fall to the ground, but could do nothing more than stare at Mhao. "That's impossible."

"So, Ryuu, as you said, let's end this," Mhao grinned, his voice deep and rumbling.

Ryuu swallowed hard and knelt slowly, picking up his tanto. "Kabuto, how big is the parasite?"

"Assuming he hasn't altered it in any way, it should be about the size of yur pinky finger," Kabuto said. "And it can move around in their bodies."

"I see," Ryuu nodded, still staring at the floor. "Do what you can about those four."

"Be careful," Fu said as Ryuu formed his wings. "I'll come and help you as soon as I can."

"Yeah," Ryuu said, forming a Vacuum Blade over his tanto, putting his trench knife away. "I'll try."

He exploded off of the ground, cratering it, but before he was even halfway, Mhao's free hand flashed through the air, backhanding Ryuu and sending him exploding through half a dozen pillars, making them collapse, along with part of the roof above them, barely missing crushing Ryuu. Ryuu stood, swaying dangerously before picking up his tanto, staring at Mhao as Mhao cackled gleefully, the others all struggling against the other homunculi.

"What's wrong Ryuu?" Mhao asked. "I thought you were stronger than that."

Ryuu stared at Mhao in silence. He was right. Ryuu was stronger than that. Something was off. Holding him back. He glanced at his right hand, but somehow, he knew it wasn't that.

"Catch me if you can, Mhao," Ryuu said, extending his wings and rocketing up toward the hole in the ceiling, only for Mhao to appear over him, punching him back to the ground.

"Pathetic!" Mhao shouted. "You're disappointing me, Ryuu! I went through all the trouble of gaining this power in hopes of matching you, and now you're weaker than you've ever been!"

Ryuu pushed himself up, making it to his knees before collapsing again. Something was wrong. His entire body felt sluggish, and weak. Just trying tp push himself up felt like he was trying to wade through neck-deep swamp muck. He looked around, trying to activate his Sharingan, but they wouldn't respond.

"What...what did...you...do?" Ryuu panted, managing to make it to his hands and knees again.

"I was wondering when you'd decide to ask," Mhao said just as the others all crashed to the ground around Ryuu, minus Tobi, who was still fighting. "Ever since you entered this room, we've been pumping a poisonous gas into the room. It doesn't effect homunculus, so we're all safe, but you...I'm actually impressed you're all still alive."

Ryuu swallowed hard. So that was it. He raised his head, staring at Tobi as he leapt and dodged around the four homunculi, beating them all to a pulp. "Tobi. Open a window."

Tobi instantly grabbed Ban and Khan by the throat and jumped, leaping through the hole Ryuu had formed before sending the two homunculi streaking upward one at a time, blasting Ban through one floor, then Khan up through the ground, opening it to fresh air. Then, he reappeared beside Ryuu, opening and wrapping a tentacle around each of them before sinking into the ground with them, leaving only Ryuu.

"I don't know what you hoped to accomplish," Mhao said. "I didn't really care about any of them anyway. But now, it's just you and me."

"Wrong," Ryuu said. "Because now, my best friend can give me a hand."

Mhao raised an eyebrow just as Yomo cawed, dropping a scroll, which landed in front of Ryuu and rolled open, a cloud of smoke bursting out instantly. Then, Ryuu's giant summoning crow grabbed Ryuu and shot up into the hole, a dozen feathers left in the ground, beginning to glow. Just as Ryuu and the crow left the hole, the feathers exploded and the hideout began to cave in. The crow flipped, tossing Ryuu before catching him on its back. Just as it did, Mhao exploded out of the ground in the distance and the other four homunculi appeared in the air in front of the crow. The crow flipped, Ryuu clinging to its back as it fired a barrage of arrows into the hammer homunculi's torso, then flew away from them all, sweeping low to the ground and levelling out just as the feathers exploded.

"Ban!" Yumi screamed.

Ryuu looked back, seeing the white substance dissolving as it fell. "Nice one. You got him." He inhaled deeply, feeling pain lance through him from his lungs, but felt his weakness starting to leave slowly. "Let's see if you can get the other three."

The crow huffed and circled around, streaking across the ground as Khan and Shin moved to meet him. The crow flapped its wings, streaking sideways as they slashed at it and left a trail of feathers which exploded and sent the pair flying, however, it didn't destroy them like Ban. Ryuu grit his teeth, steeling himself for more pain and inhaled again. The crow pulled up short, flapping its wings and sending a barrage of feathers at Khan and Shin again, apparently having curved around without Ryuu noticing. However, before the feathers could reach them, Yumi landed in front of them, helicoptering her khakkhara and deflecting all of the feathers, all of them exploding somewhere behind the three homunculi.

"I won't let you hurt my family!" she seethed, pulling her khakkhara back and leaping at them as the crow began to turn.

"Shit!" the crow swore.

Then, the staff crashed into him, lightning flashing off of the impact and sent the crow and Ryuu both flying, the crow exploding into smoke and Ryuu bouncing along the ground. As he rolled to a stop, Yumi charged at him, shrieking in rage, only for Fu to appear, drilling a punch into her gut and launching her backward. She flipped, driving the end of her staff into the ground and skidded to a stop, glaring at Fu.

"I won't let you hurt Ryuu," Fu snarled, murder shining from her eyes.

"I won't let you hurt my family," Yumi responded, just as angrily.

"Then we won't be able to see eye to eye," Fu said, drawing her tanto and kunai.

"And talking about it any longer will simply be a waste of our time," Yumi said.

Both exploded forward, chakra streaming along both of Fu's weapons before she slashed, her tanto crashing into Yumi's staff, the ground cratering. Ryuu watched as they moved around and around the clearing they were in, weapons clashing and cratering the ground repeatedly. Neither was holding back. They were both fighting to defend the ones they loved, as much as he hated to admit that Yumi clearly did care about anything. Being a homunculus created by Orochimaru, he would much rather think of them all as heartless monsters, but as he looked into Yumi's eyes, he saw the same fierce determination that he could see from Fu. He looked past the pair and saw that Kabuto was struggling to keep Khan busy, and Tobi was once again beating Shin senseless.

Ryuu looked back to Fu and Yumi just as Yumi's staff slammed into Fu's abdomen, launching her backward, lightning racing over Fu's body and her weapons falling to the ground as she flew. She crashed to the ground and Yumi began to walk after her, only to stop as Fu struggled to her feet and prepared herself to fight again, barehanded this time. Yumi shot forward and Fu moved to meet her, throwing a punch, only for Yumi to knock her arm away then slam the staff into the underside of her jaw, hurling her away again.

"Fu, just stop," Ryuu said, struggling to stand, body still not responding properly, as Fu's clearly wasn't.

"I can do this," Fu said, standing and wiping some blood from the corner of her mouth. "I won't let you hurt Ryuu."

"Just die already!" Yumi shrieked, lightning racing along her staff as she charged again.

This time, Fu didn't try to meet her charge, she just stood there, waiting. Then, as Yumi swung her staff around at Fu, Fu caught it, lightning flooding across her body, making her scream in agony, before Fu grabbed Yumi by the face, Yumi's scream joining her own. Finally, the lightning ended and Fu released the staff, forming the Seal of Confrontation.

"Fire Style, Blockbuster!" Fu shouted, Yumi instantly erupting into a fireball.

Fu was blasted backward and Ryuu shoved with all he was worth, managing to reach his feet in time to catch Fu before falling to the ground again. Just as he did, Khan shouted in agony as Kabuto drove a hand into one of his wounds.

"How!?" Khan shouted.

"Dumb luck," Kabuto said. "One of the times your wounds were healing, I caught sight of your parasite through the gash, so I realized that it was able to heal wounds faster when it was close to them. So, I just had to make one big enough and..." He ripped his hand out, a tiny purple leech-looking thing clutched in his fingers. "Et voila."

Then, he squeezed, the leech popping on one end like a zit as Khan shrieked in pain before melting into goo and beginning to dissolve. Ryuu looked to Tobi and Shin just as Shin charged at Tobi, who held a hand out, the other in the Seal of Confrontation.

"That's enough," Tobi said. "Wood Style, Cutting Sprigs Jutsu."

Then, a spike of wood erupted out of Tobi's palm, impaling Shin through the face and into his torso before dozens of spikes began to erupt from Shin's body and retract in the blink of an eye, shredding him before one finally stopped once extending, the parasite impaled on the end of it. Tobi detached from the wooden spike and it fell to the ground as Shin began to dissolve. Ryuu sighed in relief and looked up at Mhao, who was watching with an amused smirk.

"Not bad," Mhao said, clapping slowly. "You took them all down pretty quickly. Now, if Ryuu could just hurry up and get his lazy ass in gear, we could get the fun started. After all, I'm not really interested in settling things when he's weakened like this."

"Then why poison us?" Ryuu demanded.

"Oh no, that wasn't for you," Mhao said. "That was for the other experiment you all set loose. Don't worry. The poison is an instant death sentence for it."

Ryuu looked toward the hole, then back up at Mhao, choosing to ignore his words about some other threat. Right now, Mhao was the only threat that mattered.

"Ryuu," Tobi said, stepping up next to him. "If you use my body, you should be able to fight properly again. Your speed might be a little limited, I'm not as fast as you, but I'm about as strong, and I'm not affected by the poison, so you could fight up to my limits."

"Do it," Ryuu said.

Tobi nodded and deconstructed, lifting Ryuu before closing around him. Ryuu took a breath, feeling his lungs sear in pain, but when he took a step forward, Tobi's body assisted him, allowing him to move at a normal speed, Tobi's strength making up the difference for his own body's weakness. Ryuu sighed, crouching and readying himself, glaring at Mhao, who chuckled, motioning for Ryuu to attack first. Ryuu extended his wings and shot toward Mhao. Mhao threw a punch at Ryuu and Ryuu flipped, spiraling around Mhao's arm before hardening his right hand, drilling his fist into Mhao's nose, shouting in surprise as Mhao's body parted around him like as flames. He leapt backward, growling in annoyance. There was no way he'd be able to beat Mhao using his fists. However, he did have one advantage over Mhao, now. He was a huge target. He reached back, Tobi opening a gap to expose Ryuu's tanto, allowing him too draw it, and Ryuu formed a Vacuum Blade on it, glaring at Mhao. Mhao grinned, drawing his own sword, and both shot forward, their sword meeting with a deafening crash, Ryuu sailing backward through the air before catching himself, glaring at Mhao.

"This might be a challenge after all," Ryuu said. "Alright, we'll try it this way." He hurled his tanto skyward and formed several hand seals, inhaling. "Wind Style, Drilling Air Bullets!"

He slammed a fist into his gut and a massive blast of super-compressed air exploded out of his mouth, Tobi's head unravelling in time to let it pass before closing again. The blast exploded into Mhao's chest and sent him blasting into the ground, bouncing and rolling across it for a hundred yards before rolling to his feet, roaring in rage.

"Wind Style, Wind Dragon Jutsu!" Ryuu shouted, exhaling a massive dragon made of Wind Chakra.

The dragon shot along the ground, growing rapidly until it was as wide as Mhao's torso. Mhao slashed, sending a massive blast of flames that easily dwarfed the gargantuan wind dragon at it, but the fire dispersed around the dragon. Then, the dragon's jaws snapped closed on Mhao's ribs, just under his arms. Mhao screamed in pain as it crushed his ribs, its teeth sinking entirely into his skin, blood spraying out of the wounds, along with Mhao's mouth as his lungs were punctured by the teeth and his ribs. Then, Mhao began to pass into the dragon, which grew rapidly, quickly dwarfing the homunculus. As soon as Mhao had passed into the dragon's body, its body suddenly exploded into a cyclone of razor-sharp wind chakra, the chakra shredding at Mhao's body, Mhao screaming continuously as the dragon flew around and around, Mhao slowly making his way through its body as it did. Finally, he passed out is tail and began to fall, only for the dragon t instantly catch him in the front of its teeth, the teeth punching completely through his chest before it flew straight down, exploding into the ground with Mhao and erupting into a massive sphere of Wind Chakra, Mhao hovering in the center as the chakra tore at him even more. An arm spun away after a moment, then a leg. An eye was blasted into a spray of blood, and his nose was ripped off. Then, the sphere shone and compressed, a dozen or more gashes suddenly exploding open in Mhao's body before the sphere spiraled, exploding into a tornado, Mhao spinning around and around in the center as his body was torn apart even further, before he was finally ejected from the tornado, crashing to the ground and rolling to a stop, lying motionless as blood flooded out of his mangled body.

"Damn!" Tayuya said. "Where the hell did you learn that jutsu?"

"I...created it," Ryuu panted, know on one knee, and trying to catch his breath. "It's exhausting."

"I bet," Suigetsu said. "That's a terrifying jutsu."

"It's just a shame that you seem to have forgotten that fire beats Wind," Mhao's voice said as he rose, body exploding into flames and regenerating before grinning wickedly. "Had that been a water jutsu, I'd have been finished."

"Oh I didn't forget," Ryuu said. "I just needed to keep your eyes on me for a bit."

"You what!?" Mhao snarled before his eyes widened and he looked up.

"Water Style, Maelstrom Bullet Jutsu!" Fu shouted, a massive spiraling blast firing from her two handed finger gun, the blast rapidly expanding and spiraling into a long, thin drill, streaking down at Mhao in the blink of an eye.

It drilled through his chest, bursting out through his back before exploding, thousands of gallons of water exploding outward all at once. Water from the explosion began to rain back down from the air, soaking Fu's wings and making her fall, only for Ryuu to catch her. They watched the geyser the jutsu had created as he began to die down, only for the ground under the impact point to suddenly collapse, the entirety of the hideout beginning to cave in. After a few moments, it was over, and the falling rain quickly cleared the dust before also stopping. Ryuu's Sharingan watched the rubble in silence before he flew to where the others had retreated, setting Fu on her feet and turning back to the pit.

"What is it?" Kabuto asked. "Don't tell me he's still alive."

"Yeah," Ryuu said. "He's weakened, a lot, but he's alive."

Just then, blue flames exploded out of the pit, Mhao's enraged scream splitting the otherwise dead-silent forest. After a moment, he rose into the air in the center of the flames. He was normal-sized, but Ryuu could sense that he was still dangerously powerful, and seemed to be healing quickly. Ryuu glanced to the side, seeing his tanto, and flew over to it grabbing it and circling Mhao, pulling his attention away from the others. Mhao turned and slashed, the entirety of the column of flames shooting toward Ryuu as a highly-compressed, near-shining arc of flame. Ryuu swore, vanishing just ahead of it and reappeared just behind Mhao, a Vacuum Blade enhanced with water around his tanto as he slashed upward. Mhao spun so fast that Ryuu couldn't even see him move, and blocked the slash, only for Fu to appear behind him, a fresh set of wings buzzing behind her as she slashed at Mhao with a Water Blade, Mhao vanishing, then reappearing off to the side.

"Tobi, how long can you keep up the Body Flicker Technique?" Ryuu asked.

"Probably a few seconds," Tobi said. "But then I'll run out of chakra and deconstruct, and you'll be on your own."

"It's going to have to do," Ryuu said, pulling his sword back. "Let's go Mhao!"

He shot forward, the world around him seeming to slow to a crawl, except for Mhao. Mhao met his charge at an identical speed, the two of them beginning to clash rapidly, their blades flashing around and around. Ryuu flipped over a slash from Mhao's sword and spun, slashing at Mhao's throat, only for Mhao to duck under it and stand, slashing back upward at Ryuu. Ryuu twisted out of the way and stabbed downward at Mhao, who spun out of the way, then flipped and kicked at Ryuu. Ryuu caught the kick, water chakra flowing through his and Tobi's bodies to counteract Mhao's new ability. Then, he spun, flinging him into the ground. Mhao crashed into the ground and cratered it and Ryuu swiped a hand, a barrage of water senbon forming out of the water in the air around him, stabbing down into Mhao's body. One second down.

Mhao exploded off the ground at Ryuu, flames rolling off of his sword and Ryuu met his charge, water flooding off of his own blade. Both slashed and when they met, Mhao's flames exploded, only to be instantly blocked by enough water to fill a lake exploding off of Ryuu's blade, blasting Mhao into the ground again. However, just as it ended, Tobi separated from Ryuu, falling as a limp, flailing mass of tentacles, Ryuu falling as well. Suigetsu caught Ryuu and set him down as Mhao stood, soaking wet and seething with rage. The water over his body began to steam and hiss, Mhao snarling in rage as Suigetsu and Fu stepped in front of Ryuu.

"We'll take over from here," Suigetsu said, dropping his sword off to the side, instead forming his left forearm and down into a long, smooth blade of clear water that looked like it might be double-edged, at the same time as a droplet of water formed on his right hand's finger gun.

He and Fu charged instantly and Mhao roared, sounding more like a monster than a person, and met their charge, slashing rapidly, flames rolling off of his blade, yet Fu and Suigetsu's Water Blades were able to beat the flames. Fu and Suigetsu moved around and around Mhao, slashing again and again, Mhao turning, spinning, and pivoting, blocking everything, striking back when he could, but hitting nothing but air. Suddenly, as Suigetsu was flipping over Mhao and slashing, Mhao blocking the slash, Suigetsu fired the first Water Gun shot, the shot punching through Mhao's shoulder in a spray of blood. Mhao screamed, staggering backward before roaring in rage, flames exploding off of him as he shot forward, hacking and slashing at Suigetsu in a massive flurry of blows, forcing Suigetsu to retreat quickly, transforming his other arm into a blade as well to try and fend off the strikes. Mhao pressed him hard, however, and when Fu moved to help Suigetsu, a blast of flames erupted out of Mhao's back, forcing her to leap backward. Then, Ryuu raised a hand, a droplet of water forming on his finger before firing, punching through Mhao from behind before hitting Suigetsu and launching him backward but not hurting him. Suigetsu bounced and rolled to a stop before standing, grinning as Mhao stared down at his chest.

"Looks like that's the end of it," Suigetsu grinned.

Mhao began to tremble and Suigetsu's eyes narrowed.

"Just stay down!" Suigetsu said.

Mhao roared, erupting into a massive humanoid flame, his sword transforming into a long tongue of flame that he slashed out to the side, anything the sword hit exploding and spreading flames over everything. Suigetsu winced, staggering away, one hand going to his throat.

"Suigetsu!" Karin shouted. "He'll dehydrate!"

"Water Style, Super Exploding Water Shockwave!" Ryuu shouted, Fu resting a hand on his back and transferring him Chomei's chakra to allow him to use it.

Water exploded out of Ryuu's mouth, flooding outward and putting out the flames, hissing, steaming, and boiling as it hit Mhao, who shouted in rage and pain. The water swept Mhao into the pit and he crashed down before standing and roaring in rage and pain as the water began to flood the pit, despite how massive the pit was. Mhao stood, roaring and turning toward the edge where Ryuu and Fu were watching. However, a moment later, a massive blob of water with spikes on its back, a mouth full of pointed teeth, and a pair of tentacle-like arms on the sides erupted out of the water, Suigetsu floating in the center. Suigetsu rammed into Mhao, biting into his sides, Mhao roaring in pain ant raising his sword, the flames shifting to point downward, only for Suigetsu's left tentacle to wrap around the arm, the other wrapping around Mhao's throat. The two struggled against each other for a moment before Suigetsu turned, shouting in effort and swinging his arms, Mhao being swung into the air and over the blob, slamming down in the water, which washed over him instantly. The water vibrated, a muted roar reaching everyone's ears as the water began to boil, and after a moment, Mhao broke free, only for Suigetsu to wrestle him back under the water. Mhao broke free again, managing to slash Suigetsu's left tentacle, the explosion blasting part of the blob off, but in response, Suigetsu pulled a hand up and curled it into a fist in front of himself, a dozen water tentacles bursting out of the water and grabbing Mhao. Then, Suigetsu yanked his hand downward and Mhao was dragged under the water again. He thrashed and struggled under the water, but this time Suigetsu had too good a hold. Slowly, the flames began to go out, Mhao's body rapidly vanishing as the water slowly began to calm. Then, finally, the flames were gone entirely, leaving Mhao's original body, which Suigetsu held under for several more moments before releasing, allowing his water form to fall away, leaving him as himself again, panting and completely drained of energy.

Ryuu sighed, walking across the water toward Mhao's body, tanto in hand with his Water Vacuum Blade still in place and Fu at his side. Then, Mhao burst out f the water, streaking across it at Ryuu, sword pulled back.

"I won't die!" Mhao seethed. "I am the ultimate being! I am the one chosen by the Fire God! I will burn-"

Ryuu's tanto spun over Mhao, the Vacuum Blade slicing both of his arms off, Mhao's eyes widening in shock as Ryuu and Fu appeared in front of him, each holding a small sphere of water in their hands, the spheres raging around as it fought to expand.

"Just shut up," Ryuu snarled.

"Water Style, Ripping Torrent!" both shouted, slamming their sphere into Mhao's gut.

Both exploded outward instantly, combining into a cyclone of water that tore into Mhao the same way Ryuu's Wind Dragon Jutsu had, dragging him backward through the pit as it did. Finally, Mhao hit the end of the pit three hundred meters away and the cyclone exploded, shattering the ground for another hundred meters before beginning to settle in a thick mist and rain. Ryuu sighed and collapsed onto Fu's shoulder, Fu catching him and jumping up to the others, passing him too Karin before turning and swiping a hand, a wave of Wind Style Chakra shooting out and clearing the mist. There, laying in the remains of the shattered ground, was Mhao. No arms, one leg shattered in five places, the other folded forward so that his foot was in his armpit, and his head snapped around backward, the back of his head resting on his chest, both eyes liquified and slowly leaking out of his eye sockets.

"Oh my god," Karin said. "That's disgusting."

"That had better be the last one," Ryuu said. "Because that's going to haunt me for a very long time."

"Me too," Fu agreed.

"They were just Homunculi," Kabuto said.

"No," Ryuu said. "They were people. They had emotions, and desires. They may not have been made the same way we were, but they were just as alive as us."

Kabuto nodded slowly. "I suppose you're right. Anyway, we should get back."

"Not yet," Ryuu said, pulling out a soldier pill and eating it. "One last thing."

The other all looked at him in confusion as he walked to the edge of the pit, forming hand seals.

"Fire Style, Purgatory Reclamation!" He set his hands on the side of the pit and flames surged outward from them, filling the pit and instantly evaporating the water before beginning to burn everything in the pit, the pit dropping several more levels as the fire spread down further than they had been. Then, Ryuu stood and swayed dangerously before Fu caught him again, steadying him. "Tobi, you still with us?"

"Yes," Tobi said, slowly reconnecting himself. "I just need to rest."

"Alright," Ryuu nodded. "Let's get going then."

The others nodded and they all started back, most of them limping and barely moving faster than a crawl. Ryuu sighed. It was going to be a long trip.

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