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A Test of Strength
"Majestic Demolisher Flames!"
Ryuu spun, grabbing Naruto as he and Fu fled from the massive wall of flames using the Body Flicker Technique. He stopped, landing on his feet and setting Naruto down as he stared at the source of the flames. A homunculus. Not Mhao, thankfully, but the snow-white skin and red eyes gave them away just the same. This one wore a white kimono shirt with loose sleeves ending just above his wrists, white pants taped closed around the ankles, a pair of white sandals with two wood planks on the bottom like Jiraiya wore, and had his hair tied into a tight braid reaching his shoulder blades. In his right hand was a katana hilt with red cloth wrapped around the grip in the standard crossed style, but there was no blade or tsuba.
"Great," Ryuu sighed. "Another Mhao."
"You're the one who killed my little brother, aren't you?" the homunculus asked.
"Little brother?" Ryuu blinked. "What, so you were the first?"
"That's right," the homunculus nodded. "My name is Hei. Tell me, why did you kill my brother?"
"Because your brother made it his life's mission to kill me," Ryuu said. "Every mission I went on, he attacked me. And he captured me once and took me to Orochimaru, who spent two years making my life a living hell. I killed Mhao because it was the only way to stop him from putting my friends in danger and trying to kill me. And besides that, when I fought him the last time, he'd been corrupted and possessed by some kind of flame spirit."
"Agni," Hei said. "Mhao was so certain he could find Agni. Tell me, did my brother give you a good fight before he died?"
"Yes," Ryuu nodded. "He was very powerful, even before Agni. Terrifyingly so after."
Hei nodded. "Very well. I can accept that."
Just then, the same female Fu had fought before Ryuu fought Mhao stepped out of the trees, her khakkhara in-hand. Ryuu's eyes widened. He remembered her being turned into a fireball.
"Yumi?" Ryuu asked. "I thought Fu killed you."
"This isn't Yumi," Hei said.
"Yumi was my younger sister," the female said. "My name is Lena. I'm Hei's girlfriend."
"But...wait...aren't you siblings?" Ryuu asked.
"We're homunculus," Hei said. "We have no true family. We are only what we decide to be."
"And what have you decided to be?" Fu asked.
"That remains to be seen," Hei said. "I will test your strength. If you are able to defeat me, I will decide then."
"So you're going to be another Mhao after all, huh?" Ryuu asked, drawing his tanto. "Fine. What about Lena?"
"She will help your friends deal with the Three-tails," Hei said. "That way it won't interrupt us."
Ryuu nodded, glancing at Fu, who also nodded. She picked up Naruto, extending her wings, and took off toward the turtle, who had been blasting the far side of the lake indiscriminately while they spoke. As they did, Lena sprinted out across the water with them.
"Shall we begin?" Hei asked, flames erupting to life from his sword hilt, forming an enormous, curved blade out of flames, the base of the blade about a foot from edge to back, then reaching back in a gentle curve to a point about the length of a normal katana blade.
Ryuu kind of liked it. It looked cool. He focused, flames springing to life along his tanto's blade as well, forming a blade silhouette the size of a Vacuum Blade. Then, the two of them were off, their Flame Blades clashing between them in a shower of sparks, colliding like they were solid. They both shoved off of each other's and Hey spun, slashing at Ryuu's waist, only for him to flip over it, twisting and slamming a kick down into Hei's shoulder, sending him blasting down through the water. A moment later, Ryuu flipped backward as Hei exploded up from the water, reforming his blade and slashing at Ryuu as he fell. Ryuu sidestepped it and Hei spun, away from him, his sword whipping around and crashing into Ryuu's, throwing him backward. Ryuu flipped, landing on his feet on the water and skidding for a short distance before lunging forward, slamming his sword into Hei's and knocking it to the side before slashing at Hei, only for Hei to bend backward under blade. Then, he spun, stabbing at Ryuu, who spun, deflecting the blade again. Ryuu flipped his hand to reverse grip and slashed upward at Hei as he stepped forward and Hei caught his forearm, slashing at him, only for Ryuu to also catch his forearm.
Both jumped, slamming the bottom of their foot into the other's foot, and released each other's arms, allowing themselves to leap off of each other, their blades clashing one last time before both flipped backward away from each other. As soon as Ryuu landed, Hei appeared in front of him, slashing downward and Ryuu raised his own blade, blocking Hei's, both hands gripping the tanto's hilt, since he couldn't brace this blade with his hand like he could his Vacuum Blade. After a moment, he shoved it to the side, stepping forward and drilling his tanto's buttcap into Hei's gut, forcing Hei to leap backward, nodding approvingly.
"You really are strong," Hei nodded. "You haven't even activated your Sharingan yet. I can understand how you managed to defeat my brother after he was blessed by Agni."
"That fight was a close one," Ryuu said. "It took everything I had to win."
Hei nodded, raising his sword again. Ryuu likewise readied himself, and both charged, their blades beginning to clash once more.
Fu flipped over Isobu's tail, exhaling a Pressure Damage into its next tail, Lena using a False Darkness to block the third, clearing Naruto a path to the turtle's face. Naruto slammed a Rasengan into the turtle's eye and the jutsu exploded, Isobu roaring in pain and backing away, its hand exploding down where Naruto had been, Naruto managing to use the Body Flicker Technique to retreat.
"You're getting better with that one, Naruto," Fu said.
"Thanks," Naruto said. "Can we really beat this thing?"
"If all else fails, I can use my ace," Fu pointed out.
"True," Naruto agreed.
Just then, Isobu roared, a pair of spheres of light beginning to form in front of its face, the spheres both being the beginning stages of whatever Water Style Jutsu is had been blasting the shore with. However, before Isobu could blast Naruto and Fu, Lena jabbed her khakkhara at him and a bolt of lightning as thick as Fu's body flashed out, exploding into Isobu's eye before both of the blasts he was preparing detonated as well, actually managing to throw him backward, though also kicking up ten foot waves that began to toss them all around like there was a storm. Fu nodded to Lena, who smiled proudly and nodded back. However, just as she did, all three tails suddenly flashing around at her, much too fast for her to avoid. before they could it, Fu was suddenly in front of her in her Tailed Beast Cloak Version Two with four tails, her arms out to the side, the chakra arms extended and holding two of Isobu's tails out to the sides at bay as a third chakra arm was extended from her back, holding the third at bay above them.
Suddenly, Guren sprinted past Fu, leaping into the air and forming several hand seals. A massive blue crystal spear appeared attached to the outside of her forearm like her blades and she drove it at the eye, only for Isobu to turn his head, making the spear hit beside it, shattering. Isobu did retreat, though, and the moment his tails pulled back, Fu's Tailed Beast Cloak faded before she flew up in front of its face.
"Wind Style, Great Vacuum Spheres!" Fu shouted, then exhaled a barrage of super-compressed Wind Style chakra, each as tall as her.
They all exploded against Isobu's eye and he roared, backing away rapidly before a tail swung around at her. She flipped, streaking downward under it, only for Isobu to fire a blast of water before she could react. Before it could hit her, however, Lena shot past, grabbing her on the way and pulling her to safety, the blast instead demolishing part of a cliff off in the distance.
"Thanks," Fu said. "That could have gotten messy."
"You're welcome," Lena smiled.
Just then, Naruto slammed a Giant Rasengan into Isobu's eye and it roared in pain, retreating under water. Fu sighed in relief, standing and looking over at Naruto and Guren, who were standing together a ways away. However, just as she started toward them, Isobu suddenly leapt out of the water entirely, roaring angrily as he fell toward the pair.
"Naruto!" Fu shouted, extending her wings and streaking toward them.
However, before she could reach them, Isobu crashed down on the pain, sending out a massive explosion of water. The water slammed into Fu like a solid wall, soaking her wings and rendering her unconscious instantly.
Ryuu spun, pulling his sword back to strike, only to stop as Hei's blade stopped in front of his throat. "Two and two. You really are good."
"Thank you," Hei said, stepping back again.
However, just as they both moved to charge again, Isobu crashed down hard, a tsunami of water racing toward them. Ryuu shouted in surprise, he and Hei both fleeing the water, barely escaping, then met Lena on the water as she lifted Fu out of it. Fu groaned, then began to cough up water, grimacing before looking around.
"You alright?" Ryuu asked as Lena set her on her feet and Ryuu took Fu's arm over his shoulder.
"I'm okay," Fu nodded. "Where are Naruto and Guren? Isobu landed on them, I think."
"I don't sense them," Ryuu said.
"We'll look for them," Hei nodded. "For now, you should get your friend somewhere safe."
"Can we trust you?" Ryuu asked.
"Yes," Hei nodded. "I can tell you're a good person. If you weren't, you'd have killed me the first time you beat me, if not sooner. I don't believe you killed my brother out of hatred. And if you did, it was probably earned."
Ryuu nodded. "I'll be back to help look in a couple of minutes."
Hei nodded and Ryuu turned, lifting Fu into his arms and extending his wings, flying away from the lake. After a few minutes, he landed beside Kakashi and the others, Yukimaru and Gozu also present, though Yukimaru was being held in Gozu's expanded hand to keep him from going after Guren.
"Kakashi," Ryuu said, passing Fu to him, Fu having passed out again. "I have to get back, but we might have gotten two more allies."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but Ryuu flew off again without explaining. He landed on the lake just as Hei and Lena both climbed out of it, shaking their heads.
"There's no sign of them," Hei said. "And the Three-tails has retreated to the bottom of the lake and is in some kind of barrier."
Ryuu dropped into the water, looking around with his Sharingan and seeing the barrier, though he didn't recognize it. He surfaced again sighing and nodding. "We need to keep looking, but try not to disturb the Three-tails."
Both homunculi nodded and the three of them spread out, each going under water to search.
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