Chapter 11: Ikisaki

The group continued up the mountain with no more attacks and even the snow eventually stopped falling. The sky was no longer a cold blue but now a warm pinkish orange as the sun's light reflected on the snow.

And as they reached the high point of the hill, they nearly all gasped at what they saw.

Out in the distance in front of them was a giant white monastery that sat above the clouds, the sun seeming to make it gleam like a jewel.

"The Temple Palace of the Sky Buddha." Usagi whispered while the others stared in awe.

"It's beautiful." Leo murmured.

"Wonder how much they had to pay to build that." Gennosuke pondered.

The clouds in the distance suddenly seemed to warp in front of their very eyes, taking the shapes of traditional Japanese dragons. The roar of the cloud dragons seemed so real that it caused the group to gasp as they reached for their weapons. The two dragons twisted around each other gracefully, as if it were a dance that they were performing to the gods above.

However, the clouds soon dispersed, revealing the pathway to the temple.

"It will be dark soon." Usagi pointed out, noticing the sun was going down. "We must keep moving if we are to make it by nightfall."

The group was about to move when they heard a loud cry of pain. They looked in alarm to see Kintaro had collapsed to the ground, holding his left knee as blood poured out of it and stained his fur.

"Pug-taro!" Mikey cried as the others quickly rushed to his side. "What's wrong?"

Donnie gently lifted the pug child's leg and inspected the wound. "Hmm, I'm gonna need bandage this. Does anyone have any cloth I could use?"

Gennosuke ripped off a piece of fabric from his sleeve. "Will this do?"

The smart turtle simply took it before applying it to Kintaro's wound. "You should've told us about this." Donnie lightly chided the Holy Child. "This could've gotten infected."

Kintaro simply scoffed, though wincing as the purple turtle began cleaning the wound once it stopped bleeding. "I'm fine. I don't need tending to. Besides, once I get my powers I'll be able to heal myself faster than you can blink."

"Well, until you get those powers, you're still gonna need tending to." Donnie retorted sasily. "Looks like your knee's been sprained. It's a good thing we found out about this now rather than later." Once he finished cleaning the wound, he began wrapping the cloth around Kintaro's knee.

"OW!" Kintaro shouted, squirming as Donnie tried to make sure the bandage was nice and tight. "You clumsy lizard, that hurt!"

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't hurt as much if you'd hold still." The smart turtle retorted. "I'm trying to help you."

"You're failing!" Kintaro stated, getting on his feet. "And you're causing me untold pain, knave! I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD CHOPPED OFF!"

Donnie simply gave the Golden Boy a flat look. "Just be sure not to put too much pressure on it." He said, his tone of voice indicating he was not amused.

And of course, instead of taking the small child seriously, Mikey burst into laughter. "Aw, I love Pug-taro's threats." He giggled. "You're comedy gold, little dog dude."

That got a snicker out of Donnie and Raph as they walked on ahead. Kintaro's face practically turned red with anger as he growled like a feral wolf, his ears practically steaming like a teapot.

"I am not funny! I am impressive!" He retorted, kicking around in a rather pathetic manner before a sudden surge of pain went up through his leg, causing him to fall down.

Leo gazed at the child with an unreadable expression before turning to the rabbit ronin. "Usagi-san," He spoke up in a very formal manner, "allow me to protect your young charge for a little while. Give you a rest."

"I appreciate and accept, Leonardo-san." Usagi said with a small smile, bowing his head slightly before walking ahead with the others.

Turning his full attention to Kintaro, Leo walked up to the Holy Child, his expression still rather unreadable as the pup whimpered while holding his knee.

"What do you want?" Kintaro growled.

Instead of retorting or looking annoyed, Leo simply smiled. "Only to walk with someone who I think is pretty brave."

The Holy Child looked surprised as he turned fully towards the blue clad turtle. "What do you mean you think I'm… I'm brave?" He asked, sounding confused.

Leo adjusted his hat, a small smile still gracing his lips. "I saw you on the mountain back there." He replied. "You stood your ground and tried to help fight against the ninja. That was pretty impressive, Kintaro."

"It was?" Kintaro murmured quietly. "I-I mean, of course it was!" He quickly picked up his axe and walked beside him. "I was, um, born to be a hero, after all."

"I can name another time where I thought you were pretty brave." Leo stated, much to Kintaro's curiosity. "Way before facing those ninjas."

"Really?" The Holy Child once again sounded surprised. "When?"

Leo smiled. "When me and my brothers first attacked you and Usagi." He replied. "You were able to tell me and my brothers were under Jei's control and you even came to our defense." He then stopped and fully turned to the Golden Boy. "It takes great strength to know not when to take a life, but when to save and spare one." He then knelt down to Kintaro's level, putting a hand on his shoulder. "And although none of us said it before, I thank you, Kintaro. For freeing us with your boldness and good judgment."

Kintaro found himself speechless as he stared up at Leo. He couldn't seem to comprehend that the blue turtle was complimenting him even after he had been so cruel to him and his brothers. A small smile then made its way onto his face as he bashfully scratched the back of his head.

"I… I-I suppose I never thanked you either." He said, his voice now sounding rather timid. "Back when you saved me from the ninjas at the river and when you defended me from the Jorogumo. Out of everyone, you've probably been the most kind to me." He then looked down, actually looking a bit guilty. "Even after how horribly I treated you. So… thank you."

Leo simply nodded. "You're welcome." He said. "Come on, the others are getting ahead."

Kintaro moved to walk, but immediately felt a surge of pain run up his leg, causing him to fall over with a whimper.

The blue clad turtle stopped before looking down at him. Seeing the child with a pain in his leg like that reminded him of his time at the farmhouse, when his leg was still broken and he could barely walk. "Want me to carry you?" He asked.

Again, Kintaro looked surprised at how kind Leo was being to him before he simply nodded.

Bending down, Leo gently picked the Holy Child up and placed him on his back.

"Thank you, Leonardo-san." Kintaro murmured, a small smile evident in his voice.

The blue turtle chuckled. "Please, you can call me Leo."


Once Leo and Kintaro caught back up with the others, they continued on their trek to the temple. It had begun snowing again as the path ahead of the group soon morphed into a path of stone stairs.

As they got closer and closer to the temple, Leo could feel the spiritual presence of the temple growing stronger and stronger. So much so that it was almost overwhelming. Still, he did not let this show and from the looks of it, neither did the others as they pressed on until after countless hours with very few stops for breaks, they finally reached the very top of the stairs.

"Finally." Usagi said. "The Temple Palace of the Sky Buddha."

In front of them and across a traditional red wooden bridge was a massive temple that also appeared to be a palace as the name implied. The courtyard looked huge, surrounded by a tall stone wall while the main temple had three massive floors.

The sky had turned a dark shade of purplish gray as the sun had almost disappeared over the horizon, giving the place a rather ominous feeling that it shouldn't have.

Kintaro clinged to Leo a little tighter, hiding his head behind the blue turtle's shoulder. In response, Leo gently petted the Holy Child's head in hopes of calming him down.

Walking across the bridge, Usagi noticed something rather suspicious as they approached the entrance gate. "Hmm, there should be warrior monks guarding the entrance." He said.

Gennosuke spat over the bridge. "They're probably having some big feast right now, which I could use." He said. "All this walking has really worked up an appetite. I need food!"

"Still, we should be cautious." The ronin said.

But of course, Mikey had to be the one to throw all that caution to the wind as he jogged right into the courtyard and giggling like an excited child.

The courtyard was humongous… and very empty too, with even a light fog settling in. There were black lanterns hanging all across the walls with even a few sakura trees and some statues depicting fierce oni.

Kintaro still clung tightly to Leo's back as the group slowly made their way through the courtyard, and just like the gates, there was not a soul in sight.

Something wasn't right.

Everyone seemed to have that same feeling as they stopped in the middle of the courtyard before each drawing their weapons.

Now they made their way through the courtyard more slowly, all of them inspecting everything they could see.

Leo gripped his katanas tightly while Kintaro still clung to his back, the blue clad turtle's eyes shifted to find any signs of a potential ambush. But just then, his non-existent ears perked up as he heard the quiet sound of a man chanting.

The others seemed to hear it too as they lowered their weapons and looked to the source of the voice.

In front of them was an old man in a black robe with a komuso hat that obscured his features, chanting in what appeared to be rough Japanese as he knelt in front of a statue of the Buddha.

"Excuse us, sir?" Leo called out cautiously. "We're looking for the High Priest?"

The old man went silent… before turning around and throwing off his hat, revealing himself to be none other than the mad wolf himself.

"Greetings, my warriors." He greeted gleefully.

"Jei!" Usagi scowled while the others immediately raised their weapons for battle.

"Thank you for bringing the Golden Boy to the temple. It is the only place where I can perform the ritual of the new dawn." The mad wolf stated.

The group then heard a loud thud behind them, as well as the sounds of several swords being unsheathed, forcing them to turn around to see Sumo Kuma with all of his stragglers.

"Shall me and my men destroy them, Master?" The bear asked.

"Destroy Usagi and Gennosuke!" Jei ordered, gripping his staff. "The Turtles may still be of some use to me."

Jei then lunged at the Turtles with his spear, forcing them to jump back before retaliating. The mad wolf batted away a strike from Donnie's staff before blocking a strike from Leo's swords. He pushed the blue clad turtle away performing a split kick on Raph and Mikey.

Meanwhile, Kintaro had fallen off of Leo's shell as the Turtles battled the mad wolf. In a panic, the Holy Child limped away and hid behind a small stone wall. He could do nothing but watch as the battle raged on.

Usagi clashed his katana with one straggler before raising his foot and kicking away another. He then jumped out of the way as Sumo Kuma tried to bring down his kanabo on the ronin's head.

Gennosuke punched away a straggler with a spear before grabbing it and throwing it into the shoulder of another straggler. He then looked to see Usagi duck under a swing from Sumo Kuma before clashing his blade with the big bear.

Seeing that his friend was about to be crushed, the rhino lowered his horn and rammed through a horde of stragglers before slamming into the big bear. With the bear stunned and off balance, Gen grabbed Sumo Kumo and socked him in the jaw before flipping him over his shoulder.

While Gen helped Usagi to his feet so they could fight off more stragglers, the Turtles were currently struggling against Jei. However, they were starting to gain the advantage thanks to their teamwork and coordination, forcing the mad wolf on the defense.

Jei blocked a strike from Donnie's staff, only to be hit in the face by one of Mikey's nunchucks before being kicked in the gut by the smart turtle. He then moved his spear to block Leo's katanas, with the blue clad turtle keeping Jei in the blade lock long enough for Raph to sweep the wolf's legs out from under him and for Leo to kick him mid-air.

The mad wolf landed roughly on his back before flipping to his feet. And to the Turtles surprise, he didn't seem in pain at all or even frustrated. In fact, he seemed… eager?

"Excellent." Jei said. "You have more than proven your worth."

"Our worth?" Leo questioned in confusion, with the other turtles raising a brow as well.

"Do you truly believe I gave up my control over you?" Jei said. "No. How do you think I've been spying on you this whole time?" He grinned as he reached into his robe, Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey's eyes widening at the revelation. "I have been watching through your eyes."

And out from his robe, Jei pulled out four turtle talismans, the same ones he had used to summon the Turtles in the first place.

Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey dropped their weapons and clutched their heads, the same feeling of when they were pulled from the Lair and into Usagi's world coming back full force, even stronger than the first time. They grunted and gritted their teeth as they tried with all their might to resist Jei's control.

But it was no use, and they soon found themselves back under the mad wolf's control, their eyes a ghostly white just like his.

Kintaro whimpered as he could do nothing but watch as the four turtles who had protected him on this journey fall under the wolf's spell again, as much it pained him to watch.

Jei chuckled. "Now, turtle ninja, destroy Miyamoto Usagi and Murakami Gennosuke."

Mindlessly, the four turtles picked up their weapons before turning to the ronin and rhino, who were still fighting off Sumo Kuma's stragglers.

Noiselessly, the Turtles rushed to attack the two samurai as the stragglers wordlessly backed off.

Usagi and Gen were caught completely off guard when the Turtles attacked, Leo slashing Usagi's shoulder and giving a large bloody cut while Mikey and Donnie smacked Gen's head and his legs.

The two samurai tried to hold them off, but found themselves being overwhelmed by the sheer force, speed, and brutality of the ninja turtles, with them eventually being disarmed of their weapons and knocked to the ground.

Usagi's head was ringing as his wounds ached, he reached for his sword which lay right in front of him. But the blade was pinned down by Leo's foot as he stood over him, his katana poised with deadly intent.

"Finish them!" Jei ordered.

Donnie and Mikey grabbed Usagi's shoulders, roughly forcing him up to his knees. Leo raised his katana high above his head, about to deliver the killing blow.

"Usagi, no!" Kintaro cried, running up and grabbing the blue clad turtle's leg. "Leo, don't! Please! This isn't you!"

Leo simply kicked the pug child away before turning his attention back to executing the ronin. Once again, Leo raised his katana to kill Usagi.

"No…" Kintaro murmured, his eyes filling with unshed tears as he watched the turtle who been kind to him since the start was about to murder his loyal bodyguard, "NO…"

"NO!"

Leo brought down his katana.