In the last six months, Tajek had taken Sesoni's initiative and plotted out as many scenarios as he could about this night in his head. And as he did so, he reasoned that the original attack on the sewers was the rebel's first plan to take over Konoha. When that failed, the rogues swiftly took out the Hokage, and as his uncle took over the position, they planned this massive take-over. The results spoke for themselves. That meant that their numbers had grown in such a short period of time. He also came to the conclusion that Himeka and this dirt bag were the primary reason for that.

As Tajek stared down his adversary, he smirked. Even though this was a surprise hiccup in all of the situations he had planned, Tajek quickly adapted. He was ready to face his opponent and beat him by being better equipped to handle the circumstances. He was no longer that young genin just hoping to impress a girl; he was the leader of his village. He intended to act accordingly.

He would finally demonstrate his skills for Konoha.

Tajek allowed the man to perform hand signs. He knew that he shouldn't be cocky, but Tajek had confidence in the sword he wielded. After all, what fun would it be if Tajek didn't even experiment with the sword?

Water surrounded the man's figure, and his figure slowly morphed into the snarky ambassador from the Hidden Waterfall Village. The demon-hood she possessed showed in the fact that she hadn't aged at all since they last time they met; he wondered if Akaya would stay the same as she was now or if her morality would prevail in that regard.

The water demon winked at the boy as she spoke, "I'm slightly surprised at how well you've adjusted since I killed your father," Tanji chuckled, "But then again, like father, like son."

Tanji twirled a kunai around her finger, "And for that matter, like father, like daughter. Even if Shin gets there, Akaya is being annihilated as we speak."

Tajek hadn't anticipated seeing the vicious water vixen connected to his city's demise, but that explained why they were missing the true body counts from the sewer mission all of those years ago. He also recalled now that Tanji had been visiting the village at the time. She had left urgently, creating the escort mission in her wake in the weeks that followed.

Tajek stood proudly against that demon, unfazed by her aggressive disposition. His mother made Tanji's scary demeanor feel like child's play. "Well, my dad wasn't holding this sword against you that night. And as for Akaya, you know what she's capable of."

Tanji snickered, "You know better than I do that I would have beaten him either way. It was his family's life or the village's lives." She pointed a crooked finger at him as she continued, "You're lucky that we never found you. And I'm sure that was all Shin Ryu's doing, which just pisses me off!"

The young ninja smirked as he retorted, "Of course. But you may have underestimated your enemy this time." He held his head high, "Speaking of which, why are we even enemies at all? My father did everything in his power to help you with the demons' rights in your village."

Tanji shape-shifted into her complete water form, morphing into a flowing river with a face. Much like Akira's shadows, Tanji used her demonic qualities effortlessly.

The water demon laughed, "Isn't it obvious?" She pointed to the gates behind her, "Konoha's dynamics with demons were cordial at best. They had to adapt to the rising amount of demons around them. So, instead of facing the issues between humans and demons, they only tried to make alliances with us. Honestly, we should've had more."

Tajek sighed, "You wanted acknowledgement for all the wrong things humans did to demons before the pact." He motioned his sword down, pointing its tip at the ground. "So destroying Konoha was both out of revenge for the past and a revolution for the future of demons, I presume?"

Tanji observed Tajek as he tried to reason and understand her. It was that same thing Danter did before she killed him, and for that remembrance of satisfaction alone, she humored Tajek's diplomacy. "Your intuition is perfect. However, you're missing a key component in all of this."

She flashed a grimacing smile, and it swept despair over Tajek without even hearing the words. He knew that tonight's confrontations were not going to be as easy to handle as the past missions they had done together, but it worried him that he had different objectives he had to complete before he could go to Akaya's aide. There was an obvious reason for Himeka to focus all of her terrifying discontentment towards Akaya, but Tajek didn't want to think about it. He had ignored it at a time when that should have been a central focus of his attention.

As she giggled at his agony, Tajek once again raised his sword at her. This time, he held his arm out ahead of him and pointed the sword's tip at Tanji, "In a world like this, you and your army see it as humans or demons. Whereas, Akaya crosses both of those predetermined categories. This whole thing was to get her to join you, right?"

Tanji snickered before she yawned from boredom, "Correct again, little Montair. As smart and as powerful as Hiromi pretends that she is, she realized that the fire demon would take over her mind. The objective was to take control of the stupid place. But young mortal, it isn't just about the fire demon's power."

Tajek's eyes widened as everything finally stitched together, piece by piece. "It's the Honomoro. The one fire demon that takes possession of the person who controls fire the best in its region. And you believe in that old rumor, am I right?"

Tanji's started sliding slowly in his direction, "Oh, it isn't a rumor. It likes beings that allow two parts of themselves to coherently coexist. Himeka is the mixture between cold-hearted and sentimental. The two contradictions if you will. But those are emotion constructs of balance. What if a being was the living embodiment of two opposite realities?"

Secretly, Tajek activated his Tradusin. He'd need all the extra chakra he could get. The sword was thinning out his supply. Opposite to how he felt inside, he spoke evenly and calmly, "Just because she's a half-demon doesn't mean she's going to be used; she wouldn't let it take over. She's too stubborn for that."

She kept moving closer to him, and he watched cautiously. She relied on her alluring presence and seamless movements to distract her opponents, and thankfully, he hadn't missed that lesson at the academy. If she made a wrong move, Tajek was ready to strike.

Tanji blurted out, "Stupid little boy! You really think she will even have a choice in the matter? The Honomoro wants full power and control. Akaya won't have any chance at all."

Tanji lunged at Tajek with a swift wave of water. It splashed Tajek and his sword as he swung it to match her wild movement. As she moved behind him, she cackled evilly, "I'm guessing you never brushed up on how to fight a water demon properly."

Instantaneously, she became a water bubble and engulfed Tajek, effectively eliminating his air supply. Tajek held his breath helplessly as she spoke playfully to him, "So in your dying moments, let me explain."

She formed back into a solid figure in front of him. Even in his state, the water demon's demonstration of water control was awe-inspiring. "Like shadow demons, I can shift into my element, and once I have water on you, I can engulf you. You'll just suffocate to death now. Again like father, like son."

Tajek closed his eyes and held his breath as he squeezed his sword to concentrate. He wanted to stay calm, but panic for action overtook his body. And as he admitted defeat and let go of his last breath of life, the sword in the middle of his fist began to spark. The spark turned into lightning, jolting the body of water around him.

With that, Tajek desperately gasped for air to avoid losing consciousness. He felt the electric shock vibrate through his chakra streams. As he caught his breath, he lifted the sword in the air, allowing his panic to manifest into lightning around his aura. His opposition howled in pain as lightning bursts electrocuted her hybrid form. Tajek swung the sword at her and watched as she turned back into her weak mortal form. Cowering, Tanji cursed at him as Tajek kept the lightning coursing through her body and her multiple forms. Tanji would never show any mercy to him, so he had to have the same mentality towards Tanji. She was not worth saving; she was not worth the risk.

Tanji shrieked in agony as her body convulsed, "Brat!"

She spat her final words at him, "You'll never be anything like your father if you do shit like this all of the time! It isn't like father, like son after all! Stop this!"

As she stopped shouting and her body made no effort to move, Tajek let the sword's ability subside. Tanji slowly melted into a small puddle of water in front of him. When he had first became a Shinobi, Tajek never imagined he would become cut throat and merciless. His father never showed that side of himself so Tajek imagined that it didn't have to exist. As he turned and ran towards the sewers, he had a renewed confidence in himself.

The Vicious Vixen was right: he wouldn't be like Danter Montair.

For the sake of his village's future, Tajek had to do what he thought was just. He couldn't based everything off of his father's ideals; he now had to make his own. Tajek wasn't going to be in his father's shadow. He was going to be a better leader.

He just hoped that he had enough time to prevent another disaster this time around.