Chapter 27 "Choices"

Close to the Last Millennium Zeppelin

I felt another impact rock through my body as Miso bounded from one rooftop to another. His paws only touching the surface of the building for a split-second before he continued to the next structure.

For the last few minutes, Miso had been sprinting like mad toward the Zeppelin. "I guess Katsuye's fight didn't force her to retreat as many times as I had to." I thought with a furrowed brow. Somehow having lost track of how dire the situation was I shook my head clear before I looked down at the large vulpine I was riding and said, "hey, Miso."

The fox turned his head slightly so he could lock eyes with me as he kept running. "Do you…understand me?" I asked, feeling a little silly even though Kiri seemed to have entire conversations with the beast. Miso huffed before looking forward once again. I let my head hang downward as I sighed in frustration. If I didn't know any better, I would've guessed I just hurt the fox's feelings.

"Damn it." I quietly said to myself before I closed my eyes. This night was so chaotic it was strange to have a moment to reflect on it.

"Settling down isn't the best move, Seras."

My eyes shot open before I felt a bit of heat in my cheeks. "I know, Pip." I thought with the slightest of chuckles. Knowing he was still around in some small way made me forget how sore and tired I was. I leaned forward and gently patted Miso on his shoulder. He turned to look at me for a second before turning his nose up at me and huffing. If I wasn't tired from nearly getting gutted by monsters all night I would've laughed at the gesture.

"Okay, I'm sorry, Miso but Katsuye doesn't understand me so I wanted to check. So, if you can understand me, listen up. I got an idea on how to help Katsuye…"

The fox came to a stop and tilted his head curiously. I ran a hand over my forehead to dab away an annoying amount of sweat before I leaned over to whisper in the fox's ear, "heh, you may actually be a bit smarter than Kirisuto. He wouldn't stop to plan if any of us were in trouble." The fox made a strange raspy sound that somewhat resembled a laugh before he quickly regained his composure. I couldn't help but stroke him between the ears for being adorable as I whispered, "okay, so I was thinking…"

Close to the Last Millennium Zeppelin, On a Rooftop

As soon as I regained consciousness I fell over and grabbed my stomach, trying to fight off the waves of nausea filling my body. I wasn't too concerned, though, as severe feelings of disorientation were a common aftereffect of the genjutsu my shadow clone used on me. "I'm sorry, Mistress," my clone said with a gentle voice as she rushed to my aid by placing a hand on my shoulder to keep me upright as I wearily sat on the ground.

I felt like I had entered this dimension for the first all over again and covered my nose to protect it from the putrid odor of the London's populace burning. It seems the tolerance for the stench I built up disappeared when I came to. After taking a deep breath as my stomach settled, I placed a hand on the ground to stand up only to be surprised by the subtle click of my claws meeting the concrete. "That's right, my transformation failed," I said quietly to myself as I observed my clawed fingertips and ran them down my scaly palm.

Unfortunately for me, a familiar voice spoke up from behind me. "How could you forget? You were quite upset when you lost your pretty face." I suppressed the urge to leap backward and sink my fangs into the throat of the boyshorts-wearing freak. I knew killing him was a waste of energy, wasteful enough to outweigh how therapeutic it was to kill him.

"I was a little confused for a moment but I'm fine now. I'd thank you for the concern if you weren't responsible for making me experience all that again," I said, barely containing my anger as I rose to my feet and turned to look at Schrodinger eye to eye.

"You act brave but you have to feel at least a little ashamed that you are showing such an ugly thing to the world," the warrant officer said with a matter-of-fact tone of voice that had a coldness I was all too familiar with. I resisted the urge to shout and calmly said, "I don't feel guilty at all about how I look. I hate my true appearance but that's of my own accord. I despise being created like this, unlike you, who seems to happily play the family bitch. Kill me or drop dead but I'm done talking."

Schrodinger's eyes widened but he seemed to be stunned into silence. I'd even go far as to say he looked a little peeved at my comparing him to a mutt. I let out a sardonic laugh before shrugging, "I'm actually pretty level-headed when my mind isn't being violated by an old but immature dickhead but that doesn't matter. What'll you do next? Are you going to just kill me now that your curiosity is sated?" I spat, trying my best to temper my rage.

Schrodinger's ears perked up before he shook his head and closed his eyes. He then let out a sickeningly joyous laugh, "of course not, you just keep surprising me, Katsuye Manda, you're just too intriguing. We are so different ye similar. If it were up to me I'd keep you around to be the family bitch's bitch, as you so kindly put it." He said with a cheeky smile. His smile quickly faded, however, and he gained a blank look in dark pink eyes as he said without a hint of emotion, "unfortunately, I need to head to my post and I can't let you go since as soon as I depart you'll try to kill the Major…"

I nodded as I let my arms fall to my sides and sat down, "…so you're going to make me unable to pursue him...probably by maiming me, huh? That's the first conclusion you reached that wasn't absolutely insane, it's comforting to know there is some sort of brain under that blonde mess. Though, of course, you must realize I am going to do my best to kill you before you ever touch me again, right?" I said with a sneer. Schrodinger chuckled and opened his mouth to speak only to tilt his head curiously," hey where's the other you?"

I smirked as my clone emerged from the other side of the building behind Schrodinger, using Shunshin to move faster than sound, with an arm pulled back to slam her claws into him. My clone was on him in less than a second but the feline managed to do a somersault to avoid having his throat slashed open.

"Too slow~ I thought snakes struck super fast!?" Teased the immature Neko as he used the inertia from his gymnastics to front flip in front of me with an aggravating grin. I suppressed a hiss as I formed a series of handseals that ended with the Tiger seal, before taking a deep breath and yelling, "Raiton: Gian!"

I felt chakra rise up my throat before I released a high-pitched hiss as a condensed bolt of lightning shot from my mouth toward Schrodinger. He had a look of fear cross his face before he was hit in the abdomen and was thrown into a chimney. The stink of burning flesh started to assault my senses but the werecat was still alive and started standing. My clone ran by and kicked him across the face hard enough for a disturbing wet smack to sound.

I took a step forward with my hands clasped together, ready to make the handseals for another jutsu, "I'm sorry to keep you from your mission but I'm selfish. Please start trying to hit me, it's no fun to see you die with a stupid look on your face…" I said dryly as my clone took her place beside me.

Hellsing Estate Greenhouse

I held my breath as I saw the dark goddess on the ground below dart into the forest, searching for me. "Its moments like these where I'm thankful Mom trained me in the Forest of Death." I thought to myself as I slowly let out a sigh of relief. I had managed to avoid death for the moment but I had to get ready to attack again. "My Snake Sage Mode allows me to become indistinguishable from the energy of the tree if I refrain from moving. She will find me soon, though, so I better make sure my Sage Mode doesn't run out." I thought to myself as I struggled made a single shadow clone without weaving any handseals. It took a lot of control to make sure I didn't prepare too much chakra and accidentally make half a dozen clones.

Once my clone appeared, I glanced at him to make sure he had the telltale dark pigmentation around his eyes and horns sprouted that appeared due to Sage Mode. After making sure he could sustain himself with natural energy, I wordlessly nodded at my clone and he began weaving the handseals for Hiraishin.

Within Hellsing Manor

Once he teleported inside the manor Kirisuto's clone landed on the original's bed with grace. The clone couldn't help but grin when he recalled how his creator had fallen into this bed and accidentally manhandled Integra's chest while trying to save her life only a few hours earlier. "Maybe he'd prefer to die so he wouldn't have to address that event when this is all over," the clone mused with a sadistic chuckle.

After easing his anxiety with a bit of humor, the shadow clone opened up his senses to ensure the surrounding area was free of hostiles. The clone was searching for any sign of the mindless black-eyed children's presence in particular. Thankfully, the kage bunshin found nothing, he felt no pockets of cold, dark energy or heard any spectral whispers echoing down the hallways.

Fairly confident that he was safe for the time being, the clone sat down on Kirisuto's bed and slowly began to gather nature energy. He also took care not to completely focus on molding sage chakra so that someone could get the drop on him. Even though he was just a shadow clone, this Kirisuto knew that if he failed the real Kirisuto Uzumaki would surely die.

Hellsing Estate Greenhouse

I felt the urge to just level the immediate area surrounding the manor as I searched for the disappointment that was Kirisuto Uzumaki.

I didn't even believe he was worth the effort when the others asked me to go about recruiting him as he had the potential to become a member of our species. I assumed the others were just trying to once again vainly attempt to tip the balance of our numbers so we could come to a decision on how to deal with those that opposed us. I have always been in favor of leaving the lesser races to their own devices. Why try to enslave and rule mortals when the immortal Masses could do even more in less time? The answer was obvious. Somehow, some of us Individuals still held onto the mortal sin called greed.

I sighed. Maybe even I was susceptible to some mortal flaws, I had hoped that Kirisuto would join me as an underling after seeing how similar our pasts were, after all. "Disgusting. I hate searching for candidates, seeing their lives always rubs off some of their mortal insecurities onto me…for a while at least" I lamented as I felt the urge to shiver at the thought of becoming attached to someone again. Just setting myself up for pain.

"Kirisuto, come out. I am unsure of how you managed to blend in with the signature of this world but I doubt you can hide forever. Even if the same technique that brought you here suddenly sends you to another world, I will find you again. There is no reason to aggravate me." I asked quite nicely. From the way he spoke earlier I didn't expect the Uzumaki to turn himself over to me but I wanted to give him a chance for a quick death at least. I wasn't as cruel as the rest of my species, after all.

Nothing but silence answered me and I felt heat start to rise up my collar as I grew angry.

…

The sound of branches rustling quickly lessened my aggression as relief doused it.

"Aww, did you shiver at the thought of me following you wherever you go? Rest easy and don't fear." I said with as sweet a voice I could muster as I dashed over to the area I heard the sound originate. I seemed to have been so fast that I caught Kirisuto jumping out of a tree to make a break for it. The surprised expression on his face was quite a sight to behold.

I dug my heels into the earth to stop my advance before I raised my hand and started to gather reishi in my palm, "just close your eyes and you won't even know what happened!" I advised in earnest, only for Kirisuto to insult my kind gesture by adjusting his weight as he fell to the ground so that his hands met the earth instead of his feet.

"Sage Art: Inorganic Reanimation!"

Just as a red sphere of reiatsu prepared to leave my hand, the earth beneath Kirisuto wrapped tightly around his legs before it swallowed him below the surface.

"Carving through mountains is nothing to me, you insult me with such a pitiful attempt to hide!" I yelled in anger before I leaped into the air and released the Cero directly into the earth below me. If the boy wanted to die like a worm in the dirt, so be it.

A two-story building-sized chunk of earth was obliterated in an instant. Unfortunately, I didn't feel Kirisuto's life extinguish or see his spiritual energy expel from his body so I jumped down to the bottom of the hole I created. "You are upsetting me. Your death won't be as peaceful now," I promised the shinobi as I put a hand in front of me, facing a wall made from the scorched earth of the crater. With the slightest amount of power I could manifest, I slowly forced a massive tunnel to appear in the earth as I walked forward. I suddenly realized the dirt was moist from rain and made a fist before I punched forward. In an instant, the air in the tunnel became pressurized and forced the dirt to turn into stone. "I will not dirty my clothing due to your immature behavior," I swore.

…

As I got farther into the ground, I felt movement in the darkness behind me and turned, ready to fire a Bala. I was surprised to see Kirisuto wasn't what moved behind me. It seemed that the earth near the entrance of the tunnel had been quietly crawling after me, sealing off my pathway to the surface and leaving me in darkness. It was an interesting trick but as I was a being of darkness that could easily blast my way to the surface it was a waste of energy.

"Tell me, Munin. How many people have your kind killed when they decide not to join you, sociopaths?" Kirisuto asked, his voice reverberating throughout the tunnel making it difficult to pinpoint his location.

"Hundreds, well at least that's how many I know about. I am far younger than the others but, regardless, very few people have the potential to become divine. Even fewer are willing to cast away their flaws and attachments to become a greater being." I answered as I reached out with my senses, trying to locate the slightest difference in energies. "I can't believe someone could become so deluded as to view themselves a god. I heard stories of such people in my world but to think I'd face one of you. You're kidding yourself, Munin, there is always something stronger than you. You're powerful but either of my grandfathers could defeat you in an instant." Kirisuto said, lecturing me like I was some child.

I grit my teeth as I tried even harder to find the mouthy brat. "Well, it's a good thing none of your family is here, Kirisuto. You can't hide your weakness by cowering at their feet. I am alone and depend on no one that made me powerful. I only realized my true potential when the others showed me how to cast off my weaknesses like emotions or desires. I can't lose to someone like you anymore, someone who is obsessed with caring for others at your own expense." I declared with a venomous tone.

"You could do whatever you want with your power but instead you chose to live in the dark with monsters. To embrace your loneliness? I saw how you looked at me as you showed me my past, Munin. You still feel as humans do, you wanted me to join you to alleviate the suffering you're putting yourself through. Let go of that power they gave you and you could save yourself." Kirisuto argued with nothing but compassion and frustration in his voice. I went silent as I felt several conflicting thoughts race through my mind. Anger and regret battled to take control.

Finally, I couldn't help I stopped my tracks and lowered my head. "You are a shattered, broken boy, Uzumaki. I can't believe you'd have the arrogance to insult my status as a deity and try to project your twisted feeling onto me. Stay where you are and die, I am sick of you." I spat as I prepared to use my dark energy powers. After raising my hand, I hesitated before gathering reiatsu in one of my fists. The other Individuals always mocked me for using powers I had as a mortal when pressed but I didn't care. Just like how I don't care about how Kirisuto's sees me.

"I am under no one's control. Even though they helped me attain this power I'd still slaughter all the other black-eyed ones without a hint of remorse!" I cursed out loud.

I suddenly sensed movement to my left and furiously punched the wall of the tunnel. The pressure of the blow was so great that I basically formed a small cavern.

I looked inside and almost burst out with malicious laughter when I saw Kirisuto collapsed against a wall of the cavern, reeling from the impact of the punch. I took a step forward and started to levitate a few inches off the ground, not wanting to soil my shoes any further now that I found my quarry. Kirisuto slowly lifted himself up and narrowed his eyes at me. I smiled before I shot toward him with a hand outstretched so I could rip his jaw out and silence him.

To my surprise, he managed to throw his head to the side to escape my grasp before he slammed me between my ribs with a palm strike. I barely felt any force behind the blow so I just scoffed and reached for him once again. Then I started to feel that strange energy that he absorbed from the earth seep into my body. I felt weak, disconnected from the dark energy I fed on. "A-A weakness?" I questioned as I quit levitating and landed on my feet. "You're quite similar to the mindless ones, Munin. Did you really think you had no weakness?" Kirisuto asked as he rose to his feet. I shook my head and let out a scream, expunging the foreign energy from my body, "silence, so you found out that I have an allergy, you're still dead." I mocked as I readied a Bala. The shinobi quickly made one of his strange hand gestures and quickly said, "Senpō: Muki Tensei."

I angrily fired the Bala at him, realizing he cast Inorganic Reanimation power again and only used our mother language name for the technique to throw me off. Just before the ball of reiatsu hit him, a thick block of stone rose from the ground and took the blow. "Impossible, regular rock can't stop my Bala!" I yelled as I shot off a couple of Bala as I dove to my right. Kirisuto infuriated me further by continuously countering my Bala with chunks of earth. It was only when I reached out with my sixth sense that I realized the earth around us was full of the strange energy Kirisuto used. When I focused on the shinobi himself I noticed he was injecting the energy straight into the ground from his feet. "Ah, so that's how you're resisting me. Cute trick but against anything stronger than a Cero it won't matter." I insisted.

Kirisuto shrugged, "caught me. I wasn't planning to block your attacks until you fainted, though. By the way, do you need to breathe?" He asked. I raised an eyebrow, my aggression fading for a moment due to the odd question. "What?" I said in response. Kirisuto chuckled, "it's okay I'll find out in a moment."

Before I could react, I felt a hard tugging at my legs before I was dragged down into the earth. I looked up and tried to dig my claws into the sides of the tunnel but when I tried the earth would recoil from my touch, making it impossible to catch myself. Finally, I came to a stop about a kilometer below the surface. I lifted my arms up to try and see if I could compact the dirt to slowly make a way out but was surprised to feel the dirt start to compact itself around my body. I felt like an entire city was slowly crushing every inch of my body. That strange energy Kirisuto used had to have been controlling a ton of dirt and was slowly into my body—weakening me. Worst of all, my clothing was completely soiled.

"Kirisuto…I was trying to be kind but now I see you're not worth mercy…" I seethed before I closed my eyes and started to gather my strength.

I felt a chill run down my spine as an ancient memory snaked across my mind's eye. A memory of when I was forced to dress with rags and did nothing but help others.

"I won't be weak. Never again." I cursed.

…

I used Inorganic Reanimation to assist my ascent to the surface by forming a large staircase. Even though I knew she couldn't escape right away, I couldn't help but imagine every cold gust of air was Munin's breath on my neck. Just as I thought that maybe I had tunneled down to Hell, I finally reached the surface. I couldn't rest and enjoy the fresh air, though. I quickly used Inorganic Reanimation to seal and fill the tunnel staircase I created before I went to work drawing a complex sealing formula on the surface of the dirt. The purpose of the seal was to make it so that the chakra that composed a jutsu, of a certain level of power, would be distributed across a surface to act as a barrier. Most shinobi didn't bother with learning barrier techniques so the ability to make a wall of something as strong as a fireball jutsu was useful in a pinch.

I gathered in my hand and slowly molded it for a technique that couldn't be made with handseals due to its complexity, causing blue chakra flames to appear on each of my digits. I prayed that the seal I drew would work with a barrier jutsu before I slammed my hand into the middle of the sealing array and said, "Uchiha Flame Formation." Ordinarily, a massive cylindrical barrier of unnatural flames would appear around me and anything touching the barrier would be seared to ash in seconds. However, due to the seal, the flame barrier appeared across the surface of the ground, stretching out in a circle that was about 100 meters across.

I grinned, feeling somewhat accomplished. When Munin broke free of the kilometer of rock injected with natural energy containing her, she'd find a massive barrier of senjutsu flames at the surface. I turned to the forest and used Shunshin to quickly move to the edge of the flame formation, almost feeling confident that I'd make it to my friends.

The sudden chorus of inhuman screams echoing from the mansion took care of that immediately. I cursed as I leaped into the trees of the forest and dashed toward the city, having no doubt some of the dark beings would make it to the treeline to pursue me.

Close to the Last Millennium Zeppelin, On a Rooftop

I couldn't help but let out a scream of frustration as I was on my knees, trying to catch my breath and ignore the fact Schrodinger had slashed the tendons in my arms and legs. My eyes were locked on the creep responsible who didn't even have to gall to remove himself from my sight after besting me. "Well, I guess I could spend a few minutes playing with you before I head off." The boy said as he examined his pocket watch with a sinister child-like grin on his face. "I'm so glad I managed to tame you so quickly. I wanted to hear you scream in that wonderful language of yours so much since we met. You have a wonderful voice in my opinion. There's nothing like hearing a strong person cry out for mercy," the catboy cooed as he ran his finger along an edge of his SS dagger.

He slowly walked over to me and I couldn't help but avert my eyes. I didn't want to see how excited this freak was to mutilate me. "I need to reverse summon. If I stay and die I can't help, Kiri-kun," I thought deflatedly before I started to mold a significant amount of chakra for the space-time technique.

"Oh, so your love for Kirisuto Uzumaki only goes so far? That's quite sad, without you, who does he have?" Schrodinger mocked, confirming my fears that he could still peer into my mind or that he read me so easily that he knew what I was thinking. I tried to ignore how much the bastard's words hurt but I couldn't help but tremble with anger. "You don't know a thing about him. You only saw his actions through my eyes. I doubt that even if you could feel how he affects my heart that you'd even recognize how precious that is. You care about nothing but violence and your own twisted pleasure." I yelled accusingly before I forced myself to rise to my feet. Using my rage to beat back the pain of keeping upright.

Schrodinger opened his mouth to retort but quickly shut his mouth as his ears perked up. "Ah, the Captain lives~! What a surprise!" Schrodinger said as he looked over his shoulder at the tall, bruised but very much alive blonde man behind him. The Captain didn't answer. The werecat squinted as he looked at the rooftop across the street and whistled cheerfully. I felt my heart sink as I saw at least a dozen Millennium soldiers stood on the other rooftop. I kicked myself for not noticing anyone else arrived due to my pained outburst.

"My, my, Captain, do you think it's wise to have the last of your kind leave the Doctor's side?" Schrodinger asked. Once again, the Captain didn't answer causing the werecat to sigh before looking back at me. "I apologize, Katsuye Manda, this must be confusing for you. I hate that your final moments will be confusing, now…brace yourself, please. I want to feel you shudder." Schrodinger said with a sinister grin before he pounced at me with his dagger raised. "Fuck it…" I muttered.

Schrodinger pounced on top of me but before he could pierce my flesh, I wrapped an arm around the inside of his own to hold the blade away from me before I opened my mouth wide. A series of sickening cracks and pops sounded as I unhinged my jaw. Schrodinger tried to use his other hand peel mine off his weapon arm but I quickly swept one of his legs out from under him. We both collapsed but I managed to get on top of the werecat just in time. I shoved my clawed fingers into the boy's forearms before I closed my eyes and opened my jaw at a 120-degree angle.

When I reopened my eyes, I recognized the feeling of my newly rejuvenated scales hardening before I quickly leaped out of my shed skin through the mouth. I flexed my arms and felt much less pain but due to my lack of skill, I hadn't healed completely from the shedding substitution.

Schrodinger twisted his head to follow me as I ran past him, with a stupid shocked expression on his face. I smirked before I sprinted to the closest side of the roof, ignoring the pain lancing up my calves. I managed to put a hand on the edge of the building and started to hop over when I felt an iron-hard grip on my upper arm. I turned and tried to slash at my attacker. My claws embedded themselves in the side of the Captain's face, easily going deep enough to hit bone.

The man didn't react.

I kicked off the rooftop and tried to trap the Captain's arm in a grapple using my legs but he quickly tossed me to the ground with enough force to stun me. When I shook off the impact I turned and found a pistol with a massive barrel leveled at my head. I froze. The Captain stared at me, eye to eye before he adjusted the pistol so the muzzle was pointing at my shoulder before he fired.

I cried out as I felt a bullet tear into my shoulder blade and shatter bone. I angrily clapped my hands and discharge of yellow lightning quickly sprang forth from my hand. The Captain's eyes widened and he took a step back when the bolts suddenly coalesced in the form of a serpent before lashing out at him. "You aren't getting away with that, Raiton: Hebi Mikazuchi." I hissed before whipping my hand toward the blond, sending the energy bolt at him.

As everyone averted their eyes as the snake lighting bolt exploded and filled the air with a bright light to the sound of thunder, I dashed from rooftop to rooftop, clutching my wounded shoulder, until I lost strength in my legs and collapsed. I crawled behind a thick brick chimney and tried to catch my breath. I hadn't moved nearly far enough to escape.

I forced my eyes shut used my forked tongue to taste the air. I grunted as I detected that the elite soldiers were quietly making their way through the surrounding rooftops to slowly cut off my avenues of escape. I let my head rest against the chimney I was hiding behind and sighed.

I would need time to regenerate my wounded limbs using senjutsu. I can't heal and use any jutsu at the same time either. To top it all off, I insisted to Kirisuto that I shouldn't be forced back to Ryūchi Cave after taking too much damage when we made our summoning contract. So, unless I managed to gather a massive amount of chakra before I catch a bullet to the skull…

"Well, at least you didn't leave him, Katsuye…that's not as good as making him yours but hey, it's something," I muttered to myself with a small smile as I came to terms with what was about to happen.

With a sharp crack, a pebble fell to the pavement beside me.

I slowly looked up and saw what appeared to be a massive man with a wolf's head and a thick coat of white fur. The creature's burning red eyes bore into me as he lowered his body closer to the chimney, preparing to leap on top of me. I forced my legs to move until I slowly got into a crouching position. "I didn't notice you," I said quietly before I slowly opened my jaws to bare my curved, hollow fangs that slowly leaked a bit of venom. I knew I was dying but even a decapitated serpent could kill a lion pride.

The werewolf almost seemed…happy that I challenged him and bowed his head slightly. I did the same. He then pounced at me. I threw myself at the wall to avoid his jaws before I tried to sink my fangs into his back. The lycan quickly got on all fours and barely avoided my fangs making contact with his flesh before he smacked me across the face with a claw.

I hit the tiled rooftop hard and felt the deep gouges the wolf's claw made pulsate in pain. The wolf let out a roar before he kicked off the chimney and pounced toward me with his claws outstretched.

…

Miso ran ahead of me at impressive speeds before he leaped in the air just as the Captain was about to tear into Katsuye and sank his teeth into the wolfman's midsection before he pivoted and tossed the werewolf off the roof. I couldn't help but laugh as I landed next to the fox. I quickly focused my attention on the soldiers surrounding us on the rooftops but I wasn't worried. I learned after Pip died that I could move fast enough to dodge bullets and I could probably protect Katsuye as I killed the shooters one by one.

To my surprise, the soldiers threw down their weapons and started to let out inhuman grunts. My eyes widened as I watched the men transform into wolfmen. There were now a dozen black, grey and brown werewolves surrounding us. I ordinarily would be terrified at that thought but fighting with a six-foot-tall fox by your side was pretty comforting.

As the werewolves started circling us, looking for an opportunity to attack, I chanced to look away from them to see how Katsuye was doing since I smelled blood in the air. She looked up at me as well and I was surprised to see she now had slightly shorter blood red hair, yellow-green irises that came complete with serpentine pupils and had pale scales covering her face instead of skin. Katsuye's eyes widened before she averted her gaze and turned away, inadvertently giving me a view of the horrific gunshot wound in her back. "I guess she won't be helping much," I thought before looking back to the lycans.

I sprinted for the closest werewolf and jumped to kick one, only for the cat-eared bastard to pop up from the edge of the roof and take the hit. He flew backward and hit the building next door. I knew not to expect him to stay there, though and looked around. The sound of clapping caught my attention and I turned to see Schrodinger looking down on us while stood atop a vent pipe sticking out of the same rooftop we were on. Katsuye wearily turned to the source of his voice and scowled, the werecat responded with a huge grin.

"Yes, this is much better than me ripping Kat-chan apart sinew by sinew. Captain, my last will and testament are for you to make this battle glorious! Men, the elite of Letzte Bataillon, I pray you die in a blaze of glory and bloodied claws! Farewell, my brethren and Seras, you're master will be leaving this world shortly after you!" Schrodinger yelled with an insane, fanatic fervor. The lycans surrounding us then quickly matched the werecat's intensity by roaring and howling like they were rabid.

"This isn't looking good," I said aloud. Almost on cue, a shudder reverberated through the roof and I heard Katsuye grumble something. I glanced in her direction and saw the Captain in his massive wolf form with his fur stood on end. Miso stepped forward but he was a good foot shorter than the Captain. After looking around at the number of enemies Miso lowered his ears and bared his teeth, I had never seen an angry fox before but I could tell he was ready to fight to the death.

"Miso, maybe we should think of retreating for no—" I started before, all of a sudden, I saw wisps of orange flame-like energy start to flow into the foxes body before he let out a horrific, almost human scream as his whole body burst into flames. I reached for him, feeling powerless to save him, only to notice he wasn't reacting like he was in pain. The flames died down letting me see that his fur seemed to turn into obsidian rock that had flames occasionally drifting out between the chiseled tuffs of fur.

Katsuye laughed as white smoke started to emit from her wound. With a deep breath, she rose to her feet saying, "Katon Chakura Mōdo?" The fox howled in response. One of the SS werewolves, one with a fine gray coat displaying his age, grunted, "Fire Chakra Mode? It's some sort of magic. Kill the beast first."

I just shrugged with a laugh. "Oh, that won't be so easy. You guys better pay attention!" I shouted before I charged at the closest werewolf and jump kicked him in the chest.

Hellsing Estate Woods

I felt like my lungs were on fire as I darted through the treetops of the forest around Integra's home. Unlike in the Land of Fire, it would be faster to travel on the forest floor but I was worried about running into any of the mindless black-eyed children that served Munin on their home turf in the pitch black. In fact, for all, I knew Munin had immediately figured out how to escape the obstacles I set for her and was already coming to kill me.

As I leaped from one tree to another, the familiar sickening feeling that emitted from the dark beings sent a chill through my body. I sensed something moving right at me and I barely managed to grab a branch to throw my body out of the way to another tree a few meters away. Once I landed I looked back and saw three grasping pale hands recoil when exposed to the moonlight and shrink back into the dark canopy below. I let out a small nervous laugh, "at least I didn't get grab—" My voice died in my throat as a pair of cold hands seized my throat and forearm before I was dragged below.

…

I wrenched my head to see that one black-eyed one managed to grab me. One that appeared to be a fifteen or sixteen-year-old female with wavy black hair. As I made a seal to focus chakra to my arms it crossed my mind that maybe these creatures appeared young to make their victims hesitant to attack them.

Unfortunately for this creature, I was accustomed to killing people far older and younger than me. I seized the black-eyed child by the side of her jaw and viciously turned it at an awkward angle so it released before I pulled back my other fist. I waited until we were about a meter from the ground before I slammed my fist into her throat. My sage mode-enhanced strength made the blow so powerful that she immediately hit the ground and created a crater.

I quickly recovered in mid-air and landed far more gracefully with a grimace. I didn't want to make that much noise but I knew that even one of the black-eyed monsters were extremely dangerous and I thought maybe removing a few limbs would hamper them some.

Based on the condition of her body, she certainly didn't look like she was going to get up and walk anywhere soon. I got ready to leap back into the tree canopy when her eyes suddenly shot open and she opened her mouth as if she was about to scream but she didn't make a sound. Then her entire body turned into a slick black liquid. I started running through seals, planning to strike the liquid with a lightning jutsu, only for her body to slowly evaporated into a mist. I covered my mouth to avoid breathing any of the mist in and started to walk away. "Maybe Munin meant they're immortal in the same way as the tailed beasts and they reincarnate later," I thought to myself.

"If you continue to run you will find your friends torn to pieces by my servants. Face me and die. They're live are of no concern to me unless you continue to anger me…"

I went still and looked around for Munin, only to see and sense nothing. It was unsettling, almost as if her voice echoed in a cave. I felt the urge to scream for Munin to find me so I could kill her but I suppressed the feelings. It was pointless to try to kill her, my only hope was to help her realized she was the one being manipulated. I needed to focus or I'd die.

I quickly made the Kage Bunshin handseal and once a single clone appeared in a cloud of smoke I whispered for it to hurry to the closest life force it recognized. The clone nodded before he started a mad dash for London.

I honestly had no idea how the relationship between Munin and her mindless monsters worked but I felt it was safe to assume she was heading my way after hearing that punch. So, the best way to hide the presence of my clone was obvious but not very smart. At this point, though, I was done acting like I had a grasp of the situation. I needed help.

I closed my eyes and tried to enter my inner world, only to discover the path was still clouded by Munin's dark energies. "Kurama...I don't know if you can hear me but I'm going to try to rid this barrier. Don't try to reign me in. I need everything we got, even that if it comes to it." I said internally as I pressed my hands together. To some, the gesture would be that of asking help from a deity or ancestor, to a shinobi this was used to call power from yourself.

…

I closed my eyes as I reached out to the world beyond me.

Sage Mode allows a person to feel through nature for a certain range, using it I could sense the small animals of the forest hiding in dens and burrows, terrified of the dark beings roaming around. The smell of the burning city of London started to fill my nose as I felt thousands of innocent lives being snuffed out by the minute. I forced myself to turn away from the suffering city and focus on the forest.

The unnatural darkness around was so thick it seemed to brush against my skin like a humid gust of wind. I took a deep breath before I pressed my hands even harder together as I gathered sage chakra. I felt a minuscule amount of the darkness retreat.

I started to let out a low grumble of effort as I forced the chakra to exit from my body. The unnatural darkness started to be pushed back enough that I felt birds start to soar up from the treetops above to escape my aura but it still wasn't enough, I could just barely see the doorway to my inner world. Kurama still couldn't help me. I was on my own.

I cursed and threw my hands to my sides, frustrated.

It took years but I had finally reached the point where self-control wouldn't save me. All my training and strength meant nothing when it came to facing someone like Munin. I couldn't do it alone, without Kurama.

I was always taught by the military that a shinobi in full control of their emotions was the most efficient. To lose control was to risk the lives of you and your whole team. That rule was even more important for someone with a tailed beast sealed in them and now…my only chance at being able to clear the area of Munin's energy was to lose control. To give into whatever my feelings dictated.

I immediately felt sick to my stomach at the thought. I despised letting go of control. Ever since I killed Asuka I've refused to willingly do anything that risked letting my emotions control me. I worked in a relatively stable job in the military police before I was coaxed into doing missions with other jinchuriki, so long as I didn't have to socially interact with anyone. Even then, my emotions were tested and I held on.

"That's a fucking lie. You barely held on and then you fell apart." I said, interrupting myself, with a laugh.

"You're lying to yourself. The only reason you're here is because your stupid ass tried to kill the emperor with your brother. Then instead of trying to regroup with your siblings, to make sure your baby brother and sister were safe, you ran to that shrine for power and now you could end up dead. For all, you know all of your family is dead." I thought aloud to myself, the only thing suppressing the urge to weep was the anger.

"Damn it, this is all my fault." I cursed as I felt tears well up in my eyes and I threw myself down beside a tree, the anxiety making it hard to not tremble.

I tried so hard not to be what everyone thought I am. I cut myself off so I wouldn't lose anyone and be consumed by hatred like the Uchiha, just like everyone expected. I hid my face so…I don't even know anymore. I was just scared…everyone looked at me like it was my fault my father traded his life for mine.

Ultimately, I was still seen as the Uchiha Jinchuriki who got his father killed to put his mother in power. All that posturing accomplished nothing.

Nothing but making me stuck a world away from my family, ashamed of my face, too scared to use my real power and full of hatred.

I failed everyone and it's all my fault…but I can't let that be my end.

…

I felt like my body could burst into flames from the well of emotions running through me or maybe it was Kurama's chakra reacting as I had hoped. Either way, it was time to try again.

I wiped my eyes, "enough. Use it." I ordered myself mentally as I rose to my feet, feeling a bit lighter

I clapped my hands together and closed my eyes, remembering the first and only lesson I had on how to control Nine-tails chakra.

…

It was the last time my grandparents visited before they headed off on a mission so secretive that only my mother and the new emperor, Shimura, knew what it entailed. Throughout the evening, my grandmothers fawned over my younger siblings, who were four at the time, while Shio and I listened to Naruto and Sasuke talk about stories of their journey around the shinobi world.

Later, near the end of their visit, Naruto asked me to follow him to the training field in the backyard. He summoned some strange torii gates that seemed to stop chakra from moving out of the field before he walked over and talked to me.

"Kirisuto, because of my connection with Kurama I can sense negative emotions. I saw how you were so quiet during our visit and noticed you haven't been doing too well. So, I knew I had to say something." Naruto started. I tightened my jaw a bit, ready to be chastised again for my behavior.

I was surprised when my grandfather put a hand on my head, "none of us have any right to tell you how to feel." I started to sniffle and smiled. "However, that anger, that drive to change things. I know that. I know it can push you farther than anything or destroy everything around you. I can't help you with that with a little training. In fact, I won't be teaching you anything fancy today like how to use a Bijū cloak or Kyūbi Chakra Mode. It won't even be a jutsu but it is useful." I nodded, a bit dejected.

"You live your life from now for you, not for your classmates, your countrymen or anyone but your family. They will always be there for you. Then I want you to try and make a friend. I know it sounds silly but that will change everything. I set a huge goal and ended up a little lost along the way, try to learn from that. Don't push yourself to Naruto, Sasuke or Boruto. You are Kirisuto, embrace who you want to be and no matter what we're with you. Now, enter a stance like you're gathering chakra in battle." I blinked, a little overwhelmed by all my grandfather said. He laughed a little, "I was never good at talking, I admit. Come on give me a stance."

I backed up and made the ram seal before I closed my eyes and tried to force chakra to appear. "Is that what you're taught to do?" Naruto asked. I nodded. He shook his head, "do what feels right. It doesn't even matter if you make a seal, you know your body more than anyone."

I nodded before I slowly clapped my hands together and closed my eyes. "Good, now focus. No matter how much pain or anguish you're in, the focus will always help. " my grandfather said warmly. I started to focus on the feeling of chakra molding in my chest.

"Good but the thing is in battle it'll be hard to just focus on making chakra. You won't always be able to work with Kurama, enemies are aware of how jinchuriki work these days and may sabotage you with poisons or seals. You can break through these with enough effort, though. Like a genjutsu. I'm going to teach you how to forcibly draw chakra, Kurama's or your own, it'll hurt but it will come in handy." Naruto explained before he walked over beside me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't focus on the world around you. The enemy isn't there. The pain isn't there. Focus on what drives you. What do you want to happen? What are you fighting for? You must never even think of giving up. What do you fight for Kirisuto?" Naruto asked. I opened my eyes at the question. I never thought about it.

Naruto chuckled, "again, I never thought about that seriously until I was twelve. Learn from my mistake. The most important thing to have in battle is to have something worth fighting for. It could be something purely physical like money or your land but people also even fight for something like a person, a people or even an idea. Moral and immoral shinobi fight for what they deem precious. You let what you want to protect come naturally too, don't force it." I was taken aback by my grandfather's wisdom. It was expected since he was a Hokage then the emperor but I never even thought of anything remotely similar.

"I will do my best to keep moving forward, Naruto-jiji. It's just been hard to think of what to do on my own." I admitted as I rubbed at my eyes. Naruto gave me a warm grin, "no one can do much on their own but it's the choices you make when you are alone that matter the most. Let's go back inside, I think the wind is a little too chilly for your lungs. You still have that cough don't you?" My grandfather asked as he took my hand. I nodded as I coughed, feeling blood on my tongue.

"Yes but mother says I won't be sick for much longer," I said.

…

"Naruto-jiji…"

I felt my chakra aura grow and even more of the darkness recede as I internally spoke my true feelings. My aura even pushed far enough to reveal one of the black-eyed children hiding in a tree. The creature tried to escape my sage chakra only for it to be forced to the ground by the pressure.

"I have so much to fight for…"

I thought as I opened my mouth and slowly started to let out a scream as my aura grew even larger.

"I want my revenge…"

The scream grew louder until it became a savage war cry. The sickly green aura surrounding me started to become a dirty brown.

"I want to protect my friends"

The aura lightened into a dark orange as I felt blood drip from my fingers as my nails grew fuller.

"…and I am going to save my family!"

I threw pain into my angry cry for blood as I felt my teeth begin to warp, becoming sharper and tougher. I finally took another breath as I felt my chakra start to stabilize.

I looked up at the forest, knowing my enemy was drawing close I yelled, "I don't care if I have to fight in a thousand worlds, I'm going back home!"

…

A pleasant burning ran through my body as the tailed beast chakra mixed evenly with my sage chakra. My aura slowly receded from enveloping a huge chunk of the forest until I had a cloak of blood red chakra jutting a few inches from my flesh. I closed my eyes and started to gather natural energy to keep my Sage Mode going.

"Ah, giving your all for the last stand?" Munin asked as she walked out from behind a cluster of trees. The natural energy I spread had forced back the unnatural darkness back a good hundred meters. I lowered my hands so they rested by my sides and remained silent. Words were a waste at this point.

She scoffed before she angrily snapped her fingers. I sensed a couple of the mindless black-eyed children head in the direction my clone went. "I knew you made one of those doppelgangers the moment it appeared. Controlling dark energy at night has its advantages. I do admit I am unsure how you found out the shadow I cast over this forest assisted me but you were wise to have dispelled it." Munin complimented as she approached, coming to a stop a couple of meters away from me.

I felt her eyes on me but I didn't want to waste the opportunity to absorb more natural energy while she was talking so I kept my eyelids shut. Any distraction like sight would break my concentration.

"I assume that clone is going to try to help your friends. You won't be able to save them from their fate any more than you can change your own. This is your last chance. You have proven your resourcefulness. If you join me I can help you attain the ability to use dark energy then we could overthrow the individual that rules the domain your world exists in. You won't care about your kin at that point but it would be nice to watch over them without any emotional attachment, yes?" Munin offered.

I opened my eyes and shook my head, it almost hurt to deny someone as lonely as I used to be, "I don't want to give up on them for even a second, Munin. I won't join you or run away. We are going to fight and I'm going to show you how much you're suffering living like this. I owe you at least that much."

Munin narrowed her eyes and started to levitate, "so be it. You die clinging to nothing." She raised her pointer finger toward me and gathered her energy into it slowly causing a black orb, with dark violet energy around its edges, to appear.

I forced two fox tails two appear from my Bijū and had them quickly start shaping chakra as it poured into my hand. The sound emanated by a Rasengan appeared but it soon quickly increased in pitch, the air around me cooled.

Munin's pitch black eyes met my blood red irises that were adorned with dark green streaks from Sage Mode.

"No, l live fighting for everyone," I insisted.

Chapter End

Author Note: So, it's been a long while. I don't really have a good excuse for being gone other than I've been writing for work and the thought of continuing this just kept feeling like more work. Then I kept seeing more and more of you readers following or favoriting the story and I couldn't help but want to continue it. It was only at the beginning of December that I found the drive to work on this as well, I had a few hundred words sitting for a year, and after revising over and over again. This chapter became one of the longest. I wanted to put at least one chapter this year, which ends in about ten minutes as I write this.

I want to go on about how I'm glad you stuck around through the chapters that made little sense due to me writing them without any real forward thinking but instead I'll just let you know I'm planning up to the next couple chapters now. I plan to update more frequently than yearly but I'm not sure on the timeframe but it will happen. This actually reinvigorated my love for writing in general. Thank all of you for that.

Now, here's a question, I know like no one reviews (I appreciate those that do) but I honestly want to know. If Kirisuto moved on to another universe, would you like for Seras to join him or stay? I'm on the fence about it since it'd make certain things complicated but also quite interesting.

P.S. I took to long formatting sooo happy new year!