Sasuke grabbed Amatsu by the wrist, trying to force his grip away from his neck.
"So tell me Sasuke, are you actually going to fight?" Amatsu's eyes closed as he spoke, his voice deep, then opened again. His pupils were white, and diamond shaped, and the rest was an unforgiving black. "Or are you going to cower, letting this controlling power do the fighting for you?"
Sasuke didn't say a word, attempting to break free of Amatsu's grip.
Amatsu's eye twitched and he tossed Sasuke to the ground where he had first thrown him down.
"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura yelled, her eyes filled with tears. She struggled, desperate to be by Sasuke's side.
The demonic Shadow Shinobi walked slowly towards Sasuke as the boy started to get back to his feet.
'Just how powerful is this Amatsu guy' Wondered Neji, looking down upon the battle with his Byakugan activated.
Amatsu's dark aura began to grow, coming off of him in waves as he walked towards the young Uchiha. "Sasuke, would it help if I had Demin kill the girl? Would that get you to stop acting like a fucking pansy and fight me like you should?"
Immediately Sasuke's power flared and the curse seal was activated further. He quickly jumped back up to his feet and dashed towards Amatsu.
Amatsu narrowed his eyes, and before Sasuke could reach him, he darted away, a smirk crossing his face. 'So Sasuke...you do have some fight left in you. But you're still too predictable...' he thought to himself, tilting his head to the left to avoid Sasuke's punch.
Amatsu latched onto the Uchiha's wrist, locking it, and swung him around to the front, only to toss him into the air. As Amatsu released him, Sasuke quickly performed the proper hand seals, inhaled deeply, and brought his left hand up to his mouth. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu (Flame Type: Mythical Fire Flower Technique)!"
Sasuke exhaled and a mass of fire balls shot from his mouth, hurtling towards Amatsu. The Shadow Shinobi simply smirked, standing there, and let the flames engulf him, even going so far as to scream in pain. Sasuke grabbed onto a nearby limb and made his way back down to the ground. The flames still blazed and Sasuke turned to Demin, his sharingan eyes watching him closely as the dark aura settled back around him, "Now you...your master is gone, let Sakura go!"
Sasuke's perception of victory didn't last long. Moments later, Amatsu's laughter could be heard over the flames. "FOOL! Do you think such a pitiful little jutsu like that would work on me?" The demonic dragon stepped out from the fire, unharmed.
Sasuke looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened as he saw Amatsu.
Wings spread out from Amatsu's back and he appeared (or looked, whichever you prefer) more of a demon than normally. "Shocked, Sasuke?"
Sasuke just glared at him. "Like I am going to fall for some Genjutsu! This is bullshit!"
"Then your Sharingan eyes are useless... and you are a fool." Amatsu pushed himself off the ground, and with a great flap of his wings he slammed his fist into Sasuke's gut. The dark dragon drew back, then cupped his hands and slammed them into the back of Sasuke's neck, forcing him into the ground.
Amatsu firmly planted his foot upon Sasuke's head, "You are failing those that deep down you cared for, and that cared for you, Sasuke" He said softly to him, kneeling down to keep him firmly in place.
"Wh...wh...what do...you...mean?" Sasuke spat out, his face pressed into the ground.
Meanwhile....
Ryuujin looked all around the mass of tree branches that extended out through the forest, "OROCHIMARU SHOW YOURSELF YOU BASTARD!! I KNOW YOU'RE OUT HERE YOU SNAKE SON OF BITCH!!" Ryuu's voice grew dangerously low as he looked around. "I'm going to kill you for what you did to me."
A cackling laugh echoed through the trees. Ryuu dropped into a low stance and growled, looking around,
"Aww, is poor Ryuu-kun not liking the little gift I gave him?" Orochimaru asked, his voice echoing again.
"You used me! You only wanted the skills of my bloodline! You crazy pasty faced piece of shit, now remove this god damn thing from me!"
Another dark cackle
reverberated, "I don't think so Ryuu-kun. Once you have that mark
you are mine...forever."
Ryuu dropped to his knees grasping
his neck in pain as Orochimaru emerged and walked over to the young
dragon. He knelt down and took Ryuu's face into his hands. "You
are mine." He repeated, his voice dark and demented "Now and
forever."
The young shadow shinobi smirked suddenly. "Heh,
we will see." A kunai flew threw the air embedding itself into
Ryuu's head as he gave Orochimaru the finger.
Ryuu exploded in a puff of smoke and a burst of electricity shot out, sending a great amount of volts of electricity through Orochimaru's body. Ryuujin stood from a distance, watching closely. He sharpened his eyes as he saw Orochimaru collapse into a mass of mud. 'Figures...here I was hoping to get him with that...I should had known I couldn't match against a legendary sennin' Ryuu thought, looking for the aged and former Leaf shinobi.
Ryuu's widened and he felt a surge of pain shoot down his back as he soared forward, slamming hard into a tree branch. "Ah...." He coughed up a bit of blood, "Damnit..." he muttered as he lay there.
"Silly boy. Did you really believe you could take me on all by yourself?" Orochimaru asked as he stepped near Ryuu.
The young boy lay there for a moment, but moments later he began to rise to his feet, his back to the Legendary Sennin. Electricity zapped around the red haired shinobi's body as he stood there, and his hands clenched tightly. "I may not be able to beat you today... may not be able to kill you for giving me your god damn cursed mark...but...at least.... I can do... T... h... i...s ..." Ryuu said in a low growl, his words coming out slower and slower, as his shirt ripped into shreds and wings sprouted from his back, and his hands began to turn into claws, dragon scales covering them.
Ryuu turned around, glaring
at Orochimaru with his crimson red eyes, his wild hair adding to the
overall effect. The young shinobi charged with a speed Orochimaru
wasn't expecting and Ryuu's fist connected. He gripped the white
faced snake by the neck. "I am Kaiser Ryuujin, successor to the
Ryuu clan, and I will be damned before anyone takes that away from
me, the chance to bring it all...BACK!" He sent powerful
electricity through Orochimaru, and angrily tossed him against the
trunk of a tree.
Ryuu let out a loud scream as he put his
right hand to his side and charged it with electricity. "I will
make you pay, you son of a bitch!"
Ryuu's right hand shot
forward as he yelled, "RAITONINGU RYUU (Lightning Dragon)!!!!"
The massive lightning dragon emerged from his hand, easily five times
bigger than when he used it against Sierra.
The dragon, made of pure
lightning, ripped through the surface of things. Just as it reached
Orochimaru, Ryuu's curse seal on his neck activated and he dropped
to his knees in pain. The dragon disappeared seconds before it would
have reached the snake-like man. Ryuu yelled loudly, in great pain
as he fell on his face, both hands gripping his neck
tightly.
"Kukukukukuku." Orochimaru chortled. "Just as
I said boy, you are mine." He grinned as he spoke, then vanished
from the area.
Back to Amatsu's Onslaught Upon Sasuke....
Amatsu glared coldly down at Sasuke, who lay unmoving, shocked by what he'd been told. "Let the noisy brat go Demin." Amatsu commanded.
"Are you sure I can't kill her Master?" Demin asked, raising his claw to Sakura's throat.
"...No... Leave her be,
we'll have plenty of time to kill others." Amatsu removed his
foot from Sasuke's head. Seconds later, something caught his eye
and it twitched lightly.
He took in a deep breath and shot out
a blast of flames, flapping his wings to feed the flame as it swirled
up in a tornado. He stood there for a moment and when the flame died
a group of charred shurikens and kunai's dropped to the ground.
Amatsu's dark gaze slid up to the trees, seeing Dayu, Kareru and
Ryuujin crouching there. 'The unknown Uchiha kid... along with...
who the hell is that?' Amatsu thought curiously upon seeing
Kareru, 'And Ryuu...wait...no, that's not Ryuu...that's someone
else...' Amatsu saw through Shinigami's disguise easily, and he
just shook his head.
Demin finally let Sakura go and when he did Amatsu
kicked Sasuke to Sakura. She barely caught him, falling to the
ground. The three up in the trees leapt down, Dayu landing before
Amatsu with his sharingan eyes ready. "Kaiser Amatsu....or now
Amatsu Mikaboshi...what do you want with them?" Dayu asked
harshly, glaring deeply into Amatsu's eyes.
Amatsu's wings
returned to his back as he returned Dayu's stare, "I came here to
test the Uchiha kid, since he decided to give into a dark power
that's complete bullshit. You know, I still have plenty of energy
Dayu, care to try your luck?" He asked, half smirking as he
watched Dayu closely.
Amatsu saw Dayu's Sharingan eyes, and he wondered what the kid held with them. After a moment, he saw it. 'Those eyes...are the same as...my, my, Shinja you have taught the kid well...I just wonder how well you taught my brother, better have done your job...'Amatsu closed his eyes and then laughed, "Well you know, as much as I would love to beat the snot out of you, making you feel a pain that you have never felt before, I should be off. Dayu, I hope to see you later, and find out what you've got. I will defiantly take you on when the time is right." Amatsu's smirk faded, and his face was full of malicious intent, madness stirring in his eyes, as though he'd kill in the beat of a heart.
"Come Demin, let's go!" Amatsu called out as he leapt into the trees where Asura was smoking.
Demin looked at the whole group, with the exception of Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji, who hid in the bushes. "You are lucky that Master kept me from killing you." Demin said in a low tone, then finally jumped into the trees and landed by his Master.
"Geez Amatsu, couldn't you had gone a little easy on that Uchiha brat?" Hiroku asked, putting out his third cigarette, then laying back slightly and relaxing.
Amatsu raised an eyebrow. "I
did. He walked away with out a limp, so I'd say I went easy on him.
Come on, if this goes on for too long I will go nuts without having
killed someone."
Asura just shook his head, 'Ughh I swear
that guy wont change...makes me wonder if I am crazy for fallowing
him.' He just shrugged his shoulders to himself, 'Eh oh well,
just means we can get through this ridiculous place faster then
normal, I swear all of these god damn Kekkei Genki(Advanced
Bloodline) users are for the birds man.'
Amatsu, Asura and Demin all leapt off, heading away from the group of Leaf Genin to find some one else to raise hell against.
Back in Konoha
The sun set gently over the quiet Leaf Village while the students took the second half of the exam. It was an additional relief to some that Naruto was not running amuck, and pulling his usual pranks. Shinja walked down the peaceful streets, having just let his snake Stephanie into the forest of death for exercise and food. He headed toward the tower where he could have a word with the Hokage, as he had realized some things were coming to light that needed to be resolved. He walked in casually, dressed with his black cloak on. He headed up to the office, and knocked lightly on the door.
"It's open." The
Hokage answered.
Shinja stepped in to see Anko, the instructor
for the Chuunin exam. "Hm, been awhile Anko. I take it that he
really has returned."
Anko simply nodded her head, then
asked, "Why are you back from Shadow? I didn't know you were
going to return yet."
He let out a sigh, "Well, that's
why I came here, to get answers from Sarutobi-sensei himself."
Shinja folded his arms as he looked to the Hokage, standing before
the two with his hat in hand. "That's why you requested my help?
Because of Orochimaru returning, you knew Shadow had two unique
individuals, one a member of the Ryuu clan and the other of the
Uchiha." Spoke Shinja as he awaited the Hokages response.
The
purple haired kunoichi looked at Shinja, a little shocked upon
hearing of there being more of those two clans, especially the Ryuu
clan.
The Hokage let out a heavy sigh. "Yes... this is true, and also why someone like Amatsu Mikaboshi is allowed to walk our streets. I had hoped that with this additional help that... if Orochimaru makes a bold move against this village, then we will have the reserves of strong clans aside from the ones that already reside here." He explained, walking back to his couch and taking a seat.
"It's not that I doubt our village and its strength." Sarutobi continued, wanting to make sure he was not showing any signs that he was losing his mind or truly doubting the village, "Not many here can fight Orochimaru, and Amatsu, well, I have heard many say that his skill level matches that of Uchiha Itachi..."
Shinja narrowed his eyes looking at the Hokage, "To trust that demon Amatsu... I do question your judgment here."
As he was going to continue, the Hokage stood up and faced Shinja. "Shinken, you are making quite a bold move to question me. You and I know the real story of Amatsu's departure. I know that he saved his little brother and wiped his memory of that event, and of Amatsu and the family that he lost. If Amatsu knows Orochimaru will be attending this, he surely would show up, assuring some safety for his brother. The Hitokage and I have kept in contact, so I know plenty of that family's harsh past."
Shinja leaned against the wall on his left shoulder folding his arms. "Which," he continued, "is why I have trained Uchiha Dayu quite thoroughly."
The Hokage looked at him, eyes harsh. "What do you mean, Shinja?"
"The Uchiha kid I have made sure that he knows....."
Amatsu stood in the forest, holding a dead Shinobi by his neck as he studied the deceased's two teammates. "Is that all?" he asked with a grin.
"DAMN YOU!!" One
teammate yelled, charging Amatsu with a kunai in his hand.
Asura
tossed his smoke to the ground and stomped it out, "Another one
bites the dust." He said simply.
The dark dragon's grin only grew, and he hurled the corpse of the man's friend, putting his hand up in the Devil hand seal. When the teammate caught his friend's body, it exploding taking out the teammate that held it.
"Heh heh heh, worked beautifully." Amatsu smirked.
The remaining man cowered in fear, "Wha...what was that?" he asked, stepping back.
"It was my own attack, called The Corpse Explosion. I use the chakra in the person to explode, destroying the body and anything around it." Amatsu explained, feeling quite proud of his technique.
Amatsu unsheathed his sword in a single fluid motion. "Good bye." He smirked, and with his arm, index finger and middle finger pointing into the air, he moved the sword in a circle, then launched forward and thrust the sword deep into the unnamed male shinobi.
Amatsu grinned as he pulled the sword up. A bolt of lightning struck down, and killed the shinobi. But at the same time, it electrocuted Amatsu, sending him flying back and slid into the dirt. He stood up slowly, smoke rising off him. "Ah shit..." Amatsu grunted, sheathing his sword again.
"What happened Amatsu? Actually fuck up a technique for once in your life?" Asura asked, walking over to Amatsu and lighting up yet another cigarette.
The dark dragon growled at his teammate, Amatsu's words emerged as a low growl "Shut up...I just didn't perfect it...I didn't fuck it up, but I guess I do need more training from Rikimaru-sensei." He explained, shaking his body out.
"Just what was that technique? That was certainly an interesting one. I thought your brother was the lightning wielder for the dragons." Asura took a puff on his cigarette.
"It's called "The Wrath of Heaven," a technique Rikimaru-sensei developed during his days as a Shinobi. He is one of the few of the old school. Barely any jutsu's, all pure shinobi ability." Amatsu explained, his respect for his teacher, and giving them a brief description of him.
"So, then, Master, what do you plan to do about it?" Demin asked, letting his claws fall to his side as he approached Amatsu slowly.
Amatsu just spat on the ground. "Nothing for now...after this tournament I will head to Rikimaru-sensei and receive further training from him. That's all." He said simply, leaving the scroll from his opponents on the ground as they already had their own and leapt away.
Back In Konoha....
"So...you trained the Kaiser boy's friend to be a dragon slayer...and here I once had some respect for you." Anko snapped after hearing of Shinja's description for Dayu's training.
Shinja sighed as he leaned against the wall. "Precautions were needed. I don't know if there are Dragon Slayers still about...so if Ryuu goes over his limit...if he becomes a bit power hungry, then Dayu will deal with him as he sees fit."
The Hokage shook his head. "That boy has been through enough. You have been around him for so long, yet you think that he will go in that direction?"
"There's no way to be truly certain," Shinja argued. "Ryuu has had some violent outbursts... they could be signs of a more aggressive nature buried deep in the boy that we don't know about. I would rather not risk another violent time of war because the Dragon ruler has a grudge against the neighboring nations."
"Besides, here you are bringing us a good distance from Shadow to here because of the Legendary Sennin Orochimaru. Do we even know what he is up to?" Shinja wondered, looking between Anko and the Hokage.
In The Forest...
Team Seven and Dayu, Kareru and Ryuu were gathered together.
"I must Sasuke, you were quite lucky there." Dayu said as he sat on the root of a tree.
Sasuke gave a cold stare. "What the hell do you know?"
Dayu looked over at him, "That was Amatsu Mikaboshi, the second successor to the Ryuu clan. He has studied the dark arts thoroughly, and has more power then you can imagine Sasuke." He snapped back, returning the glare.
Naruto looked between the two. "Hey, hey! What the hell happened? Who is this Amatsu guy?" Naruto was close to having one of his fits, upset that he didn't have a clue about what was going on.
Dayu let out a bit of a sigh, looking down at the ground "Kareru, I don't suppose you know much about Amatsu, and could give our blond friend here the info?" he asked, looking over to her.
Kareru looked at him questioningly, but nodded after a moment, understanding why he'd asked her. "Amatsu Mikaboshi, born Kaiser Amatsu in Hidden Shadow. It is recorded that since birth, he has had a lust for and power in the dark arts. When he was born, he slaughtered the medical staff with the sheer power of the dark ability he possesses. He graduated the academy at age six, and advanced steadily since then. His master Rikimaru put him through many missions and he completed one hundred and twenty-eight D-Class missions before achieving S-Class missions."
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura
couldn't help shocked looks from creeping over their faces as she
described Amatsu's accomplishments to them. "When he was
sixteen," Kareru continued evenly, "It is said that he killed his
mother after killing his birth father. He left after killing his
birth mother never knowing the truth and Kaiser Ryuujin..." She
looked over to Shinigami for a moment, then kept speaking, "Was
left alive and..."
Dayu cut her off there, "I must say
Kareru, you do know a lot about Amatsu..." He looked at her
questioningly. "How is that?"
She answered simply. "He is our enemy, and it is better to know your enemy before you fight him or her in order to give yourself the edge."
The Uchiha laughed. "Yes, I suppose you are correct Kareru, it's good that you have this info and maybe it can help us against him."
Kareru didn't reply, silent again.
Sasuke's whole body shook as he sat there thinking of his battle, knowing that he was merely toyed with. No matter what he tried, he was caught, stopped and hit to the ground.
"Sasuke-kun...are you okay...?" Sakura asked, sitting beside him.
Naruto stood there, thinking everything through, then yelled, "Ahhh!! Damnit, again I am passed up! Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke." He said, irritated. "I want someone strong to fight too!" He swung his arms around, angered by the fact that another person noticed Sasuke's abilities, and not his.
Dayu laughed again as he stood up, and patted Naruto on the head. "Trust me kid, no one wants to go against Amatsu. There are more forms to the Dragons then just the one he showed Sasuke."
Sasuke's eyes widened as he heard Dayu's words. 'There...are more...tr-transformations? That one was bad enough...there are more?' Sasuke sat there, really realizing he was lucky to live after fighting Amatsu.
Dayu looked over to Sasuke, seeing that he'd struck a nerve with that comment. He didn't elaborate though, just shook his head. "Listen, you three'd better get going so you'll make it to the tower. I am looking forward to fighting you, Naruto and you too, Sasuke." He said with a grin, "See you guys there!" He turned away, and waved to them as he walked off, with Kareru and Ryuu/Shinigami following after him.