Chapter 11: Greetings Suck
Lophin could be seen near the outskirts of Konoha. He had sprinted the one hundred miles without stopping, using what chakra he was able to regain to restore his strength every few hours or so. He didn't stop until he was on his old bed. Sleep overtook him, and he was out for hours.
Sunlight could be seen reflecting off of Lophin's white hair, the brown in the middle glimmering with his divinity. Even though Lophin was sure that he had secured enough distance between himself and the approaching army, Lophin still didn't feel safe in Fire Country, especially in Konoha.
Lophin's luck ran dry once again. The clouds had taken their turn in the sky, blocking out the sun and producing an ugly gray. Freezing rain began to fall from the sky, in mighty barrages of hail-like force. Even under these conditions, Lophin was unable to leave the village without encountering his rival one last time.
It had been a slow day for Talon. His team was still shaken by its latest grievance, and their training sessions had lost much of their fabled grandeur. Still, Ahime had assembled them that morning to practice and spar with each other. Their training had just ended, and Talon had been left to himself in the middle of Konoha Forest. Once he saw Lophin, however, a smile crossed his face once again. He seized the opportunity to tackle the ninja and challenge him to a long-awaited and much-needed battle. Talon had still been sore about the loss of his perfect record from last time, and was determined to null the loss. "Where have you been, freak? You scared about my progress? You scared that I'm better than you now? Eh? Eh? Well I'm here to prove your suspicions and settle our score, you little pest!"
"Get out of my way! There's no time for this! If I stop now they'll surely catch up to me!"
"Well, I'm sorry but I'll have to press it upon you, you brat. You do look unnervingly thin and tired, but it doesn't matter, as you've always been good at hiding your strength. If you want to cross through this gate, you'll have to get through me first!"
"Fair enough, just know that I'm better than I was before as well, and that you'll surely be decimated this time. I'm not going to leave a drop of blood for them to identify your corpse with!"
Lophin began the battle in his trademark way, by charging straight for his opponent, intent upon subduing them as quickly as humanly possible or otherwise. Talon leaped into the air and onto Lophin's back, pushing Lophin into the ground as Talon continued his game of leapfrog. Talon turned around and took out to kunai, and ran at Lophin, sliding on the ground to get a good vantage point. Lophin, who was taken unaware by that attack, dodged the slash for his ankle by jumping into the air. Talon then gripped the ground and hurled his body upward with all his might, sending him crashing into Lophin. Lophin grabbed Talon by the waist and used chakra to bring them into inertia and then to hurtle them both down into the ground. Talon's head threatened to burst from the force of the blow, as Lophin regained composure and began to inhale.
"Demon Jutsu," Lophin whispered, "SCREAM!" From Lophin's diaphragm emitted a sound that crushed the walls of the houses around them and sent Talon through the gate, breaking it off its giant and numerous hinges. Talon quickly performed a substitution with one of the guards, the unlucky one meeting an untimely fate. Talon threw three kunai at Lophin, all missing their mark. Then, as Lophin prepared to drop kick Talon, Talon pulled back on a now clearly visible string that connected the kunai knives. The last kunai ripped its way into Lophin's ribcage and then was pulled out, causing Lophin to spin like a top till his impact with the ground. Talon took out a sword and began doing hand signs.
"Fire style, Grand Fireball Jutsu!" A fireball bigger than the surrounding houses was formed and was steadily hurtling toward Lophin. Lophin merely put out one hand and held the blast back, preparing to destroy it. Just then, Talon jumped through the mass of flame and slashed at Lophin, cutting Lophin on the neck. Blood began to flow through this wound as well; Lophin refused to take more of this pain.
As Talon attempted to hit Lophin with a flurry of slashes, Lophin simply fell forward into a handstand and pushed off of his hand into a double kick. Talon's chest took the blow full on and the bystanders, watching from the mock-safety of their homes, could hear his ribs crack from the pressure. The sword dropped out of Talon's hand after three more blows to the head in succession to the previous attack.
"Sharingan!" Talon screamed and narrowly dodged Lophin's next series of punches. When Talon had finally reached a safe distance he grabbed the remaining guard and disarmed him, taking away the guard's sword. Lophin assumed a stance and then lunged at Lophin. One could hear the friction in the air as Talon's sword zipped past Lophin, a hair's breadth away from touching skin. Lophin countered with a roundhouse kick to Talon's now open back, which was also countered by a sword slash. Lophin jumped off of the sword into a back flip, rolling into a lunge stance. Lophin took out a kunai and did just what his stance was designed for, the metal rending a piece of flesh from Talon's leg.
Talon screamed out in pain and anger, dropping to the ground so that he was on one knee. Talon countered Lophin's blows with the sword, struggling to keep Lophin occupied until the jutsu was ready. Talon amassed all of his chakra and then let the last of Lophin's kunai hit his arm; Talon held it there. Using this standpoint Talon produced his trump card, a powerful genjutsu Tir had shown him.
"Chamber of the Forsaken!" The genjutsu traveled through the air, coming from Talon's eyes and going into Lophin's. The world around Lophin went black and a single slab of stone appeared. Lophin's body hurtled into this and was strapped down to it. The emaciated and now subdued demon was then taken apart limb by limb. After this the slab fell through the invisible floor into a never-ending sea of lava.
Lophin was able to free himself by throwing his body backwards, surprising Talon. No one had been able to resist his technique before! Taking advantage of his stunned rival, Lophin ripped the sword out of Talon's hand and pierced Talon's left lung, inscribing a giant "L" in the prodigy's flesh. Clearly the victor, Lophin continued along his previous path, heading northeast for Cloud Country.
Lophin had been correct in his assumption before: he hadn't been able to waste any time at all. The Village Hidden in the Leaves was already within audible range of the massive army sent by Kaiser himself. They caught up to Lophin as he neared the mountain pass at the edge of the forest. Luckily, they passed Lophin, who had taken the precaution of hiding in a tree on the perimeter of the forest. As he watched the ninja go over the mountain, he dismounted and turned to head northwest for the Village Hidden in the Sand.
When he had finally reached the Fire Country border, an old man approached him. Dressed in sand garb, the ninja proved very convincing. Taking the bait, Lophin let the enemy lure him into a nearby enclosure. With trees on one side and a weathered road on the other, the old man turned to Lophin. Suddenly walls were raised along the road and the perimeter of the enclosure, leaving the forest as the only opening. The ninja removed his cloak and a swarm of white rabbits was produced. The second division of Kaiser's army used substitution jutsus to hasten transportation greatly. Then the original ninja removed his face as well, revealing someone who Lophin had gotten sick of running into.
Lophin took out his weapons and threw them over his offenders, the appearance of death itself raining on them when the few weapons were multiplied with clones. Using this as a cover, Kaiser rushed in to attack Lophin. Dodging the attacks nimbly, Lophin was able to gather a few weapons from the fallen ninja. Lophin then proceeded to use Kaiser's attacks against his own army, soon clearing the battlefield. Lophin had only needed to attack a few of the ninja and now where there had been fifty-three, there was one. Lophin took out a stolen sword and--after evading yet another punch from Kaiser-- shoved it into his remaining opponent. The battle had begun...