Chapter 4: A Man's Best Friend
"Do you smell them, Akamaru?" Kiba asked as he gazed intently upon the village.
Akamaru gave a disappointed look to Kiba, signaling that he couldn't smell their enemies.
"It's alright boy, I have a feeling we'll be finding them real soon." Kiba said, reassuringly.
As Kiba and Akamaru continued to explore the village, a thick fog began to roll in. Slowly, it began creeping along the fruit stands on the sidewalk, filling up every alleyway, surrounding Kiba and Akamaru, blinding them immensely.
"There!" Kiba screamed as he and Akamaru jumped back.
Just then a slender shadow slowly reveals himself. A long, white lab coat flows behind his stitched torso, but not distracting from his wide, but crooked smile.
"Dear Eliza, what do you think we should do with them? Their bodies are quite young, ideal for experimentation. Alas they do exude a certain atmosphere, almost as if their will to fight is greater than ours. My dear won't you please lend me a hand, once more?"
Just then, a woman appeared behind the mysterious figure. Her ethereal presence radiated a calming, yet powerful aura.
"Who are you people!?" Kiba screamed. "And what do you want!?"
Akamaru barks in agreement.
"Me?" the mysterious figure asked. "My name is Johann George Faust VIII, I'm commonly known as Faust, and this is my lovely wife Eliza. As for what we want, rather what the Great Spirit wants, is for us to fight."
"Great Spirit?" Kiba thought to himself "Is that what Madara is making his henchmen call him? Ugh! This is no time to question his preferences. I need to take this guy out!"
Without a second thought, Kiba and Akamaru rushed in to attack Faust.
"FANG PASSING FANG!" Kiba screamed as he and Akamaru spun ferociously past Faust, who had dodged the attack. "Damn, he's fast. I guess we'll just have to move faster! Let's go, Akamaru!"
As the duo prepared to attack again, a gigantic syringe was thrust at them.
"What the hell is that!? A giant needle?" Kiba screamed in confusion as he dodged the giant needle. "Where the hell did that come from, and what kind of jutsu is this!?"
"Jut—su?" Faust asked "I know nothing of these so called Jutsu, but this is the result of the love between me and my dear Eliza. OverSoul: MEPHISTO E!"
"Looks like we'll just have to talk with our fangs and our fists! INUZUKA STYLE, MAN BEAST COMBO TRANSFORMATION: TWO HEADED WOLF! FANG WOLF FANG!" Kiba screamed as he and Akamaru fiercely bore into Eliza's syringe with a powerful cyclone, cracking it significantly.
"It will take more than that to defeat our love! AMPULE HAGEN!" Faust shouted as he fired a multitude of smaller, much faster syringes at Kiba and Akamaru.
"What are these guys? They have an enormous amount of chakra, but it somehow feels different, like it's on a completely different wavelength." Kiba thought to himself as he and Akamaru did their best to dodge the syringes. "Madara really must've gone all out to have hired people this powerful."
Kiba managed to see the attack through with only a few cuts on his face and right arm. But it seemed that Akamaru wasn't so lucky. He had sustained significant damage, bleeding profusely from his left foreleg and back.
"Akamaru! Are you okay!?" Kiba screamed, worriedly. "Stay here boy, I'll take care of this guy from here on. And don't worry, I'll kick his ass hard enough for the both of us." he said with a smile.
Kiba found a safe place and dressed Akamaru's wounds as best he could, then left to immediately confront Faust.
"FAUST! YOU WANT A FIGHT? YOU GOT ONE! RIGHT HERE!" Kiba screamed.
"Oh? Where is your dog?" Faust asked, sarcastically.
"You almost killed him! He's my best friend, and you hurt him. Now, I'm gonna kill you." Kiba said angrily.
Kiba's body glowed as he lowered his torso, revealing his Four Legs Technique. A technique exclusive to the members of the Inuzuka clan, this technique greatly increases the user's physical strength, senses, and agility to mimic that of a beast.
"PASSING FANG!" Kiba screamed furiously as he, once again, violently attacked Faust and Eliza. Kiba's rage fueled attack, much stronger than usual, completely destroyed Eliza's entire left arm and shoulder, partially disarming her.
"You...You'll pay for that." Faust said solemnly, then burst into a rage screaming "NOBODY HURTS MY ELIZA!"
Suddenly, Eliza vanished and an ethereal mist began surrounding Faust until he could no longer be seen.
"Now, let's show him the strength of our love, and the true power of resurrection! OverSoul, Eliza Operieren!"
A bright light filled the sky as Eliza's transformation took place. As the light began to fade, Faust's new OverSoul had revealed itself. Eliza, now regular size, stood there, medical equipment protruding from her back, ready for battle.
"You think another transformation is gonna scare me?" Kiba asked as he rushed towards Eliza. "You've got another thing coming!"
As Kiba appears in front of Eliza to deliver a swift kick, Eliza counters by plunging the large scalpel deep into Kiba's stomach. Much to Eliza's surprise, a log suddenly appeared where Kiba was.
"PASSING FANG!" Kiba yelled from behind, as his attack burrowed deep into her back pushing her forward several hundred feet and directly into a building.
"How do you like that?" Kiba asked, confidently. "You're lucky that Akamaru isn't with me. You might not have survived that attack."
Eliza stood up and began stabbing, cutting, and slashing at Kiba, alternating between her syringe, scissors, and scalpel. Kiba, unable to dodge all of them, accumulated even more damage.
"This isn't working." Kiba thought. "I can hit her all I want, but as long as Faust is around, she'll continue to stand up. I need to find out where he's hiding."
Realizing this, Kiba immediately left his battle with Eliza and began searching for Faust. Eliza followed, all the while continually trying to attack him. Kiba used his enhanced sense of smell to find Faust standing menacingly over Akamaru.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Kiba screamed full of rage. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!"
"I need not touch him. For he's already long gone." Faust said solemnly. "It would seem that he bled out not long ago."
Shocked at the news of his best friend's death, Kiba dropped to his knees. The shock was so great, he found himself unable to even cry.
"Just, kill me already." Kiba begged quietly, tears finally running down his face. "He was my best friend, and I failed to save him. I don't deserve to be a ninja."
"You must've really loved him." Said Faust. "I, too, know what it is to lose the most important person in your life."
"WHY DO YOU CARE!? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KILLED HIM!" Kiba exclaimed out of sheer fury. "YOU KILLED HI-"
"Eliza is my late wife." Faust interrupted sternly, shocking Kiba once more. "I lost her to a thug with a gun, and there was nothing I could do about it. But, alas, I found that there was something I could do about it. I became a Shaman, a Necromancer to be specific."
"A what?" Kiba asked, confused. "A necromancer?"
"Yes. Necromancers are Shamans with the ability to resurrect the dead. Which is why you see Eliza's spirit here with us now." Faust explained. "The second your friend here died, you and I became kindred spirits. We've both lost someone very important to us. But with my ability, I will be able to reunite you."
"Go ahead, kill me!" Kiba shouted "Kill me now!"
"I'm not going to kill you, boy." Said Faust condescendingly. "I'm going to revive your dog."
"How?" Kiba asked.
"Being a necromancer is a part of my family history, because of this and my desire to see my beloved Eliza once more, I have finally learned to resurrect the dead." Faust claimed. "I need you to now trust me. Because after this, our fight is over."
"Anything. Please, just bring him back." Kiba begged.
"Now, Eliza, THOUSAND YEAR SECRET ART: JUGON ZONSHI!" screamed Faust.
A bright light glowed from within Eliza's syringe and was fired directly at Akamaru. Slowly, as the Eliza and the light began to fade, Akamaru began to breathe once more and his wounds were completely healed. Faust started to walk away.
"Thank you, Faust." Kiba said. "Akamaru owes you his life."
Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Do not thank me, I merely know what it's like to lose your best friend." Faust said with a melancholy smile. "I must go now, for if we were to continue fighting, I would surely lose. I used the rest of my furyoku bringing back your friend."
"Furyoku?" Kiba asked, still confused "What is that?"
"Ah, I seem to have forgotten, I'm not of this world. Allow me to explain." Faust said. "Furyoku is a product of willpower, stored within the bodies of all living creatures. Some may not even use their furyoku, but there are those in my world who are called Shamans. Shamans are a people who use their furyoku to align themselves with spirits, in order to gain their aid in battle in the form of an OverSoul."
"So furyoku is like Chakra?" said Kiba
"Chakra?" asked Faust, with a confused look.
"Looks like we've got to educate each other, today." Kiba said, laughing. "Chakra is similar to furyoku, in the sense that it's in all living creatures. But the difference is that chakra has many different properties. It can be used to enhance Physical Combat (Taijutsu), to allow the use of special techniques (Ninjutsu), or even to set up a trap for gathering intelligence or assassination (Genjutsu)."
"Interesting." Faust said, thoughtfully. "I'll have to look more into this. And report back to Master Yoh."
"Master Yoh? You mean you don't work for Madara?" Kiba asked, confused.
"Who is Madara?" Faust asked, just as confused.
"Looks like we aren't enemies after all." Said Kiba.
"It would seem so." Faust said in agreement.