CHAPTER 15: Elemental Specialties

Outskirts of Kouga: Open field

The sun rises as Kira approached the open field with Cagalli following him. He was enjoying the freshness of the morning air when Athrun came into his sight.

"You're late"

"It's just by a couple of minutes. Besides, we spent a lot of time yesterday helping out with the cleaning up of the village" Cagalli exclaimed.

"Anyways, let's get down to business shall we?"

"Kira, I still don't approve of the both of you fighting, though I know that you would end up trashing Athrun"

"Don't worry I won't kill him"

Athrun broke into a smile. "Even if he got the upper hand, you could always give me a hand Cagalli"

"What does that mean?! I don't approve the both of you fight so how do you expect me to join in?!"

"Calm down … I meant that if I'm in trouble you can help. Since the both of us are trained to use our elemental powers together"

"Is that true Cagalli?"

"I don't want to answer anymore of your questions!" Cagalli shouted in frustration as she stepped aside and sat on a big rock. It was obvious to her that the two guys aren't listening to every single thing she is saying. "If it's a fight that the two of you want, then get it done and over with!"

"Okay fine … Ready Kira?" Athrun said as he took his position

"Ready whenever you are"

Iga Village: Entrance

"Then I guess I should be going" said Lacus as she walked into the woods.

"Wait, is Lacus sure that Shinn and Stellar don't need to go along?"

"No, it's okay. I can move faster already, just like how you guys move"

"Let me guess, you learnt it from Andrew Waltfeld"

"Shinn is as smart as always"

"I don't need that sort of praise, princess"

"Anyways, see you"

"Shinn and Stellar will catch up soon"

Outskirts of Kouga: Open field

Athrun was panting after receiving a couple of attacks from Kira.

"Haiz … you're good really …"

"I've told you Athrun, you won't be a match for someone trained by a Sannin"

"Giving it a try won't hurt … but I'm really amazed that you don't seem to be affected by my attacks"

"Your attacks are way faster then before"

"Oh yeah … but you're still faster" Athrun said as he continues to pant from exhaustion

"Shall I make things easier for you?"

"Meaning?"

Kira lowers his katana as it turns from black to silver. "Reverting it back to its normal form should be easier for you to handle"

"That's unadvisable" Cagalli whispered under her breath.

Athrun smirked. "You're underestimating me, Kira" He removes a piece of weight attached to each of his legs & runs towards Kira at amazing speed. Kira barely managed to block his lightning kick attack with his katana.

"I see … those weights actually slow you down" Kira pushed Athrun back with his katana & touches the blade of his katana with his right hand from one end to the other. The blade turned black once again upon his touch. Athrun, who was thrown back, jumped towards Kira for another attack, which Kira once again blocked with the blade of his katana.

"That's it … show me what you've got"

"You haven't seen anything yet!" Kira jumped backwards as Athrun created a hole in the ground due to his lightning attacks. Kira then moved in for his next move.

Cagalli was watching the both of them battle as she heard a voice behind her.

"Those two sure are serious"

She turned around to find Mwu standing just behind her.

"Sensei, since when you got here?"

"I was watching this battle since it started. Seems like Kira has indeed grown a lot. I doubt Athrun can hold out much longer"

"I've already advised him not to fight against Kira"

"But it's good training though. It actually strengthens his experience against strong opponents"

"Man he's strong … I've never seen him like this before …" Athrun thought as he continues to attack Kira continuously, which Kira either blocks or tries to counter back. "Is this all you got? I know you can go more than this"

"I don't want to hurt you, Athrun"

"I don't mind getting hurt" Athrun closed his right hand as if he was clutching a small round object as his left hand holds onto his left wrist. A surge of electricity forms in his right hand as his eyes turn red.

"This power …" Kira thought, feeling stunned. "What is it?"

"No way … that's …" Cagalli stood up on the rock in shock.

Mwu nodded. "He's losing it again"

"Athrun stop it!" Cagalli exclaimed.

Kira stared at his sister and back to his good friend. "What's going on with him … the energy field around him became so strong all of a sudden"

"Cagalli" Mwu called out. "Stop him now"

"Understood sensei" Cagalli puts on a pair of translucent gloves and muttered something under her breath with her eyes closed. When she opened them, a huge tornado of water from the nearby river flows upwards into the air towards Athrun. Athrun, who noticed it, avoids the first attack by the water. The water then surrounds him and consumed him from all directions. After a few minutes, the remaining water flowed back into the river. Cagalli took off her gloves and ran to Athrun's side.

"Athrun, are you alright?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine" Athrun answered as he wiped some water droplets off his face. "Nice water bath you gave me back there"

"That's not funny!"

"What was that?" Kira asked Mwu as he watches the both of them talking.

"Chidori, a technique that I taught him but he doesn't seem to be able to control it well yet though"

"So now Athrun is a thunder god while Cagalli is a water princess"

"You can say that though" Mwu answered with a smile.

"Kira!" A voice interrupted their conversation as a pink-haired girl came into their sight when they turned to their back.

"Lacus!" Kira runs towards the girl and they embraced each other.

Athrun caught sight of Cagalli, who was also watching that couple. She turned away from him once she noticed the blue-haired boy is watching her expression.

"Why are you here?" Kira asked her as they released each other from their grips.

"I was wondering if I can help out your village in any way"

"Everything has been settled here. So what's your father planning now?"

"I don't know. He hasn't told me anything yet"

The fallen leaves of the nearby tree suddenly float into mid-air and flies towards Kira, who moves in front of Lacus and slashed the leaves into two.

"Who's there?!" He called out sternly, thinking that it was someone after Lacus. However, Lacus touches his sword hand and makes him lower the katana.

"It's alright Kira … that's not an enemy"

Stellar suddenly jumps out of the bushes behind the tree. "Kira's good! Stellar admires Kira"

"You're … Stellar?" Kira said.

"That's not a nice entrance Stellar" Shinn appeared moments later after Stellar.

"You guys catch up pretty fast" Lacus told them.

"That's cause Stellar wants to see Kira's improvements. Anyways, Stellar finds it fun to test Kira's skills"

Cagalli went forward. "Not you guys too, after Athrun?!"

"Everyone is really curious about Kira's new powers that's why" Athrun said. "It's kind of strange that you're not curious"

The roots of the tree suddenly grabbed Kira's right leg from below as they speak. Kira slashes it off and jumps away from the ground.

"Kira can't dodge in mid-air!" Stellar exclaimed as 4 tree vines grabbed each of Kira's hands and legs

"Kira!" Lacus called out to him.

"Stellar, that's enough" Shinn told her.

"But the fun is only beginning … Kira haven't shown his powers yet"

"So that's what you want" Kira said as breaks free from the vine due to his strength. A huge black ball of energy forms at the tip of his katana and it flies towards Stellar. Both Shinn and Stellar dodges as the black ball turns the soil beneath them earlier, into ashes.

"That's interesting" Mwu thought.

Stellar then places a seed on the ground. Upon contact with the ground, the seed grows into a huge tree with extremely long vines. The vines went towards Kira but they burst into flames as Shinn snapped his right fingers with his eyes closed.

"Why Shinn burn Stellar's vines?!" Stellar exclaimed.

"It's enough Stellar. I think Kira is exhausted from the battle with Athrun earlier. You doing this will only make Lacus worry more"

"It's okay with me" said Lacus with a smile. "Kira's fine anyways. I believe in his strength"

"But I don't think it's enough for Rau Le Cruset" Mwu suddenly breaks the cheerfulness of the group. "He's the strongest among the 3 Sannin in the past. If you're really thinking of dealing with him, Kira, I would advice you not to"

"You know about that guy?" Shinn asked.

"Not much. I've seen him before though. But I've never liked his personality"

"What element does he specialize in?"

"Flare attacks"

"Isn't that something like Shinn's fire attacks?" Lacus questioned.

"It is indeed fire-based, but flare is the higher level for those who specialize in fire-based techniques. And only a minority group of ninjas have achieved that level. For as far as I know, so far in Kouga, only 6 people had achieved that level since the village was found by our first Mizukage"

"That bad huh?" Kira said as he looked at the ground. "After all these 1000 years history that we got, only 6 managed to reach that level?"

"Yes, and Rau Le Cruset was one of them"

"Things won't be easy if we're going to deal with the government then" Athrun said after a long moment of silence.

"Exactly" Mwu agreed. "Mizukage-sama now is currently thinking of a way to deal with the situation"

This chapter is up pretty quickly after I posted the preious one not so long ago ... The purpose of this chapter is merely to introduce the various fields of elements where each character specialises in

Anyways, my Mid-Year exams are coming soon in about 2-3 weeks so got to post as much as I can to make up for my absence for the past whole year. So you guys can expect that there won't be any chapter uploads during my Mid-Year exam period.