Disclaimer: See this spot in the other twenty-five chapters
"Where am I?" Gohan wondered, looking around. The world around him was dark. There wasn't much to see besides pressing darkness. When he looked at his own body, the only way he could discern himself from the black background was the way his body looked like black granite or obsidian. The sky above him was a sickly blood-red and the moon hung full in the sky, like an eye that was constantly watching him. Clouds scooted across the bloody heavens like a time-lapse video. "What's going on here!?"
The warrior turned in a slow circle. "Where's Naruto and that shark guy?"
"They're here, Gohan-kun."
Gohan spun around. Standing only feet behind him was Itachi. He looked just like Gohan, but the Uchiha traitor's eyes were the same crimson Gohan remembered. "We haven't left," the missing-nin went on, "but that shouldn't matter to you. Now we are in the world of Tsukuyomi."
"Tsuku…yomi?" Gohan repeated slowly.
"Yes. A genjutsu world where I control everything. Time, space, matter, temperature, weather, sight, hearing, sound, touch, taste. Everything is under my command. For the next three days, you are my plaything."
"I don't believe you!" Gohan shouted. He leaped at Itachi and thrust out with one fist. Itachi's head exploded into black vapor and swirled away on a wind that wasn't there. The rest of him followed soon after. "You don't have the chakra for that!"
"An astute observation," Itachi's voice echoed from the darkness. "But it doesn't matter. For you and I, three days will pass. For Naruto and Kisame, only three seconds." Itachi's voice was suddenly in Gohan's ear. The saiyan stiffened. He hadn't even felt the approach. "This will be the longest three days of your life." Gohan swiped with an elbow and again hit black vapor. "You'll beg for death by the end."
"I don't beg!"
"Proud to the end. Admirable, but futile. When I say you'll beg." Before Gohan could register what was happening, he'd been slammed to the ground and Itachi had jammed a knife into his eye. Gohan's screams of pain filled the dark world of Tsukuyomi as Itachi stood over him, watching dispassionately as the young warrior rolled around, clutching at his eye. "You will beg."
Gohan only managed a whimper of pain.
He was standing again, perfectly whole, perfectly fine. Gohan blinked and slowly, afraid of what he might find, prodded his eyelid. He almost cried as he felt the eyeball beneath the lid. Itachi hadn't moved. "Just a small sample," he said, "of what the Tsukuyomi can do."
"You'd better get on with it," Gohan snapped, waiting for the retribution, but not caring at all. "You only have three days right? It's been what, five minutes?"
"Foolish little boy," Itachi answered. "You have seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-nine seconds to go in the world of Tsukuyomi." Gohan felt the blood drain from his face. The shadows blossomed from behind Itachi and enveloped Gohan like a sticky black mass. He struggled against it as hard as he could, but nothing he did dislodged the oily black film.
Gohan slammed to the ground and winced as he landed on his shoulder. He pushed himself to his feet and froze. He was pushing himself up with both arms. His lame arm was right and whole again, as if Kabuto had never cut the nerves in it. Gohan stared at his hand in wonder, flexing it. It looked real, felt real…it was…real.
The warrior looked around for Itachi. The elder Uchiha was nowhere to be found, but Gohan's blood turned to ice anyway. He was standing in a natural bowl made by cliffs and small mountains. The trashed remains of an entire army littered the crater-blasted landscape around him. Bodies were strewn around, whole and in pieces, each recognizable face bearing an expression of intense horror. White blood spilled from those who'd been ripped in half, staining the black obsidian ground. He knew this place. Knew it in his deepest, darkest, nightmares. Even now, months and months later, he still had dreams about this place and what had transpired here. The death and destruction, the fear and desperation.
His heart was beginning to beat faster in his chest. His breath began to shorten, coming in smaller and faster gasps. A cold sweat clung to his skin, running in fat wet drops down his cheeks and dripping from his chin and the tips of his nose.
"No," he whispered, voice loud in the barren landscape. "It can't be."
"Oh but it is!" Called the voice that Gohan feared he would hear soon. The footsteps started. Of all the things Gohan remembered from this place, the footsteps were definitely in the top three. That horrible squeaking and clanking noise that seemed to haunt his every nightmare.
Gohan turned, trembling from head to toe. "It's not possible. You're dead! I killed you!"
Cell, the killer android who'd almost destroyed the world, stood before him. Gohan was back at the Cell Games, that twisted version of the Strongest Under the Heavens Tournament, the scene of Gohan's worst nightmare. Almost fearing what he would find, Gohan looked up towards the cliffs on his left side. Sure enough, his friends and family, from Piccolo to Goku, to Yamcha and Tien and Trunks and Vegeta, all of them stood on the cliff side, looking down at him watching with anticipation.
Goku looked the most expectant.
There was one face out of place, Gohan realized with a thrill. Itachi, in his Akatsuki cloak and scarred hirai-ate, stood in the background behind Vegeta and Trunks, watching him.
The squeaking footsteps started again. Gohan tried not to tremble as he looked back at Cell as the android advanced on him. 'This is an illusion,' Gohan told himself. 'It's all a trick. I'm not home, I'm another dimension, with Naruto and Sakura and Kakashi and Sasuke and everyone else. The Cell Games are over. Cell's dead. I killed him.'
"You did indeed kill me," Cell said with a snicker as if he'd read Gohan's mind. "But you can't destroy me, Son Gohan. I'll always be with you, in the shadows. I'll be the one that you fear to find, waiting to jump out…"
Cell's mottled arm shot from Gohan's shadow and grabbed him by the ankle. The warrior looked down in surprise and horror.
"And grab you!"
A second Cell pulled itself from Gohan's shadow. Each limb was bloated and grotesque, the face distorted and bubbly, like the android was about to blow up. The first Cell shot forward and blasted Gohan hard in the jaw. Gohan shouted in pain as he felt his jaw break. He was wrenched from the sadistic android's grip and thrown away. He capitalized, stabilizing himself and shooting back at the other warrior.
His fist crunched hard into Cell's metal and flesh nose.
The android burst into an oil slick, just like a Mizu Bunshin would do.
The world rewound to the point where Cell was advancing on Gohan again, only this time, it was Itachi striding towards him, not the biomechanical menace. "Seventy-two hours," the ninja said softly, "fifty-nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds to go in the world of Tsukuyomi."
The world dissolved into a swirl of black and white and when it stopped, Gohan was standing away from a ring of warriors. He heard a voice, his voice, shouting.
"No! Dad, stop!"
Gohan's blood turned to ice again. He knew what was coming. Goku was about to take Cell to Kaio-sama's planet and sacrifice himself to try and save the world. "No!" Gohan howled, running forwards as fast as his legs would carry him. He ran faster than he'd ever run in his life. The world sailed past, a simple blur in the corners of his vision.
Yet he never seemed to get closer.
He burst into the center of the ring of warriors just as Goku vanished.
"DAAAAAAAAAD!" Both Gohans, one a Super Saiyan, the other an Ascended Super Saiyan, howled together. The two Gohans merged and became one as a massive white explosion lit the sky. Gohan knew what it was. "DAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!"
It was an illusion, Gohan tried to tell himself. It was an illusion. It wasn't real, it wasn't happening. But it was happening, another side of himself said. It had already happened. Goku had already died…all because of Gohan and his arrogance.
The scene reset, but the swollen form of Cell was gone and Itachi was in his place again. There was a kunai in his hand. Goku was glaring the Uchiha down. "I'm not gonna let you destroy this world!" Gohan's father shouted, drawing back to blast the traitor.
"Dad no!" Gohan shouted. He tried to get up to help, but his legs were frozen in place. When Gohan looked down, he was horrified to see he didn't have legs. He was simply a torso sitting on the ground. He looked back up. Goku was starting his swing. "DAD!"
Itachi's kunai flashed through the air. It sliced through Goku's head with hardly any effort. Gohan screamed in anguish, as if it had been his own head that had gotten slashed off as his father's hit the ground and rolled away, white blood spraying from the headless body as it collapsed.
Rage like nothing Gohan had ever felt flooded his system, awakening his fighting spirit. "ITACHI!!"
He was behind Itachi even before either warrior knew what was happening. Gohan's fist flashed, smashing through Itachi's head. White blood sprayed over the ground as the body collapsed, landing with a hard thud. Gohan straightened. He'd put so much power behind the attack he hadn't even seen it hit. His entire body, soul, and ki had come into play.
"How cruel of you, Gohan-kun," Itachi said, standing on Goku's corpse, unharmed. "Are you so desperate to defeat me that you'll even kill your friends?"
Gohan looked down.
A headless female body was splayed over the ground, the limbs twisted and disjointed. The saiyan frowned. Android 18 had been the old female at the battle that day, and she'd been a part of Cell at the time, until Gohan had forced the android to spit her out with one well-place blow to the abdomen. Then it dawned on Gohan just who's head he'd split, who's blood was on his fist.
Bulma.
He knew it was an illusion. He knew it wasn't real, he knew Bulma was still alive and well.
But the scream of anguish tore itself from his throat anyway.
He felt as if he'd been turned to stone.
Gohan tried to move but found out quickly that it wasn't that he felt like stone, he was stone! His body had turned into glassy, glossy, obsidian, and Itachi was standing next to him with a chisel, while a second Itachi stood among Gohan's friends again, all of them, Bulma and Goku included, hale, healthy and whole.
The two Itachis nodded to each other and, as the first one stepped up to Krillin, knife in hand, the second Itachi, which Gohan was fairly sure was the original, stepped up to him, placing the chisel on Gohan's glass-smooth skin. Gohan tried to shout out, to warn them, to tell Itachi not to, anything, but his mouth was glued shut, as immovable as the stone he'd become. Some small part of Gohan's mind noted that he could feel the chisel with no problem.
'This is gonna hurt,' he thought numbly as the second Itachi grabbed Krillin by his neck and wrenched his head back. Simultaneously, the two Itachi's swung.
Krillin's chest burst in a spray of white.
Pain like nothing Gohan had ever felt before surged through his body like liquid fire, setting every nerve on fire, a thousand fiery snakes that sank their fangs into him again and again.
The chip that had broken off from his skin clicked innocently as it landed, but the pain didn't stop or dull in any way. The second Itachi spun and grabbed Bulma by her hair, wrenched her off her feet, slammed her to the ground and raised his white-stained knife high above his head.
Gohan couldn't see Bulma, with Itachi sitting astride her like he was, but he heard the squelch of flesh separating under the keen edge of a knife, saw the white arterial spray and saw Bulma's legs convulse erratically.
His leg seared as another chip was gouged from his skin.
Soon all of Gohan's friends and family were dead and he was in immeasurable pain, chips of black rock littering the ground. He wanted to scream out, in rage or pain or anguish or something, but his mouth was still immobile. When Gohan's friends were dead and gone, the world faded to black and Itachi began chipping almost absently.
Gohan wished that he could felt the pain absently, but it was always as fresh as the first chip, and the first chip still hurt as badly as it had when it had been taken out. Slowly, for hours, or days, or months, even, Itachi chipped away at Gohan's skin. When every square inch of the boy's body was filled with pockmarks, Itachi returned to the first chip on Gohan's arm and slammed the chisel home, then smashed it with a hammer.
The pain was doubly intense. Gohan wanted to pass out, but he couldn't. He wanted to vomit, but couldn't. He wanted to cry, but couldn't. He wanted to kill Itachi, but was powerless to do anything. He was at Itachi's mercy, as helpless as a newborn baby.
"You still have seventy hours, fifteen minutes, and thirty seconds left, Gohan-kun," Itachi whispered as he worked. "I know how people who wear their hearts on their sleeves work. Nothing pains you more than being powerless to those you've given your heart to, be it the friends that Tsukuyomi has plucked from your mind, or the new ones you've made here, in the world of the shinobi."
The world brightened before Gohan's eyes. He stood in Konoha, at the street in front of the Hokage's Tower. Behind him soared the Kage monument and before him lay Konoha proper. The gates were just visible from his vantage point, almost too easy to see in the blank street. Then the streets filled slowly, with the friends that Itachi had already killed and the new friends that Gohan had just made in his months in the shinobi world.
"You will watch me torture them, Gohan-kun, as I chip away at your body." He leaned in close, his voice soft in Gohan's ear. "Curse your powerlessness. It's that which has put you in this situation. You're strong, but you're still weak." He leaned in closer, lips only inches from the frozen Saiyan's ear, voice so soft Gohan could barely hear it, even as close as the traitor shinobi was. "And it's all your fault that they will die, both here and in the real world."
Gohan screamed.
His anguished cry echoed all up and down the hall, lingering long after his voice had stopped sounding.
"Ohh?" Kisame asked, turning towards Itachi. "You used that on him? Brutal."
"Perhaps, but less brutal than fighting him head on," Itachi answered, releasing Gohan's neck. The warrior slammed to the ground, eyes staring vacantly up at the ceiling, mouth still open in mid-scream, tears and saliva running down his cheeks and chin. His entire body was shaking, his breathing going faster and faster as the stress hit him all at once.
Gohan hyperventilated and passed out, keeling sideways with a solid thump, golden hair fading to natural black the second his eyes closed.
Itachi turned away and walked back up the hall towards Kisame and Naruto, wiping a tear-like trail of blood from one eye. "Though I have to commend him. It took much longer than I thought to make him actually succumb to Tsukuyomi and beg for his life to end."
"What?" Naruto asked. "What're you talking about?"
"A technique of the Mangenkyou Sharingan," Itachi said, inspecting his blood-smeared palm. "It causes immense physical and mental pain to the recipient, lasting for, in their perception, three days, when in our world, three seconds pass." Itachi stared down his nose at Naruto. "It's a technique used for torture."
Naruto felt his blood run cold and he clenched his fist. "You tortured him!?" The genin demanded. Itachi nodded. "You bastard!" He surged to his feet and lunged at Itachi. The elder Uchiha leaned backwards, letting Naruto overextend, then swept his foot up and around, catching Naruto in the side of his head, batting Naruto through the wall and into a room, where a couple that had clearly been in the middle of some activities that had been of a more risqué nature shrieked and hurried to cover up.
The genin lay on a bed of toothpicks that might've been a dresser, wincing and holding his ribs. Itachi stepped through the hole in the wall, walking past the couple without a second glance, and grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his jacket, hauling him off his feet and into the air. He slung the younger shinobi over his back like a backpack and headed back for the hole. He paused just before it.
"Excuse us," Itachi said to the couple before striding through the section of the wall where the door had been. The man and woman blinked, looked at each other, then scrambled as if their lives depended on it, hopping into their discarded clothes so fast that even the Sharingan would've had trouble tracking it.
"Well, we got what we came for," Kisame said, shouldering Samehada. "Let's get the hell out of Dodge before that damn Sannin realized what's happened here." They took two steps then froze, suddenly on alert.
Without words Itachi and Kisame sprang apart, just as the wall they'd been standing next to exploded inward in a hail of splinters and powder.
"RASENGAN!"
Jiraiya rolled through the cloud and came up on his feet. His glare was intense, something very out of place on the normally laughing visage, mouth set in a grim and stern line, killing intent rolling off him in waves. Kisame grinned.
"So, the old coot got here in time anyway huh?" Samehada came off the shoulder. "Well I guess there's nothing to it but to kill him, huh Itachi?"
Itachi nodded. He'd come to the same conclusion himself. If it was possible, Itachi would've loved to get out of the hotel without any further violence, but Jiraiya was too skilled and too good at what he did to just allow them to slip past. Genjutsu was useless, since Jiraiya would recognize and dispel it almost as soon as it was cast. Tsukuyomi had sapped much of Itachi's strength. It was a burden just to maintain the Sharingan, never mind casting Amaterasu or Susanoo, but Itachi had enough chakra left to do just that, should circumstances require him to, though he'd be laid up for several days if he did.
"Black cloaks with red clouds," Jiraiya said, glancing over their uniforms. "So you really are Akatsuki, then? Looks like you really are collecting Bijuu and their Jinchuuriki."
"You got it, Old Man," Kisame replied with a toothy grin. "And we'll be taking the Kyuubi-brat now!"
"Well there's the problem," Jiraiya said dangerously. "You see, Naruto happens to be my student. It'd be bad for his training if bastards like you took him away from me. How's he supposed to learn if he's separated from his teacher?" He held up a hand and a Rasengan spun to life. "Last chance, hand him over."
Kisame grinned, seized Naruto from Itachi and held him up front like a human shield, Samehada at the blonde's throat. "Last chance for you, Old Man. Let us go or I'll shear his head off." He stuck Samehada closer to Naruto's throat, the barbs on the blade piercing Naruto's skin, letting rivulets of blood run down his neck.
Jiraiya snorted. The Rasengan burst apart and faded in a swirl of wind as the sage's fingers came together. "Kai!"
Naruto shattered and became a pillow, which Itachi had taken from the room before he'd left. The dresser had been the storage place for extra linens. "Nice try, Uchiha," Jiraiya said. "You almost had me going there."
Naruto was still firmly in Itachi's grip, slung like baggage over his shoulder.
"I had a feeling it wouldn't work," Itachi admitted. "But I would prefer to end this with minimal bloodshed, Jiraiya-sama, so I had to try nonetheless."
"Minimal bloodshed?" Jiraiya snorted. "That's rich, coming from the guy who butchered his entire clan just to test his own power."
"The hole?" Kisame asked, not bothering to hide his words.
"The hole," Itachi agreed.
Both bolted for the hole that Jiraiya had made when he'd come bursting into the hotel.
"Kuchiyose! Gamaguchi Shibari no Jutsu!"
The hole covered in a flesh pink, slimy material that spread up and down hall, sealing seamlessly, with no way in or out. It retained the shape of the hall, though, with the lights embedded in the ceiling, shining dim pools of light everywhere.
"What is this shit?" Kisame asked, poking the substance with Samehada. At the touch, the stuff surged forwards, enveloping the blade in the blink of an eye. Kisame's reactions were just as swift as he released the sword's hilt and jumped backwards, only just escaping the encroaching tendrils.
Itachi frowned, then whirled. A massive wave of the stuff had risen up silently behind him, like a wave at the beach, except the wrong color and making sickening squishing noises. Itachi dropped Naruto to move faster and leaped away.
The wave settled to the ground slowly, landing on Naruto and covering him up from head to toe, leaving his face exposed.
"What the hell!?" Naruto wailed just before he was smothered. Behind Jiraiya, a similar thing had happened to Gohan, the warrior already encased in a cocoon of the substance.
"Hold your breath Naruto!"
Naruto did just that as his face was covered. Like a train, the bulge in the floor that represented Naruto spun and shot away, riding up the wall around Jiraiya then stopped next to Gohan's bulge. Both cocoons perforated with air holes and Itachi could just make out a pair of vivid blue eyes staring out at them from the shadows of the inside.
"Interesting jutsu," Itachi commented, testing the ground with one toe.
"I think so. You're trapped in the stomach of one of the fire-breathing toads from Myobokuzan. Not even the Uchiha's affinity for flames can help you here," Jiraiya answered. "You're done. No one's ever gotten out of here alive." He stood up, where he'd crouched to slam his palms on the floor. "And this stomach will be your graves." He tapped the floor twice with one foot.
The Toad-Mouth Trap responded instantly, a wall rising between Itachi and Kisame, sealing seamlessly to the ceiling. Kisame grinned, looking around the pink cubicle he found himself in. "Old Man, it's gonna take more than this to stop us!" He ripped Samehada free of its prison, lacerating the stomach tissue in the process, and proceeded to hack his way out of the cell. He blinked when Jiraiya was nowhere to be found.
A foot smashed into the back of his head, driving him to the ground.
Jiraiya rebounded, landing with a squish back in his original position.
"Not bad for an old fart," Kisame laughed, getting up without a scratch. "I'll have a nice little welt there tomorrow. Oh well the leader will understand at least."
"Watch your mouth, Kisame," Itachi said as his own cubicle burst into black flame, melting a hole for Itachi to walk through. The flesh dissolved into ashes under the force of Amaterasu, but it didn't go out. It sat, burning without pause, never once flickering or threatening to go out. "Don't give away anything about the leader."
"My bad, Itachi," Kisame said with a grin that said the slip was intentional. "Won't happen again."
"No," Itachi agreed, "it won't." His eyes faded to their obsidian black. The renegade pulled out a soldier pill from within the folds of his cloak and popped it into his mouth. Almost as soon as he swallowed, the Sharingan was back.
"You're using a soldier pill?" Kisame asked incredulously.
"No choice," Itachi answered, staring at Jiraiya, trying to catch the sage in the gaze of the Sharingan, but having no luck since the hermit wasn't meeting his eyes. "We'll have to kill Jiraiya-sama to get out of here." Since, he added silently, I don't want to accelerate my eyes' deterioration anymore than I already have today.
"So we're gonna attack him together then?" Kisame asked with a grin.
"Yes."
Jiraiya bit his thumbs in preparation to summon Shiba and Fukasaku. He would need their help to take down two Akatsuki. One he could handle, but two would be a little bit more than a handful, even for him. Both these guys were more powerful than Orochimaru, and Kisame's chakra was on par with that of a Bijuu, and Itachi was a master of the Sharingan and a former ANBU captain to boot, not a favorable combination.
Light blasted from behind Jiraiya, followed by a shockwave that blew all three shinobi off their feet. When Jiraiya managed to look, he saw that Gohan's cocoon had burst open from the inside. In the center of the intense light, almost as intense as the sun, he could see a shadow hunched over. "I have a bad feeling about this," Jiraiya muttered.
"So the little brat wasn't out!?" Kisame shouted over the roar of the wind ripping off the teen's figure. Itachi had no response.
The light faded.
When Gohan was finally visible, Jiraiya felt a shiver of dread crawl up his spine.
There were teardrop-like black marks all over his skin. Bioelectricity was peeling off him in waves, his aura flaring higher than Jiraiya had ever seen or heard of. It wasn't so much a flame as it was a cone of power that started at his feet and shot to the ceiling. Gohan's mop-top was vivid gold again.
"The Curse Seal?" Itachi asked. "Why did it activate now?"
"Fuuja Houin," Jiraiya answered. "Dammit, it wasn't supposed to release unless Gohan willed it to."
Gohan turned to face them.
His eyes were white.
It suddenly made sense.
"He's still unconscious," Jiraiya breathed. "Shit, I've heard of this kind of thing happening. Supposedly if a martial artist trains long and hard enough, his body will continue to press on even if his mind is out for lunch."
"And since he was rendered unconscious by Tsukuyomi," Itachi continued, the fight between Jiraiya and the two Akatsuki forgotten in the face of this development, "the Fuuja Houin wasn't able to continue to draw off his will. This will be difficult."
The lights above them blew out one right after another, popping in sequence like firecrackers. The Gamaguchi Shibari remained lit only because of Gohan's aura and flashing electricity.
"Che," Kisame said, waving Samehada. "Little brat can't be much more powerful than he was and Itachi kicked his ass the first time around."
Kisame's face didn't have time to change expression as Gohan's fist buried itself right between the shark-man's eyes.
He flew back like a shot put, smashing into the stomach at the other end of the hall. The wall outside shattered outward as the stomach lining continued to bow outwards. It snapped back into place like a rubber band, throwing Kisame right at Gohan.
The warrior sidestepped and allowed Kisame to smash into the wall right beside Naruto. Itachi and Jiraiya managed to process what happened only after Kisame hit the ground. Both leaped away from Gohan as he lashed out at them both, missing but barely.
Jiraiya felt blood drip down his chin. "Damn," he muttered. "And that was just from the shockwave off his fist. If that hits, it's gonna hurt worse than went Tsunade-hime beat me senseless that one time."
"He's much faster than when we fought," Itachi noted as he watched Gohan's sightless eyes. "I wonder why. Is it because of the Cursed Seal?"
"Probably," Jiraiya answered. "It's drawing out his power and potential, and trust me, Gohan's power is frightening."
"I cannot fight you and Gohan-kun at the same time, Jiraiya-sama," Itachi said softly. "And it would seem that Gohan-kun cannot discern friend from foe. It has become a matter of mutual survival." He trailed off, leaving the rest hanging, but Jiraiya got it.
"You want to team up." It wasn't a question.
The renegade Uchiha nodded.
"How do I know you won't stick a knife in my back?" Jiraiya asked, not taking his eyes off Gohan's feet. Hopefully he would see the shift there before his ass got knocked out.
"Because Gohan-kun will kill me," Itachi answered. "Please do not forget that my survival rides on this teamwork as well. After we finish with him, then you should watch your back, but not before. You have my word, Jiraiya-sama."
"The word of a murder."
"Guilty as charged," Itachi agreed. "But I wonder…are you any less guilty than I?"
"I don't think we have the time to get philosophical," Jiraiya replied. Gohan's foot shifted a fraction of an inch. "He's coming. Who's got point?"
"My Sharingan can see his attacks coming, but I don't think I can keep up with this inhuman speed. He's unconscious. His inhibitions have been released. He will show no mercy. When Gohan-kun was limited by his reluctance to kill, I was able to stay ahead of him, but now…even I don't know." Gohan leaned forwards, putting all his weight on his leading foot.
"That's more than I can say. You've got point."
"Very well."
Jiraiya grinned, rolling his shoulders. "Now…let's do this!"
Gohan shot forward, a gold streak in the darkness, the gold flash the only sign of his coming.
Whoo! Late!!! Sorry about that. I had this chapter written a while ago, but I've just been neglecting to post it. Laziness, that's all I can say, but I'm sure you'll forgive me for this right? ....RIGHT? Anyway, hope you liked the Tsukuyomi scene. Truth to tell, I'm not that happy with it. I don't think I did it justice, but you all can be the judge of that. That said, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Oh, and before I forget, Gohan has NOT, I repeat NOT, gone SS2. Think of it more as like what happened with Vegeta when he had that Majin mark on his forehead. See you all next time!!
Glossary
Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari no Jutsu (Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind/Toad Mouth Trap): Jiraiya summons the stomach of the Stone Toad from Myoboku. He can control it at will and, unless one has the Amaterasu in their possession, it's impossible to break out of.
Tsukuyomi: A genjutsu specific only to the Mangenkyou Sharingan. The user controls every element of the jutsu to torture his victims, causing them actual pain in the real world. To Itachi and the victim's perception, three days pass at a painfully slow crawl, but in reality only three seconds pass. Very taxing on Itachi's chakra reserves and it speeds up the degredation of his eyes, since the bearer of the Mangenkyou will eventually go blind unless certain preventative measures are taken. The technique, along with Amaterasu and Susanoo, is named for a member of the Shinto pantheon.