(Hikari's POV)
I had become used to waking up in my massive bed on my own, so when I woke up wrapped in someone's arms it was a little startling. Removing a kunai from the seal on my wrist I jumped up prepared to jam it in whoever's throat. I had to stop myself when I saw the peaceful face of my teammate, Daichi. Drool was running down his cheek, his breathing slow and steady with a light snore. I sighed, we had been spending a lot of time together as new clan heads, and I had been teaching him in things like economics and politics for the past two months. We had grown a lot closer than I'd expected these last several nights, and it must have culminated with him ending up next to me. Checking my body, I saw that nothing had happened between us, below the waist anyway, and sighed again. That would have been awkward, considering the circumstances. We both knew that whatever we had between us wasn't something we could explore, and to be honest I was okay with it for now. Daichi, on the other hand wanted more with me, he needed more. I could tell my hesitation hurt him, yet he kept coming back. It was one of the main reasons I liked him, and deep down there was a part of me that wanted to explore that, but I just couldn't right now. My romantic feelings were a jumbled mess, and with this war coming up, I couldn't afford to sort through them, especially when I had feelings for several people. I had to focus on completing my upcoming mission at any cost.
"Stop thinking so loud, I'm not ready to get up yet." I smirked before looking down at his face. His eyes slowly opened. "I had fun, and I know you had fun too, but I know that fun is all it was." My eyes, widened, I wasn't expecting that. "You're about to head into the most dangerous place on the continent on arguably the most dangerous mission in recent history. You don't have time for a boyfriend. I need you to come back alive." Turning away from him, I looked at the floor. He was right. He was so right that, it killed me to hear the concern in his voice, the unspoken fear that was out of his control. It made me wish he'd been wrong, just to give him some comfort.
I felt him get up in the bed and make his way to my side before placing a hand on mine. "What can you tell me about the mission."
"Some members of the Onmitsukido, the Juyubiwa and myself are to go in and do what we do best, win." I couldn't tell him the specifics of the mission, but I hoped my confidence would appease him slightly. It didn't, his face was neutral, a far departure from how he would have reacted if he wasn't concerned. He was trying to hold something in.
"The real mission." His brown eyes had found mine and the concern in them, unnerved me. It was so intense.
"Kill Yagura, by any means necessary. Procure some more members of a few of the Kekkei Genkai wielding clans for Konoha, and if necessary, install some agents of our spy network throughout their new regime." I don't know why I contradicted my previous thought. I think it had something to do with the way his eyes stared at mine.
"So, Ero-sensei's going too." I placed a hand on his cheek. Jiraiya had made him his apprentice sometime during the war and the two had gotten really close in the two months it had ended. Both were idiots, perverts, and goofs but they were some of the strongest and most loyal shinobi in the village. They had no finesse and were pure brutes, but they could do some damage. Jiraiya's as it stood was our second strongest army buster able to take on and take out large platoons of shinobi on destructive power alone, only coming second to Minato and his Hiraishin.
"We'll be okay, Bear, Leone, Mako, Bolin, Tsukiomi, Albis, Raien and Akaru just need a little more training and the Juyubiwa will be a pretty formidable group."
"You could take all four Hokage and I'd still worry." Touching his forehead to my own I knew then and there I'd have to come back. I had to see this through, for us. There was something happening here that I couldn't really explain. We stayed like that for a few minutes before hearing a couple of knocks at the door. Slightly annoyed at the atmosphere getting ruined, I got off the bed and threw on a shirt while watching him do the same. He'd grown a lot since I'd met him. His muscular stature was impressive and gone was the boy I'd met years ago replaced by a young man, stronger than most. Shaking my head at the thoughts creeping up I went to go see who dared interrupt this moment.
Opening the door, I was greeted by Tsukomi and Albis. The two of them were more than happy to join the Shihoin and Konoha, neither wanting to go back to Kumo to be persecuted and deactivated as shinobi. From what they told me Kumo would have either done experiments on them to try and recreate them with better odds of success or force them to bear children with powerful shinobi to create a new division. I assured them no one in Konoha would do the same, under my protection and they both agreed to join. Tsukomi was a wild child running around constantly challenging any and everyone around, while Albis was more subdued and relaxed. The two were like yin and yang but their personalities and differences made them to interesting of a pair, so I made them my personal guards. Mako and Bolin were nice but there were some things I didn't want my brothers to know, like having a boy over for a whole night.
"Hmm, I don't smell any sex. How disappointing." I watched as Tsukomi handed Albis a wad of cash, my forehead veins throbbing with annoyance in response.
"I will be at the training grounds in an hour, let everyone know so we can train together. Be prepared, you two will be paying more than just a bet, I'll make sure of it. I watched as they grimaced before closing the door and heading back into my room, I took off the little clothing I had on as I headed to the bathroom. Looking over I saw Daichi just staring dumbly, my naked body must have been quite the sight for him. "Well, c'mon, we need to shower and get ready for the day." He nodded dumbly before following me, ripping his own clothes off hastily. I couldn't help but giggle a little, like I said a goofy idiot.
Looking around I watched as the lower 4 of the Juyubiwa struggled to stand. Mako, Bolin, Tsukomi and Leone were undoubtedly strong, however compared to the Upper Rings they were incredibly behind. We had been spending the month since the summit trying to get them up to speed. They were all learning quickly, our training sessions getting better each time, including this time. Deciding to call it a day, I released a pulse of chakra that knocked them out. I sighed as I remembered the days when this group would have posed a serious problem against me, however my training post war and the powers I had gained had put me on a whole new tier of shinobi. Sighing, I decided to open up my stats and see where I was.
Name: Hikari Senju Level: 55
Age: 14
Classification: Jonin of Konoha
EXP: 89760/154000
HP: 70,800/70,800
CP: 76,435/76,435 (19500)
STR: 125 (115) = 240
DEX: 125 (135) = 260
VIT: 110 (185) = 295
INT: 88 (105) = 193
WIS: 128 (65) = 193
I was strong and I was fast, I could take hits and I could dish them out all the same. I could be explosive or precise. I was a true shinobi of the Senju clan, and I was powerful. Creating Wood Clones, I sent them to heal my comrades. I needed them to be better than what they currently are. From the reports the rebels had sent things were not going well at all. The Land of Water was massive and spanned 12 islands. Kirigakure was situated right in the center of the largest island which also happened to be situated in the middle of the other islands. The loyalists were smart taking the seven islands that surrounded the island when the rebels had first organized. They had tricked them into fighting for the two islands closest to the mainland, baiting them with supplies that they so desperately needed. The rebels, desperate for any sort of support, took the bait and while they gained momentary supplies, they were walled by the other islands. The eight surrounding islands having been transformed into death traps for large armies. The rebels didn't have the manpower to take and hold any of the other islands and the loyalist had the advantage of having reinforcements from other islands that made it impossible for them to just punch their way through. That's where we came in.
The rebels' main force would be attacking three islands at a time, while I'd be leading the Onmitsukido to attack another one. The weakening of their forces and the gaining of an island would open up a lot more avenues for them. Which is why it was imperative we completed this mission and why my training them had to be perfect. The Juyubiwa were the most important part of this plan. While the regular members of the Onmitsukido would be assassinating the scouts and preventing reinforcements from reaching us, the Juyubiwa and I would be assassinating those inside the base. The Upper Rings and I would handle the big names, but it was the Lower Rings who would be taking care of most of the work. If they didn't have the stamina or strength to fight through the masses, we wouldn't be able to take a single base.
I had also bolstered my own training, as well. This wasn't a mission I could afford to be lax in. I had mastered my Chakra Enhanced Strength Technique, Water Breathing Form, Wind Breathing Form, and nearly all of my Ninjutsu and Taijutsu Techniques including the Lightning, Earth, Wind and Water Chakra Manipulation.Only things I hadn't mastered yet were my Wood, Fire & Yang Chakra Manipulation, and some of their respective jutsu. Though I had learned a few, including a few new techniques, some being ones I couldn't learn and others being ones I had invented myself.
I wasn't the only one improving either my dinosaurs had all hatched, and they were doing pretty well for themselves. Anky had hit a massive growth spurt, the crest of her spikey armored back reaching my shoulders. The others had been smaller and were developing slowly. The Parasaur and Iguanodon were pretty docile and spooked easily but I attributed that to how young they were. The Parasaur were, however, great at detecting and tracking enemies, being able to detect me or the Indoraptors from over a mile away. I had the Indoraptors test them repeatedly as I wanted to build up their skills, maybe see if I could use them out in the field one day. The Iguanodon weren't really good for tracking but instead of running when they got scared like the Parasaur, they all banded together and put up a fight against whatever they deemed a threat. They were a little weak now, but I hoped that when they grew larger, they'd be more formidable. The Pachy were a rambunctious bunch always bumping heads with each other and myself. They were too small to do any sort of lasting damage, but from how hard their skulls were getting I knew it'd be a matter of time before they were smashing down walls. The Triceratops were a very peaceful species. Each of them had warmed up to me quickly, always crowding around, licking, and nuzzling me when I went to see them. They were a cute bunch spending most of their time grazing alongside the Stegoceratops, who were much more aggressive. They liked me just as much as the Trikes, but they also played pretty rough charging me occasionally. The lone bull, whom I named El Padre, was a beast while the others hadn't reached my knee, El Padre was halfway up to my thigh. He was the only one to have developed horns, back plates, and spikes on the tail. He was tough and constantly fighting, either the raptors, Anky, the cats or myself. He was learning well and fast, and he'd be a monster when he was fully grown.
Returning back to where I was, I watched as the Lower Rings all stood, having been sufficiently healed. "Leone your strong but other than that there ain't much to it. I know you've been working on your genjutsu, but it's still a little lacking, shore up. Mako, your Shunko charging time still needs work, but I also want you to develop your lightning style ninjutsu as well, Kiri is full of water users and your fire arsenal just isn't good enough to overcome it yet. Bolin your Lava Release is pretty devastating and will be a key to our mission, but you need to work on your other skills, I don't want to expose just how much you've grown until we need too. Work on getting better at your Shunko and other Earth Release Jutsu, I want both to be much closer to mastery by the time we depart. Tsukomi, you need to work on your Shunko as well. I know you just started learning it, but I won't have you dependent on your modifications either. We head out in a week, get to work." They all nodded before heading out of the main training area and into the smaller practice rooms. I hoped they'd be able to complete their task before we shipped out.
Sighing, I turned to the Upper Rings who were entering the training ground, and smirked. "Let us begin."
It was finally the day we were sent to head out. The gates of Konoha had never looked so big as we stood there. Every part of my body was wracked with nerves. A lot was riding on the success of this mission, and I had to ensure we succeeded. Turning around I looked at everyone, lined up in formation waiting for me to address them. "I'm not the big speech type of person so I'll be brief. We go in, we complete the mission, and we do it stealthily. We have to stay under the radar, the fewer ties to Konoha, the better. Limit the Shunko to partials and only when necessary. We fuck this up and were looking at a Fourth Great Shinobi War. There's a lot at stake here, I demand excellence from each and every one of you bastards. The Juyubiwa are still short of two members, and I'll be looking at the performances of everyone, to see if anyone could fill that role. Now then, let's go.
Kiri was the ugliest country I'd ever been in. It could only be described as every adjective for wet. It was damp, humid, foggy, muggy, and just terrible overall. Every step felt like I was walking through a fucking swamp. The Onmitsukido had just landed on Juichishima and were about 40 min from the rebel base at Fort Shuiro. Jiraiya had joined us on the mission, and his presence was received with mixed emotions. I could see why Daichi was so enamored with him, his laughter and cheerful outlook was infectious. All throughout the journey here, he had interacted with my men and raised our morale, even teaching them a few tips along the way, and yet despite all of that his presence still caused a some… tension.
The council and I had got into a few disagreements when I suggested some financial changes that would have affected them all in a way they didn't like. Other clans had accused me of trying to steal influence from them when I gave them my proposal since it removed some of their Shinobi from administrative position and put them back into active mission roles, while the civilians accused me of trying to poach their brightest minds and somehow gain favor with them by putting them in influential roles within the village. Minato had stopped them from full on mutiny by agreeing to review the plan and modify it so the clans and the civilians could still be happy. That didn't stop them from punishing me though, my confirmation to Jonin, was suddenly called into question, Hiruzen being my sponsor certainly didn't help. An emergency session was called out of nowhere and my promotion was canceled. To say I was pissed was an understatement and both the Shihoin and Senju had been ready to wage a political shadow war against my adversaries. Minato had intervened though and stated he would be re-administering my Jonin Exam.
The exam was split into three main parts ability, tactics, and leadership. Jonin were considered to top tier of the Shinobi world and had to be symbols of power and excellence within their village. Whether they were overwhelmingly powerful like Kizashi or once in a generation prodigies like Kakashi, Jonin were the cream of the crop in their village. My previous exam requirements had been fulfilled by the Battle of Fukaishizukesa and the Two Tails Mission, but because my promotion had been canceled, I could no longer apply them to my exam. Minato, had allowed me to apply this mission to my new exam but that had required me to bring an SO, hence we got Jiraiya.
"Hmph, you ready kiddo?" Speak of the devil. Turning to my right I saw Jiraiya, leaping through the trees with me. He was dressed as an Onmitsukido, his only identifiable feature being his eyes and the barely visible red lines that went from the bottom of his eyes to underneath his mask, his hair was hidden by a seal in the bandana on his head, not too many people in the nation had super long, incredibly spikey, pristine white hair.
"Yeah, but if you have any advice for me, I wouldn't mind it, unless that's against the rules proctor-san."
He began laughing heartily. "My little monkey was right; you are a cheeky brat." I scowled, Dai-kun would never describe me like that. "Hmm, well as your proctor I can't give you outright advice, but I don't give flying fuck about the rules so listen up. Your first target should be Nishima, my spies informed me that they are most likely to have captured Kekkei Genkai users from the Yuki Clan. That clan is powerful too, before Kazan no Roshi decimated them in the Land of Noodles they were strong enough to consistently change the weather of Shoshima, Nishima, and Sanshima making them an eternal blizzard wall between the mainland and the main island. Unfortunately, though Iwa had the perfect counter to that. Roshi and his Lava Release completely melted through that blizzard and carved a path for Iwa to directly attack Kirigakure, whom they blamed for the failure at Konoha. Apparently if it weren't for their Rokubi Jinchuriki, their village would have been nothing but lava and ash. With that in mind, and with their current views on Kekkei Genkai wielders being pretty negative right now what do you think that means for us?"
"They're going to latch on to the first group of people that prioritizes them, aren't they?" Jiraiya didn't respond verbally but he did smirk. "They have a rivalry with the Terumi, right? Let's play off of that, we'll spin it in a way where we had to convince Mei, to save them first."
"Sound plan there, kiddo. So, of the ten Kekkei Genkai wielding clans in Kiri only three have been allowed to side with the loyalists. What's your plan for handling them?"
"Hmm, the Kaguya, Hozuki, and the Hakaimaru clans, right?" He nodded. "I'm wiping the Kaguya and Hozuki clans off the face of the earth. Both of them are way too strong to hold back and try to preserve. I do hear that they have a young prodigy in the Kaguya so I may try to flip them but if that doesn't work, then I'll do whatever it takes to preserve Konoha's safety. As for the Hakaimaru, Mei apparently has been trying to get them to defect, so unlike the other two, I won't hunt them down, but I'm not going to go out of my way to preserve their lives."
"I agree with that assessment. I'll do my best to assist in that whenever I can. How about the other seven?"
"You already know I plan to pursue the Yuki aggressively, the Terumi, Samehiro, and Fanalis, are going to stay loyal to the rebels so that leaves the Mikazuchi, Tetsumareru and the Zenken. I like all three clans and I believe that I could garner support from them by playing off their mistrust of Mei's capabilities. Most of the Mikazuchi are still on Goshima, due to Mei choosing to save the Terumi over them and I bet I could get them to follow me if I rescued. The real nail in the coffin will be how the decisive battle with Yagura is handled. If I beat him my become the Hero of Kiri and it would be a lot easier to sway them. In fact, I'd like you to use your network to get boost my influence, especially with each high ranking ninja."
"Now that is interesting. Using the mission, the client hired you for, to secure your village's security and weaken their own is honestly incredibly smart and shows some incredible forward thinking. Then to also use your SO's mission to bolster the success of your own, geez I can why Minato and Kushina love you."
The praise made me so happy my brown skin hid my blush. We continued to chat about some smaller things like the tips he offered my clan members and some of the specifics of his own mission, before my chakra sense alerted me to our welcome party. Stopping on a branch I held up my arm to halt the advance of my troops, I wanted the rebels to feel as comfortable as possible with us. Our welcome party didn't take long to reach us and was filled with some pretty big names that I recognized from the bingo books. Muu Fanalis, Ao of the Blood Moon, Kagura Mikazuchi and a teenage Zabuza fucking Momoichi. Muu was just a long haired version of his brother Akaru, and without the tattoos. Zabuza was a spitting image of his anime counterpart only a lot shorter. He had a massive black blade, almost a foot wide. He must have been wielding it in preparation for Kubikiribocho. The last was a girl, almost as young as me. She was slightly taller than me and had her violet hair done in a traditional Japanese princess style cut. Her white blazer had a gold lining around the edges, which she wore over her white dress shirt and tie. She also had on black tights that also went down to her white boots and an ominous looking nodachi that was sealed by bandages lined with Fuinjutsu.
Ao spoke up first, his voice stern and strong. "Please allow us to thank you once again for your support. Kirigakure will forever be in your debt. Please follow us back to the village so you may rest and recuperate. I nodded and we were led to what seemed to be a fishing village, it was bustling with activity with the Shinobi training and the civilians doing everything they could to support them. Everyone was working hard, but there was an overall sense of sadness and pain. The rebels had been fighting this war for so long and they needed to a victory soon or else their morale would falter.
"Ao-san, have my troops led to their lodging please, I wish to talk to Mei-san about the strategy." Ao nodded calling over some shinobi who proceeded to take my clan excluding Tsukomi & Albis to their lodging before leading the three of us, to the war room. It was in a medium sized stone building right on the edge of the water. It looked to be an old post office of some sort that was converted based on the few signs still up. Nodding to my guards to stay outside I entered with Ao to see Mei, and four other shinobi I didn't recognize.
The first was an incredibly violent looking woman, she was wearing traditional black hakama pants, tied by a white sash. Above it she wore a black bodysuit that had been fashioned into a crop top. Over top of it all she had on a sleeveless purple haori with blue waves on the bottom. It shocked me a little, her outfit being much more revealing and wilder than normal, showing off her solid eight pack abs and muscular arms. She was dangerous, and almost monstrous with even her shoulder having a tattoo with the kanji for demon on it. Her hair was black spikey and flowed almost all the way down to floor, like the mane of a dangerous beast. Her face was the softest thing about her, with almost no fat, unblemished skin, and a gentle structure. Even her golden eyes were somewhat alluring, despite the savagery the rest of her body conveyed.
The next person was a muscular man a little shorter than Kizashi, he was incredibly big and burly, yet he didn't carry himself with an imposing aura like the woman. He wore dark green cargo pants and a mid-sleeve shirt that was an incredibly tight fit. On top of it he wore the standard Kiri flak chest piece. His face was flat, but he had a kind demeanor about himself. His eyes were pitch black and seemed to stare at me with obvious interest. Small strands of his black hair spilled out of his white headcloth which wrapped around the top of his hair.
The next was a blue skinned woman that reminded me of Kisame, she had sharklike skin that was scaly rough skin and shark like features. She had white eyes and two black markings under her eyes. Her teeth were spikey, sharklike, and looked like they could rip you apart. She wore black cargo pants, a black shirt where the sleeves were opened exposing her shoulder and closed at her middle biceps, her arms also had two black markings like her face. She finished the outfit with a dark blue flak jacket that she left open. She wasn't as intimidating as the other woman, but she didn't scream hospitality either and I could tell she might be a problem in the future.
The last one was a tall, incredibly muscular man who was shirtless, and wore black pants that went into his boots. His emerald, green eyes were piercing and his deep crimson hair, almost as if it were the color of blood, flowed down to his lower back. He was scarred all over his torso and arms, which only enhanced his intimidating aura. His face was handsome like a lumberjack, his beard was properly trimmed, and he looked somewhat kind, despite his wild grin being slightly intimidating.
"Everyone, this is the leader of the Onmitsukido and the woman whose clan I hired to help us in our efforts, Hikari Senju-Shihoin. Shihoin-san, these are my captains, Momochi Zaraki, Mikazuchi Simon, Yukiro Samehiro, and Muen Fanalis.
Nodding in respect, I looked around, the atmosphere wasn't welcoming at all, but I wouldn't have time to dwell on it. "General Mei, captains, it is good to see all of you. Please inform me of the status of the war effort."
Mei smirked; I could tell she liked my no nonsense approach. "It's simple. We are on Juichishima, which is easily defended but it is nearly impossible to launch an attack from here. Nishima and Sanshima, are the two islands blocking us from direct access to Jushima, the central island. We can't make it through them though due to two reasons. They have too many traps in place, and they're all designed to make it as difficult as possible for our army to get through without wasting lives. As it stands, we could only realistically take a third of our forces in to attack them, which puts us at a severe disadvantage as they can easily send reinforcements to overwhelm us. It's quite simple really, we are at the most disadvantageous point possible right now. With that being said, you were hired due to the success your clan has in stealth operations and guerilla warfare; so, with that all being said we need to know how you will benefit us. How many men did you bring and what would you say is your estimated battle strength."
"I brought 40 men with me. Most at a high C Rank to Low A Rank. 30 Chunin, 6 Tokubetsu Jonin, and 4 Jonin not including myself. After reviewing this information and from what I could sense upon entry into the village, we have devised an opening attack that I believe will be effective. Mei you will attack two islands each with a third of your troops, Ichishima and Sanshima with 2/3 of your forces while the rest will set up a blockade in between Sanshima and Yonshima. While this is happening the Onmitsukido will take Nishima."
The captains and Mei, looked shocked. Nishima would be the hardest of any of the islands to take, so their surprise at me wanting to take that land first was understandable. The Zaraki woman spoke up first her voice just as rough as her appearance. "Do you think you can take Nishima on your own? Besides even if you do there's no guarantee they won't just regroup and attack us from Sanshima and Ichishima after the fact." From the looks on everyone's face it seemed they agreed with her.
"Momochi-san, that won't happen. The Onmitsukido won't be staying in Nishima after we capture it. Instead, the troops from Sanshima will switch with us and we finish what needs to be done there. The mainland won't send reinforcements to Nishima or Sanshima due to the blockade and since Ichishima is the closest one to Daimyo's most profitable town he'll send his reinforcements there. Once Nishima is taken, the Ichishima troops will meet up with those in Nishima and bolster our defenses. After that, the blockade troops will come claim Sanshima and we will rest. We don't need to take every island, just the important ones. Which is why after these two we will only go after Yonshima and Goshima to prevent them from using those bases and not trying to hold them."
Mei smirked at me. She had already heard this in the letters we exchanged during my preparation for this meeting and signed off on the plan, but it was incredibly risky for Konoha if it went wrong, it'd be the end of our refusal to pick a side. Mei knew that by having me introduce the plan, I'd be responsible in the event of a negative result if it failed Konoha would be forced to join them and that while, she'd lose a few soldiers Konoha would lose one of its strongest assets.
"I like it, and besides everything else we've tried has yet to succeed, maybe it's time for something different. Let's discuss the finer details."
"My lady, it is time." I sighed, I was extremely nervous, leading my first battle wasn't something I'd thought I'd do at this age. My men had already taken out the patrols around the base, and it was time for the Juyubiwa to finish the mission.
"Good inform the troops to move in after the signal, we will do our best to make your job easy for you. Also ensure the field medic tent is set up and defended before the signal. Now go." He took off to relay my orders, quickly his presence disappearing with ease.
Jumping into the air I landed on an owl I'd summoned earlier. Kurojima was a transport owl and could carry the Juyubiwa and myself on his back with ease. As soon as we landed, he ascended climbing the skies and waiting above the clouds. "The mission is simple. They know we're here, and at least think we are attacking from the ground. They'll send about 40-50 men to scout meaning we'd have to handle at least 250 enemies. On this island the four biggest threats are Renji no Akahebi, Sakaguchi Enmu, Yorozu no Majo, Hakaimura Tetsuko and General Sekijiro. Renji has a blade on par with the 7 Swords of the Mist, Sakaguchi is a defector from Suna with a puppet that rivals that of Sasori the Red Sand, and Yorozu's mastered all 5 nature transformations and has a chakra bow, which earned her the moniker "Tokushin" The Far Away Death. Despite that Hakaimaru is the strongest, his ability to use his Kekkei Genkai to conjure up toxic flames that corrode almost anything are going to be a problem. Lower Rings, you will focus on the fodder, Bolin you will be used to open a path from the inside for those fighting outside the fort, Tsukomi you are to kill as many of them as possible as quickly as possible, Leone you are to find and rescue the Yuki Clan members, and Mako you are support them and manage this team, if they need something or are struggling with their assignment you are to step in. That being said if any of them surrender you let them not everyone fighting this war wants to do so." They all nodded before pulling their masks up, which was our clan's way of saying they were ready.
I turned to the Upper Rings. The success of the mission also depended on them, and they'd be doing the most dangerous work. "Bear you will face Enmu, his strength is meaningless if you shut him down." He nodded before placing a blue oni mask on. It was weird seeing him without his ANBU mask, but we couldn't give anyone a reason to believe Konoha was involved, and his old mask would have given us away. "Albis, you'll be fighting Yorozu, see if you can get her to defect but don't kill her if you can't, just capture her, Mei has some business with her apparently. Akaru you'll be fighting Renji, he's a defector from your former clan so you should be able to deal with it. Raien you'll be fighting Hakaimaru, be careful." The other three nodded and put on their own masks: Albis with a purple snake mask, Raien a green dragon mask, and Akaru had a red Tengu mask.
That left me with my opponent, Sekijiro, the man was a master of the blade and a former rival of my mother. The two had fought eight times with both of them winning four times each, before she had passed. From what my father had told me about their previous engagements his swordplay was legendary and combined with his ability to turn his body a shadowy cloud of hot ash and manipulate it made him even more dangerous. I had to give it my all if I wanted to defeat him. Putting on my own mask which was black and in the shape of a panther, I began molding my chakra. It was time.
Jumping off Kurojima I began plummeting down directly over the camp, the wind was cold and crisp as it whipped around my body, barely affecting me. I created several clones around me before using my wind manipulation to slow down my descent and increased theirs. They all spread around the camp as best they could, going completely unnoticed in the night. Forming a new set of hand signs, I watched as they all were essentially inside before blowing themselves up.
"Explosion Style: Super Clone Bomb."
The explosions spread throughout the base littering it with smoke and flames. I watched as the Kirigakure shinobi still in the base began scrambling, trying to rescue their comrades. Cocking my fist back I let the chakra in it build before punching in the direction of the ground. "Explosion Style: Demolition Fist the chakra proceed to launch a small sphere of orange chakra that detonated before it hit the ground this time causing a massive explosion that ripped through the base and engulfed many shinobi. I could barely stand it, shielding my eyes and resorting to my chakra sense. Once the explosion, ended, I landed in the massive cloud of dust and crater. Using wind chakra, I slowed my descent and landed softly on the ground before pulling out a scroll to replenish my chakra. The Juyubiwa surrounded me barely a second later.
"I think about thirty percent are dead, several are injured and unable to move as well. Tiger, you have your assignment get moving. Phoenix, Lion, it seems the prisoners are in cells about five levels below us, Phoenix go with her to the third floor, then hold it down while the prisoners are evacuated. Bull, take down the east wall that's where our forces are closest. Go now."
"HAI!" The four took off, their mission and my expectations perfectly clear. Suddenly the dust cloud we were in was parted by a massive blade, which shot through the air like a missile, at me. Akaru was there in an instant standing in its path and clapping his hands on either side of the blade catching it in his hand. Once stopped I was able to get a proper look at the blade, though a whip might be a better description. It was segmented with the biggest section being at the tip, getting smaller as it traveled to the guard. It was connected by wiring that was reminiscent of fibers, and each segment had a small blade sticking out, running horizontally at the top that increased in length with each segment.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOW THIS IS A TREAT." Looking up I saw the wielder of the blade, and narrowed my eyes, Akahebi no Renji. He was a tall man like the rest of his clan but didn't share their bulkiness, having more lean muscles. He was shirtless, his cut muscles on full display, most covered with tribal tattoos that went from his back to across his chest, to around his arms, and lining his abs. Narrowing my eyes I got a closer look and saw they were really seals embedded in the tattoos, though I couldn't tell what they did. He wore black hakama cargo pants and black shinobi sandals to cover his lower body, each with their own seals as well. A large grin was plastered on his face, his red eyes were practically glowing with glee. His forehead was covered with a crimson ninja head band with the kanji for destroy on it instead of the Mist symbol. His crimson hair was tied in a ponytail that was long long reaching all the way down to his middle back, some spilling over his shoulder.
"INTRUDERS HUH!? LET'S SEE WHAT YOU GOT!" I watched as he pulled back the blade, Akaru still attached to end segment.
! ! !
I instantly summoned my blade and blocked a strike by a man much older than me. He was strong and I struggled to hold him back. With our blades still locked, I was able to get a good look at him. He was middle aged, grey flooding his hair and beard and little wrinkles had started to develop. He wasn't tall, about the same height as Hiashi, who was only 5'10, but he wasn't frail, his muscles being cut and refined. He was wearing an orange kosode that covered his mesh shirt. His forearms were protected by standard gauntlets that connected to his hand guards as well. He wore standard shinobi pants and sandals, but he did have two scrolls attached to his hips. I knew who it was instantly, my opponent, Sekijiro.
"Go after your targets. I'll handle this." My team left instantly in pursuit of their assigned targets.
"A little late for a little girl like you to be out ain't it?" Smirking, I disengaged before jumping back and throwing a flurry of shuriken at him. Each charged with an almost undetectable amount of electricity, that he blocked with ease. His face that was once smiling turned into a grimace as the electricity had traveled through his own blade and into him, giving him a pretty nasty shock afterwards. The glare he sent my way when it had died down was nothing short of a declaration of war. Game on.
(Albis's POV)
One thing I quickly learned in this battle was that I hated fighting people like Yorozu. The woman had seemed interesting at first engaging with me in Taijutsu but then when she realized I was far better she decided to make this a long range hit and run battle. Now I could deal with either or separately but together they were just annoying. BOOOOM
I barely had time to jump out of the way as the pillar I was behind was blown up by one of her many chakra arrows. Getting up I charged her, having learnt if I waited too long, she'd just change her position. I could see the shock on her face from the second level of the library we were in and watched her draw quickly. The crack of thunder was booming as I let my chakra flow to my body, twisting and dodging three lightning arrows by the skin of my teeth. Flashing through a series of one handed seals I struck my palm out in her direction as about 13 small serpent shaped water projectiles flew at her. This time it was her turn to dodge and while she did dodge multiples a few still grazed her.
From her expression I could tell she was annoyed by her inability to hit me. Annoyance quickly turned to shock as I used Shunpo to get right in her face. Taking out my blade I quickly engaged in combat with her. Her once curved bow straightened to create a dual sided blade, and we quickly engaged in combat. She was good, her dual sided blade allowed her to block and counter me, and I very quickly had to go on the defensive. Realizing I couldn't allow this to go on for much longer, I quickly leapt back before channeling chakra into my blade. "Inject them with fear, Kurohebi." My blade quickly turned black before it began to curve like a slithering snake.
Yorozu, taken aback by the change in my blade also leapt back, her weapon once again taking its bow form before she shot six blazing arrows at me. "Dokuga." The edge of my blade quickly turned purple before as I swung at it with multiple slashes sending three waves of purple chakra that ripped through the arrows. Yorozu dodged them with ease, before sending three more lightning arrows at me, each one blindingly fast. "Dokuodori." Raising my blade to my ear and holding it horizontally, I watched as time seemed to slow down before until the arrows were moving slower than a snail. I quickly blocked the arrows before returning to my initial stance, time resuming to move at its normal speed.
Yorozu looked immensely surprised at my striking speed, trying to analyze how I got so fast, unfortunately for her I wasn't going to give her time to figure it out. "Dokusuto." Pointing my blade at her, it quickly elongated winding back and forth like a snake attempting to stab its target. Yorozu quickly shifted her blade into its double sided sword form before attempting to block but my blade took on a life of its own as it began dodging her blade like a snake. Yorozu was shocked quickly leaping to the roof before shooting several small but deadly wind arrows at me. My blade reacted on its own retracting towards me while simultaneously blocking the arrows until it retracted to its normal size.
"Your blade, what is it? How is it so… unique."
"All members of the clan of the Shihoin receive Nichirin blades, but few are able to awaken them. I am one of those blessed few. Now allow me to show you exactly what that means. Summon: Wadjet." An explosion of chakra exploded from my body as my blade grew in size and length before taking the shape of a massive black cobra that filled the room knocking down multiple shelves and pillars. The cobra had glowing red eyes as it stared down at my opponent. Yorozu was understandably shocked, but quickly regained her composure as she was forced to dodge the snake as it lunged at her. She rolled on the ground before getting up launching multiple exploding fire arrows. The cobra wasn't even fazed as it opened its mouth a massive volume of yellow gas was released filling the room. Yorozu knew she couldn't dodge the gas as it began to fill the room and instantly began holding her breath. A skill I knew the mist excelled in due to proficiency in underwater breathing. I rushed toward her my blade ready to deliver a blow that would knock her out, when she suddenly shot a massive spiraling wind arrow that destroyed the ceiling and collected sucked up the gas sending it into the sky.
She smirked at me clearly feeling confident in dispelling my attack. Unfortunately for me, my chakra had run out and my blade returned to its original form. "Hmph, you may have awakened your blade but clearly you have yet to master it. Now then let me show you, my weapon's potential." A stone arrow was shot at me, and I was barely able to avoid it. She didn't stop there as more stone arrows flew at me, tearing through everything in their hunt to take me down. Slipping through the pillars and the few remaining shelves, I tried to avoid each arrow, but it was getting increasingly more difficult. Breathing hard I tried to center my self and come up with something when an arrow pierced my hiding spot forcing me to dodge again, only this time a second arrow followed it faster than normal going straight threw my shoulder pinning me against the wall. Looking at Yorozu I saw she was sweating a clone of her standing next to her before breaking down, rocks crumbling to the ground.
"What did you do to me?" The real Yorozu fell to one knee, dropping her bow as she began sweating even more.
"It finally took affect holy shit." Yorozu began coughing up blood. "I guess I can explain it to you, that serpent I "summoned" wasn't actually real. It was more of a mirage of chakra and mist." Her eyes suddenly widened, already understanding where this was going. "Yeah, you see my other attacks were just me spreading my mist around. That mist allowed me to create a sort of hallucinogen that you were constantly breathing in, waiting for me to activate it. The yellow gas that followed is a chemical that reacts to the mist you breathed in that causes your body to become paralyzed the more you move or use chakra. It's really meant to stop a horde of enemies, but I guess it works in this context as well." I removed the arrow from my shoulder as I finished my monologue, and looked at her, even paralyzed, she continued to stare defiantly at me. God damn she was annoying. Walking toward her to secure her I could see her twitching trying to move and fight back, a useless endeavor. "Bitch, you lost, take your defeat and stop being a thorn in my side, alright, I have to fucking tell you something."
"Maybe another time." My eyes widened as I looked behind me and saw her drawing yet another arrow.
"Oh, my Kami, HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU NOT STAY FUCKING DOWN!"
"Water clone, I was already under the effect of the poison, like six arrows ago, switched with a clone and had it mimic the effects while I healed myself. I gotta say if you had more time with that blade of yours you would have won. Unfortunate that you ran into me. Now what were you going to say? If its another one of Mei's stupid proposals, you can save it I refuse to work for that hypocritical bitch." My eyes widened, now that was interesting.
"What about joining my clan?" Yorozu perked up seemingly intrigued but the look disappeared as soon as it came.
"Sorry, if I could, I would but as long as Sekijiro-jiji is alive I owe him a debt. I hope you don't mind I gotta kill you, in another life we could've been really great friends." What happened next, was extremely unexpected. A member of the clan had somehow made their way into the room, stabbed the tip of a blade connected to a gold gauntlet into her neck.
"Insect Breathing: Dance of the Ladybug: Gentle Kiss." Purple lines filled the veins in her neck before spreading throughout her body and she fell unconscious. What the fuck was she doing here?
"HOLY FUCK! Little apprentice what the hell are you doing here?" I yelled. Hikari-sama's apprentice looked at me with wide eyes. "Does she know you're here?" The frantic shaking of her head, was amusing. "Well, this trip just keeps getting interesting doesn't it."
(Akaru's POV)
"ROAR, ZABIMARU!" Zabimaru's roar was starting to piss me the fuck off. My current least favorite cousin once again extended his blade, massive, bladed whip tore through walls attempting to bisect me, as I jumped around the walls of the courtyard, we had taken our battle too. Zabimaru was an interesting weapon forged by an Uzumaki blacksmith who had helped Kiri destroy their former homeland. Its history was shrouded in mystery as only three people had wielded it and two of them were killed by it. I had thought Renji foolish when the village asked someone to claim it, but he did what the others could not, he tamed the blade and forced it to submit to become its rightful master. During the war Renji had used it to make a name for himself, using it to slay swaths of enemies at once. The power of the blade was dependent on how much chakra it had in those wires, which it gained from either Renji, or its enemies draining them with each slash.
It was an impressive weapon effective at both short and long range, a true competitor of its inspiration, Samehada. Standing from my kneeling position, I charged chakra into the tattoos on my arms before charging at him. Renji smirked thinking I'd made the common mistake most people did when fighting him which was running past the blade, but unbeknownst to him I knew exactly what to do. Watching the way, he moved his arm I was able to dodge the retracting blade as we both headed for him. I had helped him master that blade so of course I knew how to dodge it. Feeling the seals in my tattoos become fully charged, I sent the blue dragon to my left arm and spread more roses around my body preparing for my onslaught.
The blade made it back to Renji before I did, but it didn't matter as he charged at me and the two of us began ready to fight. I quickly activated the rose tattoos once we were inches apart causing a mist of relaxing chakra to spread. Renji instantly relaxed for a second before realizing what was going on, but it was too late my left arm was quickly surrounded by the head of a blue mist dragon before smashing into Renji's face. Zabimaru may have absorbed the passing chilling mist, but it was still enough to cause him to spit out blood as his head whipped to the side.
Without looking at me, he sent a diagonal slash at me hoping to make me pay. Moving in closer and to his backside I quickly jabbed his kidney again with the blue dragon before using the right to punch him in the abdomen with the burning right hand with its own red dragon. A burst of freezing mist and a burst of flames exploded from where I hit him. While I knew my hits hurt him, I also knew Renji didn't give a fuck about pain so when he went to slash me again, I was ready. Crouching low I was barely able to dodge the blade feeling a lot of my chakra pass as it went over me. Cutting the chakra from my left and sending it to my right I watched the bright orange blaze turn to a crimson red before winding up for a massive slam. Renji, as gifted as ever predicted this and his blade was already coming back up, intent on tearing into me. Activating my rose seals again I watched as the same effect as before took place and that slight moment of hesitation was all I needed to win slamming my fist into his chest before releasing a massive vortex of flame that pushed us back to the opposite ends of the courtyard with the flames on his side even burning through a wall.
I deactivated my seals, as steam began to pour off me in waves. Despite my aching muscles begging me, I knew no to relax, this was far from over. "Impressive cuzzo."
Renji was getting to his feet, his torso covered in burns as he stood in a burning trench, caused by my jutsu. "Ryuodori: Tengoku no Kinto-Ka. I'd never thought I'd see the day someone in the clan would replicate it and master it, but here we are. I'm impressed to say the least." Renji began walking towards me, his wounds healing due to the seals within his own tattoos. "Hmm, who would have thought that the two of miracle generation members, who had been given the most blessings of the clans would be the ones who chose to forsake it." I removed my mask; it hadn't mattered much now that he knew who I was.
"HEY HEY! THERE'S MY FAVORITE COUSIN!" I glared at him. Despite my best efforts to suppress the savage instincts of my clan, Renji's presence made me want to let loose. "Enough, games how about we really show our stuff huh? You and I both know that this won't end without us going all out. It'll be just like old times except you'll be dead." The grin on his face was a stark contrast to the snarl on mine and I decided to forego my reservations.
"THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO SEE! LET'S GO ZABIMARU! BANKAI: HIHIO ZABIMARU!" I instantly began gathering chakra as Renji released his own, a massive cloud of dust and wind exploding from him as a mass of pink chakra swarmed around him. Biting my thumb, I smeared blood over a tattoo of an ox on my chest. The smoke and chakra burst had died down but what was there mad me incredibly worried. Renji had grown a pinkish fur coat that spread from his upper back to his down to his waistline, it also covered his shoulders and forearms, as well. His left arm had grown massively resembling the shape of a gorilla, the fur on its arm growing darker until it was blood red at the hand. That same arm had the top half of a gorilla skull on its shoulder as well. His left arm was the real problem, though. Zabimaru's blade had transformed into a skeletal serpent that had boney spikes that ran up the entire spine. At the nape there was a massive skeletal serpent head with dark red fur connecting it to the spine. The serpent had glowing yellow eyes that were fixed on me as if it were alive.
"One of Yagura's Six Sacred Treasure's, how do you like it? By combining Uzumaki Fuinjutsu and the Karatachi blacksmithing techniques, we were able to replicate the sentient blades of Shihoin, the only downside is we aren't bonded to our blades like them but as you can see." Renji put his hand on the side of the skull of the serpent which seemed to purr when he did so.
It was impressive, to say the lease, for a cheap fake. I put chakra into my tattoo and unsealed my own weapon. "You said Yagura's Seven Sacred Treasures, right? In reality, let's not kid ourselves, we both know there were actually ten. You don't have to hide it, considering I was part of the black ops team that stole four of them." Renji smirked, his enthusiasm at what I was insinuating was almost contagious.
"Well then you should know that we already recovered two of them and tonight we'll be recovering the third. Now show me what you can do with Asterius no Osuushi
." As he said this, I had summoned my own weapon a massive one sided axe. The blade was massive, as wide as my body and about eight inch thick. The bladed side went from the top to the end over two-thirds the length of the handle with the bottom half being half the width of the blade, a space separating the blade and the handle. The top part was curved and like a knife and there were small almost undetectable blades. The handle was divided into five segments with golden ornate orbs. There were multiple carvings in the blade itself, and while I didn't know what they did exactly I knew they gave the blade its unique powers.
Renji grinned, before sending his weapon at me. The serpent charged, bluish clear flames spewing out the side of its mouth. Venom coated the fangs of the serpent as it charged at me. Lifting the massive blade I slashed at the serpent, activating Asterius' ability. Right when the serpent was poised to strike a massive gash appeared on it from its skull to a quarter way down its body. The blade unable to feel pain recoiled before opening its mouth releasing a plume of blue flames upon me. Raising my blade, I blocked the flames with the flat side.
Once it ended, I used my blade to swipe away the flames and regain visibility just to see the maw of the serpent. Raising my blade, to block the strike, I got lifted into the air, the maw of the serpent clashing against my blade. "I hope you don't mind but I had the Shihoin make a few modifications to my blade." The blade turned black before scarlet flames burst out of it, flames traveling down the throat of the blade. The serpent reared back flames burning the throat of the serpent. Jumping through the air I watched as the serpent attempted to strike me in mid-air. Activating my blade for a third time, the edge of the blade glowed white before the we clashed. Clashing multiple times in the air. I was barely able to block the skeletal serpent. Once I landed, the serpent retracted back to its master. Cracks had formed on the blade, and I could see Renji was surprised by this.
"Asterius no Osuushi, in its improved version, went from one ability to five, so far, I've demonstrated three techniques, each enough to withstand your little Bankai. You know why? Because you haven't mastered your weapon's full abilities. If I'm being honest, neither have I but I know how my weapon works and how to effectively use it as well. You need more practice with the weapon, you have the talent just not the skill yet cousin." Renji's face twisted into a scowl. He had always had that problem, using jutsu or skills before he had mastered them, and they always bit him in the ass.
"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Renji sent Zabimaru at me once again, the snake rushing towards me jaws wide. Stabbing my blade in the ground I sent cold chakra into my blade and released a chilling mist that quickly spread. Right as Zabimaru was to snap me in half, it suddenly stopped frozen in its tracks like the rest of the courtyard. Renji wasn't done though steam pouring off of the serpent and Renji as a massive blast of blue flames was released from the joints and maw of the serpent. Leaping back, I watched as the serpent rapidly thawed out, though it was much slower than before. "WATCH, AS MY TRUE POWER IS REVEALED!" The serpent began to be covered in blue flames before circling me at a high speed. It was going so fast it created a blazing tornado that threatened to incinerate me if I hadn't been constantly releasing freezing chakra from my body. The serpent reached the peak of the cyclone before charging at me wrapped in the blue flames looking more like a dragon than a snake.
"Charge, Asterius." A shroud of black chakra surrounded me as I leapt into the air. As I got closer the chakra shroud grew until it formed a massive black bull around me. The impact was massive, the bull and the dragon clashed, and a massive explosion was released. We struggled against each other in the air for a while until I was pushed into the ground. Gaining a foothold, I struggled to hold back the serpent, my chakra was depleting by the second. Cursing to myself, for my weakness and hypocrisy I made a vow to myself to train even harder after this. "Bankai, Tengoku no Asterius: Taurus."
Releasing my own bankai I summoned a massive wave of black chakra that lashed out in multiple waves and destroyed the flame tornado, and the serpent. Looking at Renji I saw he was littered with slashes from when my chakra was released. The serpent had reverted back to its blade form, and Renji was back to normal. Renji approached me slowly dropping his blade as he did so. "You're going to join the Shihoin, and we are going to get stronger and master our Bankai together. Deal?"
"Deal." Waving my hand two members of my personal squad instantly appeared.
"Take him out of here and get him to the Kakushi." As they took him away, I headed back to the main battlefield. I still had a job to do.
(Bear's POV)
Enmu was one annoying ass bitch. Enmu had three puppets out, each more annoying than anything I'd that have ever faced in my life. The first was some weird sphere had four different attack techniques, it could become a large chakra cannon, shoot missiles, drop explosive caltrops, and release a sonic blast. The second was a manlike puppet, it resembled an exceptionally large demonic like figure. It had four arms and eyes and a mouth on its abdomen. Each arm had different techniques, one for slashing based attacks, one for flames, one long distance combat, and one for poison. Its eyes could also shoot beams of chakra lasers from them. The last puppet was the most dangerous one, a giant bear shaped puppet that could do everything I the others could and more. It had some sort of lightning blast, an incendiary liquid, and a gatling gun filled with kunai. Alone I could have managed them one on one but together they were extremely annoying.
Dodging yet another blast from the sphere before rushing him. I engaged in combat with the man-puppet who was deceptively strong and skilled in taijutsu, especially with four arms. The two of us exchanged blows my Sharingan working overtime to predict the four arm movements. It didn't take much for six missiles to find themselves heading towards my direction, each intent on blowing me to hell and back. Using my blade, I kicked off the chest of the man-puppet, before slashing the missiles in midair, only to have to dodge yet another missile.
Alright, I'm done, with this bullshit. Going through my hand signs I summoned one of my familiars. A giant orange ghost crab that reached the size of my shoulders was suddenly underneath me. "Take out the puppets any way you know how." The crab made a deep pitched clicking sound, before a stream of foam and bubbles were launched out of its mouth covering the sphere puppet. It immediately shut down the chakra strings connected to it immediately disappeared as the puppet become melting from the inside.
"Holy shit! How the fuck did you do that?" The crab made more clicking sounds before turning to face the bear and man puppet. "HUH, ANTI PUPPETRY NINJUTSU! SINCE WHEN DID YOU DEVELOP THAT!?" More clicking was my only response before it suddenly summoned three more crabs a red spider crab, a stone crab, and a vampire crab. The spider crab was massive, one leg was about the length of two of me, while the others were the same size as the ghost crab. The spider crab immediately went on the offensive sending a massive claw at the man-puppet who caught the claw with two hands. The stone crab followed its brethren smashing a metallic looking claw into the puppet causing it to be damaged. Cracks began forming on it and the inner mechanism were partially visible. The bear puppet charged at them, but the vampire crab and ghost crab engaged with the bear puppet.
I left my summons to handle the puppets, using my Byakugan, I was able to trace the strings up all the way back to a room a few floors up. Following the trail, I made it to the room Enmu was in. Kicking down the door, I was shocked by what I saw. Enmu was inside some type of puppet based armor and launched himself at me immediately. The two of us began trading blows as I began analyzing the puppet. It was definitely multi-layered and definitely well crafted. The entire thing was navy blue, and the frame was of a muscular person without as much detail. The helmet was a little weird though as it almost resembled a beetle. I noticed it was complex as well whenever I broke a part it would shift its plates around to repair the damaged part. We continued this for a while before he landed a solid kick that sent me flying before lifting his right arm at me and launching a torrent of flames from his wrist.
I countered with a Water Style: Water Severing Wave which both extinguished the flame and cut through the armor on his arm damaging the mechanism on his arm. Taking out my blade I channeled it with fire natured chakra before re-engaging this time doing slightly more damage that took longer to heal. Using my Byakugan I saw that continued use of the armor must've had been taking for him. Taking note of that, we continued to clash until I saw my opening, strengthening the flames on my blade, I used my free left hand to slam an Eight Trigrams: Pulsing Burst to send a massive concussive force of chakra into the armor and destroy a part of it. Enmu must've not have like that as he turned on some sort of thruster device on his feet and flew back to gains some space. Unfortunately for him, I was part Hyuga who taught their kids how to release chakra from any chakra point, including my feet, which I used to catch up to him, before delivering yet another combination. Taking my blade, I slashed at him with it nine times burning away at his armor with each hit. On the ninth slash I turned the heat up to the maximum before hitting him with a downward diagonal slash that was so hot it instantly went through the puppet only as Enmu ejected himself when he felt the heat of that blade. His puppet was practically useless as I bifurcated it effortlessly. Enmu was a weird looking man when I finally got to see him. He was wearing a traditional white kimono that clashed with his eyes and hair. His eyes were pink, yellow, and green all swirling together, while his hair started off black but became pink at the end. He had several earrings on and a nose ring as well. The man was short though barely reaching hallway up my torso.
"You've destroyed such lovely masterpieces, how sad. First my Puppet Series: Violet and now my Puppet Series Blue, masterpieces gone forever. Not to mention your beast like fighting, it's all so undignified. Hmmm, let's see if you could handle this next series. Personally, it's my favorite." Slamming a hand in the ground I watched as a smoke cloud appeared alongside three massive demonic looking samurai puppets who were now surrounding him ready to fight. I didn't even see his finger twitched before the three rushed me, blades drawn, and I was forced on the defensive. Each of them had blades and were fighting well together, their synergy was off the charts and without both my eyes I would've died much sooner. Using my old ANBU blade, I blocked a thrusting slash from the blue one before leaping in the air as it shot a gust of wind at me from its mouthpiece. The yellow was there in an instant as well but I was able to block and slash it so hard it fell to the ground. The red Samurai engaged with me when only one foot had landed, sending me flying due to my poor footing.
That sort of teamwork continued for a while as I analyzed the puppets. First was the red one that had a pretty normal build yet was much stronger than its counterparts but also a little slower, the next was the burly blue one that could shoot ninjutsu and projectiles, but it wasn't as physically strong, while the last one was a lean yellow puppet that moved incredibly fast but couldn't use ninjutsu at all. Enmu on the other hand was smirking, he was attacking me with genjutsu which was useless in the presence of my eyes.
Deciding I needed to end this I took out two massive nichirin dao the edge on both were gold while the rest were black. Gripping the handles tightly I charged at the samurai puppets. "Water Breathing Mixed Technique: Striking Whirlpool Flux my blade coated itself in water before I was surrounded by the puppets, however I was mostly unfazed as I began twisting around and battling the three of them. Water swirled around me as I did so, helping to keep them at bay, as I analyzed their moves, before finding what I was searching for. I instantly sent all the water to my left blade before performing a 360° turn that cut destroyed all three of the samurais' blades, then using my right blade which was covered in flames I poised myself for the finisher. "Flame Breathing Sixth Form: Scorching World." The flames on my blade grew intense as I spun around twice, once clockwise and the second counterclockwise, destroying the puppets.
Enmu was appalled and turned to run but was too slow as I used Lightning Breathing First Form: Thunderclap and Flash. A massive x appeared on his chest as blood sprayed out intensely. Sighing and falling to one knee, I watched as Enmu bled out, his puppeteering skills lost forever. As annoying as an opponent, he was the man was brilliant at his craft. As I caught my breath, a small crab came up to me climbing on my shoulder, informing me that there was still work to do.
(Raien's POV)
"Lightning Release: Bolt Strike." A dense sphere of bluish white lightning surrounded me as I charged through yet another plume of purple flames. Tetsuko was a beast of man, and his prowess with his Kekkei Genkai was inspiring. Hakaimaru-san was skilled, his Kekkei-Genkai was unique and frankly quite fascinating. The base was a fire nature chakra but there seemed to be a mix of chemicals that turned that fire purple, those chemicals gave the flame properties that weren't normal flames. The flames were corrosive, not only did they burn but they also melt things like an acid, they also poison any living thing they don't burn with a vicious poison that acts as a blood thinner, infection, organ destroyer and could disrupt other nerve system operations. He was versatile as well, displaying a few jutsu that gave excellent coverage, a flame blade, a shield, missiles, and more.
I'd learned that the only thing the flames couldn't go through was anything chakra base that was dense enough to block the flames. I'd learned that the hard way, the pain where my left arm used to be was excruciating. Bursting through the flames I appeared right in front of Hakaimura-san, who was shocked to see me unharmed. Sending all the lightning I had previously generated into my fist I slammed it into his face and sent him flying through a wall.
Dropping to one knee I began charging up a second jutsu, when a massive ball of purple flames began heading my way. Using my summoning jutsu, I called three six foot tall blue tailed skinks. The trio immediately got to work releasing a torrent of water that combined to form a raging tidal wave, which swallowed the toxic flames causing a steam eruption to fill the room. The steam was burning, and I had to cover my body in a cloak of chakra just to withstand it. Hakaimaru must've not been fazed by it, as he jumped through the steam with his fist cloaked in violet flames intent on ending me. Strengthening my cloak, the two of us began to duke it out.
He began with a left hook to my face that I barely dodged before countering with my own toward his liver. The punch disoriented him slightly, but he still responded with a jab by using his left, throwing my torso back I avoided the left before flipping into the air, and kicking his chin and sending him into the air. When I landed, I barely had time to dodge three small fireballs that scorched the earth that they hit, before kicking my ribs and breaking two of them. I went skidding across the ground before quickly getting up and having to dodge or block a flurry of blazing fist. He was more aggressive this time and landed a solid hit to both my left and right sides, chest, and even one on my face. While my chakra shroud was dense enough to protect me from the flames, a bit of the poison slipped into my system.
Leaping back, I summoned a vibrant crimson gecko, which was three times as my side. The gecko began vibrating releasing a shrill sound that filled the room. Hakaimaru instantly fell to his knees clutching his ears as burns began to appear on his skin.
Summoning seven Leopard tail geckos, I watched as their tails detached and then crawled into the stump where my arm used to be. The pain was excruciating, and it almost made me cry, but I withstood it as Hakaimaru broke out of the genjutsu and charged passed my summon, with three purple flame tigers alongside him I stood up and readied myself for combat.
I channeled lightning into my remaining arm before using it to swipe the tigers away, by the time I'd finished them I was left wide open and Hakaimaru was seconds from slamming his fist into my chest when a crack of thunder rang out and a massive lightning arm appeared where my old one used to be. The sudden appendage surprised him, and I was able to launch a flurry of blows at him. With both arms back, my taijutsu was back to full strength and I was able dominate him in with flurry of punches and kicks. Hakaimaru knew if it continued, he would have died so he leapt back a few meters away from me. He looked rough, cuts and burns had appeared on his body from where I punched him.
"How?" His voice was low and coarse, and I knew this battle was practically over. I let my lightning arm die down, revealing my actual arm had regrown and looked as good as new.
"Arm or cuts?" He only nodded, falling to one knee.
"Arm is a jutsu of my summons, a lot of lizards can regenerate their tails, so by sacrificing their lives in proportion to the limb I can regenerate my own, max three times though, I gotta be more careful this is the second time for this arm, so thanks for that. Cuts are a property of my raw chakra; it's basically serrated and moves like a saw cutting and grinding whatever I touch pretty neat huh?" He could only stare at me in pain, however that will keep fighting was in his eyes. Realizing he wasn't done I began cloaking myself in chakra again.
He opened his mouth to launch a massive fire blast but never did as I Shunpo'ed past him my hand back in its lightning mode. The aftermath was tragic as I was just too fast and completely obliterated over half of his body. I could only sigh as I watched his flames devour him in order to save his special genes. I watched as they did so before turning around and heading back to the battlefield. What a waste of potential.
Translation
Dokuga (The Poison)
Dokuodori (The Venom Dance)
Dokusuto (Venom Strike)
Asterius no Osuushi (Asterius the Great Bull)
Tengoku no Asterius: Taurus (Heavenly Asterius: Taurus)
Juyubiwa (Ten Rings)
Line Break
Author's Note: Not much to say for this chapter, it's going to be the beginning of Hikari's Development as a leader. Head's up for anyone who might be expecting her to curb stomp everyone. Well that's not the case. This is a war and there will be times she will fail and times she'll succeed. Sometimes she'll be OP and other times she'll be outclassed; you'll just have to wait and see.
Review Response:
Yahiro365: That was a mistake from an earlier draft thanks for pointing that out.
AlphaWolf02: Appreciate the sentiments and glad someone gets it, appreciate you!
Krieger Techpreist: He's gonna need it tbh.
Grimmouse197: If you have a problem with it then just don't read the story idk what to tell you mate.