Final Prologue - Sasuke vs Jingoro
Sasuke stopped midway entering the canyon and glanced over his shoulder.
"Hana, hurry up! You're lagging behind!" he shouted.
Hana leaned on a wall of rock for support, sweat drenching his brow. He still hadn't recovered from last night's training. He was forced to hold Sasuke's chokuto in his left hand, because his right still had some numbness in it. The Chidori was an such an intense jutsu. Hana could only practice it twice a night before passing out, now he was forced to march through this canyon the following morning.
"M-master... can't we rest for little while?" he asked meekly.
"If we squander anymore time, we'll lose the Sharingan user's trail. Also, it's going to rain soon, and we need to be out of the canyon by then. Now, come on."
Hana sighed and hurried after Sasuke. Because Hana had decided to help Soma, he and Sasuke had to rush to catch up to the Sharingan user. Adding in his night training sessions with Sasuke, and their pace was slowed even further.
'We might never catch up to him at this rate," Hana thought.
Then him and Sasuke turned a corner. There, sitting atop a vine covered boulder with his back to Sasuke and Hana was a man in long a crimson robe. He had a staff laying across his legs. He appeared to meditating, but when Sasuke and Hana approached him, his concentration broke.
"I came to the Land of Earth because I heard that its canyons were the most serene places on the continent. And yet..." he turned his head. "I still find roaches scurrying about and distracting my thoughts."
Hana saw his eyes and shivers ran up his spine. Red suns – the same eyes he saw when his village was destroyed.
"Its him... He's the one who destroyed Guruma..." Hana muttered. He gritted his teeth and drew Sasuke's sword. "I'll... I'll kill you!"
Hana rushed him. He scaled up the boulder, jumped at its height and was about to bring his blade down over the man's hooded head. The man snorted and his left eye glowed.
"Begone roach. Bear witness to the Glory of the Sun!"
His left eye caught flame. Suddenly, a fireball, roughly the size of the boulder the man was sitting on, manifested between him and Hana. Unable to dodge the impending sphere of flames, Hana shut his eyes.
Nimbly, Sasuke jumped up and caught Hana's leg. After tugging the boy out of the fireball's way, he released his leg, snatched his chokuto from Hana's grasp and pointed it at the hooded man.
"Chidori True Spear!" he shouted.
A sharp beam of lightning-infused chakra stretched toward the man. He had a surprised look in his eyes when he jumped out of the way, barely evading the spear that pierced through the boulder easily.
'You're not getting away...' Sasuke thought.
He landed on the boulder he just pierced, and puffed his cheeks. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
A volley of small fireballs shot from Sasuke's mouth, and homed in on the hooded man. He only got in one glance before the flying flames incinerated him. Hana, who had fallen to the ground, picked himself up and watched the hooded man burn.
He clenched his fists. "Is it over?"
Sasuke watched the burning man carefully. He narrowed his gaze.
"No. That wasn't enough," he said.
Hana's eyes widened when the hooded men walked out of the flames without so much as a scorch mark on him. Even his robes were unscathed.
"Interesting... It seems there are actual men amongst these roaches," the hooded man said.
Sasuke glared. "Who are you?"
"I am but a pilgrim seeking to spread righteousness throughout the world, and purging injustice in all its forms."
Hana snapped. "Purging injustice... You destroyed my village, you bastard!"
The man looked at Hana. "If I decimated your kin, it meant they were covered in sin and I was forced to cleanse them. Don't blame me, boy. Blame your village for hiding secrets."
"You still haven't answered my question. Who are you?" Sasuke repeated.
The man paused before removing his hood. Light blue hair that touched the man's shoulders was underneath.
"I am Jingoro Masayoshi, and I am justice incarnate."
"Hmph. To me... you're just another dead man," Sasuke said.
The canyon's wind blew up the hair on his left eye, revealing his Rinnegan. The tomoes in it spun. Jingoro widened his eyes. He stood perfectly still. Sasuke pulled a kunai out of his cloak and tossed it at Jingoro's feet. Jingoro didn't understand why, but he took the kunai after dropping his staff and held it to his stomach. For some reason, he felt that he needed to commit suicide.
He smiled. "Is this another technique you ninja have come up with? How interesting... My will is completely under your command. Unfortunately..." Jingoro's right eye glowed this time. "Mizaru!"
A small ball of flames rolled out of Jingoro's right eye. It manifested into a orange-furred monkey with a sun on its forehead, similar to the ones in Jingoro's eyes.
"Thou shall see no evil..." Jingoro chanted.
The sun on Mizaru's forehead caught flame, and Jingoro's eyes shut tightly. He immediately threw the kunai away.
Sasuke made a shocked face. 'What?! How in the world did he break free of the Rinnegan's genjutsu?'
Mizaru dissipated into smoke, and Jingoro opened his eyes. They showed no influence of possession. Sasuke was about to use the Rinnegan again when a fireball, four times the size of what he shot at Hana, came from Jingoro's left eye.
'How can he summon a fireball that large and so quickly?! Does he not need to use handsigns?!"
Sasuke quickly jumped away from the boulder, but the fireball detonated at Jingoro's command. The proceeding explosion was so huge that even Hana had to move out of the way not to get caught in it. He waited until the smoke died down to open his eyes. A crater roughly 50 yards wide was left where the boulder once stood. The only thing standing there now was Sasuke's sword.
"Master!" Hana ran to the crater frantically.
Jingoro smirked. Then he gagged when Sasuke appeared out of nowhere and planted his fist in Jingoro's stomach.
"But... how?!" Jingoro blurted in confusion.
"Ame-no-tejikara. It's another ability of the Rinnegan," Sasuke explained. "It allows me to shift short to mid-range distances instantly. The distance increases if I'm trading places with something."
While in the crater, Hana not only found Sasuke's sword, he also found the kunai Jingoro almost committed suicide with. He realized that his master must have switched places with the kunai just as the fireball detonated.
Sasuke dug his fist deeper into Jingoro's stomach. "I'm impressed you can summon such a huge fireball without any preparation. You must have a large surplus of chakra. I hope don't mind sharing some it..."
Sasuke activated one of the Rinnegan's Six Paths – the Preta Path – to absorb Jingoro's chakra. After a moment passed, he made a face and looked down at his fist.
'Why am I not absorbing any of his chakra?' he thought.
Jingoro took the opportunity to kick up his staff, grab it and bash the side the Sasuke's head with it. Sasuke managed to cock his head in time to avoid the full blow, but he still rolled a few feet away. While rolling, he ran a lightning current up his arm. Skidding to a stop, he threw needles of blue light at Jingoro.
"Chidori Senbon!"
Jingoro's left eye glowed again as he held out his hand. The Chidori Senbon direction slanted, and they hit the ground directly before Jingoro's feet.
'Again?! He performs jutsu faster than me... Is he even using jutsu?'
"That eye of yours... It's quite annoying," Jingoro said. He summoned Mizaru again. "Thou shall see no evil..."
Mizaru's forehead caught flame and Sasuke's eyes closed. He couldn't open them no matter how hard he tried. What was worse, the Rinnegan's power had been completely nullified.
"There... Now, where were we?" Jingoro asked casually. "Ah. Of course."
Jingoro shot from his left eye a stream of whirling flames aimed directly at Sasuke who was currently blind. Right before the stream hit its target, Sasuke's right eye reopened with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan activated inside it.
'Susano'o!'
Suddenly, the torso of a purple, skeletal giant manifested and guarded Sasuke within its ribcage. Jingoro couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was still surprised when Sasuke caught him in his focal point.
"Burn to ashes..." Sasuke said while staring at Jingoro. "Ameratsu!"
Ameratsu's black flames started burning at Jingoro's feet, then at his shoulders. Soon, his entire body was covered in flames to the point that he was no longer visible. When he saw Jingoro drop to his knees, Sasuke dismissed Susano'o. He sighed and walked to where Hana was while holding his still sealed left eye. He felt water droplets and looked up. It was raining.
'The rain came early,' he thought.
"Master! look out!" Hana shouted.
Sasuke looked over his shoulder and saw Jingoro charging him while still covered in Ameratsu's flames. He swung his staff at Sasuke's head, but Sasuke evaded and kicked at the burning pilgrim's head. Jingoro blocked and countered by twirling his staff and delivering a series of thrust. While weaving around each strike, Sasuke twisted his wrist, and a kunai slipped into his hand. He backstepped and threw it at Jingoro's right eye, but the latter knocked it away. Then he took a long step forward and thrust at Sasuke's stomach, sending him reeling.
Sasuke skid a few feet away, hugging his stomach. He almost slipped on the wet ground.
"Consider that revenge for punching me," Jingoro said.
Sasuke couldn't believe it. Despite being covered in Ameratsu's flames, Jingoro was perfectly fine. The flames were but a soft breeze to him.
"...How are still alive? Nothing can survive Ameratsu's flames!"
"Oh? I guess I'm special then. You see, flames of any nature do nothing to me. Thanks to the Glory of the Sun, I'm immune to fire in all its forms. I can also command any flame at will. Watch."
Jingoro's left eye glowed once more. Ameratsu's black flames – the flames that only Sasuke could control – were dismissed. Sasuke was beyond shocked at that point.
'Genjutsu, fire style jutsu and Ameratsu's flames... They're all worthless,' he thought. 'What's more, he can seal my eyes at a whim. The only reason I can see out of my right eye now is because the Sharingan wasn't activated when that pet monkey of his blinded me. Plus, he redirected my Chidori Senbon somehow. And I still don't understand why I wasn't able to steal his chakra before... Just what is this man?'
"Thinking hard, I see. There's honestly no need," Jingoro said. "The reason why none of your attacks have worked is obvious – nothing in this world can stand against true justice. Now, die with dignity."
Jingoro's left eye caught flame. Sasuke immediately brought back out Susano'o; this time more equipped with its regular regalia, although still without its legs. Jingoro snorted.
"Please..."
The flame in his eye burned brighter. Suddenly, it was like four hundred pounds of pressure had been stacked onto Sasuke's shoulders. He crumbled to his knees. The same went for Susano'o. It dug its sword into the ground to support itself, but it was now too heavy to move. Jingoro waved his hand. Four Suns, twice the size of the fireball he had shot at Sasuke earlier circled him and his immobile guardian.
Jingoro smiled victoriously. He was about to finish Sasuke when he heard a loud chirping sound. It sounded like a thousand birds. He looked over to where Hana was standing. The young boy was channeling a immense amount of electrical chakra into his right hand.
"Chidori – One Thousand Birds!" he exclaimed.
He charged at Jingoro from the crater at a breakneck pace. Jingoro smirked.
'Does that roach really think he can hit me with that? I can literally see him coming from a mile away.' he thought.
Of course, Hana knew exactly what Jingoro was thinking, and he was right to think it. Despite the strength and speed of the Chidori, it had one major weakness in that it forced the user to run in a straight line. This made it easy to dodge and counter. In the hands of a non-Sharingan user like himself, the technique was virtually useless, but Hana had one trick up his sleeve that made him a worthy successor of the Chidori.
He was only a few yards away from Jingoro now. Realizing that Hana would continue running straight, Jingoro summoned a wall of flames for him to run into.
"I'm busy right now. Die by your own hand, roach," Jingoro said.
Hana smiled. "I'll happily die and join Tsubame and the others in the afterlife... but only after I send you there first! Windmill Style: Windmill Step!"
Less than a foot away from the wall of flames, Hana suddenly disappeared. He then reappeared at Jingoro's other side.
"This is for the Fujikaze clan!" he exclaimed while striking Jingoro.
The lightning in Hana's hand danced at Jingoro's hip. When it stopped, Hana looked at Jingoro's side. All he had done was burn his robe. He looked down and saw Mizaru gripping his arm with both of his hands.
Jingoro laughed. "So close, roach..."
Hana's face was expressionless. His surefire attack failed.
"It seems that you won't get the chance to avenge your clan. At least you lasted longer than most of them did." Jingoro's left eye glowed. "It's been fun, boy... but I'm afraid this is the end."
"Yes. For you that is," Sasuke said.
Jingoro turned his attention back to Sasuke. As far he could see, Sasuke and Susanoo were still under the influence of the Glory of the Sun. There was nothing he could do in this situation, but then he heard the roar of thunder. Thunder was booming fiercely, and lighting was striking far too consistently. This wasn't normal weather.
"What is this?!" he shouted at Sasuke.
"This is... Kirin!" Lighting started running up Sasuke's arm light he was using the Chidori. "Hana! Get as far away as you can!"
Hana was confused, but he obeyed. He kicked himself free of Mizaru's grasp, and ran as far from Jingoro as his feet could take. Jingoro, realizing what was about to happen tried to detonate his Suns.
"It's too late! Now, begone with the thunderclap!" Sasuke exclaimed while shooting his Chidori into the air.
A deafening boom of thunder was accompanied by frantic streaks of lightning. Jingoro mouth parted when he saw a blue lion, the size of a mountain, come out of the clouds. Susano'o shielded Sasuke within itself. Jingoro wasn't so lucky. Kirin surged down on Jingoro faster than he could use his eyes. The proceeding explosion was so intense it knocked Hana, who wasn't even in the immediate blast radius, unconscious. The entire canyon was blinded.
When Hana came to, he realized that he was no longer in the canyon. He also noticed that he was on Sasuke's back. Only having one arm, Sasuke held his chokuto behind him and under Hana so he could carry him around.
"Master... how are you feeling?" Hana asked.
"I'm fine. Albeit, extremely exhausted."
"What about your eyes? Is your left eye still sealed?"
"My left eye is free. When Kirin hit Jingoro, it struck Mizaru as well. Killing Mizaru broke the seal, it seems."
"Ah. That's good... Is Jingoro dead?"
"...No."
"Ah."
Hana rested his chin on Sasuke's shoulder. Then he tucked his head down, and sobbed into Sasuke's cloak.
"Why... Why am I so weak?! I was so close to avenging everyone, and still I..."
His voice trailed off. He didn't have the strength to even speak anymore. His clan's murderer stood before him today and got away.
"I'm pathetic..." he whimpered.
Sasuke kept walking. "Yes, you are. You're extremely pathetic. You're also weak. So weak that Jingoro doesn't even consider you a threat. But we can change that."
"...You mean, you're going to keep training me?"
"No. I've put my quest for redemption on hold for too long. I originally postponed it because I heard a rouge Sharingan user was wandering about. Now that I know that that isn't the case, my priorities have changed."
"So you're just gonna let Jingoro do whatever he wants?!"
"No. Jingoro is too dangerous to be left alone, but before I can deal with him, I need to deal with you first." Sasuke glanced back. "I can't just drop you off anywhere. Your thirst for vengeance won't go away until either you or Jingoro are dead. I need to leave somewhere safe. Somewhere where people I trust can watch you."
"Where is that?"
"The Village Hidden in the Leaves – Konoha."
The clouds parted, and the storm stopped – an aftereffect of Sasuke's Kirin. Hana looked up at the Sun and immediately thought of Jingoro. He put his hand up to the Sun and grabbed it.
'Just you wait, Jingoro. One day... I'm gonna show you what true justice is!"