The Ninth Sekirei Pillar

by Arthain

The Elemental Nations are in ruins, the villages are destroyed, and the last of the Shinobi are on the run. Naruto's last ditch effort to stop Madara lands him and his last companion in a new world. A world in which a brutal tournament is taking place and the prize could mean the total destruction of both this new world, and his old one.

45. Chapter 44: The Third Strike

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor Sekirei, all characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their specific creators, Masashi Kishimoto and Sakurako Gokurakuin. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.

Author's Notes: I find it odd that my favorites and followers keep going up and yet… my reviews per chapter keep going down… In fact I used to average around 50, now I barely get half that. I wonder if I have somehow chased away my most frequent reviewers or something. The drop in reviews happened after the revelation chapter so I may very well have. *sigh*

Chapter 44: The Third Strike

Naruto's fingers dug into the edges of the table, creating deep gouges in the hard wood. He stared intently at the map of Japan in the center of the table in the command room at Epsilon. There were almost two thousand different little markers zipping across the map, each one was a clone that was desperately searching for Akitsu. They had been tagged with a Hiraishin marker so that he could teleport to them in an instant.

He was beyond worried, anxiety and panic began to eat at the edges of his sanity.

Akitsu was missing.

He had lost another precious person after swearing he wouldn't.

After his clone had dispelled itself to inform him of the relationship between Akitsu and Haku he had tried to jump to her to stop the fight. Most Sekirei didn't have such a direct and intimate relationship with their predecessor so he had not expected Akitsu to have that with Haku.

If he had known he never would have sent her after Haku, he would have handled it himself.

Unfortunately he hadn't been able to jump to Akitsu. Despite knowing 'where' she was he couldn't sense the marker, he couldn't get there. He knew there was one on her, but he couldn't connect with it.

That had sent alarm bells off in his head instantly and he had gone there himself, teleporting to the nearest marker and making for her last known location with all haste. It had only taken him two minutes to get there from the moment his clone had dispelled. He had broken the sound barrier several times over as he pushed himself faster than he ever had before.

But it hadn't been enough.

By the time he had arrived, the battle had ended and there was no sign of Haku or Akitsu.

He didn't know what that could mean. There was any number of potential outcomes of the battle although right now he didn't care. The only thing he did care about was that Akitsu was missing.

The sole ray of hope in the whole ordeal was that he could still feel the bond between the two of them which meant she was still alive. Unfortunately there was something blocking even that connection so he wasn't able to use it to track her down.

He had been here all night and well into the morning, hunched over the table watching the movements of his clones as they swept Japan, looking for any sign of Akitsu. The senses of his clones were stretched to their utmost limit searching for any sign of his Sekirei.

So far they had turned up nothing.

Hanabi, Chime and Blanc were all kept at Epsilon, while the latter two wouldn't be able to contribute much to the search, Hanabi's eyes would have been an incredible help.

However he wasn't risking their child, and he wasn't risking her. Until he knew exactly how the Hiraishin had managed to be blocked, no one was leaving Epsilon. He had almost gone to Yume and Miya to drag them back.

Only Hanabi's pointed explanation of the fact that they could take care of themselves against anything Orochimaru could send at them had stopped him. There was also the fact that neither of them would listen to him. They were set on dealing with the mission in the south and would simply laugh at his concerns and continue on.

Still, he was on the verge of taking drastic actions. He cared more about any one of his Sekirei than all of the people of Shinto Teito combined, all of Japan even. If he didn't find any hint of Akitsu soon, he would start taking Japan apart piece by piece.

Literally.

x~X~x

"Get off my Ashikabi!" Lina cried out through gritted teeth. Her bright blue eyes were narrowed with concentration as she tried to force back the sword with her staff.

She was in a kneeling position over her Ashikabi's, Helios, head with one knee buried into the asphalt to the right side and her left foot planted firmly on the left. Her long blond hair almost reached the tip of her Ashikabi's nose. A long staff, her weapon of choice, was stretched above her head as she struggled to hold back the attack that would have certainly killed her Ashikabi.

Her normal clothing was in tatters. She normally wore soft black sandals with green stockings and a cloak. The cloak and sandals were gone and the stockings might as well not exist. The long green loin cloth she normally wore over her underwear was gone as well, along with the undergarment. The only piece of clothing she still had intact was her top, which only served to cover her breasts and wound up to tie up around the back of her neck.

There were numerous wounds on her body, all of them were superficial. It was obvious that she was simply being played with. The woman they were fighting could have ended them whenever she wanted to.

Despite knowing she could end them on a whim Lina fought on despite the overwhelming odds stacked against her.

Her Ashikabi needed her; he was in worse condition that she was. His clothing was all gone and his breathing was labored. Unlike her, he couldn't take the countless attacks and keep going. He was losing blood rapidly.

It didn't help that the strange woman was standing on her Ashikabi's chest, digging her foot into it. She seemed to take delight every time Helios cried out in pain.

"And why would I do that?" the crazed woman said as she stomped on Helios.

Helios cried out in pain as he felt on of his ribs crack.

Lina glared at the woman in anger as she struggled to her feet, slowly forcing the small woman's sword back, "We are done! We don't have our Jinki anymore! Why are you attacking us?"

"Because Orochimaru-sama demanded your death. You should have died there at Kamikura Island. That whole round was set up so that Uzumaki Naruto could kill you, but he didn't, and now I'm forced to clean up his mess," The insane woman said as her mouth morphed into a twisted grin, "But if I have to deal with you trash I am going to at least ENJOY myself! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOW BLEED! SHOW ME MORE BLOOD!"

With a burst of speed the crazed swordswoman disappeared and reappeared behind Lina. The blade flashed a six times in the blink of an eye, adding half dozen more thin red lines to the dozens that already existed.

Lina quickly spun around. Her staff blazed a trail of fire through the air as it streaked towards her attacker. Waves of force rippled around the edges from the force of the swing.

Unfortunately she hit nothing but air as the woman easily evaded the attack, her mocking laughter trailing behind. The wall of a nearby building exploded inwards as the force of her swing continued past the end of her weapon.

"You're too slow! I can see your movements before you make them!" The woman crowed excitedly, her blood red eye gleamed malevolently.

"Lina…" Helios struggled to speak, he coughed violently and flecks of blood flew out of his mouth, "run, please…"

"I will not leave you!" Lina cried out. The two of them had been through a lot together. They had fought off attacks from Sekirei, survive multiple rounds of the Sekirei Plan, even survived a meteor impact caused by the Sekirei Slayer.

She wasn't going to leave him now when their opponent was nothing but a little girl with a creepy eye. This was nothing compared to a few days ago when they had faced down a meteor together.

"Oh, how sappy, I just love a good love story, ALL THE MORE ENJOYABLE when I tear it apart!" The woman cried out in joy as she renewed her assault on Lina in earnest.

Pain lanced across Lina's body as the sword flashed through her guard over and over. Thin red lines began to appear all over her body. What was left of her clothing, the top that covered her breasts, was soon gone, cut to shreds by the insane woman as she engraved criss-cross patterns into Lina's skin.

For her part Lina blocked as much as she could. Her staff was a blur as it whirled around her, but she only managed to deflect one in four strikes. This was due to her Ashikabi and the need to protect him. The strange woman would often switch targets on a whim and Lina would gladly suffer a hundred strikes if it spared her Ashikabi even one more. She wasn't sure he could afford to take any more wounds and survive.

As a result she took far more damage than she would have otherwise.

"YES! YES! ENTERTAIN ME!" The woman cackled as she continued to cut into Lina.

This couldn't go on forever, Lina knew, she needed to do something. Deciding to take a gamble she waited until the woman made a thrust and jumped into the attack.

"NO! Lina!" Helios cried out as he watched the sword rip through his Sekirei's stomach.

With strength borne of desperation Lina clenched her abdominal muscles. The woman's eyes widened in surprise and she quickly tried to rip her sword out. Unfortunately for her Lina was stronger, much stronger, and her muscles kept the blade locked in place.

Fighting back the wave of pain that rippled across her body Lina thrust her staff as hard as she could. The air howled as the staff hurtled towards the swordswoman.

With a cry of anger the blood-crazed woman jumped back, narrowly avoiding the weapon. Unfortunately she had spent too much time trying to tear her sword out to get far enough away to avoid the resulting shockwave.

With a cry of surprise the insane woman was thrown down the alley where she slammed into the wall at the end of it. Cracks spider webbed through the brick wall from the force of the impact.

Panting Lina collapsed to her knees. Her move had been reckless, most of her wounds were superficial, minor, she would survive them, provided she hadn't impaled herself on the sword. Her chances of survival now were slim. Especially since her opponent was peeling herself from the alley wall. She had put everything behind that attack, and it hadn't been enough.

"Oh wow, that was good! You're good! I thought you'd be a weak nothing but you're actually something! Orochimaru-sama will definitely want you now," the woman crowed happily, "he'll be so thrilled when I bring him your core on a silver platter!"

"Never!" Lina shouted in anger. She didn't know who this Orochimaru was, but she knew she didn't want anything to do with him if he kept people like this woman around.

"You don't have a choice!" the woman said as she reached Lina in an instant with an extreme burst of speed. She gripped the handle of her sword tightly, "You're too weak to do anything now!" she hissed in pleasure as she moved to rip the sword from Lina.

Only she found her hand held in place by another, one covered in a fingerless black glove.

"What?" the woman said in confusion as her eyes trailed up the glove covered hand to the person that it belonged to.

The person in question was a tall woman with long white hair and black eyes wearing a black tank top that was cut off at the midriff baring her stomach. Her 'pants' were a pair of jeans with the legs cut completely off. They were unzipped, exposing a small portion of her black panties beneath it and the only thing holding it up was a thick black belt. Her feet were covered by a pair of thick military boots that went up to mid-calf.

Even with the change in wardrobe the woman recognized her.

"Oh how I've longed to see you again… Tsukuyomi." The words were filled with so much violence that it sent shivers down Lina's back.

"Karasuba…" Tsukuyomi hissed as she stared at the Black Sekirei.

Karasuba lashed out with her fist. Tsukuyomi cursed and jumped back, evading the attack. Even if Karasuba didn't have her sword, her strength was still substantial, and this time it wasn't hindered by weeks of poisoning. If it had connected Tsukuyomi would definitely feel it.

"You forgot your sword," Karasuba teased as reached down and gripped the hilt of Tsukuyomi's discarded weapon. Tsukuyomi had been forced to let go to avoid Karasuba's strike.

With a quick jerk Karasuba ripped the blade from Lina's stomach. Lina cried out in pain and fell backwards onto the pavement.

"Oh? You're still alive?" Karasuba said with some surprise as she looked down at Lina's pain stricken face. A vicious grin crossed Karasuba's face as she reached into her short pants and pulled out a small pill. With a flick of her fingers she snapped it into Lina's open mouth.

Lina coughed and spluttered as the pill shot down her throat. "Wh-what was that?" Lina asked fearfully, afraid of what was in it. The Black Sekirei wasn't one known for helping others.

"I won't need that against this bitch," Karasuba said as she turned to face Tsukuyomi who was still glaring warily at Karasuba. "Take your Ashikabi and go, do not die, survive. That was a good strike there at the end, I'm looking forward to seeing how you evolve in the future," she said, excited at the prospect of another decent opponent to match her blade against. Lina was an inferior Sekirei right now, but that last strike there at the end showed potential, much potential. Karasuba would be sure to coach that out of her in the future.

"There's nowhere to run," Lina spat out bitterly. Shinto Teito was still closed off, they couldn't escape, and whoever this Orochimaru was will probably come after them again. Not that she or her Ashikabi could get far in their condition.

They couldn't go to a hospital. What had once been open to all Sekirei and, in fact, had given them preferential treatment was no closed to them. MBI troops had opened fired on them as they tried to get close. Then that crazy woman, Tsukuyomi, chased them across the city before she finally trapped them in this alley.

"Not my…" Karasuba started but stopped and a wicked grin crossed her face, "Actually, head to Izumo Inn. There's a certain blonde haired individual there that has a bleeding heart, I'm sure he'll take you in." After tying her up and trapping her with this seal it was the least that she could do to dump a random Sekirei on 'his' lap.

She knew he'd be at Izumo Inn, she had passed it briefly during her hunt for Tsukuyomi. It had been crawling with copies of the blonde haired Shinobi as they worked to rebuild Izumo Inn. At least Karasuba assumed it was Izumo Inn, she couldn't see Miya agreeing to anything else.

Lina shuddered in fear at the dreaded name. Everyone had heard of Izumo Inn, the home of the Hannyo of the North and the Sekirei Slayer.

The home of the person that called the meteor.

"It's your choice, but if you stay here, you will die," Karasuba said as she turned to fully face Tsukuyomi. "I'll kill you myself if you lay there uselessly and get in my way."

Karasuba couldn't help but grin as she heard Lina scramble off the ground in a hurry. With her gone Karasuba could focus completely on Tsukuyomi. Even if there was some sort of compulsion preventing her from attacking Lina, she could still threaten all she wanted. Her reputation did the rest.

"This is a nice blade, not as nice as my original or Mutsu's, but it's serviceable. I can't expect you to know of true quality," Karasuba taunted as she took a few practice swings with her newly acquired weapon.

Tsukuyomi's grin came back as she watched Karasuba swing the blade. She could see the movements perfectly, even before she made them. There wasn't anything to be scared of anymore.

Tsukuyomi reached around behind her neck and grasped the handle of the blade that was nestled against her back. In one swift movement she drew it from its sheathe and pointed it at Karasuba. The blade ignited. Black flames raced up and down its length.

Karasuba scowled at the blade, she could sense the foulness over here. She could appreciate a good dose of bloodlust, she practically lived on it herself, but that thing emitted something totally different, something dark and evil. It was not a blade that cared for battle, only for slaughter, and the pain and suffering it could cause in the process.

It matched well with its wielder. Tsukuyomi was the same, thriving on playing and torturing her prey before finally ending their lives.

"Quality doesn't matter! Only the blood! The screams! Oh, I so love watching their faces twist in pain," Tsukuyomi gushed in near ecstasy as she bathed in the malevolence emanating from the weapon, "This Hina Blade will be your death! There will be no cowardly escape through the window this time!"

"Cowardly escape?" Karasuba laughed heartily, amused at Tsukuyomi's attempt to twist events to suit her equally twisted views, "You kicked me through the window after I ripped your eye out."

Tsukuyomi scowled for a moment, she didn't like being reminded of that event. She had toyed around with Karasuba too much, for too long, and had paid the price for it with her eye. The scowl quickly disappeared as her free hand momentarily came up to cover her left eye.

"I have a new eye now, a better one, you won't best me even at full strength!" Tsukuyomi shouted. A new grin creased her face. She brought her blade up to her face and licked its edge, "I'm going to enjoy this so much, please don't disappoint me."

Karasuba's grin widened, "Don't worry, I'll rip that new red pentagram eye of yours from its socket just like I did with the other."

"I'd like to see you—"

Karasuba blurred.

Tsukuyomi had to cut her speech short as she hastily raised her sword to block Karasuba's strike. The blow was heavy, far heavier than she had expected from the Black Sekirei. She let out a small grunt and redirected the strike past her.

Before she had even finished redirecting the strike the blade shifted and lashed out again, this time seeking her throat.

Tsukuyomi leaned back and let the blade swing past under her chin, just barely grazing the skin of her neck. She twisted her wrist and lashed out with lightning quickness. Karasuba's blade was there in an instant, stopping the attack in mid swing.

The two became a blur as they danced around one another at incredible speeds. Their hands and feet moved and shifted as they tried to position themselves and their weapons to get that single strike against the other. The clash of steel against steel came so close together the sounds began to merge together. Sparks danced in the air and shockwaves of air rippled behind their places as their blades clashed again and again.

"Zantetsusen!" Tsukuyomi shouted as she swung her blade faster than the eye could follow.

"Tiger—" Karasuba shouted as launched herself into the air, using the force of the jump to amplify the force behind the upward slash.

There was a screech of steel as Karasuba's blade stopped Tsukuyomi's attack long enough for her jump to take her out of harm's way.

"—Blade!" Karasuba shouted as she completed her attack and used the force of gravity to increase the speed and power behind the follow up attack.

"Zankūsen Kai!" The crazed swordswoman cried out as she hurriedly unleashed her quickest attack to stop Karasuba's impending strike.

"Ghost Wolf!" Karasuba cried out, canceling her attack in mid-air and flowing into a new strike. With a flash of light Karasuba shot through Tsukuyomi, bypassing her attack entirely. Even before her feet were firmly planted on the ground Karasuba was in mid-turn. Her blade glowed a bright blue as she swung her blade, using the spin to increase the speed. A blue trail was left behind as the blade whistled through the air.

Tsukuyomi's eyes widened in shock and fear. She knew what was coming, she could sense it, her eyes had even been able to track it, but she couldn't react to it as she was. In a panic she drew deeply upon the dark power emanating from her blade.

In a burst of incredible speed she disappeared and reappeared several feet away.

"Impossible!" Tsukuyomi cried out in dismay as she stared at Karasuba. "You were nowhere near this strong before!"

"I was weakened before, that's the only reason you won," Karasuba said as she gloated over Tsukuyomi. It felt so refreshing to be on top again.

"This blade empowers me! This eye allows me to see your movements! How can you possibly be beating me?" Tsukuyomi demanded.

Karasuba laughed maliciously and grinned at Tsukuyomi, "Your eyes are useless if your body isn't capable of keeping up with me!" she had noticed how Tsukuyomi's eyes appeared to be able to track her movements, however her muscles were obviously incapable of following what she saw.

"I WILL have my blood!" Tsukuyomi said as she drew upon the power from the sword. The black flame ran up her arm and across her body, engulfing her completely. Her one original eye inverted colors and began to leak black energy. Her look became one of complete insanity as she consumed and was in turn consumed by the darkness in the blade.

"There's one more reason why I'm stronger than you…" Karasuba said as she continued to stare at Tsukuyomi, completely unperturbed by her dark aura.

"You can't win now, I will enjoy slicing you into ribbons!" Tsukuyomi growled, her voice changing, becoming low and warped by the power of the sword. She crouched low on the ground and prepared to pounce on Karasuba.

"Uzumaki Naruto left a little bit of his chakra inside me," Karasuba said with a vicious grin on her face.

"What?"

"This is the pledge of my blade! Exterminate the sworn enemy of my Ashikabi!" Karasuba intoned as she unleashed her Norito.

"NO!" Tsukuyomi screamed as a pair of black skeletal wings erupted from behind Karasuba. The ground cracked and splintered as she launched herself at Karasuba. The sound barrier shattered and shockwaves rippled from her body as she screamed towards the Black Sekirei. Her black blade was stretched out before her, an unearthly howl rose from it as it sought Karasuba's life.

It was too late however.

"This ends now!" Karasuba shouted as she disappeared from her spot an instant before Tsukuyomi arrived.

The alleyway darkened until nothing was visible, until she was the only source of light. Karasuba reappeared at her side and hit her with two lightning quick slashes. Before Tsukuyomi could turn around however, she was gone.

Out from the shadows of the darkness rang a chilling voice.

"Oh brilliant blade of coldest steel!"

Karasuba appeared again for a split instant, and Tsukuyomi found herself slashed twice more. Again before she was able to turn around Karasuba was gone, only to appear in her blind spot to strike her twice more.

Each strike was accompanied by a bright piercing light that momentarily blinded Tsukuyomi, making it even more difficult for her to react to Karasuba's attack.

"Rend the infinite darkness!"

With each strike Karasuba landed, the next one came faster and faster until it was impossible for Tsukuyomi to react to them. In this darkness, her eye was useless, and against Karasuba's Norito, her own strength might as well be as nothing.

Tsukuyomi raised her head and screamed in anger as Karasuba cut her body into ribbons as she had done to her weeks past.

"And crush my enemies to nothing!"

She was consumed by the light that flashed with the attack, for it was only one strike. Karasuba was moving so fast and striking so quickly that the moment one strike ended, the next had already begun.

The number of times she had been cut was too innumerable to count, impossible even considering the speed at which they were appearing on her body.

"SAVAGE WOLF FURY!" Karasuba roared as she finished off the attack with a single, powerful horizontal cut that sent Tsukuyomi's body flying in three different directions.

The light returned as the Norito empowered attack ended. The alleyway returned to normal and Tsukuyomi found herself on her back staring up at the cloud covered sky that peaked through the opening between the buildings.

"I… lost?" Tsukuyomi asked in confusion. She tried to reach for the sky only to realize her hand was missing. Her confusion magnified as she stared at the bloody stump. "What? Where…" She glanced around for her blade and saw it several feet away, still clenched tightly in her severed hand.

"You're a disgrace to swordswomen everywhere," Karasuba said as she slowly made her way over to Tsukuyomi. She bent over the dying woman and sneered into her face, "One fights to be the best, to be the strongest! You fight simply to kill, you're no better than a common murderer, no better than the pathetic monkeys that infest this planet."

"Monkey?" Tsukuyomi asked as a very old memory flashed across her mind.

"A real master of the blade wouldn't need something like this," Karasuba started as she reached into Tsukuyomi's eye socket, "to find victory in battle." With a jerk of her arm she ripped the blood red eye with a pentagram shaped iris from Tsukuyomi's head.

Tsukuyomi screamed in pain as she grasped at her eye socket. Her bloody stump splashed blood all over her face as she tried to hold her eye. Karasuba hadn't been as gentle as the first time, she had dug her nails deep into the tender flesh at the back of the socket. Even if Tsukuyomi survived her injuries, she would never see out that eye again.

With a firm squeeze of her fist Karasuba pulverized the strange eye into mush. Wipping her hand out to the side she threw the remains of the eyeball against the alleyway wall.

"I am better than you, in every way imaginable," Karasuba said as she stabbed her sword down through Tsukuyomi's heart, ending her pain instantly. "You know that, and soon Minaka will know it. I will hunt down and break all of his toys, and then I will kill him."

That was one down, five more to go.

Swiping her blade in midair to clean the blood of it Karasuba turned to leave the alley but stopped as her eyes came to rest on the Hina Blade. It was still wreathed in a faint aura of black fire.

Karasuba walked over to the cursed blade and picked it up. Immediately she was bombarded with the desire to annihilate everything, to go on a rampant killing spree, slaughtering everyone in the city.

She could feel the power that laid dormant within it, Tsukuyomi hadn't even begun to draw its fully potential out before Karasuba had ended her. It still had much left to give.

The blade began to whisper promises of ultimate power, power enough to overcome any opponent. Visions of standing victorious over Miya and Naruto flashed across her mind. By wielding the Hina Blade she would be unstoppable.

Karasuba snapped the blade in half.

An unearthly howl of anguish rose up from the depths of the sword. The cursed blade became enveloped in absolute darkness for a brief moment before all its power, and the cursed presence locked inside, dissipated into the air.

"I don't need some shitty blade to be the strongest," Karasuba said to the broken blade as she dropped the pieces of it to the ground. "I'll reach that pinnacle with my own power, and when I do, when I stand over their broken bodies, I will have earned the right to be called strongest!"

Sparring the broken blade and broken body no further attention Karasuba slowly left the alleyway, her mind going over the other profiles that Naruto had given her. There were others that needed to be hunted, others that could be used to test her capacity.

x~X~x

Orochimaru drummed his fingers on his chair as he cupped his chin with his other hand. His eyes scanned the various people sitting at the table with him, there were far fewer than the last time he had called a session.

In fact of the eleven that had been here prior, only Haku, Hiashi, Darui and Tenten were currently seated there with him. Dynamis and Killer B could be excused; they were still out destroying bases in Okinawa and laying the foundation of the seal there at the same time. Their absence was understandable and even expected.

Still, of his eleven slaves plus one, only half of them were accounted for.

"Would someone like to tell me what's going on?" Orochimaru asked in a deceptively calm voice.

Progress had been proceeding smoothly up on Kouten, with Naruto's knowledge he had been able to figure out the missing pieces in his own attempts. It made him realize just how inhuman Uzumaki Naruto truly was when it came to his instinctual ability with seals. Some of the methods he used were actually contradicted human thought. You had to literally cease to think like a human to be able to comprehend it.

Thankfully Orochimaru had ceased to be human long ago. He was more than capable of warping his mind to suit whatever he desired. Now that he knew the secret of creating reality defying seals he was certain he could apply it to other areas of existence. That was something to work on after his ascension however. Becoming Omnipotent was his first priority.

However despite the progress on Kouten, things had not gone nearly as well down here on the surface. The foundation of the seal, while near completion, had slowed to a crawl. What should have been down days ago was still currently a work in progress.

"Uzumaki Naruto is striking back against our forces," Darui started calmly.

"I did not expect that man to sit still but there should be little he can do without our knowledge," Orochimaru said. The lockdown of Shinto Teito had been in part to keep the Sekirei Plan contained. The other part was to monitor Naruto's movements. Orochimaru knew it wouldn't be able to stop Naruto from leaving whenever he wanted to, but the enclosure should have given them enough warning to counter them.

"Sakura-san and Noire-san are dead," Darui said, "Hanabi-san and Blanc-san killed them in a surprise attack while they were overseeing the interrogation of the captured General."

"And what were they doing there?" Orochimaru demanded, referring more to Sakura and Noire than Naruto's Sekirei. Sakura and Noire's mandate was not to interrogate anyone, but to help lay down the foundation of the seal.

"They had just finished their assignment in that area, the seal in southwestern part of the Japanese mainland is complete. I had received reports of movement from the rebels. I diverted Sakura and Noire there temporarily to ward of any attack from the rebel forces," Darui explained, "I did not anticipate interference from Naruto-san's Sekirei."

The drumming of Orochimaru's fingers grew louder as he stared at Darui with a hard expression. He was trying to figure out what, if any, punishment he should hand down for that mistake.

His fingers stopped, "How did Hanabi-san and Blanc get there?" Orochimaru asked.

"By train," Darui said, "We found footage of them entering the station after the fact. They clung to the underside of the bullet train from Shinto Teito to Osaka. We have since adjusted our checks to include the undersides of the trains."

Orochimaru mulled over that for a few moments before he suddenly laughed, "What a deliciously insane move! They're after my own heart!"

"Dan Hibiki is dead as well," Darui said as he continued on with his report.

"How?"

"He died when he was impaled on the end of a tank and used as a battering ram to break open a munition's depo. The depo exploded when the tank accidentally discharged its load." Darui replied as his eyes scanned the reports, "Eye witness accounts said the explosion was seen as far away as Shinto Teito."

"…"

"There is video surveillance footage of the attack on the base if you wish to see," Darui said.

"I do," the powerful shinobi said with a frown on his face. As weak as Dan Hibiki had been, he should have been more than a match for a tank. The moment the first video surveillance footage appeared a smile cracked Orochimaru's face, "Ah, I see now, send all the footage to my private computer," he said as he watched the video in amusement.

Uzumaki Naruto was interesting if nothing else. Every time news of him popped up his antics were more crazed and insane than before. Orochimaru was certain now that there was something fundamentally broken inside him. It was nice to have a kindred spirit, even if he fully intended to kill him within the month.

And despite the loss of that Sekirei the video footage was more than enough compensation. It would provide him with much amusement and fond memories to keep him company after his ascension.

"It'll be done," Darui said.

"And what excuse do you have for me for not dealing with your daughter?" Orochimaru asked as he rounded on Hiashi.

A small smile tweaked Hiashi's lips, "She's been away from Shinto Teito, she was in Osaka killing your Sekirei," Hiashi said with no small amount of satisfaction.

"She hasn't always been there! She was here at the start of the fourth round; she was here before getting on that train!"

"Uzumaki Naruto knows I'm here," Hiashi said calmly, "I do not know how he got that information but he has set up dozens of areas that the Byakugan can't penetrate. It would be foolish to rush into those areas without know what's there, or are you in a hurry to get rid of me as well?" he asked.

"You are expendable! The destruction of Hanabi's power is more important than your life, and I will make your death a very long and agonizing one if you keep defying me!"

"I am not defying you, Orochimaru-san," Hiashi said calmly, "If I were to run recklessly into one of those zones and get caught in a trap, I can't very well carry out your task can I? I do not need to go looking for her. If Uzumaki Naruto knows I am alive, my daughter will know soon enough. She will come to me."

"You had better be certain, otherwise I'll send Tsu-chan to deal with her!"

"About Tsukuyomi…" Darui started as he read a new message he had just gotten from one of his people, "She's dead."

The sound of cracking wood reverberated around the room. The look on Orochimaru's face was downright murderous.

"I'm sorry Darui-san, could you please repeat that?" Orochimaru said in a deathly quiet voice. Of his slaves Tsukuyomi was his favorite. She was the only one that he hadn't needed to bind, even though he did just to be sure. She had willingly joined his cause just for the sake of causing death and mayhem.

Even Haku had required some careful manipulation of her mind over the course of her life to make her as loyal to him as she was today. Her loyalty had always been to Zabuza. There had even been a small part of her heart that had belonged to Naruto. It had taken a lot of effort to erase her feelings for Naruto and change her loyalty towards Zabuza to him before she had died of old age.

"Tsukuyomi was tasked with killing Lina and Helios, that Ashikabi/Sekirei pair that Naruto failed to finish during the fourth round," Darui explained, "she very nearly succeeded, until Karasuba interfered, and killed her."

"I was under the impression that you killed Karasuba's Ashikabi," Orochimaru said calmly to Tenten, too calmly.

"I did, and then I had his body processed," Tenten replied.

"It was Naruto-san, Orochimaru-san," Darui said as he put the pieces together, "One of his clones was seen retrieving Karasuba's downed body after Tsukuyomi had beaten her."

Orochimaru cursed his own folly. He should have seen this coming. Naruto had godlike abilities with seals. It was only time before he fully unraveled all the mysteries of the Sekirei Seal that he had constructed. The most likely scenario was that Naruto had used Karasuba as a means to figure out how to reactivate a Sekirei, and then had sic'd her on him after he was finished with her.

That was one more headache running around Shinto Teito that he would have to deal with somehow. Darui and Tenten were confined to MBI. They were part of the trap that would end Minato and Yukari when they came to rescue their mother.

He needed to send Haku back out west to finish the final groundwork for the seal on mainland Japan. She had been delayed due to an attack by Naruto's Sekirei Akitsu, thankfully Haku had come out victorious in that battle, and had set things up so that her task could be completed relatively quickly.

Hiashi had his own assignment with Hanabi. Speaking of his assignment, "Do not think that Tsukuyomi's death changes anything," Orochimaru said as he turned to the most rebellious of his slaves, "Hanabi's power is the most problematic element currently running around, if you don't deal with her within the week, I will see to her demise personally and I won't be as gentle as Tsukuyomi."

Hiashi simply bowed his head in acknowledgement.

With that dealt with Orochimaru moved on. "Any word on Jack Rakan? And where is Evangeline?"

"Evangeline went off to do her own thing after finishing with the seal in the north," Darui said, "I can contact her if you wish something of her."

"Send her to Okinawa to back up Dynamis and Killer B, just in case Naruto-kun tries anything down there," Orochimaru ordered. There had been no indication of movement of his Sekirei after the meteor but that didn't mean anything. His Sekirei had been lying in wait for Haku so it was obvious that he had found some way to smuggle his Sekirei out of Shinto Teito. If Naruto could get his Sekirei all the way out there without his knowledge, he could get his Sekirei to Okinawa as well.

"As for Jack, I have received some good news," Darui said.

"Oh?" That was unexpected, but welcome.

"Yes, satellite imagery has spotted him flying across the pacific ocean on a large sword heading towards Japan. Apparently he gave up on arm wrestling ORT after he heard the news about the meteor in Japan," Darui replied.

"Good, that's very good. When he gets here have him wipe out all of Naruto's Sekirei, save Miya-chan of course," Orochimaru said with glee.

Things were about to come to an end.

Jack Rakan was coming home.

x~X~x

Naruto knocked on the doorframe, "Yuuchi?" he called out, his voice tinged with anxiety.

His eyes quickly swept across the room as he searched for the small Pillar. He found her easily enough. She was sitting in a large cushioned arm chair reading a book. She was yet again, naked. Naruto was beginning to wonder if she had a severe aversion to clothes and only wore them out in public to spare the trouble she would find herself with the law.

There were several candles burning on the table beside her, giving her just enough light to read without having to strain her eyes. Reading was one of the few times Yuuchi ever had any form of light in her room.

"Naruto-san? Is something the matter?" Yuuchi asked in concern as she watched eyed the blonde haired shinobi was he entered her room. He looked haggard and desperate. Something had unnerved him badly.

"I need help, I've lost Akitsu…" he said desperately. If anyone could help him find his lost Sekirei it would be Yuuchi. Despite his skill with Fuinjutsu and his knowledge of the Sekirei Seal, Yuuchi still knew more.

"Lost? Is she inactive? No you would have said as much, what do you mean exactly?" Yuuchi asked as she marked her place in her book with a bookmark and set it on the table beside her.

"I can still sense the bond, she's there, but I can't tell 'where' she is. It's like she's somewhere else entirely. I can't Hiraishin to her and I can't follow the bond to her. Wherever she is, she's not in Japan. My clones have scoured everything and haven't found any traces," Naruto said with his head bowed.

He couldn't find Akitsu. He had sent her alone, and now she was gone. If he had left a clone with her, or had sent someone else, maybe she wouldn't have disappeared like that. Now he finally understood why squads always had four people, small enough to avoid detection, but large enough to be able to prevent this sort of situation from happening.

No one had ever explained to him the reasoning before; he had simply assumed that's the way it always was. It was obvious why there was never any squad LARGER than four, but no one had ever mentioned the downsides of having less.

"You are still bound to her, correct?" Yuuchi asked for affirmation.

"Yes, I can still sense her emotions in my head," Naruto said.

"Do you sense any negative emotions?"

"I…" he stopped. Now that he stopped to really think about it, he didn't. The emotions were there, constantly changing. Sometimes there was pain, but never anything extreme, and never anything else.

Wherever she was, she wasn't in anything horrible enough to greatly affect her emotional state.

"…No… I don't," Naruto said, feeling a little relived by that. He still didn't know where she was, but wherever she was, she wasn't suffering.

Yuuchi nodded her head imperceptibly. "I may be able to do something," she started. She held her small hand up to stop Naruto from speaking up, "but only something. I know of only a few individuals capable of blocking the Hiraishin. Orochimaru is one of them, but it does not appear that he is the cause this time." If it was Orochimaru the bond would have probably already been broken, and if the bond wasn't broken Akitsu would most certainly be in far more pain than Naruto was feeling, "As for the other four, three of them are dead and the last you do not want to fight."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that the last one is the reason I prefer darkness," Yuuchi said cryptically, "but never mind that. Do you trust me?" she asked suddenly.

"Ah, yes?" Naruto said hesitantly. He trusted Yuuchi, but did he 'trust' trust her? He wasn't sure. She was on his side, aiding him in his war against Orochimaru. She had done nothing but help him since the moment the two of them met.

But she was also very secretive. She made Miya seem open and carefree. There was so much Yuuchi was hiding that it was difficult to fully trust her.

"That is not a very strong response," Yuuchi said with a deadpanned expression on her face. She let out a small sigh and explained what she meant, "I may be able to use your bond with Akitsu to trace a link to wherever it is she is, however that requires you to trust me."

"Oh," Naruto said as he understood what she meant. She wanted to know if he trusted her enough to let her into his mind. "I trust you enough for that; Kurumi will keep you away from the more sensitive areas."

"Kurumi?" Yuuchi asked as curiously with a slight tilt of her head.

"Oh, right, I never told you. The Jinki transformed Kurama into a female, so I renamed her Kurumi," Naruto said.

"Ah, I was always curious what sort of effect the transformation would have on the tailed beasts, interesting," Yuuchi said as she nodded her head thoughtfully. "And do not worry, I do not need to enter your mindscape directly."

"What do you need me to do?" Naruto asked eagerly, he wanted to solve this mystery as quickly as possible.

"Nothing, just place your head in my lap and I will take care of the rest," Yuuchi said as she gently patted her thigh.

"Alright," Naruto said as he kneeled down and rested his cheek against her thigh. He was surprised at how nice she smelt. The scent of gardenia filled his nose with just a hint of lily.

He was familiar with the smells of most flowers thanks in large to Ino and her family. He had often decorated the Hokage's office with flowers from their store when Konoha still stood.

Yuuchi reached out and laced her fingers through Naruto's hair, placing a hand on either side of his scalp. She adjusted his head so that she was more comfortable and went to work channeling her chakra into his head. She found the bonds easily enough, they were always located in the same position, and started to sift through them, looking for Akitsu's.

"Ah… Yuuchi?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Hush, Naruto-san, I am trying to identify Akitsu's bond from the others," Yuuchi said.

"I'm sort of… well I can see…" Naruto trailed off, he wasn't quite sure how to phrase it. When Yuuchi had shifted his head she had placed him face down directly between her legs. His nose was now literally millimeters away from her entrance.

Yuuchi broke her concentration momentarily and glanced down to see what the matter was. The ancient Pillar let out a small sigh and shook her head in exasperation, "Is that all? Do you not see that every night?"

"Well, ya, but it's never yours," Naruto said lamely.

Yuuchi shook her head softly, "Please do not to disturb me over something so trivial," she said and went back to sorting through the bonds.

A sweat drop worked its way down the side of Naruto's head. Yuuchi was the single most blasé person he ever knew of when it came to modesty, beating out the likes of even Musubi and Akitsu. She was aware of her nudity and its implications, she just didn't care. Like she had been alive for too long, or had seen too much, to be particularly concerned about how much, or how little, skin she showed.

"Found it…" Yuuchi murmured as she identified Akitsu's bond.

"Kasoke Tai Ridatsu no Jutsu!" "Hiraishin no Jutsu!" she said, speaking two different techniques out either side of her mouth at the same time.

If Yuuchi was right, Akitsu was in a place that one couldn't get to physically, not without permission. However there was no such restriction of spiritual or mental projections. The first techniques was used to separate her mind from her body, the second was used to transfer her mind to wherever Akitsu was. She knew that Akitsu had a Hiraishin seal on her, Naruto had marked them all, so there was a connection to lock onto.

It wasn't possible to do this physically, and the method prevented Naruto from ever doing it, even with the Astral Projection technique. It required two anchor points, Akitsu was one, and Naruto was the other. Yuuchi was journeying between the two points using the bond as the rope that connected them.

A moment after initiating the technique she was there.

She saw Akitsu immediately. Like she had suspected the ice Sekirei was fine. Her clothes were dirtied and smudged and she was breathing hard, but she looked no worse than anyone that had put in a hard day's work training.

And across from her, floating in the air, was who Yuuchi expected to see. The individual looked like a twelve year old child with brilliant blue eyes and long blond hair. She wore a gold cross around her neck along with a pair of lacy black panties and a calf-length black dress with a deep V that exposed much of her budding cleavage. It was Evangeline A.K. McDowell, the High Daylight Walker.

She was one of the most powerful individuals to ever walk the Elemental Nations, and the only one of the First's Sekirei that was recruited, and not resurrected. She was an immortal vampire of the highest calibre. There were few individuals that could ever truly match her at her peak, Jack Rakan, Uzumaki Naruto in Sage Mode with his chakra cloak and gates opened, and Orochimaru being some of the few. Evangeline's greatest weakness however was her arrogance. Her power made her over confident, and that had led to her defeat on more than one occasion.

"Oh? What's this? We have a visitor," Evangeline spoke as she looked up at Yuuchi's astral form. "It's been quite some time, hasn't it?" she said as she flashed Yuuchi a grin.

"It has been some time," Yuuchi agreed.

Akitsu followed Evangeline's gaze but found nothing but empty air. She looked back at the small blonde woman with a curious look in her eyes.

"Where have you been all this time?" Evangeline asked curiously, "I was most put out when you disappeared nine hundred years ago."

"I was sleeping," Yuuchi said simply. "And have you been well?"

Evangeline smirked, "Well enough, I created a few legends over the years, to amuse myself, but that was all."

"Dracula?" Yuuchi asked, remembering a tale she read from the early industrial era.

"Among others," Evangeline replied.

Yuuchi glanced down at Akitsu for a moment before shifting her gaze back to Evangeline, "Her Ashikabi is getting… restless," she said simply. Restless was an understatement. Naruto looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

That wouldn't be good for any of them.

"This child is a gem, a raw, unpolished gem," Evangeline said with a grin. "That Uzumaki Naruto doesn't know how to polish her properly; her potential is going to waste."

"Are you going to turn her?"

"Perhaps, I have yet to decide," Evangeline said with a shrug. She didn't actually have any desire to turn the young Sekirei. She just liked to mess with Yuuchi. After being alone for nearly two thousand years Evangeline knew well the burden of immortality. That wasn't something she would curse Akitsu with, not unless she had no choice or there was a guarantee she wouldn't end up like her.

"I see, and when will she return?" Yuuchi asked.

"Who says I'll return her? I may just keep her for myself," Evangeline said with an evil grin on her face.

"I would rather you did not. This world would not be able to survive a battle between you and Uzumaki Naruto," Yuuchi said. She was pretty certain that Evangeline knew that as well and was just playing with her.

Although with Evangeline it was never a sure thing. Sometimes when you thought she was joking, she was serious, and vice versa.

"Tsk, you're no fun," Evangeline said with a pout. A light smile quickly returned to her face, "She'll return after that idiot has had his fun, I don't feel like seeing this gem break because the fool accidentally got serious."

"I see, farewell," Yuuchi said, she had enough information to placate Naruto's worries. That and she couldn't maintain this for very long. Evangeline's private sanctuary was guarded by powerful wards and seals. It was taking everything she had to maintain her sense of self here in Evangeline's sanctuary.

"See you soon!" Evangeline said cheerfully.

With a mental command Yuuchi shot back towards her body. Once again using the bond as a guide post for the psychic Hiraishin she was back in her body within moments.

She blinked several times as she readjusted her eyes to the dim light of the room. Naruto's head was still in her lap, his face was now pressed firmly against her entrance. Her hold on him had tightened during the technique. He seemed to be struggling with himself about something, she could see and feel the tenseness in his shoulders and neck.

"There is nothing to worry about," Yuuchi said to Naruto as she let go of his head.

Naruto quickly lifted his face to look up at her. Yuuchi shivered slightly as his nose ran along her entrance. "Really?" he asked, relief evident in his voice, "Where is she? What's going on?"

"She is with Evangeline, she is being trained," Yuuchi said simply.

"Evangeline? I've never heard of that name before, who is she?" Naruto asked curiously.

"She is one of Orochimaru's Sekirei."

Naruto's blood froze in his veins.

"What?! We have to do something!" Naruto shouted as he shot up from Yuuchi's lap.

"No, she is fine," Yuuchi said, "Evangeline does her own thing. Unless Orochimaru specifically tells her to kill Akitsu, she will not harm her. I have my doubts that Evangeline will even notify Orochimaru about Akitsu at all, she seems to have taken a liking to her."

"Are you sure?"

"I am sure enough," Yuuchi said, "It would not matter either way. She is in a place you cannot reach, and she is not someone you wish to fight."

"What do you mean?"

"Orochimaru is not the only one who is immortal," Yuuchi replied. "With Orochimaru, however, you can at least kill him, even if he comes back to life later. With Evangeline, you cannot even do that. She has a regenerative capability on par with Ayesha-san, but with more power than anything you could muster, to back her."

Evangeline had a regenerative capability that surpassed anything Yuuchi knew was possible. It surpassed Naruto with the Kyubi chakra healing him; it even surpassed the near instantaneous regeneration of the Edo Tensei.

And when it came to raw power, Evangeline eclipsed Orochimaru. Orochimaru was only stronger because he had more tricks up his sleeve and techniques at his disposal. Even then it could go either way.

Naruto sighed, "Another immortal… how many immortals are there walking around here?"

"Six," Yuuchi replied. "There used to be ten but four have already been dealt with."

"Six… six immortals…" Naruto said with a sigh, "Where the hell are they all coming from?"

"Orochimaru is the only one you really need to worry about," Yuuchi said as she tried to comfort Naruto.

"Ugh, do you know when she'll be back?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Vaguely," Yuuchi said with a frown as she thought back to Evangeline's words, "There is going to be a large battle soon, we may see her after that battle."

"So after Orochimaru is defeated?" Naruto asked, sounding a little despondent. He had hoped for Akitsu's return before then, it'd be difficult to plan for her return otherwise.

"No, I got the faint hint that the will be another large battle before then," Yuuchi replied.

"Then it's something to prepare for," Naruto said as his face hardened.

"Yes," Yuuchi agreed.

x~X~x

"Place your bets ladies!" Alice spoke to a group of women as she smacked her hand against a chalk board.

The chalk board had a list of moves on it:

1) Overhead throw
2) Straight Punch
3) Haymaker
4) Roundhouse Kick
5) Pile drive

6) Backhand

7) Slap

8) Hadoken

9) Elbow

10) Judo throw

11) Something New

The group of women clustered around the chalk board began laying down their bets.

"1000 yen on Hadoken!"

"500 on Overhead throw!"

"800 on an elbow!"

"I think I'll…"

"Ah, sorry Miya," Alice said as she held up her hand, "you've been right thirty times in a row now, there have been some complaints that you have insider knowledge."

Miya held a hand up to her mouth and chuckled lightly, "Oh my, you don't honestly think that I'm taking advantage of my relationship with Yume-san, are you?"

"Yes!" various voices chorused at the same time.

Miya let out a small chuckle and stepped away from the group of women. They were soldiers, all of them. Battle hardened and ready to give their lives for their respective nations. There was a mix of both Japanese and foreign soldiers here. With most of the foreign military bases destroyed, they didn't have very many places to go.

And the places they could go, were targeted. They were being hunted and they all knew it. So to take the edge off the tense anxiety that gripped most of them the base commander had opted to improve morale by setting up a demonstration.

It was decided to hold a tournament where the men fought one another and the winner walked away with a prize. There were also prizes for second and third places as well.

The only caveat was that in each tournament there would be a wild card entry, a wild card that went by the name of Uzumaki Yume.

The women weren't allowed to participate, they were forced to watch. At first there had been a lot of grumbling about sexism but after watching Yume tear through 1st Company like they were nothing but helpless babies most of them had changed their tune.

Now there was a massive betting ring where the females all bet not on whether or not Yume won, but how she ultimately ended her opponent, which was normally within two to three moves. Most of the women seemed to find it amusing to watch the men get taken down a peg or ten.

Of course the base commander knew who Miya and Yume were, or rather 'what' they were, but she had opted to keep it secret, making her top commanders hold their tongues as well. They didn't want the enemy to know that there were two Sekirei hidden amongst their troops.

To help facilitate the secrecy Yume and Miya were currently wearing the standard Japanese military fatigues. They were wearing their own clothing as well, but that was hidden beneath.

Miya glanced across the facility. She could see Yume doing some light stretches as she warmed up her muscles. Even if she was a Sekirei there was still the chance of hurting herself if she wasn't properly warmed up. She was her only real enemy here.

"Does no one else find anything wrong with the women betting on HOW we're going to get beat and not IF?" One of the male soldiers nearby complained as he stretched his arms and legs.

"You didn't hear what happened to 2nd Company yesterday did you?" One of his friends asked. Most of their company was in the gym for the tournament. Rumors had begun to spread about an unbeatable female solider.

"No, I've been too busy," the first soldier said.

"Too busy chasing that new tail that walked in?" another chimed in.

"Oh shut up, I'll win this tournament and then she'll recognize my awesomeness," the first shot back in bitterness.

"Keep thinking that buddy," the second soldier returned as he ribbed his friend, "You're going to get your ass beat, we all are, the best thing we can hope for is to lose gracefully."

"It's time for our first match!" a voice bellowed across the gym. The voice belonged to Colonel Mustang, the same that had aided Hanabi and Blanc with their mission. He had been reassigned to this base after his own had been taken out while he was away. He was another of the few that knew what Yume and Miya truly were. "Would Yume and Sasuke please enter the ring?"

"Last call for bets ladies!" Alice called out.

Miya only smiled and shook her head helplessly. The women here had taken an immediate liking to her and Yume. Women were a minority in the military and as a result they were a tight-nit bunch of individuals.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you because you're a woman!" Sasuke's voice drifted over to Yume.

Miya didn't need to watch the match to know the outcome. She already knew how it would end. Alice was only partially right. It wasn't that she and Yume had worked out beforehand how she would her opponent, Miya was simply that good. She knew Yume, she knew how Yume fought, and by simply analyzing who her opponent was she could figure out how Yume would defeat them.

This 'Sasuke' was a womanizer. Miya knew of his kind and found him to be more of a scum than even Seo, and that was saying something. She was certain that Yume knew that as well.

"First Match: Begin!"

Which is why Miya knew exactly how it would end.

A high pitched yelp pierced the air, quickly followed by the sound of men groaning in unison as they all seemed to hold their groin and clench their legs together in unison.

It always amazed Miya how men seemed to be attached to one another through their balls. It was a phenomenon that befuddled her and every other woman she had ever spoken with. For some reason whenever a male was kicked in the balls, every other male within the vicinity felt the pain.

"And the first round is over by a BRUTAL knockout! Perhaps Sasuke will learn to keep his dick in his pants for a while," Colonel Mustang called out, signalling the end of the first round. "Could we have the cleanup crew here please?" Sasuke was curled up as he held his balls tightly. Foam and spittle dribbled from his mouth and his body was wracked by indescribably uncomfortable and painful feelings.

"And it's Something New! Sasuke was taken out with a swift kick to the balls!" Alice called amidst the laughter. The women all seemed to find Sasuke's knockout humorous. All of them had been chased by him at some point and time during their stay here. Alice quickly split the pot in two, "come get your money Himiko and Sion!"

The rest of the matches of the first round were between the various soldiers of the 3rd Company. There were side bets for these ones, mostly on how long it would last, who would draw first blood, and even who would win.

The amount of money bet was small for these matches; the main event was whenever Yume took the stage. Then it really started flowing and dreams were either made or crushed.

Ultimately the tournament ended like all the others, with Yume steamrolling her opponents and the highlight of the tournament being for third place between two men that were usually pretty evenly matched. The third place round was the only round besides Yume's where the betting actually got serious.

Miya watched Yume make her way over after the final round. She didn't look the slightest bit winded, not that Miya honestly expected her to be. The humans of this world had absolutely no chance against someone like Yume. The base commander hadn't even bothered to ask Miya if she wanted to fight, not that she would have accepted something so barbaric. The base commander had been given a brief overview of her abilities and the most notable thing amongst them was her label as the most powerful Sekirei.

"You seem to have taken your time with that last one," Miya commented as Yume stopped beside her.

Yume gave Miya a small smile, "It was the finals and the young man needed a confidence boost. He's much better than he seems to think he is," she replied. The young man, Hayate, was still nowhere near her level though and it had ultimately ended in his defeat. She did, however, take her time, ending it in six strikes instead of the one hit knockouts she'd been doing all tournament long.

Miya let out a small chuckle, "I should have suspected as much after the third blow," she said as she started for the exit.

Yume quickly followed. The two left the gym in silence as the third match neared its conclusion. Both of them knew how it would end, who would win, if not exactly how. The one that Yume had beaten was significantly weaker than the other.

Colonel Mustang was the primary organizer of the matches. Since he knew that Yume would run roughshod over her opponents he put all the strong fighters on one side of the tournament and loaded Miya's with the weakest. That way the strongest actually got fair fights all the way up until the finals.

Yume waved cheerfully at a group of soldiers that were playing basketball on a hastily made court. Most of them waved back, the few that didn't were amongst those that Yume had beaten in the more humiliating fashions.

They hadn't gone far when a voice called out to them from behind.

"Hey! Wait up!" Alice called out as she raced up to the two powerful Sekirei. "Why didn't you stay until the end?" she asked as she sidled up beside the two.

Miya and Yume exchanged a quick glance. They couldn't tell her the real reason. Neither of them felt particularly happy about their subterfuge. They disliked deceiving people out right like this, Yume in particular. It made them uncomfortable when in the presence of the other women. The women had accepted them so easily, but Miya and Yume were both worried about how they would react when they found out neither of them were exactly 'human.'

"There was no reason to, Akira won," Miya said.

"Damn, how did you figure that out?" Alice asked in wonderment. She figured Miya had insider knowledge of how Yume would fight, but the third place round was different.

"The tournament is rigged," Yume replied, "All the dense people that need lessons beaten into their skulls and the weaker soldiers are pit against me. The better ones are all on the other side. If you noticed every tournament it was the fighter from the other block that won."

"That's… going to help me make a killing!" Alice laughed out loud.

"Oh my, is ten percent of the pot not enough?" Miya asked with some amusement. As the 'organizer' of the betting pool Alice automatically received ten percent of every pool.

She had made quite a bit of money since she started the whole thing.

"A girl needs to think about retirement! Maybe a nice beach front property," Alice said as she spread her arms wide and envisioned her dream home. A sour look crossed her face suddenly, "Although I would prefer one away from meteor impact zones."

Miya and Yume shared another quick glance. They kept their silence, not wanting to give anything away. The whole world knew about the meteor strike, the people in Okinawa had even seen it enter the atmosphere; however most only knew that Naruto was the one that brought it down. Yuuchi's video that she had broadcasted had omitted everyone but her and Hanabi. While Hanabi had shown her face, Miya's back had been to the camera the entire time so no one knew what she looked like.

"I don't think a meteor impact like that is going to happen again," Miya said firmly. She would make sure something like that didn't happen again.

"You're thinking of retiring?" Yume asked.

"Ya, a girl can't keep doing this gig forever," Alice said as she glanced around the base, "I want to settle down somewhere and relax. I might even think about getting married, although not to any of these beefcakes," she muttered scornfully as she waved her hand at a group of men in the distance.

"What's wrong with them? Yume asked curiously. She had her own Ashikabi, Naruto, so she had no interest in any of them, but there were a few that weren't 'that' bad.

"Most of them don't think women belong in the military, that we're not 'strong enough' to do the job," Alice said, practically spitting out the last bit as she glared at another group of men that seemed to be trying to undress them with their eyes. They were part of a company that Yume had yet to beat into the ground. Alice glanced at Yume and flashed a grin. "It's great to see you put them in their place, you're changing a lot of opinions around here."

"Men do need to be put in their place when their heads get too big for their shoulders," Miya agreed.

Yume gave Miya a wry grin, she knew Miya was talking about a certain blonde-haired, blue eyed Shinobi that had captured their hearts.

"The men here aren't all bad," Yume said as she saw the young man she had beaten in the finals leave the gym with his second place prize.

Alice followed her gaze to the young man. An eyebrow raised as she glanced back at Yume, "Did you fall for him?" she asked, wondering if that was why she went easy.

"No, I'm already happily married," Yume said with an amused shake of her head.

"What? I never heard about that!" Alice exclaimed in surprise.

"You never asked," Yume replied, "but the reason I went easy on him was because he needed a confidence boost. He's better than he believes but lacks confidence in himself. He's also one of the few men on this base that isn't biased against female soldiers."

She could see the emotions inside the young man, could see how he regarded his comrades in arms. In Yume's opinion he was too soft hearted to make a good career soldier. But at the same time, that kind heart of his meant he would willingly put his life on the line for others, an admirable quality in a soldier.

"You think so?" Alice asked as she looked at him doubtfully, "Are you sure that's not just because he's too spineless to say anything?"

"He made it to the finals," Yume pointed out.

"That doesn't mean anything."

"It means more than you think," Yume said. Fear of looking bad in front of the females was what allowed him to display more skill than he ever had before. There was one female in particular that he really didn't want to embarrass himself in front of. "You should at least talk to him before you judge him."

"They're all the same."

"I agree with Yume-san," Miya said, "I have discovered that humans are very diverse, to judge one based upon another is foolhardy."

"What harm would there be in talking?" Yume asked, "If he's like you say, you've justified your point of view and have stories to tell your friends. And if he's not, well, love is a wonderful thing."

Alice scoffed, "Love? Him? I'll grant you he has some skill and he's not that bad looking but love?"

"Stranger things have happened," Yume pointed out.

"Tsk, fine, I'll go see what he's doing tonight," Alice said and left the two of them, heading towards Hayate.

"Never change, Yume-san," Miya said with a light smile on her face.

"I fear it may be too late for that, but I intend to hold onto some values to the end," Yume replied.

"And one of those values involves playing match-maker?" Colonel Mustang asked as he walked up to the two Sekirei. Alice and Hayate wasn't the first pair Yume had made since her arrival. They weren't even the fifth. She had been quite busy since she had arrived.

"Love is a beautiful thing, but people fight harder when they fight to protect the ones they love," Yume explained.

"Just don't try to play match-maker with me," the Colonel said with a stern look.

"Of course not Colonel, I'm not about to intervene between you and the General."

Colonel Mustang gave her a sharp look before letting out a soft sigh, "Is it that obvious?"

"No, my eyes are special, I doubt anyone else knows," Yume replied.

"I see, I would ask that you keep it quiet. The match-making you've done so far has been with individuals of similar rank so there's little chance for problems there."

"Of course Colonel," Yume said.

"Was there something you wanted?" Miya asked. As interesting as the friendly banter was, she doubted that was the reason the Colonel wanted to speak with them.

"Ah yes, I wanted to thank you again for agreeing to the tournament. The doom and gloom that's hung over the base has been lifted a bit thanks to you," Colonel Mustang said. Improving the morale on the base would allow the men to fight better in the battle to come.

There was one another reason why the tournament had been devised though, one that was kept hidden from the men. It was in preparation for the base attack. When the Sekirei attacked they didn't want any of their men to get bright ideas about trying to be a hero. Once Yume revealed herself to be a Sekirei the men that were brutally beaten by her will quickly realize just how outclassed they were.

Most of them were intelligent to realize that without Yume's demonstration but there were a large number of individuals that needed to have it literally beaten through their thick skulls.

"It was my pleasure."

"I also came to give you your prize. You did place first in the tournament."

"I don't need—" Yume suddenly stopped, her head whipped to the side as she stared across the base.

Miya had adopted a similar pose as she stared into the distance.

"Is everything al—"

"They're here, I can sense the darkness, like shadows crawling across the land," Miya said as she glared at something unseen in the distance.

She and Yume weren't like Hanabi and Naruto, they weren't able to sense Sekirei from a distance. This however was something else entirely. One of the Sekirei they had come here to defeat was using a large amount of their power, it was a foulness that seemed to cling to the air like a poisonous miasma.

It reminded her far too much of the miasma that had decimated her original home.

Considering the profiles they had been given on the two Sekirei that were arriving to attack the base Miya was certain that it was Dynamis's power that they were sensing.

The Colonel didn't question the two anymore. He raised a hand to his earpiece, "This is Colonel Roy Mustang to Command and Control, we have two ravens incoming at seven o'clock. I repeat, two ravens incoming at seven o'clock."

"Yume-san, are you ready?" Miya asked as she peered intently into the distance. She couldn't see anything with her eyes as of yet but she could feel the arrival in the air itself.

"Yes Miya-san," Yume replied as she stretched her fingers and wrists.

"How sure are you about this?" Colonel Mustang suddenly asked them, there was a scowl on his face, "they're saying there's nothing on the radar."

Miya let her actions speak for her as she held her hand out and summoned forth her blade, the legendary Totsuga No Tsurugi. She drew the blade and discarded the sheath to the side.

"Hey Yume! Hayate said…" Alice called out as she jogged towards them. She stopped just shy when she noticed something was wrong, "Whoa, what's going on?"

"Check that damn radar again and sound the alarm!" Colonel Mustang shouted into the ear-piece.

"Yume-san…" Miya said slowly.

"Yes Miya-san, I know, they're using the shadows to cloak their approach," Yume replied.

"Do you see it?"

"Yes, the air is distorted."

"Uhh… should I be reaching for my gun right about now?" Alice asked as she looked around anxiously. Her hand nervously reached for the automatic rifle slung across her chest. Due to the base being on high alert few it was mandatory for all soldiers to walk around in full gear.

"I don't care what your orders are! Sound the damn alarm!" Colonel Mustang shouted, a thick vein had appeared on his head. The hard headedness of the people in the command center were getting to him. He was of half a mind to go up there and sound the alarm himself.

"Yume-san, do it."

"Yes, let's pull them from the shadows and into the light," Yume agreed as she stepped forward. Her palm glowed with a brilliant white light. She took one more step and thrust her palm out, "ETHER BEAM!"

"HOLY SHIT!" Alice cried in surprise out as a massive beam of energy blasted out from Yume's palm. The shockwave and wind generated by the powerful attack caused her to stumble back, almost knocking her off her feet.

The beam of energy ripped across the base, tearing a trench in its wake. It shot past startled groups of men and women alike. It crossed the base in seconds and blasted out past its perimeter.

And slammed into a barrier not a hundred meters out.

The energy beam concaved around the barrier, the energy crawling along the edge. Yume poured more power into the attack, but the barrier held. The energy continued to part, spreading further along revealing just how large it really was.

It was nearly a mile wide.

"Shit, that can hide a lot of troops," Colonel Mustang cursed.

"Miya-san…" Yume trailed off with a frown. Her attack was too dispersed to penetrate the barrier, the energy just flowed around the domed barrier. They needed to use something far more concentrated if they wanted to tear it open.

Miya didn't say anything as she swung her sword. The movement happened so fast that no one saw her move until she was already done. They saw the results however, as a shockwave screamed across the base at several times the speed of sound. There was a massive thunderclap as the shockwave slammed into the barrier, and sheered straight through it.

With Miya's attack greatly weakening the barrier and creating an opening within it Yume's blast was able to overwhelm the rest of it. There was a loud boom as the barrier collapsed upon itself, revealing an entire regiment consisting of tanks, APC's, and troops bearing down on the base. The regiment was being escorted by a dozen attack helicopters.

And out there in front of the battalion were two individuals that radiated power. They could see one clearly at this distance. It was a huge behemoth of a creature, made of pure darkness with dozens of horns all over his body and four arms, two of them were huge hulking monstrosities that dangled down to his feet.

If the people in Command and Control had once ignored Colonel Mustang's order to sound the alarm, they didn't anymore. A clarion siren rang out across the base as every system on the base was suddenly capable of detecting the incoming forces.

"Ya, I think this is a good time to reach for my gun!" Alice said as she hurriedly grabbed her assault rifle and pointed it at the oncoming forces.

"No soldier! Rendezvous with your platoon! That's an order!" Colonel Mustang barked at Alice.

"Yes sir!" Alice quickly replied and bolted across the base towards her barracks, heading away from the oncoming forces.

They knew this attack was coming; they had battle plans drawn up and put in place to make sure everyone was aware of what they needed to do. The actual troop movements were never released, in case there were spies, but everyone knew where they needed to be before the orders started coming in.

"I'll leave Minaka's Sekirei to you two, we'll handle the regular forces," Colonel Mustang said before he too rushed off to meet with his subordinates.

"I'll handle Killer B, take care of Dynamis, Yume-san," Miya said as she darted across the base. She tore off her military uniform, revealing her regular haori and hakama beneath it. If she was going to fight a major battle she wanted to be comfortable.

"Yes, Miya-san," Yume replied as she followed closely behind, tearing off her own army fatigues to reveal her modified disciplinary squad uniform beneath.

With the invading forces cover blown there was no longer any reason to hold fire. Almost before Miya and Yume started for Minaka's Sekirei the battle had begun. The enemy forces opened fired on them and the base forces.

Explosions erupted all around them, flashes of light and fire that burnt the air. Countless bullets whistled past their ears.

The enemy might as well try shooting the moon for all the chance they had of hitting the two powerful Sekirei however. Miya and Yume weaved around the attacks as if they weren't even there, not even slowing down as they did so. To their heightened senses and reflexes the bullets and shells might as well be standing still.

Miya and Yume had made it just over half way there when the enemy Sekirei made their move. It was apparent to all that the standard forces wouldn't be able to deal with two Sekirei.

Miya trained the majority of her focus towards her target, maintaining a bit of her focus to remain aware of her surroundings to make sure that neither Dynamis nor the regular forces surprised her with anything.

Her target, Killer B, was exactly as the profile described him: A tall, hulking dark-skinned man with white hair. His eyes were covered by a pair of armless glasses. He wore dark combat boots with black pants, white combat gloves, and a white breastplate with a single strap that went over his left shoulder. Tied around his forehead was a piece of cloth with an engraved metal plate sewn into it.

What caught her attention the most however was the seven blades that Killer B wielded. She doubted he could put the same amount of strength and power behind each strike that she could, but with seven blades, he didn't really need to.

Her target weaved and spun, sparks flew and pieces of metal scattered in all directions as he cut through several sniper rounds that had been fired at him. Miya took mental note of his movement, it was definitely unorthodox.

Explosions erupted behind him and amidst the oncoming troops as the base defenses began to fire back upon the attackers.

She cut her sword across in front of her as she ran towards her target. The air rippled and split as a powerful shockwave tore through the air. It was a shockwave powerful enough to tear battleships in half.

But it might as well be nothing to Killer B as he cut through the center of the shockwave like it was nothing more than dead air. With its form disturbed the shockwave weakened and disappeared before it managed to reach the regiment behind.

Killer B went on the offensive. He spun in random and unpredictable ways, his seven swords cutting the air from every angle. He looked like a circus clown entertaining an audience, but no one would think that for long. A torrent of miniature, razor sharp blades of lightning infused wind hurtled out from that ridiculous dance, all heading for Miya.

Miya began to dance herself as she weaved between the blades of wind, moving with a grace few could match. She could see blades of wind, follow their movements, and avoid them. While they were faster, larger, and more deadly than the bullets before, they were nothing she couldn't handle.

In mid-dance she swung her sword a second time, using her movements to enhance the speed at which she cut the air. Another shockwave rippled out from the tip of her blade. It shattered the air, cutting through Killer B's offensive.

Killer B moved to intercept the attack but stopped short as the shockwave tore into the street just in front of him. Miya wasn't foolish enough to use the same attack twice. Her opponent had already shown that he was capable of stopping a head-on attack.

An explosion of dust, dirt and asphalt erupted from street that Killer B had just reached, completely concealing everything in the vicinity. The powerful shinobi jumped back to put some distance between him and the smokescreen.

That moved saved his life as a long blade cut through the screen of dust, slashing through the space where he had just been.

"That was uncool, but I see you're no fool!" Killer B rapped as he landed and settled back into a battle stance.

"I'm going to have to ask you to die," Miya said as she emerged with from the cloud of dust. Her mouth was set into a thin, expressionless line as she stared at Killer B without emotion.

Gone was the landlady that had taken care of Izumo Inn for all those years. Here was the head of the first disciplinary squad that had slaughtered thousands and had felt nothing.

"You think you can defeat me? I'm afraid I don't agree. I am Killer B and I'm gonna turn you into an amputee!"

Miya had at first thought her Ashikabi had exaggerated on Killer B's mode of speech. Now she knew that he wasn't. He rapped everything, and he was horrible.

That was just one more reason to cut him down, to spare the rest of the world his horrible way of speaking. Naruto had asked her to spare him if she could, but she wasn't going to do that. He was a threat, to her, to her Ashikabi, to the people of this nation, and to her own feathers.

"Amputee? What an interesting idea," Miya said as she readied her blade, "I suggest you cease your resistance, struggling will only make it hurt more," she said coldly as she raised her sword once more.

"You may be just like me, but you're not a jinchuriki, I am the Lord Hachibi!"

"The Hachibi is mine now, and I belong to Naruto-kun, that makes him Naruto-kun's. You, you are nothing more than a faded relic from an age long since passed. Your time is over. I will not let you stand against my Ashikabi."

"Naruto is cool, but he is a fool for fighting the foo!"

Their conversation was interrupted when an explosion of light and darkness erupted to the side of the two combatants. The fight between Dynamis and Yume was starting to heat up.

The same could be said for everyone else as well. Both sides gave the Sekirei a wide berth, neither wanting to get in the middle of either of those titanic conflicts. Instead they concentrated on each other. Minaka's forces had the element of surprise and as a result had taken out several structures and some of the bases defenses before they had been able to mount a counter-attack.

However the base wasn't unprepared and had quickly rallied. Plans that had been drawn up long before the assault were put into motion. With Minaka's Sekirei completely tied up, they were free to concentrate on an enemy they could actually fight on even terms.

The two powerful sword masters stared at one another. There was less than five meters between them, a distance that could be covered in an instant. Neither moved, gauging the other, as they waited for the most opportune time to strike.

That time came suddenly and without warning. The ground between them exploded as a tank round slammed into it. A cloud of fire and dust billowed into the air, concealing them from one another.

The wind howled as Totsuga No Tsurugi split the air. A powerful diagonal shockwave sheered through the explosion. The smoke and fire billowed out to either side of the attack before it was sucked in behind by the vacuum it created in its passing.

Miya's strike nothing, but it did give her enough warning. She weaved to the side as the original eight-tail host come shooting out of the cloud, spinning through the air like a buzz saw. She could feel the wind brush across her face, disturbed by his movements, as he spun past her.

She wasn't able to capitalize on Killer B's mistake as he instantly changed course and came at her again like a tornado of blades. Miya quickly shifted to the defensive as she did her utmost to dodge and parry Killer B's attacks whenever she could.

Her eyes constantly darted back and forth as she looked for any form of opening she could exploit. It was difficult to say the least. Killer B not only had strength and speed, but his movements were unpredictable due to his weapon style. It didn't help things that she felt small electric shocks whenever she blocked one of his blades. If it weren't for her physical fortification due to being a Sekirei she was certain her limbs would have quickly become numb.

The two continued to dance around one another for several minutes, Killer B continuing to press his advantage while Miya stayed on the defensive. To outsides they were nothing more than a blur of color as they moved faster than most humans were capable of perceiving naturally.

A burning attack helicopter suddenly interrupted their fight, the men inside were either dead or screaming in pain as the fire ate at their flesh. The pilot, the only one still coherent, drove the ruined helicopter straight at Miya.

The power Sekirei reacted instantly, she slid across the ground like it was ice and grabbed the tail of helicopter. With a grunt of exertion Miya snapped her arms around. The helicopter's forward motion was instantly halted as it was whipped through the air, straight at Killer B.

The large swordsman spun into the burning helicopter, his swords flashing all about him. The helicopter was cut to pieces as Killer B carved a path through the burning wreckage. The burning vehicle detonated as the fuselage caught fire.

Miya dodged the flaming shards of metal and dove straight towards the center of the explosion. Her eyes narrowed as she saw what Killer B was trying to do.

Her sword flashed through the air a dozen times in an instant.

There was a sonic boom and the air was instantly cleared. Powerful shockwaves sent all the fire, smoke and debris hurtling away from her at supersonic speeds.

"Why would do that? Saving them was where I was at!"

Killer B was the only one that hadn't been affected by her attack. He stood on one foot, glaring dangerously at Miya. He didn't seem particularly pleased with her actions. Just a few meters behind him were the ruined bodies of two soldiers.

She didn't care about his hurt feelings or the fact that he was unscathed by the attack. That attack wasn't meant for him anyways, it had been meant for the two individuals Killer B had been trying to rescue.

"You should worry about yourself before you worry about others," Miya said as she shot towards Killer B once more. "It's time to end this," Miya said suddenly and shifted the grip on her sword.

"You can't be done! I haven't had my fun! And pay you must for what you have done!" Killer B said as he whirled through the air like a top and spun around to Miya's side.

"No, it's over," Miya said as she disappeared, shooting through the whirlwind of steel in an instant.

Miya reappeared several meters behind Killer B, blood-stained sword in hand. Her arrival was accompanied by the sound of shattered steel. She swiped the blade through the air, whipping the blood off it, and slowly turned to face her opponent.

There was a thud nearby as an arm landed on the ground. Killer B stood there, silent as he glanced at his missing left arm. Raining down around him was the shattered remains of four of his blades, including the two previously wielded by the severed arm.

"I see, so this is what you mean!" Killer B said as a massive wound opened up across his back, spraying blood into the air. He stumbled, fell to his knees and keeled over onto his stomach.

Miya had struck three times in rapid succession. The first had shattered his blades, the second had taken his arm, and the third and torn open a mighty gash in his back, one deep enough to sever his spine.

"You were stronger than most," Miya admitted as she casually made her way over to the downed man. She wiped some of Killer B's blood from her face, her entire front was covered in his blood, "But you've never fought a Sekirei before, have you?" she asked as she glanced at her own injuries.

They were mild compared to what she inflicted. The left sleeve of her haori was gone and several small rivulets of blood dripped down her arm. It was numb as well, she couldn't feel her fingers, she could barely move them. The lightning from the blades had fried her nerves momentarily. There were several other cuts in her clothing, a couple across her abdomen, and three in her hakama, each accompanied by thin red lines that bled lightly. A few of her muscles were torn and twisted, but she had done that to herself.

She had taken some damage, but nothing a good night's rest wouldn't take care of.

"What did you… conceal? Was I… cutting steel?" Killer B rapped.

"Your blades are weak, you are weak, your defense lies entirely in your offense, but if your opponent can withstand your offense, you lose, as you did just now," Miya said as she stopped just above her former opponent.

Miya realized something critical during her analysis of Killer B's movements. His unique fighting stance and way of holding his blades meant he couldn't put a lot of muscle behind each strike. The real force of the strike came from his momentum and the elemental enhancements imbued within his blades.

Had he been fighting anyone but a Sekirei whose body is naturally enhanced by chakra, he would have cut right through them like butter. Her body however was enhanced a great deal, far more than any of her charges. In addition she had managed to read his movements after several minutes of fighting. She had timed his whirlwind attack and had moved with it, reducing the impact felt by the blades by rotating her body in the same direction as he was moving. As a result Killer B's strikes could not penetrate very deeply into her body.

It hadn't easy, she had to turn different parts of her body at different speeds. Killer B was a master of adjusting the tempo and rhythm of his attack on the fly. She had been forced to injure herself to make her body react the way it needed to.

"I see, take care of… ol' eight tails for me, he… can get… real… lonely…" Killer B said, gasping out his last words.

"I will," Miya said softly.

Killer B grunted an acknowledgement and with one last shuddering breath, died.

With Killer B taken care of she turned her attention to Dynamis with the intent to aid Yume in her fight. However she quickly realized that her aid wouldn't be required. Yume had that situation well in hand.

The Sekirei of Fate had learned some new tricks since the last time Miya had seen her battle.

Yume's arms were stretched out to either side. Her hands were completely encased in bright white light. From the light countless spheres of energy shot out, each one attached to her hand by a strand of energy half as thick as the sphere itself. She was consciously controlling the spheres through the strands of energy, having them dip and weave around Dyanmis' defenses to bombard him from all sides.

Explosion after explosion ripped out from Dyanmis as Yume's attacks continued to find their mark. One of Miya's eyebrows rose as cracks started to appear in Dynamis' hide. The cracks continued to spread and grown until they covered the entire body. With a soundless detonation the demonic body shattered like glass. Miya caught a brief glimpse of a man amidst the shards of darkness before he became consumed by Yume's assault.

Turning her attention away from Dynamis she focused on the attacking army. The battle was nearing its end. The invading force was slowly being pushed back. Minaka's forces had managed to take a few buildings but cruise missiles had quickly reduced those buildings to flaming rubble. The rest of the forces were slowly retreating the way they had come.

Without the element of surprise or their Sekirei to back them, the assault was quickly faltering. They had not expected Miya and Yume to be there, having their cloak detected and destroyed before they had even made it to the base had set them back greatly.

"Tanks, I don't like tanks," Miya murmured as she stared at the retreating army. Tanks brought back bad memories from months past.

She settled the back of her blade against her hip, pointing it behind her. With a quick half-step forward she swung her blade across in front of her. The tip of the blade split the air and a massive shockwave rushed across the battlefield.

The retreating army had only moments to register what happened before the shockwave ripped through them, tearing apart tanks, armored cars, and men with equal ease. And unlike her attacks against Killer B, there was nothing to stop it, or even slow it down.

When the shockwave finally dissipated two miles out over ninety percent of the remaining forces had been annihilated and a dull silence filled the air. Both sides had stopped shooting at each other, one out of sheer amazement, and the other because the only people that could still fight, suddenly felt surrendering was a better option.

"Miya-san..." Yume trailed off softly as she came up beside her.

"Oh my, I seemed to have let my emotions get the best of me," Miya said, looking slightly startled as she held a hand up to her mouth. The landlady was back now. Miya glanced over at Yume and gave her a smile, "Did you have any trouble?"

Yume shook her head, "I learned my lesson the last time I played around with someone that could control shadows and darkness," she replied.

"I see you killed him," Miya said as she glanced past the Sekirei of Fate towards the smoking crater that held the ruined and mangled body of Dynamis. There wasn't very much left of him, Yume had made sure that there was no way he was going to get back up from her assault.

Yume coughed uncomfortably, "Ah, well, for love to flourish, sometimes those that hinder love need to be removed."

Miya closed her eyes and let out a small laugh, "It seems Naruto-kun's influence has changed you some," she said. She wasn't sure if she approved of the change or not. Yume's prior outlook wasn't very realistic, but it had been nice to have someone who could always see the good in others, no matter how bad they appeared to be.

The sound of a rapidly approaching vehicle suddenly caught their attention. The two of them of them turned and saw a light armored vehicle, a Komatsu LAV rapidly approaching them. It was a small personnel carrier armored with bullet-proof glass and rotational armor plates. This one didn't have any weapons mounted on the top of it like most did.

The Komatsu came to a stop just a couple meters away. Yume and Miya stared at it curiously, wondering why it was there. The front passenger side door opened and the base Commander, Major General Olivier, stepped out of the vehicle. Colonel Mustang quickly followed, climbing out of the rear passenger side door.

"Good work," the General said as she approached the two Sekirei, "I have to admit, I had some doubts, but it seems you two lived up to the expectations set."

"Oh my, I am honored that a General had such high expectations of a simple land lady such as myself," Miya said as she covered her mouth with injured hand and let out an amused chuckle.

"A simple land lady, you say?" General Olivier asked curiously and glanced past the two Sekirei at the devastation Miya had wrought on the retreating army. Her own forces had surrounded the remnants of the defeated army and were rounding up the survivors. "Right…"

None of them believed it for an instant.

"Miya, your sheath," Colonel Mustang said as he stepped forward and presented the sheath Miya had discarded.

"Thank you, Colonel," she said as she accepted the sheath. She sheathed her blade and held it at arm's length for a moment. There was a flicker and the sword disappeared, returning to its seal on her body.

"Come, the two of you deserve some rest. I'll have the cooks prepare something for you to eat and we'll see that your arm is taken care of," the General said as she beckoned the two of them to follow her to the Komatsu.

"We really should be getting back to Naruto-kun," Yume said as she made to follow the General.

General Olivier gave the two a side-long glance, "I'm almost tempted to coax you two away from that man but I know how loyal Sekirei can be towards their Ashikabi," she said with a dry look on her face. "Anyways, we've already sent a coded message to Councillor Naoki. He'll inform Uzumaki Naruto of the success down here."

"Well, in that case I see no reason to refuse, I accept," Miya said graciously and headed for the vehicle.

~o~

"Humph, stupid fools didn't even last long enough for me to get here," Evangeline said as she stared down at the battlefield. She was floating almost a mile above the ground, cloaked with her chakra. A wicked grin crossed her face as she watched Yume and Miya get into the Komatsu, "Not that I'd have helped anyways. I was told to come down here and back them up. Who 'them' were was never specified."

Never mind that it wasn't specified because it was assumed that she would know whom Darui was talking about. She would just have to say that she came too late to aid them on account of their pathetic performance. Which wasn't exactly a lie either; they hadn't even last ten minutes.

She could get revenge; wipe out the entire base and both Sekirei. She could do it, she was above both of them combined and the military forces. However they had orders to leave Miya alive and Evangeline had to admit she tended to get a little carried away when she really got into something. Plus, there was no need to let Orochimaru in on the full extent of her capabilities. Jack Rakan may be content to flaunt his everything, but she enjoyed keeping things hidden. No need to let Orochimaru know that his 'slave' wasn't as enslaved as he thought she was.

She glanced over at Dynamis' corpse and looked at it in contempt, "Besides, I owe her a little, there can only be one Lord of Darkness, and that's me. She saved me the trouble of erasing that nuisance."

With one last glance at the departing LAV Evangeline turned and flew back north, to the gem that she was polishing.

x~X~x

"This is it soldiers, our final target!" the GLAM said as he peered through the view hole of the tank towards the base in the distance.

They were in Hokkaido this time, taking out Orochimaru's sole stronghold in the region. It was a large base, larger than the last one. What's worse was that this base had a large number of aerial assault vehicles such as fighter jets and helicopters. It would make attacking the base almost certainly suicide, even while using their previous tactics.

"Are we really assaulting this base by ourselves?" the RO asked in concern.

"Yes soldier, we are! And we shall go down in glorious battle!" the GLAM said with a fist pump. "Fuck!" the GLAM cursed as his smashed his knuckles into the roof of the tank.

"Why don't you come up with a plan like last time?" the RO asked the driver.

"Plan? For this? Not happening, unless someone knows how to grow wings and fly," the driver said as he stared bitterly at the controls in front of him.

"Let's just get in there and blow shit up!" the gunner shouted as he juggled several of the explosive seals.

"There will be enough of that once we start, just wait!" the GLAM said as he snapped at the gunner, "And put those things down, you're scaring me, you're liable to blow us up before we even start!"

"Hah! I'd never dro-whoops!" the gunner said as he lost one of the explosive seals.

"You idiot!" the RO screamed as he dove for the explosive, barely catching it before it hit the floor of the tank. The entire tank had been reinforced with chakra to allow it to take extra hits. The chakra infused into the tank had the ability to ignite the explosive tags.

"Ah, hah, sorry, I'll put these back," the gunner said as he hurriedly put the rest of the explosives into their container.

"If only we had some way of pointing the turret of the tank high enough to shoot the helicopters and jets…" the RO mused as he desperately tried to come up with a plan. Even though he was a clone he didn't feel like dying in a fiery ball of death.

They had a 2/0 record so far, he wanted to keep it perfect until the end.

"I could always do a wheelie on the back treads again," the driver said with a shrug.

"Not happening, I can't shoot shit when you do that, the back blast would drive us into the ground," the gunner disagreed.

"Holy shit he said something intelligent! We're screwed!" the RO gasped in horror.

"Hey!"

"Enough! Unless any of you have any 'intelligent' ideas we're going with the previous plan and dying in a blaze of glory!" the GLAM said.

"Barneyzilla?" the driver asked without much enthusiasm. The memory of the prank the Kurama clones had done had crossed his mind for some reason.

"Barneyzilla? I said INTELLIGENT ideas! Why would you… Why… You…" the GLAM stopped.

All four of them slowly looked at one another, their eyes widening at the same time. Four evil grins suddenly sprung up inside the tank.

~o~

"General Yoshitsune! I'm getting a call from Hokkaido Base," Corporal Lee called out.

"Corporal, this had better be good. I have my hands full dealing with the disaster that happened in Okinawa!" General Yoshitsune said as he made his way over to the communications officer. "What do they want?"

"They're requesting backup, here, I'll put it on speaker phone," Corporal Lee said as he tapped a few buttons on the console in front of him.

"Hokkaido Base, this is General Yoshitsune, what is your situation?"

"OH THANK KAMI! We need help! Support! EVERYTHING!" A panicked voice cried out over the communication system.

"Calm down and relay the situation to me," General Yoshitsune said.

"We're under attack! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!"

"Yes, I kind of figured that out already, who is attacking you? What's the size and position of their forces?" The general said as he tried to get something concrete from the man on the line.

"There's only one! We're being attacked by… oh kami what the hell did it just shit out…? IT'S SHITTING BOMBS!" They could almost hear the tears dripping off the man's face.

"Tell me what 'it' is! Is it a Sekirei?"

"NO! IT'S BARNEY!"

The General blinked in surprise. He shook his head and cleaned out his ears, "Could you please repeat that again? I think I may have misheard you," he asked, wondering if he was beginning to hallucinate again like he had with base Parcho.

"BARNEY IS ATTACKING US! Oh kami, it's horrible! WHY!?"

"You're being attacked by a purple dinosaur…" The general asked, his voice trailing off in disbelief.

They heard a massive explosion in the background followed by a multitude of panicking voices. "OH KAMI HE'S QUAD WIELDING! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!"

"Pull up the video feeds," The general commanded Lee. Obviously they weren't going to get anything useful from the man on the line. He needed to see the situation to get an actual feel for what was going on.

"Most of the feeds are down sir," Lee said as he quickly flipped through the cameras, "Ah! Found one!" he said as he located a functional camera. With a few more taps on the console the image appeared on the overhead display.

General Yoshitsune instantly regretted giving that command. If he had thought the previous attack on Base Parcho was bad, this went from bad to plain madness.

Because right there, in the very center of the base, was the stuff that nightmares were made from.

No, he couldn't even say that. What he was witnessing there made nightmares curl up into tiny balls of cry themselves to sleep in envy.

Barney could scare the most battle hardened of soldiers; a two hundred foot tall Barney would leave scars that would never heal. A two-hundred foot tall fire-breathing Barney would make sure you had nightmares for the rest of your life.

A two-hundred foot tall fire-breathing Barney with four battle tanks strapped to its arms, two on its tail, with laser beams blasting from its eyes, and shitting bombs out its ass could scare the crazy out of the insane.

"Umm… Sir… I really want to cry in a corner right about now…" Corporal Lee whimpered as he stared straight into the face of horror itself.

"Ah…" The General was at a loss for words.

"HELP! WE NEED BACKUP!" the voice came back over the communication line. The General was about to respond when something absolutely ludicrous just happened. The General's eyes widened in shock, "OH KAMI! BARNEY JUST THREW A TANK!"

"Sir… did… did Barney just materialize a tank from nothing and throw it at that fighter jet?"

"A tank that had four identical naked blonde men pelvic thrusting on the roof and giving everyone the finger as they flew past?"

"Yes Sir…"

General Yoshitsune hit a button on the console, disconnecting the communication line between them and the base. "No, we didn't just see that," he said, although he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself of that fact than the Corporal.

"Sir… can I go cry in the corner now?"

"Yes Corporal, and then head home, take the rest of the month off as well," the General said as he stepped away from the console.

"Thank you Sir," Corporal Lee said as he stood up and bolted for the darkest corner he could find.

The General turned to address the rest of the room, strong men and women all of them, who were now as equally traumatized as he and the communication's officer. "All of you, head home and take the day off. And someone get me Councillor Naoki, tell him we surrender. We can't take any more of this… It doesn't matter what Emperor Minaka does to us, it can't be worse than that," he said, pointing at the now dark video display.

No one dared to argue or refute his order. No one even wanted to.

---

Author's Note: For those that want to know how Karasuba is now dressed? Check out Revy from Black Lagoon. Same outfit, minus the gun holsters.

By the way, 'Immortality' does not mean 'Invulnerability.' It's possible to live forever, but still be capable of dying due to sickness or injury. Also, I don't expect people to pick up on who all six immortals are. In fact aside from Eva and Orochimaru I don't expect the majority of you to pick up on anyone else.

And yes, I KNOW Lightning and Wind don't get along, but Killer B is just that OP. Also, I tried to stay true to his style of speech but I don't think I can ever match the sheer level of cheese and ridiculousness he manages to pull off in the manga. I probably failed horribly, but trying and failing is better than not trying at all.

As for Dynamis, no battle, he really is just fodder, meant to occupy Yume's attention while Miya fought Killer B.

Btw, 'General Olivier' is from the same anime as Colonel Mustang, that should give you a hint as to who she is.

Yuuchi's Jutsu:

Kasoke Tai Ridatsu - (Astral Projection) – This technique separates the mind from the body allows the user to use their spirit to move through their surroundings. One of the benefits of this technique is that you're invisible to all save those with the Byakugan. Other chakra sensing abilities and techniques will simply know something is there, but not what it is. The downside of the technique is that it leaves the body open and vulnerable to attack.

*Note: I have no clue if the Japanese phrase is correct. If someone knows what it SHOULD actually be please let me know so I can update it.