Chapter Eight
Dark clouds started to gather slowly on the sky blocking most of the luminous sun rays from reaching the open field laid within the forest. It wasn't rainy clouds most likely because the wind breeze was quite calm. Kyuseishu never expected to encounter that guy here and it took him almost one minute to fully grasp that reality. when they both stood facing each other, Kyuseishu eyed him closely for a couple of seconds attempting to read his thoughts and what he was probably up to through the expressions that he was displaying over his face.
"... Raph?!"
He stuttered lowly as he stared at him for an extended moment of time. The other young chunnin who landed a few meters in front of Kyuseishu replied with a malicious smirk, not shifting his valiant glare away from him.
"Yes, it's me... Are you surprised to see me here or something?"
"...What are doing doing here!?"
Kyuseishu questioned after some time of self debating.
'Did he follow me all the way up to this place from Konoha without me even being able to notice him? But how...?'
He thought to himself, trying to maintain his calmness because to get interrupted by one of his old comrades wasn't a quite predictable scenario to him.
"!"
His eyelashes twitched suddenly as he remembered the moment when he tossed his coat aside before proceeding to seal Katsumi.
'It can't be...'
"Kyuseishu... If you want to continue running away from the village, you have to get through me first!
Raph said bluntly, stopping Kyuseishu's train of thoughts as he glared at him with confident look. He was roughly shorter than Kyuseishu with some inches but they both had almost the same general body shape though Raph had more furious look which revealed that he was short tempered and his dark brown eyes were naturally filled with malicious seriousness. Two small dark spots were circling his both eyes and his Hidden Leaf forehead protector was wrapped around his forehead with the metal part of it loosened a little bit over the right upper half of his head. His hair was brownish and silky but some of it's locks were covering the entire left upper half of his head including his left eyebrow. He observed Kyuseishu longer before adding with rigorous voice.
"... It's still not too late for you to return and ask forgiveness from the Hokage, you know... But if you follow your rockhead and refuse to return willingly, I will need to use force against you."
Kyuseishu could hear the confidence on Raph's voice which made him feel that Raph was really determined to fulfill his threat no matter what. That means another battle for him which will raise the chances of him getting tracked down by Konoha's ANBU squads even if he manages to get rid of this guy, but not if he does that as quick as possible. His eyebrows were constantly twitching as he continued to stare at the other male cautiously, knowing that he shouldn't take his threat lightly.
"You know I'm not going to go back to Konoha after getting this far from it... Anyhow, did you trail me from the village to this point only to say that nonsense? Plus... Do you seriously think that you are capable of stopping me right here? Heh, attempting to stop me now won't be useful for you so go back to the village and say Hi to the Hokage on my behalf."
Kyuseishu said with blunt sarcasm. Raph sighed softly and narrowed his eyes against him as he murmured.
"You are taking me lightly as ever, don't you? I will stop you and I am capable of doing it because if I wasn't confident on myself, I wouldn't dare to try... You moron."
He suddenly stomped his foot onto the ground and dashed towards Kyuseishu with full speed before swiftly launching his right leg in the air towards the side of Kyuseishu's head who winced at the sudden outrage but he quickly blocked the kick with his right upper arm. He simultaneously took one step back with his left foot to steady himself upon the ground in order restrain Raph's momentum.
"!"
Raph used his high agility and flipped back suddenly leaving Kyuseishu in a temporary astonishment because he tought that Raph would aim to land another assaults but instead, Raph landed upside-down on his opened palms just mere feets in front of Kyuseishu who instantly rose his guards over his face expecting another attack to come from Raph's side. Once landing upside-down, Raph immediately stretched his both legs flat in Kyuseishu's direction and unleashed a barrage of rapid kicks at his jaw wildly.
"Guu..."
Kyuseishu gasped as he narrowed his eyes while receiving most of the kicks with his both forearms which he folded over his chest defensively although he never predicted such a furious attack right from the beginning. But an ultimate kick made him fly off his feet skyward.
'Damn it... Is he serious?'
Raph smirked, displaying a smug glare in his eyes as he used his hands pressed onto the ground and pushed himself upwards in the same direction that Kyuseishu was sent flying in.
"You jerk! The Hokage already declared you as Missing-nin so I'll have to stop you now by myself from drowning more in the dark path that you chose to walk!"
He shouted nervously. Kyuseishu maintained his arms on a defensive position while receiving another barrage of powerful kicks on his stomach and other regions of his body repeatedly which made him forcibly fly higher into air without even getting a chance to evade the assault or fight back. He growled faintly, feeling that some wounds from his former battle started to open up again under the hard kicks even with his desperate attempts to guard his body against them but he suddenly widened his eyes as an alarm signalled inside his brain made him instantly figure out Raph's true intention behind pushing him as high as possible from the ground.
'Impossible! Is he trying to perform the Primary Lotus Technique...?'
Kyuseishu whispered to himself, knowing that he should start taking the other male's attacks seriously or he'd get surely beaten up. He quickly lifted up his arms above his head, thinking of a possible method to stop the continuous barrage of kicks rather than dodging them because it was impossible for him now to shift his momentum in another direction. The powerful kicks on his stomach and the bottom part of his chest made him cough out blood from his mouth before accepting the most powerful kick on his chin from the heel of Raph's sandal which forced him to faint for a moment as he groaned lowly.
"Argh!"
Soon, They both started to fall back towards the ground due to the gravity force.
"I am not done with you yet!"
Yelling Raph, he cocked an eyebrow as he took advantage of Kyuseishu's temporary faint and suddenly wrapped his both arms around the male's torso firmly from behind before proceeding to spin around in mid air like a missile with both their heads now pointed towards the ground. He simultaneously curled his both legs tightly around Kyuseishu's legs to prevent him from struggling and ensure the effectiveness of his technique.
"Hmph!"
Kyuseishu snickered nervously as he recovere his consciousness only to find that he was spinning forcibly around himself with enormous speed while falling downwards with his head pointed directly towards the ground.
"!"
He tensed up anxiously, feeling like his jaw was about to blast off from the extreme pressure of the air on him due to the rapid spinning motion. He instantly realised that less than five seconds were probably left before he crashes his head against the ground with this current speed so he had to react immediately to prevent that from happening but Raph was grabbing him tightly although his both arms were still free. so without thinking he stretched his right arm in the opposite direction of their falling trajectory and firmly grasped the ankle of Raph's right leg with his hand before quickly shoving backwards the elbow of his free arm, elbowing Raph's forehead behind him violently forcing the latter to loosen the grip on him slightly as he growled from the unexpected hit and widened his eyes nervously but he never stopped spinning around deliriously.
"?!"
Raph winced again as Kyuseishu managed to grab a hold of his other ankle while their spinning motion almost stopped. using an added strength, Kyuseishu yanked Raph's both legs from around his own legs before dragging his whole body down, freeing himself but instead of letting him fall to the ground, he swiftly shoved up his both knees and thrusted them hard against Raph's stomach before quickly grasping Raph's head with his both feet without letting go of his ankles. He then rolled around himself before simultaneously releasing Raph's head and ankles and tossing him skyward with enough power to make him fly dozens of meters on vertical trajectory in the air away from Kyuseishu who continued to fall normally towards the ground.
"Aho!"
Raph flipped around himself in the air like a wheel as he flew upwards forcibly before he finally retrieved his temporary balance in the air with his head pointed down.
"Hngh!"
He whimpered feeling like his ears were torn off but without thinking, he pressed his index and middle fingers of the same hand against each other and lifted them across his lips while glaring down towards Kyuseishu with extreme wrath.
"DO YOU CONSIDER EVERYONE YOU KNOW IN THE VILLAGE YOUR FOE NOW?! I AM THE BURNING IN YOUR THROAT BEFORE YOU SWALLOW THE TERRIBLE REALITY YOU CHOSE!"
He shouted out and inhaled a deep breathe before suddenly expelling from his mouth a large steam of red flames in a shape of a massive ball of fire headed towards Kyuseishu who eventually rose his head up in Raph's direction only to widen his eyes shockingly as he noticed the incoming bursts of flames assaulting him directly from above. He quickly cupped his arms over his face realising that there was no chance for him to evade getting caught with those flames due to the fact that he was still in the air and unable to move sideways to dodge.
"Shit!"
The red flames engulfed Kyuseishu's body completely in a term of seconds, covering him from the sight as soon they hit the ground, the bursting flames started to travel viciously in different directions upon the open field before sticking to some of the nearby trees and bushes to devour them slowly.
Raph eventually landed onto a high branch of a random tree located away from the flames range he rested his right hand on the trunk beside him as he panted lightly, his face was sweating and his left fist was clutched. He started to scan closely with his eyes the open field below him that received the major damage by the flames of his fireball.
"..."
He remained silent for seconds but he soon narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he failed to spot any minor trace of Kyuseishu but he continued to observe the environment around him hoping to find a clue about Kyuseishu's fate after getting engulfed by the flames mid-air.
"What's going on? Where did he fall?! I'm quite sure that my fireball assaulted him directly so his body should have fallen somewhere close... But I can't sense his presence anymore... Is he killed for real?
He murmured to himself as he lifted his hand off the trunk heavily and planted it on his hip before looking downwards at his feet with slight irritation.
"Or did he run away? No, he is not that coward... He actually didn't have time for that plus I would've noticed him right away if he tried to run away..."
He whispered with unsure voice as he tilted his head down slightly... A white hare suddenly leaped into a small bush trying to find a shelter for itself from the greedy flames that continued to eat everything in it's way. Raph winced anxiously as his ears picked up the rustle and looked towards the bush that the sound of the rustle came from assuming that it was Kyuseishu but he soin realised that it was just a small animal from the forest's inhabitants. He sighed briefly as he looked to the side and lowered his eyelids before muttering faintly to himself.
"... Kyuseishu... You wanted this end... I warned you not to take me lightly... It was better for you to die here anyways before you can progress further in your messed up plans..."
``Don't try to overestimate yourself...``
Raph suddenly tensed up as he widened his eyes once he heard the mysterious whisper that came from above. He nervously shifted his head up in the direction of the voice to investigate who was standing behind that whisper although he was sure of the familiar voice.
"!"
It was Kyuseishu himself who smirked sarcastically as he glanced down upon Raph with confident look. He was hanging upside down with his feet from a higher branch attached to same tree that Raph stood within.
"... You know nothing about what's happening in the village, so you better stop trying hard to make me accept to live under the rotten rules of the Hokage with my arms crossed... like you and the rest Ninjas in Konoha..."
Kyuseishu said as he planted his hands on his hips. He wasn't certainly affected by the flames because not even a minor bruise could be seen on his skin and his clothes were still intact. That made Raph regard him with disbelief and anger for a while because he was confident that his flames damaged him directly. He furrowed his thick eyebrows and glared sharply at Kyuseishu not wanting to admit his impression by his skill.
"Now, now you're being jealousy and considering us all blind minions to the Hokage? Just what happened to that mind of yours all of a sudden to declare war against everyone on Konoha?!"
He questioned furiously. Kyuseishu sharpened the gaze on his eyes as he felt that he started to lose his temper slowly against Raph.
"I simply don't wanna stay so I'm running away. Come show me what you got up your sleeve to stop me!"
Kyuseishu yelled out as he kicked himself off the branch and dashed downwards towards Raph before throwing a punch with his right fist towards his head once he reached a suitable distance from him. Raph instantly slid one foot backwards onto the tree branch he was standing upon to steady himself as he blocked the punch with his left palm before it could hit his head. He gritted his teeth furiously and glared up at Kyuseishu as he grasped his fist with his palm clutched.
"I WON'T LET YOU GET THROUGH ME!"
Kyuseishu, without shifting from his upside-down position, spun around himself swiftly with his fist pressed onto Raph's palm and instantly threw his other clenched fist towards Raph's face before he finally landed down with his left foot upon the same branch just two inches in front of Raph's feet.
"Heh!"
But unexpectedly, Raph leaned his head to the right side dodging the punch which passed beside his left ear with one inch. He simultaneously released Kyuseishu's right fist and quickly thrusted his own right fist forward towards the male's stomach once the other landed in front of him.
"Huraaa!"
Kyuseishu's eyes lit up suddenly with a fiery glare as he flicked back the elbow of his left arm, which Raph managed to dodge a second ago, and elbowed the back of his neck harshly forcing his head to bend forward as he quickly stopped the punch aimed for his stomach with his free opened palm. Raph's eyes gleamed with rage as he suddenly lifted his head back up and shoved it towards Kyuseishu's forehead giving him a hard headbutt which made Kyuseishu lose his balance temporarily but he quickly pulled his left arm away from Raph's head and quickly curled his hand into a fist as he snickered loudly, trying to recover his balance on the branch. He threw his curled fist blindly to the left side aiming to distract Raph whilst he quickly establishes another fighting strategy.
Raph widened his eyes a fraction at the surprising punch because he thought that his headbutt was enough to send Kyuseishu flying off the branch but he quickly ducked his head down evading the punch. He simultaneously arched his legs slightly to maintain his own balance and proceed to deliver another blow realising that the one who delivers faster blows is going to win this bout.
"Ooh..."
Kyuseishu pulled back his arm and folded it across his chest once his punch missed Raph's face again but he grinned as he finally discovered an opening on Raph's defences. He spun around himself on one foot before the other makes another reflex and swiftly stretched his free leg flat beyond Raph's head, this allowed him to simultaneously deliver a powerful kick with the back of his feet to the back of Raph's head, sending him violently towards the ground.
"Argh...!"
Raph growled as he tripped forward before falling off the the branch towards the ground but he quickly flipped in the air before he could hit the ground and adjusted his falling trajectory to land safely with a thud. He leaned his upper half a bit forward and crouched down once his feet landed on the soil to restrain the shock produced by the impact.
"Damn it..."
He grumbled as he rose his head up in Kyuseishu's direction and glared at him darkly while touching with his fingertips slightly the large weapon pouch attached to the back of his waist.
"Come here, bastard!"
"Heh, don't get your hopes up in defeating me with your current level."
Kyuseishu muttered and quickly jumped off the tree while picking out a Kunai knife from his weapon pouch before fluently tossing it towards Raph. When he landed on the ground, Raph had already deflected away the Kunai with a Kunai of his own then in a slit of second, they dashed furiously towards each other exchanging an ablaze eye contact. Nobody wanted to hold back.
"What you're doing now is useless!"
Kyuseishu shouted as he continued to run towards Raph watching him dash towards him simultaneously with the same eagerness.
"I am carrying you back with me to Konoha after beating you up half to death, Kyuseishu!"
Raph shouted back as they collided in the center of the open field which got surrounded by the hungry flames from every direction. He held out his both hands, interlocking his fingers with Kyuseishu's fingers firmly as they halted simultaneously crashing their foreheads against each others hard.
"Ugh!" "Argh!"
They groaned surprisingly at the same time because none of them expected that the other would also think to deliver a headbutt but once Raph's fingers interlocked with his, Kyuseishu squashed his forehead more against Raph's as he hissed and clenched his fingers tighter across the male's, attempting to restrain his momentum and push him backwards as a sweat drop rolled down the side of his head while exchanging a fierce eye contact with Raph like if they were trying to read each other's one's thoughts.
"Don't try to show off that you are stronger than what you actually are... Raph you can't beat me!"
Kyuseishu stuttered under his breathe. Raph's eyebrows twitched up slightly but he narrowed his eyes against him and gritted his teeth while arching his legs to steady his feet onto the ground. He felt that the enormous pressure will end up making his fingers shatter if not his forehead. Kyuseishu's smell of sweat reminded him with their old days back in the academy.
"You're being cocky now, huh? Heh, You never changed."
He murmured sarcastically and grinded more against Kyuseishu with his forehead and fingers trying not to grant him a chance to relax. Kyuseishu grunted but he maintained his calm facial features even with the intensive pressure applied on him from Raph's side constantly. They were almost equal on their strengths because none of them even managed to push his adversary an inch back.
"..."
Kyuseishu eventually smirked as he remembered that he had to end this bout quickly before getting spotted by any ANBU trackers. Instead of continuing to grind against Raph, he suddenly loosened up his own pressure on him and pulled back his both arms, dragging Raph's body towards him before untangling their fingers. Raph startled and blinked twice at the sudden shift of pressure but before he recovers his control over his body, Kyuseishu landed a surprising side kick on his chin made him faint momentarily.
"!"
With this temporary advantage he took over the situation, Kyuseishu moved to the left side swiftly as Raph tripped back a bit, trying to recover his balance after the kick he received but Kyuseishu grabbed his right wrist tightly and simultaneously used his right foot to sweep Raph's right leg violently from under him tackling him to the ground.
"AHH!"
Raph snarled nervously but he quickly planted his left foot onto the ground firmly preventing himself from crumbling down at the last second after tripping several feets backwards from his former spot giving Kyuseishu an opportunity to strike again but surprisingly, the latter didn't aim for another strike which gave Raph courage to dash again at him almost immediately before shooting his right fist straight towards his face.
"Hmph!"
Kyuseishu scoffed as he easily caught the fist aimed for him with one hand and simultaneously swung up his left foot with blinding speed smashing it's heel against the joint of Raph's right knee. Raph knelt down on one knee and grumbled faintly although the kick wasn't powerful enough to break his leg but it made him feel that he cannot move it anymore.
"Curse you!"
He growled nervously and glared up at Kyuseishu as he felt that his powers started to weaken from exhaustion. He had to admit to himself that his stamina wasn't that immense compared to Kyuseishu's but it was still too early for him to surrender without trying harder.
"Humph...!"