In Sunagakure, The Village hidden in sand, the atmosphere wasn't as intense as in Konohagakure even after the rumours that spreaded about Katsumi abandoning the village for the sake of a nameless chunnin from the Hidden Leaf. The ancient Kazekage building that towered the rest buildings in the village which was constructed within an enormous sand valley formerly known as the Valley of Death before it gets inhabited since thousands of years back. The unlimited sand masses that surrounded the village from all directions formed a natural barrier against the outsider assaults across the ages. No wonder why the village withstood a long time without being invaded once by a major enemy regardless the very rare occasions when the village had to face a serious threat from the outside.
Since the foundation of the village by the first Wind Shadow 107 years ago and the Kazekage's huge building was still there standing near the centre of the village. The houses that surrounded it looked relatively primitive from the outside compared to the buildings of the Leaf village.
The symbol of the Great Wind Country was emblazoned on the front wall of the building speaking of the strong ties that have been established between the consecutive Kages of the village and the Feudal Lords of the land of Wind which was controlled by the Samurai at that time, nevertheless, the Ninjas had their own independent authority over the land where they settle and the surrounding lands. However, during the history it was never mentioned that a minor clash once happened between the Ninja and the Samurai.
A Jonin male on his 30th wearing the standard Jonin attire of Sunagakure, stepped slowly into a certain room within the Kazekage's building. A large, wooden desk was set in front of the backside wall and the door was half opened the moment the Jonin had stepped in. Some scrolls from different sizes were dumped randomly upon the desk that the Kazekage old man was sitting behind on his wooden chair. A serious expression was adorning his skinny face and he was identifiable by the Kazekage's outfit that he was wearing; The cloak and the hat with blue edges. The only exposed part of his face was his forehead and his narrowed eyes which seemed to be half closed. The buttom half of his face was covered with a black mask that he never takes off. His forehead was filled with minimal wrinkles which existed also around his pale eyes and made him look like if he was in the middle of his 6th decade of age... He was formally addressed as the Sixth Wind Shadow 'Rukodaime Kazekage'
The Jonin male stepped slowly towards the Hokage's desk and bowed his head slightly in front of him as he stood few feets away from of the desk. He held out his right hand to hand a small folded scroll to the Kazekage as he parted his lips and uttered
"Kazekage Sama, the rumours are true... The Kunoichi goes by the name Katsumi was seen following a rogue ninja from Konoha... She is a chunnin registered in the ninja academy of Sunagakure since she was six years old and had passed the chunnin exams two years ago. By the way, That Leaf Ninja has been declared recently as a Missing-Nin by the 9th Hokage himself."
The Kazekage stretched onto his comfortable chair before he reached slowly for the scroll and took it from the Jonin's hand. He shook his head slightly as he unfolded the scroll in front of his eyes and observed it silently for a while.
"... This is a personal letter from the Hokage, I see... He is demanding from us to hand over the Rogue-Ninja Kyuseishu back to Konoha once we capture him... But I don't know why he wants him alive..."
The Kazekage whispered lowly as he kept reading with his expressionless eyes the content of the scroll over and over.
"I think this Kyuseishu is absolutely more dangerous than we all had estimated..."
He murmured and dumped the scroll on the desk then rose up his head slightly to glance forward with doughty look.
"The Hunter-Nin that I sent to assassinate him must have failed in his mission because Kyuseishu is still alive apparently... It's the first time ever that he fails to assassinate someone, even the talented shinobis crumbled down against him so I wonder what happened with him this time? curse him... Well... I think we should focus now on what's going on in our village and leave the Hokage to handle the issues of his own village..."
He spoke and rolled his eyes downwards staring again at the unfolded scroll as he lifted one hand up and rested his elbow on the desk. A heavy sigh escaped his pale lips as he resumed his citation.
"So, her name was Katsumi huh?! ... That Kunoichi has the blood of the former Kazekage's family circling in her veins so she might represent a threat to our village as well if she combines her strengths with that Rogue from Konoha... I might step further personally thwarted their ambitions... I was expecting that she would attempt to arrange such a reckless disobedience on me one day, that's why I recently put her under surveillance before she abandoned the village. Perhaps, she wasn't able to flee without the assistance of that rogue shinobi from the Leaf."
The Wind shadow sighed briefly and folded the scroll back using one hand before looking towards the Jonin male and narrowed his eyes.
"Well it's enough for now to declare her a Missing-Nin then we will see what we can do about her."
He said. The Jonin male nodded his head in obedience and bowed slightly.
"Yes, Sir!"
Kyuseishu squeezed Raph's wrist harshly as he pressed the heel of his right foot firmly against the joint of the male's knee disabling his leg's movements. A smirk crawled into his lips as the other grumbled desperately. he gazed down at him with smug expression.
"... Your right hand is occupied by me and you can't use your right leg so it's over... You know that I am the most talented Chunnin that uses hand to hand combat in the Leaf village? Although you didn't deserve to see my personal fighting style..."
Raph grunted and flailed his right arm trying to free it from the grip as he glared at Kyuseishu with ablaze eyes. He hated his boasting and the way he is still down upon him. It made his blood boil with rage within his veins driving him to seek revenge despite knowing that his chances now were limited.
"Are you done bragging already?"
He snarled and surprisingly flicked his right hand clawing the left side of Kyuseishu's face deeply, leaving four bloody scars on his skin. It was the only way to distract him even for a little bit. Kyuseishu groaned nervously and shook his head as he quickly covered his left eye with his hand. The pain made him feel like if his eye was pulled out from it's socket and he found himself forced to let go of Raph's wrist. Raph instantly took advantage of the opportunity and nuked Kyuseishu's jaw with the edge of his palm mercilessly making him groan loudly. But despite getting his jaw smacked with enough brutality to shatter his entire left jawline, Kyuseishu immediately recovered as he bit his tongue to suppress the pain and swiftly threw a high spinning kick towards Raph's face only to receive an upper leg sweep from him almost simultaneously. For his dismay, His kick missed it's target because Raph had spun around himself once the kick was launched at him and swung his left foot in the air with great flexibility towards the right side of Kyuseishu's head as the latter's kick missed him.
"HO!"
Kyuseishu snickered as he ducked his head down, roughly evading the leg sweep with one inch.
"Huh?!"
But He winced once Raph landed his foot back on the ground and shifted his torso around as he turned a half circle with his feet to grant himself a convenient position to strike again. his upper half was now aligned completely with the ground but he left Kyuseishu behind him giving him an opening.
However, In the fraction of second Raph spent to turn around, Kyuseishu's reflexes were still relatively slow so Raph confident with his plan, quickly thrusted his right foot in the air backwards towards Kyuseishu's face as he leaned his upper half more towards the ground to enhance the kick's strength. The kick was extremely fast and he believed that it would easily leave an enormous hole in a rocky wall but unfortunately, Kyuseishu wasn't relying on his pure reflexes at this point. He narrowed his eyes receiving the backward kick with his well trained arms as he crossed them in the form of the Alphabet X in front of his face. His body had simply reacted on it's own to guard itself from the incoming threat but once the kick made impact with his arms, he quickly captured Raph's foot with his both hands firmly before the other tries to pull it back to him.
He did that to restrain the shock produced by the kick which forced a whimper to slip out from his lips. Raph's foot was heavier than he estimated and he thought that his ribs would've been shattered if the kick was successfully delivered to his chest.
"Hmph... Not bad..."
He whispered under his breathe as soon as his face regained the relaxed expression over it but Raph's facial features soon shifted into a a smug grin as he looked back at Kyuseishu over his shoulder.
"Stop talking down to me!"
He shouted aggressively and suddenly lunged with his left fist towards Kyuseishu without putting any effort to snatch his stuck foot.
"Eat this!"
Kyuseishu smirked as he quickly let go of Raph's foot and blocked the charging fist with his right forearm without remarkable effort before exchanging with him a barrage of rapid punches ended up by Kyuseishu smashing his both palms against Raph's chest roughly caused the latter to trip few feets back.
"You didn't get it!"
Raph slid backwards with his feet onto the ground nearly losing his balance but he managed to steady himself. He had nothing to lose anymore after getting humiliated this badly.
"Hmph!"
He snickers furiously and stomped the ground with his foot like if he wanted to unleash his wrath on the earth. He glared at Kyuseishu darkly but he soon realised that he still didn't use all of his tricks yet so he decided to relax. He curled his lips into a sarcastic grin as he panted lightly.
"Heh... I don't know, you maybe skilled in hand to hand combat more than I... but you didn't see anything yet. It's over now!"
He said and chuckled as he stepped back slowly not shifting his eyes an inch away from Kyuseishu who narrowed his eyes suspiciously trying to analyse Raph's intention silently. he sluggishly started to shake off the dust from his clothes.
"...!"
Raph leaped up in the air and landed swiftly on a high tree branch behind the simmering flames which kept devouring the dry bushes around the open field. A mischievous smirk pulled up the corner of his lips as he glanced down towards Kyuseishu and started to cast a couple of handseals with his hands. [~ Snake Boar Dragon Ram! ~]
"... I remember that you successfully passed the chunnin exams relying only on your Taijutsu. But unfortunately, now I won't give you a chance to use your Taijutsu against me anymore!"
Raph murmured confidently realising that he got no other choice to defeat Kyuseishu except using his secret and ultimate jutsu against him. After finishing the handseals set, he lifted the confrontation seal in front of his chin and fixed his fierce gaze on the dry field around Kyuseishu. The latter's eyebrows twitched up slightly as he continued to observe Raph's moves cautiously with his firm steadfast expression. He felt that a serious threat is going to come from Raph especially after noticing the sudden confidence that he gained in his speech but Kyuseishu preferred not to step an inch away from his current spot until he fully realises Raph's plan.
"... What are you up to now? I could smell the air is filled with the scent of your hatred so you won't come to any result even if you push yourself to it's limits!"
Kyuseishu whispered feeling the tension raising in his veins. Time was not on his favour and the challenge that he bind himself with earlier about finishing this bout as quick as possible wasn't certainly effective anymore but there's still time to end it on his favour before they draw unwanted attention. At least unwanted for him. Raph shrugged as he began to mutter slowly.
"Kyuseishu... You're a trapped rat now! Earth Style- Mud Swamp No Jutsu!"
He stated and grinned arrogantly as he glanced down fiercely at Kyuseishu. The dry field around him began to turn into a clingy mud of swamp all in a sudden.
"It's over!"
Kyuseishu startled and looked downwards nervously towards his feet realising that they started to dive slowly into the sticky ground that turned into a literal mud swamp beneath him within a few seconds.
"What the!?"
He shifted his head back up and looked around shockingly watching the whole open field surrounding him turn into an extremely muddy swamp making his feet stuck in the mud.
"Erk ... Damnit... Can't pull my feet!"
He grumbled as he tensed up more and started to get dismayed feeling like a real trapped rat. Raph chuckled maliciously as he looked down with superiority at him.
"See I am the one looking down upon you now... When you wanted to abandon your comrades and the village that you raised within, I can't just sit around and watch you run away..!"
Kyuseishu's body was trembling all over as he failed to prevent his feet from drowning down into the mud. He glared towards Raph furiously and sighed faintly feeling that he was going to drown in his sweat soon even before getting sucked down entirely by the mud. He had already drowned till his ankles which made it impossible for him to drag himself away now.
"Heh... You are just trying to hold me down now as always.. Your methods never really change..."
He stuttered and gasped while panting heavily. He felt that his strengths started to fade away from his grip but that wasn't enough to make him surrender yet.
"Ugh.. You can't even contain me knowing all the truth I've found which drove me to follow this way."
Raph arched a single eyebrow confusedly and shrugged his shoulders.
"What the heck are you talking about? It's no use to speak now because your words don't affect me in any way.. I am taking you back with me to the village as I promised. You forced me to use power against you."
Kyuseishu gritted his teeth furiously as a sweat drop rolled down his forehead. He growled faintly and sharpened his eyes with ablaze glare against Raph. The clingy mud swamp already sucked him down until his knees making his body shudder like if he had been strucked with an electrical shock.
"Urgh! Don't think that you already got me.. You missed what I am about... I earned my way out and ignorant people like you won't understand my ideology even if they were granted to live forever!"
Kyuseishu shouted out as his eyes gleamed frighteningly with a piercing glare.
"... If I stay in Konoha, things will get worse in the end so not even the Hokage himself can stop me!"
He added rigorously and casted the ram handseal as a white mystical particles suddenly started to gather in the air around Raph's body who remained unware until the particles started to materialise into a large sized spider which eventually grabbed a hold of Raph's body from behind, firmly binding his limbs before he could even notice the threat. Raph was putting his full attention on his Swamp of Mud forgetting to keep his guards up.
"!?"
He blinked surprisingly feeling weird smooth skin caressing his limbs harshly which made him roll his eyes to the corner to stare awfully at the creepy white spider that captured him with it's eight limbs.
"Waaaa-"
He screamed with panic as his body started to jerk all over. He'd never seen a spider with a size of a matured human like this one before but now it is grabbing him with it's creepy legs.
"Eeeek! What is this ugly thing!?"
He tried to struggle but failed to free himself. Kyuseishu started to pant heavily and lifted his tangled hands over his chin. He was almost drained from Chakra.
"That's Kutchu, my summon and he looks pleased to meet you... Hehe"
Kyuseishu whispered and smirked sarcastically realising that their little fight is over now. Raph was groaning and squirming nervously trying desperately to free himself from the tight grip of the Spider which hung to a higher tree branch using a very thin spider thread, not even Kyuseishu himself could see the thread.
"Goddamn you Kyuseishu! Let me go now!"
He growled out loudly as he flailed his arms and legs wildly. Kyuseishu maintained his calm expression over his face as a brief sigh escaped his lips. The mud swamp beneath him started to recede slowly and the ground turn back to it's solidified shape but his entire bottom half had drowned into the mud which would make it nearly impossible for him to get out after his body got stuck there. Nevertheless, that wasn't an issue for him now after getting rid of the annoying muddy swamp. He looked back towards Raph with laid back expression and chuckled lightly.
"Here's a last advice for you, You have to watch your back when you fight me you sassy moron.. Perhaps you got it right early when you said it's over, it's absolutely over for you."
He whispered. Raph glared down upon him enviously as he continued to flail roughly within the spider's legs which grasped his body tightly nearly suffocating him. His eyes widened as the Spider suddenly snapped up using it's thin thread that was spewing out from it's mouth to climb upwards lifting Raph slightly off the tree branch that he was standing upon.
"GAH! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO KYUSEISHU?!"
He shouted with terrified manner. Kyuseishu tilted his head slightly as he eyed Raph with expressionless look. At least he could admit to himself that this bout made him feel a bit fatigued despite the other mental bad effects.
"It's not me who has the upper hand here.. I don't want to waste more Chakra and time here so I'll leave it to my spider to take good care of you now.. Kutcho, make sure he enjoys his trip."
Kyuseishu said calmly as his Spider suddenly snorted then started to weave it's clingy threads around Raph's body who he kept writhing desperately and in terms of seconds, his whole body got engulfed entirely with a thick cocoon made out of the Spider's sticky threads.
"NOOOOO!"
The merciless Spider soon vanished in a puff of smoke with the cocoon leaving no trace behind it.
"Sigh..."
Kyuseishu sighed and planted his palms on the ground pulling out his bottom half slowly from the solidified dirt.
"Heh, he is quite clever to choose this battlefield because it's convenient for his Jutsus but he's too clumsy to underestimate me..."
He shook his head slightly and started to walk forward with steady steps on the dry ground. The flames died after devouring half of the surrounding plants. Kyuseishu looked up towards the tree where Raph was standing and sighed of relief.
"In the end he forced me to say goodbye twice.."
...
((To be continued...
/ VOLUME #1 completed
*The Seal of Confrontation (対立の印,Tairitsu no In) which looks like a half-tiger/ram, is the symbol of combat and is an universal sign of engagement between shinobi. It represents half of a seal that might be used to activate a Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. This motion is often used to concentrate chakra, and many shinobi are seen initiating simple, basic techniques as well as few complex ones after making this seal. Raph in this case used it to activate his Mud Swamp Jutsu.