The day grew old and the sun started to sink down beneath the tops of the hills and mountains. Dry leaves were swaying in the wind that blew softly upon the open field within the forest. The atmosphere was tensed between the four persons who stood facing each other. Among them the red haired woman stood upright on an average height tree branch in the back glaring murderously towards Orochimaru. Her pale lips were curved into a pout and her naturally arched brows were shaped into a frown concealing her enormous rage. She released a soft exhale as she parted her lips slightly.
"Orochimaru sama... I won't let you lay a finger on them."
She uttered confidently. Kyuseishu blinked surprisingly and looked over through his shoulder to where Tayuya was standing about fifty feet behind him and Katsumi.
"...!"
Katsumi's eyebrows twitched as she looked unconsciously in the same direction that Kyuseishu was looking at. She almost forgot to breathe normally since the monstrous Serpent lunged at them but she felt a bit relaxed that Kyuseishu made it out from his stunned-like state.
"That bitch..."
She murmured under her breathe as she noticed Tayuya but her voice wasn't loud enough to even reach Kyuseishu's earshot. Tayuya narrowed her eyes displaying a fierce glare towards Orochimaru who stood ontop of his Serpent's head which kept it's mouth open wide like a bottomless dark cave. Kyuseishu could see Tayuya scowling and her thin chin shivering constantly as she continued to stare at Orochimaru with her fiery expression.
"..."
Orochimaru maintained his silence as well for moments while observing Tayuya with disinterest. He chuckled faintly and rested his hands on his hips as he looked sideways before regarding Tayuya back with a meaningful stare able to terrify anyone but the North Gatekeeper.
"Tayuya... I am not in the mood to hear your lame jokes."
He said with a brief sigh. His tone maintained it's obnoxious level of sarcasm although it was laden and hollow.
"... Are you trying to stop me? Hehe, You know pretty well how people end up if they attempt to oppose me..."
Orochimaru said. Katsumi stared at Tayuya's face through the corner of her vision with scrutiny trying to observe the changes that Orochimaru's speech made on her.
"..."
She huffed out her breathe slightly when she couldn't notice any minimal change on Tayuya's features and rolled her eyes back in Kyuseishu's direction, and gave him a meaningful stare she believed he wouldn't notice. She admitted to herself that Tayuya's presence loosened a bit her anxiety and gave her a room to breathe and get herself together. She shook her head and swiftly leaped backwards few times as she realised that she was still standing right before the obnoxious Serpent. She landed upon her feet behind Kyuseishu with fifteen feet and continued to eye Orochimaru carefully. Her limbs kept shuddering like if she had received an electrical shock.
'At least Tayuya saved us some time so we can run away now but what is Kyuseishu thinking about? Why don't we just run already...'
She murmured to herself. Tayuya eventually allowed a strangled sigh to escape her lips as she lowered her head down a bit trying to restrain her emotions from controlling her. She frowned and pressed her lips together sorely as she stuttered with weak voice.
"...Kido... maru..."
A single tear slipped from her left eye socket and rolled down on her cheek as she she closed her eyes and clutched on the fabric of her pale crimson gown with her tiny fingers slightly.
"..."
Kyuseishu watched through his shoulder the colours leave Tayuya's face. He entirely forgot himself and the threat that stands mere feets before him as he saw Tayuya's wound reopen again.
'... Tayuya, this is not the right time for emotions.'
He whispered to himself staring at her for more seconds before finally deciding that he must put his life on his palm now and fight like a true Shinobi to finish off Orochimaru and his viciousness. A true shinobi... Orochimaru cocked his eyebrows and held his hands in front of his belt. His eyes devouring Tayuya and piercing through her clothes and skin to settle on her fragile heart strangling her dark emotions. He was pretty aware of her weak spot- She can't oppose his will even if it goes against all of her principles, and his influential charisma was enough to make her tumble off her toes in front of him.
"C'mon, it was never my intention to provoke your emotions that you tried to forget all this time, Tayuya... You know, I gave him a chance to live his life but he forced me to do what I did. hehe"
" ... Just like what I am going to do with those brats. But if you attempt to stop me, you won't be able to do so because I am at the peak of my strength!"
Orochimaru asserted, finishing his cold speech and Katsumi's nerves tensed up as she widened her eyes shockingly. She felt an unpleasant sharp sting in her stomach nearly made her throw up.
"The peak of his strength!?"
She repeated as a heavy sweat drop of irritation ran down the across the side of her head as she stared closely at Orochimaru with intimidation.
"Hmph... We are in serious trouble right now! But why is Kyuseishu still planted there like a pillar..."
She muttered and swallowed her saliva before looking towards Kyuseishu's back rigorously.
'I hope you are thinking of a way to get us out from this mess before Orochimaru throws us overboard...'
Kyuseishu blinked catching Katsumi's stare with the corner of his eye and also catching the meaning behind that stare. What should we do, eh? He thought and turned back towards Orochimaru forgetting why he had to be in this grave situation in the first place. His curiosity led him often to complicated situations but this time it was too excessive. He narrowed his eyes and started to stand up slowly.
"We'll be finished if I let Orochimaru slip out of my sight even for a single second... He seems pretty determined about killing us even if Tayuya decides to oppose him... But still, we are three against one so we have the advantage in number."
Kyuseishu whispered to himself feeling like his chest was tightening in a way making his heart pound rapidly. He lifted his hands off the rock eventually.
"!?"
Kuchiyose No Jutsu!
"What!?"
He suddenly winced as his ears picked up the loud shout that ruptured the temporary silence. He looked in the direction of the shout where Tayuya or apparently Katsumi was standing. Katsumi instantly lifted her eyes to the right upper corner in Tayuya's direction with a startle watching a thick cloud of smoke engulfing the red-haired woman completely. Her eyes went wide as she grunted in irritation.
"What is she planning to do!?"
She muttered lowly under her breathe and crouched down on one knee like if she was trying to propel herself forward. Orochimaru glanced over at Tayuya with doughty face watching as the cloud of smoke began to vanish from around her.
"Heh..."
He scoffed and shook his head sarcastically as he lowered his eyelids carelessly.
"... So you decided to oppose me, eh, Tayuya? I'm afraid I won't be able to forgive you this time."
He said with croaky voice and opened his golden hues wide glaring at Tayuya with penetrating hellish stare.
"You are going-"
"ENOUGH!"
Tayuya shouted out furiously silencing him. She was now standing between three massive creatures on the same tree branch. They were certainly her monstrous Doki Warriors which she resorts to summon only in the most critical situations. Her palms were placed onto the branch over the summoning seal. She sighed briefly and gazed forward with a mixture of fury and determination on her face.
Her Warriors were indeed huge and monstrous but they weren't enough to frighten someone like Orochimaru. The first Warrior on her left was about ten feet height and carried a giant stave on his left shoulder. He was wearing one piece of black cloth over his muscular body and his featureless figure was hidden beneath a swath of long greyish hair fell down until his waist from behind.
The warrior that stood in the middle right behind Tayuya was relatively shorter than the first one, his entire upper half including his jaw and mouth was wrapped with thick bandages but he was armless and wearing a brown pants. His strong chin was raised up in the air. The third warrior on the right side had two piercing bony blades attached to his forearms with white bandages as well and were designed to slice through solid defences. This one seemed to be the strongest among them despite he was blinded. He had two long breads dangling from his chin. Each one of those monsters was certainly as big as about ten men and as strong as twenty men. Their mouths were distinctively covered with bandages. From the first look, they seemed extremely potent and able to take down an entire castle by only relying on their physical powers.
Kyuseishu couldn't maintain his proper breathing pace from intimidation as he watched Tayuya rest her hands on her thighs while regarding Orochimaru with her fiery glare like daggers and Katsumi simultaneously noticed a look pass between Kyuseishu and Tayuya as the latter pulled out a small flute from underneath her clothes with her shivering hand and rested it on her lips.
"Orochimaru..."
Tayuya said taking a deep inhale without shifting her attention a slit from Orochimaru.
"You sicken me!"
She yelled and squinted her brows trying to suppress the inner voice that kept whispering in her ears it's still not late to go back now from the suicidal coup she's proceeding to arrange. It was never easy for her to take independent decisions from Orochimaru's will but now the case was absolutely different. She can no more watch him send her friends to their graves. Kyuseishu scowled and glanced back towards Tayuya with dumbfounded look feeling a slight urge forcing him to move out from this place between Orochimaru and Tayuya because he will just get in the way if one of them attacks the other. The least he thought that Tayuya seemed to be hesitating.
'... What the hell are those monsters!? I never saw Tayuya summon them before... Could even Orochimaru confront them?'
He whispered under his perturbed breathes and flexed his left shoulder without shifting his eyes a fraction from Tayuya's monsters. He realised that Orochimaru wouldn't take the risk of attacking him and give Tayuya a gold chance to attack Orochimaru who eventually offered an obnoxious chuckle and shook his head sarcastically as he stared towards Tayuya and the three warriors lined up behind her.
"Are you planning to fight me with those dolls Tayuya!?... You sure are underestimating me pretty well and the one who created them."
Orochimaru murmured and wove his hand up and down ironically which somehow made Katsumi feel her tension raise and her palms getting sweaty. She couldn't afford to let Tayuya fight to protect her. No, she still has her pride as a Kunoichi from the Sand village and she won't let that red-haired slut defend her and Kyuseishu. She scoffed to herself and looked downwards to the ground as she leaned her upper half down over the soil feeling hot blood boiling in her veins.
"Me too..."
She murmured and suddenly slammed her right hand down against the dry soil planting a special summoning seal underneath her sweaty palm.
"I can fight too!"
She snickered furiously as the seal began to whistle arising a huge pillar of smoke which ascended upwards in the air reaching the treetops above. Tayuya regarded Katsumi with disinterest like if she just made a failure attempt to steal the spotlight from her. Tayuya believed that she only can battle Orochimaru and give him hard time. She glared back towards Orochimaru and grasped her flute firmly with her fingers holding it up front of her lips, This was her battle not anybody else's.
"..."
She smirked as she positioned the flute over her mouth and inhaled briefly readying herself to play the melodies. Her face displaying a mixture of smugness and malice.
"You are calling my Doki Warriors dolls now... let's see how long would you keep up against them?"
She said confidently but the ground was suddenly trembling with her before she could even blow a single breathe into the slits of her flute. her eyelashes twitched as she watched Orochimaru's massive Serpent disappear in a large puff of smoke like it had been strucked with an invisible rocket came from the sky.
"!?"
A surprising violent blast occured in the center of the open field. Tayuya held her both arms quickly in front of her face to protect her eyes from the earth shards blasted off in every direction.
Orochimaru flinched and tensed up as he lost the solid surface that he was standing upon. The blow occured faster than his reflexes could detect, but he was aware that Tayuya wasn't the responsible for such a brutal assault because she always used to focus on strategy more than brutality in her attacks. He decided it was either Kyuseishu or the Sand Kunoichi who delivered the blow which caught him off balance and off guards as well while he was putting all his focus on Tayuya...
Katsumi knelt with her left knee upon the head of a gigantic T-REX she had summoned moments ago which appeared to be the rocket that strucked the massive Serpent of Orochimaru right in the guts. Katsumi had learned from her previous confrontation with that vague Sand Hunter that a minor hesitation during battle would lead to bane and who gets the opportunity to attack first must struck with all the available force and brutality without wasting any second. The head of her Dinosaur was elevated about twenty-five feet from the ground and it's four feet-long jaw, with all the sets of razor-sharp fangs inside of it designed to devour, was capable of tearing off over than two hundred Kilograms of raw meat in one bite. In addition, it's forty feet-long back was covered with rigid scales extending outwards from it's back until the tip of it's strong tail. It was a fierce beast, carnivore. Katsumi tapped it's head with her hands as she panted and chuckled looking over at Orochimaru with a mixture of pride and fury on her round pale face. The T-REX halted mere meters in front of the massive Serpent that had vanished leaving Orochimaru an easy target.
"GOT YOU!"
She yelled enthusiastically and before Orochimaru could make any reflexes, the T-REX swung it's heavy tail around stroking Orochimaru brutally in his side, and mid air, an accurate hit sent him flying away like a projectile in the depth of the forest with a large line of blood flowing profusely out from his impaled side. He flew past Tayuya- who her jaw dropped from astonishment- about seventy meters before smashing wildly against a tree trunk in the back. The tree didn't get crashed but the two successive hits Orochimaru received would shatter any person's ribs easily. Orochimaru sat up on his buttom slowly, He dropped his head back against the tree trunk and groaned faintly under his breathe. Getting up with those injuries was almost a miracle for him but he did it.
"..."
His entire lower right side was slashed open. A jagged deep wound caused by the impact of the Dinosaur's harsh scales on his skin. It wasn't a lethal injury because it missed his heart at least, but he realised that he'll die very soon if the bleeding doesn't stop. He believed that his liver has to be severely damaged. He started to stabs up and his long hair fell over his face covering his furious expression that made him look more monstrous. He felt the pain stings growing and chuckled maniacally.
"... That little brat from Sunagakure is going to get murdered first... Hmph... even before that rat Kyuseishu."
He stuttered to himself with strangled voice simultaneously realising that he could still move his arms and legs which were enough for him to return to the battlefield and massacre those three gerbils, he thought.
At that moment, Tayuya was eying Katsumi closely with disbelief displayed on her narrowed eyes, those eyes which barely managed to record the rare moment of Orochimaru receiving that brutal struck from a rookie Kunoichi. She robbed her eyes with the back of her slender hand to make sure that she wasn't dreaming.
"... That chick... When did she get the courage..."
She murmured. The surprised stare on her eyes shifted to a rigorous glare as she remembered her humiliating defeat against the other blond chick from Sunagakure about twenty years ago.
Katsumi stood upright atop the head of her Dinosaur and grinned smugly as her hands balled into fists unconsciously. She looked over at the direction that Orochimaru flew in, believing deep down that she sent him to hell.
"Hah! I got him with a single stroke!"
She shouted victoriously but she suddenly felt weakness infiltrate her muscles. But she remembered that she hadn't seen Kyuseishu since the moment when she lunged towards Orochimaru, and Kyuseishu was right in her way. Did he get squashed under the weight of her Tirannosaurus?
"!"
Her hazel eyes twitched at the thought but she casually looked downwards towards the ground where she watched a familiar head emerge from a large water splash right beneath the Dinosaur's feet. It was Kyuseishu who groaned as he completely emerged from the water spot in his human form and turned towards Katsumi who was staring at him incongruously like if she was seeing him doing his trickery for the first time. His slippery body melting slightly like salt.
"Humph... Were you trying to crush me with your beast or something!?"
He grumbled and spit on the ground.
Katsumi shrugged.
"Quit whining... I knew you would deal with it somehow." She said evenly. "I didn't have time to warn you to move out of my way..."
Kyuseishu groaned and stood up narrowing his eyes against her as he pouted his lower lip and glanced up at her with a hint of accusation.
'What the hell was she thinking when she made her Dinosaur dash recklessly towards Orochimaru without alarming me... She already saw me transforming into water quite some times but I don't think she knows that my body does that unconsciously in the awkward situations...'
He whispered to himself as he continued to eye her with peeved look. The moment his eyes blinked, he shifted his head to look back forward across the Dinosaur's swaying tail as his ears picked up a strang a melodies coming from Tayuya's direction.
"...!"
He watched Tayuya turn to face them with her back. She looked in the direction where Orochimaru had landed and held her flute in front her lips. She started to blow into her flute producing intense sharp melodies spreaded in the air like invisible ripples.
"Now it's my chance to finish him off once and for all..."
She murmured fixing her fierce glare forward towards Orochimaru's assumed location. The trees were thick enough to block any crimson light of the dusk from reaching the forest's floor but Tayuya didn't need to spot Orochimaru's location accurately to launch her attacks. The moment she started to blow into her flute, her Doki warriors swiftly jumped off the tree branch at the same time and dashed onwards in the air between the trees. Orochimaru was several meters away from her but the melodies reached his earshot almost instantly. He stood upright slowly although the frailty he felt in his body after the large amount of blood he lost. He shook off the leaves and twigs stuck on his clothes and chuckled to himself.
'She thinks that her classic techniques can frighten me, heh.'
He took some steps forward on the soft grass closing the distance a bit between him and Tayuya although he was still unware that she already made a step ahead of him on the battle.
"!?"
His golden orbs widened suddenly as he looked up nervously and a blood vein popped up on his forehead. The long haired Doki warrior appeared above him and lashed the tapered end of his giant stave towards Orochimaru's head. The strike left a huge crater on the ground where Orochimaru was standing before he leaped away barely dodging the powerful strike that stirred a big cloud of dust. Orochimaru propelled himself upwards as he snickered watching his attacker land with a loud thud on the ground which groaned under his weight.
"Too early to relax!"
Tayuya stuttered under her breathe as her sharp melodies continued to flow outwards from her flute like an invisible strings manipulating her doughty warriors which were extremely sensitive to any vibration of her complexed tunes. Orochimaru eventually flinched watching an enormous shadow approaching him from behind. The Doki warrior with the bony blades swung his right arm down performing a downward slash with stunning speed meant to slice Orochimaru in half. Tayuya smirked maliciously watching Orochimaru popping up in her field of vision like a panicked rat. He had dodged the last stroke- which forced him to sacrifice his whole left arm in order to jump away- hardly but Tayuya's plan of luring him out worked perfectly.
He eventually landed down on a tree branch and panted heavily. Tayuya gave a smug grin.
"Now you are nothing more than a rat, Orochimaru... Even you at your current health condition won't keep up with my fighting strategy and the combined attacks my men are launching..."
She muttered watching her warriors attack Orochimaru successively from every possible direction giving him no time to repose or even think of a strategy to fight back. But he kept leaping from a tree to tree dodging the blows almost barely every time. He panted rapidly displaying a hostile expression on his sweaty, pale face as he eventually landed on a large tree branch about one hundred feet away from Tayuya. It was obvious that he was having hard time just by dodging and he will give in soon. He widened his eyes readying himself to dodge the upcoming blow as he looked up to the upper right corner. An unpleasant feeling started to grow within his core.
"Hngh... Bad timing... This body can no more withstand the pressure... It is going to rejected me soon at this rate..."
He murmured with laden voice. His face pale like a frail tree leave dumped in the wind Autumn. Tayuya narrowed her eyes as she offered another smug smirk and glared towards Orochimaru furiously as she caressed the flute with her lips.
"Time to end this."
(( To be contibued...