Yes, after being on hold for almost a year, this story is back (ironically, as part of three-year-anniversary of my other, next generation fic, surprising called "Naruto: Next Generation" XD). I was thinking about submitting this Thursday, but since I made you guys wait so long for, I figured it's best to just put it on, since I've completed it.
I wanna thank everyone who reviewed this story up till now. If you decided to get back to it, I hope that you'll find this chapter worth waiting for or, at the very least, enjoyable. I'm not sure if any of the 'old' readers will show up, but if the popularity of this fic will prove to be high, it'll return to being updated on a regular basis, just like NNG.
With such a break in updating, I don't suppose you guys wish to read any more of my blabbering, so without further delay, here's the newest chapter of "Those Who Inherit the Will of Fire"!
Chapter #12: Sounds Filling the Air
Title Page: the band: Toramaru is out front, singing, Naraku plays the bass to the blonde's left in the back, Buryaku is sleeping behind her drums, while Teigo sweat drops at the sight, playing his guitar
"For betraying our master…" Hakkotsu began as a sharp-ended one came out of his palm, pointed at Teigo. "And for disrespecting him… I'll give you death!" and in a flash the bone shoot of from his body. The white-haired man managed to grab it in mid-flight however and holding it as a sword he charged straight at the former sound-nin.
Instinctually Teigo jumped back, avoiding the first swing of the bone katana, but at the same time Hakkotsu jumped up and somersaulting in mid-air, he aimed an axe kick into the former sound-nin's head. Coming to a sliding stop, the masked man blocked the assault with his melody arm, stopping the kick before it reached its target, and making the white-haired man freeze for a moment in the air. Instantly the Oto shinobi bended back and as his opened palm now faced his opponent, another bone shoot from it, in an attempt to pierce right through Teigo's chest.
Having no, other way to dodge, Teigo jumped up, blasting Hakkotsu's bone katana away with a swing and making the bone bullet fly under him as he made his legs split. In a flash he threw a punch into the sound-nin's face, yet upon landing, the white-haired man spun on his foot and bending back, placing his upper body parallel to the ground, making his opponent's fist go right before his face.
Without a second waste, Hakkotsu cut from below, aiming to cut his opponent in two, yet Teigo managed to twist his leg and bending his knee, grabbed the Oto ninja's bone with his leg, stopping it halfway. As he landed on the ground, he spun on his feet, mimicking his adversary, thus making the bone katana flew out of the white-haired man's grip and slide several meters away from the two fighters.
Hakkotsu immediately straightened up and aimed a spin kick at Teigo, yet the leaf-nin managed to duck under it and threw an opened palm aimed at the Oto shinobi's chin. The white-haired man once more leaned back and grabbing the assault arm with his hands, he spun on his foot yet again, tossing the masked jounin over his shoulder, making him somersault and land safely on his feet few meters further.
The sound-nin didn't waste time however and charged again with sharp bones growing out from both his hands as he came closer to his opponent. Teigo quickly jumped forward and spinning in mid-air, he filled his melody arm with chakra. The spin made the special protector cut through air, unleashing a loud sound that hit Hakkotsu's ears, forcing him to slow down, just to keep his balance. That was all the masked jounin needed.
In a fraction of a second he picked out several shuriken and charging forward at his opponent, he tossed them at the white-haired man, following pursuit. As the shinobi stars came closer, Hakkotsu managed to regain his senses at least to a point to use the spiky bones of his hands to deflect the incoming weapons, yet wasn't fast enough to react to Teigo's charge and got his stomach rammed with the masked jounin's elbow, thus fling back a few meters before flipping and coming to a sliding stop.
"He actually landed a blow on me" the white-haired man thought to himself as his eyes were still settled on his opponent. "He's gotten stronger then the last time we fought. I guess that first order of business will be to get rid of that stupid, melody arm of his. After that, beating him down shouldn't present that much of a problem…"
"Sorry, but I won't let you have those brats" Teigo announced with a cold voice as he raised his hand, making the melody arm cover the lower part of his face. Surprisingly for him however, Hakkotsu merely smirked at the statement, before replying: "And do you really suppose I came for revenge? Although I find it unbearable that I once considered someone like you a 'friend', running into you was just a convenient coincidence. Our objective lays within a different place…"
"Looks like Naruto was right" the masked jounin thought to himself as his eyes narrowed, only to widen as the last part of the white-haired man's response rang in his mind: "Our?"
"You mean to tell me you only just realized it?" the bone user asked, obviously satisfied. "Or could it be that you're so self-centered to think you're irreplaceable? Let me clue you in: this battle really is without meaning. Whether you live or die, it'll still be the same. Our mission… will be a success…"
--That time, elsewhere--
"My name is Chitagana Yobiko and I just need one of you alive, so the other two can kiss this world goodbye" stated the man as he stopped applauding them. In a flash he charged forward, appearing before Toramaru too fast for the blonde to do a thing. As a powerful kick in the face send the white-eyed boy flying back, Buryaku reached for her fans and swung them at the attacker, who quickly jumped out of the way, making the trees behind him get slashed by the wind.
"He's fast" the kunoichi concluded, narrowing her eyes slightly. "And considering his age, he's also most likely of a higher rank then gennin. If he's to fight us one by one, then we're at a disadvantage. Our best hope is to attack him all at once. Plus he was here before us, so the possibility of him setting traps around the area is high. So what he's outnumbered, the ones on the losing side are us!"
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Naraku called out, unleashing a powerful ball of fire at Yobiko, who was still in mid-air. As the flames came charging at him, he merely reached to his back, picking out twin weapons that could only be described as something between axe and chopper; long handles almost as long as their wielder himself reached to the sky, while huge, rectangular blades went down to the place the man held the weapons, each decorated with holes going down the place the blade connected with the handle.
With a quick swing of the blades, the fireball broke into hundreds of directions, the small sparks instantly vanquishing in the air, while the sound-nin landed safely on a nearby tree branch. Another swing on his right chopped made a powerful wave scourge the ground before hitting surprised Naraku death-center, sending him crushing hard against the tree.
Again Buryaku stepped into action, pushing one of her fans through the air, sending another slashing wind at Yobiko, but the man quickly threw his hands to the sides and in a flash the incoming tornado ripped and died down in the atmosphere: "Just as I thought!" the kunoichi concluded at the sight, while Toramaru took over.
With his hands tossed to the sides, the sound-nin was left with an opening for the blonde's Jyuken, making the boy threw an opened palm right to his face. With no other way to avoid the hit, Yobiko bended back, causing the assault to go before his face, but Toramaru was not done yet. Releasing chakra into the air, he managed to flip and spinning in mid-air, he came with a kick from above his opponent.
Letting his instincts take over, Yobiko bended back even more, grabbing the branch with the chakra in his feet, now hanging upside-down, while the gennin's kick hit the wood from the other side. Acting instantly, the sound-nin let go of the branch and somersaulting, he bounced off the trunk of the tree, coming with a swing of his blade at the blonde, which Toramaru managed to duck under.
However as the weapon went zooming over his head, a strange sensation hit his head, making it hurt like it was about to explode. This made the boy lose his balance and drop to his knee, leaving him open. Yobiko used this opportunity and kneeled the blonde straight in the face, sending him flying away, but Toramaru managed to recover in time and grab a nearby tree branch, landing safely on it in the next moment, few meters away from his opponents.
With a smirk appearing on his face, the sound-nin chopped off a branch right above him and spinning on his foot, he kicked it, sending the projectile at the boy. Seeing this, Toramaru went into a spin of his own, releasing chakra from his body. In a flash his figure got wrapped in a sphere, making the branch stop on it before reaching its target and as the blonde slowed down, it got blasted away, flying right past Yobiko that now flew at the young gennin.
As the branch passed his head, his eyes widen at the sizzling sound that rang in his ears at the very instant. Instantly he swung his left chopper while the branch exploded behind him, throwing him off course. To Toramaru's surprise, besides being blown off, the tag he attached to the branch didn't seem to make any damage. But he was about to change that as jumped down at the man, who barely landed on all fours safely on the ground.
Spotting the incoming blonde with a corner of his eye, Yobiko quickly struck his right chopper into the ground and lifting himself up using it, he got out of the boy's way, when his palm went for his back. Spinning on the blade still sunk into the surface, the sound-nin aimed a kick into the white-eyed gennin's head, but Toramaru reacted immediately, placing the palm he missed on the ground and propping himself on it, he blocked the man's leg with his own, throwing his other foot at his opponent's body, now stopped parallel to the ground.
At seeing this, Yobiko used his other chopper's flat side to block the assault and threw his free leg back in the attempt to kick the blonde. Having left hand still available, the leaf-nin used it to throw the attack off course and placing the two fighters in deadlock, they both jumped away, extending the distance between each other.
As each landed safely on the ground, they charged at the other again at a breaking speed. The instant they were inches away from each other, Yobiko spun his left chopper in his hand, making Toramaru's ears explode again and slip. As his body came falling to the ground, the sound-nin used his other weapon to cut the boy from above, but when the blade was about to reach its destination, a sudden burst of wind lifted up a cloud of dust, blocking his view and as the air cleared, the man's eyes narrowed at the sight that his chopper struck the ground, inches away from his opponent's body.
"Air pressure" he noticed, glancing at Buryaku, who now stood in a position clearly indicating she just swung her fan. "It was you…"
"Naturally" the young kunoichi replied. She was hoping to smile, but somehow she was unable to and in stead, she just went on: "The trick behind your weapons… I worked it out. You use the wind to carry your sound waves anyway you desire. That, in itself, isn't anything special. I saw Teigo-sensei do it with his melody arm, so it's not hard to guess that those holes on your choppers are what allows you to initiate the technique. But, if it was that simple, there would be no point for the weapons to be that big. Thus, a conclusion, the size is necessary for the jutsu to be executed to greater lengths…"
"Is that so?" Yobiko asked amused with a smile. "Care to explain what you mean?" he went on, completely ignoring Toramaru, who rolled away at that very moment. Seeing this, Buryaku decided to grant his wish: "It's all about tone and direction! Unlike Teigo-sensei's melody arm that allows him to use the air, your choppers merely let you use the wind to carry the sounds. If the wind is weak, in order to send your attack, you need to strengthen it with a more powerful sound wave, but that would make the attack more visible. It's like you did when you attacked Naraku. However, if the wind is strong, you can simply 'attach' your sounds to it and since they're adjusted with your chakra, you can bend the current according to your will, changing its direction. When you swing a blade this big, it's only natural that it'll create a wind current, so every time you weapon goes into motion, wind picks up and when wind goes through those holes, it creates noise. However the level of that sound is dependable on the angle the blade cuts the air and the strength the wind goes through each hole. Thanks to that you can create both barely hearable noise and high-pitch sounds, capable of breaking stone to pieces. But you can consider yourself unlucky, coz you're not the only wind user around here…"
"Oh, you're good, girly…" the man responded playfully. "I'm really gonna enjoy slaughtering you" but as those words hit the young kunoichi, another voice pierce the air: "To do that… you'll have to get through us first!" and with a look over his shoulder, he saw the other, two gennin coming at him from behind.
In a flash, Yobiko found himself being pushed back by a storm of attacks from the two boys, who kept on throwing kicks and punches at him, barely giving him time to block and dodge, left alone counter. With blocking another spin kick from Naraku that came at his head from the right, he quickly thrust his leg forward, sweeping the gennin off his feet, stopping Toramaru's opened palm that came at his heart with the flat side of his chopper, wield by his other hand.
As the assault hit the blade, Yobiko quickly swung his other weapon, releasing another sound, that roared in the blonde's ears, into the air, just before the chopper went right through the boy, cutting him in half. But as both parts of the gennin separated, an explosion of white smoke occurred, blocking the sound-nin's view: "That brat knows Kage Bushin?" he wondered surprised, while the ground below him rumbled.
In a flash another Toramaru shoot from beneath, thrusting his palm at the man's chest. With no time to dodge in time, Yobiko acted on instinct, rising his knee to make it smash into the boy's stomach, stopping the gennin in his tracks, while he gasped for air. Instantly his ears caught a whistling noise, making him swung his blade back to block the incoming kunai.
As his chopped covered his back, deflecting the flying knives, the blonde let out a yelp as another noise bombarded his ears. With his adversary left defenseless, the sound-nin turned to Naraku, delivering an elbow to the son of Hokage, making the boy's head tilt back.
"Katon: Housenka!" the young Uchiha suddenly called out, spitting out tens of small, fire bullets, each flying straight at the smirking Yobiko. The sound-nin simply charged forward and pushing his right chopper out front, he struck its tip into the ground, putting his body in rotation and blasting himself to the sky, he flew above the 'meteor shower', somersaulting over the assault.
Landing inches away from his opponent, he swiped at the boy's feet. Naraku's instincts completely took over, making him jump up, launching a spin kick in the process, aimed at the man's face. Seeing the leaf-nin's foot coming from his left, Yobiko ducked under, pushing his body into a spin and as his blades ripped the air, the noise hit the gennin's ears, shaking his body.
Incapable of dodging the blade that came at him, Naraku awaited the final blow, but his eyes only widen, be it from shock or pain, as in stead of cold steel, the chopper's handle slammed into his chest, kicking the air out of his lungs and sending him flying into the bushes.
As Naraku's figure disappeared in the bushes, Yobiko leaned to his right, dodging a kick from Toramaru that came from behind. As his attacked missed, the blonde instantly froze, now blasting his palm at the man's face, this time forcing him to bend back to avoid the blow. Seeing his opponent's stuck in a twisted position, the boy went into a spin and in a fraction of a second his body got engulfed by chakra again, forcing its edge against the sound-nin.
In a final attempt to minimize the damage, Yobiko replaced his choppers, putting them between himself and the sphere right before an invisible force blasted him back, his weapons taking most of the impact. Coming to a sliding stop, the man's eye twitched, yet still caught a glance of Toramaru charging forward, right at him. In a flash, the sound-nin brought his chopper down, aiming to split the boy's head from above, but to his surprise, the gennin just strafed to his right, unfazed completely, throwing his palm at his adversary.
"My sound didn't work? Yobiko asked surprised, quickly jumping back and thrusting his leg to the side, making it connect with Toramaru's face, sending the boy flying back. Only then did he noticed small cuts on his left hand, which he didn't felt before. His eyes narrowed at the realization: "Right, it's that girl! She used weak wind so that I wouldn't notice her doing so. Apparently, she's capable of extending the strength of even the weakest current. She used the air pressure to through my waves off course, just like before…"
But his thoughts were cut short as Toramaru flipped a couple of times before his body hit the ground, allowing him to land safely on the ground and resume his assault. Seeing this, Yobiko cut from below, but before he could execute the attack completely, he was forced to jump back as a powerful wind came at him. With slashes marking the ground and trees where the tornado went, the blonde boy came right through the scourged area, once more unleashing his Gentle Fist at the sound-nin.
With Buryaku still ready to use her technique, Yobiko made a desperate move and striking his choppers to the ground, he lifted himself, making the surprised Toramaru speed below him, while his body froze parallel to the ground. With that, he rose his weapons from the surface and went into a spin, kicking the blonde in the back of his head. The instant his feet touched the ground, he jumped away again as a rumbling sound filled the air, announcing another of the lazy kunoichi's Slashing Winds.
"He didn't cut me!" Naraku yelled in his mind, breathing heavily, while he slowly emerged from the bushes. "That time, he could've killed me and yet, in stead of doing so, he twisted his weapon in the m\last moment, hitting me with only the handle! When he fought my clone disguised as Toramaru, he didn't hesitate to split him in two and as long as Buryaku doesn't interfere, he has no interest in her. The one he needs… it's me! He came for me!" and as the realization struck, his eyes rose at Yobiko, drilling into the former sound-nin.
As calm as always, the man glanced back at him, his face not showing any emotion, but the young Uchiha could feel slight disturbance in his opponent's confidence. This was all the proof he needed. Anger twisted his face at the thought he was the cause off all the trouble his friends had to went through. He could feel blood boiling within as his palms tightened into fists.
"You want me?" he called out, while he formed a single hand seal. "Then come! Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" he cried out, performing the technique. At the same time Toramaru charged at the man, yet before he could even get close, a hand suddenly rose in his way, making him stop. To the boy's surprise, the one to stop him, was Buryaku.
"What do you think you're doing?" the kunoichi asked, sending the other blonde an emotionless glance. "Go in like this and the result will be the same like previously. We can't beat this guy, he's at least Teigo-sensei's level. Since he's only after Naraku, then at any, given time he may decide we became too troublesome to deal with and simply kill us…"
"So what are you suggesting, we leave Naraku on his own?"
"No, pinhead!" the girl replied, slightly hurt, before continuing. "But by blindly going in, we'll only worsen the situation. Since Teigo-sensei didn't appear yet, it's safe to assume he won't be coming any time soon. We need to deal with this guy on our own. When it comes to skills, we're far below him. If we even hope to defeat him, we need a strategy…"
"You're the brains around here. Any ideas?" the white-eyed boy asked, looking deep into Buryaku's pupils. The kunoichi merely gazed back at their opponent as a single drop of sweat run down her face. Then she spoke up again, much less confident then before: "Just one. It's a gamble, but right now we don't have any choice, do we? Listen carefully… I have a plan…"
Yobiko smirked widely as he looked around. He was completely surrounded with a legion of Narakus, each ready to engage the enemy in battle. His smile did not fade even as he realized there was no way for him to tell which of the bodies was the original one. Finally he placed his gaze out front and with a psychotic expression, he only muttered, tightening the grip on his weapons: "So, you're the Bushin brat… back then, you used Henge to disguise your clone to look like that blonde. Clever. This should be fun…"
--Back to Teigo--
The two fighters broke apart again, coming to sliding stops away from each other, neither taking his eyes off from his opponent. With a wide smile still visible on his face, Hakkotsu reached for his back and in one, smooth motion, ripped his spinal cord out of his body, wielding it as a spear, its tip touching the ground before him: "This is truly enjoyable. You've improved much more then I have anticipated. If it was still seven years ago, you'd be long dead. Seems that in order to defeat you, I'll need to use some of my new tricks…"
"And that's suppose to scare me?" the former sound-nin asked calmly. "You're not the only one who extended his range of abilities over the years. Up till now I was merely sensing you up and frankly, you don't seem much stronger then the last time we clashed. Now that I think about it, it's regrettable. If I knew how things will turn out, never would I have saved your life. But enough small talk, I don't have time for memories, those brats need me. In the spirit of our former friendship though, a piece of warning: best be prepared" and at those words he picked out a kunai, cutting his left thumb slightly, making blood escape his body. "In only a moment… all hell will break loose."
--to be continued--
And this concludes this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review once you're done. All you need to do is push that button on the bottom left of the page and write a few words. It'll be greatly appreciated.
On a side note: I do hope that Yobiko's ability was explained good enough. As some of you may know, it's sometimes difficult for me to explain the mechanism behind more complex things in English. Sorry if some parts of the chopper-thing remain unclear.
And with that said, I wish to thank you for tuning in. Once more I'd like to ask you to review and for all those of you, who are also reading my NNG (or plan to do so in a moment): thanks for sticking this long.
Best wishes and until next time, hopefully.