Chapter 24: The Fifth Shinobi World War
Four Years Later
'Log entry 23, September 1st
It's not the greatest thing to experience when you first kill a man. When that moment comes when you run your blade through their heart your mind goes wild; you've just ended the life of another – what happens to their spouses? Their children? Their siblings? Their parents? They've all lost someone they can't replace, and it's all your fault.
I can't believe it slipped my mind, but last month marks the fourth year I've been out here. It's funny how time seems to blur together when you're repeating the same process over and over again for four years straight. Killing people, avoiding being killed blah blah blah. At any time in any place you could be killed by a blind shuriken to the back of your head. Once you realise that, you begin to cherish every moment and take nothing for granted out here – I think that might be the key to how we've survived so long, but then again I can't say for sure.
Four years as acting Chunin. . . There aren't many of us left in this division who can boast such experience, however meagre it might sound. Most that aren't dead retired early to prevent that happening – maybe they were the smart ones. Who knows? All I know is that I've got all I need out here and that Reizo-sensei – I mean – Lord Raikage (It's still strange calling him that) is counting on me to do my best.
To say that it's been a crazy four years would be putting it lightly. Even though Hoshi might be a pain in my ass she's not so bad once you get used to her, and I hear Kazuya's village is practically booming with trade now so I'm glad he's not going anywhere in a hurry; can't believe they let him have a week off six months ago to get married.
Shame they didn't give me the same honour. I haven't seen mother or Reizo sen– Lord Raikage for years now. I get letters from one and orders from another. And no, it's not in the order you might think.
I still remember Ayako saying she'd see us on the battlefield in six months. Well she definitely lived up to that promise. Three and a half years ago she met up with us here in the Land of Hot Water; I think joining up with Yuudai and Jinga was probably the best decision she could've made.
When the war broke out the Chunin exams became privatised – every nation had their own. I heard they got harder after that point, though I wouldn't tell Ayako that. We'd never hear the end of it. Her ego is steadily beginning to rival my own. . . God I hope she never finds this.
With the six of us together I can't help but feel like we can do anything. These four years haven't exactly been a walk in the park for any of us, but if I were alone I don't know if I'd be able to handle it. I think that's probably why I don't seem worried at all. I mean, the Mist is coming at us again and again from the southeast and I hear the Stone is starting the invasion on the Land of Sound – even if we manage to hold the Land of Hot Water we'll be sandwiched between the two of them.
The general consensus is that it won't happen though. The Mist will probably overrun and claim the Hot Water within the next week or so, and that's if the clones don't take it first. We'll be forced to pull back to the Land of Snow, and I don't doubt that we'll lose another few hundred in the process. I just hope the others make it out okay, if anything happened to them I don't know wh-'
"Commander!" the high pitched announcement of another boy disrupted Shoryu. The jolt startled him such that the young man dropped his pen and slammed shut the log before anyone had a chance to glimpse its personal contents.
He sat in a broad field of chest high grass, a lengthy stalk of wheat caught between his teeth as he pondered away with what few minutes he had to spare. His thoughts flowed in the wind and he was normally allowed to relax for a brief writing session with his log. Unfortunately Kazuya knew that this was his favourite place to slack off and had informed the small troop of Genin and Chunin about his hiding place. Shoryu vowed to get him back for that.
"Sir, troops from the Land of Fire have been spotted approaching the south border. They've already made it past the first outpost," added the young man.
"Alright, alright." Shoryu rose to his feet yawning and stretched out like a cat. In four years he'd grown considerably. He no longer had the face of a rookie teenager without a care in the world; now he was a young adult – seventeen years old with more experience under his belt than most in Division Two. Slim sideburns the same chocolate brown of his hair now ended level with his earlobes, and the gruff coat of a new stubble told him he needed a shave – that always annoyed him. He concluded that the only good thing about aging was that he could now fit comfortably into his father's coat.
"Enough with the 'commander' and 'sir' anyway. I've told you before that it's ridiculous. Some of you guys are the same rank as me now. I'm not a Jonin just yet," said Shoryu.
"No sir," said the younger boy. "But when commander Makizo died you were his second in command. None of the other Jonin in Division Two wanted to take his post, so you're the one who had to take over his role by default, right? And since Lord Raikage didn't forcefully appoint anyone else we figured he wanted it that way. You were his student after all."
"That's because all the Jonin assigned to Division Two seem to be cowards who think they can get by just sneaking around or commanding from the side-lines and never coming close to an actual battle. I've pretty much got all the duties of a Jonin but I'm on the payroll of a Chunin. So what does that make me?"
The ten ninja exchanged looks of confusion and whispered potential answers to each other before Shoryu leaned forwards and slapped one hand on the shoulder of the reporting officer.
"A sucker," he revealed. Shoryu allowed a laugh to go around his colleagues before another of the troop urgently spoke out, conveying what he heard through his earpiece.
"Sir, the Leaf force is approaching; they'll be upon us in five minutes! We need to move!"
"Five minutes is more than enough time for me to get there," said Shoryu. He took a moment to think about the situation as he fumbled around in his pouch. The fact that Hidden Leaf ninja were approaching meant this was another clone attack meant to antagonise the war further; it was an army conjured from forces they hadn't gotten any closer to finding out about. Even with the cryptic dying clues of Kira Asakura they were still no closer to finding anything on this 'Alpha Gene' or whatever it had to do with Kazuya's family.
Hiromasa Hyuga along with Reizo were the only Kage remaining who defended only their own keep – they never sent bands of ninja out to attack other lands in the hope of future peace. The fact that he'd be fighting clones again gave Shoryu solace, as he never felt a scrap of guilt whenever he cut one down.
"But it's a two mile walk to the outpost sir!"
A Chunin who stood beside the inquisitive ninja jabbed his friend in the arm and raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah, you're new here aren't you? Commander Shoryu heads the aerial unit. You haven't seen what he does yet right?"
"What he does? Wait – what's the aerial unit? I've never heard of it in any other division."
"That's because it's not a real troop – Commander Shoryu is the aerial unit."
Shoryu smiled, pretending not to hear the comments as he withdrew a scroll from his pouch and stamped its contents into being with a slap of his hand. The puff of smoke gave way to both a saddle and a rather impressive set of armour.
Silver, lightweight and gleaming in the sun, the suit was perfect for battle. This particular armour was made of some foreign alloy as hard as steel, yet supple and pliable at the same time. With Shoryu's fondness for complex manoeuvrability in battle it suited him perfectly. The young man strapped on the gauntlets and tightened the greaves before clasping the main cuirass over his chest.
Occasionally he'd forego the helmet, but the calibre of this battle called for it. Like the rest of the armour it was angular, sleek, and shiny, rising up to a pair of jagged spines at the top and back so that no one in their right mind would try and wrench it off him.
When fully suited up Shoryu looked like a different man. He'd switched from his traditional black and blue to lustrous silver in an instant, his stature fully deserving of the 'commander' title he'd been given from his peers. The mobility of the gauntlets allowed for hand signs, so he pulled together a few and planted the ground a second time.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The resulting explosion of smoke was far larger this time around. The mist from the summoning swept so quickly in the wind that a few of the Genin were forced to cover their mouths and cough from it entering their lungs. Only no matter how much they spluttered their breath never came back to them, for the sight they witnessed was one that stole it right back.
There, nestled comfortably in the waist-high stalks of the simple field, rested a dragon. Shoryu and his group of close friends had changed drastically in four years, though their transformations were menial compared to the growth of Kyoh. On all fours he rested at close to three metres long with a wingspan flaring up to five – the perfect size for just a single passenger.
The light blue of his scales had gradually darkened to a shade akin to rivers by moonlight. His claws – along with his teeth, the spines on his back and the bladed axe-shape of his tail fin, were a stark bone-white, elongated and sharp enough to be deadly to any who dared even graze them. Kyoh blinked open a round, fist-sized sapphire of an eye and regarded the group of ninja with suspicion until he spotted his summoner.
"Good morning Shoryu. Is it time for a hunt, or are we training again?" What was once the high-pitched squeal of a cawing baby reptilian had long since deepened. Kyoh's voice was low and rumbling, a thrum like the warning of an oncoming storm. The harsh look and intimidating voice served to scare many of the ninja, though Shoryu simply grinned and approached the beast.
"A hunt, you'll be glad to hear," he replied.
"Good."
Ever since he'd learned to talk, Shoryu had for the longest time suspected that Kyoh lived somewhere that didn't really suit his natural habitat – perhaps a gloomy cavern or some woodland region with trees too tightly packed together for a grown dragon to fly. Anytime he was allowed to soar through the open air Kyoh was happy, and his primal instincts meant that he enjoyed battle more than any ninja or samurai Shoryu had met.
In that regard the dragon was simply the best companion he could hope for. Kyoh's daunting presence on the battlefield coupled with the silver set of 'dragonlord armour' he'd given Shoryu had done wonders for the teen's status. Of course, his ego being what it was meant that Shoryu wouldn't allow all of his renown to be based on something he acquired by luck. Nightly training and a wealth of experience allowed him to back up every statement boasted about him.
Shoryu threw the brown leather saddle over the arch between Kyoh's neck and shoulders, strapped it securely into place and leapt into the seat. He fastened his ankles in and took hold of the reins.
"Sir, first contact with the enemy in three minutes!" called one of the ninja.
"I'll be there in two. Tell them to hold the line and not to engage – let them come to us," Shoryu replied.
"Yes sir."
At a kick of his master's heels Kyoh leapt to the sky with a single beat of his powerful, muscular wings. The pair gained altitude with every flap, bursting through the clouds and out of sight before Kyoh twisted into an angled dive. At the dragon's top speed the wind rippled Shoryu's face into a comical warp and he was forced to shield his eyes to see far.
When Kyoh had finished showing off he streamed back under the clouds and levelled out to a slow, comforting ride that allowed his rider a glimpse of the scene below. As they glided over a broad canyon Shoryu could see: close to a thousand shinobi stood in complex formations along the plane, facing an army of many more charging clones.
At the rear the projectile unit stood by in wait, hands gripped firmly on their holsters as they waited for a command. At the sides the specialised element manipulators stood patiently – Shoryu thought he could see Yuudai's mass of ridiculous hair even from way up by the clouds. At the centre the general shinobi formed a perfect block; sensors, summoners, healers and other mid-range fighters occupied the space.
Spearheading Division Two was the vanguard, Shoryu's preferred realm. Here the stronger fighters dwelled with the taijutsu and kenjutsu experts along with any Jonin brave enough – there weren't many of them in this division. Shoryu smiled as he glimpsed the new day's hair colour beside the drawn and ready sword of the upcoming Glacier Taisho.
He tugged on the reins, spurring Kyoh towards the unforgettable sunlit view as he drunk in the calm before the storm.
Volume II: Senmatsu Rising
Around nine hundred leaf-masquerading clones charged towards the stationary vanguard. They drew shuriken and brandished weapons; some even began to form hand signs, but Ayako Tsuji paid them no attention despite being on the very front row. She tapped her foot impatiently and glanced about the skies for any sign of their charismatic compatriot.
In four years the girl had evolved as one might expect. Even without makeup her face was as bright and charming as before, yet the dimples and round cheeks she'd had until mid-teens had disappeared around adolescence. Her figure had matured, being taller with longer legs and a curvaceous shape that men yearned after. Today her hair was violet and flowing casually down her back – it was her weapon of choice after all.
"He really is cutting it fine," she remarked. "One of these days he's going to be late to the battle."
"I wouldn't worry about that. Shoryu loves his entrances – I imagine he's spent the last few days planning this grand arrival," said the samurai at her side.
Ayako sighed and turned to Kazuya. "Yeah, I guess you're right. . ."
Kazuya's development on the other hand was a far more startling transformation. Whilst still being half an inch shorter, his physique was wider and his blows more powerful than Shoryu's. His movements were explosively quick and efficient to the point of being ridiculous; in four years Shoryu had still never beaten him in a serious spar. The red armour of his village had been an engagement present for his marriage to Fujiko, but according to Shoryu he simply wore it because he was in denial – Kazuya was a ninja at heart.
Ayako had arrived on the scene six months after their Chunin Exams and noticed Shoryu immediately. Despite standing by his side though, she'd failed to recognise Kazuya. He'd cut short his long white hair just a few weeks into the war because it hindered his eyesight during combat. At the level he practised Kazuya deemed it necessary to have it short – he couldn't be at his best when he might fail to notice a stray shuriken due to the white curtain blocking his peripheries. His hair had become jagged and spiked, blazing out at the back.
A shadow suddenly descended over the pair of them, and then passed as quickly as it came.
"Ah, here he is," said Kazuya.
Kyoh swooped dangerously low over the Cloud's army in one great dive. As the gusts from his wings pushed against the ground the pair of them heard the rider's familiar voice erupt from the static of their radios.
"And I'm back!" he cried.
A single tug of the reins allowed Shoryu to pull Kyoh to a stop as the dragon hovered thirty feet above the no-man's land between the Cloud and the clones. Another tap of his heels forced the beast into a technique unlike any Shoryu had ever showed off before – clearly they'd been working on it for some time.
Kyoh's fire breathing tendencies had always come in handy, but never were they more practical here. With one giant scream of flame the dragon divided the great field into two; he separated the armies with a blazing, twenty foot wall of fire that the clones barrelled straight into. Puffs of smoke already began to fly up from the furnace as the Cloud's morale grew – with this kind of power on their side the troops felt as if they could do anything.
Even the sceptics were filled with the same passion as Shoryu's when the silver-clad rider withdrew two swords and raised them in the air for all to see, and his movements were pronounced by a growling war cry from Kyoh – a feral roar that reverberated far across the land.
It hadn't taken Ayako or Kazuya so long to realise why Shoryu had quickly become so popular and deferred to as commander of Division Two. When times are uncertain and lives are at risk who would the masses turn to for encouragement? The clever, likeable ninja on the back of a ten foot dragon of course.
Ayako smiled and withdrew the radio from her jacket pocket. Clicking the button she spoke, allowing her voice to chatter amongst the six-person frequency. "Show-off," she teased.
Shoryu replied instantly. "Don't act like you weren't impressed, I can see you blushing from here."
"Hmph." Ayako pouted and crossed her arms. "Maybe a little."
"Oh god, not this again." Another voice suddenly sounded down the comm, this one feigning weariness and boredom. "Get a room you two!"
This time Ayako really did blush, if only a little. "Shut up Yuudai!"
"I really hate to interrupt but we've got more important issues to worry about," said Kazuya beside her. He was right too – the sure hiss of steam began to sound as the clone army got to work on putting out the fire with whatever water jutsu they had at their disposal. They'd never put Kyoh's inferno out completely, but at least they could open up big enough gaps within it to send their troops through in waves.
"Shoryu! More trouble!" another voice began over the radio. This one sounded timid and awkward; something about him shouting just didn't seem to fit. "Look up!"
Sat in the saddle of the hovering reptilian, Shoryu cast his eyes to the sky at Jinga's request. There, high up beneath the clouds, was a small strike force of airborne creatures. They were insects – oversized dragonflies with paper-thin wings and giant bulbous eyes to go with the repulsive stingers topping their tails. By Shoryu's reckoning they were each slightly smaller than Kyoh, and the dragon's bulk and breath of fire compared to their flimsy carapaces gave him the edge. Even so, it was six against one, and there was no way to gauge how good the ninja riding the bugs were.
"Do you want me to join the battle? I'm on standby back at the rear if you need me," Jinga offered, trying his best not to seem a coward. In truth he was of best use at the back of the division. He was a fair fighter, but his medical skills were invaluable.
"No, you're alright back there; just keep your eye out for more stuff like that if you can," said Shoryu into the comm. Then, releasing the button, he addressed Kyoh, "Can you take them?"
"Insects are at the bottom of the food chain. I am at the top," rumbled the beast. As if to prove his point the dragon spread out his wings and loosed another roar.
Shoryu narrowed his eyes and scratched his chin. "There are six of them."
"There could be six thousand and it would still make little difference."
"Then if you're sure!" Shoryu grinned in delight as he dug in his heels and spurred Kyoh towards the skies. Kazuya, Ayako and the others could more than handle things down here until they got back. He would've loved to join them on the ground, but the idea of doing so when six gargantuan insects hovered overhead didn't seem appealing at all.
Like a falcon in the sun Kyoh headed up to the small troop of bug-riding ninja, fluttering motionless just below the first layer of clouds. The wind picked up at the higher altitudes and nipped at the exposed segments of Shoryu's face as the two approached their enemy. A frothy, spittle-ridden blast of toxic green sludge from the clucking teeth of one of the creatures suddenly sailed down to meet them. Kyoh dodged the attack easily; he twisted, corkscrewing out of the way, losing no speed whatsoever as he continued his ascension.
Shoryu held on tight and flattened himself against Kyoh's neck – a year ago that same spinning manoeuvre would've thrown him out of the saddle at such speeds, but as their experience grew the pair began to perform even the most complex movements without the slightest hesitation. Falling rocks followed the poisonous breath as Kyoh once again zipped out of the way, nimbly avoiding the earthen technique from the rider.
Closing in, the dragon bore his fangs and slammed all his weight into the skinny dragonfly. He snapped at the creature's neck, spreading a fountain of green blood over the moisture of the clouds. He even stained Shoryu's armour when he lashed out at the exposed abdomen of his opponent, claws honed sharper than any blade.
The insect fell dead from the sky, its rider in tow, as Kyoh twisted his body suddenly and roared a smoking firebomb at the next in formation. In just a few seconds he'd felled two of his opponents, though the remaining four would be trickier once aware of his strength. As two more approached from behind, the dragon ducked into a sudden nosedive.
Kyoh weaved from left to right to evade the following hairballs of venomous sludge that fired at his flank. He never looked behind him; his instincts coupled with the subtle movements of Shoryu's heels told him exactly where to move. The dragonflies were fast, but Kyoh was faster. After less than a minute of being on the defensive the dragon led the swarm back into the canyon which they'd crossed over on the way.
After spotting a passage in the orange rocks Kyoh ducked into it. Cliffs on both sides rose up around Shoryu, closing them in with only twenty feet of open space as they raced through the maze of twists and curves at breakneck speeds. Being so close to the ground turned the battle in favour of the dragon, as the agility of the pests allowed them to change directions in a blink without turning their bodies. Here though, their mobility suffered – they found themselves trapped with nowhere to zip to, leaving themselves wide open for Shoryu's attack.
As they hurtled around a bend one quick rove of the ninja's hands unbuckled the straps around his shins. He hopped up to a crouch and turned to face the pursuing creatures, one hand Kyoh's back spike for support and another deftly snatching a windmill shuriken from his back.
He let it fly using all the power he could muster. Shadowed by the cliffs, the shuriken whizzed back along the canyon pass, swerved around the slight curvature and embedded itself perfectly in the speeding creature's face. A shower of green blood followed as the insect toppled to the ground, hitting the ground at eighty miles per hour in a puff of smoke from its clone rider.
"Did you get it?" Kyoh rumbled behind him.
"What do you take me for? Of course I got him. Keep going straight – let me see if I can get one more."
Kyoh complied without a sound as Shoryu let go of his spine and withdrew the two swords. He stood straight up, balanced perfectly with both feet embedded in the crooks of both the saddle and Kyoh's scales.
Then Shoryu closed his eyes. Focusing, channelling and maintaining his chakra required all his concentration, but once he had it nailed he could move comfortably using power he'd once only dreamed of harnessing. A few seconds passed before the ninja's eyes snapped back open; both swords were aglow with a bluish-white shrouding the blades, a result of the young man pouring wind based chakra into the steel.
When using this technique – the Flying Swallow – Shoryu didn't need even a single hand sign to pull off the Air Slash Jutsu; in fact he didn't even need to sheathe his swords. He slashed once at seemingly nothing but air with his left hand, causing his signature arc of wind to blast seamlessly from the length of his offhand sword. The attack clipped the wing of the fourth buzzing dragonfly, but it still retained its flight. Another Air Slash from his leading blade glanced off the side of the cliff face.
Under the speeds at which they flew Shoryu's attack was impossible to land, though luckily for him he had another trick up his sleeve. He'd long since learned to combine a pair of Air Slashes. Shoryu crossed both swords before him in a simple blocking pose before slashing with both simultaneously.
"Cross Slash Jutsu!" From the steel edges suddenly erupted a bladed x-shaped curve of wind – two Air Slashes merged with one another to form a single jutsu with a wider radius. The Cross Slash was several times harder to evade; if Shoryu fired it right his opponents would leap away from the most immediate curve and run straight into the second.
The dragonfly and its rider were no exception. The pilot spurred the creature straight into the path of the spinning attack. The insect was dealt a mortal wound, though its rider was struck right in the chest by the upper bend of the x-shaped technique. It dug fast into his chest and didn't dissipate until was at his heart, the force of it wiping him straight out of his saddle in a flash of smoke.
"Shoryu!"
He barely had time to celebrate his success when Kyoh's voice alerted him to another of the peculiar summons. He jumped back into the saddle and observed: This one approached from above, cutting off their path and gawping open its disgusting maw with another blast of those puke-coloured toxic attacks. Kyoh's movements were synchronised perfectly with Shoryu's when the dragon reared up his head and prepared to unleash a shower of hellfire.
In one swift movement both summon and summoner fired. The attacks met a short way into their flight, combining and raging up to the oversized bug with more intensity than either.
"Wind Style: Blazing Cross Slash!" cried Shoryu. When fire and air met one another the wind pushed against it, expanding the flames within and shaping it into a larger, more powerful variant of its own form. The subsequent attack must've reached close to twenty feet across, a burning cross of rushing wind that smote the dragonfly's underside, blasting it into four distinct quadrants as easily as a hot knife through butter.
Now that only one remained the last of the fly-riding ninja fled the scene. After being so close on Kyoh's tail the clone tugged at the reins of its summon and took off out of the canyon range. Kyoh wouldn't let it get away though; he'd let no one threaten him and leave unscathed. The dragon geared to the air and performed a somersaulting u-turn that had Shoryu clenching every muscle in his body to stop himself from throwing up - or worse.
After making himself as sublime and streamlined as an arrow Kyoh bolted after his prey. Five powerful flaps of his wings was enough to get him up to full speed, pursuing the final dragonfly through the air and back towards the site of battle where two armies waged war. Two fireballs Kyoh sent at its tail were smoothly avoided at the command of its rider. Shoryu figured this clone was the leader – dispatching him then would cripple the enemy forces.
Kyoh's flames were too slow and far away to hit their enemy now; sure they'd catch up in time where he could easily tear the insect apart with his teeth, but by the time they reached it the young commander could be knee-deep in the enemy's army. Shoryu had grown self-assured over the years, but stupidity and overconfidence were still words rarely associated with him. The teen knew his limits better than any – chasing the leader straight into the enemy's arms would be suicide.
Fortunately he had a better idea: Kyoh might've been too far away to do anything, but he wasn't. With a quickdraw like no other Shoryu whipped out a second windmill shuriken; he drenched it in oil before lobbing it as hard as he could. By the time Kyoh's small jet of flame ignited the projectile into something resembling a spinning meteor Shoryu had assumed command of the currents with the Shuriken Sway Jutsu.
He directed it through the sky, nullifying the cross-currents and draughts and sea-swept zephyrs by pushing against them, at the same time pressuring lightly on the back the shuriken to give it a little extra distance. He'd just about closed the distance between them – just about landed one of his hardest throws – when a ten foot spear of ice suddenly shot like a bullet from the ground below. In flying so close to the battle just to avoid Kyoh, the enemy leader had put himself right within range of Kazuya's attack.
"Aw you're kidding me!" Shoryu moaned as the samurai's icicle skewered his target through its jaw and up into its brain. His expertly thrown projectile did little more than slash in two the familiar puff of smoke and the falling dead body of the dragonfly – a wasted shuriken.
As another wave of enemies closed in Kazuya held up his mouth to the radio and began a cool, calm laugh at his friend's useless attack. In truth he'd actually noticed the dogfight above and waited until Shoryu made his move before he released his own jutsu, but he'd never tell Shoryu that – it would only add more fuel to the fire. So he simply chuckled down the microphone for all to hear.
"Damn it Kazuya! I had him there!" the teen's voice came through the speaker.
Kazuya only smiled to himself as a group of ninja formed up behind him and Ayako. Ahead of them the clones had already begun to pour in through the great wall of fire Kyoh had created. They'd created about a dozen holes in the barrier and poured in like lemmings. Three men abreast they came in waves one after the other, attacking the vanguard and sides in concentrated bursts. Backed by the flames, around ten of them faced Kazuya and Ayako directly as another trio came in every few seconds, but they held fast just as Shoryu instructed.
Five ninja broke off from the clone troop facing them. Kazuya placed one hand over his sword and twitched the other next to it, ready to draw his weapon or form hand signs at a moment's notice. Interestingly it was the clones that began to form the signs; at the same time they each showed three of them and carried out different elemental attacks – one for every nation. Kazuya could form a wall of ice to protect them in a flash, but Ayako reacted faster.
A loud clap beside him told the samurai to stand down. The girl strode in front of him as she primed a blob of colour from one of her six shading scrolls.
"Orange!" she cried. Since last year, secondary colours had joined primary colours to widen Ayako's arsenal considerably. The kunoichi formed a barrier before her – this one circular – of the most luminous orange Kazuya had ever seen. One by one fire, water, air, earth and lightning were reflected by the shield. She didn't just block them; the orange scroll actually shot back to its conjurer any jutsu cast upon it, just as long as Ayako could maintain the chakra cost.
The clones each had their own techniques turned upon them, and those that weren't killed Ayako quickly finished off with a snappy blue and a blinding red. Those remaining ploughed towards them in a panic. Kazuya drew his sword and got to work, slicing and dicing everything that got in his path without even needing to fall back on the Jikogan. Through the tunnel in the flames more and more enemies poured towards them. At close range Ayako had been all but useless in her days as a Genin. Now things were different.
She held up her hands, shading from another of the secondary scrolls she'd recently acquired. This time she never compressed a blob in her palms though; instead she manipulated the colour to spread around her body. Misty tracks of green chakra formed around her wrists and ankles before clinging to the backs of her legs and arms. A single clap forced it to materialise.
"Green!"
Shielding yellow mixed with the spiked chakra of Ayako's blue to solidify, forming the armoured look of the green. Blades sharp as steel coated the backs of her legs and forearms, ending in solid rings encasing her wrists and ankles from which sprouted vicious-looking sets of two foot claws. From there, Ayako could join her teammate in the savage melee that took place.
She lunged into the fray, thrusting both sets of claws through the chest of her first victim before whirling round in a high kick that decapitated a second. Puffs of smoke went up so fast that from airborne the ground could be mistaken for an active volcanic site; Ayako and Kazuya ploughed through the ranks, leading the charge, hacking left and right through the legion of clones that charged through the blaze.
Being his preferred range, Kazuya undoubtedly killed more, but that didn't stop Ayako from showing the amateurs a thing or two about combat. As she slashed her way through clones the blood of her enemies splashed across her Chunin flak jacket, dyed yellow and blue – and now stained with crimson as penance for her attacks. Using the edge behind her forearm Ayako batted away the shuriken thrown by the incoming ninja, then ducked under the wild swing of his haymaker and then put an end to him by ramming her bladed elbow into his chest.
Smoke from his vanishing body clouded her view, though she still managed to clap off an orange just in time to reflect another barrage of fire from the next wave. She held her ground and prepared to fight once again; Kazuya though, had a better idea.
The samurai waited until the clones were at full sprint – just about to engage them – before he formed hand signs and pointed at the ground. In a simple move he glazed over the ground with a single, unbroken sheet of solid ice. Dashing at full speed meant the clones skidded and tripped instantly, running right into the edge of Kazuya's sword or toppling into a kick from the sharp talons of Ayako's green. When the rest of the battalion followed suit not a single member of the Cloud was lost.
And so once more Ayako and Kazuya found themselves waiting for the next horde of clones to come rushing like morons through the funnel of flames, only this time Ayako refused to simply let them come. The moment she spied the shadows of running figures over the burning grassland she drew back her hands and cupped them together in a tight ball.
Purple from her last scroll flowed like a river into her palms. She pressed down a little to keep it under control, but once she maintained it the girl clapped her hands and fired her devastating attack.
"Violet!" A beam rocketed forth from her hands, purple and swimming with explosive, volatile chakra as the already-melting ice beneath them shifted, reflecting its hue around the clearing. She poured it into the hole amidst the flames, smiling when she heard at least four more eruptions of smoke go off one at a time.
Shoryu's voice through her radio startled Ayako suddenly. "We've got them on the ropes," he said. "Yuudai, take your best men and get rid of the fire – once it's clear the vanguard should be able to advance and finish them off."
"Roger that," replied Yuudai.
Almost as soon as the command was given Ayako and Kazuya both noticed Yuudai rushing forward to their left. With him joined another dozen or so water wielders, and with a few hand signs apiece the unit got to work on extinguishing the flames that held back the force.
Yuudai's job as always was incredible; from just the moisture in the earth and his own chakra the eighteen year old could practically summon a tsunami. His natural amount of inherent chakra was enough to make even the most elite ninja envious. Along with his crew it took the man about thirty seconds to wash away Kyoh's impressive barrier, thirty seconds in which Kazuya and Ayako stood patiently in wait.
During that time another clone rushed virtually unscathed through the flames. He was rotund and tall, barrelling towards them with little or no regard for his own safety and swinging a six foot, double-breasted axe over his head. Clearly this man was intended as a kamikaze run – he could absorb damage like a sponge until he died and his chaotic tendencies meant he'd take a great many ninja with him before he fell. Unfortunately he didn't even manage a single kill.
As Kazuya reached for his sword the dark haired figure of Hoshi stepped out in front of him. Like a true ninja he'd never seen her arrive and had scarcely noticed her on the battlefield up until now, but this was her element, so he decided to keep his weapon sheathed and leave her to it.
The three hundred pound clone thundered forwards with a mighty, two handed swing – one that was easily blocked by the Cloud Chunin. Hoshi held up a single fist, and despite the metric tonne of force smashing down on her the kunoichi's fist never moved an inch. The axe failed to break even the first layer of skin; it slowed to a stop the moment she cried out:
"Castoff!"
Kazuya never got used to seeing the girl's left arm swell, engorging itself to unbelievable sizes as she absorbed every ounce of the momentum. It wasn't a gender thing either – those muscles would look just as ugly on a man, but he couldn't deny that the Kinetic Absorption technique was amongst the most impressive he'd ever seen.
"Transfer!" Just as always the left arm shrank back to its usual size with the right arm taking its place. Hoshi geared it back and swung with all her strength.
"Displace!" When she struck the troll of a ninja every ounce of his own force in addition to her own was poured right back against him. The giant slash of his axe shot from her blunt fist and cleaved him from shoulder to clavicle, with the sudden impact hurtling him back through the vanishing flames in a haze of smoke.
Hoshi turned and looked back to Kazuya and Ayako as behind her Kyoh's great wall of fire became no more. She drew a trio of shuriken and prepared to fire, though a warning hand from the samurai told her not to bother – he could do far more damage in this situation.
When the barrier of dragon's fire was no more it left behind a rapidly fleeting mist, just as candles or flames become when suddenly snuffed out. Not only did it create a fog to blind their enemies to their movements, but to Kazuya it also made a valuable weapon. He used it in conjunction with Yuudai all the time – smoke and mist was simply vapour that Yuudai had no trouble creating, and vapour was simply water that Kazuya had no trouble freezing.
He cast ten hand signs, altering the amount and order to make up for the wide radius he'd have to encompass and the force at which he'd propel them. Once done, Kazuya clapped into the final seal and let his work materialise. He'd never performed this trick on such a level before, though his high level of chakra control meant that he could do so without too big a loss to his energy.
"Ice Style: Razor Hail Jutsu!" At the samurai's command the mist was compressed into over a thousand tiny little fragments of razor-sharp icicles. Applying force to his jutsu meant that they sped towards the clones like bullets, burying themselves in the flesh of the opposing army and wiping out half of whatever remained of the first row. The jutsu also provided the perfect opening in which to attack: the second, third, fourth and fifth rows scattered, scrambling to safety.
"I'm going in!" Shoryu's voice sounded again, "Charge!"
Shoryu's word was the only encouragement they needed to assure them that the battle was theirs. Ayako and Hoshi turned back to ranks of countless ninja and spurred them forward; they led the charge over the blackened three metres of grass. Kazuya remained still as the army passed him though – he'd catch up in no time.
Twenty peculiar hand signs later and he was ready; at the Chunin Exams fifteen had been the limit of what he could conceivably maintain his dojutsu for during extended periods of time, but since then Kazuya's power had grown. His eyes flashed open to a spiral formation as the world slowed down around him.
"Jikogan!" he said aloud.
Kazuya then set off at a sprint, overtaking whole legions in a matter of seconds and darting through the narrow crook between Ayako and Hoshi to the head of the vanguard. Faster than any he broke rank and streamed forward; the samurai slammed into the frontline just as Kyoh crashed into the army some ten rows ahead. Hacking, slashing, spinning and kicking, Kazuya made his way through the horde of Genjutsu-possessed clones towards Shoryu.
Shoryu sprang from the saddle in one great bound and hurtled to the centre of the enemy army. With swords harnessing the power of wind he spun a full circle to clear space and repelled enemies from there. He'd slash apart a single clone before whirling round and blasting another with an Air Slash from a single swing of his sword, repeating the process until Kazuya rushed into the clearing to join him.
With enemies surrounding them on all sides the odds seemed stacked against the duo. Kazuya slowed down his dojutsu momentarily. A year prior, he learned a trick whereby he could temporarily return to a normal state, saving his chakra and allowing him to whir back to full speed without repeating the same process of complex hand signs. He used it to throw off and confuse more powerful enemies in battle, but mostly it was utilised for more practical applications; slowing down the Jikogan allowed him to hear and speak to others properly.
As the corners of his eyes turned to tiny red arrows the samurai began, pressing his back to Shoryu's at the centre of the circle. "Well at least you made it."
Shoryu grinned. "What, you're going all out? Well if I want to keep up I guess I'd better do the same! Kyoh!"
Not five metres away the dragon thrashed and kicked and breathed intense waves of flames over his own opponents. Upon Shoryu's call though, Kyoh immediately turned his summoner's way and exhaled his fierce blast towards the pair of them. Shoryu held his swords up before the inferno; being coated with oil meant they absorbed the fire, and being fuelled by wind meant the flames almost doubled in size.
Shoryu brandished the two blades, set alight with four foot torches that left afterimages in their wake. He called this mode his 'Fire Sabers', the most powerful state he could augment his swords to. In this form the Air Slashes sent out were burning and substantially larger, and the size of the technique meant that he could swing and miss with the metal blade, yet still catch an enemy with the extended blaze protruding from it.
As Kazuya's eyes blinked back to the twenty-sign speed he and Shoryu got to work. Swords flourished in near-perfect synchronism as they darted back and forth around the small circular clearing. They repelled the army of amateurs whilst watching the back of the other; any time they saw a foe approach from the back of the other a swift blast of fire or ice would send them into smoke within moments.
"Playback Two!"
A recorded copy of Kazuya rushed out of his body, releasing a giant Cryo Blast Stream behind him to finish off another band of clones. Experimenting with the technique allowed the samurai to come to some rather interesting findings that he worked into his favour. The process of creating a Playback involved recording oneself using the Jikogan and replaying that moment, but he quickly found that it was a system ripe for exploiting.
For starters, Kazuya found that if he began recording after he'd formed hand signs then the result would be the same. His Playback charged out a Cryo Blast without taking even a single moment to pull off the usual three-hand sign requirement, meaning it was much faster than him doing it personally.
Secondly, no matter what the recording entailed, Playbacks always used up a fixed amount of chakra – somewhere between a C and a B-Rank technique. If he were to replay, say, an A or an S-Rank technique, it would be no different for expending energy than replaying the most basic jutsu. Using this to his advantage, Kazuya could spend little chakra whilst repeating the same devastating moves that would tire him out in most cases.
Even so, moving at such speeds and focusing so many techniques ate away at their chakra like a starved dog wolfing up its first meal in weeks; Shoryu often compared this form of ultra-intense combat to be like watching the fuse of a bomb slowly fizzle out, and if it ever reached the end they risked dying of exhaustion.
Fortunately their hectic back-and-forth dashing was quickly brought to a halt. A clone leapt out from the fray towards Shoryu right as the boy turned towards him. He moved as fast as his instincts could allow, hoping to escape with a scrape and nothing more before a blue spear of chakra skewered the clone from temple to temple. Just then the Cloud crashed into the human wall; Ayako, Hoshi and a group of twenty or so others led the charge and managed to bail Shoryu and Kazuya out of the predicament they'd gotten themselves into.
Ayako streamed into the clearing and brutalised a trio of clones. The first ran into the green blade on her elbow and the second was decapitated by one from a spinning heel kick. The third was then dispatched as the kunoichi clapped and forced a glowing red straight into his face. Her face and clothes were smeared with the blood of her enemies – it noticeably streaked down her cheek and stained drops across her neck. Shoryu was forever at a loss on whether he found the sight utterly terrifying or surprisingly sexy.
"I was just about to finish that one you know," he said with a grin.
"Oh I'll bet you were. You wouldn't survive ten seconds without me!"
"Maybe you're right." Shoryu laughed. "Ready to finish this?"
Ayako responded only with a smile and a wink, widening Shoryu's boyish grin. As the human stampede continued to mercilessly wipe out the enemy army he cut himself a few rows ahead to get to Kyoh. The dragon had a few scales dinged, and a couple of shuriken had pierced his soft underside, though he didn't seem to mind; quite the contrary actually.
Kyoh loved battle and challenge even more than Shoryu or Kazuya. Any kind of opportunity to test his limits and he'd take it without question, throwing himself into the thick of battle in a fit of manic bloodlust if it suited him.
Shoryu leapt back into the saddle and reared up the raging beast. With his neck towering over any man or woman Kyoh expelled a burst of napalm at the army and dashed through the force of clones when joined by the charging Division Two. The vanguard surged in total abandon; the sounds of fists, shuriken and swords meeting flesh filled the air, jutsu of all different kinds met the clones, creatures were summoned, and all the while the roars of bloodthirsty fighters cried across the plain.
It became a short-lived rampage as the clone army was crushed under the heels of the ninja. Kazuya, Ayako and Shoryu upon Kyoh were the first to emerge from the other side of the force and back onto open ground. In front of them at least fifty were scattered across the field, fleeing the scene, but the battalion itself was completely dead.
With a great tug of the reins Shoryu spurred the dragon to the skies. At forty metres high they hovered; Kyoh fanned out his wings to full size and unleashed one final show of dazzling fire. As the dragon roared a primal, victorious noise its rider pointed both swords to the sky. His call – one powerful word in his most commanding voice – received the energetic response from the masses worthy of a war hero.
"VICTORY!"
.
Author's Notes: Hiii O.O So it's been four years, making Shoryu, Kazuya and Ayako seventeen – officially older than the current Naruto! And Reizo is the Eleventh Raikage (okay who didn't see that coming?). The characters seem to have adopted a kind of status that Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru had in the third war and they've changed quite a bit since we last saw them.
Ayako got a little fiercer it seems. She certainly hauls a hell of a lot more ass. Now she can use secondary colours to improve her overall power with a deflection ability! . . And apparently the claws from Ninja Gaiden. . . And apparently the Kamehameha. Anyway after primary colours it was the logical step forward and it's been foreshadowed a little already – when we first saw Ayako's father it was mentioned that he too had six scrolls as opposed to her usual three. See? I plan this stuff! :D
There's also a bit more romance going on between her and Shoryu than there was before. They're not technically dating or anything because they're at war, but there's kind of a silent agreement between the two that they're steadily acknowledging.
Kazuya meanwhile still seems as cool as ever despite the change in his looks and the fact that he got married to Fujiko, although he seems to have totally accepted the ways of the ninja after being surrounded by them for so long. He uses the Playback function of the Jikogan to his advantage and comes up with craftier uses of the ice style. Plus his rivalry with Shoryu has reached more ridiculous levels, but that was bound to happen.
Of the three of them though, Shoryu has probably changed the most over the course of adolescence, as you might be able to tell. He'll always be snarky, cynical and witty, but in the first volume those traits always came across as more of a front to conceal his deep-rooted insecurities and self-perceived weakness – he was always just putting on a brave face.
Now though, those insecurities are just gone. He's brimming with confidence, he's charismatic and he's sure of himself. He's powerful and he knows he's earned it, with his own jutsu for wind techniques and a damn fire breathing dragon at his back for support. He's pretty much just expanded on what he already had, only on a higher level. He also learned the Flying Swallow (Asuma's signature jutsu) to augment his swords with wind. If he had a rematch with Kouta now he'd annihilate him in seconds with that technique, and that's even without Kyoh's help to make them even stronger.
And of course there's a new picture up to show off his development. There's no way I can be modest about this – he looks awesome – it genuinely appears as if he's aged four years whilst still looking like the same character. He looks like the manga/anime protagonist I set out to create and I think the image pretty much fits the playful character I've always tried to describe (as opposed to the kinda mopey looking original one).
I know the links for Shoryu and Kazuya didn't work for some people before but they're fixed now, unfortunately the site decided to totally disable hyperlinks so you'll have to copy and paste the urls to see them. It's totally worth it though.
It's on my profile as always. There's something very Naruto-esque about new Shoryu but I can't put my finger on it. Might have to draw his armoured look at some point, but it's Kazuya next time. There should also be a map soon of which countries command which regions. The Land of Lightning own the Snow and the Hot Water etc. Anyway this chapter was more of a whole 'how they're getting on' type thing, so stay tuned for chapter 25 when the plot kick-starts again.