Chapter 26: Return of a Familiar Face
"Cryo Blast Jutsu!"
Into the night Kazuya's jutsu blazed a cool blue beam of frozen chakra. Like a searchlight in the darkness it banked towards the woman above, standing atop her oversized falcon like a conqueror looking down at her subjects. With a lash of her handheld whip the creature swerved left, its wing narrowly missing the tree-sized pillar of ice before Kazuya let it go.
Madoka Oyama remained expressionless the whole time. Her spiral-patterned eyes reflected nothing but a mirror image back at Kazuya. As the falcon slowed back to a hover though, a noticeable snigger spread across her lips. From a distance Kazuya just about distinguished the red arrows forming next to her pupils, so he reciprocated in holding back the Jikogan, if only to hear her speak properly.
"Careful Kazuya!" She held up the motionless, unconscious form of Fujiko over the thirty metre drop. "We wouldn't want her to have an accident now, would we?"
The samurai pulled his mouth to a snarl. To think that one of his own relatives could be so sadistic startled him, but more than anything else, anger consumed the young man. Long ago Kazuya had vowed to himself – and to Fujiko – that no one who ever rose a hand to her would live to tell of it later. It was a rule without exception; samurai had an obligation to uphold the principles of bushido, but this quickly became a personal vendetta.
Kazuya glanced around the mayhem. Amidst the burning tents and fighting ninja he looked for something – anything that could help him get up there. Fujiko was well out of jumping distance, and nothing he spied among the carnage offered any kind of foothold or springboard. Around him the screams of death wailed and the bangs of exploding clones made a racket, made worse by the fact that the human screams were the far more common of the two.
The samurai continued to desperately scan his surroundings. He knew no one by name in the riot that enclosed him; Shoryu and Ayako would be too far away, and even if they arrived they could do nothing to get him up there. If only he could hijack one of those falcons and get it under control. He set his sights on a particularly low flying bird and formed hand signs, determined to bring down the rider until a mighty crash of water knocked it spinning out of the sky.
Kazuya was moments away from rounding on the ninja in anger until he noticed who it was that cast the jutsu: Yuudai was nearby, fending off clone after clone with quick swirls of compact, powerful water blasts.
"Yuudai!" he called over the commotion.
After dispatching a seventh clone with a wheeling strike Yuudai turned to the sound of his name. He locked eyes with Kazuya over the pyre of flaming tent, and as soon the samurai motioned he understood the request immediately.
Slipping back into the fastest speeds the Jikogan could take him, Kazuya began to form hand signs. He planted the ground at his feet just in time to save him from Yuudai's technique. Beneath him the earth erupted, spouting out a geyser of incredible force at his feet. Gravel and dirt exploded in one giant burst, and the sheer force of the water was almost enough to make Kazuya lose his balance.
Fortunately the samurai held on. Finishing his jutsu, Kazuya utilised his chakra to freeze solid the first few feet of the fountain below him into a solid block. Utilising the same technique one used for walking on walls he remained perfectly balanced even as the geyser accelerated to frightening heights and speeds.
One volcanic shot of gushing water had provided all the height he needed. Riding the wave Kazuya towered over the camp; for one moment he witnessed the devastation the attack had wrought upon the division, but one moment was all he permitted. He focused his mind back to the task at hand and threw himself off the fountain into open air – towards the falcon where his enemy awaited.
It was a bold move; Shoryu would've called it stupidity, though Kazuya had thrown logic out of the window. He drew his sword as he plummeted, wind rushing against his armour, towards the gargantuan bird. He got within two metres – just out of arm's reach of his wife, before Madoka struck. If he noticed her forming hand signs he'd simply ignored it, and so he paid the price dearly.
"Lightning Style: Electro Whip Jutsu!"
A second whip, this one yellow and sizzling as a rampant, uncontrollable cable of electricity, appeared in Madoka's other hand. She wasted no time in lashing out in one vicious attack. Being in a defensive pose meant Kazuya's sword absorbed most of the attack, but the flexible whip only glanced off his blade and continued to streak down his shoulder.
Like a fly being swatted Kazuya lost all momentum. His right arm seared with uncontrolled electricity and he began to fall; all the way back to the ground with nothing to catch him. Despite the numbing, seizing pain in his shoulder Kazuya tried to form hand signs.
If he could blast against the ground then he could slow his descent and hopefully save his legs from breaking. Not that it was any good though; the shock in his arm sent his wrist into spasms, and his fingers twitched any time he tried to lock a decent seal into place. Helpless to do anything the ground rushed towards Kazuya. He closed his eyes and braced himself for impact, right up until a hand closed around his good forearm.
It was Shoryu.
Pulling him out of the fall, Shoryu hauled his friend in one great swing onto the back of the dive-bombing Kyoh. The dragon pulled up so fast that Kazuya almost fell off until he found a pair of handy back-spikes to hold on to. He'd never ridden on Kyoh before, but now that he experienced it first-hand he quickly realised why Shoryu spent so much time in the clouds.
Unfortunately Kyoh wasn't yet big enough to handle two riders properly. He flew alright, but he became slower, his movements a little more sluggish than his usual agile self; and naturally without two saddles he couldn't pull off the more impressive aerial manoeuvres that he loved so much.
"Kazuya, your auntie is a real bitch!" called Shoryu. A tug on the reins and a shift of his feet caused the dragon the swerve so hard that Kazuya redoubled his grip. Kyoh soared up until he was level with Madoka's falcon, then he began to circle it.
"You caught on too?" asked the samurai, impressed that the commander had figured it out as quickly as he had.
"Oh yeah. I'll never forget that face. She just looks like a middle-aged Suzume. We'll have to watch out though, she seems strong."
"I beat Suzume – I can beat her mother too," Kazuya assured. "But Shoryu, she's got Fujiko. Rescuing her is-"
"-Our first priority, I get it. She's your wife and the mother of your unborn child, you don't need to give me the whole spiel, I know the drill. We'll get her back in one piece."
Kazuya hummed a positive reply and tightened his clutches on the pair of spines protruding from Kyoh's back.
Shoryu licked his thumb and drew a shuriken. "Alright Kyoh, lay off on the flames for now, our enemy has a hostage on board. Just keep circling and watch our backs."
In a burst of scarlet chakra Ayako arrived at the clearing, right beneath the circling dragon and its prey. She watched them for a few moments; shuriken, ice and blades of wind soared towards their target and failed to reach it every time. The woman above manoeuvred her falcon like it was a part of her own body, and whenever a technique cornered her completely she'd swat it out of the sky with a jutsu.
The crazed war cry of a charging clone spurred Ayako back into action. She didn't have time to be sat watching her friends, not when a six foot herculean clone barrelled her way. Her hands fell to her sides as green chakra began to wreathe them completely. Before long her arms and legs were coated up to her elbows and knees.
Clap.
One swift movement materialised the chakra. Emerald blades as sharp as any sword solidified across her, and with a single twirl of her body the kunoichi cut straight across the charging ninja in a shower of blood. Two seconds after she'd carved open his neck the familiar 'poof' confirmed her kill, though by then Ayako had already acted again.
Clap.
A circular orange barrier shielded her from a particularly nasty wind attack coupled with a handful of shuriken. The throwing clone's stunned expression when his jutsu backfired gave her the perfect opportunity to clap off another trio of attacks; two blue javelins pierced his shoulders whilst a third red flare met his face with a bang.
Feeling confident, she turned to take on another wave of ninja as four more poured in through the clearing; they were child's play. Their attacks were slow and predictable, their movements exploitable. She weaved away from shuriken and opened up the first ninja who came in close by adding the ferocious claws to her green coating. From there it was easy; any attacks could be blocked by yellow or orange techniques, and their lacklustre defence proved no match for a violet beam from her scrolls.
Once the group had been cleared Ayako dusted off her hands. Particles of excess colour showered to the ground as she was allowed a moment of solace to check on her friends. Blue eyes looked up to the sky; she watched as Kyoh darted under a stream of electricity from their target, following his movements until an assault came upon her.
It was unlike anything she'd ever experienced before – a punch so powerful that her jaw popped out of its socket instantly, the impact throwing her twenty feet through the air to hurtle through the skins of two consecutive tents. She landed covered in the tan sheets of the camp, head spinning, heart racing and her cheek throbbing where the attack struck.
She wondered suddenly what had gone wrong; normally she could hear an attack from a clone coming a moment before it hit, allowing her to act accordingly. With this there had been nothing – her attacker had been either shadow-quiet or lightning-fast to get past her senses like that.
The second thing that struck Ayako was how powerful that attack had been. She'd taken punches from the likes of Kazuya, and even trained against Hoshi's terrifying kinetic manipulation technique where her arm became a hulking giant's fist. Neither of them compared to what she'd just endured; a lesser ninja would've passed out – she nearly did, but experience and strength alone forced her to stay vigilant.
The kunoichi sprang to her feet, throwing off the two tarps that smothered her and falling back into stance. She spat on the floor, getting rid of the blood in her mouth and – to her dismay – half a tooth. Ayako had always managed to keep her teeth in perfect condition. With her tongue she felt about the roof of her mouth until she found which one had been broken. The fact that it was her farthest back molar was some consolation at least. No one ever had to know.
Ayako brought up a hand and lightly brushed the side of her face, careful not to cut herself on the claws she brandished. Even the lightest touch made her wince in pain. Already she could feel it beginning to swell as blood rushed to it. If that didn't leave a bruise nothing would – she felt at first like a boulder had been flung at her face, when in fact her initial suspicion about it being a punch had been correct.
She looked back over the clearing, and through the burning remains of the western encampment spied the ninja that hit her. Much to her surprise it had actually been a woman, but the surprise stopped when she turned to show her face.
Ayako had seen this woman before, four whole years ago at Kateri's annual festival. She was tall, lean and fit, with a shock of brown hair flowing down past her shoulders and eyes green like a tropical sea. Tattooed on her arm was the symbol she saw daily on Shoryu's jacket, one of two crescents of purple facing towards each other.
The similarities between them – the familiar insignia and the striking likeness in their hair and eye shade – had previously led them to believe that this woman was in fact a relative of Shoryu's, but without the means to find her again they had no way to prove it. And yet here she stood, barely moving at all as she slaughtered ninja after ninja from the Cloud; they dropped like flies before her.
Ayako had remembered this woman after so long not just because of their theory about her and Shoryu, but also because of her abilities. She'd fought and bested Reizo – the current Raikage – at Taijutsu. Since then Ayako had never seen anyone quite so skilled at close quarters combat, even after four years in the Fifth Shinobi World War not one Jonin she encountered topped this woman. Now she was an enemy.
"Kamiko!" cried Ayako.
Kamiko Honami turned to the sound of her name.
Clap.
"Violet!"
From Ayako's palms burst forth a column of purple, destructive chakra. The ground beneath it cracked as it closed in towards the enemy ninja, churning out a sound like a generator being geared to its maximum. It was all for nothing though, as with a simple skip to her left Kamiko evaded the technique like it was nothing, letting it explode into an empty tent behind her.
"You know this girl's name?" she asked, strangely referring to herself in the third person. "And what's more you're still up? I've got four gates open too – shall we see how you do with five?"
Ayako suddenly noticed something peculiar: when she'd seen Kamiko before, the girl wore a Hidden Sand forehead protector to display her status as a Land of Wind ninja. Now though, there was nothing. In this attack it seemed the clones had neglected to present themselves as a rival nation and decided to forego the headbands completely, meaning Kamiko was well aware of the circumstances – she'd betrayed her country and allied with the clones.
"I don't go down so easily," said Ayako.
Clap.
"Red!"
Kamiko span into a flurry of acrobatic movements faster than her foe could keep track of. Ayako blazed flare after flare with quick thrusts of her palms, only to witness her attacks explode at the ground where Kamiko had stood only momentarily. As she flipped about the burning battlefield Ayako quickened the pace in an attempt to pin her. She was getting closer; from what Ayako had seen, letting her get in close would be a bad mistake, but with her speed rivalling Kazuya's it seemed unavoidable.
One blink and Ayako lost sight of the target. Kamiko had vanished, her swiftness such that she could outrun even eyes. Shaking, the girl spun around. Colour swirled at her fingertips as she scanned the camp for any sign of the Taijutsu elite. She pivoted back to her original position, hearing only a vague rushing sound to alert her of the danger.
Clap.
Kamiko descended from above with a house-shattering punch. Her fist careered headlong into a tinted barrier of translucent yellow, yet the shield could only withstand so much pressure. It shattered into glassy fragments, the Sand ninja's punch sailing through it and striking Ayako hard across the shoulder.
Ayako's last minute barrier had taken some of the impact, but not enough. She recoiled, resisting the urge to cry out from the scathing pain that bolted up and down her arm. She'd saved it from breaking or dislocating; instead she'd suffer a wide, horrific looking bruise – bad enough to ache, but sadly not serious enough to warrant euphoric painkillers if she made it out.
Worrying about injuries was the last thing on her mind though. With no barrier and Kamiko so close she barely had time to react before another attack came her way. By throwing herself backwards to the ground Ayako managed to evade the impressive crescent-kick that arced towards her, and when Kamiko lunged in for a finishing blow she crossed her arms in front of her.
Having jagged blades of green colour sprouting from her arms normally guaranteed safety in battle; Ayako compensated for her lack of Taijutsu skills by turning her opponent's skill against them. The harder their punch, the worse they impaled their fist on the spikes of her makeshift armour after a block. Kamiko though, was different.
In seeing she was about to skewer her fingers, the Sand ninja's rocket of a punch stopped still in an instant, then a snap later she'd seized Ayako's good shoulder. Using all the momentum and strength of her body, Kamiko hurled her opponent over her head in a throw. When Ayako hit the ground all the wind was drove from her lungs. Ribs were cracked, and her back bled where tiny stone fragments had buried themselves past her clothes and into her skin.
Clap.
From the flat of her back Ayako shaded colour out of instinct. In seeing the final heel rushing towards her neck a javelin of solid blue forced a retreat from her opponent. Rolling back to her feet Ayako kept up the blitz, one cobalt spear after another. So early in the fight and she'd already nearly been killed; already she was sweating, exhausted and breathing heavily, knowing she couldn't keep up her current outflow of chakra.
"Cross Slash Jutsu!"
"Cryo Blast Jutsu!"
As Kyoh raced under the beaks of two incoming falcons, Shoryu and Kazuya fired techniques from his back. Madoka forced her bird to manoeuvre out of their flight-paths. Like a starved dog begging for food the summon did as it was told, snapping up some of the minor missiles and spinning violently away from others. Its pilot even fired her own attacks, adding another element of challenge to the attacks Kyoh had to avoid.
With two shuriken left Shoryu drew one out and fired away. He took everything into account; their altitude and current speeds, the crosswinds and the moving target. All of them seemed irrelevant – despite his pitch being perfect the bird simply reared up and deflected his attack with a click of its beak. The shuriken left no more than a dent.
He cursed silently. In any other situation he'd be inclined to go for the summon instead of the pilot. Take out the pilot and the summon – more often than not – continues to fight. Take out the summon though, and the pilot normally goes crashing down with it. Usually he'd aim a shuriken at precisely the right point where he could sever a wing and ground the falcon. With Fujiko on board, such a tactic became impossible.
"Hang on Shoryu, I'm switching out," said Kazuya.
Shoryu was about to ask what his friend meant when a motion from Kyoh alerted him to another falcon, swerving towards their path in an attempt to cut across them. The commander drew a sword, readying his strike when all of a sudden Kazuya leapt over his head.
The bird's rider, saddled and geared up, was thrown straight from his seat when the future Taisho's boot slammed into his face. Moving quickly in opposite directions forced Kazuya to act fast; Shoryu feared he'd fall until the samurai's hand snapped out and grabbed the reins in one fluid, easy to miss movement. Then Shoryu remembered the Jikogan – accurate, impossible movements were made easier when surrounding time was slowed down.
As Shoryu and Kazuya banked away from one another the commander lifted his hand to his radio. "You scared the crap out of me! That was reckless, don't do that again!"
"I don't take orders from you." Kazuya's reply came cold and quick and his attacks. He didn't seem in the mood to joke.
"Actually you do."
"You'd do the same thing."
"I've already got Kyoh!"
"Exactly," said Kazuya. "Now we've both got something to fly on. I was only slowing Kyoh down; we can attack from different directions now anyway."
Shoryu frowned as he loosed two slashes of his swords. "Still could've warned me first. Cross Slash Jutsu!"
"I did. Cryo Blast Stream!"
Hearing another attack come from down the speaker forced Shoryu to veer the dragon out of the way. When Madoka swerved away from another column of ice the attack continued on its path, homing towards the commander and his summon until Kyoh dove away.
This is ridiculous, he told himself. We're getting nowhere here. As Shoryu realised the futility of their attacks he began to search for a weak spot. Even as a trained up, physically capable ninja his true strength had always been in his mind. Waiting for an opening, exploiting attacks and strategizing had been his secret to success over his four and a half years as a ninja; he only needed to apply it here.
The commander put away his swords and watched. Everything from the subtle movements in the bird's flaps, Fujiko's location and the hand signs Madoka used – nothing escaped him. After observing for twenty long seconds only one thing stood out. It was something he hadn't noticed in the heat of battle yet seemed blatantly obvious now: they were getting higher.
It seemed that by every time Shoryu and Kazuya had flown a full ring around their target they'd ascended a few feet off the ground to keep up with the falcon troops. The cords that hung from the birds no longer reached the surface of the camp, and most falcons seemed to be occupied by a single clone carrying a single hostage. That, coupled with the fact that Madoka now chattered into a radio, allowed Shoryu to arrive at only one conclusion.
"Kazuya!" he bellowed down his own. "Get ready, they're about to split!"
Almost the moment Shoryu made his hypothesis the enemy acted. Madoka's bird twisted out of its stationary hover and bolted off south, the rest following suit as the clones branched together into one cohesive, arrow-shaped unit. They'd got what they came for, and now that there was nothing left to accomplish they turned tail and fled, abandoning all their remaining comrades that still fought on the ground.
No command was given; without a word exchanged Shoryu and Kazuya set off after the fleet. Ravaging winds whipped across them like thousands of tiny razorblades. Being an aerial combatant meant the commander was used to the altitude, but for the normally grounded samurai matters became worse. With one hand he shielded his face, gritting his teeth as he pushed the falcon to its top speed.
Without guarding his eyes Kazuya couldn't see, but using a hand to do so meant that forming hand signs was impossible. Through the crowd of a dozen others Shoryu spotted Madoka's summon; he saw Fujiko, unconscious and now with a black bag over her head as their creature took the lead, streaming through a fluffy batch of clouds and out of sight. Moments later Shoryu and Kazuya followed them through the vapour.
The pair emerged, numbingly cold and drenched, to a sight they'd rather not see. A blockade stood before them; eight or so falcons hovered in static to prevent them going any further. Shoryu noticed each one of them forming hand signs, and in an instant the high-speed flight turned into a bloodbath.
Clouds were stained red with the blood of clone, beast and human alike as Shoryu and Kazuya pulled their vessels into evasive manoeuvres. Jutsu and shuriken of all different natures and sizes whizzed past them in a blur, yet against such an attack there was no escape unscathed. Dragon-fire, five Air Slashes, a windmill shuriken and two blind pillars of ice bridged the void of empty sky.
In three seconds four clones went down. A shuriken pierced Kazuya's shoulder though, and Shoryu's right arm was stripped of two layers of skin from the blowback of Kyoh's flame meeting a wind specialist clone. Still no speed was lost, and as the two units clashed Shoryu and Kazuya emerged on the other side of the blockade in a clear ringing of steel. Another wound slashed across the samurai's side in the exchange.
Never mind his armour – Shoryu suddenly wished he was wearing even his jacket as the scorching sensation from his burns reached unbearable levels. He'd wanted it earlier when the cold cloud had smacked into him, and now it would've been useful to absorb the flames of Kyoh's backfire. He clutched his bare arm, trailing it over the sensitive scalding as he caught the stench of his own burnt flesh.
Shoryu reeled forward in Kyoh's saddle, his breathing heavy and his posture held up only by one hand on the dragon's spine. Not for years had his ability been tested this much; it was a sudden shock that told him he still had much to learn, but for now they needed to save Fujiko and the others. With his good hand he thumbed on the radio.
"Kazuya. . ." he panted. "You still with me bro?"
"Yeah." A throaty grunt as Kazuya tore out the shuriken told Shoryu that his partner's condition was just as poor as his own. "This is nothing, we need to keep going."
"I know. Kyoh, what about you?"
The dragon wasn't exactly in perfect shape either. His diamond-hard scales of a midnight blue had absorbed all the damage to his face and back, though his soft underbelly had been exposed in the attack, sustaining numerous cuts and a purple bruise where he collided with a clone's rock jutsu.
"I can keep going," said the dragon. "But Shoryu, look up ahead."
Shoryu mouthed a moan, pushing himself back up into an upright position. Not a hundred yards of open sky away the rest of the falcon armada still flapped, though something had changed. They'd gotten closer – packed themselves together like a tin of sardines as a green cord of rope was thrown about.
From Madoka's position at the centre of the fleet she'd thrown out the rope to either side of her. The clones wrapped it around themselves before tossing it to the next one. Shoryu scratched his head; what did they stand to gain from this? Being closer together – and tied to one another no less – meant that he and Kazuya could annihilate more of them with fewer attacks.
No way was this their intention. Shoryu had never seen this tactic before, but with the burn still wreaking pain up and down his right arm he'd since gained a healthy respect for his enemies – they weren't they that stupid. Still, he had to take the chance while it lasted. Whatever they planned, he had to stop it.
"Go for it!"
But Kazuya was already well ahead of his commander's order. By the time Shoryu finished his sentence ice had blasted out from the mount of the hijacked falcon beside him, and after gritting his teeth Shoryu pulled out his final shuriken and hurled it to the air. The movement of his right arm forced him to recoil after his throw was complete. From his seat atop Kyoh he could only watch as his projectile banked towards its mark.
For one spirit-lifting moment Shoryu figured his attack had worked. He'd set the trajectory perfectly; if the shuriken continued on its path he'd carve a broad, instantly-killing riven into the back of Madoka's skull. Before it reached however, something he'd never seen before prevented it from making the hit.
Madoka, the clones, their summons and their hostages vanished. In a blinding flash of blue radiance they moved at light-speed, accelerating a rate he'd never thought possible and fading over the horizon line before he had time to blink.
Shoryu's heart sank, the bitter taste of bile and blood playing over his tongue as he slouched back into the saddle. It was over – they'd won. Through some unforeseen, incredible jutsu from Madoka the clones had managed to escape with dozens of Cloud shinobi, along with the woman Kazuya loved. Defeated and weary, Shoryu muttered something into the radio, gaining no reply at all from the samurai.
Ten minutes in battle was normally nothing for Ayako, but against Kamiko she'd had to pull out all the stops just to stay in with a chance. When every blow could render her unconscious or even dead she learned to stay at a safe distance, treating every movement of her foe as vital. This was no ordinary shinobi – she knew that even types who were strong in close quarters like Kazuya and Shoryu would stand no chance here.
It was only by staying out of her range and going on the defensive that Ayako had managed to stay alive, though when her opponent moved at bullet-speeds and punched with all the force of a falling mountain, just holding her own had been an accomplishment in itself.
In ten minutes she'd been struck and bruised another six times thanks to her shields breaking under the impact of Kamiko's attacks. Her heart raced against her chest and she grew dizzy from chakra exhaustion. Half of her scrolls – purple, orange and red – were gone; the other half were on their way out.
Their duel had been particularly one-sided. All the damage Ayako had taken was opposed with just a few burns and a cut where Kamiko's leg hadn't quite managed to move away from a lucky blue. Being at the very peak of human physical fitness meant that she was hardly worn out either; she stood with the same upright pose as she did when they began, and so far her speed hadn't decreased at all.
Ayako shaded the green and clapped to reinforce the hard blades strapped to her arms and legs. It wasn't much, but at least it threw Kamiko off momentarily whenever she held them up in defence.
"Why?" Ayako said suddenly, reaffirming her stance. "Why are you here? You're a Sand shinobi aren't you? I could understand you coming here if the Land of Wind's army finally works its way through the Fire, but why are you with the clones? If you know what they are, then surely you know that they started this war, and-"
"Bzzzzt! Sorry babe, but Kamiko isn't here right now," said the girl.
Ayako narrowed her eyes in suspicion. That marked the second time Kamiko had referred to herself in the third person, though if her words were to be believed then Kamiko herself wasn't the one in control. "What do you mean?"
When Kamiko said nothing in reply Ayako thought back to all the information they'd been given about the clone army. There was something behind the girl's words, something she'd been missing all along. After considering the evidence there was only one possible conclusion that made sense to her.
"You're the Genjutsu master, aren't you? The one who took control of our last Raikage – the one who controls the clones – you're possessing Kamiko now, right?"
"Ooh." Kamiko's eyebrows shot up in surprise, her plain expression replaced by an evil sneer. "Not bad. It looks like there's a brain under that pretty exterior. I take it you're close to the Kage then? He hasn't told everyone yet has he – thinks it'll just direct the war towards the Cloud? Smart move if you ask me."
"I was his student."
"Ahh. Ayako. . . Tsuji is it?"
When Ayako's head tilted in confusion the puppeteer elaborated.
"I learned a lot whilst Kira Asakura was my vessel. Part of my job was gathering all the information I could and keeping tabs on certain. . . Threats. Nothing slipped by me where adversaries like Reizo were concerned."
Ayako grinned. "So you always saw Reizo-sensei as a threat? Fat lot of good it did you in the end."
"Quite the contrary. You should feel ashamed I managed to infiltrate the Cloud for so long. I always knew my disguise couldn't last forever, but you made it way too easy for me."
"But why Kamiko? Why pluck one human girl out of the Sand to join your army of clones?"
"She didn't come willingly you see. She was raised to play her part, but when push came to shove she backed out like a coward. I like this body anyway; Kamiko here has a rather interesting Alpha Gene."
"Alpha Gene?" Ayako's heart stopped; it was the first time they'd heard the term since Kira's death. "What is that? What are you talking about?"
"Come now, you really think I'm such a fool as to tell you our secrets while you still breathe? Now if you'll excuse me I think we need to wrap this up quickly – I wouldn't want to be left behind. Let's see how you handle the Sixth Gate!"
There were two things Ayako noticed as Kamiko set off towards her. At her last sentence about being 'left behind' the kunoichi glanced around, only to find that clones everywhere had begun to flee into the dead of night. They made for the outer perimeter of flaming tents, yet at almost every turn they were intercepted by the raging charge of a Cloud ninja, some wailing over the death of comrades.
The second thing Ayako couldn't help but notice was that Kamiko grew faster. When ninja opened their inner chakra gates they normally had to stop and concentrate, but this girl could do so on the fly. The Sixth Gate of Joy had been opened; Ayako had only ever been up against as many as four. Kamiko's movements became faster, her strides stronger, and her silky skin flushed a deep shade of brown.
Her eyes seemed to roll back into their sockets, the veins in her temples almost bursting as visible chakra enveloped her. Even non-sensory ninja began to feel a sensation from so much energy, like an overwhelming presence pushing down, restricting movements and making the air around close and suffocating.
Clap.
As she sprinted across the clearing a bomb went off by Kamiko's feet. It was a trap Ayako had previously laid, a nice collection of red and blue splodges well hidden in the grass, primed and ready to be sparked alight. Her speed allowed the ex-Sand ninja to dart away, but Ayako's timing ensured she didn't escape without a mark.
The flare from the red painted an ugly scorch mark up Kamiko's ankle, leading up to her leg from which numerous small, blue chakra fragments protruded, like someone had thrown an empty bottle at the floor beside her. Sensing that she wouldn't get a better opening, Ayako pounced.
Kamiko had just about managed to inspect the damage before the aspiring Kage rushed her, a triple-bladed claw of green chakra cutting the air and aiming a perfect punch right between her eyes. Ayako swung her entire weight into her lethal attack, but Kamiko was slightly faster. The woman dodged death by a needle's width as she raked back her body in total limbo. From there she could flip back into an aerial kick, smacking Ayako's chin perfectly before coming down with an elbow designed to break her back.
Clap.
The last of her yellow created a barrier between Ayako and her foe. Being made of more colour than the others, this shield didn't simply crack. It was thicker – more durable, so that when Kamiko's elbow made contact she simply bounced off it, right on time for Ayako to dispel the wall and shade what remained of her blue scroll – the last one she had.
Clap.
A blitz of azure quilted the air - a collection of chakra spears so tightly packed together that they cast an ominous shadow over the tents in the dying light of surrounding flames. Despite the broad range they encompassed Kamiko managed to dodge, though Ayako had anticipated it. Without any scrolls left the clone leader thought her helpless. Shoryu had once thought the same, until her hair colour changed before his eyes. Violet swirled in her palms as her hair went back to its natural blonde.
Clap.
As fast as Ayako could shade a purple beam closed the gap between the two fighters, erupting with the sound of a paper bomb and engulfing the nearby area in plumes of a lilac haze. Having no rest for so long meant that Ayako suddenly slumped; a hand fell to her knee as she forced herself to stay standing – to witness for herself the results of her attack.
It was as bad as she feared. In spite of deadly precision and thinking three steps ahead, Ayako's attack had failed to sully Kamiko's capabilities. She strolled out of the smoke, her left hand clutching her side where the beam had taken a chunk out of her flesh. For a moment this made Ayako smirk; with such a serious wound the battle was all but over – or rather it would be in any normal situation.
It was only then that Ayako remembered a certain detail about Reizo's fight with the Tenth Raikage. He said that the man controlling him – the puppeteer – sustained Kira's life force, allowing him to defy his age and act with physical capabilities that should've been beyond him. All the pain he suffered in the battle went straight to the trapped mind of Kira Asakura; the puppeteer could continue to make his body move as normal, because he was the one in control, and he felt nothing.
"Yours really is a foul jutsu," spat Ayako.
"I think it's remarkable. I don't believe I got around to showing you what having six inner gates open can really do. Add that to the fact that you've got no other attacks left and, well, I don't think this will last much longer."
Ayako closed her eyes and nodded her head. After straightening herself upright she released a long, drawn-out exhale as she attempted to cool herself down. Already she could feel the perplexed stare of Kamiko's possessor boring into her, though she paid it no mind as she began to form hand signs. There was no other choice.
"You're right. This fight will be over soon," she muttered. One seal after another she strung together more shapes with her fingers. In battle Ayako normally had to perform only three to initiate the Shading Jutsu, but this time something else required them – an extension of her abilities. "I know you're probably going all out right now, so I'd feel bad not doing the same. To Kamiko, I know you can hear me: I want to say I'm sorry; it's not your fault you have to bear through this.
"And to you." Her eyes flashed open as she addressed the puppeteer. "I want to thank you. I've never had the occasion to use this technique in combat before, so you've got my gratitude for being the first."
The final seal was a clap, one from which rushed a mighty force that made Kamiko shut her eyes for an instant. When she opened them up everything had changed; a cyclone had whipped up with the younger girl as its midpoint, but this wasn't a natural tornado by any means.
"Ninja Art: Spontaneous Absorption!"
Streaks of colour swirled about her, forcefully torn from their surfaces to join the storm around Ayako. Tan from the tents and brown from the mud joined the tempest, followed quickly by grass-green and blue from the water of a nearby cooler. Yellow and cerulean from her flak-jacket and gloves came up next, and then peachy orange from the cliffs completed it.
Colours were split in an instant. Those that she couldn't use Ayako modified, taking the darkness out of tan to make it red. With an abundance of green from below she split more than half of it to give her a bigger arsenal of blue and yellow. By the time she'd finished all colour in a twenty yard radius had been stripped from every surface around her. A scene of only black and white was broken at its nexus by a kaleidoscopic palette of primary and secondary colours, with only Ayako stood at its centre.
"You took the trouble to remember my name, so I think you ought to remember something else about me too." A swash of red wrapped itself around her hands before she added, "I'm the one who's going to be Twelfth Raikage!"
.
Author's Notes: Badass! Any time you count Ayako out as being nothing on the other two characters she pulls something out to make me think otherwise. It might've been clear-cut at the beginning of the series, but honestly I think that at this point in time if you threw Shoryu, Ayako and Kazuya into a battle royale even I don't know who'd come out on top. Never count Ayako out :)
You see at this point in the Naruto manga Sakura is so weak in comparison to the others that she's practically a non-combatant. It's great to see less of her because, you know, she's a terrible character, but it's like nothing she does at this point could possibly have any effect on any serious adversary, and she's supposed to be a main character! Hell if that's going to happen to Ayako.
I bet you all forgot about Kamiko Honami as well! I should've brought her back sooner but never mind. Everything is coming together now you'll be glad to hear. This is the part of the story where I stop making questions and start answering them, so the next several chapters should be rather interesting. We're coming closer and closer to a big climax I've had planned for over a year.
And I just kinda noticed that there was a slight issue with names in this chapter. It's kind of hard to read when three of the major characters in this one chapter just happen to be called Ayako, Fujiko and Kamiko. Any more –ko names anyone? Yeah I'm gonna make sure not to include another xD
Lastly there's a new picture up. Big surprise, it's of Ayako. She looks a lot better at seventeen, but I have to say there's a lot more to drawing the female form than I originally thought. It wasn't so hard when she was younger, but now that she's *ahem* matured, it was a little trickier. Take your eyes off her boobs and hips for a moment guys – you know who you are!
So, now that all three main characters have completed versions of their thirteen and seventeen year old selves I have a slight boast to make: I – a total amateur – am officially better at drawing timeskips than Tite Kubo. Yay for modesty! To be fair anyone could be.
I mean seriously, I like Bleach but come on! It's like he sat down and went, "How do I make this character look a little older? I know! I'll just make them grow their hair a few inches! That'll work!" Then he developed short-term memory loss and so repeated the same process OVER AND OVER again. Pretty much every character just grows their hair three inches except for Rukia (who shortens it three inches) and Ikkaku (who is bald). Rant over.