Hello everyone! It's been awhile. This chapter took me awhile to plan out. Hope you enjoy. Took a bit longer due to studying for a test.
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters used.
Review corner!
Airog: Children huh. I might use Himawari, but for a male name, I'm stuck on either using the canon Boruto or using Minato, kinda as a memento of his father. I'll debate on what name I'll use.
Zeus 501: Its a gradual work in process.
Sexy Fox Girl: Just imagine tons of disbelief with jaws dropping and eyeballs popping out.
X: Rokushiki, the Six powers, huh. Maybe Geppo, but that would be about it.
Bane2000: Perhaps :) I do have something in mind.
dragonball256: Hope this fight is descriptive enough.
EndlessChains: Appreciate the review. But Sasuke in this time was training and brooding.
Guest 1: Sigh. I did say in the description it was inspired by them. However, this is my own twist.
Guest 2 & fictionfan562: Intesrting ideas. I hadn't planned on going too far deep into the Assasin's creed stuff, just using the name. I will debate on that, but no promises.
Bch: Yes, I know I made a mistake in chapter 3 about the gender. I'll fix that when I get time to go back.
For those who don't know, Enzu comes from the webcomic Magician while Id comes from Id: The Greatest Fusion Fantasy (I'm not saying it is, it's actually the freakin title name. Ego much?) I highly recommend Magician, especially season 2, while Id I'd say up to maybe ch 50? It got too confusing after that.
Well, Enough is enough. Back to the Story!
As the Easterners headed back to their current housings, the Raikage was in a horrible mood. None of his fighters had made it into the finals, not even his own brother Killer B. That Zoro swordsman was not normal, being able to somehow grow 4 extra arms and 2 extra heads. It made him look like a demon god. He thought about it and shivered. It made him look exactly like Asura from some of the temples he had seen. A god in human form fighting? What type of people was here? The other village leaders were not exactly pleased that they couldn't knock out even one of the Western fighters from making it to the second round. As they made it back, Gaara turned to Yugito, who happened to be accompanying them back.
"If possible, I want to personally thank the proctor Koetsuji and the Emperor for protecting my shinobi," said Gaara
"That girl's special to you, isn't she?" teased Yugito. It was lucky that Gaara had his sand armor on, otherwise, Yugito would have seen a full on blush on Gaara's face. Regardless, Gaara continued, as if her statement never happened.
"I also wish to know if..." Gaara looked around so see if anybody was listening in, especially Konoha, "my brother-in-burden, Naruto, is here. When I found out about his banishment, I sent shinobi's after him to offer him sanctuary in Suna, but they never found him. All they knew was that Naruto had gone over the wall to the West."
Yugito studied Gaara's posture and face (if that's possible) and decided Gaara wasn't lying. She came close to him and gave him a hug. To anyone looking, it looked like a normal hug. However, Yugito whispered into Gaara's ears while dropping a piece of paper into his pocket, "Follow the instructions. Meet up at midnight, when everyone is asleep."
Yugito left after the hug, confusing Gaara. However, he complied and didn't tell anyone. He really wanted to see Naruto again.
Soon, midnight arrived, and everyone was asleep. What they didn't know was that the Brotherhood sprayed sleeping gas made by ., forcing everyone to fall asleep peacefully. Gaara was unaffected as he had followed the instructions and stood at a location the paper told him to. Soon, the Brotherhood members stepped out of the shadows and led Gaara to a section the Easterners themselves were forbidden to go in. There, he saw a sight that made him raise his eyebrow. They stopped in front of a ramen store with a bright neon sign saying Ichiraku Ramen. Gaara stepped in to see Teuchi and Ayame getting ready to close when they saw him.
"Sorry, we're about to.. Ah, Kazekage-sama!" said Teuchi. "Did you want something? Although we're closing for tonight, we can still cook something up for you. Our usual midnight customer is about to arrive anyways."
'Midnight customer? It can't be!' thought Gaara.
Suddenly, a flash of yellow, and an old face Gaara hadn't seen for so long appeared. Naruto had definitely gotten taller than him, and the baby face that he had completely disappeared. Instead, a handsome chiseled face that had seen war replaced it, but the whiskers on his face was still recognizable. His hair had grown longer, but the unmistakable sun-kissed blonde spiky hair was there. He was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans, in civilian clothing.
"Whats up, Gaara?" asked Naruto.
Gaara chuckled at Naruto's nonchalant attitude. "Still the same as ever, aren't you Naruto? Never change," said Gaara as he took a seat. He ordered a shrimp ramen while Naruto ordered his usual. They ate in silence for a bit before Gaara decided to ask.
"So, you've been in the West all this time?" Naruto nodded his head in confirmation. "I see. If you ever miss the East, come to Suna. I can guarantee your safety if you ever feel like joining my forces, although I will need to convince your emperor. Perhaps you can arrange a meeting with him?"
Teuchi and Ayame chuckled at that, confusing Gaara until Naruto's next sentence made his mouth drop.
"I am the emperor of the Imperial West, Gaara. It would be hard for me to leave my people," he chuckled.
Gaara stared at him for a bit before his usually stoic face started to crack up before laughing out loud.
"I see you didn't fulfill your dream of Hokage, but rather turned to a much bigger dream," said Gaara. After they finished eating, Gaara turned to Naruto with a serious face before bowing.
"I thank you for saving Matsuri, one of my shinobis and precious person. Is there anything I can do to repay this debt?" he asked formally.
Naruto waved his hand, dismissing it, "Don't worry about it. I wasn't going to let anyone die by the infraction of the rules, except maybe Sasuke-teme."
The two friends chatted for awhile before finally separating, allowing Gaara time to sneak back into his bed. Before they parted, they made an agreement to discuss treaties. For the first time in ages, he managed to fall asleep thanks to a special seal tag that Naruto had given him. It would prevent Shukaku from taking over his body while he slept.
The second day of the weapons tournament arrived, and everyone was excited to see what would be happening. Sasuke decided to show up for once, hoping to steal some moves with his Sharingan, even though he had been forbidden.
"All right ladies and gentlemen," announced Eric, "Welcome to our second day of the weapons tournament! As you can see, the arena has been set up behind me! Will Kagura and Sabaku no Temari please come up the stage?"
Temari quickly jumped onto the stage before flourishing her fan out, showing all 3 moons on her fan. She planned to go all out on this stage. She wondered where Kagura was when she heard someone shout to look up. There, she saw a huge feather floating down into the ground, and saw that Kagura had been riding on it.
Back at the Emperor's box, Naruto and Hinata was chuckling. Kagura always did like to make dramatic entrances.
Kagura soon jumped off her feather as she approached the ground, and shrank her feather before putting it back on the bun of her hair.
"Are both fighters ready?" said Eric. They nodded in confirmation. "Then BEGIN!"
They both got into fighting position ready to attack when Temari decided to introduce herself first.
"Kagura! You know my name is Temari. However, I am sometimes also known as the Mistress of Wind back at my home. I can see now that this title cannot be given to me unless I defeat you!"
Kagura chuckled before replying, "Very well. Let's see who deserves the title, then."
At once, they both swung their fans at full force. Their winds met in the middle of the arena and clashed for dominance.
Wind Scythe Jutsu! Temari swung again, hoping to break through. Kagura countered with Dance of Blades, nullifying the attack. Getting a bit desperate, she used her Sickle Weasel Technique, hoping to trap Kagura in a tornado. Kagura dispelled it with a wave of her fan. Right afterward, Temari followed up with Scythe Weasel Jutsu, her strongest technique."Not bad. Try this then! Dance of the Dragon!"
Tornadoes suddenly formed from Kagura's fan and collided against Temari's technique. Dust was blown everywhere, covering both fighters. As the dust cleared, Temari was in the air already, swinging her fan down towards Kagura with a roar while Kagura moved her fan up to block. Temari had expected Kagura to dodge instead of blocking, seeing how Kagura's fan shouldn't be able to stop her own. However, instead of hitting Kagura or even breaking through her fan, it was stopped upon impact. Temari was shocked at this but didn't dwell on it. Instead, she used her strength to force it down, causing Kagura to leap back to avoid it. Upon landing, Temari quickly opened her fan and used her wind jutsu and Kagura, hoping to blow off the ring. Kagura again dispelled the wind before it reached her. However, she didn't expect Temari to throw her fan towards her right after her jutsu. Kaguragrunted as the heavy fan hit her in the stomach and blew her off the arena. However, before she touched the ground, she quickly waved her fan towards the ground, producing a gust of wind. Kagura managed to reorient herself back to the arena. Upon landing, she was met with 10 kunais racing towards her. She quickly made a gust of wind and sent them up, scattering the attack. Temari came low with a kunai and tried to slash her, but Kagura stopped the attack with her fan. After gritting their teeth in a deadlock, they broke apart. Temari quickly opened a scroll and produced another battle fan she had as back up. As they looked each other in the eye, Kagura smirked.
"It's time I end this," she said out loud.
Temari kept her cool and used another wind jutsu from her fan again. However, before the attack even reached the midway point, it died out.
"What?" Temari gasped. She was sure she had enough chakra. She attempted one more time but was met with the same result.
"It's one of my abilities, Aerokinesis," explained Kagura, "Many people can produce and utilize the wind. I, however, am not limited to that. I control the wind. If you want to utilize wind-based attacks against me, they're going to have to be much stronger than the ones you're doing now to make it beyond my control. I have to warn you, only a few people, such as the Emperor, can make wind attacks that are beyond of my control."
Temari gritted her teeth as she tried again and again, only to see it futile. Now she knew how Tenten felt during their first Chunin exam, where all her favorite attacks were useless. Seeing as wind-based attacks weren't going to work, she switched to using her fan as a blunt club. She struck as hard as she could while also using her personal Taijutsu techniques she incorporated with her battle fan. In the end, Kagura ended the match by using Dance of Dragon and blew her off the arena. Before she slammed into the floor, Kagura made another gust of wind to rapidly slow down Temari's descent to a gentle thump to the floor.
"And we have a winner! Kagura of the West wins this match!" roared Eric as the crowd cheered. As Temari got up, she noticed her other battle fan in front of her. She looked up to see Kagura's face, slightly smirking. She always had a haughty face during the whole time, but now it seemed.. much softer now.
"Not too bad," complimented Kagura, "You aren't like those stubborn people who try to use the same attacks even though it doesn't work."
Temari chuckled, "I'll still find a way to use my wind jutsu's to win. I can't have the title Mistress of the Wind if you're capable of defeating all my moves with a thought. If we have time, do you want to grab some food with me? I'd love to talk about wind techniques, especially your dances." Kagura laughed before agreeing to it. They shook hands, showing respect for one another as they both walked towards the waiting room, where a healer was waiting for them.
"All right, next up is a matchup of the powerhouses! Zoro vs. Guts! Two fighters using similar destructive styles! I'm getting off the stage for this fight," announced Eric.
The two swordsmen quickly drew their respective weapons before glaring at each other. Suigetsu was cheering for his idol in the background. The Easterners noticed that both fighters only had one eye. As soon as the announcer started the fight, they both dashed forward and swung their weapons with all their might. A resounding sound from the weapons meeting each other could be heard, followed by a shockwave that blew the audience back. After that, the only way to describe this fight was war.
Both swordsmen would not give up, and both received serious damage that should have stopped them. Slash after slash stabs after stab, the two fought with all their soul. The audience couldn't help but be mesmerized by this fight. Mifune and has samurais were very impressed and hoped to come to some sort of treaty with the West to share sword techniques. Guts quickly used his armor to push himself even further, as well as donning the dog helmet. Usually, he would become unconscious and a berserk spirit would have replaced him, but ever since the Emperor helped him save Caska and even Griffith, he had learned to completely shut down the berserk spirit and gain full control of the armor. Even with this edge, though, they were still evenly matched. After what seemed like hours, but in reality only 40 minutes, both fighters were trying to regain their breath. Zoro had cuts all over him, and Gut's armor had many gashes that were mingled with his blood. They both got up one more time, and everyone knew this would be their last attack.
Zoro had used his nine sword style to its fullest effect, but couldn't maintain it anymore. Gut's helmet was receding back after constant use. Both looked at each other before charging for the last time. Zoro was spinning his two swords like a windmill in front of him while Guts had his sword up high.
"RAAAAAHHHH!" Guts roared as he swung his blade down.
"Santoryu Ougi: Sanzen Sekai!" Zoro called out.
A bright flash filled the arena, blinding the audience for a second. They saw that Zoro and Guts had switched places now, backs facing against each other. Silence could be seen all around as the audience held their breath. Zoro stumbled a bit, causing the audience to gasp as he spat out blood. It seemed like Guts was the winner when blood suddenly spurted out his chest. Guts fell down backward, bleeding.
"And the winner is Roronoa Zoro! Can we get some medics here! They're bleeding heavily," said Eric. Healers quickly climbed on stage and carried both of them away to heal.
"Nice fight," said Zoro to Guts.
Guts chuckled before replying, "I'll win next time."
The audience was cheering for such a fight, while the Easterners were seriously considering their decision about attending the tournaments. Here, they were repeatedly shown that they were in way over their head. They had heard about the West in the past, and how they were warned about them. Many didn't believe in such old legends or believed themselves to be superior. Sasuke was mad that even with the Sharingan, he couldn't seem to copy the West's style. He could barely see Zoro's slashes, and even if he could copy Guts, he didn't have the muscle for it. He had to find something from the West that would let him kill his brother! Konoha had nothing to offer besides some civilian women who was related to the civilian council throwing themselves at him. They were too weak for him, though, and desired strong women to carry his 'strong' genes. He looked at Orochimaru. Perhaps a Sannin would help him progress further. Konoha no longer had use for him anymore.
The next one was a quick match. Meliodas and Kenshin were evenly matched in speed and techniques. After a few minutes of slashing, Meliodas announced his intent to give up, as he didn't feel like it anymore. He said he felt his time was more productive in selling his drinks while making sure Hawk wasn't pigging out again. Everyone face faulted at that reasoning, but they let Kenshin proceed to the next round.
"Our next match is Enzu vs. Mifune!" announced Eric. "Will experience help Mifune conquer his opponent, or will Enzu's youth carry him through? Let's find out now!"
Enzu and Mifune drew their swords out. Mifune was interested in Enzu's techniques, as he didn't seem to be muscular as Zoro or Guts. It also helped that his sword seemed to be talking to him like a partner, even if they insulted each other.
"May our blades guide each other," said Mifune as he respectfully bowed towards Enzu.
"And may our swords never waver," replied Enzu, bowing down before he got back up, scratching his face. "I hope that was respectful enough. I'm not too good with words."
"Passable," answered Mifune as he got into his stance, his sword in his sheath, denoting he was a master of Iaido.
"Careful, Enzu. This old man's no joke," warned his black sword. Soon, Mifune slashed faster than most people could see. Even Itachi still had trouble seeing the slash with their Sharingan. However, Enzu was guided by instinct and dodged it.
"Damn that's fast," commented Enzu as he dodged another strike from Mifune before he slashed the air again. Mifune's eyes grew wide as he saw the slash and promptly dodged to the left. A bit of his hair was cut from the slash.
'Such mastery of the blade at such a young age,' mused Mifune. 'If this boy was born in the East, he would no doubt be my successor and probably taken over for me already. I'm getting too old for this.'
He had no more time for such thoughts as Enzu engaged him in sword range. Mifune was forced out of his Iaido style when Enzu wouldn't allow him time to sheath his blade after an attack. This fight wasn't like Zoro and Guts, but it had a rather more refined style. Those two were all about strength, and these two were finesse. It was a beautiful sight to witness, but it had to end. Mifune channeled his chakra into his sword while backing off to regain some distance for Iai. He then swung with all his might and speed towards Enzu. His target? Enzu's sword. He hoped to break it or at least disarm Enzu. With that in mind, Mifune struck at Enzu's sword. Instead of trying to dodge or block, however, Enzu slashed downwards to meet the sword head on instead. A loud noise could be heard, and a blade fell to pieces.
It was Mifune's sword that broke. Mifune looked dazed, seeing that his blade that was infused with chakra, along with a technique he developed to destroy blades, was broken. Enzu's blade, was not amused.
"YEEEOOOWWWWW!" howled the blade. "What the hell Enzu! I may be indestructible, but that doesn't mean I can't feel pain!"
'Indestructible?' thought Sasuke. 'I need that blade! I could kill my brother with it.' He plotted on how to 'liberate' the blade to its rightful owner, not knowing the blade would never choose him.
Mifune took a glance at his blade before announcing his forfeit. The crowd applauded on the match while Enzu and Mifune shook hands.
"Such skills at a young age," commented Mifune, "If you have time, come over to my lands and meet my fellow samurais. We could always learn from someone like you."
Enzu chuckled before scratching his cheek, "It would be nice to travel to your place, but I don't think Iremi would allow me to."
"Our fifth match is Id vs. Chojuro! Begin when ready!" announced Eric.
"Hey Chojuro! Don't lose otherwise you'll embarrass our Mizukage!" taunted Suigetsu. Chojuro blushed at this, but his face seemed to earn a great deal of concentration after that. As soon as he heard the fight begin, he dashed forward towards Id with his weapon Hiramekarei in hammer form. He swung it has hard as he could down against his opponent. A huge dust cloud formed on impact, covering the fighters.
"Dam, I was just teasing him. Didn't think he'd go all out like that. Oh well, shows that Kiri isn't as weak as the West." said Suigetsu.
The dust cleared, and the Easterners were shocked to see Id block the hammer with his sword without struggling too much.
"Not bad," complimented Id before swinging his sword, causing Chojuro to back off. Chojuro grunted before trying out various techniques he had learned with his sword. They were all easily parried by Id, some looked like it was impossible to even consider parrying. Chojuro was sweating heavily while Id didn't even look winded. He took a glance at the Mizukage as if gathering confidence from her. He took a deep breath before deciding to put everything into this match. He wanted to conserve the chakra he had stored in Hiramekarei for the further matches, but he couldn't afford to do that with this opponent.
"Full Chakra release," Chojuro breathed out. His sword elongated and sharpened, and water streams were surrounding him, forming a vortex. "Here I come! Piercing Stream!" (Original move)
It was impressive. Chojuro was surrounded by water violently streaming around him like a barrier while his sword was headed towards Id. This was a move that could not simply be parried easily. Id seemed to have the same thought.
"If that's so... Blood River Sword: First rite-Large River" said Id as he got into position. His right hand held the sword raised at head level while his left hand had two fingers on his blade as if guiding it. His body shifted that his left side of the body was in front as he started forward.
"Such a light attack won't stop me!" yelled Chojuro as he got nearer towards Id. He was confident until he heard the next line.
Second Rite-Overflowing
Suddenly, a huge torrential wind followed Id as he slashed forward, dispelling Chojuro's attack. Before he could react, he heard another chilling line.
Third Rite-Colliding Wave.
Before Chojuro knew what was happening, he was sent spinning away from Id. Id had followed up with an upper slash, using all the momentum he had garnered, and cleanly knocked Chojuro away. Chojuro landed face first on the floor, followed by his weapon beside him. He was unconscious, thus declaring Id the winner. The Mizukage had her fist clenched when she saw Chojuro defeated, but at the same time, she felt proud for her shinobi. Chojuro always had confidence issues, but to use this move without chopping someone to gain more confidence was surprising since he executed it very well.
Kagura fought against Zoro in the next match. It was not a bloodthirsty match like before, but Zoro managed to win when he disarmed Kagura and pointed his blades at her. Kagura pouted but accepted defeat. Even if she could use her other move, Dance of the Dead, Zoro would have easily cut through all of them without any problem.
Afterward, it was Enzu vs Id. In reality, it was their swords that were fighting each other. Both always insulted each other since both could talk and tried to brag who was better. In the end, they shut up when Hisako asked if they wanted to be silenced permanently. Both blades collided against each other. Enzu decided stream lightning chakra in his attacks ever since he learned it from one of his mentor, Edermask. Id countered with a variety of techniques, including Phoenix slash. Sasuke's jealousy grew as he couldn't seem to copy Enzu's wind slash attack since it used no chakra at all or Id's sword techniques. After 30 minutes of swordplay, Enzu was almost out of breath while Id was still fine, although sweating heavily.
"Come on, Enzu. We can't lose to them. I can't bear hearing Lamia bragging" said Enzu's sword.
"Easy for you to say. Your not the one fighting Id." replied Enzu. "He's countered all my techniques and still has some for backup."
'Not really,' thought Id, 'Some of these moves I don't want to use since they strain my heart, while others techniques don't use my sword, disqualifying those. Ever since he trained with Edermask and other swordsmen, his growth has been monstrous.'
Enzu tried a last ditch attack, but Id blocked. Enzu decided to give up as he couldn't really move anymore. As they got off the stage, Enzu was confronted by his red-haired female friend Uzumaki Iremi.
"Let me heal you," said Iremi.
"You all right? You're never this nice," asked Enzu before receiving a punch to the head form her.
"Idiot. Can't you just be thankful? What happened to 'I'll get stronger to protect you?'" asked Iremi before healing him while blushing.
"Ehehe you heard that?" said Enzu while blushing before deciding to become silent. Edermask chuckled at this before complimenting him on a good fight.
Id later announced that he didn't want to fight in the finals, stating that he didn't feel like going against monsters. The true reason was he couldn't afford to strain himself too much again, otherwise, his heartbeat might go out of control.
"All right this battle is something to get heated up! Strength vs speed! Zoro vs Kenshin! It's the final match!"
The crowds were cheering when those two stepped up to the arena. When the fight started, both just looked at each other. Soon, a single leaf came floating down in between them. In flash, they both struck at each other, with the leaf caught in the middle of their weapons and annihilated into pieces. Konoha shinobis shivered at that. Hopefully, that was merely a coincidence and not a warning. If they thought the fight with Zoro and Guts was impressive, then this one left them speechless. Kenshin fought with blazing speed, but Zoro was able to block some of them and counter with destructive strength.
"He's improved a lot," muttered Tsunade, remembering Kenshin's swordsmanship during her youth. Iwa was shivering at the thought of another Uzumaki coming for vengeance.
Hiten Mitsurugiryu: Kuzuryusen
At once, 8 slashes and a hilt stab came towards Zoro, who blocked it with his Asura blade dance.
"What!? I couldn't see which slash came first!" shouted Sasuke "I should be able to tell with my Sharingan!"
Most of the Easterners were also in similar shock. Mifune felt lucky he had lost. He wanted to challenge Kenshin again, but seeing how Kenshin had improved, even more, it would be pointless as he would lose badly. They fought at close range, never backing up unless their techniques required them to.
1080 Pound Cannon!
A wind blast, much stronger than the one Zoro used against B, came flying towards Kenshin. Instead of trying to dodge, Kenshin rose his blade to the sky before slamming his blade to the ground.
Hiten Mitsurigryu: Doryusen!
Chunks of the ground flew right into the wind blast, blocking Zoro's attack.
"Let's end this, Zoro-san," said Kenshin as he got into an Iaido position.
"Come on then!" roared Zoro as he sheathed his swords. He took the one with the white scabbard out of his belt, holding it perpendicular to the ground, with the sheath behind his leg. He held the sheath with his left hand near the guard and the right hand on the hilt. Kenshin ran forward while Zoro maintained his horse stance.
Hiten Mitsuryugi ryu
Ittoryu Iai
A violent clash and a flash of light could be heard. As soon as the light was gone, they could tell that both fighters had their backs facing each other.
Amakakeru no Hirameki!
Zoro's chest was cut open, blood spilling out. Zoro wavered and his body was falling towards the ground. The audience thought that it was over, that Kenshin had won when Zoro took a step forward to regain balance. Zoro's sword was slowly being re-sheathed, even with such grievous injuries.
Shi Shishi Sonson
Kenshin's chest suddenly has a huge sword wound bursting out too. Both took serious sword wounds during that clash. As both fighters tried to regain their breath, the audience, especially the Easterners, were wondering what the hell happened.
"What the hell! That was too fast even for me to catch!" shouted A.
"They slashed each other, but how?" asked Gaara.
From the shadow, a shinobi suddenly appeared, scaring the Kages a bit. The shinobi went to Koyuki, whispering in her ears before leaving. Koyuki chuckled before deciding to explain the rest of them what she had just heard.
"Usually, Kenshin's ultimate technique is one that is extremely deadly. If you decide to block his attack, you have to do it in a special way or have a special sword. Otherwise, his sword will break your sword and slash yours. Even then, if you do parry it, something happens. I won't explain, but just know that even if you avoid the fangs of the flying heavenly dragon, the gusting winds will strip your freedom of movement, and the claws will rip you apart."
The Kages shivered at this description before Tsunade asked the big question, "Then what did Zoro do?"
"Fufu allow me to explain," a voice rang out. They all looked to see a woman with startling light blue eye and black hair, along with a nicely shaped bust and waist.
"Nico Robin. Nice to see you're doing well," said Koyuki. She bowed in respect before explaining.
"My husband, Zoro, decided instead of blocking or striking at Kenshin's attack, he took it head on. He minimized the amount of damage he could take by leaning back when he felt the sword cut through his chest, so it wouldn't completely cut through him. He then slashed at Kenshin instead."
"That's suicidal!" shouted Mei.
"Indeed. That's my husband for you. However, he truly has the most incredible endurance that he judged that he could risk it and slash back," replied Robin.
Back at the arena, both swordsmen were struggling to stand up after they had both fell. In the end, Eric announced that the first one to stand up and declare himself the winner would win, seeing as both fighters couldn't even attack. In the end, Zoro was the one who managed to stand up and declare that statement, making him the winner. As the crowd cleared out, the Easterners were really starting to doubt their chances. Some thought they still had a chance, but they were few and between.
While they went back to their respective homes, Orochimaru and Tsutomu were already drawing out plans to somehow conquer the West. They theorized that these people that had shown them up were trained professionals and that most of their soldiers were actually weak. They hoped to defeat those actually that strong with overwhelming numbers, suicide attacks, and/or assassinations.
As the Kages left, Mei was the last one to leave. However, before she could leave, one of the Brotherhood members stopped her and handed her a piece of paper.
"Our Emperor would like to invite you and one person of your choice to dinner. If you accept, please follow the instructions on this paper. Tell nobody of this encounter," said the messenger before disappearing into the shadows. Mei quickly put the note in her left chest underneath her clothes. She couldn't afford to not accept this chance to speak with the Emperor. She automatically chose Ao as her partner for this dinner.
As night descended upon them, and the hour for the meeting time drawing near, Mei excused herself while dragging Ao on the pretense of 'reeducating him on his words'. Ao was crying crocodile tears while the other Kiri ninjas either winced, like Chojuro, or laughed, like Suigetsu. After dragging him away did she reveal that she had an invite to see the Emperor did Ao feel better. They walked to the location they were told to go and wait.
Suddenly, hands gripped on them and pulled them into the shadows. They struggled at first, but the Brotherhood messengers told them to stop and allow them to blindfold them before meeting with the Emperor. Mei and Ao agreed but were surprised they knew about Ao's byakugan when they pulled out a specialized seal and put it on his eyepatch. As soon as they were blindfolded, they felt a hand on their shoulder before they were teleported. At first, they felt a bit nauseous but soon got over it. When they were given permission, they took their blindfolds off and were quite shocked to see that the Emperor was actually Uzumaki Naruto. He had his emperor clothing on but opted not to put on his mask. Right next to him was Utakata, blowing on his bubble pipes again.
Mei and Ao quickly bowed down in respect in front of the emperor.
"Please, stand up," said Naruto, "Utakata has put a good word for you, so my council and I have decided to allow Kiri a chance to talk."
Mei was thanking whatever deity that she had never treated Utakata badly. She remembered many shinobis back in the past had hated Utakata for being a jinchuriki and saw him as a demon. While they were discussing trades and possible treaties, Naruto had made a clone have a private talk Itachi.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Naruto.
"Yes, Naruto," said Itachi, "I have earned a spot in that. I will not back out now for safety. I plan to let them all know who they're dealing with, and I also plan to reveal those secrets that have remain hidden for so long."
Dun Dun DUNN! Cliffhanger! What could does this mean for Itachi!? Find out next time!
I know I didn't really give Meliodas much screen time, but I will admit, I kind of regret choosing him. He was the perfect choice for one first idea, but trying t to write him out for the later fights was a huge hassle. Anyways, Read and review if you want! It helps me Improve! Also this chapter is longer than usual, so don't expect this length every time.