(This is the Final Chapter in the 7 chapter story arc set in the Land of Snow! The time has come for the final confrontation between Snow and Leaf, but who will the victor be? I love feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave a review so I can improve my writing and storytelling skills. Enjoy!)
The raven-haired, scarlet-eyed Jonin stands paralyzed before the rogue ninja with blazing orange hair. "And you call yourself a Jonin?" Funimo mocks, "That was easier than I thought." The woman gives no response due to the effects of his dangerous Jutsu.
"Now I can go and take care of the weaklings," he thinks as he tries to take a step in their direction. But his foot is stuck to the ground, and when he looks he sees ice creeping up his leg just like his Jutsu had dope to Kayo moments ago.
"What? Impossible!" he yells, eyes wide in shock.
"That is a nice Jutsu you have there," compliments Kayo as she steps fully free from the ice trap, "Too bad for you that I specialize in Genjutsu."
"Damn you!" Funimo howls with rage, as he struggles to make hand signs before he freezes over, "No one has ever reversed my Instant Freeze Illusion on me!"
"I guess you have never fought a Leaf Ninja before," replies Kayo austerely, "We're not that easy to defeat."
Funimo manages to use his chakra to counter the Genjutsu and the sheet of ice disappears from his body. "Fine then, bring it on," he hisses, glaring at his opponent, "Let's see just how strong your Genjutsu is."
"Looks like your friends aren't as committed to the cause as you are," Yoshikuni taunts as he balances atop the waves with his hands up defensively, waiting to counter the next attack of the Rogue Leader.
"Eh? What are you talking about?" says Taiki, arching an eyebrow in befuddlement.
"Well, they all seem to be abandoning you," reveals the Leaf Ninja, smirking as he points to the retreating ships.
"Damn you, you weaklings!" shouts Taiki with a ferocious growl. Thinking quickly about his next move he decides to punish his cowardly forces. He slips a hand into his weapons pouch and pulls out a bundle of smoke bombs. He tosses them into the air and when they explode a thick grey cloud spreads over the area. It provides an effective cover for him to escape from Yoshikuni. He runs over the water towards the ships forming a long and complex series of hand signs.
"You will regret the day you crossed me, pirates!" he yells as he completes the sequence, "Ice Style: Ice Whale Jutsu!" A massive chunk of ice that has been carved into a giant blue whale with a horn bursts out of the water. It has the cry of a genuine animal as it leaps high into the air. The pirates observe the beast heading at them and try to maneuver their boats out of the way, but they are too slow and the whale slams down on top of them, completely crushing three entire ships at once. Explosions of munitions and gunpowder on board the ships cover up the screams of the helpless men. Wood cracks and breaks and sends splinters all over, providing a multitude of different ways for the pirates to die. The landing creates a large splash and the ripples of the waves are felt all the way back on the freighter. Seconds later the whale re-emerges ramming its horn through two more of the boats and thrashing its tail around into another. The rest of the pirate ships pick up the speed in trying to flee, but Taiki sends the whale after them. After a few minutes the ice whale smashes them all to pieces, leaving the water filled with hundreds of corpses and any remaining wreckage from the fleet.
The whale returns to him and he jumps on top with a smug look on his face, satisfied that all the traitors had paid the price for crossing him. "It always feels good to slaughter the weaklings that think they are better than me," he thinks as he looks around for his previous opponent, "Now, where did that Brown Cobra run off to?" He spots the famous Leaf Ninja as the man jumps back on board the freighter. After cracking his knuckles Taiki is ready to go and the Ice Whale lurches forward towards the new target.
Meanwhile as Taiki was distracted he left his comrade Funimo all alone in the midst of the Leaf Ninja. He slowly moves backwards, noticing that they are trying to get him into the corner. "Damn, I'm good but I'm not that good," he thinks as he searches for a path out, "Those stupid pirates messed everything up, and now the boss has to go and deal with them. I'm left all on my own, and without Yukiko I can't take on five ninja by myself."
"You guys just let Team 10 handle this," Ichimaru says as Yui and Kenta move into their secret formation, "We have the perfect technique to take care of this guy."
"No way am I letting you guys have all the glory," Jando declares as he rushes in by himself.
"Hey, wait, you idiot!" Ichimaru swears.
"Man, that guy is either crazy or stupid," Yui mutters tossing her hair back over her shoulder.
"I think it's the latter," Kenta whispers.
"Fine, I'll just have to back him up then," Ichimaru decides as he makes hand signs.
Jando strikes with his special form of Taijutsu used only by the Hyuga Clan. His blows are quick and nimble, but Funimo anticipates the boy's movements and easily dodges. They tangle for a few moments until Funimo notices the shadow of the ship's mast bending towards him. He blasts Jando in the stomach with a heavy kick and then flips away. While in motion he withdraws a few kunai and scans the area for the creator of the Jutsu. He spots Ichimaru in a deep focus and flings the kunai at him.
Ichimaru rolls out of the way, but manages to keep his Jutsu intact. Funimo leaps in the air as a shadow zooms towards him. "Now's my chance!" Jando yells as he hurdles towards the rogue.
Funimo twists around in the air and his right foot connects with the back of Jando's skull. There is a huge crack in the air before the boy flies down to the ground and smashes into the wooden deck.
"Striking Shadow Snakes!" yells a deep voice as four brown-scaled snakes zip out of a trench coat sleeve.
"Crap!" thinks Funimo as he tries to twist around to defend himself. The snakes are too fast though and they quickly wrap themselves around him.
Yoshikuni lands on board saying, "Looks like I got back right on time." He flicks his arm and the snakes crash down, slamming the rogue onto the deck.
The orange-haired ninja is a little disoriented, but still alive when he staggers to his feet.
"Mind Transfer Jutsu!" calls Yui as she lines him up in her sights. Her mind is fired out from her body and invades the target, taking complete control over all functions.
"Nice one, Yui!" Kenta cheers as he catches her limp body.
"How about we tie this one up," Yui says from inside Funimo's body. Ichimaru grabs some rope and they bind the rogue ninja tightly to the mast before Yui releases her Jutsu and returns to her own body.
"Well, now that this guy is out of the picture that just leaves one enemy standing," Kenta says.
"Damn you! Let me go!" Funimo screams as he struggles with his bindings, only to find his pleas fall on deaf ears.
"Yeah, but he is clearly the strongest of all the attackers," Kayo says as she smacks the captive in the back of the neck and knocks him into unconsciousness.
"What are we going to do about that, Sensei?" asks Ichimaru as he watches the ice whale swim towards him.
"I don't know; that seems like a pretty powerful Jutsu," Yoshikuni muses, "And I don't have any Jutsu I can use out here in the ocean to match it."
"We will just have to distract him and keep it away from the freighter," Kayo suggests, "Hopefully he won't be able to maintain it for a long period of time."
"Here he comes," says Kenta warily. Yoshikuni directs all of them into positions where their skills will be most effective. The group shuffles around until they are in the proper spots and then they wait silently for the enemy to arrive.
Taiki jumps ahead of his whale and sprints on top of the water towards the freighter. Kayo and Yoshikuni leap off the boat and go to intercept him at the halfway point. Fingers nimbly twist around each other as Taiki makes hand seals and uses the ocean water to make twin blades in his hands. Yoshikuni arrives first and clashes with a kunai, a screeching sound reaches out as the metal collides with ice. A tan-colored cloak whips in the wind as Kayo follows up by attempting to circle around behind the enemy and strike from his blind side. As she stabs her kunai at his kidney he ducks low and rams his knee into her gut. Then he kicks up and smashes his foot into her chin and sends her into the air. He jumps up and spins around intending to hit her with a powerful double over-handed slash, but Yoshikuni jumps in between and raises his kunai up to block the attack .
As they fall back to the water the Leaf Ninja catches Kayo with one arm. With the other he shoots two brown serpents towards the opponent calling, "Striking Shadow Snakes." Taiki easily slices the vicious vipers to pieces before he lands.
"Are you okay?" inquires Yoshikuni as he sets his comrade down.
"I'll be fine, he is just faster than I recall," she says catching her breath.
"Sorry, I should have warned you," he apologizes, "Your Taijutsu skills aren't high enough to handle him, so just sit back and try to catch him in a Genjutsu while I distract him."
"Understood," she responds.
Yoshikuni turns toward the enemy and pulls his arm back. Then he thrusts it forward and two more serpents come shooting out of his sleeves, "Striking Shadow Snakes."
"That stupid attack isn't going to work on me!" yells Taiki as he cuts down the snakes. Yoshikuni appears behind him and stabs his kunai at the back of the rogue's neck. Somehow the former Ice Ninja is able to get one of his blades around behind him to block the strike in time.
"Nice try," he sneers as he whirls around and brings his other blade around to cut his opponent in half. As the blade cuts through the Leaf Ninja he dematerializes into particles of light.
"What? An illusion?" thinks Taiki. Before he can react Yoshikuni appears behind him and slashes his kunai down the length of the rogue's back.
"You got him!" exclaims Kayo as her partner hops back to her.
"Yeah, but that seemed a little too easy," he says. Suddenly the blood pouring out of Taiki turns white and then his whole body turns into a clear structure before the water melts back into the ocean.
"A Water Clone, damn!" says Yoshikuni, "But where is the real one?"
"The freighter!" exclaims Kayo.
"Crap, the kids are there!" he shouts. As they turn back towards the freighter they can already see the Genin engaged in combat. They try to run to help, but suddenly the Ice Whale blasts up from the ocean and hurls them into the sky.
Taiki throws Ichimaru into the wall next to the rest of his team and he sags down, unconscious. Then the rogue looks at his incapacitated subordinate. "How worthless you are if you can't even beat these fools, Funimo," he comments, "I didn't think you were such a weakling." He looks out to the water to see his whale thrashing about while the two Jonin are standing back up.
"I'll deal with Funimo after I take care of those two," he thinks before jumping off the freighter to re-engage.
"What is with all this wood?" Sakura questions as she looks out from the small row boat. The ocean is littered with small chunks of broken wood just floating about.
"It looks like Yukiko was right about the coordinates," Kuroda mutters to himself.
"What do you mean?" she inquires, looking around in confusion, "I don't see any ships here."
"That wood is from the ships," he reveals, "I recognize the markings and the shapes are consistent with ones used for ships."
"What happened to them?" she asks reaching out to touch a piece of driftwood that floats by and seeing the cleanly cut symbols on it.
"It looks like our team is doing pretty well without us," Kuroda observes, impressed by the accomplishment, before pointing out into the sea, "I see the freighter over there."
"Where?" Sakura asks not having eyes as sharp as his, "Oh wait, now I see it. But what is that thing, that block of ice? I didn't think icebergs could move that fast, and it looks like it is attacking the freighter!"
"It is not an iceberg, it is a Jutsu," Kuroda corrects, narrowing his eyes as he tries to analyze the scene, "Looks like those Rogue Ice Ninja were holding back against us earlier."
"How are we supposed to fight that?" she asks, shaking at the prospect of trying to defeat something that large.
"I'm not sure yet," he replies, "We'll figure it out when we make contact with the others."
They quietly sail their boat over to the freighter while the Ice Jutsu seems to be engaging in battle with someone. Kuroda attaches a rope to a kunai and then throw it up towards the ship's wooden mast. It digs into the wood and he gives it a few tugs to make sure it is stable. Then he and Sakura climb up on board and find Jando, Ichimaru, and all of the other Genin spread out across the deck.
"Are they dead?" Sakura asks quietly, covering her mouth to prevent a wail from escaping.
"No, just unconscious," Kuroda replies as he takes Ichimaru's pulse, "Some of them are injured, but nothing too serious. Kayo-sensei and Yoshikuni-sensei probably put them here to keep them out of harm's way. And look, that one Ice Ninja is unconscious over there too!"
"What should we do?" Sakura asks, nervously glancing around.
"Go and check on the crew," he orders, "If they are all okay then stay here and watch over everyone. I'm going to take the boat out and see how the Jonins are doing."
He jumps back into the boat and sails over to where the Ice Jutsu seems to be taking place. When he gets closer, what he had previously thought to be an iceberg suddenly leaps high into the air. This allows him to see that it is in the form of a giant whale. The sun sparkles off it, creating tiny rainbows in all different directions. The whale crashes into the ocean and creates a giant tidal wave. The water rushes towards Kuroda, but luckily he is just far enough way that most of the power has left the wave when it hits his boat. Big thumps indicate that more than just water has it the small boat and several objects, like kitchen knives and cannons, are thrown into the boat and snap off various pieces of the wood. Then something flies into the mast and breaks it in half. When the boat stabilizes he checks around to make sure there are no leaks, and he finds Kayo and Yoshikuni lying near the broken mast. They are both unconscious and have various cuts and bruises on their bodies. He attempts to rouse them but to no avail. Then he turns around and sees the Ice whale headed towards the boat.
"I need to get away from here," he thinks as he looks around for something he can use, "I can't protect them from that thing. But since they are unconscious it does open up some new possibilities."
He quickly finds an axe lying near some other tools and then goes over to the mast and begins chopping it apart. He makes several pieces, about three feet long each. Then he tosses the axe aside and forms hands signs.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he says as the replica bursts out from white smoke beside him. First, Kuroda throws one of the mast pieces out into the ocean. Then, they each gather up the remaining pieces. The clone goes first and leaps off the ship onto the wood already floating in the ocean. It throws another piece as far out as he can and then leaps out onto it. Then it throws the remaining piece the same way and creates another stepping stone before dispersing back into white smoke. Kuroda follows afterwards using the same method once he gets to the third log. Once this is done he is a significant distance away from the ship and he is relieved when he sees the ice whale change course towards him. He waits patiently as the enemy approaches.
Taiki changes directions towards the ninja standing on a log thinking that it will be Yoshikuni. But once he gets closer he sees that it is not who he expected. "Wait a minute, that is not the Brown Cobra," he thinks, "This can't be, that is the young Genin I got rid of a few days ago! How did he survive? His corpse should be floating at the bottom of the ocean by now." His temper starts to take over again.
"I don't know how you survived, but it was not smart of you to show yourself again. You should have stayed hidden if you wanted to survive," he calls to the Leaf Genin.
"I am fine right here," Kuroda responds.
"Do you really think you can beat me, you little brat?" Taiki yells, "I already decimated the rest of your team including the two Jonin. Do you really think you stand a chance?"
"Why don't we find out?" Kuroda replies with unwavering resolve.
"I know you were hiding something special earlier, but whatever it is you won't be able to beat me with it," Taiki shouts.
"So you noticed that did you? Well, then I guess I really do need to kill you," replies Kuroda, his voice becoming darker and his facial expressions more serious.
"Why you little...! You'll regret that!" Taiki yells, his eyes widening and his face contorting with rage, as he jumps back into the air while forming hand seals. The ice whale dives under water and then quickly jumps into the air intending to crush the Leaf Ninja upon landing. Sensing the danger Kuroda reaches into his weapons pouch and pulls out one of his special kunai. He stores it is his mouth for a few seconds while he makes a series of hand signs. As the whale hurtles towards him he hurls his kunai and watches closely as it flies along the side of the whale's body, not hitting it but passing by inches away.
"Flying Thunder God Technique," he whispers before vanishing into thin air. In an instant he appears next to his special kunai. He quickly plucks it out of the air and uses its momentum to spin around before releasing it at the enemy.
"How did he get over there so fast?" thinks the former Ice Ninja, utterly baffled when he spots Kuroda, "Who cares, it doesn't even matter." Cool air swirls around his palm and then a sword of ice forms in his hand. He intends to slash the kunai away but doesn't bother as he sees the trajectory of the knife.
"You think a kunai is going to kill me?" he shouts as it whizzes by, "And one that was thrown off target!"
"Yes," says a voice behind him before he feels something sharp slide right in between his ribs and into his heart.
Blood slowly drips out of Taiki's mouth and stains his perfectly kept uniform. His eyes widen and with his last breath before slipping into the next life he asks "How…?"
"It wasn't off target, it was right where it needed to be so that it was close enough, yet far enough away so that you wouldn't bother deflecting it," explains Kuroda to the dead man in his arms as they fall down to the ocean.
Kuroda uses Taiki's body to shield him from the impact of hitting the water as around them Taiki's Ice whale cracks into a thousand pieces because his chakra is no longer holding it together. The smaller pieces glimmer with light and the larger pieces make a plopping noise when they smack against the water. Kuroda lets the rogue's corpse sink to the bottom of the ocean before he swims back towards the sailboat. After making makeshift oars he rows the Jonins back to the freighter. Then after hefting them on board he goes to check on everyone else.
Ichimaru awakens first and is stunned to see Kuroda alive and Taiki nowhere to be found. "Where is the lead ninja?" he asks both excited and bewildered to see his friend alive.
"At the bottom of the ocean by now," replies Kuroda with a boyish grin as he holds out his hand to help his friend up.
"Well, that is a good thing," replies Ichimaru as he rubs the back of his head, "And that one over there was taken out by Yoshikuni-sensei. The Hidden Snow Village will probably want him since he is a rogue."
"I don't think they are going to get their wish," says Kuroda as he walks over to the unconscious enemy.
"What are you doing?" questions Ichimaru as he sees his friend take out a kunai.
"I'm going to neutralize the threat," Kuroda responds blandly.
"What are you talking about?" shouts Ichimaru stumbling over due to an ache in his legs, "He already is neutralized. He is unconscious. He is our prisoner now!"
"This guy is way too dangerous to leave alive. He might try to take revenge for his master, we can't risk him escaping," replies Kuroda unfazed, "And besides, people who betray their hearts don't deserve to live."
"What does that…?" says Ichimaru, but before he can finish or intervene Kuroda plunges his weapon into Funimo's heart.
As everyone wakes up Kuroda uses his excellent imagination to come up with a false tale about how he and Sakura achieved victory over Taiki. Yoshikuni discovers that Funimo is dead and starts asking questions about it. Kuroda tells a lie about Funimo escaping his bindings so he was forced to kill him. Ichimaru goes along with it, but doesn't sound as convincing which causes Kayo to be suspicious about the truth.
The freighter finally arrives in the Snow Country a few hours later, and the Village Hidden Among the Snow is relieved to receive the corpse of Funimo and hear about the death of Taiki. After all of the goods are unloaded in the port the Leaf Ninja take their leave and Kuroda's thankful to leave all the questions behind. Ichimaru begins avoiding Kuroda, still trying to figure out why his friend would kill a helpless captive without any remorse.
The journey home is a lot shorter, but Team 10 starts questioning how Kuroda and Sakura survived, and what happened to the female Snow ninja. Kuroda lies again and says that Yukiko decided to save them, then helped him kill Taiki, but that she'd disappeared by the time he'd broken the water's surface again after his fight.
(The Ninja of the Hidden Leaf have survived Taiki's wrath, but at what cost? Lies have been told and decisions have been made that not everyone is happy about. How will these events effect the future? As usual, if you want more information on my characters you can see their bios on my profile page. Be warned, there may be some spoilers. Also I'm in the process of getting pictures drawn for the characters, but I have no idea how long that will take. If you're interested in drawing and have a DA account then send me a Message. Enjoy the next chapter, and please review.)