(Thanks for coming back to read the next chapter of the series! Kuroda battles Reizo, Hitomi takes on Hatsu and Jishi, and Yovestu has a showdown with Suizaki. Will the team be able to defeat the enemies? I love feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave a review so I can improve my writing and storytelling skills. Enjoy!)
Kuroda whips his ice sword around and deflects Reizo's sword off to the left. The ground freezes as the sword sweeps over it and comes around for a vertical downward slice. Kuroda grips both hands tighter on the hilt and raises it up for a block. Reizo's blade comes down hard but Kuroda easily holds his position. Then he slides his enemy's sword off towards the tip. The opponent's blade smashes into the ground and the leaf ninja takes the opening and smashes his foot into Reizo's ribs.
The Rogue Ice Ninja stumbles a few steps, but quickly regains his position. "There is no point in continuing to use that ice Jutsu to try and freeze me," warns Kuroda, "It is not going to work and it is just wasting your chakra."
"It is insulting for a person to tell his opponent how to fight," counters Reizo as he spits at the ground.
"It's your choice, I'm just getting a little bored with this. If you would use your chakra for a different jutsu it would make the fight a lot more entertaining," yawns Kuroda.
"I'm not fighting you for fun," yells Reizo as he charges, "I am fighting to kill!"
Hitomi flips backwards but a large foot smashes into her breasts and rockets her into a wall. "Contain yourself, Brother," says Hatsu as he lands after the kick, "She is baiting you. If I wasn't here you would be dead already."
"I am sorry, Brother," says Jishi, walking up next to him, "She is just so tempting."
"I know, which will make it all the more fun once we get her a bit more weakened," says Hatsu. A stream of fire rockets toward them and Jishi is barely able to pull his brother out of harm's way. The fire goes on and pierces straight through several brick walls.
"Thanks, Brother," says Hatsu, "I would have been dead for real if that hit me."
"I think someone has been holding back on us, Brother," says Jishi.
"Yeah, I think you are right," Hatsu agrees.
"I think it is time to stop playing around with our toy and get serious," says Jishi.
"Man, I can't catch a break with these two," thinks Hitomi, down on one knee, "I really need to get them separated."
The brothers come running at her again, twisting in and out of each other's paths. "You are using that Jutsu again?" questions Hitomi, standing up, "It is not going to work." A smirk grows on the twins' faces as they see her moving into a defensive stance. Suddenly Hatsu appears right beside her, attempting to grab her into a bear hug. "When did he get there?" Hitomi thinks as she lowers her level and kicks her left foot at his legs. He falls on top of her and she pushes up and sends him flying over her head.
"Don't forget about me!" yells Jishi as he throws his massive fist towards her face.
"I didn't!" she says calmly as she ducks to the side. He throws are large combination of punches, but she is able to avoid each of them. As she moves backwards to dodge, she waits, calmly looking for an opening for a counterattack. "There!" she thinks as she sees him falter a bit and leave his kidney unguarded. She tries to strike with her right hand, but something twists around it. The same object wraps around her waist and moves upward until it locks onto her breasts and squeezes into a tight hold.
She looks to the left and sees the second twin reaching out toward her. "What? He can extend his arms?" she thinks, "Damn!" As she turns her head back, Jishi's fist slams into her cheek. The force is tremendous, but Hatsu braces her so that she doesn't move from the impact. Then he lifts her up and slams her into a wall. Jishi rushes forward and smashes his fist into her gut with a blow that should have knocked the wind out of her.
"My arm is still there, Brother!" yells Hatsu as he uncoils his arm from around her and retracts it to normal size.
"Oh yeah, sorry, brother," apologizes Jishi as he backs away a few meters," I forgot for a second."
Hitomi slumps against the wall as blood trickles down from her head and mouth. Hatsu examines his arm for damage, not paying attention, thinking that he and his brother have won. Then the Leaf Kunoichi's lips curve into a smile. She dashes forward with a kunai aimed right for a vital spot. Jishi is watching his brother and turns back towards her with almost no time to spare. Hatsu spots this and thrusts his right arm forward, "Extension Jutsu!" It extends with amazing speed, much faster than Hitomi is running. He was also able to place a kunai in his hand and hurdles it straight towards her. She sees it too late, but still tries to evade, only to expose a vital spot to the attack.
Just as the kunai is less than a second away from stabbing into her, a white/blue crystal blade slices into it and successfully deflects it. Hatsu's arm smashes into the nearby wall bringing all the bricks down on top of it. Jishi is completely shocked, crying out, "What? How did you…?" But before he can finish, a black leg swirls around and connects with his ear and sends him rocketing towards his brother. Hatsu is trying to pull his arm out when his brother slams into him.
Kuroda lands neatly on the ground and proceeds to brush his bangs into a more acceptable position. "What a pain," he comments with a yawn. Hitomi is standing there, stunned at the realization that her life was almost ended. "I thought you would have been able to defeat at least one of them by now," sighs Kuroda, turning to examine her and brushing his hand across her damaged cheek, "And why are you so beaten up?"
"But how…?" she asks, "How did you save me? You aren't fighting near here. There is no way you could have seen I was in danger."
"I promised to help you restore honor to your clan. I can't do that if you are dead, now can I?" he comments.
"That doesn't explain anything," she replies.
He points to her right thigh and explains, "I assume you haven't forgotten that special Jutsu I used on you. Well, this is exactly what that was for. Now, I don't want to have to save you again so stop holding back against them. You clearly can't beat them with only this level of strength."
"Thank you for saving me," she says grudgingly, "I won't let it happen again. I'll beat these two on my own."
"I know you will," he says, lightly touching her bruised face again, "We can't have that pretty face of yours getting hurt anymore."
As she blushes he turns and runs off to find his opponent. "Asshole," she thinks as she tries to return her focus to the battle, "You tell me to win, but then distract me like that."
"Damn that guy, where did he come from!" yells Jishi as he picks up a boulder and hurls it in a random direction.
"I don't know, brother," says Hatsu, "But it looks like he is gone now."
"Fine, then we should finish her off before he gets back," says Jishi. "Right," replies Hatsu.
"No more holding back!" thinks Hitomi as she places her hands together and focuses her chakra. Her eyes turn a lighter shade of red and her pupils gain the two black tomoe.
"Impossible!" thinks Reizo as he stands on top of a hill watching Hitomi from a distance, "When he disappeared I thought he ran away, but he really came over here and saved that girl from the twins. But it is unheard of for someone to cross this distance that fast without a Body Flicker Technique, and he had no time to do one of those. Wait a minute, can it be? Does he really know one of those Jutsu?"
"There you are, I was wondering where you were. It is impressive you were able to track me here," says Kuroda appearing before him, "Sorry about running away like that, but I really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. We can resume our match now."
"How did he approach without me sensing him?" thinks Reizo, scared out his mind now, "This guy is ridiculous! Sorry, Suizaki, but you are on your own now. I can't fight someone who can use a teleportation Jutsu. I only have one chance to escape." Reizo starts making hands seals out in the open not even bothering to make a distraction.
"Oh excellent, you are going to use another Jutsu," comments Kuroda, "I hope it is a good one." "Ice Style: Blizzard Withdraw!" shouts Reizo as a snow and ice swirl around him. Seconds later the blanket of winter falls to the ground and the Rogue is nowhere in sight.
"He ran away," states a disappointed Kuroda, "Well, I can't have that now." He makes a series of hand signs and then withdraws a special kunai from his pouch. He tosses it high into the sky and watches it closely. When it is at a suitable height, he flashes and appears in the air next to it. He grabs the kunai and twists in mid-air and throws it in the direction Reizo is most likely to head. It travels a distance while he falls back towards the earth. But then he flashes to the kunai and repeats the process.
Suizaki laughs maniacally, "You thought you had me there, didn't you." A distance away a large tree is burning with the fire net draped over it. A thick column of smoke rises up as the living plant is in the process of being burnt to the ground.
"Crap, who would think of storing trees in a scroll to be summoned in a battle," thinks Yovestu as he analyzes his opponent, "He is just as good as he always was."
*6 years ago*
The sandy streets start getting packed as citizens exist from the stadium. Suizaki walks out a little bruised up as a gust of wind blows some of the desert sand around him. "Hey, Suizaki!" yells Yovestu as he and Kin run towards their fellow squad member.
"Hey, you two," he greets them.
"That was an awesome match! I can't believe you won the whole thing!" Yovestu exclaims.
"Well, that is what happens when you are talented and work hard to achieve your dreams," Suizaki replies.
"I heard some of the Jonin talking and they think you are a sure thing to be promoted to Chunin level," says Kin, "Mostly because you took out the top ranked guy in the first round."
"Yeah, that is the same guy who beat me in the preliminaries," comments Yovestu.
"Well, watching your match helped me out a lot," admits Suizaki, "And all that training with Sensei too."
"But still, you were amazing!" says Kin.
"Yeah, I guess I was," admits Suizaki.
"Hey, can I ask you a favor?" asks Yovestu.
"Sure, what is it?" inquires Suizaki.
"Please help train me! I want get stronger so that I can pass the Chunin exams next time," pleads Yovestu.
"You are my best friend, of course I will help you," replies Suizaki, "And you too, Kin. You want to get stronger too, don't you?"
"Yeah, I guess I do," replies Kin.
"All right, we will be the strongest team in the world!" shouts Yovestu.
*The present*
"You're not losing your nerve already, are you? The fun is just about to start!" yells Suizaki, "Ninja Art: Poison Vines!" A row of vines emerge from the ground in front of him and then snake off towards his opponent.
"That Jutsu is not going to work on me out in the open," says Yovestu, forming hand seals. A clone soon appears beside him and then rushes towards the incoming vines.
"A shadow clone, huh? Nice move, but, once again, useless!" shouts Suizaki. The vines hop up and twist around all parts of the clone and try to squeeze it until the head pops off.
"Sorry, but wrong again," says Yovestu as he concentrates his chakra. The clone becomes bright red and orange and then expands into a fiery explosion.
Hitomi runs through the remnants of the enemy base with Hatsu and Jishi following close behind. She turns around and gets into a defensive stance, curling her hands into fists and putting her arms level above her thighs. The twins spread out and run in symmetrical curved patterns toward the leaf ninja. They come at her from the right and left, both winding up for powerful punches. With complete confidence, she stays motionless until a second before their attacks hit. Her hands explode outwards and she meets their fists with her palms. The attacks are completely halted, but they send out shockwaves to the surrounding area.
Immediately Hatsu pulls his right leg from its back stance position and kicks it up high at the back of her head. At the same time Jishi takes his left leg from its back stance position and uses it to fire a backspin kick at her gut. But Hitomi squats down and then leaps, head first, through the small gap in between the attacks. "What? No way can she get though there," thinks Hatsu as he watches it happen. Even so he and his brother are right on top of her as she comes out of her roll, trying to smash her into the ground with their fists. Instead of coming out on her feet, Hitomi rolls through until she can lift herself on her head. Then she spreads her legs out into the splits and twists around.
Her feet impact the incoming fists and deflect them away from their intended targets. As their massive fists slam into the ground, she pushes off and flies into the air. While twisting around, she rapidly makes hand signs and yells, "Fire Style: Firebullet Jutsu!" While sailing in the air she puts her hand up to her mouth and takes in a breath. Then as she exhales, small balls of heat shoot out of her mouth. The brothers dodge to opposite sides and Hitomi chooses to focus her attack on Jishi. Hatsu sees this and quickly picks a small rock up from the ground and hurls it at her.
She has to end her Jutsu in order to slip a kunai out and deflect the deadly fast rock. Then she falls back to the earth and lands gracefully on the ground before moving into a strong defensive stance. Jishi pulls himself up from the ground and pats out the flames on his pant leg before walking over to his brother. "Something is wrong," says Hatsu.
"How did she get so much faster?" questions Jishi.
"I don't know," replies Hatsu, "And there is something else, too. That first move she used, it was the exact same move her friend used when we attacked him earlier."
"The exact same?" asks Jishi, "Was she holding back?"
"I don't know, but we need to end this soon," his brother replies.
Reizo appears in a rare alcove hiding deep within the dense jungle. He bends over and places his hands on his knees as he catches his breath. "I don't think he was the type to be any good at tracking Ninjutsu, so I should be in the clear," he thinks as he looks around, "There is no way I am going to risk my life going up against someone who can use a time/space Jutsu. I feel a little bad about abandoning Suizaki, but my loyalty doesn't stretch that far. Besides it would be pointless, as we would both end up dead instead of just him. But what should I do now? Maybe I will go and check out what Rizuki was…"
"So there you are," remarks Kuroda, suddenly appearing before him, "I thought you were going to get away. That Body Flicker Technique of yours was the best I have seen. It is too bad I don't have any need of it, otherwise I might have let you live."
"Damn it, how did he find me?" thinks Reizo. The rogue immediately starts making hand signs, intending to run away again; however Kuroda doesn't let him complete the series. He throws two of his special kunai, aiming straight for the chest.
Reizo quickly detaches his sword from his back and chops down the knives. The moves sends one flying off into the trees, while the other spins around and lands at his feet. "I'm done playing around for your amusement," announces Reizo, "If you're going to come at me then…" Before he can finish Kuroda flashes in front of him. In one swift motion he plucks the kunai from the earth and then plunges it into Reizo's heart. The rogue ninja drops his sword and stumbles backwards. "Damn your…time/space…Jutsu," he says with his last breath before falling dead on to the ground.
Kuroda walks into the forest and retrieves his lost kunai and then walks over to the corpse. He removes the blade from the body and wipes the blood off in the grass before storing it back in his weapons pouch. "Sorry, but it wasn't a time/space Jutsu," he says to the corpse. "I suppose I need to get back to Hitomi," he thinks as he jumps up into a tree, "But I think I'll do a little scouting around on the way back. See if this Suizaki Rengaku has any secrets hiding in the forest."
In a poorly lit room hidden in a place far, far away a man sits in a poofy armchair while another man works at a desk with various books and pieces of paper. The man at the desk reads through a large book and makes notes on a piece of parchment next to it. Suddenly he stops everything he is doing and says, "That is unfortunate."
"And what would that be?" inquires the man in the chair as he leans to the side and a sprinkle of light reveals the blue and green strands of his hair that stretch all the way to the ground.
"Oh, Goto, I did not notice you there," says the first man as he picks up his book again.
"I feel like we have had this conversation before, Niotsu," replies Goto.
"Yes, I also seem to recall that," replies Noitsu, rather blandly.
"So then, who died this time?" asks Goto, leaning forward in his seat, but his face still not visible.
"The one that Rizuki was recruiting seems to have passed on to the next world," Noitsu reveals.
"Oh, you planted one on him?" inquires Goto.
"Of course I did," scoffs Noitsu, "I do that with everyone I plan on collecting."
"So who do you think did it?" asks Goto, "Maybe Suizaki Rengaku went crazy. Or maybe somebody found him."
"I really don't care," replies Noitsu, intent on working, "The recruit wasn't that special and somebody was eventually going to deal with Suizaki."
"Somebody is getting impatient," Goto comments.
"I want our leader to get here already," Noitsu replies, "I want to get started already."
"Don't worry, he'll be here soon," says Goto, "And then maybe I'll get a new form."
Noitsu warns, "I told you not to be getting…"
"Yes, yes," says Goto, "You've said I'm no match for him. But I was referring to others, not him."
(That is the end of the chapter, what did you think? Kuroda has defeated his opponent, but will his teammates be as lucky? 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.)