A/N: And welcome back! Now for a bit of news: I recently put my other story, The Brothers Greymon, on temporary hiatus to help me focus more on this story and my other, Emerald Shades. AS is my improvement tool and I hope I've been improving. Anyway, let's get into this.
Yukio felt his heart pump in his chest from nervousness. He stared down Kohta Inuzuka as the man seemed puzzled. Yukio reminded himself that this was the man who'd sent him flying with one hit. He shouldn't let himself get hit. Easier said than done, Aika had been hit several times. Not to mention this guy was an Earth user, adding a layer that he rarely seemed to use. Yukio had to get in there and see what Kohta could really do.
"What!? How?" Kohta was more surprised than anything, which was good. It gave Yukio time to activate his eyes, for lack of a better term. "He looked through Kohta and found that he was hotter all around, his body temperature heated quite a bit. A good chunk of that was in his head but Yukio kept that to himself.
"It was easy, really." Yukio commented, still scanning Kohta for anything they could use. "Lackluster guard, easy weapons access, it was a cake walk."
"I never put-"
"Too easy of a cake walk." Yukio continued, still scanning. "You must've predicted we'd escape so you expected a head on charge, not a more stealthy approach."
"I wasn't expecting you to escape at all!" the man screamed. Yukio raised an eyebrow.
"What can I say, Kohta?" Aika chuckled behind them. She was sitting down, exhausted, leaning back against the arena wall. She wore a smug smirk on her face. "Kids can be little hell raisers, it's in their nature." Yukio bit back a comment on being a kid and continued scanning. Nothing, Kohta was fine. His hound, however… Yukio took one look and saw that his needle work had done some work. Trickles of blood came from several of the needles, his paws were bloodied from Aika's glass, and he was breathing heavily. It was still standing, but for how long?
"But-" Kohta gritted his teeth in agitation. He seemed oddly at a loss for words, considering he had several when he faced Aika. It's possible, as well, that the thought of children besting his men never occurred to him. Odd still considering that Yukio had bested that brute days ago. What was his name? Rokusho.
"Guys." Arine whispered. Yukio looked to her out of the corner of his eye. She gripped her spear tight. "We go for him, but focus on the wolf, okay? Better get rid of it." Yukio nodded, Yasuhiro is his best weapon aside from his raw power.
"Don't think your little brats can save you, Aika!" Kohta yelled. "I'll end em and then-"
"Now!" Arine yelled and they charged.
"Huh!?" Yasuhiro bounded past the stunned Inuzuka, headed right for Arine. It closed in rapidly, but it received a hard smack on the snout from Yukio's spear, eliciting a whimper. Arine kept running and Yukio faced Yasuhiro. The hound bared its teeth in a growl as it slowly circled Yukio, gauging his threat level. Yukio felt his heart pounding in his chest, this thing was as big as he was! He had to concentrate, perhaps if he… yeah. Yukio kept his eyes on Yasuhiro, the sounds of his friends clashing with Kohta behind him.
"All right." He whispered, concentrating on his chakra, funnelling as little as he could through into the pike, electrifying it. Yukio began matching Yasuhiro's steps, the two circling around each other until Yasuhiro finally lunged for his throat. "Gah!" Yukio screamed as he swung his pike, smacking the wolf on the bridge of his nose, sending an electric shock through him. Yasuhiro yelped and retreated, allowing Yukio to get three needles in his right hand. He hit the hound's front left paw and the ankle, eliciting another yelp of pain. Yukio let his chakra ebb form the spike, returning it to normal. He ran at the dog, jumped, and brought it down on Yasuhiro's head with all his strength, which wasn't much, with a decent crack! Yasuhiro stumbled back as Yukio swung again, but the hound jumped back, forcing Yukio to miss.
"Stupid little- gah!" Yukio chanced a look at the battle beside him. Denji had tackled him from behind, allowing Arine to get a good swipe with her spear. Kohta had a nice gash in his upper left arm that was oozing blood while Arine's spear tip dripped it. Then Yukio heard Yasuhiro baying and dashing for him. Yukio turned to the side, but Yasuhiro managed to get his canine teeth to graze Yukio's left arm, biting into the gauntlet, putting pressure onto Yukio's arm.
"Ah!" Yukio wrenched his arm away as Yasuhiro, pieces of his gauntlet going with it, now more or less stable, licked his teeth. Yukio felt something warm running from his arm and he didn't have to look. He tightened his grip on his spike and channelled his chakra into it. He ran at Yasuhiro, who met his challenge head on. Yukio looked at the hound, noticing it kept low to the ground as it ran. He was going to lunge again. Yukio prepared.
Slide down under him, stab up. He thought, imagining the scenario. Yasuhiro lunged and Yukio got down into a slide, skidding under the wolf. Yasuhiro sailed over him, far too fast. Yukio hadn't taken the speed into account. He stabbed upward, but Yasuhiro had jumped too high. He managed to get the tip to cut long the beast's stomach before it landed behind him. Yukio slid to a halt and stood, seeing blood dripping from Yasuhiro's underside.
"Come on!" Yukio taunted. Why? He never knew. He theorised it was heat of the moment but it could've been adrenaline rushing through him. Yasuhiro ran at him, Yukoi channeling his chakra, losing his concentration during the slide. He ran at Yasuhiro, who lunged, but Yukio dove to the side, coming up in a roll, and ran at the wolf as he landed, smacking his spike into the dog's back right leg as he got near, sending a spark up its spine. It yelped out in pain as Yukio swung again, smacking Yasuhiro's hindquarters with it, sending out a spark accompanied by another yelp. Yukio got three needles in his right hand and jabbed them downward, without care.
Yasuhiro whipped his head around and snapped at Yukio's arm, but Yukio pulled away to let the dog bite mere air as he swung his left arm from below in an underhanded arc, swinging a non-electrified pike into the wolf's jaw, forcing it back a bit. Yukio stood, his feet planted into the dirt, his chest heaving as he panted from the rush of adrenaline. Yasuhiro now had a slight limp, from his back leg taking a shocked hit. Yasuhiro looked ragged now, his fur caked with dried and wet blood, needles sticking out of him, glinting in the sun. He bared his teeth in a low growl.
Yukio got three needles in his hand, he was running out. Yukio threw them and Yasuhiro bolted, side stepping the needles quickly. Yukio felt his heart skip a beat. No. Yasuhiro wasn't as wounded as he let on. He lunged at Yukio, his maw open. Yukio jumped back and Yasuhiro lunged again, forcing Yukio to duck as the wolf sailed over him. Yukio looked back and noticed that while he tried to step lightly due to the glass, Yasuhiro was otherwise unhindered.
You got too cocky! He screamed at himself internally. The wolf came at him, now going low, aiming for the legs, his jaws snapping at Yukio's shins like they were his favourite chew toy. Yukio kept jumping back until he miss-stepped and Yasuhiro shot forward, his teeth clamping around Yukio's left ankle and biting down hard.
"GAAAH!" Yukio let out as he fell, swinging his spike into the wolf's face to get him to let go. No luck, Yasuhiro's jaw was like a vice, and he wasn't letting go anytime soon. Yukio felt warmth run down his ankle, into his shoe but that was his last concern. His main one was getting this beast off his ankle! He got his spike into stabbing position and thrust down, only for Yasuhiro to let go and roll away, leaving Yukio to stab the dirt. Yukio scrambled away, managing to stand, but his ankle stung. Sand was on his wound and he couldn't put much weight onto it. The back was fine, but the front of his ankle hurt like hell. Yasuhiro came rushing at him, his barks drowning out other sounds.
Desperate, Yukio got his last three needles into his hand and he threw them as hard as he could. One hit Yasuhiro's shoulder the other his back, but one hit the hound in his right eye. It stopped and started barking loudly, the needle stuck in its eye as it flailed around. Yukio checked his gauntlet, seeing no needles left. He reached back into his jacked to find nothing. What? He looked around and saw some silver glints in the sand. Damn it all! They fell out! Yukio kept his gauntlet on in case Yasuhiro wanted to bite his fore arms again, and reached behind his back and pulled his second spear, flicking it out. Now he had more offensive power. But his ankle hurt and he was out of projectiles. This wasn't a good situation. Yasuhiro flailed about, pawing at his eye until he finally got it and yanked it out. However, it was more or less Yasuhiro forcing the needle in an arc, cutting through his right eye even more, making the hound whimper and whine as blood ran down its face. It closed its right eye as if to stave off the pain and glared at Yukio.
If it wasn't angry before, it certainly was now. Blinded in one eye couldn't have been a good experience. Yasuhiro was breathing heavily now, slowly. He got low, slowly crawling towards Yukio.
"Kid!" he heard Aika call. He turned and glanced quickly, seeing her standing against the wall. "He's lost his depth perception, he won't jump at you much more!" As if on cue, Yasuhiro lunged, forcing Yukio to dodge to the side. Could've fool Yukio, Yasuhiro seemed able to attack him no matter what was missing. The wolf turned, but it turned slowly. Yukio backed up just a step before it lunged. He ducked and Yasuhiro skidded into the sand, turning as he slid, before charging Yukio. Yukio swung his right pike down and hit Yasuhiro in the snout, forcing him off course and to the left. Yasuhiro stopped and seemed confused for a moment before turning and charging again, this time keeping low. Yukio readied to side step, but Yasuhiro shot up at a low angle, aimed for Yukio's throat.
Yukio brought up his spikes in an X across his throat instinctively and the hound's vicious bite clamped down over the two rods, his teeth going farther and slicing open Yukio's chin. He gritted his teeth and bore it, focusing on keeping Yasuhiro's jaw closed on his spikes. It was working, Yukio forcing the spikes against the force of the wolf's bite, keeping it pried open and harmless, aside from the horrid stench, but Yukio's arms were locked against this beast, making him unable to do much of anything but slowly jerk forward and back with the pull on the spears. Yukio pulled his way, Yasuhiro yanked back his way. It was a sort of tug-of-war, but with a dog the same size as him. Then it clicked in Yukio's head: channel his chakra!
Calm down. He scolded himself, being yanked forward before pulling back with difficulty. Conserve your chakra, you don't know your limits. Should you do it? You might not have enough later for- Yukio cut his own thoughts off and focused his chakra. If he was careful and didn't use anymore for a while he should have enough to use that other technique he'd been practicing. But that hasn't been working- SHUT UP! Yukio screamed internally before pumping as little chakra as he could, electrifying the metal and, by extension, Yasuhiro. The poor wolf was so focused on keeping his jaws clenched that Yukio almost wanted to keep shocking him. But it went against the plan. He pulled his spears from the wolf's vice grip and watched as he stumbled backwards, his muscles visibly spasm under his fur, the electric shock doing more than Yukio had anticipated it would. Well that worked out-
"Yasuhiro!" he heard a man scream from behind. Yukio turned to see Kohta Inuzuka barrelling towards him, sword raised over his head.
He'll swing down, go left! Yukio barely had time to roll to the side before the man swung down, his club-sword cleaving into the sand. The man looked and saw his hound struggling to stand as his muscle spasms slowly subsided.
"You insignificant little shit!" Kohta screamed as he pulled his sword out of the ground, turning to Yukio. "What have you done to MY DOG!" Yukio looked up at Kohta, breathing heavily. He'd expended a bit more chakra than he wanted.
"I defended myself." He responded before spitting at Kohta's feet. Kohta took that was directly as he could and yelled with rage, ready to swing his sword down when Denji came out of nowhere, tackling Kohta from behind, sending him off balance.
"Yukio!" Arine ran up to him, looking at him. "What happened?"
"Dog bit my ankle, I expended too much chakra and I'm getting exhausted." Yukio felt the adrenaline slowly ebbing from him, depriving him of strength. This wasn't good, not in the slightest. He looked to Arine, who seemed worried, her eyebrows pushed together in concern.
"Listen, we just need you to keep that hound distracted before-" they looked and saw Yasuhiro slowly circling around Denji as he grappled with Kohta, a struggle he was fast losing. The wolf lowered its body to the ground, ready to lunge for Denji when he could. Just then a piece of black something hit the dog hard in the head, distracting it.
"Come on little doggie!" Aika yelled out to it. She was limping a bit but was in overall better shape than Yukio. Yasuhiro turned and started towards her, Aika with her sword out but not on fire. "I should be able to-" the wolf lunged and Aika blocked his teeth with her sword. She struggled for force off Yasuhiro. "-handle this!" she pushed back and forced Yasuhiro off. "You help your friends!" she yelled as Yasuhiro lunged once more to keep Aika away from the fight. Arine turned to Yukio and looked at him.
"Come on, Denji needs our help. She ran towards Denji and Kohta, pulling her trident from where it was sticking in the ground. It must've been thrown at some point when Yukio wasn't paying attention. He saw Arine throw it and it got one point into Kohta's beefy arm before he yanked it out and focused on Arine as Denji circled around.
"Come on." Yukio muttered to himself, putting one foot forward. "Go protect them." He bit his lip and started running, going towards Kohta who was swinging his club sword like a mad man.
"Get over here you little shits!" he yelled, swinging his weapons in a low sideways arc. Kind of sending the opposite message, really. Yukio didn't care, he went in low, watching Kohta, taking advantage of the man being unable to swing twice in a row, one right after the other. He sent a spike into Kohta's ankle before pulling out and running past, letting him hit sand instead of Yukio. Yukio stuck a spike into the sand and used it as a pivot point to turn and go at Kohta again. Arine swiped at him with her spear, making more and more cuts that he shrugged off as if they were minor issues. The way he was fighting, they seemed to be only that. He swung his sword around, uncaring it they opened any more than they already had, just hoping to take out these kids.
Denji pulled his scroll and summoned his Warhammer and went at Kohta, who had swung down at Arine. Kohta saw this and swung out to meet the hammer, the two clashing, with Denji's weapon pushing Kohta's down a bit, forcing it into the sand at an angle as Denji jumped back. Yukio rushed forward, throwing his left spear into Kohta's arm. He let out a yell of rage as Yukio jumped up, reaching for his spear, pulling it out in a more rough manner than he'd intended, eliciting another bellow from Kohta. But that wasn't the issue. His dog had bitten him on the ankle, and Yukio was feeling it. After that burst the front of his ankle was stinging like hell, the wound making it hard to put weight onto it.
Arine had an opening and stabbed Kohta in the leg, but he'd shifted so she stabbed on the outside of his right thigh, almost sending it through. He swung his fist out, catching Arine, and sending her flying a good few feet.
"Arine!" Yukio yelled, charging Kohta in a rage. Denji did the same. Kohta swung his sword down at Yukio, who rolled over to the left. However, the sword caught the bottom half of his jacket and it was torn from his as Yukio got up, temporarily stopping him. Kohta reached out but Denji came over and swung his hammer into Kohta's right knee, making him scream, letting Yukio run around him, his coat now shortened to above the waist. He ran behind the man and then ran forward, jumping with both his spears pointed down. He landed, shoving them into Kohta's shoulders, making him yell out louder than Yukio had heard before. He stood without his weapon and thrashed around, his right side dipping as his injured knee had trouble taking the weight. Denji must've hit him hard.
"GET OFF ME!" he screamed at Yukio, his arms reaching back. Yukio pulled his right spike and stabbed at Kohta's right hand in the palm. Not deep but enough to force his hand away as Kohta dipped again as his knee had trouble taking his weight. Yukio was now hanging by his left spear, which was already coming out. Blood was running from the shoulder wounds and didn't look like it was going to be healed much anytime soon. Yukio pulled his left spear and backed off as they made a dot trail in the sand. Kohta's shirt now had blood stains running slowly down his back as he picked his sword up and turned. Denji came up on his left, Warhammer ready. However Kohta anticipated this and swung at Denji his sword hitting the pole part and wrenching out of Denji's hands violently.
"Ow!" he screamed as Kohta hit him full force with a punch, which Denji was sent flying from. He landed on his back in a small puff of sand, but got up. His hands didn't look too good. His right middle finger was bent somewhat oddly but Denji had dealt with broken fingers before. He seemed to shrug it off for some reason, balling his hands into fists, as much as he could the right, and charged Kohta.
Yukio took the time to quickly run over to Arine, his ankle complaining the entire five second trip. He knelt down as Arine was slowly getting up.
"Come on!" he urged. "Denji's going solo against him with a broken finger I need you!"
"Yeah, I know." Arine grabbed her spear and stood, the left half of her face slowly turning black as it bruised from Kohta's punch. "We better get in there." She hefted her spear and nodded to Yukio. He nodded back and they charged Kohta. He hit at Denji but Denji rolled away from it and shoulder tackled again, pushing Kohta back just a bit. Arine readied her spear and prepared to stab it into Kohta's back and Yukio readied for another jump, the shoulder wounds he created still leaking blood as the stains reached down to the bottom of Kohta's shirt.
Arine thrust her spear forward, but Kohta had shifted to the right, making Arine's spear miss him completely and forcing it dangerously close to Denji. Kohta looked down and quickly made hand signs.
"Earth Style: Rolling Stomp!" Kohta slammed his foot into the sand and a wave up to Yukio's shins rolled out, hitting him and tripping him up, but also sending him back a ways, along with Arine who had landed face first into the sand.
"Ow!" she groaned when she got up. The left half of her face was twitching, the pain from landing on her face obviously taking its toll.
"Come on!" Yukio urged as Denji had been forced away too, but hadn't been tripped up. He was, in fact, making his own hand signs as Kohta went for his blade.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" Denji slammed his palm into the sand, making a wall of dirt rise up as tall as he was, hitting Kohta's blade at the handle, sending it spinning into the air and behind Denji, robbing Kohta of his brutish weapon. Kohta screamed and charged Denji, who managed to roll out of the way. "Hey guys!" he yelled, coming up from a roll as Kohta slammed his foot down where Denji had been. "Could use a bit of help!" Denji jumped back over to where his earth wall was and hit Kohta in his wounded knee, making the man roar with pain.
"Yeah. Let's go." Arine started forward, her spear gripped tight in her hand. Her left eye was closed, the bruise on her face flowering out from her eye. She ran towards Denji, Yukio in tow, his ankle throbbing. An afterthought occurred to him that he hoped Yasuhiro didn't have a disease or something. Regardless, Yukio managed to keep a steady pace with his ankle burning as Kohta made more hand signs.
"Earth Style: Seeking Spike!" Kohta slammed a palm onto the open ground and a trail dug its way to Denji. Denji noticed and rolled to the side as a spike as big as him shot up from the earth before sinking back down. The little lump above ground was still roaming around, searching for a target. It seemed to find Arine and Yukio as is shot towards them.
"Wait til it gets to us, then split." Yukio breathed to Arine, who nodded. If was but a second before it got between them and Yukio and Arine each dodged to a side, letting the spike harmlessly shoot up into open air before retreating back down. Yukio rolled to a crouch and stood, running as fast as he could manage while Arine out sped him by a large margin, reaching Kohta, spear at the ready. Denji wound around, keeping Kohta's eyes on him, as he was bent down, keeping the spike running around. Arine slashed at Kohta, only for him to roll away from it, keeping a hand on the ground each time. The spike made its way over to Arine, who was too focused on trying to hit Kohta.
"Arine!" Yukio yelled, as he was near, forcing his screaming ankle to cooperate and let him run. He managed to tackle Arine before she made a downward stab into Kohta's hand just as the spike shot up and sunk back into the dirt. Yukio got up and threw his left spike at Kohta's hand, missing as Kohta put one hand on the ground, retracting the other. Yukio growled and shot towards his spear when he stopped and a spike shot up in front of him.
"Ah!" Yukio turned to see Denji had dodged another spike. Wait… Yukio heard Kohta's deep laughter as he stood, his hands away from the earth. Yukio turned and saw Arine had side stepped another spike that had shot up and went back down.
"Admiring it kid?" Yukio turned to Kohta who was looking behind him. Yukio dodged to the side as a spike shot up from the ground. "Long as I keep chakra flowing into the earth here, I can control these little gifts however I wish." Despite how bloody he was, Kohta was smiling and looking, if anything, still capable of annihilating them. It rang truer as Yukio was now back to one spear and they had to contend with spikes coming up from the earth. As if on cue, a spike shot up in front of Yukio, forcing him back. He looked to his friends and saw the same thing.
Wait. He thought. What's the purpose of this? He could just force us back with- he looked and saw Kohta making more hand signs. Shit.
"Arine! Denji!" Yukio attempted to get their attention as he rolled away from his spike. He came to a kneel and winced. His ankle was going to give out sooner or later, the pain was throbbing in time with his heartbeat, which wasn't doing wonders for his on the fly strategizing.
"What is it man!?" Denji tried running, only to come to a skidding stop as the lump went in front of him and the spike shot up.
"Just go for him, ignore the spikes!" Yukio ran to Kohta, only for his spike to shoot up in front of him, forcing him to a painful halt. Yukio made his way around the spike as it went back into the earth.
"Kinda difficult!" Arine yelled, baiting her spike out before she slashed it down with her spear. However it shot up behind her, showing that it could just reform quickly thanks to Kohta, who was taking his time, making hand signs and muttering.
"Just do it!" Yukio yelled, running to Kohta, keeping an eye on his spike, which followed him around. So Kohta had picked a target for each spike. But what about… Yukio stopped and got around his spike as it shot up, looking to Aika, who was locked in hit-and-run combat with Yasuhiro, each keeping the other occupied. Yukio side stepped a spike and he was now in range of Kohta, who was close to finishing his jutsu. Yukio threw his right pike, hitting Kohta in the forearm, the thing hanging form his arm for a second before dropping into the sand.
"Grah!" Kohta yanked his arms up from the pain as Yukio shot forward, grabbing both his spikes and preparing to stab downward, but the spike shot up at an angle, nearly going through Yukio's face as a result. Yukio fell back, the spike going over him before dissolving into sand. Yukio backed up as it shot out again at another angle. He looked and saw that Denji and Arine had made little to no progress, focusing on avoiding the spikes. He was keeping them at bay so easily!
"Not working dude!" Denji yelled as he was now dodging spikes from angles meant to pierce him in the chest, same for Arine, who slashed through them as fast as they were appearing, but she was looking exhausted, barely keeping her spikes at bay. Yukio turned and saw Kohta hadn't stopped making his hand signs. No.
"Ready to experience a jutsu I've been working on for years?" Kohta asked, a smug grin on his face. "Earth Style: Dreadnought Armour!" The spikes that had been trailing the trio went into the earth and made their way to Kohta, shooting up to make a triangle. The sand in the arena began slowly sucking Kohta in, having him past his chest height in no time. Kohta was grinning oddly as he was swallowed by the earth until he was literally in over his head. The spikes sank into the earth, and Yukio was confused. All it seemed to do was bury him- the ground started rumbling and where Kohta had been sucked down into the earth was making a funnel down again, but pushing sand up instead of sucking it in. Yukio stared into it as it purged sand.
"What in the hell is that-" Denji was cut off as an earthen hand reached up out of the hole, joined by another quickly after. The fore arms were covered in earthen spikes. Then the arms pulled the rest out: Kohta Inuzuka covered head to toe in earthen armour which had spikes protruding out every which way. From his shoulders, forward from his arms, from his chest, out of his back, Kohta was covered in spikes.
"AHAHAHAHAHA!" he bellowed. He wasn't much larger than before but this was certainly a huge set back in this fight. "My second most powerful technique! And you brats are going to taste its full fury!" Kohta thrust an arm out, slowly, shooting several spikes in Yukio's direction. They landed all around him before sinking into the ground.
"Ha!" Denji yelled. "Your aim sucks!" Denji was grinning until Yukio felt a slight rumble and jumped back as spikes shot out at various angles and heights from around where he just was. The spikes sunk back into the earth.
"Nice try. While I can control three of them normally, in my Dreadnought Armour I can annihilate you brats within seconds!" Kohta grinned as spikes shot up around Yukio again, forcing him to jump out of the way. He landed and fell to his knees, his ankle now burning with a passion. He couldn't keep this up much longer. Even if he could keep dodging, Kohta could just fill the area with spikes until he impaled everything in the arena.
"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!" Arine put her hand to her mouth and spouted a torrent of water at Kohta, who shot more spikes into the ground and they shot up as a shield, forcing the water around.
"Nice try girl! But you're going to have to do more than just that to-"
"Earth Style: Hand of Terra!" Denji slammed his palm into the sand and spikes shot up, hitting Kohta's armour, shattering against it, but it pushed him off balance. Kohta barely managed to keep his balance. Arine was preparing for another wild water wave and Denji was concentrating, his chakra drained from his earlier mud walls to block the crowd. Speaking of, Yukio quickly looked to the stands. Not even Shiro remained. They had somehow broken out of the arena. Probably for the best. Yukio turned back and another set of Denji's own spikes knocked Kohta somewhat off balance. Suddenly, Yukio came to the realisation: Kohta was barely able to move. That armour had to be heavy, the spikes especially. Kohta's physique was good for it since he could support it but it must've been hard to move in. If he could get Denji and Arine to aid him in a combined attack…
"Denji!" Yukio yelled, running around, seeing some of his needles and scooping them up. He shook the sand from his palm and came up with three needles. Perfect.
"What is it Yuki, a bit busy!" Denji made another set of spikes shoot up but Kohta used his own to counter them. Yukio made his way to Denji, his ankle now screaming but the pain was fading. Adrenaline or shock, Yukio wasn't sure. Probably both.
"Keep hitting him as much as you can, he can't move well in it." Yukio relayed his finding and Denji nodded.
"Sure thing bud." He smiled but his forehead glistened with sweat. He wouldn't last a whole lot longer. But he'd have to. Yukio ran around to Kohta's back as Denji kept pelting him with spike after spike. Arine was trying to find a good angle, but, again, a spike managed to find its way to her and was keeping her busy. Yukio got to Kohta's back and shouted
"Arine!"
"What!?" she yelled back, slashing the spike into grains of dirt.
"Use your water jutsu! I think it'll weigh him down!"
"Don't you even try!" Yukio looked and Kohta had turned, his arm ready, and fired several spikes at Yukio, who ducked as they sunk into the ground behind him.
"Do it!" Yukio yelled, dodging spikes as they shot up. His senses were going into overdrive. He couldn't feel his ankle much anymore but he kept rolling and jumping in directions to avoid the spikes as they shot up form below, where he couldn't see. He got his needles between his fingers and gave them the tiniest bit of chakra he could spare, throwing them before rolling from a spike that shot up too quickly, grazing his side and giving him a nice gash. "Gah!" he yelled as he fell.
"AAAH!" Kohta jerked up as the needles had gone through his armour and hitting him right where the sun doesn't shine. Aika had mentioned the Chakra elements cancelling each other out and that Lightning went through Earth relatively easy. Now if only Yukio knew more Lightning Jutsu, they'd be fine. However, he had to make due. With the needles poking his ass, Denji got another few spikes to hit Kohta, which broke his concentration and the spikes temporarily stopped.
"ARINE!" Yukio yelled as he looked around, searching for more needles. None, they were all over by Aika and Yasuhiro, who were locked sword against teeth in a struggle. Arine quickly made the hand signs.
"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!" she shot water from her hand in a torrent which crashed into Kohta hard. He managed to stand his ground, but the water soaked in as Yukio planned, weighing Kohta down severely. Water shot up occasionally, hitting Kohta in the face, forcing his concentration away from the spikes. This allowed Yukio a moment to think. If Denji could get his Warhammer, then they could attack Kohta's legs, see how much damage they could do.
"Denji! Get your hammer!" Yukio yelled as he raced to Kohta's armoured form.
"On it!" Denji ran at a noticeably slower pace, but that must've been exhaustion from using his chakra so much. Arine, who had more chakra to spare, was blasting Kohta for all he was worth, letting Denji get his hammer which lie in the sand near Kohta's blade.
"Now go for his legs!" Denji managed to match Yukio's pace and they both took a leg, Denji swinging his hammer full force into Kohta's left leg while Yukio attacked the right with vicious stabs, water soaking their pants as it ran through them. But that was secondary to their goal. Denji's hammer managed to make some cracks in the armour but nothing worth mentioning. Kohta was busy being blasted with water to notice much. If he did, he wasn't able to do anything. Yukio stabbed at his right leg over and over, taking out small chunks but the armour was thick. Admittedly, Yukio was glad for this. It meant Kohta couldn't move once Arine was finished, Yukio hoped, and that they could launch some form of a real counter attack.
"Got it!" Denji exclaimed as his hammer hit Kohta's thigh again and caused a chunk of armour to fall lose into the water, dissolving into sand and dirt. There was a patch of Kohta's thigh, Yukio reached out and stabbed his spear into the exposed leg, causing Kohta to roar with pain and anger. Yukio stabbed several times before the water ebbed. He looked and Arine was retreating, her chakra probably spent a decent amount. Yukio pulled his spear from Kohta's thigh as the armour remained still.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF-" Kohta screamed, unable to move properly.
"Enjoying it?" Yukio asked, Kohta's thigh was bleeding into the sand, congealing it further around the knee. Kohta couldn't turn but he had regained concentration and a spike shot out from below his feet, aimed at Yukio's general direction. Yukio managed to side step it and avoid impalement. Arine ran back behind Kohta and joined Yukio and Denji.
"I'm almost spent." She panted, doubling over. Yukio felt sorry, he should've asked for her to stop earlier.
"No problem. He can't really- watch out!" they all jumped away from each other as a spike shot out, aimed at Denji. "He can't really move." Yukio continued. "And he seems to have only this one spike as he can't keep us all down." The single spike shot up to Arine, who rolled from it with as much energy as she could muster.
"Well that's one issue, but you can't really stab his thigh to death, can you?" Denji asked.
"I dunno, maybe." Yukio thought. Wasn't there an artery in the thigh, a major one? He dodged the spike and noticed he was beginning to feel his ankle even more. That wasn't good. Then he saw something: the armour around Kohta's legs was beginning to sink into the ground.
"He's dissipating it." Arine noticed, dodging the spike. She was right. Soon Kohta's armour had melted into the wet sand below, the spikes falling off in wet chunks and pieces falling off until the bleeding man was kneeling before them, his body shaking with rage, his eyes filled with absolute hatred.
"You little criminal brats." He growled threateningly low. "You little brats are going to pay for hurting my dog. For killing my men. And for PISSING ME OFF!" Kohta managed to stand, but he stumbled a bit, his thigh causing him pain. His face was contorted in anger, his skin reddened to the point it seemed he would pop every blood vessel in his head. His eyes were now blood shot and his teeth gritted tightly together, as if her were attempting to bite through his own teeth through sheer force of will. "YASUHIRO!" he yelled. In response his hound was thrown at him in a huff, landing on its side and rolling until he stopped before shakily standing. Aika was standing from where she'd thrown the hound panting, her arms bloody from the dog's bites, her sword showing that she'd slashed the hound more than a few times.
"Enjoy him for all he's worth." Aika taunted, sneering before jumping back, possibly to wrap her wounds, Yukio didn't follow her. He started at Kohta as Yasuhiro and him seemed to have a wordless conversation before Kohta pulled a couple small black orbs from a pouch on his waist. He gave one to Yasuhiro before consuming one himself. Yasuhiro's fur suddenly turned red as he started growling, louder and louder by the second his teeth bared. Kohta started shuddering before he began making hand signs.
"Time to show you what a man and his dog can do!" Kohta finished his hand signs, blue chakra circling him and Yasuhiro. "Human-Beast Combination: Two Headed Wolf!" Suddenly a massive body of white smoke surrounded them in a sort of spiral, as if the wind were spinning it before it slowly dissipated to show a gigantic two headed wold, fangs the size of Yukio's legs, huge red, angry eyes, saliva flowing in waterfalls from its bared teeth, pooling on the sand below.
"Shit!" Aika exclaimed, her right arm wrapped in bandages, her left only partially. She pulled a kunai and whipped it as fast as she could, hitting the hound in the right neck. It drew the attention of the right head, which glared at her. But the left head kept its attention on the trio. "Hey!" She yelled to the hound, but its left head remained focused on the kids. She threw another kunai into the neck of the left head, which drew its attention. Yukio thought about that he needed to draw its attention somehow. Not with what he had now but maybe… he turned and ran towards the door where Aika was thrown out of at the beginning of this debacle. "Kid, what the hell are you doing!?" Aika yelled as she rolled out of the way of one of the heads snapping at her. Yukio ignored her and ran, his ankle screaming at a moderate level. His adrenaline must still be running through him. He ran through what he remembered, blitzing past corridors towards the armory.
Yukio burst in, stepped over the bodies, and looked around for something to use. He found a pair of swords, katanas. They weighed a decent amount in his hands. These would do. He ran out of the room, turning left, making his way down the halls back towards the roof. If his plan worked, it might do… something. It was stupid but he had to try.
"Hey!" Yukio heard one of Kohta's men, a spear lazily held in his hands, before him. Yukio ran up, leapt, and stabbed the man with both swords in the chest, toppling him over. Yukio pulled his swords and let the man bleed out as he ran towards the stair case that lead to the next level. He traversed it quickly, skipping steps, much to the chagrin of his ankle. He endured and made it to the second level, running through the corridors he remembered from his previous excursion through here. He found the stairs to level three and quickly ran up them before finding the stairs to the roof close at hand. He ran up them and made his way to the roof, looking down. He saw Aika running around, dodging snaps by the wolf's right mouth, if only barely. Arine and Denji were trying to confuse the left head by splitting up and throwing things to keep it switching from one to the other. Yukio felt his heartbeat increase even more due to seeing his friends in danger. He gripped the swords in his hands tighter, the blood from his kill dripping onto the roof floor.
"HEY!" Yukio screamed from the top of his lungs. "HEY YOU STUPID MUTT!" It half worked, drawing the left, seemingly the more easily distracted head. This was it, he had to do it. Yukio backed up a few steps and broke out into a run before leaping off the roof, screaming some form of a war cry, his swords crossed over his head, his legs bent up at the knee, ready to land on this wolf and tear it limb from limb.
Aika looked up and saw this image, her student, leaping from the roof, an angered look on his face, swords crossed over his head, leaping into the face of a massive wolf that had every intent of killing him.
She felt a twinge of pride.
A/N: WOW this was fun to write and I really went into overdrive at points. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this, read, review, write