The seashore darkened. Water pooled by the sides of the path, glimmering light reflecting off the dark water. Beneath the cliffside, a river streamed toward Hidden Mist.
Sasuke adjusted her grip on the hilt of the sword briefly.
Akaihi shrugged. "Putting aside that nonsense for now, can I ask something?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Depends on the question."
"How many people were called here?"
Sasuke's brow furrowed. "Why the hell should I tell you that?"
Akaihi nodded. "I mean, out of curiosity. I know Hidden Leaf usually operates in teams of three, but given this is your jinchūriki you're talking about—"
Sasuke raised a finger. "I'm not telling you a thing about how many or how few of us there are. Sorry. I'm not that damn stupid."
Akaihi scowled. "By saying that, you've told me you didn't bring too many forces. Otherwise, you'd have no objection to explaining the full circumstances."
Sasuke tilted her head to one side.
"You must have anticipated there was a possibility of us showing up." Akaihi snorted. "Yet you decided to neglect that possibility for your own motives. It seems to me that Hidden Leaf's Hokage is nothing more than another fool. There are certain limits—"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "First, you know only the difference between 'few' or 'many' now. Second, shinobi rules are not to send an army to do what several people alone can accomplish. You're truly a fool if you don't understand that."
"ARRGH!" Akaihi exploded. His roar echoed through the forest into the darkness of the sky.
Sasuke folded her arms across her chest. "You done?" she asked finally in a quiet voice.
"Well, I know I'm not as dangerous as Hakka, but even so it's insulting!" Akaihi tilted his head to one side. "There should be an army here. Something like that, to defeat a pro like me!"
Sasuke's brow furrowed. "You're kidding, right?" She drew out her sword. If it was the case that we weren't certain of winning, we'd have to consider the case of acceptable losses. An average shinobi would get their asses kicked, and possibly lose their head, against a guy with his techniques. Only a moron would send a full army trained in shinobi practices in their usual form.
"I'm strong as fuck! If I'm to be taken down, it should be by a fucking army, not one person!"
Sasuke's brow creased. "Are you for real?" She tilted her head to one side.
"I'm fucking invincible! I've never believed in anything, so I've never been cheated!" Akaihi grinned broadly.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I see. Not even your own invincibility?"
"That's a fact of life. I've never been defeated, so it's impossible that I'll be defeated!" Akaihi grinned. "You talk about the beliefs of others or whatever, but you seem to think too much about the possibilities or whatever—the actualization of that reality is the important thing!"
"I see. Then prepare for an impossibility." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. She swung the sword forward rapidly.
Akaihi's twin katana snapped outward rapidly. The swords spun in a circle, slashing toward Sasuke's throat.
Rapidly, Sasuke deflected the swords into the loam, the sword glowing faintly with a blue light of unknown type.
Hm. Akaihi's eyes narrowed. "There's something special about that sword, isn't there?" he demanded aloud.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"Thought so." Akaihi chuckled. "See, these swords of mine? They don't really respond too well to most metal. They shred right through it. But something like that sword, whatever it is—"
"It's called the Seireiken," Sasuke interrupted briefly.
Akaihi's brow furrowed. "Truly? Then it has quite an interesting history. You know of the souls Madara poured into its heart? You know of the hundreds killed to give that sword life?" He gripped the swords tightly. "Seems strange to come from a moral high ground when you're using a thing like that!"
"The origin of this thing doesn't matter to me. It's the kind of power I need to win, and destroy monsters like you. Under the circumstances, whoever made it doesn't matter to me—" Sasuke's voice broke off. She smirked faintly. "Well, that's not entirely true." She raised the sword defensively.
Akaihi lunged forward. His swords chopped downward diagonally. Her attacks have no edge. It's obvious, from here—she has no ability but to be weak! That's a simple fact!
Sasuke blocked. Her hands shook as the swords drove in quickly. Sweat poured down her forehead.
"Hmph. You're not strong, are you?" Akaihi grinned. "Not that I'm a fan of those fighters or whatever, but the samurai have it right. It's only worth fighting if you can actually back up your boasts with strength. Nothing else will suffice. Not the stone under your feet—to fight openly means that you have to be truly strong."
"No. Compared to a few people I respect, I'm not." Sasuke's lips curled upward. "I'm not a sword saint. For the time being, I just happen to be using a sword. There's a difference. I guess you get it—"
Akaihi slashed horizontally. The blade trailed along Sasuke's stomach.
Sasuke fell backward. Blood ran from the open wound. She exhaled. Yeah, it's no surprise. I'm not like Kōju. I'm not capable of fighting someone that easily for hours with a sword. But, well, that doesn't matter, does it? Her hand tightened on the sword. You've got a sadistic personality. Even if you've got me thoroughly outmatched you won't take advantage of it except to show me that. You have an inherent flaw in that thinking, and that's what's going to give me the advantage. There are screws loose in your head. Only a moron would give me this kind of advantage rather than ending it. Seriously. She reached into her pouch. An egg emerged from the scroll.
Akaihi lunged forward, aiming to tackle Sasuke to the ground.
Sasuke hurled the egg into Akaihi's face.
Akaihi yelled loudly. His hands rose to wipe away the egg from his face. He dropped one sword to the ground.
Sasuke drew back her hand. "Chidori!" She lunged forward, her hand driving into Akaihi's body.
Akaihi laughed loudly. "How many times do I have to say it? I'M FUCKING INVINCIBLE!" He wiped a drop of saliva away from his lips. Kneeling, he picked up the other sword. "Still, I gotta admit, I wasn't expecting that. You actually used a cheat? That's neat. I totally wasn't expecting you to have anything like a shinobi! Nothing at all!" He laughed loudly.
Sasuke's lips quirked upward. "That's one reason I hate this sword."
"Eh?" Akaihi's brow furrowed.
"See, it doesn't like being used subtly. It's bloodthirsty as hell, which is another real big problem with it."
"Hah." Akaihi chuckled. "Seems like it'd be better suited at my side."
"I noticed that—you really like stealing from others, don't you? At a glance, that armor really isn't suited to you." Sasuke grasped the hilt of the blade. "Nor those swords. You're a pretty scrawny guy under the armor, which suggests that you weren't wielding stuff like that to begin with."
Akaihi's eyes widened. "Fuck you." How could she know that?
Sasuke sighed. "See, I'm not the same as you. All my techniques are things I learned myself. Sure, they came from my family and a few from the Sanzengan, but I got them by observation. I was born special." Her hand tightened on the sword. "I'm not determined to prove I'm not nothing by slaughter."
Akaihi's sliver grin showed between his lips. "Maybe I oughta kill you slow. I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should." His hand extended. Energy projected toward the sword in Sasuke's hand.
Sasuke's brow furrowed.
Akaihi's eyebrow rose. "Eh? That sword doesn't seem to be made of the same type of metal as most blades. I suppose that's an interesting discovery, too." He knelt, picking up a piece of metal. His finger flicked outward.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. She stepped to one side.
The metal drove through the stone instantly, hammering into the ground with a force of extraordinary power.
You can dodge at this close range. Impressive. Akaihi's eyes narrowed. He bellowed a sudden scream, his katana glowing as he grasped the hilt. He extended his arm.
Sasuke's eyes widened. She stepped to one side, her arms chopping down the blade.
The katana cut along Sasuke's side, tearing away a small section of black fabric.
"Nice try." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Unfortunately for you—"
The sword spun upward.
Sasuke's eyes widened. A wound opened along her neck.
Akaihi snorted. "See? You underestimated me!"
"That I did." Sasuke exhaled. "I didn't think you were capable of creating techniques that were combat effective. My bad." She adjusted her grip on the sword. "In place of that, then—" Her foot spun in a circle. She kicked Akaihi hard in the stomach.
Akaihi's body tumbled over.
Sasuke grinned. "Got you. Told you that armor was too top-heavy for you. It doesn't fit your personality, anyway."
Akaihi groaned loudly, his eyes narrowed.
Sasuke's hand extended. "This sword of mine won't even do a thing until I force it awake with blood. That's going to change my fighting style for a while." She ran the sword along the pad of her finger. "Thunder, Satsukiyami." Lightning crackled along the edge of the sword.
Akaihi frowned. "Sasuke-chan?" he questioned. "That's some variant of a Chidori?"
"No. This is the power of a shinigami." Sasuke lunged forward. The glowing katana rose in the air, glimmering with flickering light that reflected off some of the patches of water.
It doesn't matter. Whatever she whines about doesn't matter. I'm fucking invincible. There's no such thing! Death gods don't exist! Akaihi drew in a sharp breath. In all the years I've been on the battlefield, I've never seen hide nor hair of one! So they're not real! They're not fucking real. It's a bluff, something she's conducting for an audience. That's a variant of a Chidori. The lightning is even nearly the same color. Maybe the lightning is used to enhance the cutting power of the sword. But, if that is the case, it really isn't too significant what kind of techniques she uses. She's going to die either way. For the time being, I suppose it's not impossible that she's using the power of the sword that got awakened or whatever—but come on! Even if that is the case, she won't be able to do too much with the dissipated power. This armor is invulnerable. If it is a shinobi ability, there's no way it'll cut through this ability. I've fought real terrors with this thing on—heck, even Hakka once—and she only left a dent on this fucking armor. A little scratch, just above the breastplate. So there's no way in hell a runt like this can leave more of an impact. He spread his arms wide. His grin broadened. Come at me, bitch. I'll show you how powerless you really are.
Sasuke's sword slashed rapidly along Akaihi's body. The armor separated in two pieces, falling away. Blood sprayed from Akaihi's chest. She let the blade hover motionless by her side for a moment. Her eyes narrowed as she studied Akaihi's body. Crimson light emanated from her eyes.
Akaihi stared wordlessly at Sasuke. "Son of a bitch." He gasped in shock, blood trickling from his chest. "You got me." He staggered backward, tumbling over the edge of the cliff.
"Nice performance, but there's no way you're dead." Sasuke ran over the edge of the cliff. Her sword descended toward the water.
Akaihi's eyes widened. Shit! Shit shit shit! She's coming. How is she going to attack? A slash? No, don't be an idiot. The lightning! It has to be the lightning! Gotta get away— He swam rapidly through the water.
Sasuke's sword plunged into the surface of the water. Ripples spread from the blade, shocking outward through the dark water. Shadowy blue lightning pulsed through the water.
Akaihi's eyes widened in shock. He gasped. Blood trailed through the water. His hands clenched and unclenched, lightning crackling along his knuckles and throat. He sank slowly down into the river, his path arrested on several occasions by the trailing of the water or a patch of reeds.
Sasuke's feet balanced on the top of the water. She exhaled. "…Damn it. I was trying to be cool, but how the hell am I supposed to get back up now?" She glanced toward the cliff. Her hand adjusted. "I can't walk up a straight cliff face even with chakra control, so I guess I have to go around." She prepared to sheath the sword. Her brow furrowed.
The metal had splotches of blood-red on it, seemingly matching the blood of Akaihi.
"Is this how I'm supposed to awaken you fully?" Sasuke questioned, staring intently at the hilt.
The blade remained silent. Its whispers had died down, seemingly in time with the thoughts that in good time it would claim another life blood.
Sasuke sighed. She sheathed the blade after a long pause. "No matter how I look at you, it seems you've simply decided to become a pain in my rear end," she finally decided. Her hand tightened on the sword. "Whatever. I never had any intention of becoming a god of death, except as necessary. Still, your power seems to be pretty remarkable, so if it's necessary to drown you in blood to awaken your powers, I've got no objection." She stared toward the sun high in the sky. Itachi, I'm coming for you.