The clearing darkened. Leaves drifted downward rapidly.
Kōju's eyes narrowed. She drew out the sword rapidly, slamming it into the ground.
Hakka's eyes narrowed. "This one is a sword saint, then?"
"For the sake of this battle, I see no reason to conceal it. I know a little of swordplay, though I can't be compared to any of its luminaries. At the least, not right now, I can't be. I'm too limited in my skills and potentialities. It's simply outside my grasp right now." Kōju smiled. Her hand tightened on the hilt of the sword. "Any advice, Soyokaze-san?"
"Those blades can cut through almost anything, including good steel," Soyokaze replied in a soft voice.
Kōju raised an eyebrow. "Really." She adjusted her grip on the sword. "In that case, I'll attempt to be more careful about how I use this." She leapt forward.
A leaf drifted down between the pair, the edge of the green leaf glimmering.
Hakka leaned back. The breeze from the sword flowed by her face. She can fight quickly. I see. She must have some form of strength, likely derived from the same methods as Tsunade. For a young girl her age and weight, it would be quite improbable that she could naturally swing around such a weapon. She lunged forward, her blade slashing toward the sword.
Kōju sighed. I suppose it is too much to expect someone else to join in this battle at the moment. Really, I can't see why I should expect it. It's a bit difficult, given the size and length of the sword. She flowed backward, the sword dodging all the blades. "Really, I am capable of handling things myself—but is it too much to ask for a little assistance?" she questioned, glancing for a brief instant toward Soyokaze.
Hakka lunged forward, the blade piercing toward Kōju's stomach.
Kōju wove backward. The blade cut briefly through the air before her body. A near thing, that. She swallowed tightly. Though I spoke boldly just then, I don't know that I can actually survive her strikes so easily.
"That is one reason. If I distract you, I will be handing her her opportunity on a golden platter." Soyokaze paused. "The other is that I imagine she has grown more skilled over time—more so than I remember, which is a great deal."
Kōju nodded. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense. All right." Her hands clapped together rapidly.
Hakka's eyes widened.
Kōju slammed her free hand into the earth. "Earth Style: Binding Limbs!"
Earthen hands reached upward, capturing Hakka's ankles.
Hakka's eyes narrowed.
Kōju lunged forward, her arms grasping the sword tightly. The tip of the sword rushed toward Hakka's chest.
The tip of the sword suddenly snapped off. The edge tumbled toward the ground.
Kōju's eyes widened.
"It's been quite a while since I've had to operate like this," Hakka remarked. White arms twisted upward around her body, cutting away the earthen hands rapidly.
Kōju blinked. "Eh?" She glanced downward. "Eh?!" She screamed loudly.
Hakka blinked.
"THAT WAS MY SPECIAAALLLL SWORD! IT GOT MADE SPEECCCCIAAALLLLLYYY!" Kōju's eyes filled with tears. "And on top of all that," she went on in a lower voice, "the guy who made it is dead! We can't remake it if it gets dammmagggeeeddd!"
Taken aback, Hakka's hand lowered for an instant. What on earth? Is she truly such a foolish shinobi that she fails to recognize when she has been blessed with luck? Had I struck her directly, her life would have ended.
Kōju sighed. "Hah. What a pain." She lunged forward, the sword piercing through one of Hakka's arms.
Hakka's eyes narrowed. No time. Now— The ethereal arm of chakra wrapped around the injury. The blood stopped spurting.
Kōju swung sideways, aiming at Hakka's head.
Hakka ducked backward, wobbling instantly.
Kōju frowned. "Tch. I was hoping to take your head off with that." She jumped backward, hopping over the grass. Her hand tightened on the sword. "Guess you're not so easily gulled after all."
Deception, misdirection, cheating. You're a damn good shinobi. Hakka's eyes narrowed. It's a shame about your future death. I really would prefer to avoid such a thing. Yet—well—I can't let them survive either. She has good instincts. Too good. There's a risk of her escaping death through her belief of self. She extended her arm. The blade glimmered. "Are you prepared to die?"
"Well. No, not really. I'd die with regrets. But if I do end up dying, I promise I'll come back as a yurei and haunt you." Kōju smiled broadly.
Hakka snorted. "You still believe in such fairy tales? Dead is dead. But no matter." Her arms rose in the air. "Let us cut you apart." Her arms spun through the air, forming a sawblade of energy.
Kōju raised the blade rapidly. Her eyes widened. Wait, that's no good—
The blade cut in front of Kōju's body.
Kōju exhaled. Son of a bitch. Really, I feel this is an unfair combat. Well, if the sword doesn't work, I'll have to fall back on other methods. She ran backward rapidly, her feet running up the side of the rock pile.
Hakka remained motionless.
So she does have a few advantages by staying still. Or rather, it's a different issue—to operate her arms, she has to use most of her brain, probably. She's not some kind of foresighted person. She has limitations on what she can do. Kōju knelt. Grunting, she hurled a boulder down from the height.
Hakka's arms rose rapidly. The boulder fell into pieces, darkness swelling up around her arms as she swung the arms in the circle. Pieces of stone fell to the ground, falling in a ready pattern to the earth.
Kōju exhaled. That was pretty good! She grinned. Looks like she's got very good endurance after all. She swung the sword in a circle, the impact mark darkening. Hmph. Well, I suppose it's never been outside the realm of possibility, but it's the first time I've met a medic-nin who's anything like me. She's got that same kind of versatility that I do, combined with near-immortality. In all my life, I've never met such a troublesome person.
Hakka ran rapidly along the ground. The base of her feet darkened as she surged into the air.
Kōju smiled. My brain's just starting to boil now. Come on, then. Let's get back to work on the ultimate goal. Surely it'll come into some kind of clarity soon enough. Something accomplished and won. I'll see to it that the goal is accomplished and that I'll finally succeed, that I'll finally win this accomplishment. I think that the pieces are really going to come together. She drew in a shaking breath, her green eyes flashing with a broad twinkle matching the shining green on his face. "Let me obliterate this blockade! Let me destroy you!"
Hakka raised the blades around her body.
Kōju clapped her hands together rapidly. "Water Style: Water Dragon!"
A bullet of water rushed down the path, blasting into Hakka's body.
Hakka's blades twisted rapidly in a circle. The cohesion of the water dissipated, fading away into nothingness. The water raced down the hill.
Kōju scowled. "That's a pain." Her hand grasped the sword lightly. "Well, I suppose if I have no choice—" Silver energy rose around her body. She walked forward, her hand grasping the sword tightly at one side. I can't do damage from range, and I can't do damage up close. There's only one choice, then. She exhaled. "Susano'o Mikoto." Her hands glimmered with flickering waves of energy.
Hakka's eyes narrowed. "Come, then."
Kōju approached slowly. The sword rose in the air.
Soyokaze drew in a sharp breath. They ran forward suddenly.
Kōju's brow furrowed. She glanced to one side. "What happened to defensive posture or whatever?"
"It seems that even if we get in each other's way we'll have a better chance as two."
Hakka's eyes narrowed. "You come against me too?"
Soyokaze leapt forward. Their fists flurried out, driving rapidly toward the wall of blades and arms.
"Fine! Come to die, then. It's all the same. No matter how many of you come, I will remain immortal!" Hakka's face showed no hints of a smile, only the faint remnant traces of the dark sky. The ethereal arms twisted upward, blocking several of the blows.
Soyokaze gritted their teeth. They approached steadily, their palm listing in a defensive posture.
"Let's see." Even as a medic-nin, there's no way that she'd be able to survive the kinds of impacts created by a damage to her brain. The trick is going to have to be that, causing some kind of damage that's hard to escape or ignore. Something physical; something long-lasting. Kōju tilted her head to one side. So an attack rush targeting her brain seems like the best method. Her stance adjusted. "ORARARARARARARARARA!"
The blade punched forward rapidly, a series of silver strokes vanishing as the impact drove toward the arms.
Hakka extended her arms rapidly. One arm slammed into Soyokaze's chest. The remaining arms spun in a circle, dissipating the energy rapidly.
Soyokaze exhaled heavily. She flew backward through the air, slamming into a tree trunk.
Flames rushed up the side of the mountain, gathering in the woods.
Tch. And this happens now? Kōju frowned. Our range has definitely been limited. I can't make that much water that quickly, so chances are we're going to have to stay in the same area.
Hakka's hands extended again. One of Akatsuki's people must have run amok. Kakushiro or another.
Soyokaze straightened slowly. Their face grew still beneath the hood. "I need you to promise me something, Kōju."
Kōju's brow furrowed. "Hard to promise anything at the moment—" She instinctively deflected the blades, flickers of chakra running through her flesh. "But I'm certainly listening."
"What lies under my hood—I might have to remove my robes. When that time comes, I would like you to promise never to speak of what you see."
"Why?"
"Old vows." Soyokaze paused. "Old and potent ones. I do not wish to reveal my true nature in that manner, and as such I believe that it is necessary for me to keep certain secrets."
Kōju nodded. "All right. I promise."
Hakka's eyes narrowed. "Even birds and beasts have dreams, so I am thankful that you won't go to your grave without them. This promise is one type."
Kōju blinked. "Eh?" She sighed. "Well, I wouldn't say I have too much of a dream for right now. Sasuke and Naruto's dreams are big enough for three people."
Hakka paused. "You yourself have no dream?"
"Not yet. I figure you can afford dreams later in life. It's not something you should pick up when you're really young. That strikes me as funny." Kōju paused. "I mean, if you're really young, you probably don't know what you want in life yet, or whatever. Sure, world peace would be nice, and I'd kind of like to hear about some of the cool things about sex and stuff, but I can live without hearing that until I'm at least twenty—"
"It's unfortunate. Everyone should die with their own dream, not someone else's." Hakka lunged forward.
Kōju tensed, her hand tightening on the hilt of the sword. I can cut them off. The hands, I can cut them off.
Hakka's arms rose in the air instantly, spinning in a circle with blades extended.
Kōju's sword slashed rapidly through the arms.
Hakka studied the form briefly. Seems there's no trouble in that regard. She turned her head to one side. Then, let's see about imprisoning her arms. Her hands reached upward, ethereal, catching the hands in midair.
Kōju forced her arms downward, slower due to the impediment.
Hakka forced more arms to catch Kōju's.
Kōju scowled, her heart pounding. She continued the sword downward.
Hakka's arms, ethereal, strange, spun around.
Koju flew backward. "Emperor…" She tightened her grip on the sword. Her foot started forward.
Hakka shook her head briefly from side to side. She glanced downward.
Pain ripped through Kōju's legs. Her hand loosened on the sword before she stumbled downward, her eyes darkening with tears. Her hand touched the loam, forcing herself up to a sitting position. She studied her ankles intently. The skin remained intact, no trace of whatever had impacted the situation remaining on her body. No marks.
"I performed a small surgery on your legs. You won't be going anywhere," Hakka remarked. She lowered her arms slightly, the blades fading downward. "The tendons in both legs have been severed. Under the circumstances, while you could go to other locations, it wouldn't be with ease, and that kind of injury—unless you've healed it before, it isn't that easy to fix up." It seems that at the last moment I did hold back. It wasn't intentional, but I suppose my heart hesitated from the murder of a child—regardless of the circumstances, it seems a bit in excess of what I should be doing, to say nothing of its vileness. We cannot lose all morality in our pursuit of the ideal world.
Kōju inhaled quickly. Breathe. Breathe. I have to breathe. It hurts, oh Emperor, it hurts. I guess getting close was a mistake—but there wasn't much choice. She truly is perfect. She has no limitations, no vulnerabilities. Even against two kids like us. Not a single psychological or emotional limitation. She gritted her teeth. A genuine bonafide remorseless killer! A certain monster!
"And as to you? What will you decide?" Hakka questioned gently. Her eyes turned to Soyokaze.
Soyokaze exhaled. "Sometimes a monk must surrender their vows. It is a question of duty, and what is right." She reached upward, removing the cloak to reveal the form beneath.
A/N: Recently, I received several reviews from JoblessReader. First, I'd like to thank them for taking the time to read through and inspect individual chapters, as well as the praise they've given me on a few counts. Regarding my perseverance, at this point I owe it as much to myself as my readers to finish this off. (I should also mention that some flames are so terrible they're hilarious. I'm still sad I had to take down the Anonymous Reviewer's, because they're so dumb they stand as a relic of comedic gold that other people should witness and laugh at.) With that being said, the eye thing. I'm thankful when people mention this kind of thing, because it's an unfortunate crutch; ultimately, if I'm using that it's a sure sign I can't think of another action, and so it's laziness. I've tried to reduce it, but failed thus far.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!