Chapter 60: Victory and Setback
As Voluta's (Neji's) spinning momentum increased, Eurus (Kinoumaru) watched from a hidden spot and sent more knives toward Voluta by releasing a few strings from his hand. Though Voluta was able to dodge most of them, there was one that grazed his shoulder. Intrigued, Eurus sent more spiders and knives forcing Voluta to prepare another Twelve Zodiac Wheel but suddenly coughed up blood as a knife penetrated him in the back. Ignoring the pain, Voluta continued to repel the spiders but this time two knives hit him.
Eurus' laugh echoed through the street. "It seems I've found your weakness after all! Despite your combination of skills and excellent vision, you have a blind-spot. And now that I've exposed it, you're just as good as dead!"
Clenching his fist, Voluta stood up as the giant spider fell from its web and landed on top of him. But to Eurus' surprise, a series of internal ruptures occurred along the spider's body causing it to swell and blow up in a mass of silk with Voluta standing at the center of it all. Undeterred, Eurus sent more knives which hit Voluta and made him collapse. Yet as Eurus turned away, he heard breathing and looked over his shoulder. Voluta, who's long brown hair had come loose from its ponytail during the fight, was steadily getting up despite having six knives in his back. Then Voluta ran away pulling the six knives out of him.
He only got a few yards when a whooshing sound caught his attention making him duck behind a lamppost. An explosion followed, and Voluta saw a yellow arrow sticking out of the ground with a string attached to it. A trickle of blood fell down his cheek as a fresh cut appeared there.
This guy…has got to be the strongest foe I've met, Voluta thought as he breathed heavily. He figured out the Bianco Occhi (Byakugan) eyes' weakness, and I don't have enough nature energy to deflect another attack. I wonder…what Gelato would do in this situation.
After thinking for a moment, Voluta stepped out from behind the lamppost and leaned against it facing in the direction where Eurus presumably was.
"It's no use," Voluta said out loud. "I won't be able to dodge the next one, anyway."
A few seconds later, another arrow came. This one was gold and much faster, going right through Voluta's side as well as the lamppost. Flinching from the pain, Voluta channeled all his remaining nature energy into one hand and touched the string attached to the arrow. Then he cut the string and ran down the street. In front of him, Eurus swung down from his feet only his appearance had changed: he was a lot taller with white hair tied back, red skin, horns on the sides of his forehead, rows of sharp teeth, and yellow eyes. Unafraid, Voluta realized Eurus was paralyzed because of the nature energy he sent up the string earlier and proceeded to hit him several more times before the two of them collapsed onto the street below.
"How…are you still alive?" Eurus asked as he changed back to the way he was before. "That last attack should've killed you by now."
Voluta chuckled, causing blood to be coughed up. "I allowed myself to get hit, and since I'm well-aware of my blind-spot…I couldn't be killed because the dome of nature energy that surrounds me at all times allowed me to prevent the arrow from penetrating my vital organs."
Eurus noticed the blood and grinned. "Doesn't seem to matter, anyway. We're both gonna die, and Tony (Sasuke) will reach Typhonragazzo (Orochimaru) before your friends do."
"No!" Voluta objected. "I believe one of my comrades…,Gelato,...has the power...to save...Tony."
Then the two passed out. While Eurus' heart stopped completely, Voluta sighed heavily.
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Later, the moon came up though it wasn't as full as the previous night. Borea (Tayuya) and Zephyr (Sakon) were tossing the barrel between them while Capriolo (Shikamaru) and the others weren't too far behind.
"What's taking Notos (Jiroubou) and Eurus so long?" Borea grumbled. "They should've been here by now!"
"They're usually not this late," Zephyr admitted. "But maybe they got so caught up in killing those kids that they lost track of time."
Borea huffed. "I hope you're right, but I'm still going to kick their a**es after we're done carrying this kid—
Her thoughts were interrupted by a kick she felt coming from the barrel.
"Zephyr!" Borea exclaimed.
She was about to stop when a flash of orange caught her attention. In a nearby tree, Borea noticed Gelato staring at her and pointed him out to Zephyr.
"I'll deal with him," Zephyr said. "You stay here and protect Tony."
Reluctantly, Borea nodded and landed on a rooftop while Zephyr leaped towards Gelato. As he got closer, though, Zanna (Kiba) and Capriolo attacked him. Meanwhile, Gelato summoned a Homunculus and prepared the Spiralis (Rasengan) attack.
"Pathetic," Zephyr frowned as he watched Capriolo and Zanna's bodies dissipate after slicing their guts with a knife. "These kids were merely Homunculi."
"Spiralis!" Gelato shouted as he flew toward Zephyr with the glowing orb.
Gritting his teeth, Zephyr grabbed Gelato's wrist and pushed it away causing the Spiralis to crash into a nearby building creating a giant hole. Then just as Zephyr prepared to strike Gelato, Zanna suddenly burst right through Gelato's body which dissipated.
"Pretty clever trick," Zephyr grinned, dodging Zanna's Hellhound Hunt (Fang Passing Fang) attack. "But it'll take more than that to beat me."
Yet Zanna didn't turn back and continued spiraling toward Borea.
"So your intention was to hit me and not Zephyr," Borea realized and attempted to pick up the barrel but was frozen in place. She then noticed that her moonlit shadow had stretched considerably connecting all the way to Capriolo who was standing on a telephone pole making a hand-sign.
"Not exactly," Capriolo said cryptically. "Zanna, now!"
Immediately, Zanna stopped his momentum and grabbed the barrel from Borea's side. He then tossed it to the real Gelato who appeared seemingly out of nowhere and the two ran away with Capriolo taking up the rear.
End of Chapter 60