Opening - Scarlet Knight by Nana Mizuki
It happened in an instant. There was no warning sound, like an initial crack in the glass. The entire structure shattered into hundreds of thousands of tiny, razor-sharp shards, all of which shot directly toward Himiko.
She had no time to react; no time to spin up a Revolving Heaven. The countless miniscule shards of glass, almost like a glistening golden powder, pelted her from all sides and tore into her. For a few brief moments, the adrenaline thrumming in her blood was enough to almost completely suppress the pain, but she knew it was coming.
She also knew that Tenten had thrown a live bomb at the glass structure to unleash this hell, and despite knowing that bits of glass were embedded in every inch of her muscles, she whirled into a Revolving Heaven at the last second.
It only partly worked. The bomb went off and struck the wall of her chakra, sending it flying along with her inside. She screamed as she skidded along the hard, rough ground and her body was further ravaged, until she and her Revolving Heaven struck a translucent black barrier. Her brilliant blue dome of chakra disintegrated, leaving her to fully crash into Tenten's own, darker chakra construct.
She slumped at the base of the black dome, groaning weakly as her adrenaline stopped masking her pain. She might've taken a moment to scan her bloody form with the Byakugan, and she would've seen that the tiny glass fragments hadn't quite reached her vital organs. For her, it was a miracle that her eyes were unscathed, but they were the only part of her body left unharmed by the glass.
However, she didn't check to find out any of that. Instead, she instinctively made another desperate move to survive without stopping to wonder whether she was already dying. She frantically scrambled to her feet, stumbling back to her knees once before she actually succeeded. Pouring chakra into her right arm, she punched forward with all of her might, striking the black barrier and cracking it slightly.
At the same time, her arm sang a song of agony, but she disregarded it and punched the wall again. This time, she screamed in pain as her fist struck, and the wall of black chakra cracked further. A third punch blew a hole in the wall, large enough for Himiko to duck through. Her right arm fell limply to her side, still searing with hellish pain from what she'd just done.
Himiko pulled herself through the dome with her left hand, badly gashing her palm on the sharp edges of the hole in the barrier. She moaned in fresh pain, but finished stumbling through the barrier. She began running as fast as she could, but she was clearly favoring her left leg and this slowed her down considerably.
She glanced over her shoulder, gazing through the translucent barrier to see the glowing orange glass sealing itself away into Tenten's massive weapon. Gaara's black sand, however, seeped out through the hole in the barrier to pursue her. Himiko gave a brief cry of despair, but she had noticed the dozen or so Hyuuga Coup members that had been watching the battle from outside. "Slow them down!" she screamed, and started running again.
The loyal Hyuugas hesitated only briefly before moving between a fleeing Himiko and the wave of sand, deploying a synchronized barrage of water jutsu to soak and weigh down the Black Death. As Tenten emerged from the crumbling barrier with Soujihonou in hand, Himiko stopped watching over her shoulder to look ahead as she ran.
X
Meanwhile, Team Inu-Shika-Chou was surrounded by over a dozen of Himiko's water clones, all of which were now attacking with renewed fury. Only the twenty-foot-tall Chouji fought their chakra-enhanced strength head-on, while Shikamaru and Kiba kept their distance carefully.
Shikamaru threw his black longsword at one of Himiko's clones, briefly feigning horror when she caught the blade easily before he called, "Shadow Blade Convergence."
Shikamaru's unique variant of the Shadow Stitching Jutsu allowed him to split his weapon's shadow into several thinner blades which moved to surround the target before stabbing inward, each from a different angle. This time, a total of six shadow swords impaled Himiko's clone, dispelling it into a harmless splash of water.
"Can I please use Level Three now?" Kiba whined, still in his Baskerville Mode so he could dodge Himiko's attacks, since his Cerberus Mode wasn't quite powerful enough to take her head-on.
"Hm..." Shikamaru dodged two Water Bullets in quick succession from another clone, then threw a kunai at her as a counterattack while he pulled back his sword by the chain going up his sleeve. He caught the hilt deftly, and swung it at Himiko without trying to get close. "Shadow Blade Projection!"
A blob of materialized darkness was whipped out of the end of Shikamaru's sword, shaping itself into a three-foot-wide Fuuma shuriken as it flew. Himiko dodged the blade, not knowing that it was incapable of cutting her. Instead, the shuriken dissolved into a black mist just as it passed her, since its job was done.
It took Himiko a moment to realize that the Shadow Blade Projection was, like all Nara shadow jutsu, connected to Shikamaru himself by a thin strand of darkness. It was just enough to cast a faint shadow on the ground, allowing the Black Knight to surge his chakra through it and access the darker, stronger shadow next to Himiko's clone in an instant. From there, he connected himself to her with the Shadow Possession, drawing a fistful of kunai quickly from his pouch.
Himiko's clone scowled as she was forced to repeat the same action. Both she and he then lightly tossed three of their six kunai from their right hands to their left, and Shikamaru prepared to throw his first blade at another of Himiko's clones. Himiko mirrored his action, although her kunai was only aimed at the open air. Shikamaru's first thrown blade struck the clone, dispelling her by a stroke of luck before she could react.
He continued, throwing a second kunai and forcing Himiko to do the same, but this time both his and her blades were aimed solidly at a clone. The one targeted by Shikamaru was ready for the attack and she smoothly dodged, but the one targeted by Himiko was completely caught off-guard. Since Himiko's first kunai hit nothing but dirt, the other clones expected the second and third to do the same.
Collectively, Shikamaru eliminated four clones while the one he possessed was able to dispel another five, meaning that each kunai she threw after the first was a kill. Shikamaru then shifted his Shadow Possession into a Shadow Strangling Jutsu, breaking the possessed clone's neck and dispelling it as well. He did a quick head-count of the remaining clones, seeing that there were five left active. "...Yeah, sure, use Level Three. But be careful, Akamaru."
The white dog woofed cheerfully in agreement, then jumped headfirst into Kiba's torso, disappearing into his human partner completely. His remarkably keen mind almost immediately took full control of Kiba's body as they began shifting into a new, more monstrous form. With Kiba's voice, more attuned to human speech, Akamaru growled darkly. "Hellhound Mode: Level Three."
The two Inuzukas exploded into a towering cloud of black smoke, through which wisps of crimson flame flickered ominously. The remaining five Himiko clones stared up at it with just a faint hint of worry, which blossomed into fear as they caught their first glimpse of the monster within.
The smoke slowly cleared to reveal a hauntingly thin creature that at first glance appeared to be canine, whether dog, wolf or possibly even fox. But it wasn't quite right; the way its teeth were bared didn't imply a snarl, it implied that the dog didn't have a complete face. Its eyes were startlingly wide, glowing crimson and staring hungrily at each of Himiko's clones. Akamaru's ears, normally flopped down, were upright and listening intently to the clones' lack of a pounding heartbeat.
It growled again, and this time scarlet flames spurted out of its slightly open jaws, crackling loudly. It took a single step forward with its long, slender right forepaw, gashing the ground with its oversized and wickedly curved claws. Its tail, three times longer than Akamaru's, lashed back and forth quickly. It bent its head down and breathed more red flames, scorching and baking the ground as its mad gaze darted between the clones.
"Barghest."
The first clone didn't even move until Akamaru swatted it into oblivion, then turned and ripped through a second clone almost instantly. The remaining three charged frantically, panicking under the force of the hybrid's killing intent. One of the clones landed the first strike, punching Akamaru's left foreleg and snapping it. The limb bent grotesquely, lowering the body of the beast closer to the ground for a moment.
That, however, didn't last long. The broken leg straightened itself after a moment, cracking once as it repaired itself.
"Die."
Akamaru reached down with his exposed fangs, biting the offending water clone in half. Instead of blood, clear water gushed from the dismembered legs as they fell partway to earth before the clone dispelled. Boiling water trickled between the white hound's teeth, steaming and hissing as it hit the ground next to the remaining two clones.
The last two copies of Himiko unwillingly took a step back, and that was enough to satisfy Akamaru and Kiba. The Barghest finished the battle quickly, sweeping through each clone with one of its forepaws, right, then left.
"Kami that's creepy," Chouji shivered, staring at the Hellhound that towered over even his titanic frame. "Guys, can you... stop that? Now?"
The Barghest's long, thin crimson tongue darted out over its sizable collection of pearly white fangs, and its voice rumbled wordlessly as it turned its attention to the big-boned ninja.
"Kiba, stop being so troublesome," Shikamaru groaned, sealing his chained sword. "We've talked about this, remember?"
"Hmph," the Barghest growled, then shrank within seconds into Akamaru's original form. Kiba promptly sprang out of the ninken's back, landing in a crouch next to his partner. "But it's so fun," he grumbled. "How often do we get to use Barghest? We oughtta get to scare the shit out of someone every time, if we have to wait so long for this."
"Maybe so, but picking on Chouji is taking it too far," Shikamaru countered. "You're only supposed to terrorize our enemies. Besides, we still don't know just how risky it is for you to put Akamaru in charge of your body like that... we don't want to see another accident like last year."
"Oh come on, we weren't even hurt," Kiba insisted. "We just got stuck in Level Three for a few extra seconds, and so what if we passed out? There was no lasting damage."
"Kiba, you nearly put yourself in a coma," the Black Knight argued back. "It's a kinjutsu with a time limit of no more than forty seconds of continued use, and only one use per day. If you don't obey those rules, I'll make damn sure you get nothing but D-ranks for at least a month."
"Yeah well, what if we use it with the Ash Clone Jutsu?" Kiba replied.
"If we test it and it works, then fine." Shikamaru yawned and stretched, then muttered, "Troublesome sadistic lunatic."
"Teme! I have a kekkei genkai that gives me enhanced senses!"
"Troublesome, sadistic, lunatic," Shikamaru repeated, much louder. "Kiba, you need to get-" The swordsman in black cut himself off and unsealed his weapon, almost in the same instant that a fresh, much larger wave of Himiko's clones arrived, leaping into the battlefield from all directions. "...Troublesome."
"Get the hell back here, CHA!" With an active Byakugan, one of the clones whirled facefirst into a chakra-enhanced punch from Sakura Haruno, who flicked some of the dispelled clone's water from her glove angrily. "Jumpy, slippery bitch had me chasing her for like half an hour," she exaggerated in a low, bitter voice. Glancing up, she noted the presence of the other clones and Shikamaru's team. "Oh, hey guys."
She pulled her dripping right glove tighter against her hand, scowling as she gazed around the battlefield at the collection of equally angry water clones. "I'm guessing the real Himiko Hyuuga isn't in there with you clones, huh? Well then... who do I get to splatter first?"
The clones charged toward Sakura en masse, disregarding the stupefied Inu-Shika-Chou. Sakura allowed them to surround her before turning herself into a whirling tornado of earth-shattering punches, lithely dodging each water clone's counterattack before crushing them next.
Just as she prepared to throw a black egg however, the crowd of Himiko clones thinned rapidly. Confused, Sakura quickly cast her gaze around and confirmed that most of the clones had run away rather than being dispelled, and were heading north, likely intent on eliminating some of Konoha's less extraordinary ninja before the pinkette caught up to them.
The egg-wielding kunoichi was less than pleased by this. "You... you cowardly bitch! Get back here and eat this knuckle sandwich, CHA!"
She drew back her arm to throw the egg at one of the clones, but stopped when a wall of shimmering white mist surged upward in front of the clones, blocking their retreat. It took Sakura a moment to recognize the substance as fresh, powdery snow lifted from the ground in a massive quantity.
"I prefer to avoid killing whenever I can," Haku declared as the wall of snow dissipated into loose streams of white that floated around him, slowly condensing into several dozen balls of ice. "However, each and every one of you are merely clones, so I don't need to hold back my full strength. Ice Release: Fractal Ice Garden."
Each sphere of floating ice was shaped into a sculpture of a different flower, each with razor-sharp petals of shimmering bluish ice. Haku held out his right hand, and one final rose blossomed on his palm as the others all shed their petals.
The petal-shaped blades of perfectly flat, smooth ice whirled through the air, slicing into a few clones deeply enough to dispel them. However, Haku wasn't done. He pulled out a kunai with his left hand as the petals came to a stop, floating innocently while surrounding the clones. He held out the blade and dropped it point-first into the center of the rose he still held.
An identical blade then shot from each floating petal, skewering into the crowd of Himiko clones from all directions. The clones collectively dissolved into splashes of azure water, and the ice petals quickly followed suit. Haku evaporated the ice rose into a fine white mist that scattered in a breeze, then cast his gaze upward. "It's about to start snowing," he noted. "When it hits, I'll try to make use of this storm to finish off the remaining clones. Take care of yourselves."
"Right," Sakura nodded quickly.
"Thanks, Haku," Shikamaru added, just before the ice wielder vanished in a swirl of snow and wind.
X
Sai's breath steamed out through a breathing hole in his ROOT mask, starkly visible in the deepening cold. The snow crunched under his feet as he dashed after Kabuto with a partially unfurled scroll in hand. His pursuit had given him time to prepare his weapon, and also to analyze the movement jutsu Kabuto was using to keep his distance.
It seemed that the 'Pulse Step Jutsu' allowed Kabuto to use a burst of speed exceeding what the human eye could track, which created an illusion of instantaneous movement or teleportation, much like the Body Flicker. However, this jutsu required no hand seals. Acceleration and deceleration were both nearly instant, but Kabuto apparently couldn't turn while using the jutsu. He could only move directly forward in a straight line.
Sai watched carefully, noting that its value in combat would be huge. Since the Hokage was known to use a more advanced variant of the same jutsu that allowed him to steer it and move at even greater speeds, Sai knew just how wary he'd have to be. Since Kabuto could start and stop moving with it so carefully, it would be nearly impossible for Sai to use the Otokage's momentum against him.
Kabuto spun and whipped the Kusanagi from its sheath, rapidly extending it to over forty feet in length as he swept it through the air toward Sai. The younger ninja ducked quickly under the blade, while Kabuto felled three trees with his failed attack.
"Hi there," Sai greeted in a friendly tone. "For a moment, I was wondering whether you even knew I was following you." he pulled off his mask and hooked it into place on his hip, exposing his cheerful smile. "Could we talk for a moment?"
"...Talk?" Kabuto repeated in a wary tone. "Why should I waste my time like that?"
"Because I'm asking you nicely and smiling. See?" Sai's smile broadened as he pointed to it. "Don't you find it interesting how people often try smiling as a way to defuse a tense situation?"
"I've read about that actually," Kabuto nodded with a smile of his own. "I've always been fascinated with the intricate ways a person's mind works. When we see someone smiling, it's hard to think of them as an enemy or a threat... well, that might be the case now if not for that jutsu you have ready."
"Oh, this?" Sai held up the finished black and white drawing of a tiger. "Surely a Kage would know that it can't hurt to be prepared for a fight. I had no way of knowing whether you'd stop to listen to me."
Kabuto decided to humor the younger ninja. "Oh? Well then, just what is it you wanted to say?"
"First, I'd like to ask you to return that blood sample you stole." Kabuto scoffed. "I thought you'd react that way," Sai continued to smile, "which of course brings me to my next request. Please put down your sword and die."
The tiger roared as it emerged from Sai's scroll, briefly shocking Kabuto who leveled his weapon at the approaching work of art. He shot the tip of the Kusanagi forward by rapidly extending it, piercing through the tiger and pulling the blade out to the side, ripping the cat apart into a spray of ink while unintentionally felling another tree. Now holding out the partially extended Sword of Kusanagi at his side, Kabuto pulsed chakra into his legs and crouched forward subtly.
Sai's eyes went wide, and he leapt straight up into the air just before Kabuto shot forward with a Pulse Step, slicing down many more trees including the one Sai was now perched in. The silver-haired Otokage came to a stop well past Sai's falling tree, and he sheathed the weapon in a single lightning-quick motion to free up both of his hands for a seal sequence.
"Summoning Jutsu."
A huge purple snake, roughly forty feet long, materialized in front of Kabuto and hissed. This clone of Manda, customized through various dark experiments, could be summoned in a smaller form when his full size was too much for a given battlefield, much like the slug queen Katsuyu could be summoned in self-sustaining pieces.
"...Cold," the giant snake hissed in displeasure.
"Ignore it," Kabuto commanded his servant. "Kill that ninja and I'll dispel you back to the laboratory where it's warm enough for you."
The snake simply nodded silently, watching its breath turn foggy and opaque in the air before its snout. Then it darted forward with lightning speed with its sights set on Sai. The young ROOT assassin retreated away from the fearsome monster while hastily sketching on his scroll.
Unbeknownst to Sai, a clone of Kabuto then arrived next to the original, handing a tiny glass vial to the true Otokage. The original Kabuto accepted the vial with a smile, shaking it lightly as he examined the flakes of long-dead bone within. "Lovely. Everything is going according to plan... hm. I expected this to be harder..."
Just as his clone dispelled and he slipped the vial into his pocket, Kabuto watched as a rather detailed monochromatic clone of Manda-Two sprang into existence before the original, hissing back at its living purple counterpart. The real Manda-Two briefly cast a perplexed look at its doppelganger, but ultimately decided not to wonder how it had been copied so perfectly. Instead it simply attacked the living drawing of itself, hissing furiously as it tried to tear through and attack Sai directly.
For a few moments, Kabuto watched the two snakes circling each other and periodically lunging forward with bared fangs, then he shrugged and vanished with a Pulse Step. Unaware of this, Sai continued to keep his distance from the two snakes while searching for a glimpse of Kabuto. Meanwhile, Manda-Two slowly gained ground against his colorless clone since the fragile ink construct had to dodge every single attack while Manda-Two could afford to disregard most of his opponent's attacks.
When the purple snake actually did land a hit on his white counterpart, Sai retreated into the treetops while Manda-Two's vision was momentarily obscured by the explosion of black ink. He quickly scanned around the forest in search of Kabuto but found nothing, not even a faint indication of which way the Otokage had gone. He considered staying to fight the snake, since it would quickly tire out as its body temperature dropped, but he decided to report back to Danzou instead.
X
Hinata stabbed her right-hand Rasengan into her opponent's chest, eradicating that clone just in time to see the other one strike the middle of Naruto's right upper arm, cleaving through his Version Three cloak and severing that arm entirely. The clone followed this motion through by spinning a full 360 degrees and stabbing Naruto in the chest, just to the right of his sternum.
The clone exploded forcefully into a geyser of water in all directions, throwing the half-conscious Hokage across the battlefield.
Hinata's eyes went wide with shock and disbelief for a brief moment, but then she turned her attention immediately to the giant stony form of Kouga, who was now lying on his back on the swamp's surface with a perfectly round crater torn into his chest where the Rasenshuriken had vaporized part of his body. However, he was stirring, slowly beginning to lift his massive bulk in an attempt to sit up.
Hinata bared her teeth in an uncharacteristically furious scowl, and a thin layer of crystal-clear blue water materialized over her entire body, replacing the thick brown mud that had been clinging to her until then. She audibly clapped her hands together into the Snake seal. A moment later, the surface of the swamp around her was lightly disrupted by a rising layer of water shaped in her own likeness.
The Water Deity moved for her, while she floated up inside its rising torso without so much as twitching. As the water construct finished forming and stood atop the surface of the swamp, Hinata focused her senjutsu chakra into each hand of the Water Deity, arming it with a Rasenyari in its right hand and an Oodama Rasengan in its left, both of which were almost too small for the giant form of the Water Goddess. It held the Rasenyari like a kunai rather than a spear, and the oversized Rasengan in its off hand fit more snugly into its palm than the basic Rasengan fit Hinata's.
Still, both jutsu were just as powerful as ever, and with them in hand the Water Deity leapt forward, soaring through the air with shocking ease before landing atop Kouga's prone form, with its feet to either side of his torso. She bent down and slammed the Oodama Rasengan into the center of the crater left by Naruto's Rasenshuriken.
Without a mouth, Kouga's current form was unanble to roar in protest, instead he simply ceased the chakra flow that held his massive body above the surface of the swamp and allowed Hinata's attack to push him under the surface.
Hinata activated her Byakugan within her Aspect of the Water Deity, waiting patiently for Kouga to resurface while a second Rasenyari formed in its left hand. She peered through the mixture of Naruto's and her chakra that flowed through the liquefied ground below, resulting in a vibrant blue color. Fortunately for her, Kouga's brilliant red chakra contrasted clearly with hers and Naruto's, so she was able to faintly see his shining through theirs as his right hand neared the surface.
Again with shocking ease and speed, Hinata's water avatar danced backward before Kouga's fist broke the surface of the swamp, shortly followed by the rest of the heavy stone construct which then settled into a vaguely familiar taijutsu stance.
Hinata recognized it as one of the most advanced Gentle Fist styles, moments before she tucked her fists close to her hips in her own Gentle Step stance while dual-wielding one of the most powerful water jutsu in the world. Or rather, her Water Deity poised itself in the stance for her while she remained still in its chest, with her hands still clasped in the Snake seal. Kouga met her glare and disregarded it, then moved his colossal stone form to begin the next phase of the battle.
His right palm snapped forward in a lightning-quick jab toward the real Hinata within her avatar's chest, but the Water Deity moved its left arm to smoothly brush aside the attack, and she countered by stabbing forward with her right-hand Rasenyari. Kouga deftly leaned to the side of her attack, allowing her Rasenyari and the arm of water holding it to glide through the open space that he'd occupied moments before, before countering with a palm strike to the face of the Water Deity.
Hinata made no effort to dodge, since the Water Deity's head was simply a hollow silhouette of water, and Kouga's strike failed to smash through her defenses anyway. Instead she stabbed into his chest with her right-hand Rasenyari, allowing it to detonate in her hand. She directed the force of her exploding jutsu forward, leaving the Water Deity's hand intact while Kouga was sent flying backward.
The Water Deity sprinted forward in pursuit of the Hyuuga Elder, and Hinata watched as Kouga skimmed to a stop over the swamp's surface before rising to meet her in another advanced Gentle Fist pose. This time, after a brief exchange of attacks and counterattacks, Kouga soundly landed a blow on the Water Deity's chest.
However, the wall of water held fast, and Hinata glared without flinching at the giant stone fist that had struck her defenses.
"Sage Art..."
In his shock, Kouga hesitated for a brief moment. It was just long enough for Hinata's chakra avatar to land the first strike of many on Kouga's chest.
"...Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Hinata's attacks picked up speed as she continued to slam her Water Deity's open palms into Kouga. Since he was still capable of using ninjutsu in this form, he still had tenketsu for Hinata to pump full of the overwhelmingly potent chakra unique to Sages. Each of her blows pushed the stone giant back further and cut off more of his chakra flow, until the sixty-fourth strike landed on his sternum and sent him flying backward helplessly.
The giant exploded into smoke as he sailed through the air, revealing Kouga's true form. Now with a different and completely intact set of tenketsu, Kouga clapped his hands together and Transformed again, this time into a form that appeared identical to his real body. "Substitution."
Although she saw it coming with her Byakugan, Hinata had no time to react. She dully felt Kouga's punch slam into the back of her head, forcefully pushing her forward. She cried out in surprise rather than pain, since her Sage Mode vastly increased her body's durability and pain tolerance. Still, Kouga had hit her hard enough to disrupt her control over the Aspect of the Water Deity and the thin layer of water that she carried herself within.
Kouga Substituted away, reappearing on the surface of the Swamp of the Underworld with his hands in the Horse seal. He aimed at Hinata even as she continued to fall back to earth, and called, "Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu."
Hinata saw the jutsu explode from his mouth with her Byakugan, and she aimed herself headfirst at the swamp far below with her arms tucked close to her sides. The dragon bullet, easily three times the size of an average one, roared as it approached her, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to dive underground before it reached her. Instead she would have to use her trump card.
She twisted in midair to face the dragon, reaching toward it with both hands. Far below, Kouga watched her actions with surprise that only grew as she pulled her hands apart without making even one hand seal. The dragon roared once more before it was torn apart by Hinata's perfect Water Release. It floated to her side in two streams of brilliant blue, and Hinata gathered the water before herself in a rough, fluctuating mass.
"Hollow Water Dragon Horde!" She shouted, sending Kouga's own water back at him in the form of six hollow water dragons with flashing teal eyes. With that done, she turned her attention back to the ground she was rapidly approaching, and she activated her barrier armor just before diving headfirst into the swamp.
Distracted by the rapidly approaching water dragons, Kouga made no move to stop her from disappearing into the liquefied earth, instead he blurred his hands rapidly through a short seal sequence and smoothly redirected the six water dragons into a pool of water under his own control as Hinata had. However, rather than using it to shape another jutsu, he evaporated it and drew the dao sheathed on his back.
The surface of the muddy ground behind Kouga exploded upward, and from within it Hinata emerged, having been camouflaged momentarily by the same brown color since she was covered from head to toe in it. Kouga barely managed to react in time to block her weapon, which briefly glinted silver through the thick brown sludge that covered it as well as her. Hinata wielded the double-bladed spear with both hands, bringing all of her senjutsu-enhanced might down on Kouga's blade. Despite the unique boost to his own strength, Kouga's defense nearly gave out under the force of her blow.
Their weapons sprang apart, and Kouga dodged her next slash before countering with one of his own. Hinata blocked it, noting quickly that his horizontal slash had cut slightly into the softer metal of her weapon which was never intended for such abuse.
The two Hyuugas circled each other slowly, exchanging blows at a furious pace. Hinata's spear was dented and cut each time, but it wasn't enouugh to render the weapon unusable so she ignored it in favor of watching Kouga's blade and countering each of his blows. Just once, the older and more experienced swordsman landed a hit on her belly, but the senjutsu chakra surging through her body made the cut far shallower than it would've been. The wound was painful, and Hinata scolded herself silently for failing to activate her barrier armor in time to save herself, but it wasn't life-threatening so she kept fighting.
The clan head and former Elder tirelessly smashed their weapons against each other for several minutes, and they slowly began to fall into a routine. Kouga blocked her attack, countered it, then grimaced faintly as she did the exact same with unwavering ease. The two fighters ceased to perceive the world around them, focusing more and more on killing each other rather than vigilantly waiting for an unexpected attack.
It was because of this tunnel vision that Kouga failed to stop Naruto from stabbing him in the back.
Hinata gave a furious battlecry and drew back her spear before stabbing him in the same way, only through the front of his chest rather than the back. Kouga's eyes went wide with shock and pain, and he pitched forward slightly which only pushed Hinata's blade deeper into his chest. "...This... is..."
"Is it the proof you wanted?" Naruto's voice rang out clearly behind him. "We've proven that we're stronger than you. Is this really what you wanted?"
Kouga reached up shakily, grasping the tip of the blade that had emerged just below his heart, gashing his hand in the process. "I cut off your arm," he murmured, as a thin line of blood trickled down from the left corner of his mouth.
"I let you cut off my arm," Naruto corrected. With his Byakugan, Kouga looked into the space behind his back and saw that Naruto was wielding his unique sword with his right hand. "I grew it back anyway," he went on.
Hinata nodded in understanding; his plan had been clear to her from the moment he failed to reenter the battle with a regenerated right arm. He'd intended for Kouga to focus completely on trying to kill Hinata and forget about the possibility that Naruto might still be alive.
"...I..." Kouga's Transformation canceled as his chakra control crumbled. If Naruto and Hinata had pulled their weapons out of his body before this, he would've been left unharmed, but instead the sword and spear simply pierced his true body as it materialized around them. "You're right."
"What?" Naruto and Hinata both asked, surprised.
"This is what I wanted." Their eyes went wide with shock, and Kouga went on, "I've been doing this for so long... gathering power obsessively... I forgot why I was doing it. Did I want to leave my children to rule the world once I passed it down to them? I think that's likely what I had in mind... but my children died in the Third Shinobi World War. My daughter and two sons... I think... power was all I had left to cling to. I've gone insane, trying to take over the world like this..."
Kouga coughed blood, and cried out weakly as the blades tore broader wounds in his chest from the sudden movement. "I'm glad that it ended this way. I can't console myself by saying that you stopped me before I could do any damage... you didn't. But at least I can rest easy knowing that I failed to kill you two... I'm ready to die now."
Hinata nodded slowly, and Naruto replied, "Then rest in peace."
The two pulled their weapons out of his chest, allowing him to fall into the swamp below with a splash. Before the dying Elder could sink into the swamp, Naruto and Hinata laid their hands on the surface of the thick mud and canceled the jutsu, leaving Kouga's corpse only halfway encased in solid earth.
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