The Mystic Palm Technique's (Healing/Shōsen Jutsu) emerald hue shimmers around the Anbu captain's hands as she gasps for air, writhing on the ground while holding her groin. Raven gnashes her teeth, slurring opaque curses and offensive remarks regarding Jimi's ethnicity. However, the undue genocidal threats in meticulous detail prove ineffective in riling or provoking a response. His maniacal laughter infuriates her; the Uchiha radiates with killing intent, glaring daggers at him.

Crane stirs from semi-unconsciousness with a kunai in hand, ready to attack, although the shinobi hesitates. Jim composes himself, then holds his fist in front of the Anbu. Crane darts before Raven and shifts into a defensive stance. A lecherous smirk creeps along the war criminal's face as his grip relaxes. The kunoichi's eyes bulge; her face becomes red like a tomato, blushing in shame. The poor woman's g-string droops on his index finger, flowing in the wind for all to see. The Medical-nin fumes as Jim uses deception and sexual harassment to wage psychological warfare against the shinobi's former student; nevertheless, Crane is thankful for his mask hiding a massive nosebleed.

"What's weird is that creep Madara wears one too..." Jim claims, snickering as he exposes the black cloth dawning a crest in its center—a red and white fan that symbolizes the Uchiha clan's pride. He teases and mocks the fuming kunoichi with her ruined lingerie in an ironic manner, fanning the ever-growing flame that coincides with an Uchiha's infamous temper. 'Rage obscures judgment; thus, the enemy becomes irrational and reckless. If I press further, I may not require my initial escape strategy. Still, they should've swarmed this place long ago. What happened? Unless their attention is elsewhere. But why? How?'

Both assassins rebound without indicating fatigue or chakra exhaustion, impeding further speculation, "This thunderstorm is a fitting backdrop for your demi—" Jim evades a shuriken. "You could've at LEAST let me finish monologuing before..." The Anbu allow none of it: no stereotypical evil villain monologues, compromises, or mercy.

Crane slaps an explosive tag on a kunai before chucking it, "Stuff your monologue!" Jim takes cover behind a stone column; then (via Lightning Release) uses the impurities within the rocky structure to conduct electricity and defuse the explosive on impact. A ferocious flurry surges alongside the Marine Contra; Raven pounces with astonishing speed.

"The pen of fate awaits writing a final line for you!" the Uchiha ambushes Jim's flank. He amplifies the voltage through Crane's kunai, jolting it upward to deflect the frigid blade racing toward his throat. He ducks an impending kick, then catches the spinning kunai before maneuvering behind the Anbu captain. She deflects his follow-up attack, then assails him with a relentless onslaught of whirring steel. A rapid exchange of scraping metal and raining sparks ensues. Raven and Jim's weapons clash like thunder bellowing in the storm clouds; their afterimages shift along the ground like a dazzling dance of lightning bolts.

Raven lands a spinning kick to Jim's celiac plexus. She chains a sequence of hand seals, "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" Swirling hellfire erupts from the Uchiha's mouth like a dragon scorching flocks of shrieking sheep in a stockyard. The blazing inferno accelerates at a blistering speed; the torturous tempest appears to engulf the entirety of his being, disintegrating him into a smoldering ash pile.

Time grinds to a standstill; Crane's pupils dilate. While the dust settles, victory seems irrefutable until Raven's Sharingan depicts a frightening forecast. She foresees an inbound assault, then reacts a hairsbreadth away from a killing blow. Dust and debris discharge from underground, lightning glints the blade, rocketing toward her jugular. The kunoichi leans back, redirects, and yanks Jim's wrist down before trying to punch him in the face. He ducks, yet she transitions her strike into a grapple. Seizing his hair, Raven forces Jim's face against her mask and stares into his widening eyes. The war criminal's body falls limp as his kunai hits the ground.

The triumphant Anbu captain clutches her helpless captive's face, holding Jim by his head. "And so, now you belong to me, Vega Contra."

Crane breathes a sigh of relief, "She's done it," his anxiousness fades as time resumes its endless stride, "catching Jimi Iara Malkhaz… alive? I-I don't believe it!" The Medical-nin is almost frothing at the mouth, struggling to comprehend how much a live target's value will increase the colossal bounty on the fugitive's head and the mission payout several times.

"More specifically to The Uchiha clan. Your bloodline limit will face assimilation and your heritage forgotten!"

Crane's eyebrows raise, "Wait, what!?" from solace to abhorrent shock, then grim cognizance concerning the ominous implications behind such an utterance. His uncertainty wavers about whether Jim's attack methodology dictates reluctance or inability to synchronize strategy with aberrant attributes. Furthermore, the Medical-nin's mission dossier, including antecedent skirmishes, reaffirms an overall likelihood of favoring the latter over the former, 'so that's the Hokage's endgame. Tajima knows darn well Malkhaz possesses a carrier gene.' His analytical mind deduces a nightmarish synopsis of what an unholy synthesis of bloodlines could unleash upon the globe.

However, the Uchiha are oblivious to Crane's ulterior motives and knowledge of their sinister intentions. 'Nothing a little mix-up at the Logistical Support and Medical Division's loading dock can't resolve.' He places a scroll on a Messenger Bird containing a situation report and meticulous instruction in preparation for a covert abduction, then Reverse-Summons the animal outside the barrier.

Jim snatches the Anbu captain's forearm, grinning like a maniac. Raven's eyebrows furrow as her hand sinks inside Jim's head, 'So that's why my genjutsu is not having any effect; it's just a clone.' The Earth clone reverts to a mud construct ensnaring the kunoichi's arms within itself.

"Detonate," the explosive tag inside the Earth clone activates. Jim's dirty doppelganger bursts like a water balloon, coating the thunderstruck kunoichi in a thick layer of warm, steamy sludge. The bubbling brown batter blasts Crane's back, causing him to stumble into the rooftop's seal barrier. The sudden jolt shocks the shinobi off his feet. The clone's remains pour like chocolate rain, pelting the Anbu with muddy misery, "You tried eatin' the booty whole and got nothing but mud."

FLASHBACK NO-JUTSU

After siphoning chakra from Crane's explosive tag, Jim integrates a Clone Trap with Substitution Jutsu, escaping the killer kunoichi's callous clutches.

END FLASHBACK

A seething brown blob resembling a flowing chocolate lava mound with bloodshot scarlet eyes scowls with unfathomable fury, "What does that even mean!? That sounds disgusting!" Raven whimpers.

Jim scoffs, "Oh—and uh… sorry, doll. I've already been married twice; I'm not making that mistake a third time."

"I… HATE YOU!" the kunoichi rages.

"Earth Release: Dust Devil Disguise!" Jim vanishes in a debris cloud as the assassins bear down upon him. Raven pinpoints his location, then bolts after the mass murderer with Crane close behind. They approach his flanks, speeding over hand seals.

"Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death"

"Fire Release: Searing Skull Salvos!"

Jim blurs over a short sequence of one-hand seals before punching the ground, "Earth Style Barrier: Earth Dome Prison!" A protective mound shields him from the impending barrage. The assassins breach the stone wall, initiating an all-out close-quarters brawl. His speed, flexibility, and agility allow him to fend off the persistent onslaught of limbs striking at pressure points or vital organs. Quick as a flash, Jim's fists surge up the Anbu's joints, weakening their limbs. Despite Crane and Raven's numerical advantage, he sustains an aggressive counter-offensive; still, his lightning-fast jabs lack the power he needs to keep them away.

Raven blocks a swift haymaker, then shoves her heel into Jim's abdomen. Crane's foot collides with the Contra's chin, sending him spinning midair with a rising heel kick. Though dizzy, he traps Raven and Crane inside the dome's walls before using the stone structure to absorb their chakra. The blue luminescent energy vibrates through his hands like a soothing massage traveling up the war criminal's arms. Violent rumbling shakes him from his concentration; Jim's eyes widen as an explosion destroys the back of the Earth-dome. He spins around; the Medical-nin grabs his throat, slamming him against the stone wall and onto the ground.

"I'm getting real sick of this nonsense!" The tall Anbu lifts Jim, strangling him.

"You... and me—Ack! Both, buddy—Gak!" Jim swings his body around Crane's arm, battering his heel onto the shinobi's face. The Medical-nin follows up with an immediate punch, hurling at his jaw. He slips left, grabs Crane's forearm, then slams his elbow into the shinobi's abdomen, eliciting a distinct crunch.

Jim barrel-rolls midair before his heel crashes into Crane's head, pitching him across the ground like a skipping stone. He lunges after the shinobi for a finishing blow, but the tall Anbu throws a kunai, forcing him to react. He catches the kunai, yet the Medical-nin uses it as a distraction to land a solid right hook. Jim reels from the attack, backhand-springing away. Raven teleports behind him. He ducks an incoming kick, then drives his fist into the kunoichi's stomach, causing her to vomit on his shoulder.

Jim cringes in repugnance, "Argh! SERIOUSLY! Lightning Release: High Voltage Vendetta!"

Jim's knee slams into the Anbu captain's chest; he B-twists, then sends Raven flying with an airborne kick to her torso. She impacts the seal barrier; electricity surges into her body. The Contra blinks out of existence and appears before the Uchiha, unleashing a barrage of galvanic punches, pinning her against the seal wall. Raven's eyes almost roll back into her head; however, his relentless assault deprives the kunoichi of unconsciousness.

Excess currents from Jim's supercharged strikes overload the seal barrier, generating an arc blast that throws Raven across the air. His fist collides with her jaw in midflight as she crashes onto the ground. He hooks his boots under her arms, then executes a backflip, overturning the kunoichi like a flapjack.

Jim's hands blur over a sequence of seals, "Lightning Release: Ballistic Bolt Barrage!"

A consecutive triumvirate of lightning strikes hammers Raven through the rooftops and once more into the seal barrier. She struggles to escape the torturous trap, but gravity nullifies her efforts. Mutant constructs of tortured flesh, unrecognizable inhuman extremities, and slimy slithering tentacles reach inside the barrier, trying to pull the hysterical kunoichi through. Jim stands triumphant above his flailing foe, appreciating the irresistible irony that Raven's excruciating ensnarement keeps the Red Zetsus from devouring her alive.

"No one owns me! Nor will anyone ever again, Uchiha!" An inhuman guttural screech from a speeding silhouette snatches Jim's attention.

"Malkhaz!"

"What the fu—ACK!?" Crane blindsides Jim, tackling him to the ground.

"Die!" the Medical-nin gurgles, clawing at Jim's face. Blood leaks from the shinobi's eyes, ears, and nose; severe inflammation causes his necrotizing skin to hemorrhage. Despite the near liquefaction of Crane's intestines, he retains total agility and mobility. The fugitive's swift responsiveness enables him to repel the vicious assault and prevent the feral shinobi from vomiting blood and intestinal chunks onto his face. He rips a broken rib fragment from Crane's torso, then plunges it into the shinobi's jugular.

A conductive cable wrenches Crane's throat; Jim heaves the wire while shifting his free hand over a chain of seals. Lightning discharges within the metal, galvanizing the Medical-nin as he hangs from a stone pillar like a dried fish; however, the powerful currents prove ineffectual in restraining the mutating shinobi. Crane withstands the bolt battery and cuts himself free. He evades an upsurge of stalagmites from the ground, then retaliates with a shuriken swarm, compelling the mass murderer to dodge.

Crane removes the bone fragment from his throat, "Piercing Separation Spring!"

High-pressure jets sprout from the ground, carving through the rocky surface without hassle. Crane exploits his opponent's weakness, initiating a successful counter-offensive; the shinobi pressures Jim with successive layers of long-ranged attacks while maintaining an intricate network of sensory deprivation Jutsu. Though unable to retaliate, he preservers against the tall Anbu's Hidden Mist Jutsu, dispelling a perpetual onslaught of genjutsu while executing swift evasive maneuvers from the covert attacks within them. Jim dispatches the marauding water clones and teleports to avoid the complex web of hydro-jets erupting below. A blinding flash disorientates Crane, disrupting his vision.

"Ninja Art: Cascading Crescendo!" static discharges around the shinobi, infusing and transmuting the dense mist into a greenish electromagnetic haze. Crane's respective techniques evanesce on a molecular degree. All become uncontrollable constructs that curve and contort in an unnatural, almost impossible capacity. Analogous to sonar, the supercharged electrons ripple across the greenish haze, enabling Jim to pinpoint the Medical-nin's location. Without deliberation, the war criminal capitalizes upon the chaos and seizes the advantage. In an instant, he is in front of the delirious shinobi; Crane moves to deflect the blade racing towards his neck, but Jim's afterimage fades like a mirage upon contact.

Crane gasps as cold, sharp steel punctures his heart from behind. The electromagnetic haze recedes; the Anbu discovers he is away from his Hidden Mist Jutsu on the opposite side of the rooftops. Half of the Medical-nin's limbs fuse into a pillar, yet he retains sensation in the absent extremities.

"Ninja Art: Cascading Crescendo!" static discharges within the dense mist before a thunderbolt overcharges Jim's technique, transmuting Crane's jutsu into a greenish electromagnetic haze. The shinobi watches in confusion and dread as preceding events happen once more. A primordial Warp Storm wreaks havoc upon the dimensional plane encompassing Jim and Crane's past selves. Temporal displacement causes both combatants to flicker in and out of reality between alternating locations, then disappear within the space-time continuum. The resulting hyper-dimensional disruption causes a shockwave that deactivates the Five-Seal-Barrier surrounding the rooftops.

Direct exposure to the Immaterium overloads Jim's Chakra Pathway System, causing the channels to glow inside his skin. The Contra's body stiffens before collapsing due to the resulting seizure and various internal injuries from the Warp. His helpless form is within arm's reach of Crane. Without hesitation nor thought of his actions, the shinobi grabs Jim and chomps down on his throat, almost decapitating him in one chakra-enhanced bite. A violent gust of smoke erupts from the fugitive's body as it vanishes into thin air. Crane's heart sinks to his feet as grim realization; then melancholy trembles him to the core.

"S-shadow clone!? That—that's. Impossible!" Razor-sharp steel, slicing flesh, horrifies Crane once he regains focus; the subsequent haunting phrase twists nostalgia into sadness and sorrow.

"Believe it," Jim lands, crouching forward, wielding the Anbu captain's sword in a reverse grip near his back. The Marine Contra's other hand rests at eye level, forming the Seal of Confrontation (Tairitsu no In/Spar Sign). Raven stands not far behind stationery and motionless with shock in her Sharingan eyes. A red hair-thin line broadens as it slithers across her throat. Blood spills from the Uchiha's neck as her head separates, then hangs against the kunoichi's upper back by a sliver of flesh. Any semblance of hope Crane has tumbles with the Anbu captain's headless corpse. Tears trickle down the heartbroken shinobi's face as his former student dies cold, lifeless, and alone.

Jim readies the fallen kunoichi's blade with a wrist flick before casting his inhuman gaze toward the shinobi. The writing on the wall is ever-present; Crane accepts his tragic fate as the mass murderer prepares to eliminate him.

"Less than a handful of people can use shadow clones, most of whom are dead," Crane rasps, gurgling and coughing up blood, "tell me. Just who, or. What—even are you?"

"I was under the assumption that prolonged exposure to my tactics and techniques would've made this apparent."

"Need I remind you of that peculiar manner assume may be interpreted?"

Jim chuckles, "A wisenheimer till the very end. You haven't changed at all, old man," he grabs a pack of smokes from his fatigues. "I'd offer you a cigarette, comrade, but if memory serves correctly, you don't do that anymore."

Crane sighs, "Gee, glad you still care—Namikaze Menma. But—I think I'll make an exception, just this once," Jim raises a curious eyebrow at the dying shinobi before flicking a cigarette towards him, "mind giving me a light?"

"Oh, you're funny," Jim replies with sarcasm.

"C'mon, kid. What's the matter? I won't bite—THIS time… I promise."

Jim ignites the cigarette between his thumb and index finger, then takes a drag; using Lightning release, he snaps his fingers, wisely lighting Crane's from a distance, "when a shadow-clone dispels, its memories return to the user. That's the secret of the jutsu and why it's so dangerous. Imagine something like that falling into the wrong hands or becoming a ubiquitous technique."

Crane rolls his eyes, "The ramifications would be—apocalyptic. Oh, wait…" an explosion erupts in the distance behind Crane to further emphasize his point. Jim frowns at this, "That Anbu captain you murdered in cold blood, my former student, idolized you ever since she was a little girl, despite everything. You used to be an inspiration and symbol to all women, proving a kunoichi can be as powerful as or surpass any shinobi should they apply themselves. She was living proof of that, yet the masses were never suspicious of your true gender or nature. Can you possibly comprehend how demoralizing it is for such an inspirational figure's name and legacy to become synonymous with treachery?"

"More than you realize, Dr. Kuriarare. Now imagine the irony of several morally deprived nations prolonging nescience over a fallen heroine's gender to prevent further degradation to their respective village's collective psyche. Thus upholding a false political narrative via sophistry and deception."

"Was it all just some cruel, sick joke to you? To inspire a false sense of pride amongst a downcast population and tear away that foundation from underneath, casting them further down a dreary couloir of hopelessness? Tell me, nephew, how does someone once so kind and gentle become a backstabbing megalomaniacal lunatic like yourself!? What terrible wrong set you on this path? Why betray your family, friends, and fellow compatriots? Was it wealth? Power? Prestige? Does the Will of Fire still mean anything to you?"

"For the record, I'm not your nephew; Menma Namikaze has been dead longer than you realize. After all, I'm the one who assassinated the young lad and sealed his soul within my body—and still, to this day, he's never once stopped complaining about it."