K, here's the next chapter for Broken Angel. Hope everyone enjoys. Time for a fight :) Also next time travel story will be coming up soon so enjoy the crossover :P
Also, is anyone ready for another Omake? I think I'm ready for another. Probably have one up soon. :)
Broken Angel
Chapter 75
War, it was an odd thing to describe how it felt when you could literally feel it boiling off the desert.
Having never been there before, the legion was forced to head to the Wind Capitol on foot. What this comprised of was them all being placed in Kamui and Riley making a mad dash for the capitol as fast as she could.
With that plan in action and a clone left with Gaia so that she could utilize the Hiraishin to bring the Suna forces to the capitol when they were ready, Riley was able to make it there in less than an hour.
Even before she got within twenty kilometers she could see the smoke. The Wind Capital sat on the southeastern part of the Land of Wind. It sat within walking distance to the ocean and a small river ran directly through the center of the city splitting it in half. The city itself was home to several million people and was one of the largest cities in the Elemental Nations.
Surrounding the city was several beautiful oasis and small groves of palm trees. It was quite a beautiful place, just this side of a desert paradise. The city itself comprised of flat stone buildings, typical of those you'd find in places like Egypt, years ago. The city itself was surrounded by a fifty foot high stone wall, and sat on an open dry plain, at the edge of the desert.
It gave the city a good vantage point of the area around itself, meaning it was very difficult to sneak up on it.
Even from many kilometers away, the pitch black smoke could easily be seen. It billowed up in massive dark plumes. You didn't need even an ounce of fighting experience to know that something bad had happened and was happening, to the capitol.
"Do you sense that Riley? There's something very malevolent about this place. I can sense one of my kin here, but that isn't the source of this darkness." Kurama noted.
"I know… there's something wrong here. It's not just the chaos and death, it's almost like something is accentuating it. Making it stronger." Riley agreed as she slowed her speed.
Once she was within five kilometers, Riley spotted her first Iwa nin. A small team was hidden beneath the sand, and if it hadn't been for her ability to actually see chakra and her active Byakugan, she probably wouldn't have noticed them until she was right on top of them.
Luckily, she did see them and she quickly began work on some Earth magic. The instant her foot hit ground, when she was within twenty meters of them, she launched her attack. In a burst of magic, ten foot tall spikes began to explode from the ground in a trail that quickly rushed right towards the five man squad of hidden Iwa ninja.
A collection of curses rang out as the group dove out from beneath the sand. Each one jumped away from the attack, though one wasn't fast enough and was speared through the leg.
His screams tore through the air as his body flopped down, it was held up in the air by the earthen spear, impaled through the muscle of his calves.
He hung in the air, awkwardly suspended as blood poured up his leg and across his body. The other Iwa nin spared him only a quick glance before all four of them focused on Riley and launched an offensive.
The fastest of the foursome was on her in an instant. A flash of steel caught her eye and she quickly brought up a kunai to block the strike. She quickly found herself blade locked with a swordsman. He pressed against her with all of his might, intent of shoving her back. Riley quickly retaliated by returning his action to him, with interest.
With a powerful heave, she pushed the Iwa swordsman back, several meters causing him to stumble over the uneven sand.
In that moment, two of his comrades rushed at her. Riley was instantly on the offensive. In a burst of speed she disappeared, reappearing almost within the same moment right between the two. Faster than they could hope to follow she delivered a kick to both their skulls. The force of the strike contorted their heads, and released a sickening crack as their necks broke.
The one who hadn't attacked yet let out a curse at seeing his two comrades go down. Riley quickly turned her attention to him right as she felt the swordman close in on her and start to deliver another slash. With a wicked grin, Riley activated one of her new powers, and used the Rinne-Sharingan to switch places with the idle Iwa nin causing him to take the swordsmans slash.
The swordsman could only gape in disbelief as he stared into the eyes of his comrade, who had nearly been cut in half by his attack. No words were exchanged as his comrade fell to the ground, dead nearly instantly. The swordsman, didn't have much time to contemplate his actions as his gaze rose to meet Riley's who was closing in on him rapidly.
Once close enough, Riley threw a strong punch right towards his chest. The swordsman brought up his blade to block her strike and cut her hand open, but her diamond hard skin and even harder bones, stopped that from happening. Instead, the man's sword snapped in half and her fist drove right into his chest plate.
A loud crack tore through the air, as all of his ribs were broken, and bone fragments were ejected from their rightful place and directly into the soft tissue of his organs.
He fell to the ground and began coughing up blood, it only took a few moments before he stopped moving and finally faded from this world.
Once that was dealt with, Riley activated Kamui and began withdrawing her army from it. Within moments, thousands of Legionnaires filled the open desert.
"Damn." Itachi muttered as he, Riley and Tom stepped away from the army and took position on top of a large dune that gave them their first good view of the attack on the capitol.
From where they stood, they could clearly make out the massive amount of damage that had been done to the city.
Out in the ocean a short way away from the city, stood one of the massive Golems of Iwa. It was in the water, crushing Wind warships as they fired upon it with catapults and ballistae. In the city were the other two, one stood in the river and was wrecking the docks, the other seemed to be laying siege to the palace of the Daimyo.
The Wind capital itself was surrounded by high walls, and along those stone walls, fighting could be seen. The city's defenders were still putting up a fight it seemed and various battles took place all along the walls.
Within the city itself, massive plumes of smoke rose up from entire city districts. The damage done was extensive and even if they managed to push Iwa and the Earth army back, the damage may be far too extensive for the city to be saved.
"What's the plan?" Madara asked as he, Hashirama, Arturia, Shikaku, and Kushina marched up to the three commander to get a good look at the battle.
"Grandfather Madara, Grandfather Hashirama, you two head out to the ocean and take out that Golem." Riley ordered. The two nodded and disappeared in a burst of speed. Riley then turned to Shikaku who was already studying the battlefield and watching as Iwa forces poured into the city and destroyed everything they came across.
"Where are you going?" Shikaku asked, so he could plan around where Riley would be.
"I'll take out the other two golems, just like I did the first. Then I'm gonna track down the one leading this offensive. I'm almost certain Iwa sent one of their Jinchuriki here, I'm gonna track him down, and stop him before he unleashes his Bijuu." Riley answered, earning a nod from those around her.
"Alright then. Any ideas for the rest of us?" Tom inquired to the brilliant Nara strategist.
"Yes, you take half our forces and move over the wall directly ahead of us. Push into the city and drive them back. Meanwhile Itachi will take the other half of our forces and attack the rear of the enemy army. Their forces are split with most of them already in the city. Once Lord Madara and Hashirama finish off the golem they can join Itachi's forces at the enemy's rear. Riley can handle herself alone and will more than likely kill every enemy in her path, so the plan should be to trap them all within the city and box them in with a pincer maneuver." Shikaku explained, earning a nod from the three commanders, while Riley also relayed those additional orders to her grandfathers.
"So they'll be trapped between the three of us, what about the fourth side?" Tom inquired.
"I'll send Deimos and Midir there, to hold off that avenue of escape, and I'll send word to my clone so that when she brings Gaia and her forces here, she can have them attack from that side. We'll trap Iwa within the city and destroy them to last man." Riley offered earning a nod from Shikaku.
"Alright, sounds like a plan. Any words of encouragement for our men?" Itachi inquired.
Riley turned her attention to the large gathering of Legionnaires that had approached them, each one ready to march into battle.
"Those cunts think they can just ignore us and attack somewhere else. Let's go show them why we're the real deal. When the sun rises tomorrow, let the whole world see what you all accomplished here today. At dawn, we'll all be big goddamn heroes! So let's go out there and kick some ass!" Riley shouted, earning a cheer from the crowd, she then turned to Arturia who offered a nod, at her short impromptu speech.
"My mates will be down there. Do me a favor, keep an eye on them." Riley asked, the ancient knight.
"Of course. I'll keep them safe until you return." Arturia replied with a nod.
"Thanks. Good luck. Try to save some Iwa scum for me." Riley stated with a smile.
"I'll try. Stay safe out there." Arturia replied. Riley just gave her a charming smile before glancing back, and catching the eyes of her mates.
"See ya when I get back." Riley offered them, then in a burst of speed, she was gone.
"Please be careful." Fleur found herself whispering, Katie and Luna, having heard her both nodded. All five of Riley's mates offered up a prayer of protection for her, just as they always did. They all wished for her victory and safe return to them.
"You think she'll be alright?" Kaede inquired.
"I hope so." Katie replied.
With insane speed, Riley rushed at the city walls. To those fighting atop it, all they heard before she slammed into them was a zipping noise. Riley moved so fast, that her opening strike appeared as an explosion to those around it.
As she jumped over the wall, she passed between a group of Earth soldiers who were passing by. She moved so fast, that they didn't even see her. As she passed them, she fired a bombarda right towards the ground, or the top of the wall in that case. With the speed she was moving, she was already far past the wall, when the spell impacted and sent a half dozen men flying. As soon as Riley touched down within the city, she focused on the palace. Flashing through handsigns, she summoned her two dark dragon's. Already knowing their orders, Deimos and Midir took to the skies. Cries rang out from all over the city as the two massive dark dragon's began to rain fire down on Iwa troop positions.
Once that was done, Riley made for the capital building, with a mad dash she shot through the burning streets. Everywhere, the city was on fire. People could be heard screaming everywhere you turned. Earth soldiers, and Iwa nin were killing their ways through the streets, they captured the noblemen, and butchered the rest. Piles of bodies were beginning to form, here and there.
"Such death... it's lovely." The Darkness intoned. Riley couldn't help but agree, as much as it disgusted her. Being a demon, this whole thing felt wonderful to her.
Riley let out a growl, at the chaos around her. It made her feel so alive, the rage, the terror, all of it fueled her but it also made her angry. The first Iwa nin she spotted in the city was lit aflame with Amaturasu.
Riley shot through the streets, killing any Iwa or Earth soldier that got in her way, as soon as she made it to the river that split the city in half, she paused. A few hundred yards down the burning river, stood one of the massive Iwa golems.
The great construct was crushing the docks beneath it's feet, sinking ships like they were nothing. Riley focused on the thing, and activated Kamui. Within moments, it chest started to contort and disappear.
Within seconds it's core had disappeared into the void, but Riley wasn't finished yet, she continued to draw it in, until it's whole torso was gone.
With a loud crack, the middle of the golem vanished. It's head, and arms fell to the ground, slamming into the water with immense force. The River rose sharply as the massive objects slammed into it. Water washed over the docks, putting out fires, but also flooding them as well.
The water was quick to rise over the river banks and into the city. Riley didn't have time to worry about it, with a powerful leap, she cleared the river and landed on the other side. She still had another golem to take down, and a Jinchuriki to find.
-Meanwhile-
"My lord!" One of Roshi's men shouted at him. He turned his gaze, just in time to see one of the Golems fall.
While many of his men gawked at the destruction of one of their greatest weapons, Roshi was having an internal monologue, with the Four Tails.
"Do you feel it, Roshi?" The Four tailed ape inquired.
"I do." He thought back in reply.
"Death is racing towards us. She's stronger then you know. This plan of yours is going to fail." The ape warned him.
"It wont fail. It can't. If she doesn't die here, now, Iwa will have no chance to win the war." Roshi thought, more to himself than to the ape.
The Four Tails let out a tired sigh at hearing that. No matter how much he begged and pleaded with Roshi, the man would not listen. The ape knew it in his bones, Riley was to strong to beat. She was to great a threat. On her own she was bad enough, but he knew, he could feel it within her… She had Kurama with her. The Nine Tailed Fox. The Ape knew without a shadow of a doubt, that she couldn't be beaten so long as the two of them were working together.
Still though, Roshi wouldn't hear it. He was confident that his plan would work. All the ape could do was mentally prepare itself for the fight of it's life.
"Fool." The Great ape sighed.
-With Madara and Hashirama-
"Are you ready friend?" Hashirama inquired. Madara gave him a nod. Hashirama quickly flashed through handsigns, and from beneath both men's feet, a massive wooden structure began to raise up.
Within a few moments, a massive Wooden Golem stood beneath them. In that same moment, Madara activated his Mangekyou Sharingan.
The wood golem lit up, as it began to be enshrouded in a blue veil of energy, courtesy of Susano'o.
It was around this moment when the Stone golem of Iwa first noticed them.
"Let's go." Madara intoned as the stone golem advanced on them. Hashirama nodded and with a battle-cry from both of them, the wooden golem rushed forward.
Great waves rose as the two titans charged one another and when they met, both drove their fists into each others faces and sent shockwaves rippling outwards.
-Back with Riley-
Riley cut her way through every enemy she encountered as she pushed through the city and closed in on the palace. Her demon blood was reacting greatly to all of the death and chaos. The number of dead, was so high and their pain was radiating in such a way, that if filled Riley with bloodlust.
This was worse then any other major battle Riley had ever fought in, because the people here were suffering. The only time anything ever came close to this, was the destruction of Konoha, and even then she was more focused on Minato, and that situation. Plus in that battle, everyone had died relatively quickly thanks to Kurama.
This time though, the battle had been raging for at least an hour, and the people were suffering like mad. Murders of men, woman, and children were occurring on every street corner. Enemy soldiers were stealing things, raping woman, butchering innocent bystanders, the amount of carnage was unbelievable and it fed into Riley an unprecedented level of euphoria from it all.
When this was over, she would have to tell her mates how she felt, because otherwise they'd probably think bad of her for wanting to fuck, so madly after such a terrible battle. Because that is honestly how all this death and carnage made her feel deep down. She knew it was wrong, and she definitely wanted her mates to scold her later for thinking such things, but in the now, she couldn't deny that the pain and agony seeping off of everything made her feel so good.
With a growl, Riley drove her fist hard into an Earth soldier that got in her way. The impact of her punch split the man in half. She wasn't more than a few blocks away from the palace, so Riley quickly shot up to the roof of a nearby building, where she got a good vantage point on the golem, tearing through the ancient castle, wrenching massive chunks of it up into the air and dropping them nearby onto undamaged city blocks.
Riley stared it down for a moment, for a few seconds she began to active Kamui and destroy it the same way she had the last two. However, just before it truly began to disappear, she was overcome by a surge of power that demanded release.
"Riley… there's something evil nearby." Kurama noted, as Riley drew her wand, activated her staff. The feeling was like an adrenaline rush, like that feeling of excitement you get when something fun was about to happen. It stopped her from focusing and caused her energy to begin to bubble wildly.
She quickly began to gather magic within her staff. Those nearby felt a pressure fill the air and those with a good enough vantage point, quickly spotted a bright greenish light that gathered within Riley's staff, more precisely at the eye that served as the focus for the mighty magical instrument.
The light grew brighter and brighter, as Riley focused on the massive Golem that was turning to face her.
With a defiant yell, she stabbed the spear at the golem and unleashed a massive torrent of green energy, right from Shisui's eye.
The beam shot through the air and struck the massive stone Goliath with extreme force. A loud humming filled the air, and massive runes began to glow on the golem's body indicating their struggle to hold off the immense power of Riley's overpowered spell.
For several long moments the beam held against the golem's chest, powerful destructive magics hammered away at it's runic protections. The force of Riley's spell was more then enough to overpower it's defenses.
Right as she felt the rune's begin to break down, the golem disappeared in a massive poof of smoke.
Riley's eyes widened slightly and she let out a loud curse at seeing that. Before she could focus too much on that, a loud, god-awful cry of agony and pain tore through the air. Looking out across the rooftops, Riley spotted something pulling itself up onto the roof.
This thing had dark gray skin, and stood at nearly ten feet tall. It was thin, and it's whole body was covered in smooth, hairless skin. It's arms extended down to it's knees, and it's legs were longer then they should naturally be for it's height. It's face was little more then a grinning skull, and all along it's body were glowing markings that radiated dark chakra.
"I think we've found one of Orochimaru's Inferi." Kurama noted.
"Fucking shit is that?" Riley muttered as the creature suddenly came tearing towards her. The way it moved was mixture between a run, and a gallop of sorts using it's long arms. The movement was grotesque, and had Riley not been a demon, she might had found the movement so unnatural and terrifying that she would have screamed and run away.
Instead, she tapped her staff and a bolt of magic shot out and slammed into the creature. Instead of being cut in half, the markings on it's body glowed, and the creature almost seemed to suddenly be invigorated by it.
Riley blinked a few times and quickly realized what had happened.
"It drinks magic." Kurama noted.
"No shit!" Riley snapped as the creature rushed at her and swung at her with it's long gangling arms.
The creature roared in some unholy kind of shrieking noise. It sounded like it was in immense pain, and it swung at her savagely, no rhyme or reason to it's movements. It simply tried to overwhelm her with it's speed and strength. Riley was easily able to backpedal away from the monstrosity, and once she spotted an opening, she delivered a bone crushing kick to it's chest. The creature was sent flying away from her and it disappeared into the streets below after bouncing off a rooftop or two.
"I think I know what's radiating all that evil." Kurama noted.
"I know. It was like fighting a demon. The raw chaos of death flowed off of it like a miasma. No wonder the city descended into chaos so quickly. Those things simply being around is enough to drive most people mad." Riley responded earning a nod of agreement from the Fox.
"It's amplifying madness and rage. Men and children are being brutally executed in the streets, woman are being raped, left and right, seige's such as this, often end this way, but this is a new extreme. It's happening so quickly and violently. It's unnatural. Those things, that Orochimaru has built, they're conduits for it. Amplifying war, and the chaos that comes with it." Kurama stated.
"This is bad." "Itachi, Tom, hold our forces back. Have them set up perimeter around the wall. Don't enter the city. I've just come across one of Orochimaru's Inferi, they're amplifying rage and anger and driving the enemy into a frenzy. We don't want out guys exposed to that, kill every enemy around the edges but don't rush into the city." Riley sent to the two through The Gravemind.
Right about then, loud screeches tore up through the city around her and from the streets below Riley, more of Orochimaru's cursed Inferi crawled up to the roofs.
"Aw shit… looks like the welcome part has finally arrived." Riley noted before dashing at the nearest one, and delivering a powerful kick to it's chest, sending it flying.
-Meanwhile-
Gunshots tore through Earth soldiers like a hot knife through butter. The Legionnaires being led over the wall, were cutting through the enemy with immense vigor and righteous fury.
They were being ordered to clear out the enemy on and around the wall, and try to get any civilians still left alive, to the safety of the exterior wall.
Riley's mates worked together as they joined the assault. They worked as a unit, Katie, being the best marksman of the five, dealt with enemies at long range with a rifle. Fleur, Daphne, and Luna worked the midrange with spellfire, and Kaede kept them guarded at close range with her vectors. Five of Riley's wraiths stood protectively around them, swords drawn, and Arturia. Kept close by, intercepting any shinobi that charged the group. They were working alongside a small group others, including one of the Sand Ninja that had been in charge of Sinnon's defense. He and some of the others had volunteered to go with the Legion when they heard about what was happening at the capital.
Right now, the ladies were racking up quite the kill count, so much so, that an Iwa nin noticed them, and decided to put an end to it.
All of the ladies heard a warcry and saw something zip through the air at insane speeds. It was a massive earthen bolder, heading straight for them.
Arturia was quickly between them, and the oncoming projectile, and with a powerful slash she cut right through it. The stone split in two, both fragments flying off into nearby buildings.
The shinobi that had thrown the attack was quickly making his way towards them. Arturia readied her sword and prepared to charge the oncoming ninja.
With a defiant yell, the two dashed at one another. Meanwhile, Riley's mates stood in the background, keeping their eyes opened for any other attacks, and waiting for Arturia to finish off the Iwa nin she was fighting so they could all advance together.
They were under orders not to go more then a hundred yards from the external wall. Right now, they were at about fifty yards and screaming could be heard from nearby.
The five stood together, all knelt low, and keeping their eyes open.
Right then, a large, long armed monster broke out of a nearby building with a loud shriek. It dashed right at the ladies and dove towards them. All Five wraiths were instantly between the creature and their master's lovers. Before the creature could close in on them, it was stopped in midair, by an unseen force.
Riley's mates stared in confusion at the hovering creature, all except Kaede, whom smirked. With a powerful pull from her vectors, the creature exploded, each of it's limbs flying off, and it's head falling to the ground.
The four ladies stared in surprise before glancing at Kaede who was smirking at the strange monster. They quickly realized that she was the one who had destroyed it. All of that training with Riley had really helped extend the range of her vectors. She could now stretch them to six meters, which was insane when you consider just how strong her vectors were.
"How in the hell did that happen?" The sand ninja inquired, with surprise.
"Kaede did it." Came an answer from Luna who eyed the man with her usual dreamy look. He nodded, still unsure of how Kaede had stopped the thing in midair, and torn it to pieces.
"What in the hell is that thing?" Katie asked as the creature's body dropped down in front of them.
"Looks like some kind of undead." Daphne noted, as she sent Kaede a nod of acknowledgment for her take-down of the creature and then knelt down to examined the creature's severed head, which was still biting at nothing,
"Inferi?" Fleur inquired.
"Not a normal Inferi, that's for damn sure." Daphne responded as she stared down at it's severed head, it's teeth were long and flat, and it's lips were pulled back so much that it gave the creature almost an insane grin. It's eyes were all black, and it's skin was unnaturally smooth. It definitely wasn't like any Inferi Daphne had ever heard about.
"What are those markings on it's body?" Katie asked as she knelt next to Daphne.
"I'm not sure, but it can't be anything good." Daphne replied.
Just then, a massive explosion tore through the air, and a shockwave impacted the city from the sea.
"My goodness. I often forget that those two are some of the most powerful people to have ever lived." Katie noted, referencing Hashirama and Madara, who by now had almost destroyed the golem they were fighting.
"Yes, I bet they're putting on an amazing show." Luna agreed.
"Zey are quite powerful. It is often easy to forget just how strong zey are when zey are always around Riley." Fleur added in her own form of agreement.
"Let's get going ladies. We've got a city to save, and people to rescue." Daphne stated to them, getting the rest of her fellow mates attention. They all noticed that Arturia had finished off the ninja she was fighting and waiting for them to advance.
With that, the ladies advanced with the rest of the Legion, further into the city. By now, Riley had taken out one of the golems and the other had vanished from sight.
They moved through the streets, cautiously. The sounds of death echoed all around them, and bodies littered the streets. In some places they were piled several feet high. The stench of death, dominated the air along with the smell of smoke and ash.
So many people had died already, the casualties had to be at or over a million already.
"This is awful." Katie noted as they passed by the corpse of a small boy, a child no more then ten, who'd been hit with a kunai to the chest.
"This is war." Their sand ally stated as he gazed across the carnage of the streets. Kaede and Arturia nodded in agreement while the rest of the ladies scowled.
"We'll make them pay for this." Daphne replied as she passed by an open window and glanced inside. She felt her body tense and she immediately looked away. The corpse of a woman lay sprawled out inside, and it was clear to see that she suffered a fate, many women feared.
"Daph?" Luna inquired as she noticed Daphne move away from one of the buildings and take a deep breath.
"I'm fine. Let's just keep going. We need to finish our search and get back to the wall." Daphne replied. Luna gave her a nod and the two kept pace with the others.
Arturia led them through the streets, a look of cold separation marring her face. She had been through sieges like this, she knew of the great beast that lay within men, and how it would be unleashed in war. Sieges were often the only time armies would have to deal with civilians during combat. It was during those times, that a man might begin to feel the power of war course through him. More often then not, a monster was unleashed in the hearts of the invaders, and this attack was made even worse by that unnatural force amplifying the insanity of it all.
This wasn't the first time Arturia had walked these streets and seen these horrors, and it wouldn't be the last. It was at this moment, that Arturia pondered just how well the Legion reacted to it's enemies. Having commanders like Itachi, and Tom, and even Riley, really kept their forces grounded and focused on the mission. Perhaps it was because those in power had such strict moral codes, or perhaps it was peoples fears of them, that kept them in line.
Arturia knew that all three of the Legion's commanders despised this type of needless slaughter. Each for their own reason.
Riley, because it was often useless, and didn't gain her anything, plus it made her mates happy when she showed restraint and didn't violently murder civilians for no reason at all.
Tom because all it did was ruin lives and spread hatred, he thought it was best to just kill them and be done with it. If this kind of chaos was going to be unleashed then they were burning the city down afterwords and killing every living soul in it, because he wasn't going to let these atrocities come back to bite him. Tom wasn't about leaving people alive after you tortured them. In his experience they generally seek revenge unless you break them. So his motto was either completely destroy it, or don't commit the atrocities in the first place.
And then there was Itachi who was a pacifist by nature and didn't see the point in causing mayhem and destruction in a city you were trying to capture. After all, you wanted the people to be your new servants, so why brutally torture them before hand? That sort of thing spread fear, not loyalty. Much like Tom and Riley, he just didn't see the point in killing average everyday people who have nothing to do with the war or fighting in general.
Those that aided the war effort were fair game, but those that simply went about their lives as average people, were little more then sheep.
Arturia agreed with that mentality. While she tried her hardest to discipline her own men in her age, and ensure that they didn't commit such atrocities, she herself was often tempted by the demons of war, birthed from fires unleashed in battle. She always held true to justice however, and never allowed herself to succumb to the monsters of war.
It was at that moment that a soft cry pierced the air. The ladies turned as one, just as a door opened to a building nearby, and out walked a small child. A young girl who couldn't be more then four or five.
The child's hair was dark and messy, and one of her eyes was swollen shut. Her right arm was severely burned, to the point where bone could be seen where the flesh had been burned away. Nearly her whole right arm was blackened by the burns. Luna, Katie, Daphne, and Fleur all gasped in shock at the sight of the small child. Arturia tensed, and felt anger boil within her, while Kaede felt only pity.
"Mommy? My head hurts." The child whimpered as she stumbled out of the darkened ruins of her home and glanced around.
"Oh my god..." Katie muttered as tears began to gather in her eyes.
The rest of Riley's mates shared similar looks of disbelief and revulsion. It was Fleur though who broke free from her shock, the moment the child stumbled. She was quickly knelt down in front of the small girl, and gently held her chin focusing the child's face onto hers.
"Hello zere sweet heart." Fleur said gently, as the child focused her eye on Fleur as best she could.
"Where's my mommy? I got my shoes all messy..." The small child stated, obviously in shock and not knowing what was going on.
"It is alright, sweetie. I will help you find her." Fleur stated to the child, as she brought her wand to the child's head and knocked her out with a stunner.
She made sure to catch the small child and lower her to the dirt gently. She then glanced over at Luna who quickly made her way over and began using what medical knowledge she had to try and judge the child's condition.
"That's terrible." Katie stated with a shake of her head.
"Who would do that to a child?" Daphne muttered.
"Humans." Was Kaede's reply. She knew exactly how far humans were willing to go in their sadistic pursuits. While sickening, this was nothing new to her, and it wasn't surprising in the least.
"We need to get her back to the wall. I can try to stabilize her, but she's gonna need a skilled medic. The burns on her arm have gone down to the bone, and she's got major burns to her side as well. She needs proper medical attention." Luna informed them.
"Alright. I will levitate her there. You all watch my back." Fleur told her fellow mates. They all nodded and took up defensive positions as Fleur levitated the child off the ground and moved her back towards the wall.
The ladies did just that, and quickly retreated back to the wall.
-Meanwhile-
"So that's her." Roshi noted to his subordinate. He and seven other shinobi stood on a ruined building, watching as Riley barreled through a small army of enhanced Inferi.
"The Hero of the Burning Leaf. She's as terrifying as they say." One man noted as he saw Riley punch one of the enhanced Inferi so hard it flew several hundred yards and barreled into a building which quickly collapsed around it.
"You men fall back now. It time I ended this threat." Roshi ordered after a minute.
"Good luck my lord." They offered before quickly retreating.
"Are you ready Ape?" Roshi inquired as he withdrew a scroll from his pouch. This scroll was simple and plain, looking like little more then something a commoner would use to write a simple message. Within this scroll was a simple set of instructions. Roshi read them over once more before burning the scroll to ashes in his hands. He then removed a second scroll, this one was intricately designed and bore markings of the Uzumaki Clan. Roshi opened the scroll to find a seal diagram written on it. He placed his palm and the seal and channeled a bit of chakra. The seal crawled up off the paper and took up residence on his palm.
"Can I reiterate that this is a bad idea, and that we should leave?" The Ape growled out.
"We can't turn back now. It's time to face our destiny. This plan will either work, and Iwa will be one step closer to total victory… or it'll fail, and we'll die." Roshi replied.
"We'll die, for certain. Then she'll slaughter every single one of your men, your precious countrymen. Once she's done with them, I see it as a coin toss, she'll either go after Orochimaru and murder his trechorous ass, or she'll go after Iwa and steamroll through the country faster then you can say, 'We done fucked up'." The Ape stated with a shake of it's head, knowing this plan wasn't going to work.
"Have faith. I believe we have a chance. I believe that together, we can defeat her." Roshi, stated.
"Believe all you want. It doesn't change the fact though, that the moment your plan fails, she's gonna rip your ass open. So I'd prepare myself for that." The Ape snapped at him, not even trying to hide it's contempt at Roshi for not listening. Ever since the man became Tsuchikage, he'd turned into this holier-then-thou prick who thought it was his job to save everyone in Iwa, from everything. That translated out to him risking both of their lives in suicidal endeavors to defeat someone who held powers similar to those used to create the fucking Bijuu in the first place.
"Let's go." Roshi stated. Then in a burst of chakra, his body was suddenly covered in lava. Lit up like a star, Roshi dashed across the rooftops towards Riley, leaving burning wood and melted stones in his wake.
-Back with Riley-
Another Inferi screamed out in rage right before Riley drove her fist, hard into it's face, sending it's skull flying off into the sunset.
She turned to the next nearest Inferi when suddenly they all scattered. It was in that moment, when she suddenly felt a rush of demonic Youki slam into her.
Spinning around, she came face to face with the oncoming Roshi.
"Here comes the ape." Kurama noted.
"Feast on his bones." The Darkness intoned.
"You both are so helpful. Always there to point out the obvious." Riley stated aloud, as her eyes focused on and analyzed the bastard that was racing towards her.
The heat coming off of her fellow Jinchuriki was immense. The air boiled around him, and anything flammable nearby caught fire as he passed.
Riley could see the burning youki of the ape coursing through it's Jinchuriki's body. She took a solid breath, and then dashed forward to meet this foe head on. The two stopped, only a dozen meters away from one another and stared each other down.
"Roshi, the Red General of Iwa. Jinchuriki to the Four Tailed Demon Ape. Nice to make your acquaintance." Riley stated as she stared him down, her godly eyes boring into the man so hard, that it felt like she was looking through him.
"Riley, of the Uchiwa Clan. Lord of a multitude of Ancient houses. Hero of the Burning Leaf. Angel Slayer. And the woman who murdered the last Tsuchikage. I am Roshi, fourth Tsuchikage of Iwakagure. Today is the day you pay for murdering my friend and mentor Onoki." Roshi stated, his blazing figure, growing more intense as he felt anger begin to boil within himself.
"They made a Jinchuriki the Tsuchikage? Wow… I never thought Iwa would do something like that." Riley noted with a bit of surprise.
"You do not know the people of Iwa. They are brave and noble, with a will of stone. They chose me to be their defender." Roshi said his eyes focused on her.
"Ha… sure… Will of Stone… You know… I never understood naming your will after something. I mean a Will of Fire, a Will of Stone… you do realize those things end right? I understand the symbolism but in the same breath, fire goes out. Fire can be snuffed out, can be extinguished. Stone can be eroded away. You preach about your Will of Stone like you're an unshakable people. All that really means is that you're too stubborn to change you minds. Even as the water erodes away the stone and tears cracks in it, you refuse to budge, then when the water finally does it's job and breaks through the stone, your will shatters completely. You say Will of Stone like that means something great. All it really means is that you and your people will never change their ways, not until it's too late. You'll never surrender, not until it's too late to save your people." Riley critiqued him. She had had this conversation with Hashirama before too, he simply smiled and told her the point wasn't that the fire would last forever and be unchanging, in fact, the Will of Fire was meant to stand more for the intensity of one's belief rather then a representation of it's form. A person who held the will of fire was meant to believe in what they chose to believe, with all of their might.
A Will of Stone, was something different. A stone was un-moving, unchanging, it didn't spread or adapt. At least fire was living and could be reignited when it went out, which was the point. A Will of Stone, just meant you were bullheaded and wouldn't change your ways until everything had fallen apart and it was too late.
Riley quickly shook away those thoughts, as Roshi began moving. He flashed through handsigns and quickly called out the Earth Clone Jutsu.
The clone's came out burning and lit up like lava, just like Roshi did. Instead of rushing at Riley, the clones shot around her, forming a circle. This circle became a solid wall of intense heat. Had she been a human being, such a wall would have posed an immense threat to her, as the heat boiling off of Roshi and his clones was literally melting the stone around them.
"I think he's trying to end this outright." Kurama noted as he sensed the buildup of energy.
"He knows he can't defeat me in a prolonged battle, but what does he have planned?" Riley thought back as she took a defensive stance.
Suddenly, all of Roshi's clones began flashing through handsigns. They then spewed forth a stream of Lava.
The youki infused substance rushed at Riley, swallowing her in a sea of boiling, molten rock. She used Kamui to avoid the strike, and slowly levitated herself out of the lava.
"This can't be all they have planned. The Ape isn't stupid. Out of all of my siblings he's probably one of the smartest. He has to have warned Roshi that this wouldn't be this easy." Kurama stated.
"I know." Riley responded as she rose out the sea of lava, using her own demonic levitation powers.
Riley focused around her and tried to locate Roshi. The sea of lava was seeping off demonic energy that filled her vision, and clouded it over. The Youki of the Ape was strong enough to mask Roshi's energy, so the Jinchuriki vanished.
"Where are you?" Riley muttered as she glanced around herself.
Then suddenly, out of the Lava, burst a dozen of Roshi's lava clones. They each rushed at Riley, the heat billowed off of them, burning her skin as they threw punches and kicks at her.
With a blast from Shinra Tensei they were all sent flying back. Right then, Roshi himself dove out of the lava.
His palm shot towards her, and she spotted the seal on it. Her eyes shot to his and in an instant, she barreled into his mind.
"What the..?" The Ape began, but right in that instant, The Gravemind and the Darkness rushed through the connection, and slammed into the Ape, restraining it with their tentacles while Riley looked at Roshi's mind.
Even the most skilled warrior, couldn't help thinking about his plans.
Riley found herself skimming through some of Roshi's memories, more specifically the one's tied to what that seal mark was on his hand. Her answer came in the form of a memory from a few weeks back. She saw Roshi standing before a woman. A woman Riley recognized instantly. It was Mito.
Mito gave Roshi a set of scrolls, and then departed. One of the scrolls held the steps to a plan to destroy Riley. The steps were simple, hold her in place long enough to place the seal on her. Once done, retreat to a safe distance or throw up some kind of defense. The seal itself was a specialized chakra conversion seal. This seal, was meant to purify chakra, to the point where the magic within became blessed and holy.
Riley felt herself shudder as she recalled the burning pain that had been caused by Excalibur. That was holy magic, if Riley's own magic had been turned into Holy magic, it would have burned through her demonic body and soul, and fundamentally altered her on a spiritual level. In essence she would have become an angel, but that would have destroyed her personality and every part of her being. In essence, Riley would have died.
As she saw this, a horrible thought occurred to her, if Mito had intended this seal for Riley, then that might mean she knew what Riley was. Which wasn't possible, not unless Mito was a helluva lot stronger then she let on.
No, Riley quickly pushed that thought from her mind, it was more likely that Mito suspected she was something dark, and knew she wouldn't be able to fight if all of her magic was purified. Essentially the seal would have rendered Riley helpless.
"What the hell are you?" Son Goku demanded as Riley pulled back from Roshi's mind. He was currently wrapped up in dark and fleshy tentacles, both the Darkness and the Gravemind kept him restrained so that he couldn't push Riley out of Roshi's mind.
"A monster…" Riley answered with a smirk before withdrawing from Roshi's mind. She found herself still in front of him, as his palm slowly inched closer and closer to her, it was right at that moment that a black bone, erupted from her chest, spearing Roshi through the palm and seal. Roshi let out a cry of pain, and then grit his teeth in agony as he felt and saw the lava cloak recede along his arm, and felt his own chakra being pushed back by the Black bone.
Riley smirked a wicked smirk, and dove back into his mind. She quickly tore into his thoughts while the Ape struggled to push free. Riley was busy farming for as many secrets as she could get out of the Jinchuriki before she killed him, it was then though that she came upon a memory, a memory between Roshi and a spy of his.
-Memory-
"Are you sure about this?" Roshi asked the man, standing before him.
"Yes, my guy on the inside says that she spends every night with them and she's obviously bedding them. The way they act, and in some cases their exhausted states, are obvious giveaways. If timed appropriately we can take her out, and still retrieve genetic samples from the women she's with." The spy informed him. Roshi nodded and stared off for a moment. He then nodded and locked eyes with his comrade.
"Send word to your man on the inside. Tell him to stay close to them and report in as often as he is able. Once the attack on the Wind capitol begins, tell him to stay close to her lover's and be ready to grab one or more of them once I confront her." Roshi ordered, earning a nod from his comrade.
-End Memory-
Riley felt rage boiling within her. They had a traitor in their midst and he was going after her mates. She felt her anger begin to swell, as she reached out and grabbed Roshi by the throat, pulled him close to her.
Even with the burning pain in his skull, he couldn't help but display shock as seeing her not reacting to the heat of his lava body. She should have been burning, even with a fire base element. Instead, she seemed unharmed and instead, her veins began to light up, like they were on fire.
"You think you can hurt my mates and get away with it?" Riley snarled, and Roshi's eyes widened in surprise.
Riley's face started to twist and distort, her teeth became longer, her eyes turned blood red, and her pupils became slitted.
"Iwa will not fall to you..." Roshi ground out as he tried to get his chakra back under control, but the more angry Riley seemed to get, the more influence she seemed to gain over his chakra. The black bone through his palm was humming, vibrating even, and it seemed to almost be forcing his chakra into submission.
"Oh, it'll do more then fall to me. You targeted my mates… the next time I set foot in the Land of Earth, I'll kill every fucking cunt that gets in my way." Riley snarled.
Roshi let out an angry cry and drove his free fist hard towards her face. Instead of taking the hit from the flaming appendage, Riley turned her head and caught his fist in her teeth. It was inhuman how she had opened her mouth wide enough to get his closed fist around it, and Roshi let out a cry of pain as he felt razor sharp teeth tear into his flesh, piercing his lava cloak. With the power of a great predator, she bit clean through his hand, spitting out his severed fingers as the old man let out a cry of pain and surprise.
She quickly threw Roshi to the ground, and he was forced to stare up at her as she towered over him.
"Come my sweet child, it's time to play." Riley hissed with a menacing grin.
Just then, dark serpents rose from the ground around her and dark power billowed out of her body.
Very soon a dozen dark serpents had erupted from the ground and were grinning down at Roshi, their mouths filled with massive, razor sharp teeth.
"You see… what you failed to understand, what all of you fail to understand, is that this isn't a war. This is a game. Nothing more then a game… and the second I get sick of it… I can end you with utter ease." Riley whispered, and just then, darkness appeared over the sun, and the whole world turned dark, and red, (Affect of a Bloodcursed Arrow from Auriel's bow from Skyrim, Dawnguard.)
It was then that Roshi heard giggling within his own mind, and that giggling turned into full blown laughter. It took a moment before Roshi realized that it was the Ape laughing. Laughing at him. Laughing at Roshi for not listening to him, for not running when they had the chance.
-A few minutes Earlier-
"Will she be alright?" Fleur asked, as Elizabeth worked over the young girl they had rescued.
In her time in the present, Elizabeth had learned quite a bit about healing magic. She already had a keen mind for biology and anatomy, so it wasn't hard for her to pick up the skills needed to begin learning how to heal people. She quickly became one of the best, working alongside her Great-Great grandfather at times, to heal injuries during the war.
"The arm is a total loss. She's suffered burns all the way through it, it'll have to be amputated, and a new one regrown. Her other injuries aren't life threatening, so long as we can prevent infection." Elizabeth stated.
Fleur nodded sadly and stared down at the small child. While her hair was a different color, her face was remarkably similar to her little sister Gabrielle's face. Fleur felt herself sicken at the thought of that. Just as she was thinking about that, a loud cry was heard. Fleur shot to her feet, wand drawn. She made her way, away from the make-shift hospital that was being used, and found Luna standing over the Sand ninja that they had been traveling with earlier. The man was stunned. A few feet away was Katie, she wore this scowl on her face, and was glaring at the man.
"What happened?" Fleur asked.
"He tried to make a grab for Katie, I hit him with a stunner." Luna answered.
"Why was he grabbing for Katie?" Fleur asked with a confused look.
"I think he planned on taking her somewhere. My guess is that he has a portkey on him." Luna replied.
"He must be a spy, working for one of our enemies." Fleur noted, as she moved over to Katie and hugged her. Katie didn't look hurt, just a bit startled.
It was right about then that the sky turned black and the whole world turned dark.
"I think, Riley might be upset." Katie noted.
"An appropriate deduction." Luna agreed.
Everywhere in the city, people stopped what they were doing and looked up. The sun that had once sat high in the sky, was not concealed by some sort of darkness, almost like a black hole was covering it up.
Deimos and Midir let out vicious and violent roars, and just then a massive flash of darkness erupted just outside of the city, and in it's place was an army of nearly five thousand Suna ninja, led by the Kazekage.
They arrived, and the first thing they all did was turn skyward in surprise.
It was clear to everyone, there was something of great evil here now. The darkness that had radiated through the Iwa and Earth soldiers, the darkness that had been amplified by Orochimaru's experiments, it had all been swallowed up by a sea of evil, unlike any that they had felt before.
It was only then, that out of the shadows dark serpents emerged, their eyes filled with a carnal hunger.
Bruised and battered citizens could only watch in horror as serpents and tentacles closed in on their tormentors, eager to tear into their flesh.
-With Riley-
"Goodbye Lord Tsuchikage… know that your village wont be far behind you." Riley stated with a smile.
Roshi led out a growl and ignited with flames, trying his best to attack her again, but she just took the burning hit, and laughed at him. Her laughter soon started to mirror the Ape's own laughter within him. It was in that moment, that it finally clicked in his mind and the secret pealed back. The demonic laughter filled his ears and suddenly he understood just what he was dealing with.
It was Death. Death itself.
-?-
"It's almost beautiful." Mito whispered as she stared into the crystal ball before her. Through it, she could see the darkness tearing through Iwa's forces, ripping them to shreds as it did.
"Hm… just gets more and more interesting." Mito cooed as she ran her hand over her pregnant belly. She smiled down at her stomach, almost lovingly, when a loud growl caught her ear. The growl was followed by a loud clanging and rattling of chains. Mito scowled and looked to her right. There, she spotted a massive steel door. It had runes and seals carved into it, and crisscrossing it were a dozen sets of glowing golden chains, each one tagged with seals as well.
The chains rattled as something banged on the door beyond, it's growl an unholy sound, one that would have made grown men soil themselves in fear.
"Soon." Mito whispered as she turned away from the door and focused back on the crystal ball. Her gaze landed on Riley, and she found herself observing the Legionnaire commander.
Mito hummed with amusement and let out a little chuckle. "I'm think I'm starting to understand. You've got a role to play as well. Yes… soon indeed."
-To be Continued-
Alright there's the next chapter. Mito is still around and involved. Her plans are slowly coming together and it seems like she's trying different tactics on Riley, learning what she is and how best to fight her. Where is mito and how is she avoiding detection? Find out later. Ja Ne!
\