(Hikari's POV)

My green edged blade clashed against Sekijiro's orange one yet again the two of us zipping around the fortress testing one another. My Bolin had done his job, and my soldiers were flooding the stronghold intent on capturing it. The last major hurdle was Sekijiro who could turn this situation around if I gave him the opportunity. Disengaging, I leapt back before summoning two clones next to me. Neither hesitated before going rapidly going through their hand seals and blasting Sekijiro with a Wind Release: Multi Air Bullet and Fire Release: Feral Flame Thorns the two jutsu combining to create scorching hot, rotating flame bullets.

Sekijiro's blade was swift, and he used it to cut through and deflect each one, however I wasn't in the mood to give him any sort of rest. Charging in, I appeared right in front of him before activating Lightning Breathing Form 4: Thunder Swarm my blade lit up in lighting before I began slashing at the old bastard. He parried each slash with graceful swordsmanship honed through decades of dedication and practice, however it meant nothing in the face of this technique. Lightning began to strike Sekijiro each slash releasing a delayed thunderbolt each. Sekijiro was hit with five bolts before turning into ash and flying away. Reforming on the top of a wall Sekijiro looked down upon me. Disappointment marred his face.

He jumped off the roof, blade drawn and ready to cut me. He rushed me with his blade and began slashing at me. His movements were precise and now that he was the one on the offensive, I truly felt the vast difference in our kenjutsu abilities. Sekijiro movements consisted of fast and fluid strikes with random ones being a lot more forceful. I could honestly barely keep up, my most comfortable form, my lightning breathing was meant for precision and quick offensive strikes, its defensive capabilities weren't good enough to stop his blade. While I was able to block and avoid a few slashes, he was still getting some good hits in. Using a Chakra Chain from my back I pulled myself back. I needed to switch my strategy. One on One his kenjutsu abilities were just plain better than mine, and I couldn't land a solid hit as long as he could turn into ash. He was blocking me too well like he knew my technique as well as I did. What was I to do?

Let's try something different. Shifting my stance, to that of the Wind Breathing Form I launched myself at Sekijiro, my speed lowered slightly but my attack power drastically increased. Dueling again I found that this style was slightly more effective, my strikes were harder to block, but Sekijiro eventually grew used to them and would turn into a cloud of ash to avoid my strikes when necessary. Due to the lack of space and opportunity I could use one of the major techniques to blow him away. Trading blows I finally caught an opening when he slashed downwards his blade aiming for my neck. Getting in close I used a Chakra Chain to catch his wrist stopping the blades motion. Sekijiro was quick and stopped me from plunging my blade into him by sweeping my legs, sending me falling to the earth which is exactly what I expected. Using wind chakra manipulation and my flexibility I turned myself in the air and slashed upwards. "Wind Breathing Form 4: Rising Dust Wind." Sekijiro couldn't fully dodge in time but leapt back far enough to avoid getting too deep of a cut on his torso. Hmph, well that was interesting.

I readied myself for a second attack but before I could move, my body was wracked by an intense pain. Falling to one knee I began heaving. Damnit, I knew switching between breathing styles rapidly was taxing on the body, but I thought I had more time before the recoil hit. Bear and I were the only two people in the clan who could do it, due to our perfect chakra control allowing us to heal our body in between switching styles, however something was off. My breathing was too heavy, and my body was slower than normal. I began coughing violently, covering my mouth I continued to cough up a fit. When I finally stopped, pulling my hand away from my face. It was covered in blood, but it was weird the blood was darker than it should have been.

"Your mother was much more impressive; she would have killed me with just Lightning Breathing. She also would have noticed the thin layer of ash I've been releasing in the air to disrupt your kenjutsu abilities that require such a focus on breathing. What a shame, the Shihoin are truly doomed." He's dead. Breathing in deeply I used wind chakra manipulation and collected the ash in my body before expelling it. Sekijiro looked only a little more interested in me.

Gritting my teeth, I shot forward using Thunderclap and Flash my blade came close to cutting off the head of my adversary, however he was just barely able to dodge. Spinning behind him as I landed, I began slashing at him again. Knowing that he was able to contend against any of my styles individually I decided to mix it up, literally. Releasing my storage seal with backup chakra, I felt my chakra get restored before rushing towards him determined to take his life. Water Breathing Form 3,4,10: Constant Strike: Dancing Flux, Wind Breathing Form 7, 8, & 9: Primary Mountain Typhoon, Earth Breathing Form 4: Quaking Rebellion, Fire Breathing Form 1, 4, 7.: Unknowing Phoenix Bloom, Lightning Breathing Form 1, 3, & 7: Rumbling Spirit Flash.

Starting with water breathing I fluidly moved through the air dancing around Sekijiro and rapidly slashing at him with a water covered blade. Sekijiro was thrown off by the sudden shift in style I was able to land a few hits before he was able to adapt. Once he began to effortlessly parry me, I immediately switched styles the water now turning into wind before slashing upwards sending him into the sky before following it with a volley of wind blades slashing at him. Sekijiro was once again caught off guard to the change in style from a fluid and graceful technique to a fast hyper offensive once again confusing him. Sekijiro tried his best to evade or block the wind but due to his inability to turn into ash without being blown away he had a much more difficult time doing so. It also didn't help the fact wind slashes were invisible and Sekijiro had to track the movement of my swings to determine where they would hit. Eventually he began to catch on, so I switched tactics once again. Earth natured chakra flowed into my blade a seismic vibration following it. I slammed my blade down onto him sending the seismic vibration through his blade and into him. The vibration began pummeling his body with concussive force, internal bruising coursing through his body. He immediately disengaged his body becoming ash before creating distance, however I wasn't one to just let my prey get away. When he reformed his blade became cloaked in a dark purple chakra shroud, slashing at me multiple waves of dark ash. Cloaking my blade in flames I began blocking the dark ash burning through them. When I reached him, I struck at him with a circular torrent of flames, following it with a vertical slash that released a wave of fire, and finishing it before thrusting repeatedly multiple flaming birds extending from my blade, each striking at him from a different angle than blade. Sekijiro was again thrown off by this shift in style and allowing me to land a few more hits. He tried his little smoke trick once again to gain distance, but I was prepared for that. Channeling lightning chakra into my legs I raced to where I saw him begin to reform. The second he reformed I slashed his chest with lightning. Sekijiro flew back but he couldn't get too far from the lightning forming a cage around us. The cage shot lightning at him every time I slashed, forcing him to dodge or block. Smirking as I finally figured out his little trick, I absorbed the cage into my blade before it became a dark orange, when we clashed again, I sent the burning lightning directly into his blade shattering it. Sekijiro looked at me in shock.

*BOOM*

A sonic boom was released from the blade slamming into Sekijiro and sending him flying back with so much force I could hear his ribs crack before he crashed through a wall. Getting up slowly I could tell Sekijiro wasn't expecting that, touching the cut on his chest, I could see the realization in his eyes. I was more than a little girl trying on her mother's shoes, I was a kunoichi, I was a threat, and I would be his demise.

Sekijiro charged me this time his speed at what I assumed to be his max. I braced myself and was glad I did so as he began slashing at me at least 3 yards away, his ash coating his blade and extending its reach. My own blade was now coated in earth natured chakra to increase its hardness as I defended myself. Sekijiro's ash blade began to heat up as he got closer and when he finally reached me it felt like I was dueling the sun. The two of us went back and forth trading blows and parrying blades for what seemed like forever. As we clashed blades, I felt as if I was drowning in the battle. My speed increased, my strength grew, my senses seemed to dial in, and my reflexes sharpened. Sekijiro looked dialed in as well and soon it felt like it was just the two of us, in this eternal battle. Waiting for one to make a mistake. Fortunately for me Sekijiro was the first to do it.

His body was too old and weak to continue this fight at this high of a level. It was disappointing. Knowing that this fight wouldn't last much longer I performed three slashes, the first blocking his strike and knocking his blade out his hand, the second cutting off his left arm so he couldn't catch his blade, and finally I struck him down slashing his chest deep enough to cut multiple organs. When I sheathed my blade, I finally felt the world come back to me and a pain unlike any other surged through my body. I fell to my knees; this was more excruciating than when I switched between breathing forms. I couldn't even heal myself; all my body could register was the pain.

"Relax, don't strain yourself child. You've won." I couldn't respond to him; my muscles felt ripped to shreds with each one burning & my bones felt fractured and decimated. I could barely hear what he was saying through the pain, so I tried to focus on regaining my composure. "Relax, child. You will be fine; you briefly touched the pinnacle of swordsmanship. Like most, you probably did not realize it, but you entered what we swordsmen call The Zone. It is the pinnacle of a swordsmen's mental capabilities. You and your blade truly became one, and without realizing it you began flowing through every technique you knew flawlessly, switching between styles with one move. It was truly a sight to behold."

As time passed my body began to settle, medical ninjutsu now circulating in my body repairing the damage. Despite that I still couldn't move so I looked over at him. Something wasn't right. This man had fought me and pushed to my limits as a swordswoman and yet he could have easily just killed me before I figured it out. He also was a Kekkei Genkai user, that ash technique couldn't have been anything but even if it was from a relatively small and possibly unknown clan. Add on to the fact that he was now complimenting me, instead of heling himself and killing me, he was too… honorable.

As I felt my body begin to return to normal, I realized something. If Yagura was trying to kill all Kekkei Genkai users, why did he still allow some to fight for him. How did he pick whether one was worthy or redemption or persecution? An even weirder occurrence, was the fact that the tensions of this war had been building since the siege on Kirigakure and yet Mei hadn't recruited every ally she could. In fact, based on the intel she didn't start recruiting her side until Yagura had already begun enacting his laws against Kekkei Genkai wielders. I needed to get to the bottom of this.

Slowly walking over to Sekijiro despite my body's protest I began to prolong his life. While it would be a tossup if I could outright heal him, I could at least dull his suffering and keep him alive long enough to answer some questions. The old man looked shocked as I reduced the pain "Hey Oldie, something about this war ain't sitting right. Something about Mei is wrong. I know you know so tell me what's up?" Something about Mei sacrificing other clans and the ones she chose to get out first hadn't sat well with me.

"Hmph, you are a smart child. There's hope for the future generations after all it seems. Your suspicions surrounding Mei Terumi are warranted the woman is not the benevolent leader she'd like everyone to think she is." Damn, this was going to complicate things immensely. "Mei Terumi was once part of Yagura's elite Executioner Squad and was one of our main strategist in the war. She had a hand in the assassination of the Stone Daimyo's heir, the razing of the Kumo Farmlands, and the Siege of Konoha." My chakra skyrocketed immediately. That bitch being a part of one of the worst days of my life was enough for me to personally justify her death. Political landscape be damned. "After the war, her, Yagura, and Mikazuchi Kurome were considered for the title of Mizukage, unfortunately though Kurome-dono mysteriously passed from an illness that our medics hadn't detected in the field. Complete bullshit. Mei or Yagura poisoned and killed her."

"Due to the mysterious nature of the situation and the losses suffered in the war, Yagura took that as his opportunity to blame the Kekkei Genkai wielders tasked with defending the village. At first people were skeptical of him but then the Executioners began rounding up the strongest of the Kekkei Genkai users in the village. Each one disappearing one by one. Mei was in charge at the time and quote saved as many as she could unquote." My eyes narrowed. So that's what she did.

"She knew she was going to start a revolution but used her position of power to gain allies while also disposing of those who could be a threat to her." Sekijiro's bloody smirk told me all I needed to know. "Who?"

"The leaders of the Yuki Clan, Kaguya Clan, Hozuki, Hakaimaru, Mikazuchi, and Zenken were all removed from play. The Yuki Clan head's daughter also went missing, her potential to surpass her mother also threatened Mei's claim." Sighing, I closed my eyes more than a little annoyed with my client. "Some people only joined Yagura as a way to oppose Mei, including myself. When the war first started, I swore off both sides content on focusing on my students and raising the power of my clan, unfortunately Mei had other plans. When I refused to join her, she didn't take it well. She burned down my school and threatened the lives of my family and students. I lost my eldest son that night, killed by her magma. She told me if I didn't join, I'd lose the rest of them and I just couldn't stand by that so I did the only thing I could think of, I joined Yagura's faction." My blood was boiling. This was wrong. I understood trying to secure your power but to sacrifice innocent people who aren't even opposing you but instead choosing to remain peaceful… I couldn't let this continue. I summoned my burrowing owls and sent them to collect the Juyubiwa, from what I could sense the base had been captured and everything was settling down.

"Is there anyone left who could realistically replace the two?" Sekijiro coughed, despite my best efforts his wounds were a little too much, especially at his advanced age. "Bastard, just fucking heal."

"It's alright child, I've accepted my fate. Save your chakra." Regrettably, I cut off my jutsu. It just felt so wrong. A Shinobi's job was to die for their country and their village, while also leaving behind something or someone that would replace them. During the Great Ninja War, I had accepted that and with every mission I went on I took that with me. It was easy too, because I was defending my village from the others, but could I have done it if the village itself was my enemy? Kirigakure and the Land of Water were being torn apart by two idiots who were too drunk on their own power and now innocent people had to pay. Mei and Yagura... Two sides of the same evil coin, both clamoring for power, so they could make the village in their own image. I had to do something. Looking directly in his eyes, I could see that we had both come to the same realization. "As of right now there are only those with the potential to replace them. Shirona Yuki, Byakura Tetsuko, and Simon Mikazuchi. Each one has the potential and the prestige to become Mizukage, however they aren't ready now which is the problem. Kiri won't follow a weak Kage." As soon as the words left his mouth he began to cough, blood erupting from his lips.

"I'm sorry." Normally, I felt no remorse in killing in war but something about this was different. This was unnecessary and forced. I felt cheap and used.

"Make sure Mei, *cough* wins." If I wasn't trying to appease his death, I would have yelled in protest. "She may not be the ideal choice, but she'll save the most lives. For those that she forsakes, protect them from the shadows, like the Shihoin have always done." I nodded, unfortunately he was right. Mei, despite being a horrible option, was still the best we had. "May I ask for a favor, will you save my family and my students, take them back to Konoha please, Mei will kill them if she wins." I nodded; I'd do everything in my power to protect them. "Thank you, for saving my home. Your mother would be proud." I nodded before watching the light fade from his eyes. While I didn't need his validation it was still nice to hear.

"Rest easy old man." Pressing two fingers to a seal on my wrist, a small orange toad with the kanji for transport appeared. "I need the big guy please." The toad nodded and after doing the signs for summoning jutsu, brought Jiraiya to me, but there was a slight problem. It was a very naked Jiraiya who appeared, something I definitely didn't want to see. "DUDE WHAT THE FUCK!?"

"DUDET WHAT THE FUCK!? THAT SHIT WAS FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY! DOESN'T LOOK A FUCKING EMERGENCY TO ME!"

"IT IS AN EMERGENCY! WELL KINDA, MAYBE, IDK, I NEED YOUR ADVICE, I THINK! PUT SOME FUCKING CLOTHES ON RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" Jiraiya quickly did so, putting on the standard Onmitsukido outfit. The Juyubiwa arrived shortly after each one looking like hell, they're task must have been hard on them. Bear and Raien came with a very beautiful woman with pale skin, jade eyes, and jet black hair, I'm assuming the representative of the Yuki. Akaru brought along Renji the two of them were… play fighting? Both of them looked like shit so I'm sure there was a story there. Albis was last, Yorozu was with her running towards Sekijiro who was still on the ground. Behind her was a little girl's head hanging low. Was that? Holy fuck.

"SOI FON WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING HERE!" Everyone turned towards her. I sent a chakra chain at her and punched her in the face, before wrapping her in a tight hug. "DON'T YOU EVER DO SOMETHING SO STUPID AGAIN! THIS IS A FUCKING WARZONE; YOU COULD BE KILLED YOU AREN'T READY FOR THIS YET!" I may have been sobbing, a little. Soi Fon was my little sister, I needed her to be safe, I couldn't lose her. After confirming she was okay. I turned to the rest and appraised them.

The lower rings all had minor scratches and bruises, all of them completed their assignments it seemed. I explained to them what I knew of the situation, and they all took it in, from what I could tell everyone was either pissed, shocked or both and I knew we wouldn't be able to continue the mission as is. When I was done, a tense silence permeated the area before Jiraiya spoke up.

"I think it's time we consulted the Hokage on this matter." I grit my teeth. Minato would pull us back and I'd lose my one shot at revenge. Yagura would win and more innocent people would die. Mei could expose our involvement if she loses, and another war could start if the other nations thought Konoha had attempted to gain power through the struggles of another nation. Everyone looked towards me as soon as he said it. I was mission leader, and it was my call to make but… I couldn't be certain it was worth it.

"Jiraiya… find Sekijiro's family and students, and the Yuki Clan Princess. We are going to help Mei win, but I refuse to let innocent people die because of it. Akaru and Renji contact the Konoha Navy and tell them to send over three ships. Lead the Yuki Clan back to Konoha then stay there, I'll tell Mei you both died in a suicide jutsu. Yorozu, Mei wants to recruit you but so do I, it's your choice but whatever you decide, I'll support you as much as can. Raien, Albis, Mako, Bolin, Tsukiomi get every available fighter and take them to the loading dock on the eastern shore, we have to continue as planned, so we don't attract suspicion. Leone, Bear stay here grab anything interesting and then make sure our wounded are taken care of. Collect any who might have died as well. Also start setting up defenses just in case. Minarai you're with me until I say otherwise. You all have your task, but the mission has slightly changed. We save as many people as possible now understood?" Everyone nodded, before I waved them off, each going to complete their assigned task except for Yorozu and Soi Fon.

"I pick you, if you don't mind." I looked over at Yorozu and gave her a faint smile. From her body language and the dried tears on her face I knew it wasn't a decision she made logically but in anger. I understood, I recognized the hatred in her eyes from my own.

"Thank you. Your first order is to shoot non-lethal arrows at my Minarai here, since she felt the need to sneak her way onto this mission, I suddenly feel the need to test if she is ready. First test, dodging. Hopefully this will let you let off some steam as well." The blanched face of my apprentice heavily contrasted the smirk on our faces.

"Oh, this is just what I needed. Especially after your little sneak attack earlier. I'd say it's nothing personal but…" I watched as she got out what I assumed to be blunted soft tipped arrows before aiming at my now sweating apprentice. "I'd be lying." And so, it began.

For the next hour I would be greatly entertained, some saying they could hear my laughter from the other end of the island.


(Hikari's POV)

This next island was always going to be the more difficult of the two, as this was the one where everything was stacked against us. We were tired, they were on high alert, and they had high ground. Everything was against us in this scenario. As the boat began to get closer to the island, I called over the Juyubiwa and my head officer. Raien, Albis, Mako, Bolin, Leone, and Tsukiomi were all here with me. I wondered if I would regret sending Akaru and Renji with the Yuki Clan members who we had liberated from the island and leaving Bear behind to watch over our injured. We had done well losing only about 2% to death or crippling injury, with another 8% being too injured to continue. It was smart of me to leave 20 of my men in reserve, a fact I had kept hidden from Mei. I had sent a request to bring back some members of the clan who were in training to join the Onmitsukido. If they wanted to join the big dawgs, then they had to prove they were ready for it.

Turning to my officers, I sighed. "Here's the mission, intel reported that this base holds some pretty strong Shinobi. Byakura Tetsuko, Kiganjō Kurosei, Sakuya Wakatoshi, Momoi Takeda and Yamashiro Hozuki each are pretty skilled. Kiganjō is the strongest, but Byakura is the most dangerous. Both are former students of Sekijiro, so I know they have a strategic mindset in terms of combat. As for the other's I don't know what the fuck to expect."

"Raien you'll handle Kiganjō, Albis you'll go up against Momoi, Mako you'll fight Sakuya, Tsukiomi you'll fight Yamashiro. Bolin, Leone will lead our main forces." I turned towards my head officer "Remove your head tie and mask." When he did, I was face to face with a young boy maybe a year older than myself. His face fit his frame; he was a little taller than me with lean musculature. His hair was snow white and his eyes were heterochromatic, one a vibrant green and the other a rich violet. His hair was of medium length framing his face and stopping at the halfway point of his neck. I'd seen him around before, but I had no idea he was the head officer, as it was usually a position picked by the elders right before the mission. Their main purpose was to spy on the clan head and ensure that we were effectively leading while also managing the direct needs of our troops to the best of their abilities. "What's your name?"

"Enjimaru Shihoin." Hmph, so that's who he was. I'd first heard of his name from my mother as a little girl, a rising prodigy but a bastard of the Hatake who had been disowned on the orders of his sperm donor's new wife. He sought refuge in the arms of his mother's clan and has flourished ever since. We had met a few times as children and I had developed a crush on him at one point that I never acted on. We had been on a few missions together during the war and he even helped protect me during the battle with Kumo. He seemed qualified, and he definitely felt strong if his chakra was any indication.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"15, Shihoin-sama." His voice was soft but not weak by a long shot. He was intriguing to say the least.

"Reports say you took out 28, enemy soldiers within 10 mins using a partially complete Shunko, is that correct?"

"31, Shihoin-sama, I reduced three to dust and ash, which no one could confirm." Everyone around us began to chuckle, prideful little shit. Looking at him I contemplated what I should do. A performance like that deserves to be evaluated in some capacity and if he met my standards, it would only be right to add him to the Lower Moons. "Byakura has a younger sister by the name of Rika, I'd like for you to be her opponent. I need her alive so don't kill her. This will be your Juyubiwa test, so go appoint someone who can fill in for your duties until after the mission."

"H-H-Hi-Hai, a-a-a-ari-ri-ga-to Sh-Sh-Shih-ho-in-sa-sama." The boy was so excited he couldn't speak properly and that amused us all. I dismissed everyone before turning to Sanshima which was now coming into view. Letting out an exasperating sigh, I began to mentally prepare. Here goes round 2.


Mei Terumi's forces kinda sucked. When I sent them here for the initial attack, I figured they'd at least make it to the walls, but nope I completely overestimated them. The base, which resembled a castle, was still standing unscathed. Luckily the sun hadn't come up yet as we were able to move stealthily towards the base. My men were quiet and efficient as we got closer to our target the tension of the air was palpable. Once we were in position, I gave Bolin a hand signal and he ran up to the east wall before placing his hand on it and pumping it with chakra. I felt a twinge of guilt as those manning the wall and watchtowers were probably going to die in agony yet were completely unaware of that fact at this moment. It didn't take long before the wall exploded, and an eruption of lava covered the east side. "IKUZO!" We all charged, instantly leaping over the lava and entering the base.

I ignored the screams of men on the wall and focused on their response time, which was quick. This place was way more prepared than the last fortress, its troops actually mobilized quickly to defend their stronghold. It would be enough though. Scanning around I saw Leone and Bolin leading the troops against the fodder ninja.

! ! ! ! !

"EVERYONE BEHIND ME!" I sent chakra into my throat in order to enhance the volume before leaping forward two clones appearing on either sides of me. "Water Release: Water Wave Wall!" Forming a semi-circle my clones and I expelled a massive surge of water that turned into a wave, in the nick of time. If it wasn't for my Danger Sense I might've not noticed it but as soon as my waves got a certain distance a wall of pink blades that resembled cherry blossom petals clashed into it. Looking up I could see Byakura on a higher floor of the courtyard. When the pink blades returned to him, I scowled he was going to be annoying. The rest of the heavy hitters all jumped and landed on either sides of him, probably as a show of intimidation, and a declaration of war. The Juyubiwa weren't far behind landing next to me at my sides, each ready to challenge their assigned opponents. Byakura raised a blade and pointed it at me as if he was demanding I stand down or fight. My response, the drawing of my own blade and a look that said fuck off, kicking off the beginning of our battle.


(Tsukiomi's POV)

Shifting into my partial tiger form I chased after the half white, half green haired bastard my claws fully extended and ready to rip him apart. His response? He raised his hand in the air, his pointer and middle finger pointing directly at me, before flicking his thumb up and down repeatedly. Small but fast balls of water ripped through the air and being that I wasn't one to take my chances I attempted to dodge them all with one grazing my left cheek and the other grazing my thigh.

"Nice, try dodging this though. Water Release: Water Weaving Web." Leaping back, I began running around the courtyard, multiple strings of water having shot out of his forearms intent on snaring me, or so I thought. When he began waving his arms around the water whips began tearing through its surroundings going through wood, stone and even metal. Knowing I couldn't dodge forever, I began watching him intently. Albis was always telling me; I was too straight forward and that sometimes I needed to actually analyze the situation I was in. His water strings were as hard as steel, his ability to switch into his water body and move out my attack range was an almost perfect defense, and he still hadn't pulled out his blade.

Even knowing all this I couldn't figure out jack shit on what I was supposed to do. Unlike the others I was the only member of the Juyubiwa unable to use Shunko, my partial transformation wasn't enough either and I couldn't use my full transformation for more than 47 secs. From what I remembered about the clan they could turn their bodies into water, but I could disrupt it with lightning ninjutsu only the problem was I only knew two long-range and one mid-range techniques all of which he could possibly dodge. I couldn't use them too early, I had to be patient about it… but if I didn't get or make an opening soon, I would lose this fight, this fucking sucks. I really wished I had gotten the Breathing Styles down but fighting with a blade just wasn't my style.

Yamashiro charged me again this time his blade drawn and glowing blue. Taking out my tanto in a reverse grip, I began dueling with him. The two of us began clashing blades sparking as they struck one another. Something had changed, he was faster, stronger, and his movements were sharper. My kenjutsu wasn't as good as his own and all I could do was dodge the fatal cuts and take the shallow ones. Blocking a downward slash with my blade, I charged my blade with lightning chakra, Yamashiro immediately disengaged, not wanting to have the lightning travel through his own blade. I could feel the feral grin on my face, as I chased after pumping massive amounts of lightning chakra into my blade. Yamashiro began attempting to dodge but she couldn't as lightning surged out of the blade and in the direction of my slashes.

After about a minute of playing cat and mouse we both stopped moving, the two of us were panting heavily. Neither of us had huge chakra reserves and this battle was longer than we were both expecting. We were both the fast and strong type, preferring to take out our opponents in a single strike, while I use my overwhelming strength to obliterate their inner organs, he targets their vital organs and kills them cleanly and precisely.

Looking at Yamashiro, I noticed that unlike myself he wasn't sweating. He wasn't running low on chakra; he was running low on stamina. He couldn't sweat, his body would just reabsorb the water. He was overheating, he couldn't keep fighting like this without a way to cool himself down. This is exactly what I needed. Going through some hand seals, I inhaled a huge amount of air before blowing it out. Fire Style: Blasting Roar a massive torrent of flames attempting to engulf him. Yamashiro turned his body into water, jetting down to the ground and out the way of my flames. When he reformed, I was already in motion charging at him my hand cloaked in bright white flames, Fire Style: Byakko Claws. Swinging my flaming claws around I watched as he tried to dodge, but his body was getting sluggish. This was evidently shown when I slashed at his waistline a massive burst of steam, blinding me.

Yamashiro hissed in pain before jumping back in pain. He looked pained and I knew my strategy actually worked. Holy shit, this using your head shit actually worked. Yamashiro, knowing he was in trouble pulled out a blue scroll with the symbol for water on it. Shit, I needed to stop him now. If charged him I might not be fast enough to close the distance in time, none of my jutsu would reach it in time, and if I threw a kunai, he could just turn his arm into water. Damnit. I had too many options, no he had too many options. What would Albis do? What would Mako do? What would Hikari-chan do? Grabbing my tanto, I charged it with lightning chakra before chucking it at Yamashiro. I knew the blade wouldn't reach him, but I didn't need it too. The lightning in the tanto shot out as a spike of electricity. Yamashiro unable to use his water body jumped to the right, barely avoiding the lightning, exactly as I hoped.

Channeling chakra into my legs, I released it "Thunder Breathing Form 1: Thunderclap and Flash: No Sword Style." I jetted off towards the predicted location. I had seen Mako and Leone use this technique a million times and I could never do it, I just sucked at kenjutsu.

Flashback

"Hey, Kari-chan, why'd you let me join the Juyubiwa if I can't use any breathing techniques? I thought the elite of the Shihoin had to excel in kenjutsu." I asked panting on one knee. Hikari and I had been sparring for what seemed like hours, yet unlike during the war I couldn't touch her. She had completely levelled up.

"Hmmm, because you're strong obviously."

"Yeah, but is that really enough… I don't feel strong. You've gotten so much stronger… I can't even touch you." Hanging my head in shame, I hoped that Hikari heard me and that she would recognize that I wasn't strong enough.

"Hmmm, nah. You can't touch me cause you're not fighting like you. You're trying to fight like me or Mako, who you should ask out by the way." Thank Kami, for my dark skin, because it definitely hid my blush. "You gotta go back to fighting like you, and you gotta just improve upon that. Now get up, I wanna test some new techniques out punching bag."

Return to Present

I was right in his face in a flash moving at the speed Hikari usually does when using it. Yamashiro was visibly surprised at the technique. My hands plunged into the chest of Yamashiro whose body had turned into water. I channeled fire natured chakra into my hands, Yamashiro began to boil and scream in pain. Yamashiro tried to grab his blade, but I just upped the temperature. My fire ninjutsu, began burning hotter and you could see my hands begin to glow orange.

Yamashiro, began to steam profusely, as he evaporated his screams grew louder and louder, up until the point where the screams died down and he was nothing but steam. Once I was sure he was dead, I took out a food pill and restored some chakra. Looking at the battlefield, I noticed our troops were doing pretty well. As I picked a target and prepared to jet off and help my comrades a massive explosion rang out from the east wall, blowing everyone back. It even sent me into a wall. Once I regained my bearings, I looked towards the location where the explosion was and what I saw shocked me to my core. The monster I was looking at was indescribable. I could sense the killer intent and I knew that whoever was fighting that thing would need backup. Fuck I was going to regret this.


Mako's POV

Clashing blades with Sakuya had not gone as I expected. The woman was a lot more skilled than I thought, her technique was flawless. Each swipe of her blade was calculated and precise, each methodical in nature and targeted my vital organs intent on extinguishing my flames of life. Performing a backflip, I landed on the roof of a small fixture. Going through my hand seals I launched a Fire Style: Torch Song and a Fire Style: Will-O-Wisp at my opponent. The torch song was a medium sized ball of orange and blue flames that was extremely quick. Sakuya charged her blade with her own green flames and used it to try and redirect the orb, which is exactly what I expected. Right when our flames made contact, I detonated the flames. A massive explosion rang out and the flame engulfed her.

I wasn't really concerned with that, as my twelve Will-O-Wisps began forming, these crimson flames were small and had menacing glowing yellow eyes, eight shot towards her emitting a cackling sound, while the rest hovered next to me. Sakuya didn't wait for the flames and smoke to clear, jumping into the air blade drawn, she had light burns on her but was otherwise unharmed. Her blade became bright green before it cut through the wisps, each wisp dissipated before flowing into her blade and entering her body. Drawing and cloaking my blade in flames, I charged again only this time with the wisps, our blades clashed her green blade against my own which was cloaked in flames. The clash didn't last long though as one of my wisp shot a ball of flame at her. While Sakuya was more skilled than I and would probably defeat me in kenjutsu, my wisps evened out the playing field. The last four wisp were twice the size of the ones I shot at her earlier and would work in conjunction with my swordplay shooting fireballs, fire jets, or rushing in to try and chomp on her. Sakuya was doing everything she could to dodge them her wind release allowing her to gracefully dodge and dance around the flames while still fighting me.

Sakuya must have grown sick of her disadvantage as she leapt back putting distance between us as she started to run through hand signs. A smirk appeared on my face as a green shroud of chakra began to cover her healing her injuries. Unfortunately for her that's exactly what I wanted as she was suddenly engulfed in a thin layer of flamelike chakra causing even more burns to appear and dropping her to one knee. "Those wisps… they… are… time lagged… how?"

"What's it matter to you, this is the end for you anyway." I began charging at her ready to end it, once I was close enough, I noticed her smirking. Fuck.

"Water Style: Hot Spring Death" Out of nowhere a massive geyser of water erupted from below us dousing me and my remaining wisps in scalding water. Luckily due to my training in mastering fire release I was able to withstand the flood of boiling water, but I still gained a few minor burns. When the flooding and eruption finally stopped, I found myself swimming to the closest wall and regaining my footing on it. Plenty of our shinobi and theirs had been caught and almost everyone was trying to regain their bearings. Sakuya was the only one not to be surprised so she was in a prime position to rush towards me blade drawn and a violent gale surrounding her boosting her speed and power.

Quickly raising my blade and setting it ablaze we began to trade blows, our blades continuously clashing and looking for that final kill strike. She was faster and stronger, and I was beginning to lose ground with each engagement. My body was getting littered with shallow cuts, and I needed to find a way to make space before they could get any deeper. On our next exchange, I allowed to get a pretty decent upward slash on my chest before jetting back with Inaba Flicker, she was prepared for that though and with only a half of a second's delay she chased after me. "GOTCHA!" Sticking out my hand I shot a barrage of super-fast chakra chains at her, while not as strong as Hikari's or as durable as Bolin's they were the fastest of the family and Sakuya despite her own speed boosting abilities couldn't avoid them all and was pierced in the shoulder, side, and thigh. I wasn't done though as I flooded her system with lightning that traveled up the chains. Her agonizing screams, wasn't something I was proud of, but war is war. She proved her toughness though using wind to slash through the chains and stopping the current.

Not wanting to lose the momentum I sheathed my blade before gathering my chakra, I knew she would heal herself again which would only give me a slight moment to counter. Shunko: Fire flames erupted out of my back and shoulders before wrapping around my body and settling as a thin cloak of flames. My sandals were incinerated as the bottom of my feet began glowing orange and I shot towards Sakuya a jet of flames shooting out my soles. Her healing jutsu ended before she was forced to dodge a roundhouse kick that would have separated her head from her body. Landing on the ground I began to throw a flurry of blows at her with flames erupting from my soles, elbows, and shoulders to boost my speed and power. Sakuya was now the one getting pressed unable to completely dodge or block, her wind technique was getting eaten by my flames. As we fought, I suddenly found and planted a jet thrust boosted strike to her gut which sent her flying. As soon as it connected, I saw her complete a hand sign and disengaged quickly before taking off into the air avoiding the boiling water she had used before. Our troops were more prepared this time evacuating the area to not get caught in it. I could see Sakuya smirking as she began manipulating the water and sending multiple tendrils at me. Gritting my teeth, I tried to dodge but my midair maneuvers was still something I was working and I found myself getting struck or slashed in between my dodges. Flying up even higher I decided to end it with a final attack before shutting off my Shunko and just dropping towards her. Using my blade, I coated it in a dense layer of lightning before using it to cut through any water tendrils I couldn't dodge. Sakuya wasn't fazed however and when it was time for me to stab her, I only felt my blade go through waster her having side stepped my attack her own blade falling to decapitate me.

"Checkmate. Shunko: Lightning" Standing on a massive body of electrocuted water wouldn't be safe for anyone who didn't have a lightning armor or Shunko and while Sakuya was fast my lightning was faster the following shockwave knocking her on her ass before I canceled the jutsu. When my attack died down, the water was evaporated and Sakuya was sprawled on the ground. Panting I took a good luck at her, her long green hair was sprawled around her, her kimono was burnt in some places and loosened so I could see a good deal of her body, including her most of her large breasts. I quickly turned my head blood rushing to both of my heads before slapping the sides of my face. Hikari would be so disappointed if she caught me doing that.

"You hit harder than a fucking elephant you know that?" I turned back around to see Sakuya was already awake, and her wounds were healing. Grabbing my blade, I felt my muscles ache as I prepared to fight again. "Don't worry I'm done fighting. I didn't even want to fight in this fucking war anyway. You're Onmitsukido from the Shihoin, which is Konoha right?" Shit we were supposed to keep our identity as Shihoin a secret. "I recognized the Shunko. Look I won't tell anyone on the condition you let me join you guys. I didn't want to fight in this war. Yagura is insane but Mei is just as devious and malicious. I know for you guys it's about revenge and money, so I won't fault you for fighting with her but still… I can't live in her Kiri. Let me join you." Well, that wasn't what I was expecting…

"It's not really up to me but my imouto is the clan head and she has some weird thing about taking in strays. You should be goo-" I was cut off when a massive surge of chakra appeared suddenly. I turned to Sakuya who was sweating profusely. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?"

"A monster. We're all going to die."


Enjimaru's POV

Now was my time to shine. I had waited months for this opportunity to get one step closer to her. Ever since I met Hikari-sama as a child I had felt a deep love and admiration for her and had done everything I could to get close to her or protect her. I had to make her proud here. My opponent was a girl around Hikari-sama's age, she had jet black hair that was tied into a single braid that went down her back and deep violet eyes that seemed to peer into my soul. She was wearing a black shorter sleeved shihakusho, long white gloves that covered went from her lower biceps to the base of her fingers, a white cloak and a white snowflake hairpin. Her blade was gorgeous, it was all white with a snowflake hilt and a long white ribbon. She was a dangerous beauty and it made me all the more nervous.

"Fire Release: Gatling Sparks" Multiple high speed fireballs shot towards her. Rika swatted the flames away with her blade before slashing at me and sending nearly invisible blades of chakra at me. Taking out my own blade I prepared myself to block it when I noticed the chakra of the slashes began changing. Leaping back, I watched as the first slash erupted into an arc of ice spears intent on skewering me had I waited to block. I dodged the other two and watched how they also exploded into ice. "Fire Breathing Form 7: Blazing Reach." Taking out my own blade I charged at her flames covering the blade. Rika tried doing the same sending more arcs of chakra at me but this time I was able to extend the reach of my blade using the flames and blocked each strike before they could tough me. When I was right in front of her prepared to engaged, she suddenly stabbed the tip of her blade into the ground causing a massive amount of ice spikes to come in between us.

As a swordsmen it seemed odd that she was trying to keep her distance, but she must think I'm a close range fighter and she had the advantage. Foolish girl. "Lightining Release: Vibrant Festival, a flash of lightning traveled through the air to strike her. Rika didn't dodge, instead opting to wave her blade in the air before pushing it forward in a stabbing motion. At first nothing happened but then as my lightning began to get closer to her it slowed down until dissipating completely. "Fire Release: Red Dragon's Pride."

I released a torrent of crimson flames that bathed the space between us and waited. Something was off. When the flames cleared, she was revealed to still be standing in the same place, unscratched. "You should give up. You will never be able to reach me." I grit my teeth this was going to be more difficult than I predicted. Sending chakra to my eyes I felt them change. It always felt strange activating my Majingan and it wasn't mastered by any stretch of imagination but even a broken tool can be useful. Its ability was simple, like the Sharingan and the Byakugan it could see the flow of chakra within a person, but it could also analyze a technique by it's chakra flow, see critical weak points, see how hostile someone is to me and see a person's natural

"Fire Release: Tiger Shadow" Two tigers of flames appeared before me and rushed my opponent before they were suddenly impaled with ice spears. What the hell. "You're jutsu… you aren't actually making ice but just freezing the chakra and moisture in the air! You're not even alive, your body has reached the critical freezing point. How? How are you dead but your is chakra alive?" I could see a flash of surprise on her face before she regained her composure. That flash was all I needed. The chakra strain from my eyes was beginning to feel like a nuisance, best to just cut it off. Hmmm, what to do. The colder she got the stronger her attacks and the more range she had but long distance clearly wasn't cutting it. I needed to test a few theories, good thing I could make a Shadow Clone or three.

My clones all rushed her; her face unamused as she destroyed them with ice spikes. Only one managed to get close to here and it was far too slow to do anything but get stabbed and died. It was an interesting principle, the fact that her freezing would extend to others and slow them down. Her blade was just an extension or control point for her power. What a nuisance. Damn using this technique would practically drain me but, there'd be no way I could beat her without killing her with any other technique.

"Shunko: Fire Release Art: Esoteric Ascetic Blaze." My rapidly began heating up before a plume of fire engulfed my torso. The crimson, purple, and gold flames danced across my skin ready for combat. Derived from Shunko: Fire this jutsu quite literally turned me into a miniature sun, its only drawback being the strain on my body which is why every move is calculated. "Would you like to see some real ninjutsu?" I rushed towards her gathering flames into my palm and rotating it. The ice wall she put up was instantly destroyed when it made contact with my palm. Grabbing my blade I wrapped it in flames, "Fire Breathing Form 3: Blazing Universe." I brought my blade down directly on top of her and created a massive burst of steam from our conflicting nature. With my body temperature still rising she couldn't slow me down like my clones.

Apparently at some point she created two clones who sent water dragons at me, however those too evaporated. With a quick Shunpo I was behind her and could deliver a chop to the back of her neck. That was surprisingly easy. As I went to pick up the unconscious girl, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest. Genjutsu. Turning back, I saw Rika. Eyes locked in as she went in for the killing blow…

Hmph cheeky brat. Ignoring the pain, I turned up the heat and the blast sent her flying before I removed her blade. Her look was one of terror as I began walking towards her, the hole in my chest being closed by a burning flame. "Calm down. I'm not gonna kill you. Sekijiro and my leader have requested you & your brother leave here alive." She shook her head. "Huh?" I shut off my blazing technique and what I sensed once my flames were no longer blocking me was a nightmare. Shit.


Albis POV

Momoi was laughably easy to defeat. Nothing they did came close to scratching me and with a quick stab through his chest his life was ended. I decided to move over to Raien and Kiganjō to see if he needed assistance.

Raien was beating the dog shit out of his opponent. Both were big, muscular, and burly and had been in an all out brawl. "Dokuga." Three waves of purple chakra were sent towards Kiganjō who wasn't expecting them. Each one struck their target infecting him with a burning toxin. I smirked when he turned in my direction anger on his face before it was smashed in by Raien's lightning coated fist. Jumping down next to him I gave him a quick peck on the cheek before looking at our new opponent.

"He's strong alright. Dude is just pumping his body with chakra and increasing his strength. He can also do use Steel Release so be aware of that." I nodded before looking back at him. Kiganjo was back up and I could sense my poison was neutralized.

"Hmph. Two on One, how pathetic." Raien and I just shared a glance before charging at the man and attacking in tandem Using my blade, I combined my kenjutsu with his taijutsu to pressure him. Kiganjo's arms were coated in steel which he used to create blades to strike us or shields block our attacks. Raien Jumping back I used Dokusuto to send my serpent-like blade directly into his chest as it slithered around his block. Kiganjo coughed up blood before Raien smashed his fist into his body three times sending him flying into a wall. The two of us followed suit, however intent on keeping up the pressure until six bladed whips shot out the debris cloud created by his impact. Using Dokuodori I was able to block the attacks effortlessly however when the dust cleared a new challenge was presented to us. Kiganjo was fully covered intsteel, his hair had grown into steel barbs, spikes sprouted up on his forearms and shins and he grew a spiked tail.

"Ewww, he's so ugly." I couldn't help from bursting out in laughter Raien is so fucking unserious. I looked at him to see him give me a signal to hang back before he charged at Kiganjo alone. This time was different as he was wielding a giant Nichirin Axe. "Force Breathing Form 1: Pressured Strike" The impact was devastating by combining the speed of Thunder Breathing and the strength of Sound Breathing he and Hikari were able to develop a devastating new style, only he was able to use. When the blade of the axe met the steel armor on Kiganjō's arm a massive boom was sent through. The steel on his arm began to crack when Raien disengaged before spinning and swinging his axe into Kiganjō's arm another burst rang out as more cracks appeared.

Kiganjō was getting annoyed at this point and opened his mouth firing a massive beam of silver energy. Raien was barely able to dodge it, but its effect was devastating carving a path from the fortress to the sea. The two of looked at each other in astonishment before getting serious I entered my fully transformed mode, and Raien's signature chakra cloak surrounded him. The two of us took off our speed and power greatly enhanced and delivered a barrage of slashes, punches, kicks and more to massive tank of a shinobi. Kiganjō wasn't a slouch though and got several good hits on us both annoying the two of use greatly.

As we fought and wore him down, I could tell he was beginning to resign to his fate as he began creating spheres of metallic energy to shoot at us and forewent any sense of defense. His armor was cracked all over and he had to be running low on chakra, but he refused to take the cowards way out. Raien must've gotten lost in the fight as his attacks only got stronger and faster until it got to a point I was no longer needed and Kiganjō was no longer fighting back, only trying to survive. When the last of his armor cracked away, I watched as Raien brought his blade above his head ready to end it when he suddenly stopped.

"What are we doing?" Kiganjō and I both looked at him confused. "Hikari-sama told us about how pointless of a war this is and how two selfish people are just playing you all, so why do I have to kill you." Kiganjō coughed up blood but remained still. "I didn't want to kill the last guy, but I knew he would never stop until Yagura won so I did what I had to do. Surrender don't make me have to kill another promising shinobi for nothing."

"It matters not. I'm dead here anyway." The way he said it was off.

"What does that mean?" I had reverted back into my normal form.

"Yagura sent everyone who joined him out of spite to die here. He knew the rebels would try and take it eventually and was waiting for the day.

That's when I sensed it a massive chakra enveloped the entire island, it's killing intent very much felt by us all. Looking at the sea I saw a massive burst of water smash into a wall further down the coast.

"He's here." Shit…


Hikari's POV

Byakura Tetsuko might as well change his name to Hikari's biggest nuisance since that was how he was acting. I know the point of a fight was to kill and not be killed but my god his attacks and evasion were annoying as hell. He was attacking me with fucking sakura petals that were as sharp as blades and there were a lot of them. No matter what I did I couldn't get close, and I couldn't land a fucking hit and it was really starting to piss me off. He kept sending waves and waves of petals at me to keep me at bay and when I did get past them, he had a whole second set that would surround and defend him. "HEY JACKASS STOP FIGHTING LIKE A PUSSY!"

Byakura stood across the empty field we had moved to, emotionless as another wave was sent towards me. Thank kami for Shunpo as I quickly dodged out the way zipping around the battlefield. The tall raven haired man didn't even seem fazed as he just recalled the petals to surround him. I needed to find his weak point. Leaping into the tree line I decided to take stock of my opponent. Byakura was what you'd expect a noble to look like, tall, lean, and elegantly put together. His hair flowed down to his knees, and he wore a ceremonial head piece on the right side. He wore an all-black sleeveless shihakusho and a white haori with golden trim on the linings over it. His forearms were covered by white armguards, and he wore black leather gloves on his hands. This was a Byakuya copy from bleach meaning I was going up against another player.

"HEY! I'M A PLAYER LIKE YOU! LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS!" I could see his eyes slightly widen before steeling themselves.

"If you're like me then you must die. Tetsuko Hiden: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Holy fuck, I wasn't expecting that. The petals seemed too multiple until they took up the entire clearing and the sky, they spread into the forest I was in and cut down trees with ease. Once they stopped multiplying, they all began to merge into thousands of katana reminiscent of the one Byakura was holding.

"Shit." I was inside his little sword prison, the two of us staring one another down. "What's your problem?"

"My problem are the other players. Each one of you pose a threat to me and my new family. I cannot let that stand especially after what started in the war." He spat, the anger in his voice being the only hint of emotion shown throughout our battle.

"What started?" What the hell was he talking about.

"The world changed something different and evil was born and it needs our souls to complete it's goals."

"How do you know this?"

"A vision. It was part of my perks, I can see the future."

"Well why don't we just join forces and stop it together?"

"Hmph, the Red Priestess would never. As soon as she recovers she will come for us all. I might as well get as strong as possible to face her and defeat whatever is coming on my own."

"Oh you're talking about the Uzumaki from Kumo? Yeah I hate her too so how about if I win this little fight you agree to my plan and if you win you can have my soul. Deal?"

"Hmph fine now die." Several blades shot at me each intending on skewering me however I was completely unbothered. While the two of us were talking I was gathering nature energy. Sage Mode was tricky for me and I while I couldn't gather it as fast as Minato or Hashirama nor sustain it like Naruto or Jiraiya, my body could handle it for like a minute and a half. However that isn't what I was primarily going for here. Taking all the natural energy I had gathered I began to focus on the space around my body. Sage Mode allowed one to use natural energy as an extension of their body with said energy physically manifesting in the space between the user and their target, it's how Naruto punched that one Pain without touching him. When I discovered this, I realized that natural energy could theoretically warp the space between the user and the target which led me to create a sort of cheat code jutsu.

Byakura stood shocked when none of the blades hit me, they all seemed to just stop right in front of me. "How? My blades are moving but they aren't. How is this possible?"

"Try the petals, instead, peasant." Foolish idiot didn't realize how far below he was in comparison to my greatness. He did so instantly flooding where I was standing with petals that couldn't touch me. When he reformed them into blades he was mortified, his best technique was rendered useless. "Sage Art: Limitless Infinity." The original creator should be honored that I found a way to rework his technique to serve me, as it just gave me another way to become unbeatable. Commanding the natural energy around me to create an invisible amount of infinite space, I could control said space as well. Meaning nothing that I didn't permit could touch me. Closing the distance between us in an instant I began to toy with the boy. The once handsome nobleman was getting continuously assaulted by my fists, cloaked in infinite space so that I didn't have to dirty my hands with his inferiority. He tried to run however I just extended the space to him and pulled him in to drive my fist into his body harder. Hmph. How weak, I had hoped he could have provided me with more entertainment.

After a minute of our little game, I grew annoyed and decided to end it there, the heavily bruised and bleeding man no longer holding my interest. Hmph pathetic-

! ! !

Leaping over him I watched as three blades stabbed where I once stood. Fuck me. I leapt away continuing to dodge blade after blade as he sent them at me. Damnit. I hated how my Sage Mode had one thing the others didn't to my knowledge. The personality change. Everytime I used Sage Mode my personality instantly changed. I became some prideful Queen who thought everything was beneath me, that arrogance made it all the more difficult to actually finish fights instead of playing with my opponents.

Shit no way was I gonna get more time to enter Sage Mode again but at least some damage had been done. His blades were a lot slower and more manageable. Focusing on my lightning chakra I instantly activated my Shunko: Lightning I couldn't take any chances here and his army wouldn't be able to see us all the way from here. My speed greatly enhanced I was finally able to outrun his blades and landed a fist and kick to his face sending him flying towards his blades which moved out the way so he wouldn't be cut by them.

"Fine, if blades don't work then try this you bitch!" He gritted before the blades broke into blossoms again. He sent the swarm after me again this time at a much faster speed than the blades. To bad for him I had gotten a lot better at Shunko and dodged each one wave with ease. It was only when getting close did I have an issue. Hmm, something was up though, his petals seemed like they had a range. NOW!

Suddenly five small burrowing owls rapidly burst from the ground, each one piercing through his body. Byakura coughed up blood giving me enough time to get in front of him and drive a lightning covered fist into his chest. I was going to follow it up with another hit when he jumped back suddenly, and more petals filled the space I had previously been standing in.

Hmph, I knew it. He had a 92 cm radius his petals couldn't enter. I just needed to stay within 92 cm. Launching myself at him again I weaved through the petals and entered the 92 cm radius. His eyes widened knowing that I had figured it out and called back some petals to create ten swords, two in his hands and eight floating around him. Drawing my own blade I instantly deactivated my Shunko. While powerful I couldn't use any other elements while using the lightning version and I needed a much more defensive approach in style.

"That was a mistake." Byakura smirked as our blades clashed.

"Says the one losing this fight. Water Breathing Form 3,4,10: Constant Strike: Dancing Flux." Water gathered around me and my blade increasing in volume as I began blocking his blades and attacking with my own. Each strike was growing stronger and collecting more water in the air until I was completely surrounded by it. Even when he was able to get me out of his safe zone, the high volume of water swirling around me protected me from his petals long enough to reenter the safe zone.

"Shunko: Water." Mastering more than one element for Shunko was one of the most difficult task possibly, however I had been using Water Breathing for so long that I had eventually gained the ability to do so, and while it didn't have the speed and power of the lightning version it did have a massive advantage in defensive capabilities and stamina retention. Byakura was shocked as the water tendrils from my back and shoulders also began mixing in with the attack causing me to do even more damage.

"Fuck this shit." Byakura created eight more blades and charged at me again intent on ending the fight.

! ! !

Holy fuck! I had to create even more tendrils and chakra chains as the petals began to attack again this time ignoring the safe zone.

He must've noticed the confusion on my face as he surprisingly smirked at me "One, must be able to sacrifice their own life if they want to survive, isn't that right." Holy shit this dude was nuts. A smile appeared on my face as we began to dance with blades, petals, chains, and tendrils of water. Each person trying to deliver that killing blow on the other. Eventually our bodies couldn't keep up with our wills and we both leapt back to regain our breath and stamina. We were both grinning. This wasn't like my other battles, there was an edge and a rush to this one which made it all the more enjoyable.

"One of us will die next time we clash." I yelled out to him. It was almost over, and we both knew it. As much as it pained me to say one of us was going to die. "Sekijiro-san asked me to save his students and his family if Mei won the war right before I killed him. He also revealed the truth about this war. If I die… take them to Konoha and seek asylum under the Shihoin it will be granted I swear. Then come back and kill her. "

"You fight for Mei yet you wish her dead? You carry my Sensei's dying wish and honor it even in death? Why?" Byakura looked conflicted, which made sense. Why would a stranger in his enemies army choose to help him.

"Huh? I protect people who I care about. Your sensei wasn't a bad guy and I think his family and students are people that deserved to be cared about now that he's gone." Byakura sighed before the petals began to disappear and reform into one sword.

"I'm done." Huh, holy shit did I just talk-no-jutsu out of this fight? Holy fuck how convien-

! ! ! ! ! EXTREME DANGER ! ! ! ! ! !

"What is going on why is he here?" Byakura was sweating a look of apprehension and… fear on his face. I didn't care though. I only felt one emotion as I watched a massive burst of water hit part of the fort. "He's going to kill us all, that bastard."

"Get your men and mine to the other side of the island. I'll handle this." Byakura looked at me as if I had grown a second head but my anger was rising as was my chakra. He was finally here, and I could finally get my revenge.

"Don't you know who that is its-"

My lightning exploded my Shunko: Lightning active and ready put an end to the worthless piece of trash who caused me and my family an unforgivable pain.

"Yagura."

A/N: Sorry for the wait… Updates should be back to once a month life's just been a little hectic let's jump right back in the action.