Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto universe.
I personally really had fun writing the chapter, I hope you'll enjoy reading it!
As Ghost rapidly closed in on the ground he quickly looked around and saw that Riadora and Sia were already casually walking over, ignoring the shouts from both the fighters and Shikamaru whom was the Jonin in charge of the finals.
With only mere meters away from the ground, Ghost used his ability; flashstep to appear on the ground, looking only ruffled due to the wind.
"Glad to see you could join us, Ghost."
Looking ahead he saw both Riadora and Sia smiling at him. "If you think I'm going to allow you to merge with that beast, you're sorely mistaken."
He could hear the sound of air being displaced and he saw Sia standing behind him. But before he could react to it, someone else spoke up.
"Oi! what do you think you're doing?! This is my fight, go bother someone else!" None other than Kiba growled in frustration. whilst Kiba hadn't changed all that much. His dog certainly had. It had grown to the size of a small horse, growling its teeth at the trio.
"Teme, for your sake flee while you can!"
Kiba glanced at Shikamaru and he himself was already preparing his trademark Kagemane no Jutsu.
Ghost witnessed the same thing and knew that he had to take care of the Nara first. He dashed forward and before Kiba or the Unknowns could intervene he had grabbed Shikamaru's arm, twisted it and then threw Shikamaru into the stands.
"You'll pay for that!" Kiba roared as he charged the Hunter.
Ghost in turn glanced at the deadly duo whom paid him no mind and proceeded towards the Tear. 'Fuck! this is precious time I'm wasting!'
He abruptly turned to Kiba, using flashstep the hunter appeared next to him and rammed his elbow against the Inuzuka's temple, who instantly smacked to the ground, shaking his head as he tried to comprehend what just happened. Ghost didn't allow him any reprieve and imitated his earlier move by grabbing Kiba and snapping the bone inside his wrist. But before he could throw Kiba into the stands, he retaliated.
A claw shot up and tried to pierce his throat. Ghost jerked his head to the side and the clawed hand of Kiba snapped past his face. "Enough! you're wasting my time!" The former blonde roared and grabbed Kiba by the throat with his gauntlet. He started with a knee in the man's solar plexus and continued with a barrage of fists that battered his face almost beyond recognition. Ghost, turned and threw the Inuzuka into the incoming hound.
'Pathetic!' The Hunter extended his hand and let out a burst of pure chakra. "Chakra push!" It collided with the two figures and they too got slammed into the stands.
"You aren't even capable of killing!" Sia roared as she came charging in, her blade held high above her head.
Ghost in return quickly unsheathed his own katana and met her straight on, blocking her downward swing with a horizontal block. he kicked her away and stuck his katana in the sand before weaving through a couple of hand signs. "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" a series of small fireballs roared towards Riadora whom was forced to use flashstep, reappearing on the top floor of the arena stands.
The Hunter instantly locked his eyes on the figure and mimicked his foe's ability, appearing right next to him. He grabbed the Unknown by his face with his gauntleted hand, throwing him into the wall behind the audience whom were cowering in their seat, hoping not to get caught in the crossfire.
Micheru meanwhile had seen the exchange and turned her attention back to Kakashi. "You need to tell your Hokage that she has to call off her ninja. Ghost can handle it."
"Your friend just attacked Kiba and Shikamaru!" Sakura exclaimed, waving her hand towards the two downed comrades.
"They were about to attack him! you saw that he could easily have killed them, but he didn't! We're here purely for those two."
"What kind of threat do they pose to our village?"
Micheru hesitated. She knew that telling them the entire story wouldn't be received well. "They have an ability to summon a 'creature' that will try to slaughter anyone in its sight."
"What kind of creature?!" By now Ino and Chouji had appeared as well.
"A de-." She got interrupted as an explosion occurred followed by another. "A demon, similar to a bijuu!"
They looked at her with eyes of surprise and disbelief. Sasuke was the first who spoke up. "You're lying, that's impossible."
Micheru shook her head, she saw Anbu and Jonin everywhere setting up a position, preparing to eliminate the threat. "You have to believe me! If we wanted to cause any harm to this village, we've had ample time!" Her voice raised, frustration and worry started lacing visible on her face.
Kakashi glanced between the trio fighting and the shinobi standing guard. He pulled his headband up, revealing his sharingan. "Alright, evacuate the remaining civilians. I'll notify the Hokage. Don't engage and standby."
"You can't be serious?!" Ino shrilled. "Look at what he did to Shikamaru and Kiba!"
"We'll deal with that afterwards, for now follow my orders!" with that he shunshined away.
Micheru unclasped her cloak as well, letting out a small sigh of relief. 'At least that's dealt with...Now time to help, Ghost'. she ignored the tremble of fear and dashed forward.
Riadora saw her coming and smirked. He dodged Ghost's high sweep and grabbed his wrist, flipping the Hunter over his shoulder and down the arena wall towards the pit. He instantly saw that the newcomer changed her direction in an attempt to intercept her ally. "Sia, kill her now!"
Sia nodded and dashed toward Micheru, who didn't notice the new threat behind her.
As Ghost was freefalling he managed to catch a glimpse of Sia before she disappeared. 'She's going for Micheru!' He grabbed ninja wire, with a kunai attached to it and threw it toward the blonde, chakra enhancing the throw.
Micheru saw the kunai swiftly wrapping around her wrist. "What the?!"
The moment the wire had finished its spin, Ghost gave it a hard pull, dragging her with him down the wall. A mere second later Sia blurred into existence and rammed the tip of her katana in nothing but concrete.
Riadora growled in annoyance and jumped after the freefalling Hunter and quickly closed the distance before planting both his feet into his opponent's chest.
Ghost grunted and tried to grab the leg but missed and could do little else as he was slammed into the ground. Sand sprang in to the air as a small crater was formed by the impact.
Riadora landed next to the crater. "You really should just give up, Ghost."
Micheru slid down the side of the wall and sprinted over. "Ghost?!"
As the dust slowly settled, Ghost came walking out. His outfit was ruined in multiple places. His entire left sleeve was in tatters. "That hurt."
Sia appeared next to her companion. "He still lives?"
"Not for long!" The male Unknown dashed forward closely follow by Sia.
Ghost grabbed Micheru and pulled her close. "Hold on tight!" He stepped forward and disappeared, reappearing beside Kakashi Hatake.
He was standing in a VIP booth that was exclusively used for the kages. glancing to his right he could see two Kages sitting, with their guards standing at the ready. The first one was a gorgeous redhead. 'The Mizukage...'
The other one was someone he had once considered family. The Godaime Hokage, Tsunade. He narrowed his eyes, holding back a sneer.
"What's going on here?!" one of the guard shouted.
Ghost walked to the edge and stepped atop the railing. He turned to Micheru, ignoring the guards or Tsunade for that matter. "Stay here, and remember what I said alright?"
"Let me help! I can fight!" she stepped forward, letting the ninja wire fall to the ground. "I'm a Hunter too!"
"You are, but you're scared, and I can't babysit you and fight them. Help me by keeping those Konoha dogs out of the fight." He let himself topple over the edge, falling into the pit for a second time.
Micheru bit her lip as she watched him fall. She turned back to the Kages. "You heard my companion, leave the fight to him."
"I don't take orders from snot-nosed brats!" Tsunade stood up from her seat and let her gaze lock with Ghost's falling figure. She agreed with Kakashi though, as long as her shinobi provided a perimeter and making sure no civilians would caught in the crossfire, why not let them fight it out. Whoever remained standing at the end would be dealt with then. "Kakashi. Set up a four pronged barrier and make sure that all the civilians are evacuated!"
Ghost landed in the pit once more and dashed forward. He noticed that Riadora was beginning the ritual to call the creature into their world. His katana was still laying at the top floor of the arena so instead he grabbed two kunai, one in each hand.
Sia intercepted the Hunter and swung her blade, only to be blocked by a cross guard. "You really don't know when to roll over and die, do you?"
Ghost pushed her off balance and swung one of kunai, slashing her across the face. Using the opportunity, he threw one of the kunai towards Riadora, but got blocked by the katana of Sia. She had thrown her weapon to deflect his projectile.
The dark haired woman swung her fist and connected it with Ghost's jaw who managed to block the follow up attack and retaliated by trying to stick his kunai in her ribcage.
The woman quickly backflipped and held out her hand, letting forth a steady stream of fire.
The Hunter was aware that Unknowns didn't need hand signs to mold chakra and instead built chakra inside their chakra coils. the upside of this was that it could be anticipated due to its slower pace, whereas a proficient shinobi could perform jutsu's faster.
"Chakra push!" Ghost roared as his attack slammed against hers and for a moment it seemed even but it didn't take long for the Hunter to gain the upper hand and Sia got the full brunt of it slammed into her. his attack wasn't deadly, but it was perfect for creating an opening or stopping a barrage of attacks.
Creating another set of hand signs he quickly formed the trademark jutsu that the Uchiha were known for. "Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!" The attack hit the Unknown, blasting her away and out of the fight.
Micheru looked from the balcony and had to restrain a cheer as she saw Sia being launched into the air. 'Ghost is doing great!'
The victory was short lived as a burst of red chakra shot into the air and seemingly froze, engulfing the remaining Unknown.
Ghost widened his eyes in surprise and quickly dashed forward, his gauntlet already outstretched. 'Gotta stop him!'
A whip of red chakra emerged from the sphere of red chakra and grabbed him by the leg, crashing him through the wall of the arena and out the other side, into the village.
"Our dance was certainly entertaining, Ghost. But I've had enough." The red chakra died down and Riadora appeared, both his arms were transformed into something gruesome.
"Holy shit! did you see that?" Ino screeched, slipping an arm around Shikamaru in worry.
"It seemed that those two were right after all," Sakura responded as she looked down at the hole where the Ghost got rammed through. "We gotta do something."
"You heard the Hokage's orders, we have to maintain a perimeter." Shikamaru said between clenched teeth. his arm was wrapped tightly and strapped to his chest minimizing any movement. It however did little to alleviate the pain that was already present.
Meanwhile Micheru was dashing across the rooftops of the buildings in search for Ghost, Kakashi alongside her.
"There," He pointed at the rubble where various villagers were looking.
Micheru jumped off the roof and came to a skidding halt in front of the masses. She started pushing rubble aside until she found a tuft of brown hair. "Ghost?"
Kakashi joined in and removed the majority of the rubble. "Maa, when you said you would take care of it, I was hoping that the destruction of property would be maintained to a minimum."
Micheru pulled the unconscious figure of Ghost from the building and set him down against the broken wall. "Come on, you got to wake up!"
A moan erupted from deep down his throat before a series of coughs brought the brown haired Hunter back to the land of the living. "S...Sake?"
Micheru sweat dropped. "Really? that's the first thing you say after you got blasted through a set of walls?"
The konoha-nin turned rogue rolled his head from one side to the other. "I take it, he's merged?" he tried to stand up, supported by Micheru.
She nodded. "Yeah...He's too strong for you alone, let me help you."
Ghost looked down at his outfit. what remained of his left sleeve was now completely gone. The upper part of his outfit was mostly destroyed, revealing a tattered black shirt underneath and his glasses were gone. His facemask was the only piece of clothing left that remained relatively intact. "I got a trick left up my sleeve, I-I've got this." He patted her on the shoulder and walked away, slightly wobbling but regaining his composure.
"Let me help you, Ghost."
Ghost clenched his teeth and started focusing chakra in his lower left arm. "I said, I got this". Dark chakra started swirling around his arm. with one last grunt the chakra got sucked into this lower arm and turned into a horrifying monstrous claw.
Micheru and the onlookers stumbled back. "You're one of them?!" she fearfully asked, looking from his arm to his glowing red eyes.
Ghost shook his head as he looked down at his arm. "Not even remotely. They're not the only ones who can merge with a demon. Stay back, this fight will be over soon. He disappeared in a flashstep, leaving behind a bewildered Micheru and an even more so surprised Kakashi.
Tsunade grew tired of waiting and stood up. So far the man in the middle of the arena had done nothing, save the testing of his new abilities. "Alright, send in-." she stopped midsentence when Ghost reappeared in the arena.
Riadora slowly turned around and narrowed his eyes as he saw the change of appearance. "You are a hypocrite, Hunter Ghost. You've done the very thing you try to prevent us from obtaining!"
Ghost tilted his head, seemingly in thought. "Not even close. This was forced upon me. You're going to destroy the shinobi world if we don't stop your kind."
Ghost snapped his head to the left and saw Sia stumbling back onto the ring. "Micheru, come here."
Micheru whom was standing at the edge of the pit, next to Kakashi, darted forward. "What do you need me to do?" She still had doubt, but she had known Ghost for years now. 'I have to trust him, for now'
"Kill her." He pointed his claw towards Sia, whom by now had managed to catch her breath.
Micheru hesitated but nodded. "I won't let you down."
Ghost returned the nod and without uttering another word he vanished and popped back up next to Riadora. he slashes wildly with his claw but was met with no resistance. Following the red chakra he saw the path Riadora had taken. 'He's going for Micheru!'
He instantly followed his foe and appeared in front of him blocking the strike meant for Micheru. The blonde Hunter in turn didn't even bat an eye as she slammed the palm of her hand underneath the chin of Sia.
Ghost twirled around and tried to strike his opponent in the side but was once more blocked. He quickly followed up with a quick and held out his hand. "Chakra push!"
Riadora dashed to the side and countered with an electric discharge, that quickly shot to the former blonde.
Once more turned to his go to escape maneuver, he quickly used flashstep to gain some distance.
To say that these Unknown were an upgrade to the scouts, was a slight understatement.
"I think you could use this."
Ghost turned around and saw Kakashi holding his katana. He bit his tongue, refraining himself to insult the man in front of him. Instead he grasped the katana and gave the man a nod. "Stay out of the way."
The Hunter could hear air being displaced behind him and saw Riadora dashing towards him. He spun around and hurled his katana like a spear towards the Unknown, impaling him and slamming him into the wall, with the katana holding him in place.
Sia gasped as she saw her teammate hanging there and roared in anger. Micheru knew she had the upper hand in her fight and victory seemed imminent.
The blonde continued to exchange blows, slow but methodical as she had the entire fight. She changed things up and gave a low sweep, letting Sia stumble to the ground. She followed up by slamming her fist into the stomach of the unknown.
A retaliatory kick gave Sia some breathing room and used it to stand back up, holding her stomach with one hand. "You fucking bitch! You think just because you've got control of the match that victory is in your grasp? When the others arrive you'll be put down like the mongrels you are. Just like Mirarca, or Silar! or all the others before that!"
Micheru held out one hand, while gripping her wrist with the other. She decided upon using a trick that Rome had taught her not so long ago. "Tipora!" she shouted. a thin beam erupted from the palm of her hand and shot straight towards her foe at an incredibly high speed.
Sia widened her eyes in surprise, not expecting an attack of that speed. She dove out of the way but only succeeded partially. The beam tore through her side and exited out of her back, slamming into the wall.
Not wasting her opportunity, the Hunter immediately dashed forward. she quickly reached for two kunai and grasped them tightly.
Sia held up her own hands and a wave a flames flew towards Micheru. She slid to the ground and effectively dodged the attack. Skidding underneath it she could feel the heat scorch the back of her hand. "It's over!" her slide caused her to ram straight into the Unknown and with one fluid motion planted both her kunai inside Sia's chest.
Sia grasped her by the collar of her outfit. "G-go f-fuck yourself." With the last of her energy she planted her free hand in front of Micheru's chest. The blonde in return tried to wiggle free but noticed that the woman in front of her still had a surprisingly strong grip.
Before she had time to prepare an explosion of flames erupted from Sia's hand, blowing Micheru away. With a smirk, Sia passed away.
The attractive blonde groaned as she slowly sat up, wincing in pain as she looked at her chest. her outfit was still smoldering and a hole in her outer robe showed the shirt underneath. "That was close..."
"That certainly could have ended a lot worse." Kakashi stood in front of her with his hand held out.
She accepted his offer and he helped her back up. "Arigato, Hatake-san."
Kakashi gave her an eye smile before looking at Ghost who was eyeing the body hanging on the wall. "Hmm, it looks like your job is finished."
The moment he said those words, did the eyes of Riadora snap open.
Ghost groaned and dashed forward, already forming a set of hand signs.
Riadora grabbed the katana and pulled it out, freeing himself. "I think this is yours!"
He proceeded to throw the katana right back at Ghost in the same fashion he earlier had.
Halting his hand signs, he intercepted the blade with his claw, preventing the tip of the katana from piercing his chest. He was about to counter when he already saw Riadora charging in, feet first.
"You stab me, I stab you! It's as simple as that!" Riadora roared as he rammed his feet against the handle of the katana, forcefully slamming it through the Hunter's chest.
Ghost silently gasped, not expecting the unorthodox attack. he fell to the ground with a thud, a large pool of blood slowly started seeping onto the ground, the sand absorbing a portion of it.
Micheru screamed his name in distraught as she ran over, her hands shaking and her eyes locked on the unmoving body of Ghost.
Kakashi watched the entire scene unfold and instantly turned his attention to the white haired Sannin, who popped up the moment the hunter went down. "We have to finish the job."
Jiraiya's face was grim and his eyes were narrowed. "We end this before anyone else gets hurt."
With those words uttered, Kakashi and Jiraiya dashed forward. With Riadora doing the same.
They clashed in the middle with the Unknown striking first, giving Kakashi an uppercut followed by a kick. He quickly crossed his hands in front of his face, wincing in pain as the wound in his chest protested.
Jiraiya slammed into him with a rasengan, but his foe firmly held his ground. A red sphere, not completely unlike that of a Jiraiya's rasengan got blasted from his hand and hit the Sannin in the chest, tumbling backwards.
"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu!"
Kakashi came bursting from the ground, a kunai aimed for the throat of Riadora. He merely grabbed the incoming wrist and retaliated by slamming his sharpened claw inside the chest of the copy-nin. But instead of blood flowing freely, the body turned blue.
"What the?"
The body became distorted and suddenly electrocuted the Unknown, who shouted out in pain.
Kakashi wasn't done however and came charging in with his trademark jutsu. "Chidori!" He swung his hand forward, intent on piercing the man's body.
Riadora twitched in pain but was otherwise still okay. He dodged the attack and created another red sphere, blasting it into kakashi. Who puffed into a cloud of smoke
Jiraiya now came swinging in, but this time the man had opted for a grander approach. Holding his hand above him, he rammed the humongous Rasengan into the Unknown who didn't have time to dodge and got brought to his knees, trying to push the massive attack back. With a inhuman roar, the red robed man started pushing back against Jiraiya's attack.
As all this was happening Micheru was crouched next to Ghost, hovering over him as she fearfully looked if he was still alive. His clawed hand had reverted back the moment he lost consciousness.
A figure came running up and she noticed her immediately as Sakura, closely followed by other Konoha shinobi.
Checking for a pulse she sighed in immense relief when she found it. The blonde started to take in the damage done by the pierced blade.
"Let me help you." Sakura said as she crouched down opposite from her.
"We need to remove the blade first," Micheru said as she grabbed the handle. "The moment I do, you need to stop the bleeding, alright?"
Sakura nodded. "I'm trained by Tsunade of the Sannin. I know a thing or two about medical ninjutsu."
"Are you rea-."
"J-just pull the fucking thing out already." Ghost muttered as his eyes slowly opened, once more showing the bright blue color.
"Ghost! You need to stay still! you've lost a lot of blood."
"Just do it a-already." Ghost groaned as a sharp pain shot through his body.
Micheru nodded, and looked at Sakura whose hands were glowing bright green. With a small grunt she pulled the blade out, blood oozing out of the wound.
The brown haired Hunter significantly paled. and grit his teeth as the pain increased.
Sakura started applying her jutsu and slowly the bleeding stopped and the wound grew smaller. After a couple of moments more she stopped. "Alright, bandage the wound and remain still! it's very important!"
"How about you stay quiet, I can't even hear myself think," Orodochi growled as he watched Micheru bandage him. "Good job with taking care of Sia."
Micheru nodded and smiled at him. "You scared me! I thought Riadora had killed you."
"He's gotta try a lot harder than that." He replied with a smirk. He saw that Micheru was done and tried to stand up.
"Baka! you need to stay down!" Sakura said as she pushed him back down.
"What I need is for you to stop touching me, and let me finish my job."
"Kakashi and Jiraiya are already doing that. The guy's finished." Sasuke said as he stepped besides Sakura.
"You could be a lot nicer you know! She just saved your life!" Ino joined in. Seven years had certainly matured the girl, at least physically. Her hair was roughly the same, but she wore a purple outfit with bandages strapped around her lower legs and arms. Ghost could easily imagine her being the cause for many heartbreaks within Konoha.
"Would've lived just fine..."
"No you wouldn't! You'd be dead!" Sakura butted in.
Before he could respond, Micheru butted in. "Take it easy Ghost, do it for me alright?"
"Fine!" He grunted and watched as Kakashi and Jiraiya's impeccable teamwork was pushing the already weakened Unknown to its limit.
Riadora was gaining ground and Jiraiya knew that if the man kept the pressure up, he had no choice but to destabilize the jutsu. He also knew that Kakashi was waiting for his opportunity.
"It's done. Surrender now." Kakashi ordered as he appeared behind the man, a kunai poised(?) against his throat.
Jiraiya dispelled the jutsu. and strode over. "Stand down, and we'll let you live!"
Riadora knew that any sudden movement would result with the kunai being plunged in his throat. He held his hands up in surrender. "I surrender."
"Alright, let's clean this mess up, get anbu in here and-." Jiraiya started but trailed off when he saw Ghost walking over.
"Ah Orodochi-san, you're still alive." Kakashi said, but Ghost ignored him and grabbed Riadora by his throat, the metal edges of the gauntlet digging into his skin.
"How much men are on the way? How big is your fleet? What is your purpose behind your crusade?!" Ghost barked questions at the man who only smirked at him.
"What are you talking about? there isn't an army, it was only me and a couple of other individuals."
"Tell me now!"
"I honestly haven't gotten the slightest of clues!" Riadora mocked and chuckled.
Ghost sneered and before anyone could stop him, he reached for a kunai and rammed it in the side of the man's head. "There's your fucking clue."
Chaos erupted. Kakashi and the other nearby shinobi got into an offensive stance. "You've gone too far now! He surrendered!"
Ghost merely sneered at him as well. "You don't even know what kind of man he was! I did you tree huggers a favor."
Tsunade dropped to the ground, followed by the Mizukage. "You scared my civilians and sent them into a frenzy and you injured my shinobi along with severe damage to various buildings here in the village! I was willing to let it slide because it seemed you did it to protect this village. But then you decide to murder an unarmed prisoner?! Anbu! take this man and his partner to interrogation!"
Anbu dropped all around Ghost and Micheru. Ghost merely smirked at her before turning to Micheru. "Micheru," he appeared next to her. "Ready to go?"
Micheru looked unsure. "Are you sure you want to leave, in your current state?"
Orodochi wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her close. "I'll live," he let his eyes dart around, locking eyes with each of his old 'friends'. He gave a two fingered salute. "Do try to keep up." and with that he exhaled deeply before taking a step forward, disappearing and leaving behind a trail of sand blowing upwards.
Jiraiya looked down at the body of Riadora. Somehow his claw had stayed, despite his death. 'Ghost's disappeared the moment he got knocked out.'
"Put their organization at the top of our list. and update Ghost's profile in the bingo book! I want him A ranked from now on!" Tsunade barked orders as she pointed at Kakashi.
"Of course Hokaga-sama."
I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
If you found any notable errors or other mistakes, please let me know! I'm only human after all!