Merry Christmas :D
Daishiro stood outside the arched entrance misted with a layer of rain that had settled over him, and the tripod shaped trees that surrounded him in spinneys. He knew he had waited here just a short time and his senses told him that the sky was already starting to darken with more storm clouds. Despite that, he was concerned only with his chakra sensory that was still sending and picking up chakra signals across the dense plexus around him.
The long and precise sensory search for the two trespassers had not turned up a thing.
He grunted as Chie approached him, looking down at her when she settled next to him. "That is odd. You're not setting out with the others?"
"They should more than suffice considering there are only two trespassers. There's nothing more I can do in that situation. Katsumi and Izuna both like to take the lead. I'm not going to get between them. I'll leave that to Saki." Chie straightened to her full height again, adjusting her thick jacket while a slight shiver moved through her body as night winds howled.
"The wind is strong." Daishiro sauntered a few meters back.
The sky was entirely black with night and storms. She shivered in the night wind as she tried to see into the darkness. Waiting near a deeply concerned Mimori, her mind was somewhere out in the plexus around them.
"Daishiro and those who are searching have reported nothing so far. Daishiro feels his range is probably too limited to give us anything concrete...Considering how vast everything is."
"Senju are problematic...That is the only clan that could navigate that plexus other than the Uchiha all things considered right now." Mimori hummed softly, her brows furrowing.
"You presume?"
Mimori's eyes showed little emotion as she made her deduction. "The Senju and Subatsu were allies. They know the paths to take and not take...At least to some extent."
Still, very little emotion could be detected in Chie's smooth and cool tone. "They are a clan of thousands of skills after all..."
Mimori gave the woman a nod of acknowledgment. Her thoughts were occupied with the pair of trespassers. Most disturbing to her was that she found her mind focused on Hashirama Senju. The dark haired Senju whose words were not always to be taken literally. A clan of a thousand skills was true.
A man of a thousand wiles, it seemed to be looking that way in her she kept watch over her station, Chie turned to acknowledge a Yuki and Uchiha lieutenant reporting in.
"All patrols are out now that were ready."
"We haven't encountered any those two trespassers yet. We are encountering resistance from everything else in that plexus. They stirred up nothing but chaos."
"We have to keep the gates open. More patrols will be leaving at some point if that is the case. We may have to set out as well if it gets too out of control." Chie said, her voice weighing with some hesitation.
"We're going to need more guards here if the gates are to remain open. We should bring some of our medics here too." Mimori waited a moment then nodded at both the Yuki and Uchiha lieutenant.
They both turned to carry out the order given and immediately the sky seemed to drop even more into darkness."I'm getting a strange feeling..." Daishiro mused.
"The other units should be ready in the morning. The added numbers with daylight will make the search easier."
Not really expecting an answer, Chie asked her question. "Is there any chance of the two trespassers surviving until the morning?"
"Slim where they are..." Mimori answered with grim honesty.
For several prolonged moments there was a thick silence, broken only by the echoing thuds of water against leaves. The darkening night sky was starting to open. The huge out pour of rain would last until morning at the rate it was going.
It was as if the landscape had officially severed the assembled group from everyone else out in the plexus and had, with a thunderous roar, announced their let out another starlight that had been creeping over the sky was relatively dim, covered by dark storm clouds, but their light was still enough to shed some bearing on the echoing landscape.
The light crawled across the rolling hills of vegetation, fought to reach the darker recesses of the ravines, then finally came to rest on what must have been the only perfect spot of the the two women, steadily approaching at his brisk pace, Daishiro kept his arms folded across his chest, his two swords resting on his sides.
"I want to know how those two managed to worm their way in. We cut out any paths that may have been used and have went to great lengths to cover up scents."
"There's so many islands they could've traveled from. There's so many along the stretch here." Mimori replied.
"The path they took was one they carved out. If they were to go around the whole stretch, they'd likely make it to here...Close enough." Chie said, anticipating Daishiro's next move.
"I have a strange feeling about these trespassers..." Daishiro said, eyes glued to both women.
"A strange feeling?"
The sound of Daishiro's focused breathing filled the ensuing silence. Chie arched her brow at the cold stony look the man was giving her and Mimori.
"Do you mean...Hashirama Senju?" Mimori asked the cold eyed man.
The trespassers were in possession of a chakra transceiver of sorts, or another shinobi's who had been with Hashirama during the alliance with the Subatsu, when they had made their mark in the desert region. Now they were attempting to pinpoint their location, and perhaps even help the powerful Senju since the warning had been issued by the Subatsu, Mo, and Hagoromo they were hoping to use any information, and any source of it they could obtain...
Devise their revenge?
a plan?
Perhaps.
"I don't think he's worth the concern." Chie remarked.
"It isn't just him..."
A large map of the landscape emerged from in his mind. Linked to myriads of experiences and sensations throughout the landscapes, the map made use of a palette of colors. Perhaps this explained why Hashirama and Mikito were both so insistent on certain concepts many didn't exactly agree with months ago. Some were coming around now, but it was still few and far between that understood the tides were.
His mind began to close tighter on the remote area of their landmass. When, finally, he seen shadows moving in midair, and something solid strode into their midst.
"They're trying to close in where we have discourse...The pyramid...Do any creatures in that plexus get close enough to get a view of it?"
"It's possible." Chie replied, eyes narrowing as her heart gestured with his forefinger, stretching it towards the canopy.
"In the 7 o'clock position..."
Mimori noted it down, summoning a clone and gave it the order to share the glanced at the three dozen or so guards just outside of the gates and a few feet ahead, who were already linked as a unit and reported to the commander, which happened to be her. "There's an abandoned communications outpost from centuries ago. Whoever is in possession of such an advanced thing as a chakra transceiver...Could have went in there for a moment of rest?"
"Yes. They wouldn't stick around for long. There is a large concentration of monstrosities in that one particular location. Moving away from it is the only option."
"Instruct the unit commanders within the compound to get their units immediately and set up perimeters, but do not enter the plexus with the others. Begin situating outposts where we can position everyone, and also pinpoint any intersecting areas, and set up blocks to cut off their movements."
"If we meet resistance..." Chie let the thought hang in the air.
"Capture. We have strict instructions. Only the monstrosities that attack us are to be killed."
"I understand."
Daishiro cupped the image of the tiny piece of land in his mental hand, then turned to look at it from a more aerial viewpoint.
By the time a message from the commanders of the units reached the command room, Mimori already knew that something had gone was a clone of Bunji and Izuna.
"We're trapped inside the valleys with several hundred pack hunters. They're everywhere. Yamanami and Katsumi both ordered to begin our attack."
"Where are the two Senju?" Daishiro asked, tone bordering irate.
"They must of left before we got there and evaded the pack hunters. Judging from debris and gore, they ran into their own enemies and had to fight their way out. We're trapped in here until we find a way to kill them all."
Daishiro let out a snarl.
"Did you destroy the entrance those two created?" Mimori asked, composing herself the best she could.
"Negative. We spotted no openings." The clone of Izuna said, hissing arched a could hear his comrades begin to shout.
"Units nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and four have been overrun. Units three, fourteen, sixteen and twenty are pushing ahead. Unit one is linking up with us on the flank! We'll have to push our way through full force. We have no alternatives at this time."
"There's just too many of these things!" The clone of Bunji said as diagonal lines of memory inducing static noise began to interfere with the transmission of the , both dissipated completely.
"Those pack hunters are giving the Sharingan a hard time...I wonder if that's why only one of their clones were able to make it back here..."
Some of the people gathered busied themselves with filing away reports and going out to send them, while others made sure their weapons were ready for when they had to set out, if only to avoid having to look at Daishiro's dour stare.
"All unit commanders currently out searching are making the same reports. The points of travel are becoming limited that aren't shrouded with immediate danger. We are scanning for traces of the Senju chakra. They may have been swift enough to cover some ground...They can't erase their chakra presence completely..."
Infuriated, he turned and stormed from the entrance, wishing he had the power to simply reach out and pluck the two Senju by their necks before forcing them into submission. He did have that power with his Earth Tyrant Jutsu, but that wasn't meant to be used on such trifling matters as two lowly Senju shinobi of Konoha...
The villages were a threat.
Just in a different way.
His last conversation with Gotou and Touma a week and a half earlier, though he felt as if it happened yesterday, had made it clear that both were wary of manipulation. He could agree with that sentiment as his last conversation with Izuna was about all of them being manipulated since childhood, as before and during the wars it had always been the intention to train them into a killing machine, the goal wasn't to transform them into conduits for chakra, but that transformation could happen all on its own.
With proper training.
In doing so-they would no longer be distracted. He had spent the recent weeks sharpening his ability to summon and make use of his willpower and flaring emotions, and he felt poised at the edge of a significant increase in his abilities and understanding overall. The room to which he ultimately found himself in was in the uppermost reaches of a canopy building.
Entering, Daishiro found Gotou standing in front of the wooden-screened window, taking in the sight of everything in the bold light of the gleaming moon. Daishiro knew Gotou was always scarce with words, so he was not likely to gesture him to a cushion or say much until he felt the need to.
"I'm glad we get to talk like this. In private. I understand the need for a mutual path going forward, but I am not one for groups." Gotou said.
With minds as sharp as their blades, and with an unsurpassed propensity to kill, they had both risen quickly through the ranks of their respective clans on the political and power scale. Daishiro had met Gotou on good terms, directly only once before, aboard a transport, at one of the many remote locations where the fishermen of the Water country were all under their protection.
Gotou approached him, masked head tilting forward, his long hair sweeping along as if it was caught in a windy gale. "Perhaps between the two of us...We can determine the best way to make the most of this..."
Daishiro crossed his arms over his chest. "I suspect that you are more keen on what I'm after..."
Though his face was covered, Daishiro could see the look of sharp attentiveness and malicious intent. "The crux of the situation."
"The Bijuu in particular. One through nine."
"Yes." Gotou activated a scroll with a flare of chakra.
In the cone of blue light that rose from it, all of the Bijuu, of much smaller design of course, could be seen moving through the space around. There was a small movement, and the Two Tails became a center focus, moving as if it weren't aware of them.
"When did you..." Daishiro glared at the Yuki leader.
"The Subatsu and Senju fought the Two Tails. Certainly you don't expect that to remain confined to the mainland? That spread to every part of the Elemental Nations and beyond. Let's not forget what monstrosities you were up against in the desert region...All of you have made names for yourselves respectively."
Daishiro narrowed his eyes.
Gotou only shrugged at the man.
"This was recorded last year. The units of the Senju and Subatsu went into the cave system, and as you may have already guessed, that is where they encountered the Two Tails. It appears to be simple and straight forward, but it isn't. Somehow they were able to hijack some of that beast's mobility in battle by using collaboration ninjutsu...The Mokuton of Hashirama Senju and the Tochiton of Syrus Subatsu combined...By doing this they all became an object of a pursuit that ended in the destruction of several hundred kilometres. We haven't been successful at tracking its movements ever since."
"You've been tracking the Bijuu...Just to be clear."
Gotou crossed his arms, giving the man a rather blank stare. "Yes. Just like Yuko Uchiha got the Hyoton scroll from my old compound. There were little alternatives. There is the Three Tails and possibly Seven Tails in the Water country, but only the Three Tails was ever recorded...Those who encounter out rarelt ever escape alive. I ordered my men and those who maintained checkpoints to ignore the obvious fact that the Bijuu's chakra...Possibly it's chakra signature had been altered for a brief instance by the combined jutsu of Hashirama and Syrus."
"Why didn't you just handle the Bijuu then?"
"As we are both aware. It's impossible to do that. Of course we have jutsu and techniques that can handle such beasts and monsters. Even slay them, but..."
"These trespassers right now? How do they factor in with that?"
Gotou gave a small nod as he stopped the image of chakra from the seal.
"Naturally they were refused entry as the paths are controlled by predators. It does still remain that they are both familiar with the protocols here. They are of the Senju clan most likely."
Daishiro considered it for a moment.
"We need no assistance in killing those trespassers. You, Yamanami, Mimori, Izuna, and Saki all laid out a broader plan for consideration. Should this be a success we will be able to see, if not control the tides of change that are coming."
"What would that be?"
Gotou came to a stop and turned fully to Daishiro.
"Operation dominoes and the Water damiyo are our main priority...There's still those clans from the Water country. The battle has already started on the coast. They have been beset with engineering problems, delays in shipments, the unreliability of certain technicians on their side, and, most important, because they made landfall...They have a communications problem."
"Half of the message is getting lost along the way." Daishiro remarked, pursing his lips.
Clearly...
Gotou was angling for a whole lot more.
"How do two trespassers figure in with this?"
"By seeing where they stand we will see where the tides turn with Konoha. We will see what and where the Bijuu factor in with all of this changing landscape." Gotou said, tone bearing little emotion.
Daishiro narrowed his eyes in thought, not understanding the connection, but he could feel something sink in his stomach. "What are you driving at?"
"Focusing on these two trespassers at present. It is doubtful Hashirama will see eye to eye with these village leaders, let alone the clan leaders in his own village, and then progress on that data will begin to slow down at some point. Here's the truth of it...Shinobi manipulate and create eras...They can influence them as well. You must understand, I wish nothing more than to proceed ahead with our common goals. If these villages were to acquire the Bijuu as a whole and they are distributed..."
"You want one?" Daishiro asked, looking genuinely surprised.
Gotou shook his head. "Not at all. We aren't a part of that equation."
"I can accept that. You are looking for counter measures." Daishiro said at last with a shrug.
"A counter measure to be more accurate. We still need information pertaining to that data with dominoes. We should speed up on it if possible. I feel like they've allowed us to get sidetracked enough with their sophistry. The Bijuu are a priority I want to focus on, and I want you to back it up. We need units out there..."
Narrowing his eyes, Daishiro nodded slightly. "You are a reticent man. I understand what you mean."
Gotou kept his gaze focused on the Shimura, his posture never wavering. "This is why I am glad we could talk in private. Everyone doesn't understand the way we process things...Still, I wasn't expecting the Uchiha and Domou to be like they are...Usually our clans would've gotten the information already."
"You weren't expecting them to be so intensely emotional and ferocious?" Daishiro ventured, not entirely surprised with Gotou's assessment.
"Whatever those foreigners say that gets their blood boiling...I've seen them both before in combat, but not quite like when they lose their tempers here. I can admit everything they say just rubs me the wrong the way as well...However, I wouldn't lose myself to the heat of my emotions like they do...Although..."
Chie entered the room, and Daishiro watched the faint light illuminate her stoic features as she shut the door behind her. Standing as if carved from stone, she crossed her arms over her chest, watching him, trying desperately to stop fuming, but she couldn't hide the annoyance.
"Chie..." Gotou acknowledged her, giving a slight bow of respect as he met her gaze.
"You're here..." Daishiro grunted.
"I expect Gotou to be so cold. You're usually more reasonable." Chie managed to get out without sounding bothered.
Daishiro sighed and shuffled to the side, watching as the woman straightened her shoulders and pulled the hood off which covered her whole head and face. "You're overbearing."
Chie nodded, pulling the robe tighter. She brushed at her eyes, pulling some of the moisture back from the downpour outside. "You seemed distracted. It's disrespectful."
"We are discussing mitigating some things...So problems don't pile up." Gotou explained.
"Capturing these two trespassers will mitigate one problem...For now..."
"I don't know if that's entirely true..." Chie stopped, her arms tightened over her chest as she crossed them harder, the words fading away into silence.
Gotou furrowed his brow, shuffling his hands into his sleeves. "This will do until you decide to make your move. I will personally set out to find those two if this goes on for too long. Capturing these two trespassers lays out a broader plan for us. I can agree with it...For the moment..."
Chie's eyes narrowed into sharp daggers, glinting sharply. She studied the man a moment, face lowered in the shadow of her hood, then it fell back down to cover all of her features like a drape.
"It all depends." She lifted her eyes, avoiding looking directly into their eyes.
"In your opinion. Will Hashirama Senju make the unilateral decision?" Daishiro asked.
Chie looked down at her hands, clenching them together thoughtfully. "He will make such a decision to retrieve them and speak on what needs to be spoken on, especially with Madara and Mikito, who are your main concern at the moment. I don't feel he can do anything more than that as the Hokage of Konoha. As Hashirama Senju leader of the Senju clan...He'd be able to make that unilateral decision."
Gotou eyed Chie carefully before he turned his focus onto Daishiro. "Is that accurate?"
Daishiro watched the downpour, taking a long time to respond to the question. Direct questions always needed a direct answer.
"Her assessment is close enough. Nothing is ever one hundred percent as things stand. Unless we make it that way on our end."
Gotou took a moment to respond, but when he did his voice was calm. "I understand."
The humidity in the plexus had skyrocketed. Despite the moist air, Yosuke and Disuke continued their stealthy walk above the gusting waves of rain that pelted trees, bushes, and long plains spotted with rivers, Disuke's extended chakra sensory still reaching in all directions for anything threatening.
Disuke shifted his footing, signaling for them to come to a stop where they were. He was starting to sense a heat source in the vicinity, and warmth was always a good indication of life. Chakra was always warm at first sense most of the time. His head swiveled, his eyes noting the direction of the heat, he adjusted his sensory and began to move at maximum velocity over the slippery terrain.
Disuke only slowed only when he neared a mound of dirt bigger than the grouping of trees it was resting on. Yosuke made note of the mound's size—nearly one thousand feet in sheer length and an enormous two thousand feet long. The mound's size was of only secondary importance. What was truly astounding for Yosuke, was the amount of heat radiating from beneath the mound.
Whatever creature under that must surely be well protected against the rain and harsh gales.
"What do you want to do?" Yosuke asked.
"Hard to say...We have to continue. If we stay here long enough we will disturb whatever this is. Just the same, the second we cross the threshold it'll launch itself out of there."
Yosuke took a deep breath and braced his core. "That's something we should avoid if possible. It's chakra is huge."
Disuke's sharp eyes sized up the mound for several moments, surveying the area around them, noting how every branch twisted towards the ground as if it were pulled that way and tied so it stayed bound. These monsters never ceased to surprise him. A grunt escaped his lips as he noted every trunk around him was warped and bent to some extent as well.
He formed three hand seals, and a thin beam of stone shot from one of his palms, its intense driving power boring into the mound and scattering misshapen earth chunks in all directions with a reverberating thud. The mound began to quake and shake. Whatever lived beneath it was angered by Disuke's earthen spear. More chunks and dust began to fall away from the mound in sizable waves when, at one end, two eyes showed through.
Huge orange eyes peered like twin points of fire at the man that continued to blast away with its spear. The mound shook again, with a roar that nearly destroyed their sense of hearing for a brief moment, the creature began to thrash. Yosuke zoomed back several meters, widening the space between himself and the creature in a heartbeat. He hadn't encountered a creature like this ever. Everything inside of him screamed to retreat, however his tactical mind from experience and training told him that the creature had to be dealt with precisely and quickly.
He quickly made an internal adjustment to regulate the potency of his chakra. Less than a moment later a beam was shot at maximum speed, whistling and shrieking through the air. It cut through the creature's head smoothly, leaving a splash of blood to hit the ground. Disuke aimed his hand at the creature as well, spearing it right through its heart, snarling as the beam shattered through the mound, Yosuke's own attack, and the nearby trees with a thunderous shock wave that deafened the first.
Seconds later the huge creature hit the ground, flecks of blood still flying as its enormous body descended on its course. The dust and debris slowly settled, leaving a scattering behind and a large depression in the terrain—that the creature had caused when it fell.
Disuke made sure to remember its existence and that it was properly in his memory, which didn't include Yosuke coming back to his flank with an incredulous look.
"You lack finishing power."
Yosuke tried not to grimace.
The roars of another creature finally jarred the younger man out of his focus. Yosuke felt like he was spinning in place, his head and spine aching, perhaps exploding for all he could tell from the sheer volume of the roar that echoed across the landscape. With painstaking effort he brought his vision into focus, discerning that he was in the same spot as before, right in the middle of the forest's jagged walls reflecting the fading moonlight.
Disuke kept a firm grip on his shoulder-something the Subatsu always did in environments like this.
"How far until we get to a clearing?"
Disuke could hear the pitch of desperation in Yosuke's tone.
"Where did that roar come from?"
"I don't know. It had some carry over from its distance. It sounds like it is coming from every direction. It could be covering something else's tracks by doing that. Don't let your senses, mind, or sensory perception waver even for a second." Disuke replied with an indifferent shrug.
"That is a lot of carry over...Seemed that creature was particularly adept with its sight, a skill we can't overlook. It seemed to prefer to rip apart things that disturb its slumber, though as you can see focusing on a center point and the head does the trick...Remove the head and bifurcate the heart."
The stone spear flickered out from Disuke's hand as he stopped kneading his chakra into it, and tossed it to Yosuke as if it were a staff. The younger man caught it easily, wrapping his hand around the deeply hooked handle.
"This feels strange...Like it is connecting with my chakra system...What did you do?"
Yosuke could already see the spear-like object shortening slightly.
"You're moving too slow for my taste with your thrusting and cutting. You're a sensory shinobi, surely you understand by now..."
Yosuke directed a pointed gaze at the man, frozen in his spot.
"These monsters and creatures in here will kill you without a second thought, you need to always be ready to kill. Jutsu, techniques, stuff like that doesn't matter. Only powerful, finishing, destructive stopping power matters where we are. This requires only a minor variation in your grip. It allows you to slash and cut quicker and there is a lot more follow through. Hold it more in the fingers, farther away from your palm. Knead your chakra as you would when you use a jutsu...To make it contract, expand, extend, retract...That is where the key is..."
Yosuke did as instructed, letting his body and chakra grow accustomed to the odd heft and balance of the new weapon. Already his mind was beginning to run through the implications of the new grip and ability to streamline his chakra evenly into this. It would give him far more power on underhand and diagonal strikes, and it would change the angle of the attacks by the merest fraction of a degree.
He'd also be able to work on concepts like contracting, expanding, and retracting.
"Some moves are more difficult with this mind you...You have to maintain a constant focus as well. That is how it is for me. I always aim for a vital point now keeping that in mind. The head comes off or I thrust through the heart. Now I do both so long as I can help it. There's no other way with these monsters."
"Don't you need it?"
"You proved you needed it." There was just a hint of annoyance in the older man's voice.
Yosuke kneaded his chakra with a slight scowl, listening to the sweet hum of the power surging and the crackling hiss of the spear.
"The decision isn't mine. It is so you survive. I haven't trained you for ten years just to let you die here in a ravine somewhere. That's not befitting of a Senju shinobi. You're improving, but it isn't fast enough for my taste..."
Yosuke managed a respectful bow, fully aware of the great honor that Disuke had just given him in the form of this weapon.
"You sure you won't need it?"
"I can make another one like that. It's easy. I may be able to do that with lightning. "
Yosuke was stunned enough that his expression showed it.
Disuke saw it and smiled slightly. "I learned a few things while fighting here. As strong as I was before, I can become even stronger. My approach had been wrong...As skilled as I was...I shouldn't have been so proud being so puerile in my concepts."
"Are you saying I'm holding you back?"
"Not at all. This is just my own experiment...To see if I was as strong as I believed."
"Experiment..." Yosuke muttered, thinking of how things had been recently. He tilted his head to the side, trying to gauge the meaning behind the words.
Disuke caught his wandering gaze and corrected the younger man without hesitation. "It's nothing you need to be concerned with. Unless you are applying it to yourself. Our chakra is not the same after all. We are Senju, but we are different. You are an adept sensory shinobi and always have been. That is where you need to pitch your focus."
The notion of applying what Disuke was learning in a real fight was preposterous. He knew he was no match for the older man in sheer experience. To apply whatever he was learning wouldn't be possible for him. They had different skill sets as well and attributes as the man mentioned eloquently.
He'd need to conduct his own experiment just as his mentor was. "Thanks for reminding me of my sensory capabilities. I will keep that in mind..."
Yosuke turned his attention to his flank's direction.
The reptile-like creature that had been resting high in the tree meters away was now pacing, shifting its weight from one foot to the other as its tail flicked sporadically left to right.
It gave out a deep hiss that seemed to signal rage and anger.
"It's picking up on something..." Yosuke trailed off, flourishing his weapon. "What is the question...I..."
Yosuke was beginning to feel uneasy, for the first time since he had set foot into this plexus everything inside of him was telling him to retreat. Maybe he had been retreating before, but nothing had made every hair on him stand up on end quite like this. If he knew anything about lizard-like monsters in general, even huge ones like the one some distance away, it was that their senses were keen. Without question the creature was trying to tell them that something, some danger, was near.
This massive lizard was also making its own hisses and roars as it claimed the territory around them.
Not wasting a moment, Yosuke adjusted his sensory perception. He was sensitive enough to zero in on even the most minute life readings by detecting body temperature and internal life systems. As his perception's focus began to spread, he immediately jolted as if stabbed with a red hot needle.
A shadow crossed over him and Disuke, towering above by a good five meters. Both men spun around on sheer reflex alone, and suddenly it seemed as if the terrain itself had come to life. A great dark-furred monstrosity, perfectly camouflaged against the darkness of the forest rushed savagely at them with an earth shattering roar that ripped into a shriek.
"No way!"
Yosuke's spear arced, clearing its distance within a second. Now, half of the huge claw of the creature struck him hard and flat against his face, knocking him off of his feet and into the ground. The other half flew away with flecks of blood trailing from the half paralyzed limbs.
Impossible! I should've been able to sense its approach...That wasn't just normal movement in order to bypass our combined sensory perception...It had to be...
Unconsciousness nearly came to Yosuke as hard as his head hit the ground, but somehow he was able to maintain consciousness and lunge back towards Disuke with a handspring. His feet staggered for purchase, and once again Disuke was there to support him. Maybe it was his mind analyzing the situation that had just happened.
Then the ground met his face so swiftly that he never even heard the rage filled hisses of the lizard creature as it went on its own attack. He didn't hear the rage filled screams and jutsu unleashed by Disuke, nor the abrupt silence following the sound of boles breaking and teeth cleaving through flesh.
His expert sensory-prided among the Senju clan-hadn't been able to trace this savage creature.
Disuke craned his neck and saw that his feet were tied with vines...
He was hanging from a branch.
The downpour of rain was streaming down him in waves making it almost impossible to breathe without coughing. He could feel the leaking mask of his own blood caked on his face where the creature had viciously slashed him after he took half of its other hand and stabbed through its knee. He had managed to hinder its full charge into a lumbering limp.
He could hear the bestial moans coming from the monstrosity, louder now as they resounded through the deep and narrow passageway of the forest. His strength had not yet returned fully, but with a determined effort, he pulled himself up and reached for the confining bonds, slicing them with a quick flare of chakra. He could not break the rope-like bindings and ended up dragging some along with his ankles, the forest floor rushing up at him.
"I'm going to kill that thing and eat it." Yosuke said as his face met the forest floor once again. "Vines..."
Disuke would've normally jumped, but he could feel the same anger boiling through his bones as his comrade. He spoke in a tone that was calm and detached, but whether it was for his own benefit or Yosuke's it couldn't be determined.
"Relax for now."
The forest began to shake with with the louder bellows of the approaching creature. Its feet crunched on the leafy rain and blood soaked ground, coming frighteningly nearer. It would not be long before the shaggy horror would be back and would have the foolish notion of warming them both in the darkness of its belly.
Disuke and Yosuke looked at each other, both nodding very slowly while smirks crossed their faces. Their eyes darted about the gorge, finally spotting the pile of gear they had brought with them on this mission, now lying in a useless, crumpled heap on the floor.
Then they saw it. The image of the dark furry monster looming, its raised arms showing its enormous gleaming claws. They could see the tar-like face for the first time now, and neither shivered at the sight of the beast's shaggy coat that stunk of sulfur, nor the quivering lower jaw with its protruding fangs on its neck.
The massive creature spread half of its black, hooked claws and lumbered toward them.
Disuke's earthen spear, as if magnetized by his chakra sprang to his hand, he kneaded and flared his chakra, releasing a blade like beam from the stone spear. Yosuke followed his stride, sprinting to retrieve the curved earthen spear he had been given earlier.
Weapons in hand, the monstrous figure towering over them took a cautious step backward. The beast's sulfurous eyes blinked at the gleaming light coming from the blade.
"Straight ahead!" Disuke roared as the monster came at them, its huge claws swiping the air.
He went right, diving again and rolled away from the beast, bypassing the mighty arms and horrendous claws, coming around and over with his blade stabbing straight ahead, driving a hole in the creature's back. It dived forward, trying to crush Yosuke, who was still moving away from it under its bulk, and the younger leapt straight up as he connected with his own weapon along its jawline.
He came down on its back, stabbing repeatedly, before leaping away once more.
"Move!" Disuke veered hard as the enraged beast charged.
Yosuke got the idea and formed four hands seals slamming his hands together in the Ram seal as he finished, noting the claws coming at him from the side at the very last second, turned his jutsu down and under, deflecting the lumbering strike.
He banked hard to his left, then to his right, finally ramming his own lightning attack right into the monster's face as it swiped for him. To his shock, this barely caused anything to happen and the younger man had to throw himself high overhead to dodge another swiping claw.
He rolled out to the side of the branch, narrowly avoiding another lumbering strike that would've swiped along with the landscape, and this time managed to slash out again, cutting a deep gash along the monster's hand and jammed its hand into the bark for a brief instant.
Now with another portion of its hand gone the monster howled and came on. Disuke worked furiously in his own pursuit, turning one arc after another right into the charging beast, finally cleaving it where he had before on its knee and stunning it into pain.
Yosuke rushed in, stabbing right in its face and carved hard to the side with a snarl. He caught his blade on the creature's shoulder instead of its face veering with some strain, he used it to launch himself high overhead once again. Though it was difficult to move from his aerial position, Yosuke adjusted his course with a quick flare of chakra and snapping his legs up from his tuck, using his fall to accelerate himself into an attacking position. Now, he aimed his spear at the mass of muscle and hair, forcing it back a step as he carved an arc, then another step as he carved another arc.
Disuke flanked him, bearing down his own strikes, and both transitioned, bringing their weapons down, cutting through the monster's sides as they sailed towards the ground. The creature shrieked, its hideous roar of agony shaking everything around them. It turned and hastily lumbered out of the enclosure, knocking down every tree that it could, its bulk blending with the distant terrain.
The sky was already noticeably darker thanks to the rain, and with the downpour came the gale winds that would make it blinding. Even chakra could not stabilize them in their present condition. Their faces caked in dirt, sweat, and blood, their bodies heaving for oxygen, muscles nearly cramping for water.
Even chakra had its limitations.
The chakra network could be strained as much as the body.
Finally, their vision began dimming, their feet stumbling as they succumbed to exhaustion, the last thing either of them were able to see was a hill of overlapping trees, and then they were unconscious before they even reached the bottom.