ϟ—Chapter Twenty-seven — Konoha = Crushed—ϟ
The rest of Konoha was in ruins. Remnants of what must've been a volcano scarred a third of the village like a ripped scab. Ka'rai's power never dropped, Nibi's full domain was never… gone. That only meant the sheer amount of death—
Ka'rai shook his head, forcing a grin, giggling at the thought of all the fights he was going to have. Fuu, who flew beside him, looked at him with her brow raised. Nanabi's healing on top of Jinsei meant she was basically healed from her fight with Kusari. "The fuck are you laughing about?"
"Nothing," answered Ka'rai, keeping his smile as he churned Nibi's chakra through his system. The utter power in her chakra was heavenly.
Fuu rolled her eyes. "It's fine to be excited about the war, y'know. What's the point of having all this power if you're not gonna use it? The way I see it, trying to be what Hane wants you to be is just another cage. You're not allowing yourself to fly.
"If you wanna set fire to everything you see, then do it. If you wanna blow shit up and fight everyone you see, then do it. Because… this is what power is. Freedom." Fuu looked to her left, Ka'rai did too.
There were a bunch of Shinobi fighting, he felt their souls—they were wild, furious. He couldn't quite see what village they were from, neither could Fuu. Despite that, she raised her hand. The air from all of their lungs was taken. They dropped like flies, asphyxiating. "Hell Above."
All of the air stolen from their lungs crashed down on them like a building of solid air. In an instant, over fifty souls were just… gone. Most of them were crushed like bugs. Those who weren't turned to paste had some form of lethal damage.
Fuu giggled. "Look at that…"
Ka'rai wasn't unsettled. "Some of those people could've been from Kumo."
"Who fucking cares—?"
"I fucking care," Ka'rai snarled. "I understand, yeah… we gotta kill people sometimes, and hell, it'll be fun as shit sometimes! Just because you have an excuse to kill and get away with it doesn't give you the greenlight to do it!"
"What if I want to?"
"Then I'll stop you." Ka'rai glared. Fuu glared back. "You know I'm stronger than you, especially right now. Do you really want to test me?"
Fuu growled and looked away.
Ka'rai nodded. "Good…"
Ka'rai, Nibi interjected. I sense Gobi and Son Goku nearby, their Jinchuriki. Both are surrounded by Jonin level Shinobi.
Ka'rai extended his senses, feeling what Nibi felt. He looked to his right. He felt them, too. Two powerful souls, similar to Nibi's, are suppressed and locked away. Around it, eight human souls. He couldn't tell how strong people were… all human souls pretty much felt the same. All he could really tell was gender and age, pretty much. According to Nibi, they were Jonin. How can you tell the difference?
I read the experiences etched into their souls.
You can read minds?!
To an extent, yes.
Fuck, dude, what can't you do?
Water Release.
Fair enough.
Ka'rai slapped Fuu on her armored shoulder. "Fuu… we have an excuse to kill people."
She gasped. "Really?!"
"Yup! A couple Jonin are guarding Gobi and Son Goku. So, naturally—"
"We have to free them!" Fuu's wings buzzed with a jolt of lightning. "Where?!"
"A hundred meters to the right—"
Before Ka'rai could finish, Fuu was already flying toward them. He rolled his eyes and followed Fuu, barely able to keep up—she's so fucking fast.
He felt Fuu's soul light up—as well as the souls of the Jonin around her. Nibi, how strong exactly are these Jonin?
None of them hold a candle to Kakashi, you're stronger than all of them… but their numbers will give you a challenge.
Nibi's eyes glowed with Ka'rai's excitement as a grin split across his face. A blue blur dashed through the blackened ash and red sky. Fuu was already dodging jutsu in the air, blowing down her Kyoku winds onto them.
One of the Jonin countered with Fire Style, but it was blown out like a candle. She was hit and sent skidding across the dirt. It didn't take much longer for Ka'rai to spy Gobi and Son Goku, or their Jinchuriki.
Han was trapped in a barrier of some sorts, held together by Adamantine Chains. The seals that sprouted from the chains—the barrier—was an area of spatial distortion. Even with his Nibi-enhanced vision, it was trippy as all hell to look at. Roshi was charred, obviously defeated, placed into the same trippy barrier that Han was.
How the fuck are we going to free them—?
Yuurei, I'll allow you to use them to destroy the seals on both Gobi's and Son Goku's Jinchuriki. It'll burn the chakra away.
Ka'rai smirked. Got it. Without further adieu, he joined the battle—immediately he was hit. A palm strike to his cloak, a familiar strike. Ka'rai looked his attacker in the eyes, a Hyuuga woman hit him.
"Neji's so much better than you at the Juken," he muttered as his cloak burned hotter, blowing her back.
Without wasting any time, she clapped her hands. Ka'rai expected a Jutsu, so Jinsei's armor merged with his cloak… nothing came.
Then a hiss.
From below, a sealing matrix of water constrained him—a trap. They knew they were coming—it clicked. The Hyuuga—the Byakugan. Ka'rai cackled and fought against the seals with Jinsei. The water was boiled into vapor and an Earth Style Jutsu, also mixed with seals constrained him further.
Ka'rai snarled. He was trapped—a bolt of lightning from the air destroyed the earth and shot a hole through his chest. Blood heaved with Ka'rai's cough as he felt something weird.
Someone else was in his mind, conquering his body.
It wasn't Nibi.
Mind Transfer, complete, he heard from inside his head. Beside him, he saw the visage of a man, red eyes and blonde hair. He lost control over his body—no he didn't. He snarled and fought back. The Yamanaka was pushed out.
You think you can do shit to me?! I have to fight the fucking Nibi for my mind! You're NOTHING! roared Ka'rai.
The Yamanaka was pushed back but he didn't falter; he didn't lose. A battle for control over Ka'rai's body started, but just as quickly, it ended.
Cold fire burned at his mindscape, the Yamanaka screamed as Nibi snarled. You're taking too long, Ka'rai.
I'm trying my fucking best—with the Yamanaka gone, Ka'rai weaved a hand seal. "Bakugami!"
Jinsei erupted and blasted his constraints off of him. He blitzed forward with the Jigoku Katana, cutting the Yamanaka's head off. Fuu was in the sky, holding off the other seven Jonin. Ka'rai cackled. "You thought that you had me, didn't you?!"
The Hyuuga blasted forward with reinforcements from two other Shinobi. A blonde man weaved hand seals and slapped the back of the Hyuuga and a green-eyed woman. They both glowed red, like a barrier was placed onto them. Ka'rai's Katana scorched red then blue and careened out toward the three.
They barely managed to dodge, but one was scorched…. The green-eyed woman. She wasn't burned to ash. Ka'rai's face split with a grin. "Oh shit… you guys can actually take a hit now!" He blasted forward, meeting the Hyuuga in close quarters. She dodged and struck Ka'rai in the chest. It did nothing. Jinsei churned from his torso and entrapped her arm.
The earth split from beneath him and shut on him just as fast. Had Jinsei's armor not been up, his bones would've been snapped. Sudden mass strikes of lightning blasted craters into the earth. All it took was a small Bakugami for Ka'rai to free himself from the earth.
More elemental seals constricted him and it took another Bakugami to break out of.
The blonde man weaved two hand seals. "Earth Style: Mud Clone Jutsu!"
Ten clones of mud erupted from the ground, weaving their own hand seals—more Earth Style. Ka'rai stuck his Katana into the ground, burning the rock to brimstone. When the clones finished their hand seals… they didn't work.
A crescent flash of Nibi Hellflame bisected half of the clones, the other half retreated to the air, spewing water laced with seals roared toward him. Hellflame burned from the brimstone and he scorched it blue to block them all.
A thunderclap and three more were gone.
They dropped to the ground, weaving hand seals together. "Mud Clone Cloning Jutsu!"
From the existing clones and the original, three more from each sprouted from their bodies. It didn't use the existing Earth, but his own chakra. Fucking clones—he sneered.
If I tried to make any they'd just fucking blow up! Ka'rai's eyes widened. They'd fucking blow up… He smirked—he cackled. He dismissed the Water Style Seals with another Jigoku slash before stabbing it back into the brimstone. He crossed his fingers in the Clone Seal. Mama tried to teach him Shadow Clones, and he'd seen her use them so many times.
Trying it was easy.
Ten puffs of smoke appeared around him—Ten detonations blasted. All of the blonde Jonin's clones were destroyed. The green-eyed woman was blown into chunks of flesh. The Hyuuga screamed as her arm was blown off of her.
"Shadow Bomb Jutsu!" He announced before crossing his fingers again. Twenty puffs of smoke blasted before detonating once again. The Hyuuga woman and the blonde man were finished off, their corpses scattered amongst the thirty craters Ka'rai created.
He cackled at his new discovery before dropping to his knees. Jinsei's armor roared with its restorative properties.
Careful… you're at five percent Chakra. Drop any lower and you'll lose the ability to hold my Chakra.
The fuck—?
A cackling Fuu interrupted his thoughts, holding the head of a bald man with a beard. "That was fun! I didn't use Hell Above to make it more interesting! It worked!"
Ka'rai would've congratulated her… had he not sensed utter terror. Twenty four souls approached. Usually, he would've been excited.
But, Nibi told him that Those Shinobi are ANBU, Ka'rai. The only way for you to survive is to use version two.
"Ka'rai! I feel a lotta breathing coming our way—"
"They're ANBU! All of them!"
Fuu gasped, she buzzed over to Ka'rai and lifted him up into the air.
"Are we running away?!"
"Nope! I got a plan!"
The ANBU gathered around Roshi and Han, looking up at Ka'rai and Fuu. A bombardment of Jutsu screeched toward them, a perfectly synchronized merging of all five elements. Ka'rai used Jinsei to hold himself on Fuu, freeing her arms.
"Kyoku Wind Style: Shirokko Compression!"
"Jinsei Fire Style: Heartbeat Fireball!"
In Fuu's armored palms, a heatwave pulsed and swirled, taking the surrounding air and compressing it more and more.
In Ka'rai's burning hands, veins of Jinsei compressed into a ball, beating with life like a heart—it pumped and beat fast, matching his own heartbeat.
He reached his hands up and Fuu's reached down. Their combined jutsu screeched with power and heat. They screamed, "DETONATE!" in tandem and threw the jutsu down.
Yang, Fire, and Wind created the most cataclysmic scorch ever seen. It incinerated the five-elemental attack of the ANBU and continued its way down.
It screamed down toward the ANBU as a soaring ball. Three weaved joint hand seals and blocked the attack with a barrier jutsu. Ka'rai and Fuu's jutsu blasted and the ANBU blistered from merely being near it.
Fuu went higher and higher, exiting the ash around Konoha. The sky became blue again, with Konoha but a red glowing sore on the horizon. Fuu's chakra roared, she was at her Full Domain. "Ka'rai, I'm gonna throw the sun!"
"You're gonna what—?!"
Fuu reached into the sky, roaring with sunset chakra as she pulled on some sort of invisible force. "Light it on fire then use your Bakugami!"
"I have like no fucking chakra—"
Fuu used her free hand to pump Nanabi's raw chakra into him. It didn't take long for his own chakra's nature to corrupt it, filling his reserves to back around forty percent. "There!"
Ka'rai cackled as he felt the chakra. Nibi! Could you give me some more?!
You realize that you could kill Gobi and Son Goku if the explosion is too big?
They're in a sealing barrier made by Miya Uzumaki! I think they'll be fine!
Nibi sighed. You won't be able to sustain the version one cloak for much longer after this.
Okay!
Nibi's chakra flared into his own—immediately it filled his reserves to a hundred felt like lightning was churning through his veins. His full chakra—Nibi's full domain… what was there that he couldn't do?
"Tengai Shinsei!"
A piece of the sun—the size of a building fell from the sky, the glowing orb of the sky. It shot past the two—Fuu hurled Ka'rai onto the ball. It took him a bit to realize what he was on. It was hot, even to him.
And, well, he was going to make it even hotter. With a roar, he pumped full Jinsei into the piece of sun. Nibi's fire of life burned the golden ball blue as Ka'rai found himself cackling from the utter absurdity of what he was doing.
Just as he broke through the ash, he felt Fuu's armored hands grab his shoulders and lift him off of the Tengai Shinsei. With a deep breath, a massive gust of Kyoku winds blasted the Tengai Shinsei down even faster.
Fuu hovered down, seeing the ANBU panicking. They all attempted to retreat but Ka'rai had second thoughts. A quick series of hand seals. "Jinsei Inferno!"
All around the ANBU, Jinsei plumed, holding them in place with searing heat. Ka'rai laughed, pumping his and Nibi's chakra to keep them constrained. He weaved a single hand seal, preparing to activate Bakugami when the time was right.
It only took three more seconds for the Tengai Shinsei to collide with earth.
The very moment it did, Ka'rai yelled, "BAKUGAMI!" like an utter madman.
A white flash… it was blinding. It put even Ka'rai's Infernal Bakugami to shame. The mushroom cloud covered a fourth of Konoha, so many souls were just—gone. Just like that. Most of the fourth of Konoha that their Jutsu destroyed, was already flattened.
"HOLY SHIT!" Fuu screamed, cackling. "I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD BOOST THE TENGAI SHINSEI THAT MUCH!"
A single chuckle escaped Ka'rai's breath. "Neither did I…"
It didn't take long for Fuu to reach the ground, dropping Ka'rai on his feet. Holding on to his two tailed cloak was a struggle. He needed to work fast. There wasn't a thing left of the twenty ANBU that attacked Ka'rai and Fuu.
The barrier that Miya put up around Roshi and Han… was utterly untouched. "Fuck…" He walked toward it, placed a hand on the chain. Nibi?
Cold fire burned from his hand, it gave Ka'rai chills. Yuurei burned through the Adamantine Chains like they were paper. The seals that created the barrier burned away. The odd spatial distortion glitched back to normal. As it did, Roshi and Han ceased levitating before dropping to the floor.
They were both unconscious, defeated. Neither of them looked like they were going to wake up any time soon, especially Roshi. Both Gobi and Son Goku were suppressed to all hell. With a breath, Ka'rai dropped his two-tailed cloak. Releasing the power almost hurt.
He needed to wait for Nibi's chakra to recharge. He lit up both Roshi and Han with Jinsei before picking them up both by the collar. Fuu grabbed Ka'rai by the shoulders and lifted all three of them up with little effort.
"We're going to find Hane and Yowui! Alright?!"
Fuu let out a breath. "Can't we find Clowui? She's the only cool person from your village."
"Hane first!"
Fuu rolled her eyes. "I'm stronger than you right now!"
"I just want to make sure she's safe," Ka'rai said with a breath. "Please, Fuu c'mon—"
Fuu headbutt him. "Stop being sad, dammit!" She sighed. "Fine! Where is she?"
Ka'rai extended his senses, shutting his eyes. "She's far… good. Like a mile or two northeast."
"Ugh! Okay!" In a wind-fueled buzz, the four Jinchuriki took to the skies.
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
Everything was so dark in the smoke. Sami would've thought her eyes were shut had she not been fighting the burn of smoke on her eyeballs. Cirru had a barrier of wind around himself, he was fine. Cee was a Jonin. Clowui was.. Clowui. Hidden in the shadows, Clowui and Cee spotted a battlefield. Kumo Shinobi were defending an army of Iwa Shinobi who were trapped in a barrier.
Sami eventually had the bright idea to move near Cirru to be able to see. He extended his barrier without her having to ask. "Thanks…" she muttered.
Cirru just let out a breath, his version of 'you're welcome.' Instead of speaking to her, he announced his presence to Cee and Clowui. "You two?! Why are we just hiding out?! After the utter humiliation I was put through, I need a way to re-establish my honor! The way for me to do that now, is on the battlefield."
"Patience, Cirru," Cee ordered. "We are Shinobi, not Samurai. To face our opponents head on is foolish."
"I think that I have found our opening," Clowui announced. "Not that any of you could see. All you must do is follow my lead. Once you are on the battlefield, you have but one objective.
"Make as many Shinobi bleed as possible."
Sami's skin crawled at the statement. She knew exactly what was coming. Shakliy, she gave Cirru a look. Cirru looked back at her with that same look.
In four simultaneous flickers, they were gone.
They appeared in Kumo's ranks. Fire spewed and separated Kumo's force into two halves. A shield of blood prevented Team Cee from taking any damage. "All of you, now," Clowui commanded.
WIthout missing a beat, Cee weaved hand seals for a flash of light that blinded Konoha's Shinobi. Just as fast, Cirru flew into the air, blitzing through a series of hand seals. "Typhoon Style: Category Three Winds!"
Cirru's chakra turned the debris-ridden air into duststorm. At sonic speeds, Konoha's Shinobi were blasted with rain, hail, stones, trees—fallen weapons. Earth walls blocked the wind and a lot of the shrapnel. Most were damaged even if just a little bit. Some were hit critically. Some even died. A discarded kunai to the head. A spare shuriken to the neck. A boulder to the knee, finished off by someone else.
Sami… had to contribute as well. She weaved hand seals. "Lightning Style: Sparking Shrapnel Senbon!" A flash and she launched her jutsu into the charging Konoha Shinobi. Most were dodged, some hit. Again, she tried harder.
She was stopped by a violent eruption of chakra. Sami whipped her head to her right. It was Clowui. Violent Violet chakra whirled around her. It was her mark. Cursed Seals of blood bled across her body in a magmic orange.
They didn't stop.
They didn't stop glowing.
They didn't stop spreading.
Not until every inch of Clowui's skin was covered. Her hair went from pale blonde to black. Her skin from ghostly pale to red. Fangs grew from her teeth in a pearly white, down past her bottom lip, almost reaching her chin.
"Is that…" Sami began.
"Level Two," confirmed Clowui. "Thank you for your contribution to the culling."
Sami's heart skipped a beat as Clowui weaved a single hand seal. "Blood Style: Blood Moon Harvest."
The time of a single heartbeat passed and nothing happened. By the second beat, screams grew, slowly like sprouting crops. It was the slow, tortuous, agonizing screams of horror. The dread where you slowly realized how wrong everything felt, you pieced together everything brick by brick, and no matter which way you put them together, it all came back to the same conclusion.
You wouldn't live to see the next minute.
The screams turned guttural.
Blood rose from every Konoha Shinobi in the vicinity that bled, even a minute paper cut meant their end. Sami watched with horror on her face as their enemy was sucked dry. All of the remaining corpses looked like human raisins, sucked of everything that made them what they were.
Clowui had the most euphoric grin on her face at the sight of the gigantic amount of blood. It was all under control. The blood floated in the air in a perfect sphere, a bloody moon to the sky of smoke and ash, the ground of fire and death.
With another hand seal, Clowui morphed the blood moon into a scythe the size of a building. Clowui looked back, toward Kumo's shocked and horrified forces. "It is I, Clowui Chinoike, heiress to the most powerful clan of Kumogakure," she stated, projecting her voice.
"And it is under my command, that you all will guarantee Konoha's destruction. All you need to do is make as many people bleed as possible. I will take care of the rest. Am I understood?"
Silence.
Then a roar. Kumo's Shinobi rallied behind Clowui without a second thought. A fang bearing grin of morbid glee crossed Clowui's usually composed face. "Perfect."
For the first time ever, Sami truly questioned if the girl in front of her was the friend she had since childhood. Her second friend. Her closest friend. Her best friend.
Was that who she was facing right now?
Sami didn't know.
Not anymore.
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
The falling ash and bloody-red sky was a true compliment to her Ketsuryugan, as well as the Ketsuryugan of the clan she led. Blood dripped from the hole in Konoha's outer wall, the hole that she made. Machia Chinoike marched into the Hyuuga Compound with an army of Chinoike five-hundred strong.
All of them were immune to the Byakugan's vision.
Not one Hyuuga knew what hit them.
Machiha just calmly walked over the ensuing massacre. Blood spilled and gargling screams boiled the air, crackling like the flames in the distance, falling into her ears like the ash did everywhere else.
It didn't take long for her clan to be pushed back. An invisible force struck them, right in the points of their chakra, all of their weaknesses. The Chinoike dropped like flies, if someone where to blink, then they'd be gone in a snap. Incapacitated on the ground. Immediately, she knew. Hiashi Hyuuga. The ability of his Tenmei Byakugan.
WIth her own eyes, she tracked the bursts of chakra and where it came from. The far side of the Hyuuga Compound, the head if you will. Machia went in with her weaknesses covered in blood, she was immune to that aspect of his Tenmei.
In a bloody flicker, she crossed the Hyuuga Compound in no time. She landed in front of the Hyuuga Compound's head. Hiashi Hyuuga was simply sitting with his legs crossed, glaring out toward his compound. Instead of the standard lavender, his eyes were black. The black of the night sky, with a starry constellation etched into them with white A stellar formation of a Swastika, one in each eye.
Those were his Tenmei Byakugan.
Machia walked over to him. "You made it easy for us to discover your secrets, Hiashi Hyuuga."
He didn't turn his head to look her way, but the rage was clear on his face. "Machia Chinoike… Head of the Chinoike Clan." He stood to look her in the eyes, her Ketsuryugan.
"What is your business with my clan?" asked Hiashi, the edge of a razor to his tone. Even while looking at her, conversing with her, he kept the focus to disable the Chinoike forces with his Tenmei.
Machia's skin turned redder, the bleeding ruby of blood. "Your eyes, why else would the Hyuuga matter to anybody, if not for your eyes? Besides, all you've done is limit yourself to the Byakugan and what it can do.
"Without your Byakugan, the Hyuuga is nothing but a group of well-trained civilians."
"If that is what you think, then you know nothing about the Hyuuga," spat Hiashi. He crouched into the stance of the Juken.
Machia remained still. "What wouldn't I know about the Hyuuga? After all… it was my idea to infiltrate so long ago."
Hiashi froze. "What did you just say?" he asked coldly, with all of the calmness and composure he could muster.
A cold smirk crossed Machia's lips. "It was I who suggested Lord Raikage to kidnap your daughter so long ago. For a long time I wished to know the secrets of the Byakugan. I've studied your clan for years.
"Once the White Eyes of Hinata Hyuuga became known to me, I knew it was time for me to act. Lord Raikage found it too conspicuous for a Chinoike to infiltrate, so he sent one of his subordinates to do the job.
"He failed. The White Eyes were lost… even still, I managed to discover the secrets of your eyes. But, now, all I need is the secrets of the Tenmei Byakugan. And of course, there's no other pair worth having other than yours."
Hiashi didn't respond. Machia's eyes narrowed. With the revelation of what I've done… the anger will make him sloppy. I'll catch him off guard and take the Tenmei for myself.
Hiashi trembled. He shook with unimaginable fury. "Machia Chinoike," Hiashi growled, the Swastika in his eyes broke apart and drifted to the left of his irises. "By fate's decree… I will slaughter you for the slight you made against the Hyuuga Clan." A White Tiger roared as the new constellation in his eyes.
"Seioubu." Four roars screamed from the forming pure white chakras.
This is new, Machia muttered. A rush. Her sentient blood saw the threat through her eyes. Blood spewed from every opening, every pore on Machia's body. Free from her command, it spiked out in gory tendrils toward Hiashi. He didn't even move. A White Tigress of pure Jade Chakra cut the blood.
Machia's blood reeled from the pain. Quickly, she severed the connection between the blood and her body as the blood hardened from ruby to white.
Growling, the ethereal tigress stood at attention in front of Hiashi. Three more tigresses, all the same white jade as the first, formed from the chakra he summoned with his Seioubu. All four of them had the same level of fury that Hiashi did.
Spirit animals, anything they hit will petrify into Jade Chakra, interesting. "Intriguing Jutsu," said Machia, eyeing her white-frozen tendril of blood. In a flash, her hands formed into seals. A Tigress didn't waste a second before blitzing toward Machia. She dodged her attack. Another Tigress pounced across the battlefield to slash at Machia.
A wound burst from the inside out on the Chinoike's skin. Blood wrapped around the first Tigress' neck and whipped her into the second. The third TIgress growled and leapt at Machia. The relentless assault stopped Machia from completing her sequence.
Machia found herself weaving and bobbing the four-tigress assault. Her Ketsuryugan bled a gory ruby. Blood punctured through her skin and stabbed through the White Tigresses. It constricted all four and held them to the ground. The likelihood of taking his eyes is low. I can't get close to him without significant risk. If I can't do that… then I might as well cripple him another way.
Hiashi's Byakugan pulsed. "Air Palm!" A blast of air hit Machia and she was blasted back. All four Tigresses surrounded Machia, leaving a space for Hiashi. "Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Air Palms."
First, there were two phantom strikes of air. Precisely, they struck Machia. That sentient blood fortified her skin and blocked the palms. It didn't matter, it still held her down. Four Air Palms. Eight Air Palms. Sixteen Air Palms. Thirty-two Air Palms. Sixty-Four Air Palms.
There was a slight delay in the attack of the four Tigresses.
As the tigresses clawed, blood spewed from Machia like senbon. They were held down by growing spears of constriction. At the same time that Machia weaved hand seals, a barrier of blood hid her away.
Finally, she was able to finish her hand seals. What other way to cripple a head than to destroy the body it was commanding?
"Blood Style: Sea of Blood."
An eruption of blood spewed from the shattered barrier. It was like a tsunami of gore. It churned all throughout the Hyuuga Compound, flattening every building within the compound. Hiashi growled as it took everything in his power to stay above the churning waves of liquid flesh. Wood and stone floated from the bottom of the waves to the top. It was only the Hyuuga Clan's walls that kept the spewing Sea of Blood contained once Machia stopped adding to it.
"Blood Style: Twin Blood Dragon Jutsu!" From the barely calmed waves of blood, twin dragons swirled in a waterspout.
Hiashi didn't waste a second before cutting off the Jutsu with his Tenmei. "How… dare you…" sneered the Hyuuga Clan's Head.
Red below and red above. Machia smirked, feeling the sheer amount of death in her blood. She felt everything. Almost every Hyuuga Shinobi was dead. Any who survived were either not in the Hyuuga Compound, or at least at the upper levels of Jonin.
Most of them were Branch Members, useless to her.
Searing white roared alongside the shifting of his eyes to the White Tiger. All four Tigresses awoke in a fury. None of them wasted a second before charging Machia.
Ketsuryugan glowed and all four White Tigresses were consumed by the fleshy waves. "You don't stand a chance now. Do not make this harder than it needs to be. Be happy, you'll join your wife and brother soon enough. Most of the Hyuuga already have.
"I'll make sure to treat your daughters kindly under my care."
Hiashi released his White Tigresses as fury pulsed through his veins. "Speak of my daughters again and you will never live to repeat that offense."
"I have a child of my own. I know better than to be cruel to children—"
"It was your order to kidnap Hinata!" Hiashi snapped. The full force of his chakra churned the waves of blood that drowned his Hyuuga Clan. "Look at what you did to my compound. Your words of morality mean nothing."
"And are you really much better? You enslaved your own brother and sent him to die in your place. You are a coward, Hiashi Hyuuga. By collecting your head, I'm simply collecting what I'm owed."
"I'm sick of hearing you speak." His chakra molded as the visage of the Eight Trigrams spread across the sea of blood. "I will end your fate right here, and right now."
A whirlpool opened under Hiashi, but he stood. The Eight Trigrams he stood on were solid. "Vacuum Palm." Machia was pulled onto the platform. Blood shot out, but his Tenmei disabled it. She just couldn't touch him.
"It is here where your fate will meet its end," Hiashi promised. Searing stone was his expression as he said, "First of the Eight Trigrams: Zeni." The first Trigram surrounding the lotus glowed. The twin starry Swastikas of his eyes whirled as everything went black around the Eight Trigrams.
Dammit—Machia oozed with her own gore. A bloody armor spewed around her. Hiashi didn't react as the black dome of his Eight Trigrams synced with his Tenmei. The head of his Trigram pointed north, to the constellation of the Swastika.
"Zeni: Teamon."
Every chakra point in Machia's head became weaker, any defenses she had were for naught. She felt everything drain—the Swastika of Hiashi's Tenmei whirled and she was struck. Everything went black. Her blood, however… was just as conscious as always.
Immediately, her Ketsuryugan shut off and her head went limp on her neck.
The sentient blood on her body moved as Machia herself went unconscious. Hand seals weaved—She couldn't speak the Jutsu name. With the attack completed, Hiashi was forced to let down his Eight Trigrams barrier.
His left eye shifted to the White Tiger. In a flash of white jade, A Tigress roared. As Machia's possessed body retreated, she was struck. Blood didn't spill on the clawed wound severed into her stomach. Solid Jade Chakra spread and Machia was overtaken—
A sudden whirling blade came from above and below the spreading jade.
Machia's blood cut her in two.
The jade section of her torso was flung into the Sea of Blood while Machia's insides stitched itself together, falling under the gory waves. The Tigress faded away as Machia's body blurred through the sea of blood.
Weak points showed themselves as Machia's blood had nowhere near the refinement of its much more intelligent controller. Hiashi ripped Machia's body apart. Her sentient blood pushed her farther and farther—it wasn't enough.
However… it didn't need to be. The assault stopped. Machia's blood took her crippled body out of the Hyuuga Compound and where she made the hole to enter. Some medical nin from Kumo were there to fix her back up immediately. Her blood kept her together, while the medical ninjutsu fixed her.
She wasn't conscious enough to contemplate her situation.
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
Arasei was almost finished. Her bloodline curse made her work a lot faster than she would be able to otherwise. The seal that would summon Killer Bee was nearly finished. It was large, intricate. If she were in a less stressful state of mind, she would've been proud of the work she did.
WIth a sigh, she placed a hand on the 'X' at the center of the seal. "I'm almost done, Bee. You're going to come here, and then you'll make everything better, alright?" A smile crossed her fearful face at the thought of him.
In a second, her smile faded into utter terror. Her bloodline curse made her aware of the exact frantic rhythm of her breath, the exact pump of her blasting heart, the churning of her blood through every vessel.
A powerful force was blasting toward her. It was bright and unbreakable like pure Adamantine. It could only be one person, Miya Uzumaki. In a second, she weaved hand seals and a barrier was erected around Arasei and her summoning seal. I need to get summon him—
Her hand was trembling, the fear turned her body into a quake. Arasei bit her tongue and that turned her still as a corpse. Just as she drew another symbol, Miya flickered directly in front of her. With her terrified amber eyes, she looked past the red of her barrier.
A towering woman, coated in an aura of Adamantine Chakra that whipped around her. Her eyes gold, she stepped forward and placed a hand on the barrier. Frozen, Arasei kept her eyes on her. "Arasei Uzumaki," she greeted.
"Miya Uzumaki," she greeted in kind, her voice hardened and stiff.
Miya's eyes narrowed. "I don't want to kill you if I don't have to."
You still would if you had the chance… she muttered. In a flash, Arasei weaved a hand seal. Ka'rai's bloodline curse gave her this idea. The barrier flashed and blasted Miya back through another tree. In a heartbeat, Arasei flashed through another seal. The barrier's wall morphed into chains to constrict Miya.
The next moment, Arasei focused her attention on completing the seal below. Just as she did, Miya's Adamantine Chains destroyed Arasei's barrier chains effortlessly. Weaving hand seals, Miya's chakra churned.
A flash of her vision—another presence she felt. It was like the Nibi's so long ago, when Ka'rai was but an infant. Demonic, angry. Yet, this was so much more strict, dense—she only faced it once so long ago.
Kushina Uzumaki—it was the KYUUBI.
"Adamantine Dragon Fist!" Golden chakra whirled around Miya's body, surrounding her in a serpentine aura of scales. Around her fist, the dragon's head formed. Both her and the beast roared in tandem.
The dragon slammed into the barrier at the same time Arasei reinforced it with her own chakra. They battled and shifted, cracks formed on the barrier. Miya pushed harder with her Adamantine, Arasei pushed back with her barrier.
The Kyuubi was getting closer, coming from behind—fear ROSE and Miya's attack was comfortably blocked. Terror flashed in her vision—
—A flaming ball of chakra from the opposite side of the barrier—
—Reality flashed before her eyes. Her head whipped behind and there it was. A demon in the flesh. Four tails of blackened crimson, like charred flesh churning. It was crossed with the visage of a man. In a blink, a burning ball of chakra rotated in his hand.
Immediately she recognised it as Kushina's Jutsu—
"Rasenova!" The flaming eruption charred the trees black. Ash whirled and the red of her barrier shattered. Instinct blew Adamantine Chains from her back—Miya flew in with a kick—
—Arasei whipped just in time as time slowed, Miya's leg lifted off the ground. She formed a barrier that blocked the kick at the same time the Kyuubi was suffocated in Adamantine Chains. She lifted the Kyuubi off the ground and whipped him into Miya.
In that split second, she drew another mark on the seal. Just two more—
"Bansho Ten'in," the Kyuubi growled.
An invisible force ordered her toward the Kyuubi. A jagged spike of fear erupted in her heart. Her hand whipped into a seal and a barrier ceased her approach. As her feet slammed into her barrier, she constricted Miya with her Adamantine Chains before she could make a move.
She struck down the final two marks needed to summon Bee. The seal was complete—dual barriers shielded around her arms as she barely blocked a dual assault from Miya and the Kyuubi. Her barriers shattered as Miya sent in Adamantine Chains to overwhelm them both.
Miya's Adamantine overpowered Arasei's and she thrusted a kick into her chest. Lightning screeched from her body and Arasei behind the two. More Adamantine Chains whirled around the Kyuubi, she made them endless. A single hand seal and the seals hissed before they detonated.
I just need to draw blood—A flash of the worst—Miya had her hand around Arasei's throat—Immediately, Arasei weaved hand seals as Miya gripped Arasei's neck. Frantic kicks loosened Miya's grip and Arasei's hand seals were completed. "Water Style: Whirl-Wave!"
Miya blocked and—"Fire Style: Phoenix Flame Bombs!"
The Kyuubi launched bird-shaped fireballs at both her and Miya. Konoha's Uzumaki flared her Adamantine as Arasei blurred through the ensuing steam as cover—
"Third Gate: Gate of Life! OPEN!" Miya's voice—a dagger slashed across Arasei's chest—her heart plummeted at the vision. She knew to take advantage, blurring atop the 'X' central of the seal. The exact moment she landed, Miya's dagger ripped through both her uniform and her mesh armor.
Agonizing burns seeped deep into her chest. But, blood was spilled onto the seal. Everything was completed. All she needed to do was weave the hand seal. Just that she did. Below them, blood hissed. Green glowed all surrounded by an 'X.'
"Summoning Jutsu!" Arasei cried.
A gigantic puff of smoke blew both Miya and Ryu back on their back. The ash Ryu created kicked up into the air. A whirlwind swirled the steam, smoke, and ash into a tornado of power. A lavender glow lit up on the 'X.' Arasei couldn't help the smile that crossed her face.
"Bee…"
"Took 'ya long enough, fool, ya fool!"
Even through the agonizing wound on her chest, she managed a laugh. It made her wince. Turning his back, ink seeped from his fingers and stitched the wound on her chest shut. "This should keep 'ya situated for now."
"Thanks…" Arasei breathed.
The whirlwind subsided and blew in an airwave. Her hair was blown back. Pebbles and dust rose, defying gravity as his presence made itself known. The earth cracked. Trees shattered. Killer Bee laughed. It was heavy, joyous, bombastic.
He looked back at Arasei, opening his mouth to speak—the Kyuubi and Miya blitzed toward him. Bee glared. An ethereal lavender aura made everything on him glow. Eight magatama beads sat around his neck like a necklace. They were black against the glowing purple. The Kanji for iron symbolized on his shoulder, spreading in a matrix of seals that coalesced on his chest. The Kanji for Power.
His glare stopped the Kyuubi and Miya in their tracks like a silent command. "Arasei, get to steppin. I handle this unfortunate pairing."
She nodded. In a flash, Arasei was gone.
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
As Arasei left, Bee set his eyes on his two 'opponents.' Behind his shades, his eyes narrowed. Maybe I can try to capture Kyuubi's Jinchuriki… that way, Kumo would have both. Five total Jinchuriki for Kumo… and all of us know how to cooperate with Bijuu…
Killer Bee grinned. We'd rule the world in a day. From one foot to the other, he hopped and giggled to himself. Imma fight these two for my Domain. Kyuubi's there, so the battle should be sufficiently intense.
As he talked to himself, Miya and Ryujin were talking, strategizing. "Well!" he interrupted, leaning against a tree with a notepad in hand. "While you two strategize, I'll write down the bars I have whirlin' in my mind? Got that?"
The two didn't waste another second as they talked faster. Mumbling his rhymes to himself, Killer Bee wrote down his bars at a pace of about ten pages per second. A few seconds passed, a few hundred bars.
"Okay, I'm done."
A purple flash knocked both of them in the chest. His seven swords whirled and he sliced at Miya. An aura of adamantine coated her, blocking them. The panic in her eyes was hilarious, so Bee laughed. "Aye! My domain is strength not fear! Woman up Uzumaki!" A kick to the gut sent her tumbling through the forest.
"Bansho Ten'in!" An otherworldly force ordered him to be pulled back. Kyuubi's Six Paths ability… It wasn't all that strong. Bee could've planted his feet to the ground to resist it, but nah….
He went with the force until he felt the heat of Kyuubi's cloak. With a flip, he danced over the blade of fire that Ryujin tried to point at him. The fire looked wrong. It made him shiver. Bee didn't pay it any mind.
What he did do was land on Ryujin's back. A tentacle wrapped around the neck of Kyuubi's Jinchuriki as he whipped Ryujin in the ass with his free hand. "C'mon! Giddy up Kyuubi! YEE-HAW!"
Ryujin screamed out and roared. His entire cloak of chakra ignited with that weird-ass fire. Again, Bee shivered—a flash of a nightmare crossed his vision. At the same time, Gyuki's chakra faltered, became weaker. An Adamantine Chain wrapped around his neck.
"Shinra Tensei!"
That same force that forced Bee toward Ryujin, blew him off of him. The tentacle was still around Ryujin's neck as they were both in the air. Bee smirked. He cracked the tentacle like a whip and slammed Ryujin into his ally.
Killer Bee cackled as Miya screamed… that fire must've gotten on her. Was it hot? He couldn't tell through Gyuki's cloak. Well, he was a gentleman, he might as well help out. Ryujin attempted to attack, but a quick tentacle slap put him back down. The purple of his cloak stained black with ink as he weaved hand seals. "Ink Style!"
Still on fire, Miya guarded Ryujin with her body and chains. He seemed to be preparing something behind her.
"Imaginative Wave!" In the visage of a painting, ink poured from Bee's skin and washed toward the two in a wave. Miya's golden chains dripped black as a massive plume of smoke popped from behind the two.
From the smoke, a green fireball that melted like liquid spewed toward him. It would've been smart to dodge… but… nahhh. Bee stood still and the fire splattered onto him and roared. The fire hissed like a snake, it steamed instead of smoked.
Poison?
Venom, corrected Gyuki. Don't let it get under your skin.
Like that's ever gonna happen—A gigantic snake was in front of him. Red eyes—like Kyuubi's—and it was bubbling with version one chakra. Bee's eyes widened. "Shit—" He stepped back in a blur, allowing the snake's head to slam into the floor.
Like a football, he kicked the snake into the head and it went flying into the air. Right after, Ryujin bolted toward him. Bee smirked and matched Kyuubi's Jinchuriki. Their palms locked and they pushed against each other. The force Ryujin exuded was… pathetic. Well, he was only using four tails, barely version two.
"Aye, fool! Bring out some more tails! Or else, I'll have a fun time turning Konoha into the earth's least favorite bruise!" Bee stopped matching Ryujin to slam him into the ground.
"Shinra Tensei!" Ryujin yelled. Bee braced himself, keeping his legs firm as that chaotic wave of force blasted over him… it was just like a breeze, he didn't move an inch.
Through Kyuubi's cloak, he saw the shock on Ryujin's face. "You seriously thought that would do anything?"
Ryujin snarled. Lightning blasted and mixed with fire in the demonic mouth of the cloak. It merged into a plasmic beam that struck Bee right in his face. All he did was snort. "A cigarette has more kick than that shit."
A power approached, from above. That snake he kicked was finally feeling the effects of gravity. Timing it perfectly, Bee whipped Ryujin into the snake and they both tumbled in a heap. He allowed a bored groan to escape his breath. "C'mon! Gimme the tails, yo! All I see is four! You ain't Son Goku, bro!"
Ryujin only growled as a response. He blasted with the snake at his side. That wrong looking fire melded with the venomous flame. With one of his seven blades, he slashed. The fire ball split in half and missed him completely.
A flip and a kick then Ryujin was blasted black. "Your fire ain't shit! My bars are the real hits! Now sit down and listen to me spit!"
Finally returning to the battle, an Adamantine chain blurred past Killer Bee. "From one to nine, it's Eight-o and I that have the real shine!" He pulled on the chain and yanked Miya toward her. With his fists he pummeled her, creating a beat to his raps.
"My women tens, they pay a fine for being fine in dimes!" A donkey kick plowed Miya into the dirt. The snake hissed at Bee before striking. He grabbed the serpent by the fangs. "If there was a crime for spittin rhymes, I'd be doing an immortal's time!"
He whipped the snake like a whip, cracking both Miya and Ryujin in the face with its tail. All it took was a flick of his wrist to snap the serpent's fang. It was large, like a spear. He threw it like one and it impaled Ryujin to the floor.
Bee cackled as he lifted the snake above his head. From there, he military pressed it as he continued rapping. "My strength is indomitable, my status is profitable, my name is honorable! And y'all dickheads are incomparable! To me! The one and only rapping Killer Bee!"
He threw the snake into the air again, but followed him this time. All it took was a drop kick to send it plummeting toward the earth like a meteor. One of his seven blades, he hurled it down and it stabbed the snake through the body.
A plume of smoke lulled over the crater that the snake made. It was blasted back when Killer Bee landed. Ryujin still had the snake's fang in his torso when he approached. Miya was heaving, bleeding, bruised, and yet, she still stood to face him.
These two aren't strong enough to activate my domain. This battle isn't intense at all, I've barely gotten a wiff of a boost from this. Kyuubi's Jinchuriki is an utter waste.
Killer Bee snorted. "Yo! Hiyenzo! Eight-o called you a bitch!"
He snarled at the insult… though it looked more like Kyuubi's doing. Miya shot him a glare. "Don't let him get under your skin!"
"Too late," quipped Bee as he ripped the cloak from Ryujin's skin, peeling it off with a blade. A roar that blew back Ryujin's only ally. A tentacle sprouted from Bee's arm and snapped his mouth shut like a muzzle. "Yo breath stank!" Another kick and Bee sent Ryujin tumbling into the dirt.
Miya weaved hand seals. "Wind Style: Winding Blade Dance!" Golden wind tore apart the trees and coalesced around Bee. Effortlessly, he shattered the Adamantine wind blades, hipping and hopping over the battlefield.
A muffled roar that might've been language bellowed from behind Bee's makeshift muzzle. Killer Bee stumbled back a few steps. Miya's chains constricted him. It took effort from his part for him to break out. In that time, Ryujin yanked the fang from his torso and blood spewed from the wound.
Bee looked on confused—that odd fire spewed from the fang. It burned green with the remainder of the venom on the fang.
I wouldn't let that hit you.
Nothing happened last time?
That fire… it messes with your mind, something I can't break you out of. It's like when we fought back in the day.
Killer Bee dodged Ryujin's fang attack. Got it… Ink spewed and constricted the flames. A single hand seal, and the ink morphed into a seal. It had the Kanji for Subside. The fire disappeared. Miya went to mess with the seal—all it took was a flex and a kick for her to be knocked to the dirt.
"Man!" Bee yelled, stomping his foot. Just the aura from that attack blasted both combatants back. "Y'all really aint shit! I can't help but admit! Your strength is nothing, nada, zip. I'm barely getting any domain from this, you fools ain't legit! Your power level's low like saggy grandma tits!"
From the ground, seals sprouted Adamantine Chains that tried to restrain him. Two of his seven swords and he whirled. They deflected the chains but left an opening—"Rasenova!"
A flaming ball, it looked like the Yellow Flash's Jutsu but on fire. In Ryujin's claws, a miniature sun plowed toward him. Chakra hands held other, not flaming Rasengan—there were dozens. It was like he formed the attack in an instant.
Killer Bee was bombarded by the regular Rasengan while the Rasenova shattered his two blades. None of the jutsu particularly hurt; it was like pebbles were being thrown at him by a child. The Rasenova was a rock because he definitely felt it.
He let out a grunt as the jutsu's fire whirled around him in a storm.
"Wind Style—"Miya again"—Fujin's Unbreakable Gale!" Ryujin's firestorm roared to white. Bee was blinded by the fire, it was getting hot. There wasn't a damned thing he could hear over the roar of the blaze.
From all directions, Adamantine Chains held him down. Gyuki's chakra became weaker, his cloak lost its fire. There were four on each arm, six on each leg, His chest and head became exposed. When Bee pulled on them they didn't budge—damn!
The fire screamed. It morphed into that oily—wrong looking flame. Flashes of the days where Gyuki tormented him rattled his mind.
Bee! Fight! Be strong! Like you were! Like you still are!
"Dammit—" he cursed. A tentacle wrapped around Bee, spewing ink. Gyuki's domain started to pulse. His chakra became harder to contain by Miya's Adamantine. Any seals she attempted to add onto him were melted off by Gyuki's ink.
The oily fire whirled as something entered. It was Ryujin—another Rasenova. It was different, it had that same fire that he made to break Bee's mind. Kyuubi's Jinchuriki was aiming for his head—Gyuki's chakra whirled into an Ox's head around Bee's head.
"Bukimina… RASENOVA!"
Between the Ox's horns, a miniature Bijuu Bomb formed in a second. It was the size of a baseball, but battled against the Rasenova. The sound of thunder boomed when the two jutsu collided.
With a huff of lightning, Bee launched his Bijuu bomb but it was eaten by the collapsing blackhole of Ryujin's jutsu. His tentacle slapped Ryujin and the jutsu detonated on Bee's shoulder, not his head. That would've killed me—
His thoughts were cut short by a screaming of the time Gyuki almost killed him. He felt the agony of the ink piercing his skin—the hopelessness in the face of true power—!
BEE!
WIth a roar, Bee stopped holding back. A dominating aura blasted all of the flames into nothing. The Adamantine Chains were nothing but golden dust—when he looked back, Miya slammed a prepared seal onto the floor. Before Bee could mess it up with his ink, it glowed.
"Infinite Void."
In a flash of white, they were gone.
The flash of light remained, but Miya stood in front of him. Bee took a deep breath from the pain of his smoldering arm. It was useless, he didn't waste a second before cutting it off with his blade. Blood didn't spill, Gyuki stopped that from happening.
Miya was heaving, bleeding, multiple bones were visibly broken. That golden aura of Adamantine was gone. It was just her on her knees. Bee's eyes narrowed. What the hell is this…?
"It's… over," she spat, forcing her hand into a half seal. A modified Ram Seal, with her middle finger crossed over her index. "Infinite Void."
Immediately, Bee felt how wrong it all felt—his body was ripping itself apart. Gyuki's chakra was the only thing keeping him together—his atoms were being ripped apart. Even still, blood spewed from every pore in his skin.
Switch with me!
Bee didn't argue. For a second, his body went limp, but the hold on his chakra became much harder. The white void of Miya's Infinity shifted into lavender. Her eyes went wide. "So… you think this is true power, Miya Uzumaki?"
She froze, hearing Gyuki's voice, the voice of the Hachibi. She pumped her chakra into the domain and barely made a dent in Gyuki's force of power. The lavender became deeper, ink dripped from every point of the infinity, staining it black.
"Do you claim this… seal as your domain?"
Bee shook his head, commanded by Gyuki's chakra. "I disagree."
A sea of ink flooded Gyuki's Infinite Void. It shook, ripping itself apart as the Bijuu roared. Miya screamed, using the embers of her chakra to futily fight against Gyuki. Of course, it meant nothing.
She was nothing in the face of absolute power.
Infinity shattered.
In a lavender flash, they returned to the real world. Ink reformed Bee's lost arm, good as new. Next, it filled all of the cuts from Miya's attack. With a start, Bee regained control of his body.
Ryujin didn't have any Kyuubi cloak. He was trembling on the floor, his skin burned to ash and mangled from the effects of version two. Miya heaved, coughing up blood, forcing herself to stand even though her legs buckled. She gripped Ryujin with a chain and pulled him by her side.
Bee simply watched with narrowed eyes.
I like her… I can respect her strength by human standards. Keep her alive if you can, she could be a challenge if she grows stronger.
Rolling his head on his neck, Bee mulled it over. She's one of Konoha's strongest, Big Bro would be pissed at me if I let her live…
Think about Ka'rai, or Arasei… do you think they'd be happy if they found out you killed one of their clansman?
Miya flickered away to try and escape with Ryujin. Bee kicked her back to the ground, keeping her still under his foot. Don't pull that card, Gyuki…
C'mon! You and I both know Shinobi like her are rare! Anyone who can challenge us, anyone who could activate my domain even a little bit… they're worth keeping around.
Nah, it was her and Hiyenzo together that managed to push me, and I was off guard, kinda.
Now you're just making excuses for yourself! Let the woman live, and take the Jinchuriki so Kyuubi can find a better vessel… I know what he'll do if he roams free.
Fine…
Killer Bee shot a grin at Miya. "Eight-o likes you, you get to live." In a blur, Bee shattered Miya's sole chain and snapped up Ryujin, placing a seal on him so he wouldn't move an inch. "But Kyuubi's going to come with me."
"GIVE HIM BACK!" Miya roared. The veracity, the force of chakra, it caught Bee off guard. A sea of pure Adamantine chakra spewed from her. The ground was crushed into a crater from the pure weight… but she couldn't move either. The weight of her own chakra pinned her down.
That didn't stop the onslaught of Adamantine Chains Bee was forced to dodge.
Oh yeah… I definitely like her.
You got a crush or something?
Don't.
Bee laughed. "Y'know! Eight-o really likes you, Uzumaki!"
She just snarled. Bee dodged and dodged and—he was hit—
It wasn't by Miya, not at all. Her chains stopped. A different aura of strength was here. The power he sensed was immense. It almost matched his… With a raised brow, Killer Bee looked at the source.
Another woman. Her hair was blonde, cut neatly down her back. Green eyes glowed with Senjutsu, matching the Sage's rings around her eyes and on her forehead.
Bee blinked then slowly, a smirk crossed his face. "Yosei Senju…"
"Killer Bee," she greeted in kind.
Bee brushed his chin with his fist as Gyuki spoke. She's strong.
I can tell… she's the Shodai Hokage's descendant, and he beat your ass…
Gyuki huffed and Bee's cloak flared. Indeed… one of the three Shinobi to ever surpass a Bijuu. I wonder if she can make it four.
"I do too, Eight-o," said Bee with a smirk.
Yosei tilted her head at the remark. "What did the Hachibi say?"
"That he sees you as someone who could surpass the Bijuu," answered Bee, his seven swords whirled from his back as he entered the stance.
A small, haughty smile curled Yosei's lips as she made the Monkey Seal in return. "Well, you wouldn't be the first Jinchuriki I've killed."
Bee laughed with a blade in his mouth. "You think you can kill me?!"
"Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?."
"Damn right."
A flash.
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
Even without a lot of Nibi's chakra, Ka'rai could still feel the souls around him… it seemed that when he hit that peak, it was really hard to come back down completely. That was how he knew Hane, Yowui, and Kay were, "Right down there!"
Ka'rai pointed Han's Jinsei-burning-body at them. Fuu groaned. "Finally!" she muttered before buzzing down. It didn't take long for the three below to notice them. When they were about a dozen feet above ground, Fuu simply dropped Ka'rai. He and the two Jinchuriki he had with him fell in a heap. "Fuu—"
"Can I go find Clowui now?! Please!" she pleaded, still in the air.
Ka'rai rolled his eyes. "Fine! Go ahead!"
"Yay!" squealed Fuu before buzzing off in a blink.
Ka'rai sighed, before grinning up at his three teammates. "You guys!"
"I all of a sudden feel a whole lot safer," muttered Yowui.
Hane couldn't bring himself to look at him.
Just as Ka'rai was about to speak to her, Kay gave him a small smile and a nod of approval before asking, "Who are these two?"
"Han, Gobi's Jinchuriki and Roshi, Son Goku's Jinchuriki. They were injured and defeated, so naturally I had to help them!"
Kay nodded slowly. "How long will they be unconscious?"
"Roshi's going to be out for days… whatever attack he got hit with—" Ka'rai shuddered. "He's pretty much in a coma. Han though, it's basically a couple of seals keeping him out. He wakes up when the seals are taken off."
"So, we could take both Son Goku and the Gobi for ourselves…" muttered Kay.
Ka'rai pondered. "Not a half bad idea—"
"Isn't Iwa our ally?!" questioned Hane. "They agreed to help with this…" She growled. "And we're just going to backstab them the first chance we get?!"
Kay sighed, but before she could speak, Ka'rai did. "That… really isn't important," muttered Ka'rai, tone soft, he looked up at Hane and her eyes just remained on the ground. "I trust Kumo, Bee-sensei… me, a lot more than I do with Iwa when it comes to the well-being of Bijuu.
"And really, I don't care if it starts another war, because Bijuu are important enough to start wars over. Not because they're weapons, fuck no, but because they're the nine most important people in the world. We have to unite with Bijuu in order to restore balance to the world.
"And well, if that means a couple wars along the way, then so fucking be it. Kumo's going to have at least five Jinchuriki now." Ka'rai chuckled. "Are we really gonna lose? Unless someone has a fucking Rinnegan or something, definitely not!"
"What about…" she started, finally looking at Ka'rai. Her brown eyes shattered with tears, she couldn't finish her sentence. "There's no point… there's no fucking point—"
A wave of frost washed over Ka'rai. "What do you mean?!"
Hane shook her head, breaths choppy as trails of tears cleaned the ash off her face. "You're not going to listen to me… you—you… you can't be good. You just want to destroy. You blew up the arena with a smile on your face. I thought you could, I thought I made a difference with you but I didn't.
"When it comes down to it. You'll just be a destroyer again."
Each word Hane spoke was a frigid blade to his heart. With a deep breath, he took it in stride. Ka'rai walked up to face her, letting Nibi's heterochromia leave his eyes. It was only then when he couldn't feel her soul anymore.
Not that he needed Nibi's chakra to peer into her being.
"Nah, that's not right, at least not entirely. I'm sorry for making you sad, Hane… but, you really are right when you say that I can't be like you. I can't, no matter how hard I try. Just like you can't be like me, no matter how hard you try.
"But that isn't bad. When I try to be like you, when I try to think about every life. Every person. I get sad, and it stops me from being powerful. I almost lost to Shinrai because I was so fucking depressed about this plan, about everything…
"So, I just stopped. I looked forward to the parts I'd enjoy. The fire, the destruction… and I gave myself a goal. To keep you safe, to keep all of you safe. That was when I became powerful again. It's all for… the greater good, that's how my happiness works.
"I have to kill people for Nibi's power, it sucks, but I have to do it. And if I have to do it, why not enjoy every bit? It's just going to make me stronger. Make me happier. And when someone like me, someone powerful like me is happy, then that's going to make the world happy.
"That's what we both want, right?" he asked Hane with his classic grin.
Hane looked up at him, blinking, speechless—crying. She couldn't say a thing, but when it came to Kay, it was a different story.
"I'm proud of you, Ka'rai. You've made up for your mistakes," Kay stated, looking at him with an actual genuine smile on her face. "Kumo couldn't have asked for a better person to hold the Nibi."
A flash of guilt—Naruto, Shinrai—slashed his heart as his grin grew. "Thanks… Kay."
"Now, we can't waste anymore time here, Konoha's treasury is close, and we need to act before somebody else takes the opportunity from us."
Ka'rai and Yowui nodded, acknowledging her orders. Hane just remained still. Before they moved out, Ka'rai looked Hane in the eye. He pressed a kiss on her lips and pulled back a second later. "I love you, Hane."
She swallowed hard and sighed. "I love you too… Ka'rai."
Ka'rai picked up the de-Jinsei'd bodies of Han and Roshi before dashing off beside Hane, behind Yowui and Kay.
It didn't take too long for them to reach Konoha's treasury, it was close after all. There were Konoha Shinobi guarding the concrete building, a dozen-ish Chunin. Ka'rai thought it would be better for Hane and Yowui to sit this one out.
Two tails burned from Ka'rai and he gave the two bodies of Han and Roshi to Hane and Yowui. "Scream if you need help."
"I hear you loud and clear man…" muttered Yowui.
Ka'rai snorted. "Better scream that way too."
Kay gave Ka'rai a look. "Are you ready?"
"Yep," affirmed Ka'rai. Nibi's full domain was still active… so much death… He shuddered. How long can I keep the cloak up?
You have about fifteen minutes, as long as you don't use a significant amount of chakra.
Only fifteen? Damn…
It's your fault for overusing my chakra so soon.
I know, I know. It's not like I'll need fifteen minutes for these guys.
Kay blitzed through hand seals after biting her thumb. "Summoning Jutsu!"
The twin pops of smokes signaled the start of the battle. With a manic laugh Ka'rai pounced down, his first instinct to use his new Shadow Bomb Jutsu—I need to be smart with my chakra. Instead, he drew the Katana strapped to his waste and sliced in a hellish halo. It burned blue and screamed in a rotating disc of fire.
Two Chunin were cut in half at the same time the earth split. A Chunin's head was clobbered by a mace. Another three were clawed by an armadillo, a white one he hadn't seen before. And another two were crushed by Suberi.
"I'm not gonna let you outdo me, Kay!" Hellflame roared from the ground in pillars sent from Hell itself. A blue scorch overtook them and Ka'rai whirled it into gigantic flaming blades. None of them were able to get close to him, as the rest of the Chunin were cut to ribbons.
She sighed. "it was never a competition, Ka'rai."
"It's always a competition," quipped Ka'rai.
Shaking her head, Kay rolled her eyes. "You're not cut out for delicate operations. Stand guard with Yowui and Hane. Suberi and Kuuha will aid you two."
Ka'rai dropped his cloak from two tails back down to version zero. "Got it!"
At the same time Kay invaded Konoha's Treasury, Ka'rai turned to hop toward Hane Yowui, with Suberi and Kuuha close behind. Just as he landed, Hane looked at him, she couldn't take her eyes off of him.
Ka'rai's first instinct was to make a joke, but he didn't. Sitting down, he grabbed onto her hand, interlocking fingers. She didn't hold back, she didn't squeeze… Ka'rai's heart dropped. Did she not forgive him—was it over—?
Hane squeezed Ka'rai's hand, returning his affection. It was delayed, but it was there. That little bit of true confirmation brought a smile to his face.
What came into his field of sensing wiped it right off. Immediate worry made him react.
"Ka'rai?" Yowui questioned immediately, grabbing a Kunai.
"Do you sense something?" asked Suberi.
"Y-yeah…" he sputtered, releasing Hane's hand. This soul… Usually, all souls really felt the exact same, with minor differences coming from gender, age, and other things like that. But this… it felt like—it felt like hell.
It's Hidan! snarled Nibi.
Ka'rai paled. Two tails ripped from his cloak. "You two! Get the fuck away—"
"I don't THINK THEY WILL!" shouted a sadistic voice, walls of brimstone erupted and trapped the three Genin and two summons inside walls of Brimstone… with Hidan, cackling like a madman.
"Long time no see, pussy."
Ka'rai snarled. "What the fuck are you doing here?! Orochumaru has nothing to do with—"
Hidan laughed, twirling his Jigoku Scythe with all the amusement he felt. "Are you a fucking idiot?! Orochimaru was the brains behind this whole operation! Suna?! Iwa?! Kumo?! They're just helpers! Tacked on to this shit just to make the job easier!
"And of course… why would Orochimaru not plan to double cross every single one of these so-called 'allies…?' The Nibi's right here, ripe for the tacking." Hidan cackled, like someone laughing at their own joke as they recited it. "And well! You're hanging from this tree like a real juicy apple, Ka'rai Uzumaki!"
Fury and worry churned like an icy-hot storm in Ka'rai's chest. Fuuck—fuckfuckfuck—
"But, honestly… fuck Orochimaru, man," spattered Hidan with a snort. "As the Prophet of Hell… I think a death god would be a lot more suited in my hands!" Hidan leaned forward, using his scythe as support. "And woah what do I spy my with my little eye…?
"Han and Roshi. Unconscious, just as ripe as you are… Just like that, three Bijuu are as good as mine."
A tense silence as the sound of smoldering brimstone filled the air alongside the blowing wind of war.
It was shattered by another manic laugh from Hidan. "Let's not waste any more time, shall we—?"
"Lightning Style: Spark Bolts!" From above, Kay leapt over the walls of brimstone and voltage sparked over her mace. A swing and they shot toward Hidan. Roaring fire and a blue blur, Ka'rai blitzed toward him, Jinsei's armor doubling the slash of his claws.
Hidan blocked Kay's lightning and Ka'rai slashed through Hidan like he was paper. He screamed then cackled at the agony. A single kick sent Ka'rai flying—screeching hellflame from Hidan's Scythe burned toward the airborne Kay.
It burned blue and scorched back down toward Hidan. Ka'rai leapt forward and touched the flame—"Bakugami!"
The boom blasted Ka'rai back and Kay caught him, both armadillos awaiting orders. With a groan Hidan cut the detonated fire in two with his Scythe, He was burned with chunks of his own flesh falling off of him. "You're a little fucking BITCH aren't you?!"
Ka'rai screamed and bolted forward, Suberi and Kuuha weaved hand seals. Both of them spouted a wind Jutsu that Ka'rai's Hellflame-scorched Katana caught. The fire burned white then blue and Ka'rai slashed at Hidan with an armada of fire—a clash with the scythe.
None of the impact made Hidan budge. "You think that's hell Ka'rai?! LET ME SHOW YOU HELL!"
Hidan's hellflame overtook Ka'rai's and his eyes went wide—Jinsei's armor was cut through like paper. It was too hot for any blood to spill as his arm was ripped off his body. Ka'rai screamed—more lightning sparked from Kay's mace. It took out one of Hidan's eyes. That only made Hidan cackle even harder.
He felt it.
Ka'rai felt the screaming terror in Yowui and Hane's souls. They were trapped and they could do nothing—Ka'rai screamed from desperation and fury, Jinsei replacing his lost arm as he blitzed forward. Hidan just clashed blades with him before kicking Ka'rai's head.
Another battlecry from Ka'rai—another cackle from Hidan. Crossing his fingers, Ka'rai screamed, "SHADOW BOMB JUTSU!"
Twin pops of smoke from either side of Hidan's body—BANG BANG—Hidan's Scythe blew off and half of his black was blown to bits. Hidan was unphased. He used his remaining arm to pick up his scythe arm.
"I can reach EVEN FARTHER NOW!" The bottom of Ka'rai's back was hooked by the largest blade and he was pulled—Kuuha clawed at Hidan's chest, drawing blood as a bolt of lightning took out Hidan's left lung.
Nibi?! How—how do I get past his immortality?! You know right?!
The contract with Jashin: The King of Hell, only grants immortality to one's body. Not one's soul. To circumvent a powerful body, you must attack his soul.
As far as I'm aware, you're the only person on Earth who can kill Hidan permanently.
Hidan's head was severed by a wind jutsu from Suberi.
His body fell limp to the floor.
The fear in the souls present was replaced by relief.
That was until an insignia burned in the ground through white flames. A circle with a triangle on the inside. A slow chuckle filled the air as the burning chill of hellish fear rattled Ka'rai's bones. Hidan crawled out of the ground like a zombie, perfectly unharmed as if nothing even happened.
A pure rebirth, he had no article of clothing besides a necklace bearing the very same insignia that he crawled out of.
My Six Paths ability… the Human Path, attacks the soul directly. All you need to do is touch him. It will be easier to learn in the current situation than Yuurei Flames.
Got it…
"Uaghhh FUCK! You fucking fucks managed to actually fucking kill me!" Hidan opened his palm, the Jigoku Scythe coming to him from right out of Ka'rai's back and into his palm. "I suppose that means I need to kill one of YOU in return!"
Ka'rai's cloak smoldered and Jinsei roared with his rage. "Don't you fuckiNG DAREE!" He blasted toward Hidan but all he received was an impalement on the Jigoku Scythe. Jinsei screamed out toward Hidan, burning him but Hidan just shook his head, unaffected by the pain.
"Y'know, as the Nibi's Jinchuriki… you must think you're really hot shit. But, nah, not really. I'm going to show you some real fire…" Hidan paused. Then he grinned. "Izanyomi."
White flames were summoned on the blades of the Jigoku scythe. The mere sound of their existence was deafening. Everyone besides Hidan covered their ears… and even his bled. Ka'rai didn't cover his ears either.
Because he was too busy screaming.
He screamed, he cried, they were guttural. Ka'rai thrashed and thrashed as the flames ate him alive. Izanyomi wasn't even hot, it just hurt. They were made to make him hurt. And hurt he did. Agony, pain, trauma didn't even begin to describe—
Nibi's influence pulsed in his chakra.
Izanyomi pulsed off of him and dispersed. The hurt was gone but the wounds were still agonizing. Chunks of his body were simply gone. Jinsei worked overtime—the scream of Izanyomi returned as Hidan cut through Ka'rai like he was butter. Again, tearing clean like scissors and paper.
Kay attacked, so did her armadillos. A blast of Izanyomi and the armadillos were puffed into smoke in an instant. The split second gave Ka'rai time to retaliate. With his one arm of flesh he grabbed onto Hidan's leg—he felt it the soul. The hellish soul—
Ka'rai's hand was cut off before he could interact. "A shame I can't kill you," muttered Hidan, setting his sights on Yowui, Hane, and Kay. "So many choices…" He pointed his Scythe at Hane. She froze.
"Eeny…"
He pointed at Kay. "Meeny…"
He pointed at Yowui. Miney…"
"Moe…" back at Hane.
"Catch a Nibi by its tail…" he continued, changing who the Jigoku Scythe pointed to with each word. "If it burns me let it go…"
"Eeny." Yowui.
"Meeny." Kay.
"Miney…"Hane
"Moe." Yowui.
Slowly, Hidan's smile grew into a sick grin.
"NOO!" roared Ka'rai. "NONONONONOONONO—"
Hidan shut him up by crushing his throat under foot.
Yowui was too terrified to move. Not that he could avoid what was coming, even if he wanted to. Hidan blurred and cut a gash in Yowui's side. The boy screamed out and Hidan cackled at the blood on his Scythe.
Slowly, leisurely Hidan walked back to where he stood previously. Yowui clutched his side, growling and crying from the putrid hurt, hands stained with blood.
Hidan stuck his tongue out and licked the blood from the biggest blade on his scythe. "Oh, Lord Jashin for you shall punish those who do not understand… the pain of others." His skin turned black and artistic paintings of bones overlapped with his skeleton.
Ka'rai snarled. Jinsei possessing his body like he was a zombie, weaving hand seals, he shouted. "Jinsei Fire Style: Bombast BLAST!"
The bright blue fire screamed toward Hidan and enveloped him. Hidan was the one that was hit, but Yowui was the one that screamed. Ka'rai snapped his head toward him, Yowui was smoldering. Screaming out with his skin scorched.
Jinsei's smoke cleared and Hidan stood there with the exact same damage on his body. "Yowui Keiso… this is but a fraction of the pain that I've experienced in this battle. You feel it… it's shitty, ain't it?"
"What…" stuttered Yowui, still consumed by the sheer pain.
"How did you—? WHAT DID YOU DO?!" screamed Ka'rai.
The Ritual of Jashin. As long as he has even a drop of your blood, he'll share any damage that he takes with you, and that you take with him. The ultimate epitome of shared pain.
There is nothing you can do.
Your friend is as good as dead.
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
It hurt. It all hurt so bad. Yowui didn't sign up for any of this… he just wanted to be a ninja. A childish boyhood dream. His parents didn't waste a second in encouraging him. His siblings didn't waste a second in supporting him.
He wished he didn't keep going.
He wished he just gave up.
At least he'd then be alive.
All he felt was ash and smoke digging into his burned skin. All he felt was the gash on his side. All he felt was pain. All he felt was regret.
Why like this? Why like this?
All Yowui could do was just look on, resigned, as Hidan formed a stake of brimstone from his scythe. "How else was I hurt in this battle today, eh?! Oh! I had my eye stabbed out!"
Hidan took the stake and thrust it into his eye socket.
Burning agony shoved into Yowui's face as his eye popped. Blood spewed down his face, followed by another scream. It all hurt so much—Yowui just kept crying and crying.
Mom… dad… I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that I can't come home—
"I had my arm blown off!"
Yowui didn't even look to see what Hidan did. A rip and the hand he used to cover his bleeding eye socket fell off, detached from his torso. Blood spewed out like a fountain. More pain, Yowui couldn't even scream this time.
There was no point.
Nobody could come to save him.
Not even Ka'rai.
"Well my head was cut off, but I really don't feel like reviving, so I'll go for the heart instead."
Yowui heard the stake drop to the ground.
The skin on Yowui's chest ripped, his ribs broke, right over his heart. He felt the organ that pumped life through his body squeeze.
And then…
It popped.
Everything went cold.
Everything went black.
.
.
.
~A final sunrise~
~Home, laughter, playful loving~
~Eternal resting~
⁑ —ϟ— ⁑
Ka'rai screamed out. He screamed out and with his body falling apart at the seams he crawled toward Yowui's corpse. His soul wasn't there—his soul wasn't there—
Tears were burned by the intense fire. He could hear Hidan laughing. He could hear Hane crying. "YOWUI!" Ka'rai cried, clawing across the floor with a half grown arm and handless arm. Jinsei formed false limbs for him to crawl to Yowui.
Yowui is dead. There is no—
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
Jinsei erupted over Yowui's corpse. The flames never healed faster. He had a new heart, he had a new arm, and a new eye. But, his soul was still gone. Ka'rai didn't feel him Ka'rai didn't feel him—!
Ka'rai! There is nothing you can do! He is dead! Stop wasting my chakra!
"NO! NonononnnoooOOOOOO!" Ka'rai used Nibi's Six Paths, looking for a soul, looking for Yowui's soul. Nothing. Nothing—something—
"Oh, this is so cute," snorted Hidan, twirling the Jigoku Scythe before slamming the handle on the floor. "Well! While you try to revive a deadman, I'll go restore my body! Buh-bai~"
Kay bolted over to Ka'rai and shook him. "Ka'rai! Stop it! Just stop!"
"NO!" roared Ka'rai. "I can do it! I feel him! I feel it! I feel his—"
Ka'rai don't you dare touch that—
In a heartbeat, Ka'rai grasped the soul he felt. Nibi's will snarled and his own cloak burned him alive. He fought her—he fought her and won. The soul he pulled was purple, transparent, and he thrusted it into Yowui's corpse.
HOW DARE YOU! Nibi screamed. Her fury burned as much as it made him feel cold to his very core. Do you have any idea what you've just done?!
Groaning, Yowui stirred.
Ka'rai gasped, beaming as Jinsei worked to restore Yowui as much as possible. "I brought him back! He's here! I—"
NO! Nibi roared.
Yowui's eyes opened, he took in a breath. He looked confused, lost… that was until he set eyes on Ka'rai. A smile struck Ka'rai's face. "Y-Yowui—"
"You traitor," Yowui snarled.
Ka'rai was taken aback. "What?!"
The soul you pulled… it was not Yowui's. His soul is in the pure lands. He is still dead. There are only three other souls you have access to. The souls of my past Jinchuriki.
You did not revive Yowui.
You revived Yugito.
In the wrong body. In the wrong time. She is supposed to be dead! But she's not. You Ka'rai, you bastardized and made a muck of my domain! The very cycle of life and death you FOOL!
Ka'rai's eyes were stuck wide open. As Nibi's chakra burned him he could feel nothing but cold. Ka'rai and Yugito made eye-contact. She stood, taking in her surroundings, testing out her new body. "I'm… alive."
"Yowui?!" questioned Hane, eyes wide with shock.
She shook her head. "No… my name is Yugito Nii."
Hane's mouth gaped, she and Kay both looked at Ka'rai. He was on his knees, staring at his trembling burning hands. Ka'rai… stopped fighting. Cobalt blue flames overtook him as his body went limp. "All of you… get the fuck away from here."
"Ka'rai—" Hane started, reaching out toward him before Yugito grabbed her hand and leapt up over the brimstone. She fell short and barely managed to land on the wall with her chakra.
At the same time, Hidan walked out of Jashin's mouth, fully healed again. "Oi, what's going on—?"
Kay grabbed onto both Yugito and Hane and leapt out of the brimstone. The three of them ran and Hane looked back desperately then back at Yugito. "What the—what's going on?!"
"If we stay any longer, then we'll only get in his way," Yugito started, looking Hane in the eyes. "He's going into Version Two."
ϟ—Chapter End—ϟ