NeoShadows back with our long-awaited climax!

Boy, has this been a hell of an action-packed chapter. Almost 50K+; I gotta stop with these meaty chapters. Hard to believe ya guys can chew all that fat. I mean, I stripped some off and junk but it's still rather plump. Not surprising though, considering I cook my own meals with most of the fat still on the meat.

The Final Battle of The Bridge! The final confrontation between Touma and Zabuza. Upon this bridge, we find two paths that can only be achieved by knocking down the obstacle standing in your way. It's taken a long ass time to get here, so enjoy it. This is an action-heavy chapter, so ya best look up your favorite fight songs to get in the mood. I know I had the OST for Guilty Gear up most of the time I was writing; see if ya can find a few of those lyrics in the story that seeped in.

The plate's heavy, hot, and sizzling. Stop waiting and just dig in. Scroll until you hit the bottom!


Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to A Certain Magical Index. All rights are reserved to Kazuma Kamachi.


Chapter 13: D-x-D

All_Bridges_Intersect_To_The_Center.

[-]

They had gathered in a random tea shop. In the middle of some backwater village, in a tiny nation overshadowed by the great ninja villages practically burying them in their shadow, they had found a quaint place to sit down and talk.

To the owner of the run-down tea shop, they must have appeared like colorful beasts. Not one of them shared anything alike. Their skin tones were wide in coloration, their clothes were alien, their features strange and surreal, and just staring directly at any one of them would most likely burn a hole into their eyes. Like gazing at the hot searing sun, their images were ones not meant for mortal eyes to ever gaze for long.

Knowing their effects, those strange men and women sat down and blurred.

The shopkeeper wasn't sure when it had happened, but a few boring-faced villagers had sat down at his biggest table and ordered drinks. He had a faint memory of several strange orders and a large tip- enough to cover all his expenses for years to come.

With the largest grin he had ever worn, the shopkeeper hurriedly ran around his empty tea house to prepare those strange drinks he had never heard of. He didn't even question how several exotic ingredients to said drinks appeared out of thin air in his cabinets, or how he had learned to make them with little effort.

At the large round table, one of those boring-faced villagers sighed as they leaned their head into their hand. A cup of tea could be seen at her side, its contents appearing as if it were liquid gold.

"The translation is still taking up quite a bit of time- isn't it? This world's system truly is unlike our own. Chakra? Wouldn't one of us who has mastered Eastern occultism be able to reference the many gears stalling our progress? Where's Amaterasu when you need her?"

A clay cup was set down in front of a man whose stern tan features seemed to light up at the scent of hot cinnamon and cocoa.

"She did not participate in our venture into the world where that human resided. She was always the most peaceful of our lot, so she had no desire to stir up trouble just because she was bored. Though...it wouldn't surprise me if she fell through the cracks and wandered in. I do believe Uzume was among us who were rejected by that other boy but it appears she did not want to wait around; she's already gone out to search for a room to claim as her own. Even if we used one of us who has mastered the eastern world's miracles, legends, and faith to enter our domain, it would be of little use."

Instead of a warm drink, the cup set down to a calm-faced gentleman containing spring water.

"This world resides farther up the Phases rather than down as we had originally expected. The world where Aleister Crowley resided was always a unique mixture; neither high nor low that of The Pure World. The sparks created by the abuse of magic there had always been a very fine yet distorted mixture of all known and unknown paths to enlightenment; to godhood. It was almost as if the previous world was a filter of sorts. Naturally, even as beings such as ourselves, it is little effort to completely twist this world's laws in our favor."

A swish of grape-colored liquid was set down in a wooden cup and eagerly knocked back.

"Baaaah! That's the problem, isn't it? If we all wanted to, we could easily remake this new world into one where we could cut loose and fight for eternity! Yet, where's the fun in that? Not to mention the last time we decided to run wild, we all got destroyed by that boring copy. Let's not forget that brutishly jamming our authority in this new system would most likely fry everything to a crisp. Hell, just like the previous case, the new Scorer we're awaiting to be born could possess the power to actually kill us this time."

A cup of herbal hot tea was set down in a jade-made oriental cup.

"Neheheheheheh! The last world was a lot of fun even if my own time there was brief. So, I really don't feel like messing this one up just yet. I've already found a nice little nation to settle down in later. I've even gotten my hands on a few peons to stir up trouble for that false lord of the nation. Ugh, to think those political powerhouses are veneered and lavished so greatly. I can't wait to get all this calibration sorted out so I can set up my space."

A small wooden dish was set down with a lovely red liquid. A single salty bead of water fell to create ripples.

"...Sniff, those poor humans. So much strife spread by smug little brats with no true divinity to their name. A land without true gods, ruled only by humans; it's no wonder its gears are so scrambled. It's no wonder such a heart-wrenching play is unfolding in that tiny slab of dirt atop the waves."

Those intense figures stared off into nothing, their eyes finding a stage far off their gathered spot. The offerings on their table were lifted and sipped as if they were watching a fascinating movie right in front of them.

Among those figures, two seemed to smile earnestly.

"Why?"

"I'll fight you until neither of us can lift a single finger but...is this really the only way either of us can move forward? Is what you're fighting for really worth robbing the smiles and hopes of innocent people who have nothing to do with rotten bastards like us?!"

"My mission is to kill Tazuna The Bridge Builder. The price on his head is far too great for me to pass on. Get in my way and I will kill you."

"You won't back down, will you? Despite your purpose being little more than brief and brittle. Is that your ninja way? Is it so desirable, you would continue on to your dying breath for nothing more than strangers who would never mirror your ambitions so simply?"

"It has nothing to do with what you call a 'ninja way'. I don't need a set of prerequisites to challenge the likes of Gato without hesitation. If someone's suffering right in front of you, why would you put in only half the work to save them? If you're going to step up, step up."

"Is this part of your tactics too? You did this with Zabuza-sama as well. Are you purposely attempting to know me in order to feel out for any cracks in my emotional state to take advantage of?"

"How...how could such a kind and gentle soul be raised to paint themselves in blood?"

"Kamijou! Just a few more seconds; hold one of them off! Buy me just a few more seconds and we can deliver a deep blow to their strength in an instant!"

"Why can't you just lay down and die?!"

"How could such a selfish dumb ass like you raise such a gentle boy?"

"H-Haku...you idiot."

"...Zabuza-sama...kill me."

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

"Am I...a-am I going to turn out like you too? Are you even human…?"

"800,000Ryo."

"I'll fucking kill you if you ever get in my way of being useful for the man who gave me strength to live on!"

Only those men and women could hear the great roar of those faraway characters.

"To think he would be here too."

"Hmm~!"

In that tiny nation, how many times had the people cried out to an ever-silent god to rescue them? Had such a being ever batted an eye to such suffering? Or was that slumbering idol deaf? Were prayers in this world no different than tossing your hard-earned coin down a desolate well where only darkness answered back?

Gathered at the quaint tea house were those who possessed the ability to hear, see, and interact with such a world pleading for someone to hear them. To them, it was an entertaining story. One for the ages and reminiscent of the kind of legends that had inspired the power they had mastered.

At the center of such a story, they saw him.

"Kamijou no Touma."

One Who Purifies God and Slays Demons.

Let's see what kind of world you're fighting for now.

[-]

A puff of visible breath could be seen from the drop in temperature that began to freeze bits of the dregs of water created from the shattered ice crystal dragon. The cold chill creating goosebumps on his skin made Touma curse. Of course, he had left behind his winter hoodie because he believed he didn't have any need for it. He really should have worn his beloved clothing from home the moment he had. His naked chest was freezing! A measly unbuttoned long-sleeved school jacket was not enough for this cold!

Just his luck.

"At least the cold's freezing my cuts. That's good, right?"

What was with the freezing weather anyway? The metal jitte in his hand was taken in all the cold and sticking to his sweating palms! Any minute now he expected it to snow. An ice dragon had just lashed out so it wasn't a far-fetched thought.

That meant he would have to be dealing with a shinobi who could create snow and ice. And summon a schoolyard-wide fog of gray. Plus fire heavy bullets of water. Plus water dragons.

Weren't ninjas in this world just magicians?

"Touma-nii-san!"

Touma turned around, finding the dirty, cut-up, and bloody forms of Team-7 guarding Tazuna. He frowned in concern noting the myriad of gashes littering every inch of Naruto and Sasuke's needle-riddled skin, the long red gash cutting down horizontally over Kakashi's chest, and-!

A terrible crack of knuckles was heard. Red crept in from the edges of his vision.

His eyes landed on Sakura's right arm with a furious glare. From her fingers to her shoulder, the skin was torn open with horrific gashes that still seeped with blood. Her face was paler than normal and her breathing was shallow. Chills shook her body as Tazuna worked to bandage the burst-like tears on her arm. Bits of flayed flesh could be seen hanging by seems of skin.

Touma felt his stomach churn. His eyes darkened into an ugly and vicious visage.

Bloody scenes like this- why else would he use anything other than his bare hands to inflict pain?

Just what had happened while he was away? What kind of battle did those kids have to face?

Everyone was seriously wounded. It wasn't just Sakura whose condition boiled Touma's blood with a hiss. Naruto and Sasuke were just a push to the chest from collapsing. The amount of needles he found on their bodies reminded him of a pin cushion. He was sure a few needles had cleanly pierced through their limbs without ever leaving like they were skewers. Kakashi was the only one who appeared like he could still fight and that was with a large gash on his chest.

As they all were, they wouldn't have been able to cleanly dodge the last attack. It was entirely likely that one of them would have been fatally wounded. Or worse.

"If I had just been faster, maybe..."

Touma shook his head regretfully. What if's weren't ever useful. If he wanted to make up for his lack of help then he would simply pay them back by giving them a moment to rest.

"How are you guys holding up? If you can't keep going then stand back and take a breather. Don't open up your wounds any further."

Kakashi chuckled mirthfully, "You don't seem to be any better off either, Kamijou-san. I can see that you've suffered a couple of wounds yourself. I'd be worried but I think I've grown accustomed to seeing you black and red more often than not. Though I'm sure there's a certain someone who won't be so pleased."

"Tsunami's going to kill me."

"Already whipped?"

"That's not funny! Just the thought of such a woman falling for this lousy Kamijou-san is nothing more than a cruel illusion! It's already hard to look her in the eye after what happened last night!"

"...What happened last night? If I remember correctly, you said you were going to return to sleep in the guest room after apologizing to Tsunami-san but never came back. Did those bumps in the night have anything to do with you?"

"Now I know you're making bullshit up! Even if I would have liked for something to have happened, nothing happened! And stop staring at me as if you just discovered some juicy gossip to spread out the entire school! I was sleeping in the bathtub- what the fuck's with that pitiful look?! Stop shaming me, damn it!"

With a low groan, Kakashi walked to Touma's side with an innocent eye-smile.

"Alright, alright. Far be it from me to get in the way of whatever is going on between you two. That's a matter better left to Inari-san and Tazuna-san with the deflowering of their mother and daughter."

"WHAT?!"

Touma gulped at the spike of killing intent focused on his back. That wasn't either Zabuza or the masked boy. Since when did the old bridge builder evolve into a Demon bridge builder!? This Kamijou-san was innocent of the seduction of the single mother Tsunami, hand to god!

He was still a virgin!

Sniffing back tears, Touma set his sights back to the deep fog that had gained a winter chill. His left hand curled and uncurled his fingers over the grip of his blunt weapon anxiously.

"Are you sure you can fight, Hatake-san? I don't mean to take you lightly but that gash on your chest looks rather deep."

"As a proud jonin of Konohagakure no Sato, this is nothing more than a scratch. Besides, it's all part of my plan. What about you, Kamijou-san? That gash on your head doesn't look good. Nor does the worrying amount of red on your chest."

"I've fought through worst."

"So have I."

Side by side, a mimicking mirror and a shattering hammer met a bellowing gust of freezing wind from the calling sea of gray. The demons within were done prepping for the introduction of a new opponent capable of disabling all of their ninjutsu. Things would only grow more violent from here on out.

Spinning a new kunai in hand, Kakashi glanced back at Naruto and Sasuke, stopping either from stepping closer as they winced from the chilling wind hitting their skin.

"Both of you, protect Sakura and Tazuna-san! You've done well against Haku, far better than I could have expected. But now it's time for you boys to watch over your wounded teammate. Sakura and Tazuna-san are open targets for our opponents to exploit if they grow desperate, so I'm relying on you two to ensure their safety."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue only to flinch as he heard a light moan from Sakura. He gnashed his teeth in frustration with his fists balled at his side.

He wanted to fight. Badly. His fists were dying to smash that stupid mask on the older ninja to pieces along with a few teeth while he was at it. For every shitty needle dug into his body, another punch was added to the amount of blows Naruto was going to rain down. And as for Zabuza...it was better not to think about the kind of violence he wanted to inflict on the bastard.

But he couldn't. Not when Sakura needed to be protected after suffering such a horrible wound. Just what kind of friend would he be if he decided fighting was more important than the safety of his friend? Someone like that wasn't worthy of becoming Hokage in Naruto's eyes.

"Understood. We'll take over guarding Sakura and Tazuna with our lives, sensie."

Sasuke wasn't happy to be relieved of the fight but relented with a scowl.

He didn't want to admit it but his body was on the verge of giving out. All the needles he had been hit with had drained him of a large amount of stamina and awakening his sharingan took its own toll. He'd already deactivated it, suffering a painful backlash that made his eyes blur as if they had been burned. If he continued fighting, he would die.

And...he couldn't help but find a nasty taste on his tongue at the thought of abandoning Sakura in her state. Annoying as she could be, she was still his teammate.

Leaving their fight with the masked boy half-finished was frustrating but Naruto and Sasuke swallowed their pride for the sake of their friend who had been wounded by dealing a strong hit to a Demon. It was their turn to be the shields.

And trust in their sensei and an average teenager to finish the fight for Nami no Kuni's bright future.

"Kick their ass, Kakashi-sensei, Touma-nii-san!"

[-]

Outside the freezing sea of gray, an older man and a young teen stepped up.

Inside the freezing sea of gray, an older man and a young teen stepped up.

Touma and Kakashi met Zabuza and Haku on the battlefield with firm determination clashing against firm determination. Scars of battle surrounded them alongside crackling ice. The once well-made road leading out of the nation to the world outside their enclosed hell had been damaged. Cracks, tears, chunks, and potholes now littered the once smooth road meant to lead the people to a brighter future.

As someone who had decided to help with the construction of the symbol of hope, seeing such damage brought a distasteful glare to Touma's face.

Neither side moved to attack. Both sides had taken some damage. At the moment, they were catching their breaths, preparing, and sizing up their enemy, readying whatever tools they had at their disposal, and evaluating the cards in their respective decks for the battle ready to erupt. Now was the only moment either side had for anything remotely close to peace. There would be no time for breathing once a single move was made.

Touma found it strange. The atmosphere. Foreboding as it was, it was unlike the many scenes he encountered thus far in Nami no Kuni. The people he was facing were regarded as demons. Killers. Monsters. Bathed in blood and knowing only violence. No different than the many demons he had bashed his fist to on his way to the final stage of this terrible story playing out on the tiny island nation.

Yet…

"Why?"

He had cracked his fist, signaling he was ready to fight. But he hadn't closed his fingers to symbolize his desire to punch the face of his enemy yet. Even now, he still wanted to find some space to talk.

Because the so-called demons he stood across from felt different.

Was it empathy? Was it merely a desire to avoid further bloodshed? Was it pacifism or some heroic desire to seek peace with even his enemy?

No.

It was simply because he had caught something unique in his clash with both demons.

"What's the point of all this? This death, mayhem, gore, destruction, and loss?! Why the hell are you so willing to play the role of demons and slaughter one old man for profit?!"

"Kamijou-"

"Stabbing your killer intent and blood lust at me won't work!"

A change had been felt in the air. The same crushing invisible pressure potent enough to crumble the resolve and will of bright-eyed ninjas. Normal men and women would have fainted under the weight of such palpable ire and cruelty. It was smothering. Choking.

Imagine Breaker wasn't needed to banish such a boring attack. Touma merely took a single step forward, eyes unwilling to show any fear as he faced up to the intimidating swordsman reeking of foul death.

Touma still hadn't made a fist. Even as Zabuza bore his massive killing weapon at him, he still hadn't closed his fingers into a rock-hard fist. At Zabuza's side, the masked nin seemed to flinch.

"I'll fight you. I'll beat you down into the dirt, over and over again. As many times as it takes. I won't hesitate to break every bone in your body if it means protecting the people behind my back. I'm not afraid of slipping away into a violent beast no different than you idiots, so long as I can ensure those innocent people are safe from harm."

This wasn't anything strange. It be weirder for him if their troubles could be resolved any other way. When Kamijou Touma disagreed with another person, be they man or woman, legendary or ordinary, strong or weak, human or inhuman, all he could ever do was meet them head-on with violence until he was the one standing.

Such behavior was selfish. You could even say villainous. No one could label such a bastard a righteous hero standing on the side of justice.

But if he were to pull out all the stops, abuse whatever meager cards and combos he still had in his ordinary deck, and fight with his all, he wanted to at least first see…

"I'll fight you until neither of us can lift a single finger but...is this really the only way either of us can move forward? Is what you're fighting for really worth robbing the smiles and hopes of innocent people who have nothing to do with rotten bastards like us?!"

"…"

There!

It hadn't been some trick of the eye or some naive hope!

Back then, without a doubt, when Kamijou Touma and Momochi Zabuza had clashed in their first meeting-

"SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH, BOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYYY! YOU HAVE NO IDEA AS TO WHY I FIGHT OR KILL AT ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!"

"Don't speak as if you understand a damn thing about me, boy! Do you think you know why I kill?! Do you believe that you've figured out what makes up The Demon In The Mist's ambitions?! Do you understand what it is that makes me put up with pieces of shit like Gato for nothing more than coin?! ARE YOU SO ARROGANT AS TO ASCERTAIN MY TRUE DESIRES THAT PUSH ME TO SELF-DESTRUCTION!?"

The tiniest, dried up, scrap of humanity had flickered in Zabuza's cold eyes.

And was swiftly beheaded by the man's next words.

"No. I don't care what it takes, what bodies have to drop, or how soaked in gore I become; my ambition won't be deterred in the slightest. I'll offer up my pride- so be it. For my dream, I'll accept whatever contract is offered to me, so long as it further builds up to my own goal. That's my ninja way, boy."

Communication fell away with the vicious swing of the demon's cleaving blade.

It didn't even surprise Zabuza to see the spiky boy evade his attack with a duck crossed with a back step. Such a clumsy evasion. As if it had only come to mind to dodge at the very last second.

Without a doubt, the strange boy skipping back to Hatake Kakashi's side was the real deal; not an illusion.

In an odd sense, he was pleased. Right now, he felt different when facing the true boy instead of that smug and confident shadow created by the Copy-nin.

Concrete was shattered with the planting of Kubikiribocho like a stake. The Demon of The Bloody Mist did not glare like he did before. There was no hate in his eyes. No malice. Nothing so vile or cruel. Not this time. The opponent standing before him was not like the many corpses he had slaughtered at the behest of his employer.

The emotion...had he ever felt it before?

Yes.

Once.

Once long ago.

In a classroom.

Beneath the mound of corpses where a terrible demon had been born.

It was said emotion that pushed him further into killing the enemy standing in his way.

"My mission is to kill Tazuna The Bridge Builder. The price on his head is far too great for me to pass on. Get in my way and I will kill you."

"So, that's that then. You'll dig yourself further and further into hell for that ambition. Is it really worth it?."

"Absolutely."

There was no pause. No matter his own thoughts or morals to the situation at hand, the suffering playing out in front of him, or whatever humanity might still remain rattling inside his carved-out chest, he would not stop. Because the end goal, his ambition, was far too worth it to merely hesitate to attain at whatever the cost had to be paid.

Tinkering with his headband, Kakashi spoke to the determined-eyed boy.

"Are you done?"

Touma's shoulders were lifted by the heavy sigh on his lips and fell in resignation.

And finally.

"Yeah. We can try talking this out later. Right now, I just want to punch the lights out of this dumb ass until he's begging me to stop with fat tears on his bruised face."

A powerful fist was made.

Violence would meet Violence. To advance any further on this bridge, pain would have to be dished out. This was the only kind of understanding allowed to be made.

Advance.

With your all.

For that which you want most, fight with your all.

[-]

The first move had already been underway.

"Kamijou, do you remember the ninjutsu I taught you?!"

"Hm? Oh, right. That thing, huh?"

A deep growl of annoyance was heard from Zabuza's throat. He cursed himself for even letting those two annoying figures get close to one another. To think he would allow such a rookie mistake!

It was sloppy but a series of familiar hand signs were made by the grinning spiky-haired teen, mirrored by the Copy-nin. The lone exception to the in-sync act was the scroll in the gray-haired jonin's hand.

So, it had been a lie after all. Of course, it had been.

As if the formidable foe strong enough to shrug off his killing intent wasn't capable of utilizing chakra to perform even a simple ninjutsu.

...Or was this just another illusion?

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Multiple plumes of smoke erupted around the mirroring pair in front of Zabuza and Haku. From the smoke, copies of both Kakashi and Touma stepped out to crowd the stage.

Just as quickly as those shadows were summoned did they move.

Not with weapons or fists from either. But more flashing hands.

Shinobi were supernatural fighters. As physically fit and as devious as they were, they had long since evolved from merely clashing in the shadows with cloaks and daggers. Illusions were a card even the most wet behind-the-ear brat could play.

"Henge(Transformation)!"

Those shadows blurred and seemed to switch places as their forms began to change shape. Like cards, they shuffled and shuffled, and shuffled, and shuffled.

Kakashi Hatake vanished from their sights, all his copies swapping their forms to perfectly mirror Kamijou Touma's own. Just like in their first battle, an army of spiky-haired teens now faced Momochi Zabuza.

As one, those challenging figures reared their fists back and roared.

"OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A swarm of deadly right fists rushed forward to the stunned pair.

Zabuza cursed foully beneath his breath.

"Haku! Don't just stand there with your mouth open! Counter! They can't all be real!"

Haku shook his head, thankful for his master's reprimand. Flipping through a series of hand signs, the chilling masked boy struck back just as a tidal wave of spiky Touma's crashed upon them.

"Hyoton: Tachiagaru Tsurara no Jutsu(Ice Release: Rising Ice Pillars Technique)!"

Cold frost bellowed from beneath Haku's foot as he stomped his foot forward. The action acted as the trigger for the water molecules swimming about to harden, elongate, and erupt from below his foot like springs. White-blue spires of sharp ice leaped out and rushed forward to skewer the many Kamijou Touma's rushing in.

Several of the older teens were run through. Their bodies burst into smoke.

SHATTER!

Still, the deadly wave of ice was destroyed after a moment.

Zabuza had expected as much. Kubikiribocho was already swinging after the line of cold spikes to cut down whatever shadows were in the way. In the obliterated curtain of freezing shards, he spotted several fists signaling the culprit. One swing would lob off the annoying limb.

"You can't fool me again, Hatake."

Deep as the gray fog was, Zabuza's own sight hadn't been dimmed. His keen eye had seen it.

A scroll. In the flash of hand signs made from the infamous Copy-nin's grasp, he had caught a decently sized scroll between his fingers. And he caught the smallest sound of flapping paper.

After clashing with the real article and then a shadow, the Demon of the Bloody Mist felt as if he had gotten a finer grasp of his enemy. The boy's final attempt to talk with him clenched it. Stubborn pride fell away to reveal the truth: an ugly truth.

Such idealistic attempts to understand his enemy...what self-respecting soldier would ever do so? Even if he realized such a truth at the very, very beginning of their first clash, he had rejected it. He had refused to accept such a person had randomly appeared and gotten in his way. Such a maddening revelation was buried underneath excuse after excuse to protect his own name.

Kamijou Touma wasn't a shinobi.

It was entirely likely he wasn't even a mercenary hired to conceal himself within the Konohagakure ninja to better strike.

The devastating swing, powerful enough to blow away a large cloud of mist, was evaded. Three of the Touma clones ducked low, rolled forward, and sprang up. A kunai, a foot, and a fist were aimed to inflict whatever pain they could.

Three thin needles each slipped into the attacking shadows with the force of a bullet. Poofs of smoke proved their false existence.

Senbon clenched between his fingers, Haku worked swiftly to dispel the rest.

His very figure blurred. He vanished into the deep sea of gray.

An odd glint speared throughout the bridge. The tiniest hint of metal gray flew by one of the Touma's as if it were a drop of rain.

Blood violently flooded up the boy's throat and nose. Unseen to anyone, a minuscule prick had opened in his abdomen. A single foreign object was shot through his intestines. Bile and blood flooded his insides. Death came in an ugly form.

Many other false spiky boys followed the same fate. A hail of madly firing metal gray glints flew in from several directions. The AOE attack would leave nothing alive.

Zabuza slipped in through the gaps of the firing senbon, cleaver scraping along the scarred bridge.

As impressive as the wide-range attack, it sadly wasn't absolute. Were their targets ordinary men, simple shinobi, surely, they would be dead. But their targets were far from weak.

In the mad fire bursts of senbon, he caught two distinct shadows evading the death needles. One masterfully deflecting the needles with a kunai and a jitte spinning in his hand. One forewent defense to evade the lethal hail of metal, somehow discovering safe pockets in the spray and dodging with impressive accuracy.

He had one target in mind.

Zabuza bled into the gray world, silently swam in its waters, and broke free to stand over a sweaty spiky teen with a two-armed grip of Kubikiribocho. He raised the signal of execution high into the air and prepared himself for the gored splash.

Twin fists interrupted him mid-swing.

"Shit! More clones!?"

Two Kamijou clones vaulted over the shoulder of the tensing Touma. With fists clenched tight, they interrupted the swing by punching into the deadly edge. Even if they were fakes, those solid illusions softened the fall and caused Zabuza to stumble back in surprise.

Touma took in a deep breath as he spun around to lock onto Zabuza.

A simple blunt fist would not follow.

Jitte in hand, he jabbed the metal striking tool deep into Zabuza's abdomen: to the cast of frost protecting his most wounded spot.

A deep crack was heard.

And a fearsome demon howled in both rage and agony.

He would not show it. He would not give them the satisfaction! Even as blood seeped from his mouth's bandages and his eyes grew bloodshot!

"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!"

Water gathered and surged from his wheezing lips. A great torrent of highly pressurized water fired forward like a mighty hammer to smash his enemy to pieces.

Touma did not act to dispel the ninjutsu. His right hand did not move.

He merely spun on his foot like an axis, the Kamijou sticking to his back taking his place as his cheeks bulged.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

An equally sized bullet of burning flames smashed into the hammer of water. A violent burst of hissing steam exploded out from the clashing elements opposing the others' existence. Shuffling feet could be heard among numerous new pops.

Zabuza seethed as he swung his deadly blade like a rotating blade in his hand. Mad buzzing was heard as it blurred into one color. He didn't need his eyes to know more false shadows were born and shuffling about to further conceal the two true jokers in the deck. Ghostly blue chakra seeped into his beloved blade as he let it fly from his gasp.

"Hisenken: Kakumei(Flying Revolving Sword: Revolution)!"

Strings of chakra followed after the insanely buzzing saw that was Kubikiribocho. As if given life, the spinning blade cut through the mist and sought its prey. Distinct pops were heard as the windmill of death tore into its prey. With a few yanks, pulls, and gestures of strings coiled around Zabuza's hand, he was able to command the buzzing death saw to go wherever he wanted.

'Long distance then. Hatake is a mid-range fighter but can excel in either if need be. But he's cautious. A direct fight is something to always be avoided as a shinobi. The boy though...he's only demonstrated close-range attacks. He can only use his fists in combat. Right?'

Even now, a sense of irritating caution was felt.

Kamijou Touma.

Could such an adversary be nothing more than a mere random boy? Even if he accepted the boy wasn't one of them, it still felt wrong to treat him lightly.

With a wide pull of his hand, the deadly Demon of the Mist moved to reel back his weapon.

Strings of chakra crumbled away at that moment. Even if he hadn't seen it, he could picture a certain hand snapping at the invisible wires and cutting it off.

Zabuza felt his ire grow hotter. An anxious thought swam up to the surface.

'Kubikiribocho!'

One of the Seven Legendary Swords of The Mist. A blood-infused cleaver. Unique and possessing the wicked ability to slurp up the blood of its enemies to repair its body. So long as it continually fed on blood, it would never crack, it would never lose its edge, it would never be destroyed.

Such a prized weapon had been forged through special means even Zabuza as its inheritor was lost to.

Whatever Kamijou Touma's kekkie genkai was, it appeared to destroy constructs of chakra. Water clones, mist, dragons, ice, strings: if the object it touched was made of chakra, it would be destroyed with a mere touch of a finger.

Would Kubikiribocho fall under the same specifications of destruction?

Zabuza charged into the fog where he could sense multiple bodies wandering about his sea. Metal glints could be seen flying about, no doubt Haku's doing. More and more of those false spiky boys were eliminated in the hail of meta. An action greatly stirring doubt in the vicious assassin.

If the claim of Kamijou Touma being some ordinary civilian were true then the multiple clones of his image were naturally created by Hatake Kakashi. The scroll Zabuza had caught in the Copy-nin's hands must have played some part in the illusion. It wasn't difficult for a ninja with knowledge in the sealing arts to create a large number of clones in their spare time and jam them into several scrolls. Most likely it was this trick that had been used earlier to shake Zabuza's senses.

Meaning the clones taken out were copies of the infamous Sharingan no Kakashi. Even if they were mere illusions, they still had a sense of the original's reflexes. So, why were they all being so easily slain? What was the point of running around so haphazardly?

Doubt would have to wait. Up ahead, through the heavy sea of fog, he could sense it. Kubikiribocho's form was dug into the side of a heavy crane. It must have flown off and struck the piece of machinery with the loss of his chakra wires. If it was still there...did that mean the boy had doubts about whether it could be destroyed too?

As he reached for the handle of his second most prized weapon, Zabuza heard a creak. His eyes went for the controls of the crane.

Tag after tag of explosives were found. Like an over-eager child had plastered every goofy sticker in their notebook onto a piece of furniture.

"Kai(Release)!"

"Shit!"

Sparks lit up the detonating paper. Pop after pop of explosive force struck the heavy piece of machinery and sent its now burning debris falling upon the scowling Zabuza. A fucking trap! Clever old scarecrow.

Far above the gray fog, the shadow of the crane began to descend. Flames crawled over its form as the explosive force snapped its foundation to send over a hundred tons upon the bridge.

It didn't matter if the objects below its mighty being were renowned as legends or had even faced gods. It would smash through the very bridge and sink them into the frigid waters in a splash of gore.

"Do you think some cheap little trick can scare me!?"

Muscles bulged. Adrenaline swam through every vein in his body as he swung Kubikiribocho high above his head to build up as much momentum as he could. Before the crashing tons of metal and flames could crush him into a pulsing red pulp, he swung up.

It was as if he had unleashed a rising waterfall of concentrated kinetic energy. Chakra flowed along the built-up force, giving form and edge to the strike. For a brief moment, the world of gray was split in two.

And the hundred tons of burning debris casting a shadow over his small form was severed. Whatever Kage Bunshin were in the line of fire were decimated by a flying scar of force tearing through the bridge. The sheer force of the cut sent the two halves of the licking flame crane veering off to the side and crashing into the waters. Twin geysers of water erupted and caused a light curtain of rain to patter on the damaged bridge.

Zabuza didn't stop there. He still carried the terrifying momentum behind his cleaver and swung. Like a howling rampaging demon, he slashed, slashed, slashed, slashed!

Everything in sight was torn up. Wild scars taking the form of bladed kinetic energy were fired at everything in sight.

Equipment.

Cement,

Bodies.

Anyone who had collapsed in the previous battle before his arrival were reduced to mangled corpses. Splashes of red and flying limbs would be seen.

At least, that was what Zabuza had expected.

In the gaps formed from his onslaught of blades, not a single drop of blood was found. Even though he was positive there had been about a good twenty or so men laid out with wounds, dead or unconscious, strewn around the road, he didn't find a single one cut up. In fact, why hadn't he found an arm or two flung about in his wild rampage from the start?

He caught it. A single clone running through the hail of senbon and chakra-infused slashes of force, with a heavily bruised man on his back.

This entire time- had those shadows merely been focused on evacuating not only the construction workers but even Gato's men?!

"Well, I suppose that would be the last of them."

The hair on the back of Zabuza's neck stood upright. Sweat dripped down his face as he swung with all his might to turn around. Kubikiribocho flipped up like a protective board so that its flat would defend him. A dull vibration was felt along the metal, traveling up along his forearms. Most likely, it originated from an ordinary kunai blade- it was aimed at his spleen.

He stared back at the aggressor, finding a Kamijou smirking up at him. A single eye blinked, revealing a blood-red eye and three lazily spinning tomoe.

"Hatake."

"Were you hoping for Kamijou-san? Or are you relieved to not be facing that invisible demon?"

The transformation was dropped, its purpose served as Kakashi decided he take the stage and continue his battle with the blood-reeking demon.

[-]

Senbon after senbon rained down upon him with a relentless firing rate. Touma's breathing was coming out in heavy pants as he tried his hardest to evade those very thin metal needles. Hot spots could be felt peppering his worn-out body, courtesy of the few medical tools piercing his back.

Off to the side of him, a Kamijou clone running close by was killed. Three needles had run through his neck, severing vital muscles and veins.

The needles could easily pierce the human body. There was no arguing that. At least two more of those cold thin pieces of steel had slipped into his body without even a sound. Those incredibly small but sharp metals were far more terrifying to him than the giant meat cleaver of a blade wielded by Momochi Zabuza. There was no telling the kind of damage those medical tools, originally designed for acupuncture, could do inside of his body if they successfully hit their mark.

Though the fake copy of himself had been slain, the Kamijou had passed on an important message: They're all safe.

Good. From the moment he had caught eye of the unconscious construction workers, Touma knew he couldn't go all out until they were out of the way. It would be a losing battle if so much as one person was killed in the crossfire.

Thanks to Kakashi's Kage Bunshin and his Henge jutsu, they were able to distract Zabuza and the masked boy long enough to safely carry them out of harm's way. Seems the half-hour spent trying to memorize the hand motions last night had come in handy.

Meaning now it was time to stop evading. Very few of his body doubles remained. Those who had survived all the violence were now running out of the fog, no doubt preparing for a new trick.

All Touma had on him was his right fist. And the blunt striking weapon gifted to him by Kyofu. If he was going to fight then he needed to stop running away and charge straight at his enemy with everything he had!

With a skid and a wide swing of his jitte, two of those scary senbon were deflected out of the air.

Everything was drowned in a sea of gray fog. Like a deeply foggy London street where a once notorious serial killer had prowled the night with a deadly knife hungry to strike. His enemy silently skulked through the gray sea, watching his every move, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Were it not for Imagine Breaker, Touma would have been terrified to his core.

A swipe of his right hand banished a large chunk of the gray world. To his puzzlement, he couldn't eliminate the effects of the ninjutsu with just one touch. Just like his first fight with The Demon of The Bloody Mist, his hand could only destroy sections.

Did it have something to do with the technique composition? Was it possible it had to do with its form possessing a core? Was it like a fog machine; something was constantly spewing the gray out? Then was the solution to this annoying field spell merely a good old fashion punch to Zabuza's face?

In front of Touma, several yards were cleared. In that space, he found a familiar mask facing him.

"Nee-san."

Twitch!

...Did it suddenly get colder?

"My name is Haku, Kamijou-san; not Nee-san. I'd like you to address me properly just once before you force my hand to kill you."

"But Nee-san is Nee-san. It's a little too late to call you anything else, Nee-san."

For all the fighting and tension felt in the frigid air, Touma still found himself scratching his head as he addressed the very feminine boy.

For some reason, the very act of speaking to him so casually caused a prick in Haku's heart.

What he had to do here would surely kill his heart for good.

"You won't back down, will you? Despite your purpose being little more than brief and brittle. Is that your ninja way? Is it so desirable you would continue on to your dying breath for nothing more than strangers who would never mirror your ambitions so simply?"

"It has nothing to do with what you call a 'ninja way'. I don't need a set of prerequisites to challenge the likes of Gato without hesitation. If someone's suffering right in front of you, why would you put in only half the work to save them? If you're going to step up, step up."

So, he did.

Touma took the first step toward the melancholic killer who radiated a cold yet solemn air.

"I've heard from Momochi-san: his ambition. Whatever it is he's striving for, it must mean a lot for him to have sold his soul to a shitty demon lord. Cruel as it is, I'm going to crush it. If stopping him here means his hopes and dreams will crumble then he's just going to have to get over it and seek another path to that ambition. But what about you? When we spoke earlier- when I got to hear your voice! The kindness in your voice wasn't some filthy lie!"

The masked ninja fell away into the gray mist coiling around him. The gap of free space created by Imagine Breaker was being slowly consumed by the mist. With a frustrated growl, Touma cleared more and more of the fog to better see his enemy.

"Hyoton: Jaakuna Katen no Jutsu(Ice Release: Wicked Curtain Technique)."

Crackling could be heard above Touma's head. It was his only warning to what was to come.

Stalagmites made of ice formed high in the air. With a shiver, multiple stakes of ice the size of an average man fell down upon Touma. They fell in a widespread formation and glinted like blades.

Touma sucked in a sharp breath and moved.

Evade?

Destroy?

No, his enemy was a clever one. One who moved calmly with incredible speeds. Unlike Momochi Zabuza, he couldn't treat their battle as if they were the same.

Planting his feet still, he didn't move away from the curtain of cold stakes crashing around him. He only lifted his right hand up and caught the single spear of ice intent on running him through.

And with his meager left, he swung with all his might to counter the three senbon needles clenched tightly in Haku's fist. Metal clanged against metal. The jitte in his grasp caught the claw-like strike aiming to sever whatever vital veins or muscles were in his chest.

The Japanese baton rattled against Haku's needles as the masked ninja tried to push through.

"Interesting. You were not in possession of such a weapon when you were fighting against Zabuza-sama. Nor did you have it on you when we met in the forest; your form is poor. You're not trained in using such a blunt instrument, are you? Yet you still found a way to wield it to your own style. Such skill...are you, by chance, related to the Uchiha clan? I've only ever heard rumors of such a clan being capable of such improvisation on the battlefield."

Steel clanged and clanged, again and again, as Haku retreated his senbon to pierce at Touma's flesh. It was like batting aside a panther's claws. He flung a single needle at the older boy with his left hand and stabbed at his liver.

Awkward as it was in his position, Touma twisted his body as he held up his guard, avoiding the deadly shot and deflecting the stab.

A sheet of ice formed below the spiky teen's feet to trip him. All the while Haku took a leap back and fired a burst-like spray of needles from his sleeves. Merely blocking with such a blunt tool would only protect a small portion of his enemy's upper body.

Touma ducked as low as he could, evading the spray of metal spines, and smashed his right knuckle deep into the ice threatening to slip him up. A fissure-like crack marred the supernatural terrain and shattered it to pieces.

Before either boy could make another move, they both stepped far to the left.

A massive scar of chakra and force carved an ugly gash along the road, kicking up a brief wind that tousled their clothing as it flew past them like a roaring train. A large tear cut through the bridge's railing like a knife cutting the side of a cake.

Three more senbon were fired in the wake of Zabuza's attack, each either dodged or deflected.

"Have you noticed? Your eyes closely mimic the way Hatake Kakashi's Sharingan analyzes every minute detail of his opponent for warnings of any threatening action. Hmm, not only your eyes though; your ears twitch faintly. As does your nose- I wonder if your tongue does the same."

"Please, stop talking about staring at his Kamijou-san's tongue, Nee-san. You're not a big-boobed Onee-san type in a skimpy sailor's uniform, and even if you were: again, big-boobed."

Fine pointed metal sank into Touma's left thigh. Even Haku was surprised by the insane speed he had fired it out of irritation.

"You bitch!"

"You like to test your opponents' patience, don't you? No...it's more than that." Haku titled his head slightly as he looked closer at the teary-eyed spiky boy holding his thigh, "Is this part of your tactics too? You did this with Zabuza-sama as well. Are you purposely attempting to know me in order to feel out for any cracks in my emotional state to take advantage of?"

"…"

Haku shook his head in pity. Anger was not felt at such a dirty trick. Especially when the expression on the kind boy's face appeared so naively puzzled.

"Perhaps if the likes of Zabuza-sama had found you, or you were nurtured by a shinobi village- yes, you'd be just as terrifying as Hatake Kakashi. It is no wonder why Zabuza-sama still struggles to accept you could be nothing more than a random boy the Konoha ninja had stumbled into. You possess all the makings of a deadly shinobi and you're not even aware of it. Playing the role of dumb civilian in over his head doesn't suit someone as talented in violence as you, Kamijou-san."

"Right back at you."

"?"

"The role of a cold murderous killing machine doesn't suit someone as kind and gentle as you, Haku."

Blur.

The masked face standing in his sights blurred like grainy static and vanished.

Touma tensed as his eyes ran over every corner of the fog. Such speed truly was more terrifying than Zabuza's wild strength. He couldn't perfectly see where the attack's direction would come from. It was eerily similar to Shirai Kuroko's Teleport ability.

A vicious tear opened along Touma's forearm. He hissed loudly as blood swam down his arm.

Left!

He spun around, only to be nailed by two senbon on his back.

Behind?!

A needle sank into the flesh of his right foot; it began to buzz.

A-Above?

A series of silent attacks began to fire down upon him. No sound gave them away. As if they merely popped right out of existence with the force of a firing bullet.

Panic began to set in sweating high school boy's thoughts. He took a deep breath, ignoring how his cheek was sliced open, and tried to calm his shaken mind. Even if it appeared as if they came out of thin air, his enemy wasn't a Teleporter utilizing the 11-the dimension to hit him from afar. Should they have been capable of the same supernatural ability, it didn't matter.

No matter what, they would need to be able to see him in order to target him. So, where could they be hiding?

Imagine Breaker cleared away more and more of the fog to better see. And then he saw it.

Or them.

Earlier, several stakes of ice had been formed from above the mist and sent crashing in a wide spread. It was an action to score a hit with numbers. But had Touma even seen the ice stakes shatter apart as they fell, other than the single one he destroyed? Just because they were made of ice, he had thought they would break once they hit the reinforced concrete bridge.

Ice stalagmites as large as grown men could be seen stabbing into the concrete road. They glinted dangerously.

And from the reflective surface of the ice, he saw a masked boy staring back at him.

At the same time, thin metal needles were fired from the glistening ice's surface.

"Shit! Don't tell me you can hide inside ice like it's water and attack out of the surface?! How does that even work?! Would you even categorize this as something akin to an Esper's ability or a magic spell?"

Touma dove out of the way of the senbon. He kept his eyes on the large ice stake and saw further into the special ninjutsu. The second he got back up on his feet and moved to charge at the hidden ice bunker, Haku's reflection shifted.

Like light, the masked boy flew out of the reflective surface and entered another stake.

The reflection traveled between the stakes of ice, the shape of the stalagmites granting the icy ninja the freedom to circle around the needle in a complete 360-degree motion. Faint lines could be seen zipping between the ice, most likely the only sign of the boy moving to his next shelter.

Such speed was almost impossible to track. If Touma stood still in fear, he would have been torn apart by the zipping speed demon and his piercing claws.

Blood freely ran down the hot cut opening along Touma's ribs as he ran forward to the nearest stake. He couldn't freeze up just because he couldn't see where the next attack would come. Several more needles cut up his body and even stabbed into him from various angles but he still kept running straight ahead with a tight fist.

Most likely, the ice was incredibly dense. It would probably be no different than if he were punching a steel beam.

With a single swing of his knuckles, he shattered the reflective stake.

Through the constant fire of needles, Touma continued to focus on destroying the large stakes of ice.

"Don't you see this is pointless?"

SMASH!

Those brief reflections of the masked boy spoke softly yet coldly to the shadows of a right fist.

"Surely you understand the situation: just look at yourself. You stepped into the battlefield with various wounds and only utilize a bizarre right hand to effectively dismantle ninjutsu. But that is all you have. Even if you were to defeat me, you would still have to defeat Zabuza-sama. Though he was severely wounded, he will not go down easily just because his opponent is the legendary Sharingan no Kakashi. You will die. Had you not thrown your life away for a brief purpose to strangers who owe you nothing, you would have lived a happier life."

Shards of freezing ice were scattered as Touma continued smashing into those talkative reflections.

"Can't do that, Nee-san! Even if I had accidentally stumbled onto the scene, I wouldn't be able to turn my back on what you're doing now! Why the hell are you even trying to kill Tazuna-san when all he's trying to do is save everyone on these islands from a leech like Gato? Instead of protecting Gato, you should be protecting Tazuna-san! Don't you think your purpose would be a whole lot nobler if you fought with us?!"

SMASH!

"If only it ever were that easy and simple. I admit, I have no kind thoughts towards my employer and if I could, I would have done more than just sprain his wrist that time. Scum like Gato are much more worthy of our blades than a kind and brave person like Tazuna-san. I respect how such a man chose neither violence nor treachery to save his people. But the people of this nation can not afford our services. His purpose is grand and worthy but it does nothing for Zabuza-sama's own benefit. The unfortunate truth is that Gato's money is far too great to refuse because of morality."

SMASH!

"So you'll throw aside your own conscious just for money?! You know it's wrong and you'll still kill an innocent man just to make a quick buck?! Why? Why are you willing to silence your own heart for the benefit of a shitty human being?! Are you truly that greedy?!"

SMASH!

"Because I am nothing more than a loyal tool to my master. What I think, what I feel, what I believe; it doesn't matter. My heart may cry an ugly cry but so long as it serves the needs of my master; what does it matter? A weapon has no say in its target. They can not object to what they are commanded to kill."

Just as the final stake of thick ice was to be shattered, the melancholic reflection within lashed out like a whip. Instead of escaping the powerful fist, Haku shot out of the now cracking ice, hand flying for Touma's left shoulder. Dainty feminine fingers dug into his skin- no, into the three senbon nailed earlier into flesh and muscle. Was the frigid shinobi running low on needles at last?

A heavy kick struck Touma's stomach like a drum gong. Soft organs cried. The force of the blow sent him flying away, the needles plucked out with a splash of blood now painting Haku's expressionless white mask. With a hoarse grunt, Touma caught himself from hitting the hard concrete with a screech of his shoes. His right hand moved to his now searing hot shoulder. Blood continuously leaked through his fingers like he was attempting to cover up a punctured water tank.

Just as he thought. He knew it would have been a bad idea to have pulled out even one of those needles from his body. The loss of just three proved his worries. The puncture wounds Haku inflicted were designed to bleed heavier than normal. If Touma wasn't careful, he would pass out from blood loss or die of blood loss: his choice.

With said three needles back in his grasp, Haku inspected their points for any damage. His voice was soft as always, contrasting his ruthless actions. Spying the beads of rich red seeping down his weapons, he cleaned them off carefully like he were a seamstress wiping off dirt.

It was a rather solemn sight.

"I owe my entire life to Zabuza-sama who had saved me from dying in the streets like a diseased animal. For his generosity, I have devoted my very being to him and his cause. Meaning that even if my mission goes against my own moral code and betrays my heart, I will silence those regrets and grief for the sake of my master's wishes. I don't wish it but if you continue to get in the way of our mission, I will kill you. I might cry afterward. Taking your life, Uzumaki-kun's life...it may be the final push to rid my useless heart of any more empathy."

Touma shivered. His entire body shivered and felt as it was going to come undone at the seams.

"You know it hurts. You're destroying your own soul for the mere benefit of someone who treats you like a weapon? Can't you decide for yourself what you want to do? Does this even make you happy?!"

"...Happy?"

With a large wave of his right hand, the fog growing between the two boys was negated so that Touma could clearly see the tilted masked face of his opponent.

"When I met you the other day, I thought you were a nice guy. Girly and a little sensitive about his appearance but a nice guy nonetheless. Even though you were a stranger to Uzumaki-san and his enemy, that didn't deter you from checking up on him to see if he was okay. We'd all only just met but even when you knew we would be fighting each other down the road, and despite having the chance to kill us with our guards down, you decided to sit down for a meal and even encourage Uzumaki-san to grow stronger for the sake of others! Just from that one meeting, I got a sense that you were a person who would spend his time caring for others with a smile on his face. That person I met who could laugh with us happily wasn't wearing a mask! So how can you be the same kind soul willing to kill others out of his debt to a demon? How can you find any joy in what you do?!"

"Because simply being able to stand by Zabuza-sama's side makes me happy."

Haku's words were honest, pure, and gentle, speaking truthfully to his admission of being nothing more than a killing tool for his owner. Such an honest response took Touma back. What he had heard was the answer of a boy who honestly felt joy and purpose in serving a man who treated him no different than a pocket knife.

Touma couldn't help but picture a small child staring up at him, eyes lighting up like stars, as if they were speaking happily about growing up to be a cool man like they're father.

"I was nothing more than a street rat who had killed his own father for murdering my mother because of the cursed blood in my veins. Where I come from, Kekkei Genkai users are considered abominations that must be culled. We are treated no differently than demons. A cursed child like me had no one precious to him anymore and bide his days eating trash while fighting off wild dogs for food. And then one day, a man with the same set of eyes as I picked me up, took me in, raised me, and trained me to be a tool. He did not hide it: he told me he would only bring me up as a mere weapon to attain his ambition at whatever the cost. My very heartbeat is thanks to him- be it merely for his designs."

Haku's right hand touched his chest to feel the rhythmic pulse of his beating heart with a fond smile.

"Zabuza-sama gave me purpose in this world. He is solely my most precious person in this cruel world and I would happily die for him. Even if I can't agree with his methods of fulfilling his ambitions, I would happily do as he asks because I can't find any other joy than to be of use to him. I will dye myself in the colors of a shinobi and kill even those I would wish to befriend so long as he commands."

Happiness born of servitude.

As long as Haku was of use to Zabuza, he would do whatever was asked even if it went against his own heart. He would throw himself in the line of fire if it meant his death as long as he could protect his master from a scratch. He was loyal to a fault and knew only content in acting as a killing machine for the one who had raised him like a son.

Pure.

Purer than light.

The lonely child grinning a wide-cheeked grin hidden behind the cold mask of a killer was unfairly pure to a blinding degree.

Touma's shoulders shook as he grit his teeth furiously. It was hard to breathe.

"How...how could such a kind and gentle soul be raised to paint themselves in blood?"

Plip.

Something hot clearly ran down Touma's cheek and froze as it fell to the scarred bridge.

It didn't make any sense to him. Haku was by far one of the most pure and caring souls he had ever come across who sought to end his life. Every one of his past opponents, even those who would later become either his friend or ally, had never shown such remorse in their voice that resigned themselves to spilling his blood for their goals. As cold and emotionless as Haku was trying to portray himself, Touma could hear the pure human emotion betraying his actions.

Hurting people hurt him. It saddened him. If it were a choice, the cold boy in front of him would have never abused those medical tools to do more than sew a stitch onto a crying child's arm. The rich dark red staining his white soul should have never been something he had to accept.

Touma had met plenty of killers in his short life which consisted of almost half a year. Humans regarded as monsters, abominations, demons, and gods who had killed without ever batting an eye. All of whom had fought Touma with the sadistic and gleeful desire to mangle his body for fun. The only one to have never shown such sadism had been Acqua, a Saint.

The boy standing across from him who was ready to kill him if he didn't run away was a tragic figure who silenced his own heart to find happiness as a weapon. For all his skills, his killing potential, and his gifts, Haku was utterly unsuited for the life of a shinobi that Zabuza portrayed. It was an honest miracle that such a life as his hadn't swallowed him and spit him back up as a bloodthirsty demon who despised the world.

So...so how was it possible Haku still contained such a pure soul?

Zabuza had raised Haku, right? Everything that Haku was, his fighting style, his strength, his skills, and his belief to be nothing more than a tool was all due to Zabuza's upbringing. If that were true then it didn't make sense.

How could Haku remain as pure as snow despite the blood that tainted him under the wings of a sadistic demon? Wouldn't Zabuza, who saw such kindness as repulsive and worthless, have worked to beat such emotions out of Haku so that he was a far greater weapon?

None of this made sense. It further drove Touma absolutely mad with rage.

"Perhaps...if things had been different in this world and we all met in different circumstances...we wouldn't have need to shed the others' blood so violently."

Several senbon were expertly spun in Haku's hand, all prepared to nail into Touma's body to pierce muscle and organs with the intent to kill. He could hear the soft melancholy in the boy's quiet voice that longed for a different outcome that could not be reached.

"If you had not aligned yourself with the Konoha shinobi then maybe we could have been friends."

"It's not too late for that." Touma shook his head stubbornly, "We don't have to fight! There has to be another way we can all resolve this without resulting in killing another or bowing to Gato! If we can just-"

"It's too late, Kamijou-san. This is the path we have chosen that will further our dreams in the quickest way possible. So long as Zabuza-sama believes so, I will follow without a word or complaint. I am fighting not just for him but for my happiness in being useful to him."

Neither teen refused to budge an inch. It was a cold stalemate.

Forming the necessary hand signs, Haku stomped his foot onto the large puddle of water created in the negation of his ice crystal dragon.

Water arose above Haku's head, quickly forming into an array of needles floating with their tips locked onto Touma. It was a similar jutsu to Birdway's water knives. The widespread attack was spread out to ensure that no amount of dodging could save him from having at least an arm riddled by the water needles.

"Sensatsu Suisho[Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death]!"

The barrage of water needles rained like gunfire.

Touma cracked his right hand and met those water needles with his open palm.

He had already dealt with an attack like this a month ago. Like Birdway's knives, the needles were closely compacted together and weren't born out of thin air via chakra. The water was created from the surrounding body of water. When Imagine Breaker met one of those needles it would simply break apart and burst like a bubble.

With his right palm splaying all five of his fingers out like a shield, he created a safe zone by negating the needles that would hit him. The needles were shattered, splashing their remains into the other needles next to them to break them apart. A chain reaction was created that bore a hole in that stabbing wall of water thorns.

Other than being doused in freezing water, Touma was safe as the remaining needles riddled the bridge floor behind him.

Said water began to pool beneath Touma's shoes.

"Hyoton: Kotta Hashira no Jutsu[Ice Release: Frozen Pillar Technique]!"

The steep drop in temperature was Touma's warning to evade the pillar of water underneath his feet as if it had a life of its own. Not half a second later, the water congealed into a solid column of ice.

Death's cruel sickle whistled. The shadow of a large cleaver loomed over the block of ice that should have contained a boy.

Severing metal reeking of carnage cut down the ice in a savage swing.

And from the sea of gray fog, Momochi Zabuza reentered the fight.

With a single punch, the cold and murderous demon sent Touma flying with a sudden burst of thick water.

The players on stage shuffled. And the ruthless play continued.

[-]

Kakashi struggled to recover his breath.

Not even a veteran shinobi like himself, who possessed a unique and powerful ability like the Sharingan, could escape the effects of fatigue.

As he fell beside an equally battered and bloody Touma, the gray-haired jonin felt the large gash running from his left shoulder to his right hip burn like it was on fire. Perhaps it was better he felt such agony. It meant the nerves hadn't died.

Across from both of them stood Zabuza and Haku, both equally showing hints of fatigue. Well, Zabuza was. Compared to his prized 'tool', the older shinobi was bleeding, bruised, and leaning to one side; his stomach wound must have been killing him. Hard to believe his little Sakura had dealt such a devastating move in one hit.

Out of all those standing on the battlefield, it was the silent and somber aura masked hunter-nin, Haku, who stood without a single wound. Was the young boy even tired? Had the effects of chakra fatigue even reared its head or did the talented young ninja possess a large chakra reserve?

A few needles digging into Kakashi's back shivered.

'I can see why Zabuza is so proud of his protege. Those movements, those strikes- he's Anbu material. It's very well possible he could have put even me to shame.'

Had the silent boy not been tending to Zabuza's most prominent wound, Haku would have likely been striking at them from every angle. Had either of those two monstrous shinobi even realized it was Haku who was more proficient in the mist?

Speaking of mist, it was about time to clear up the stage of all this irritating gray.

An unseen and wordless command was made to the leftover shadows forgotten in the act.

"Kamijou! Direct your right hand as high as you can! Reach the sky!"

Kakashi ducked as low as he could, crouched to the point even his chest could probably kiss the cement. He was happy to see the spiky boy didn't even question his command, throwing his unique hand up high, fingers stretched as high as he could.

Before either Zabuza or Haku could move to interrupt whatever trick he had up his sleeve, his card had slapped onto the board.

Wind howled.

A tempest from all four corners of the bridge: North, South, East, and West. Raging, lashing, thundering blasts of condensed wind rushed in from outside the fog.

Four shadows smirked with each possessing one red eye, spiraling with three tomoe.

"Futon: Daitoppa no Jutsu(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Technique)!"

Those destructive winds did not seek the wary Zabuza and Haku. In fact, they all seemed to have fired at an odd angle that sent them tearing through the air high above them and come crashing down on a single target.

Zabuza widened his eyes as he stared at the naked right hand refusing to evade the winds.

"Clever mother fu-!"

Imagine Breaker was crushed from all four directions like it were a bug. That puny hand grew distorted for a fragment of a second as heavy, shredding, howling bullets of wind eagerly sought to obliterate the human appendage.

Wind was shattered apart like glass.

A reaction was found in the destruction.

Upon being destroyed by the strange hand, a great and powerful shock wave was released. A clearing wave of displaced pressure struck all those standing on the bridge. It was similar to a ripple of water at the center of a body of water.

Kakashi swiftly threw out his hand while he was still crouched and caught the startled Touma as the boy found his feet being blown off the concrete. An application of chakra to the soles of his feet assured that neither of the two wouldn't be tossed aside like litter in the midst of a storm's wind. No doubt, Zabuza and Haku had reacted the same even if their standing positions had them suffering a blunt strike to their bodies.

Without missing a beat, Kakashi spun on his feet, ignored the startled yelp of the boy in his hand, and launched him back at the stunned enemy shinobi. Like a deadly spear, Touma flew straight and even righted himself as he flew. Seemed the boy was used to such a move.

Not even Haku was able to react in time to the attack. With a clenched fist barreling like a boulder, a certain right hand smashed into Zabuza's abdomen. The cast of protective ice was shattered. Imagine Breaker finally made contact with the shinobi and let out an otherworldly whine as the large swordsman was sent flying.

A lashing high kick to Touma's face sent him skidding back to Kakashi's side. Haku abandoned a lethal strike to tend to his master's wounds and make some distance between them.

Good. All was going according to plan then.

The shock wave created amid the destruction of his wind bullets wasn't designed to hurt either of them. Damage wasn't the goal.

The gray mist being swept past them was the true target.

Unlike before, the curtain of fog didn't seep back into the scene.

One touch of Imagine Breaker to the ninjutsu's core was enough to shut it off. It seemed Kakashi was correct; his Sharingan had caught the wisps of invisible chakra seeping out of Zabuza's body to create more mist.

'That right hand, Imagine Breaker, truly is a powerful ability. I first thought it could negate techniques molded, powered, sustained, contained, or manipulated with chakra. But it's more simple and violent than that. This is more than mere negation or suppression at its roots: It's destruction.'

Negation could not produce such a violent backlash.

Even if his Sharingan had difficulty analyzing that right hand or even seeing it, the effects it produced were still a different matter to consider. Imprisoned within Zabuza's water cell, all he was able to do as he waited for his time to strike was observe the battle between Kamijou Touma and Momochi Zabuza. The single bloody fight had taught Kakashi enough.

As the shock wave died down, Kakashi went in for the next strike. There was no pausing on the battlefield. Every turn had to matter when your life was on the line.

In fact, who said he was done with his play? It wasn't a single attack. This was a combo!

With the fog cleared, the full scope of the bridge could now be seen. All the damage, all the destruction, all the mayhem. The gray world was free to breathe yet it did not shine. A melancholic gray sky amid bellows of dark smoke and tints of orange-red flames on the horizon of the island nation was revealed.

Among the backdrops were four spiky-haired Kamijou flipping through several hand signs. What looked like unraveling rolls of paper were spread out, smeared with blood across various Japanese characters, and snapped back along the roll.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu(Summoning Technique)!"

Four sets of decorated scrolls were slammed fiercely into the cement. They slipped into the reinforced stone without further damaging the surface and released puffs of smoke.

Vibrations were felt beneath the feet of all those standing foot on Tazuna's dream.

"Haku!"

Four thin needles pierced the foreheads of the wide-eyed Kamijous. They did not exit, their cold bodies tingling in the brain matter of the now white-eyed spiky boys. Their illusions bleed and burst like balloons.

Before Kakashi's move could be completed, those vicious demons attacked.

"Kamijou! Just a few more seconds; hold one of them off! Buy me just a few more seconds and we can deliver a deep blow to their strength in an instant!"

A veteran killer, soldier, and warrior, like Kakashi, was relying his being on a stranger he'd only known for a couple of days. If his teachers at the academy were to see such a thing, they would would have spat at him in disgrace.

That spiky boy did not answer back.

The boy merely made a fist and rushed straight towards the demons reeking of death and ice.

'Which one? Which one? Which one?!'

Kakashi laid out his right hand, palm open, and clawed the air like he were a beast fanning out his claws. He kept his single red eye on two flitting figures, constantly jumping back and forth between his targets like an unsteady cursor.

He saw it and did nothing.

A heavy blade carved a long and ugly wound diagonally across Touma like it had Kakashi.

Several needles struck the boy's chest and lifted him off his feet.

Large chunks of sharpened ice rained down upon the grimacing boy as he tried to evade and destroy.

A buzzing cleaver spun for the boy's head like a giant shuriken, nearly took off his scalp, and left him open for a lashing kick at his temple from the cruel Demon of The Bloody Mist.

It was a miserable and ugly sight.

Even though the spiky-haired boy was escaping those one-shot kill moves, he was not going unscathed. His blood flew through the air and painted the scarred bridge in wild streaks like a paintbrush. He was surviving but piling up wound, after wound, after wound, after wound. A single special right hand and a mere jitte weren't enough. All he could do was fight with the skin of his teeth, endure, keep moving, and push through the agony.

Dangerous. Vicious. Coldhearted. The enemy they faced was far too volatile and dangerous to allow to live. For those who would go as far as to harm the innocent who merely desired to live their lives without strife, just for their own ideals and ambitions; how could you call those shinobi?

Kamijou Touma truly, without a doubt, was nothing more than an ordinary boy they had picked up on the road. One who bleeds more than any other and could easily die like any other.

Yet that fading illusion was far more deserving of the title of shinobi than the likes of Momochi Zabuza.

KRZZZZZZZZZTTTT!

Shameful anger sparked the air over Kakashi's clawed hand.

Lightning was birthed.

Blue-white fury screamed vengeance.

BBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTT!

Yes, in an instant. A powerful blow would be dealt to cripple their enemy, perhaps even crumble them.

In order to protect this nation's courage, their dream, their symbol, he would be their blade.

Lightning crackled like fireworks going off in his very hand, sending lashes of streaking white-blue shocking chakra flying about like hot oil. In his hand, he held a terrible blade.

One to carve their way.

His single red-eye locked onto his target, zoning in completely and cutting out all unnecessary information but the bull's eye. He heard voices. Talking. But it all became mute with the roar of the spark he grasped.

Underneath his foot, he felt several thumping taps; a signal.

To carve ahead and split the enemy apart.

"Kamijou-san, stand back- NOW!"

Concrete was smashed through from below. Fierce barks were heard. Seven oddly shaped figures, all who leaped up from the hard rock as if it were water with four legs, cracked open their jaws as wide as possible. The unique scent they had decided to follow led them to their target and canine teeth of all sizes clamped down with all their might onto-!

[-]

It was hard to breathe.

It had to be.

A harsh coughing fit due to blood clogging up his windpipe caused Kamijou Touma to stumble. Whether it was fortune or misfortune, Zabuza couldn't tell. The damaged boy somehow avoided the spearing thrust of his board-sized cleaver but found Haku ducking below his blade to jab a single senbon into the stunned boy's sternum.

White exploded and blinded the boy's vision for a moment.

If he hadn't said fuck it as he yanked the needle out, the boy may not have been able to regain his vision in time to evade the next strike.

Eyes threatening to shut from both exhaustion coupled with pain, Kamijou Touma still moved. There were no strategies. No thinking. The boy's brain would not save him with some clever trick.

At this very moment, Kamijou Touma was fighting with his all, instincts firing off at max capacity, just so he could survive clashing with the two fierce demons who far surpassed him in physical ability and combat experience.

Once again, the heavy body of Kukiribocho fell down upon him. The plain-faced boy stared at the descending edge almost dully. As if he didn't even notice it.

He stepped to the side, evading the guillotine even at the cost of being sprayed by the rock and debris flying out. Left hand clenching tightly to the chipped jitte, he quickly struck the long metal baton down onto Zabuza's retreating wrist.

Bone cracked.

Zabuza felt every vein in his right hand spring up and scream.

"FFFFFUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!"

For daring to strike his master, Haku slammed a slab, formed below his feet, deep into Touma's gut. Had the head been sharp, it would have run straight through him. But instead, it felt like a ram had driven itself into the boy's muscles and scrambled his insides.

"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Kamijou Touma flew up into the air as if struck by an uppercut. His body fell 6 feet from the ground like he were a bruised tomato. Red splashed out.

Don't get up.

Red was hacked from torn lips.

Stay down.

Vision blurred but focused with nothing but sheer determination.

Fucking stay down!

Legs quivered as he stood back up, ready to give out at any moment.

"...Damn it."

A stern right fist was formed and a metal baton was swung out. It was like gazing at a corpse righting itself up from the grave.

And though he was practically seeping with blood from every orifice on his face, Kamijou Touma continued to stand in the face of the two frustrated demons. Just the sight of all the wounds, the red and black, the cuts and bruises, was enough to even disgust Zabuza.

Kukirbocho was leveled down to glare straight into those dulling dark blue orbs. He very could push the sharp tip straight into his enemy's forehead.

"Why can't you just lay down and die?!"

Easy. So easy. One push would probably end it all.

So, why was the infamous and bloodthirsty Demon of The Bloody Mist pausing? Why was he bothered at the sight of the dead-on-his-feet idiot?

Those damn eyes. Those damned eyes!

Fury, a different flavor of fury now rushed through every fiber of Zabuza's being as he met those damned, unflinching, powerful eyes. Of a boy who didn't belong on this killing ground. Of someone who appeared plain but fought as viciously as a demon. Of a nobody who held no connection, no past, no history, on either side of this story he had stumbled upon through sheer misfortune.

Kamijou Touma was a monster.

In the eyes of The Demon of The Bloody Mist, such a child had to be some kind of invisible demon. A beast concealing his true colors, his true strength, his true fangs, from the world in order to better strike his enemy. Another deceitful killer who reeked of just as much gore and death as him.

Those naive words had to be false.

That damn desire to try and understand someone like him had to be another lie.

Just another like-minded shinobi born in a system, in a world, that had created men like Momochi Zabuza and countless others.

Yet.

YET!

"Can't...I...promised...to put an end to this shitty story. To protect them and their dream!"

A weak swipe of the boy's jitte aimed to strike Zabuza's swollen wrist. No effort was needed to dodge as he merely brushed the attack aside. There wasn't even a need to attack.

Haku had already pushed the spiky bloodied boy back with an elbow strike to his solar plexus.

"Gah!"

Touma's knees buckled. Yet he snarled and forced his body to stay up. His breathing came out in wet rasps and it looked like he would fall over any second now. Even if he was clenching his right hand and jitte in his left hand, both his arms were slacked. As if the muscles had died; had one of those needles struck his ligaments?

For some reason, the sight irritated the living hell out of Zabuza. He felt he would go mad without understanding what it was pushing the idiot to be beaten like a sick animal.

"You lost. Face it. I'll give you points for surviving as long as you have against Gato's little whelps but you're facing a fucking predator: a shark. You know you're only breathing right now because I allow it, right? I could have killed you by now."

"Hah...sexier chicks in a lot more revealing skimpy outfits than you...tried."

"You're just fucking begging me to cut your guts out and splay them around the bridge, don't you?!"

Touma chuckled thickly through the clumps of red in his throat. He spat a wet glob off to the side like it were a loogie.

"I...I don't get you. Heh, I think that's what really pisses me off."

Frustration clouded those dark blue eyes.

"You're strong- fucking unbelievably strong. Calling you a monster isn't an insult: it's the truth. You have all this power, this talent, these skills, and what do you do with it? You hand it over to the biggest, slimy, fattest, pig just because the piggy bank's belly is bursting with shiny coins. Just because it's easier for your ambition."

Zabuza shook his head at the boy, his eyes narrowed with annoyance.

"You don't get it, brat. That's just how the world works. That is what a shinobi is: a tool. A mere weapon created by the world to cull the weak or strong for a certain price. Had you been raised in a true ninja village, my village, you'd have turned out no different- maybe even crueler."

"I get that. You might even be right; if it had been that time when I was born into the world, and I woke up in a place where both you and Hatake-san were molded into such frightening beasts, maybe I'd be the same."

"?"

"But that's now what I don't get. That's not what's pissing me off so fucking much about you."

"Oh? So, the deadman walking still has some ember left to spit out? Then go ahead: what about me pisses you off so fucking much?"

A right hand thew itself up and pointed at a silent Haku. To the gentle white soul stained with gristly red gore.

"How could such a selfish dumb ass like you raise such a kind boy?"

"..."

"I would understand if you had taken it upon yourself to do this shitty work but why the fuck did you have to drag Nee-san into your bullshit!? You raised him, didn't you?! Even a brain-dead idiot can see how ill-fit he is for becoming an emotionless killing machine that you praise so proudly! Have you seen him smile? Don't try to pretend you fucking haven't! No matter how harsh the training you ran him through, how cruelly you spoke to him, how much you plainly stated he was just a means to an end for your dreams, you've had to have caught glimpses of it! A kind-hearted guy that was never meant for this kind of violence that forces him to kill his own gentle heart for your fucking ambitions! That's the kind of child you raised underneath your carnage. The kind who would sit down with his own enemy, eat lunch with them, laugh with them, and encourage them to dream. All with such a pure smile on their face!"

Zabuza's neck cracked. Dead eyes sneered at the blistering mad child.

Pathetic. The enemy standing before him was incredibly nosy and mouthy. In the back of his thoughts, he had to wonder when exactly the damned fool had interacted with Haku outside his notice. To think his precious tool had gone done something as stupid as chat with their prey.

Was that the reason behind Haku's trembling shoulders?

"Kindness has no place in our world, boy. Such emotions serve no purpose to one who has been gifted with a gift that many idiots in our land considered a curse to be culled for the better of our village. I saw incredible potential that could serve me to bring down an unfair world hidden in the bloody mist that creates demons. To ignore that potential just because he wasn't suited for it would have been a waste of a perfect killing tool that far exceeds my own talents."

"Haku's not a weapon!"

Touma took a step forward, his hand clawing the air to rid the last dregs of gray fog that seeped into the cold prison with an adamant swing.

"I still don't get any of this. I can't understand why you would be so willing to work for Gato to build a war chest for an ambition. I can't understand why you'd be so willing to let the boy you've raised practically like a son become your own personal weapon. I can't understand why neither one of you had the balls to speak up to the other and say that what you're doing is wrong when you know it is! I can't, no matter how many times you may explain it to me and even open up your hearts, I simply can't understand you!"

"You're not supposed to understand your enemy, brat. Do you think you can talk to your enemy? Make friends with your enemy? What? Do you think you can save your enemy?"

"Of course I can!"

"Grow up, you retarded piece of shit!"

Something snapped within Momochi Zabuza's brain. In a place you could not see, a crack had formed and found itself repeatedly under pressure. Until it could not endure any longer.

Kubikiribocho fell out of the demon's grasp. It hit the torn-up cement with an audible clang.

Haku was surprised by the action and turned to his master.

He froze.

Harsh fingers curled into tight fists, abandoning their killing instrument, and fell upon the spiky boy. A great tide of anger seemed to burst from Zabuza as his eyes grew white with absolute rage. Killing was no longer on his mind. Perhaps not even the bounty on Tazuna's head could be found there right now.

An adult's powerful knuckles struck Touma's head and sent him stumbling to the side.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Zabuza brutishly beat his hard fist into the face of the wide-eyed boy.

All while a loud buzzing was heard in the background of his blistering beat down.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? You righteous fuck! Just what do you think ambitions are made with? With blood! Sweat! Tears! Sacrifice! Do you think your heroic desire to save an entire nation is greater than mine? Do you think you alone are worthy of attaining your dream? Is it that easy for you to open your mouth and change people's minds just because you're standing on the side of justice?! You think that gives you the right to spit at my ideals, at my hopes, at my dreams, at everything I've had to fucking do to just get by because what you're fighting for is right?! Go to hell. I stood where you stood once upon a time! If your shitty ideals were so god damn bright and undeniably righteous in kami-sama's world then why were demons like Haku and I born!"

What had once been a tooth and nail battle teetering on the edge of their lives had devolved into a fistfight.

There was no martial arts forms. No supernatural powers at play. Special gifts and sheer talent were absent.

The two men now throwing their bare hands at one another simply wanted to bash their bruised knuckles into the face of the asshole standing in their way.

I don't understand you.

And it fucking pisses me off.

Those ordinary thoughts anyone could have at any given moment were all that were guiding those two demons fists at the moment. It was all they could hear in their red-dyed thoughts.

Which was why they hadn't heard it.

"Zabuza-sama!"

"Kamijou-san, stand back- NOW!"

Underneath both men's feet, a deep and unsettling rumbling could be felt. By the time they registered the alien sensation, it was already too late.

Both Touma and Zabuza found the concrete break all around them. From the broken concrete, they found dogs of various sizes, all adorning ninja wear, leaping out with pearly white fangs baring down upon them. Those ninja hounds pounced as one to sink their canines as deeply as possible into the flesh of their target: Momochi Zabuza.

What sounded like shrieking birds could be heard from behind both startled men. A bright, white-blue light was approaching with terrifying speed neither could evade.

And in the next beat.

"Zabuza-sama!"

"Touma-nii-san!"

"Kamijou!"

Blood splashed out in great volumes.

[-]

"G-g…..ggy-yyaaaaheehaheh!"

"Gggg...gggaaaaaaaahhhhhhaaah!"

A beaten right hand fell limply by Touma's side. Rich red beads swam down the sporadic twitching digits. The socket had been wrenched right out like it were a ball joint to a plastic figurine. Like loose wet meat, the limb dangled from the wet black sleeve.

Touma fought hard not to cry. The pain was suffocating. He felt like he was choking on the repressed scream he was keeping at bay.

A familiar groan was felt in his right arm. A terrifying buzzing lurked underneath the agony.

No doubt the boy standing in front of him was in just as much pain as he was.

"H-Haku...you idiot."

A clatter of a porcelain mask hitting the road could be heard all across the bridge.

Haku, the far-too-kind killing tool, simply smiled a bloody smile at the red and black stained Touma.

Even though he found brutish dogs of varying sizes latched onto his slim and petite body. Small teeth. Medium teeth. Large teeth. A great row of canine teeth were stamped down onto his flesh: ankles, forearms, ribs, hands, collar, hamstring, back. Seven ninja dogs bit down onto him like bear traps and refused to so much as creak.

Since the start of the battle, this was the first time the young man found his own blood staining his body. And all because he had pushed aside his master to evade the pinning technique.

Had he not done so, Zabuza would have found himself unable to move as the spearing thrust of Hatake Kakashi's wildly sparking hand ran through him.

Rakiri: Lightning Blade.

A special ninjutsu the likes of only Hatake Kakashi was able to perform thanks to his Sharingan. Such a deadly attack was rumored to have split a falling bolt of lightning. Said killing move was poised to eliminate Zabuza but instead found Haku as the unfortunate target.

Had things gone as intended, that searing hot blade would have found itself in the bloody muscle of Haku.

Touma had no clue to what was coming. All he had known was that someone had shouted at him to get out of the way. He felt the familiar tingle of a lightning strike aimed at his back. An instinct practically hard-wired into his very being commanded him to move to the flash of lightning.

Imagine Breaker had swung out. With just his right hand, Touma had caught the infamous lightning blade. He dug his feet and found a great pressure slamming into his palm even as the lightning chakra was negated. Whatever Raikiri was, it appeared to be no more than electricity given shape and raw power designed to carve through obstacles as hard as even steel.

The speed and strength pushing that blade through were not part of its ability. It was no different than a finely crafted spear tip. It was deadly. Lethal. But by itself, it could do no harm. It was the person behind the weapon and its direction that provided its greatest killing potential and force.

When he had negated the supernatural attack, Touma still found the powerful jabbing thrust of a veteran shinobi moving at incredible speeds pushing into his arm. Physics played its part next.

With a disturbing crack of bone and ligaments, his right shoulder had been dislocated. Severely. Most likely loose muscles were all that were keeping the twitching limb attached.

Fingers dipped in blood were removed from a chest.

Imagine Breaker destroyed the insane blade of crackling chakra but those powerful fingers had not let up.

Haku gasped with a trickle of blood swimming down his lip like a leaking rivet. Five puncture wounds marred the right side of his chest; shallow but deep enough to have caused some internal damage. Such a wound could have been deeper. An organ would have been torn to pieces.

Kakashi staggered back from the two bloody boys, eyes scowling as he grasped his right hand. Just like Touma, he must have felt some kind of backlash- he still had his hand attached. Lucky him.

The battlefield fell silent. No one was able to say word.

"Why."

Knocked to the ground, stomach wound opening up and blood beginning to seep through his fingers as he held the deep contusion, Zabuza rasped out one word. His eyes were dark, livid...and confused.

Touma craned his head back. His eyes couldn't be seen, his gaze staring off somewhere neither shinobi on the bloody bridge could possibly see. He smiled tiredly as if he had grown exhausted answering the same old question.

The maddening buzzing originating from his broken right arm was silenced; harshly. Unlike before, he would stamp it out before anything wicked could lunge out.

"Because...I don't want either of you two to die…"

Determination would only get you so far ahead. Grit, willpower, even guts. To have made it this far with just a special right hand was impressive enough.

Touma found his vision blinking out and his body collapsing in a pool of his own blood.

[-]

Ocean blue eyes trembled. Clear liquid mirrored the scene in front of him perfectly clear. Black and red stains. Open cuts and gashes. Flesh mangled. Was the human silhouette even a man? Numerous needles were nailed into his body to numb his limbs with most found in Touma's right arm.

As the dark spiky-haired boy in his sights collapsed in a deep red puddle, Naruto caught another startling figure.

"N-Nee-san…?"

The gentle older boy from a few days ago? The one who dressed so girly, spoke so girly, and just looked so girly to the point he appeared prettier than most girls Naruto had met that he couldn't address him as Nii-san?

What was the friendly and sweet older boy doing here? Why were a bunch of large and small nin-ken savagely biting down on him like he were a piece of juicy meat? T-those clothes. The cracked mask lying at his feet. The sharp needles clattered around him.

Had he- was he the hunter-nin then?

What was going on?

Naruto found he couldn't see anything but the road directly in front of him. He heard a bunch of noise. Frantic words were said. He believed he saw his cool sensei gesture a kunai to Haku's neck and press the reaping tool deeply into the skin.

A bunch of movement was made but all his dilating blue eyes could see were the two older boys he had sat down with in the forest and laughed with.

"It's over! This is your last chance, Zabuza: surrender. If you don't, I'll slit your beloved weapon's throat."

Was...Was Kakashi-sensei threatening to kill Nee-san? Why? Why wasn't he going to Touma-nii-san's aide? Why wasn't his super cool and awesome sensei rushing over to the heavily bleeding boy at his feet, stitching him up, and running off with him so someone reliable like Gaze-san could save his life again?

Why were they all still fighting?

"Heh. Do you honestly believe I'll stop now? When now it's only you and I who stand? My ambitions...my dream...I'll keep going forward. I don't give a damn what awaits me when I die. I forsook kami-sama's blessing the day I was buried underneath the corpses of my own classmates and became a demon. I'll give up whatever it takes to attain that damned dream!"

"Even the life of the boy you raised as your own?"

"Boy? This is the shinobi way. What's so wrong about a killing tool killing another killing tool?"

"That's not what a shinobi should do. That's not what we are meant to be. At some point, you lost your way. Kamijou-san...that's what a shinobi should be."

"And he died like all the rest who foolishly believed that was the way."

...Died?

Pressure.

Like a swarm of insects who had their nest disturbed.

A hot pressure burrowed out from the back of Naruto's head. He felt the hairs on his body begin to stand upright. Every muscle in his body began to constrict like they were squeezing his heart dry of blood.

More words were said as the spiky blond continued to feel his body falling.

"...Zabuza-sama...kill me."

"What?"

"...Haku…"

"I...can go on no longer. I can't feel my legs; my arms won't listen to me. I'm broken and can't serve you. So, don't hesitate to toss me aside. Cut right through me if you have to. But do not surrender or even think twice if it means you have to so much as fret over a single hair on my head."

Metal was heaved up. An edge reeking of the stench of iron gave a rattle.

The hair on the back of Kakashi's neck stiffened. With haste, he moved to step bac-

Like the whipping tongue of a chameleon, the gray-haired one-eyed shinobi found his blood-seeped right hand caught by the softly smiling hunter-nin. A terrible chill was felt. And in an instant, the wet blood now connecting them by hand was frozen solid. Like cuffs, the rigid red ice locked the grimacing Kakashi in place to Haku's own hand. No amount of struggling would free him as he felt the skin of his now numbing hand crack. The deadly kunai pressed against Haku's neck hit the ground with a clatter.

Escape was mute. Nothing less than cutting off his own hand would save him from the next move.

"My purpose is to serve you. Even broken, I will make sure you get full use of this useless tool before you toss me aside. Once Hatake Kakashi is cut down, there will be no one in your way. So long as you survive, as long as you reap the rewards, as long as you continue fighting for your dream; I'll be happy."

Naruto couldn't move. He felt the world was slowing down to a crawl he couldn't hope to catch up to.

That deadly butcher's cleaver was lifted high into the air above Zabuza. The Demon of The Bloody Mist's expression was cloaked by a dark shadow. Even though the boy who was fighting beside him this entire time was heavily injured, unable to fight, in the way of his sword, the cold-blooded shinobi still aimed his blade to cut down both Haku. Just so he could kill his enemy.

The powerful shinobi chose to kill his ally just because he could.

Searing hot liquid traveled along every vein in Naruto's body. The fire seemed to surge from one specific spot on his body: his stomach. Sweat coated every inch of his body like he was burning up alive.

'Nee-san...Touma-nii-san…'

Orange-red wisps leaked from the snarling boy's pores.

'Don't bother yourself with being strong or powerful; even someone labeled as worthless, cursed, a plague, an idiot, weak, or selfish can become the kind of person who can stand up and fight to save others from tragedy.'

'Either way, it really was good meeting you two. I'm sure that you'll become stronger, Uzumaki-san; incredibly so.'

Those awesome and nice older boys had seen Uzumaki Naruto as a friend. Not a demon. Not a pest. Not an idiot.

Now those kind older boys couldn't move and were painted in red; one couldn't even move. Was Touma even breathing?

SNAP!

Clear blue eyes dulled.

Wicked red bleed out and pupils carved into slits.

[-]

From within the deep depths of a terrible and horrific cage contained in a sewer-like prison, a seal cracked under the overwhelming hatred born at the sight of blood and lack of breathing.

A mass of appalling and atrocious chakra seething a fiery orange took shape to reveal rows of pearly white fanged teeth that grinned viciously. A demonic force of ill-boding malice laughed deeply as a thin sliver of its chakra slipped out of its bar to touch the damaged seal.

That vile chakra infected the chip crack created by the out-of-control emotions. A sudden change overcame the sewer-like prison as fiery orange veins grew out from the walls to travel further into the sewer to spread their malice.

"At last! The human's finally shown a weakness in that damn mind of his!"

The being was regarded the strongest and most destructive of its nine brethren, a demon whose tails could spin earth-tearing twisters with a flick, and had utterly devastated Konohagakure no Sato twelve years ago after its container had been broken.

Kyuubi no Kitsune; The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

And at last, he could spread a bit of his tail to wriggle from his stuffy cage.

[-]

Animosity spiked the world.

Malice seeped into the air like flames.

Hatred buzzed like a swarm of stinging hornets.

RRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!

A tremendous spike of malicious chakra erupted a few feet away from where the shinobi stood at a stand still. The malevolence could be felt in the very air that felt foul even from a distance. It was an evil presence Kakashi would never forget even after twelve years since it had been released to the world. Even if it was just a small comparison to what had attacked the village all those years ago, it was still as terrible and malicious as then.

Kakashi ground his teeth anxiously as he felt that terrible chakra prickle his skin from where he stood.

'It can't be! Has Naruto's seal been broken?!'

If the seal had truly been broken than the Kyuubi would have been seen from miles away. The very world around them would have been churned by the natural disasters it could summon with a flick of its nine-tails. What he was feeling now was truly just a sample however potent it was in its release.

The seal had only been damaged. That was a relief compared to seeing that damn demon fox again.

The air changed direction as did the spike of malicious chakra. It was pointed straight ahead, locked onto a sole target like a blood sniffing hound. The target of the appalling chakra was none other than Momochi Zabuza. And it was charging ahead with the viciousness of a wild animal that tore through the cement earth with destructive neglect.

Malice.

Enormity.

Wickedness.

Vile.

Those were the first words to pop up in Haku's cold sweat as he felt a sheer spike of malicious chakra erupt ahead. The very air stung. Dread was released in crushing waves. The killing intent was as palpable as Zabuza- even greater. It was like a great bonfire had been sparked to rage violently and create a monstrous beacon heading their way.

Even the nin-ken had frozen in fear, seeming to register what the vile chakra was.

'W-What is this...blood-lust?'

A terrible roar that shook his bones was heard as the spike of chakra colored a fiery orange charged along with the shockwave that fiercely whipped Haku's hair back.

An in instant, the hellish bonfire blurred.

The creator of such appalling energy appeared in front of them , overflowing with orange visible chakra. Haku's breathe was caught in his throat at whose face he found hatefully glaring at them with an wild snarl.

"Naruto-kun…?"

The fox whiskered boy with the kindest blue eyes and brightest aura was gone. His eyes had bleed an angry red with slits, his whiskers had darkened and grown thicker, his nails had grown to claws, and his teeth had grown sharp canines reminiscent of a fox. His very aura had grown demonic and aggressive.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

The clenched fist of that demonic kitsune flew straight ahead like a ramming spear.

It aimed for Haku.

And slipped right past the stunned boy to strike the cleaver wielding demon at his back.

"Fucking brat…!"

A thundering clang was heard. Fiery knuckles slammed straight into the broadside of the defending Kubikiribocho. But even such a wide and tough blade shielding him, Zabuza still found a tremendous shock wave bleed right though and strike his body like a ram. The air stung his skin as the howling force sent him skidding on the balls of his feet several feet back.

The attack was very similar to the little pink girl's punch. Only containing more hatred and killer intent.

Grimacing, Zabuza swallowed back a wad of blood and now faced himself with a new threat. One who's very visage had the Demon of The Bloody Mist pausing.

The demonic visage that was Uzumaki Naruto, consumed by rage and hate walked forward with clicking claws and snarl that stretched his cheeks back that his face muscles would have been ripped. Lashes of orange chakra struck everything in sight, bleeding out of his body like the boy had been set on fire. Bits of gravel and dirt could be see mixed in as the pressure the boy was exuding churned the very air. In a world of gray and dark somber colors, he was the lit match eagerly awaiting to send them all to the fiery depths of hell where true demons belonged.

That kind and goofy boy resembled more of a demon than anyone else at the very moment. Those red slitted eyes only knew hatred.

"Y-You! You killed him!"

Zabuza grunted, his free hand now grasping at his stomach where the first deep blow of this entire fight had been made. Trickling beads of red escaped the cracks of ice patching the wound.

"I did. That boy was in my way and refused to back down. So, I killed him. Because that's the ninja way."

"Nee-san...I saw you. You were going to cut right through him just so you could hurt Kakashi-sensei! You were going to kill your own friend just because you could!"

"Nee-san? Ah, Haku. What of it? He's nothing more than my tool; I do what I want with him. He's served his purpose well and locked in my enemy. To achieve my mission, he would have to die. That's the ninja way."

The burning mass of orange chakra exploded. Zabuza scowled in frustration as that living vengeful flame rushed straight at him.

He swung wide to separate the baby devil's stomach from his waist- Naruto rolled over the sharp edge and lashed out with a clawed swipe he barely evaded.

Flipping through the necessary signs, Zabuza fired a blunt torrent of water at the livid beast- Naruto merely stood still, the great bullet of moisture sizzling and evaporating into hot vapor upon hitting his burning chakra cloaked form.

Several kunai and shuriken were unleashed to tear the wild brat apart- Naruto roared, the sheer volume and force of the sound hitting those deadly tools like a wall and sent them flying back like shrapnel.

Attack after attacks were thrown between the two. Scratches now marred the surface of Zabuza's Kubikiribocho as those gouging claws were constantly batted aside amid the exchange of attacks. To his annoyance, he found himself backing up.

As if he was cornered.

"Get use to it, brat."

With a deflecting spin of his cleaver to steer those rapid kicks aside, Zabuza leered back at those hateful red eyes.

"The world is cruel. Unfair. Ugly. Evil. And tragic! To get by and achieve your mission, your ambitions! You have to kill! Enemy? Friend? No matter who is in your way, if it gets you ahead to your goal, kill them! That's the ninja way! That should have been day one- ingrained into your very soul! Or has the great and mighty winner of the Shinobi War, Konohagakure no Sato, truly grown so pitifully soft!?"

Claws and blade became a flurry of constant slashing. Zabuza felt insulted to find several of those burning claws cutting up his body. To his astonishment, the large gash he landed on the boys chest seemed to sizzle and seal up right before his eyes.

Was his enemy even human anymore?

"He wanted to understand you."

Midst the rage, the vile fire, the seething all consuming hatred, quivering words of a crying child fell out in the slashing mayhem.

"Back then, he said he wanted to understand you. He said he caught a glimpse of you; not the Demon of The Bloody Mist, not the monster who slaughtered his own class to graduate, and not a legendary swordsman of Mizu no Sato! Even though you were trying to kill him, he felt as if he could have been able to understand you and maybe even find a chance to save you too! Unlike the rest of us, he didn't see demons!"

The bellowing roar escaping his throat was like a maelstrom of destructive force shattering the pavement to bits. That howling rush of whipping wind struck against Zabuza and threatened to send him flying. He had no choice but to stab his cleaver deep into the bridge to pin himself to the ground. Tiny cuts opened his face from the shock wave.

"So, why did such a person have to be beaten up, cut up, and killed?! What about Nee-san?! He treated me like I was a friend and ate with us with a pretty smile! I don't understand why he's hurt so badly but he spoke about you so highly! He said that if you fight for someone precious to you, you'll become strong! His face lit up so brightly when he thought about that precious person to him! Even if he's a guy, he looked like a pure maiden! So, why is he so bloody and wearing such an accepting smile?! W-Why were you going to kill him? When all Haku wanted was to protect and fight for such a lousy bastard who wouldn't even hesitate to raise his sword to split him apart!?"

"Because they're weak."

Such an insulting remark was said incredibly low beneath the roaring winds.

"Only the strong survive such a miserable world—empathy, kindness- useless. A true shinobi, a powerful shinobi, can only survive by abandoning such childish ideals. It's use and be used. Haku may have been talented and possessed a powerful kekkei genkai but his soft heart made him weak; to be used. That friend of yours was the same; for all his strength and grit, he was used by others to save them. If they'd been strong, if they'd abandoned their weak beliefs, then perhaps they would have survived."

"Is that all you have to say for yourself?!"

Tearing waves of dicing shock waves were unleashed by a tearing swipe. Those chakra blades cut along the bridge straight for Zabuza like charging bulls. Muscles bulging to their limits, the bloody demon countered with slash of equal strength. Shrieking could be heard as the metal of his most prized weapon fought to break through the sharp force.

Tiny cracks began to mar the black steel.

Like an explosion, wind and kinetic energy blew up as those chakra blades lost their stability. Zabuza grunted as smoke wafted from his sore body.

"Am I...a-am I going to turn out like you too? Are you even human…?"

Zabuza grew silent.

Those hate filled red eyes belonging to the baby demon began to quiver and shine with unshed tears. For whatever the reason, he found he couldn't mock those eyes now.

"Haku loved you."

CRACK!

He blood reeking man grunted deeply.

"He never talked about having his own dream. He only went on believing he could become strong if it meant he could help that precious person. His face brightened up so much, it felt like it would burn my eyes. He was willing to give up his life, to be cut down right there! J-Just so he could feel useful? Was he really nothing more than a tool to be used up and tossed aside? And you...y-you...don't y-you feel anything at all?"

CRACK!

Raging chakra continued to leak out of the burning whiskered child. Those fiery streaks whipped about in a frenzy and carved grooves into the bridge with reckless abandonment. A symbol of murder and destruction burned viciously.

Yet the streak of clear liquid running down the face of that naive demon's face refused to be burned to nothing.

"Touma-nii-san wanted to fight you because he wasn't sure he could understand you any other way. I feel as if it he could, he would have tried to save you too. He probably would have wanted to laugh with you too if he had the chance. A-All he wanted to do was help b-because he didn't see a reason not to. He probably had his own personal dream, one he would have done anything for too. But instead of thinking about only himself and what he wanted...he chose to fight even if it meant he would lose his dream. That's...THAT'S WEAK TO YOU?!"

CRACK!

A twitch was felt an a cold, dark, numb place no one could see. Not even the likes of the legendary Sharingan could catch such a minuscule movement.

"(Sniff) (Sob) That's not f-fair. Do they both have to die without ever getting the chance to achieve or find their own dream just because someone powerful like you says they're weak? That's too s-sad. W-Why do I-I have to become s-someone as strong as y-you in order to achieve my own dreaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"

The wail of a newborn beast cried out to the gray heavens above as his very being burned alive.

Specks of blood and flesh were peeled off his skin. An odd coloration began to tint the chakra cloaking his body. Bit by bit. Those hateful red eyes began to sink deeper and deeper into the territory of blood red.

CRACK!

Soundless cracks were made.

Where did they originate from?

Was it from the baby demon who continued drowning in the hate and sorrow of an fair world?

Or was it from the silent blood-stained demon with a shadowed expression on his shivering mask?

Vengeful claws clicked and stretched to fan out to better tear apart their enemy.

Cracked forged steel was leveled steadily to run through their enemy.

A change was about to fall upon those figures regarded as demons by the world. One to shed the last shred of humanity clinging to their aching souls.

"I'll kill you."

Those words were echoed back in a terrifying synchronicity.

A foul curse was spoken and a single step was made.

[-]

"That's enough."

He didn't need to walk straight. Stumbling forward was fine too. Everything was beginning to blur back there but his eyes had still seen it. The shitty play developing just a few feet away was enough to sharpen his senses and clear the world back up.

He remembered weathered old hands pressing down hard on his chest. CPR. Had his heart given out for a bit? Thank god for the bridge builder having some knowledge on how to deal with an unresponsive idiot who had gone into shock.

Someone had been speaking to him. His hearing was still in the process of booting back up, so he couldn't make out whatever the fretting worried faced old man was saying to him or the tense faced raven haired boy had said. All he could remember was standing up, patting the head of the startled young boy with the freaky red-eyes, and walking forward.

His right arm, once dangling by the seams of torn-up muscles like rotting flesh, was stretched out. He made a fist. The buzzing had fallen silent. Without anyone noticing, all the damage on the limb had disappeared as if it was never there.

"...-mijou?!"

"K..-jou-k..-n?!"

He saw several large breeds of dogs biting down on Haku and an clot of frozen blood locking the soft spoken shinobi's hand with Kakashi. Imagine Breaker felt surprisingly light as he shattered the red ice and touched the puzzled dogs. Why he felt the desire to, he wasn't sure. But those brutal bear traps were dispelled into smoke, so they must have been supernatural or supported by something supernatural.

He kept walking ahead, eyes focused on the two figures constantly clashing back and forth.

Angry orange-red.

Seething. Lashing. Wicked. Devilish.

A beacon of concentrated wrath was consuming a goofy grinning boy.

All it took to reject such a scene was a pat on that snarling boy. Imagine Breaker did its magic.

The false illusion threatening to replace Naruto was shattered to pieces. The orange chakra leaking out came apart and crumbled so easily. Whatever that was, or how powerful it was, didn't matter. Was it similar to Otohime?

Just a touch would destroy it.

Ocean blue eyes flickered back to life. Naruto stumbled back a bit, wearily blinking a strange sense of fatigue as he gasped. It felt like he had been dunked under a pool of water and pulled out just before he drowned. Sweat dripped down his face as he held his tear streaked face. From the corner of his eyes, he saw him.

Bloody, cut up, bruised and leaning at a weird angle, but alive.

Kamijou Touma had returned to the battlefield.

"T-Touma-nii-san…?"

"Stand back, Uzumaki-san. I'm not finished with this dumb ass just yet. I still need to punch his face and force him to taste the dirt."

"...Heh. I'm not even surprised, ya damn monster. I should have cut your head off, chopped up your limbs, minced your organs, crushed your eyes, and set whatever remains on fire to be sure. Seriously, why can't you just die already?"

Zabuza's words sounded heavy. As if it was a struggle to speak. Was that exhaustion setting in? Was he reaching his limit too?

Red painted everything around them. It stained the heavily damaged road. It splattered on the broken remains of various construction material and tools. No one on the bridge was free of its colors, not even Tazuna who had blood speckled on his clothing. The deep scent of blood permeated the world and would make a normal person gag on their knees.

The toll of the long battle was setting in on everyone. Even The Demon of The Bloody Mists was noticeably worn out. His breathing was labored and his eyes twitched. Even lifting Kubikiribocho was taking a considerable amount of effort.

Even still.

A wide slash of that broad cleaver fell upon Touma.

CLANG!

Touma felt his knees buckle as he blocked the giant blade with his jitte. Physics demanded such a tiny blunt tool should not have held. He should have found the weapon snapping and his left arm torn off.

"Can't swing that kitchen knife with all your might anymore, can you? (Pant!) (Pant!) Do you even have the strength to move it back?"

Zabuza grunted between breaths. No matter how much he demanded it, his muscles wouldn't listen. At this point, he could only lean against Kubikiribocho and grind both his weight and its weight to break through the stubborn jitte.

"I told you...I'll kill you. I won't stop. I can't stop! I refuse to give up on my goal just because of the corpses I have to pile up to reach it!"

"Because that's the way you were taught? Because that was what was required for a demon like you to be born in the world?! A mound of bodies!"

"Weak. Weak. Weak. Weak. Weak. Weak! Your beliefs are fucking weak! You're nothing more than a shitty gear for those who don't have the strength to fight back on their own! A disposable cog designed to be used!"

"So what?! I'd rather be used to save people rather than kill for the likes of a piece of shit like Gato!"

"Die!"

"Give up!"

"Just hit the ground already!"

"Just hit the ground already!"

Neither Touma nor Zabuza showed signs of surrendering. They would not budge an inch. Like always those violent brutes could only see the path ahead by breaking through the person standing in their way.

There was no telling how long this fight would go on. When it would end. Who would give out first? Right now, even as they heard their comrades rushing over to them, all they could see in this gray world tainted with blood was the person they desired nothing more than to attack.

"Tch. I should have known it would be too good to be true. Fuck off. Zabuza-san, if you had told me you were blowing me off to maim that damned brat, I would have readily forgiven you. This changes things. After all…"

The sound of a whistling object cutting through the thick atmosphere sent chills down Touma's spine.

He grunted underneath the weight of Zabuza's sword, kicked the tall man's knees, and pushed the stunned man off to the side. Instinct told him to move or die.

Once again, Kyofu's gift saved his life. He angled the nearly yard-long jitte at just the right position to shield his chest as the unknown object struck. Pointed steel slipped between the hook of the blunt weapon and slipped an inch to his chest. But even as Touma held back a scream of pain, the spear went no further.

"I want that little shit dead too."

The spear fell to the road with a clatter. Touma held his further bloodied chest and glared weakly at the person who threw the deadly weapon.

Or more specifically at the person who had commanded the attack.

"Gato."

A cane was stamped down on the scarred and broken cement road. A smug grin was found on the short man with shades. His fancy dark suit contrasted the battlefield; well pressed and cleaned among the dirt and blood. Standing behind the well-groomed man was an army of cruel-faced men: thieves, killers, criminals, ex-ninja, mercenaries, and street thugs.

Gato's eyes twinkled in sadistic amusement as he stared down the snarling beast. He held his left hand up to signal the bald-shaven thug to not attack.

"Ka-...Kamijou? Yes, I remember. How could I forget? You look the same as when we first met: bloody and beaten down like a mangy stray. My, it seems I'm really lucky today. All the annoying pests gnawing on my possessions are all gathered right in front of me to slaughter!"

On the ground, Zabuza sneered at the short billionaire. Before he could get back up, he found a soft hand lifting him up, taking him by surprise. A familiar cool chill was felt on his sweating body.

Haku, wounded as he was, found the strength to lift his master over his shoulder and glare furiously at their employer.

"Gato, what is this? Were you aiming to run through Zabuza-sama as well?!"

Gato stared at the pretty-faced boy oddly. As if pondering the question. With a shake of his head, the wealthy businessman laughed.

"No, no, Haku-kun! With Zabuza's skill, I truly thought he would have been able to evade the attack. Hell, I thought he would have joined in and ensured the spear skewered the troublesome brat. How was I supposed to know the infamous legendary swordsman of the Bloody Mist was struggling to even stand?"

Behind those dark shades, the greedy orbs of Nami no Kuni's plunderer seemed to almost sneer back as his grin widened.

"But to think things have turned out like this. Pitiful. Than again...I can see why. That damned little monster is responsible for the downfall of one of my favorite strongholds. He escaped death. Unlike that retard of a champion before him, he actually won a game over me. So, I can forgive you: once."

Spears.

Katanas.

Pitchforks.

Hammers.

Garden sheers.

Knives.

Staffs.

Knuckle dusters.

Scythes.

All manner of deadly weapons were gestured by the large mass of eager and vicious men at Gato's back. Standing at the last few feet connecting to the mainland and the rest of the world were those who had donned demonic masks to pillage a nation for the sheer thrill and excitement.

Touma grit his teeth at the number bearing down on them all. Forty? Fifty? He couldn't guess a correct estimate to tack onto the force Gato commanded with such confidence.

Unfiltered malice seeped out of the open grin of that short demon lord.

"I know better than to underestimate such a hero. That's why I'll do what I want too. With all my resources, I'll crush that damned symbol beneath my heel. I'm done waiting around. It's time to take what's rightfully mine and cull the last of those retards who have stubbornly refused to beg for their shitty lives."

"Are you saying I can't do the job and kill one measly old man?" Zabuza hissed with his hand clenching Kubikiribocho.

"I wouldn't say that, Zabuza. In fact, here."

A spear, a kunai, a blade, a bolt was expected.

What Zabuza caught in his sore hand was too soft to ever be utilized as a weapon. A colorful wad of Ryo was tossed his way: his payment. Just by the weight alone, he could tell the full payment for his mission was now in his hand.

Confusion painted the demon's face.

"What is this?"

"One-fourth of your payment."

"O-One-forth!?"

"200,000 Ryo. Hmm? What's with that look? Ah, right!" Gato snapped his fingers mockingly with a small chuckle, "The original mission's reward was 100,000 Ryo. It must seem like a bonus."

Wariness demanded Zabuza to shut up and let it die there. To pocket the Ryo. He had his money. Even if he had no idea what was going on anymore or what he was being led to do, he couldn't help but lick his lips anxiously.

"Zabuza-sama…"

"What do you mean original mission?"

"Did you not get my message? What happened to your radio? Did you lose it by any chance? How terrible. Why, I'm talking about a change of plans, my hard-working friend! See, I've come to realize that Tazuna is a weakly old man; I can get anyone to cut his head off. In fact, it would be an insult to sick you on such a useless old man. No, there's a far better and pricier target for your blade."

Dread set in on all those opposite of the demon lord's back. His dark gaze, amused gaze met those stubborn dark blue refusing to so much as kneel.

"800,000 Ryo."

Those words were spoken in a sticky voice dripping with avarice and evil.

The demon lord whispered into Momochi Zabuza's ear.

"Kill Kamijou Touma. Focus all your might on cutting down that one boy and you'll be rewarded a daimyo's piggy bank to fund your next coup. Forget about everyone else. Slaughter the people's newest champion and symbol in whatever manner you like; I don't care. Just save me his head so I can use it as a personal footrest when everything is said and done."

Zabuza couldn't speak. The number alone had shut down his thoughts and left him unable to think of anything else but the six-figure quadruple that he was originally promised. What was there to say?

Kill the bridge builder.

For his ambition, he would kill an innocent and courageous man.

Kill Kamijou Touma.

...For his ambition, he would kill the brave child who tried to understand him.

Nothing had changed but his target.

The wad of heavy Ryo notes was pocketed. It was difficult but Zabuza lifted Kubikiribocho as he always did. Beneath his injured frame, he felt shivers.

"Haku…"

"Hai...Zabuza-sama."

As always, Haku gave Zabuza a sweet and innocent smile. Even though he was colored in red and seemed so frail. Even though he had told his master to kill him because he was no longer useful. Even though he was unsuited for this line of work and continued to shave down his own heart. Even though he had made friends with their enemy behind his back.

Even though he clearly didn't want to fight those boys, to kill anyone.

Haku tried to stand on his own feet now that Zabuza had mustered the strength to do so on his own.

And he crumbled to the cold, unforgiving road with a wet splat.

"Haku!"

"P-Please, Zabuza-sama. I know...I can't fight on my own. I can't stand. But. BUT! Please...until my heart gives out and my blood runs dry...please allow me to fight beside you. I-I don't want to be tossed aside just yet!"

Those pale white fingers dirtied with blood clutched onto Zabuza's ankle. Like a needy dog begging their master to take them with them. Tears gathered into those dark hazel eyes, unfit for the mask of a shinobi.

It was a pitiful sight. Disgraceful. Behind Zabuza's back, he could picture Gato spitting to the side with a grimace and even heard jeers from the ugly-faced army at his beck and call.

CRACK!

800,000 Ryo.

Enough to immediately start building up his forces, hire men, stockpile supplies, buy weapons, with the built-up Ryo he had already saved. It was no longer a dream but a reality he could reach with his own hands.

"Is it really worth it?"

Kubikiribocho creaked and groaned in Zabuza's grasp. He could feel those dark blue eyes staring him down with frustration. Not just the dark spiky boy but Kakashi, Naruto, the Uchiha boy, and Tazuna. All he could feel were those insufferable eyes judging his every move.

"You're Haku's only precious person. I'll fight you. I don't give a shit if you want to kill me just so you could fill your pocket to fund whatever dream you can't let go of. It can just be you and me, beating each other into lumps of red oozing flesh for all I care! But don't you fucking dare drag Haku any further into hell wit-!"

"SHUT UP!"

A normally soft spoken voice shouted into the air. And though Haku was too weak and wounded to turn his head back to glare furiously at the stunned Touma, he still spoke such blistering words as if he were right in front of him.

Anger was found in those words yet Touma couldn't help but picture tears swimming down that gentle face.

"I was broken. Unwanted by those who had loved me. Yet Zabuza-sama saved me from dying without purpose. I belong to him. I am his tool. Nothing more than an object to be used to its fullest until I crumble. Even as I am now...I can still be of use. The strength I've attained still has its uses. So, don't deny me my purpose in serving the one I love with everything I have! I'll fucking kill you if you ever get in my way of being useful for the man who gave me strength to live on!"

"B-But Haku...Nee-san…"

A crying Naruto stared at the broken gentle boy as he tried to lift himself up. It was too sad a sight to witness and it made him sob.

Haku inclined his head, the tears refusing to shut off as he smiled solemnly in acceptance.

"If this were a different world, if we had met at a different time, if things had been different...I would have loved to be someone precious to you too. I'd like...I-I'd like it if you two were my friends."

CRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

'A-Ah...it hurts.'

Drip.

Light was extinguished from the dark orbs of a demon who reeked of gore and steel. The shivering in his body had stopped. He could no longer hear his own heart. The voices in his head were executed.

Drip.

Powerful fingers took hold of the back of Haku's neck. They showed no care in the gentle boy's state and pulled him up like he were a sack of bricks. With a grunt, he threw the light sack of bloody meat over his shoulder.

Drip.

"Hehehehehahahahahahahahahahah. You really are a useful tool. Ah, I picked up something incredibly useful~!"

"...Momochi-san."

"You can be my shield then! Soak up whatever damage is thrown at my back and be useful! You can still use chakra, can't you?! Then cover me with ninjutsu! Right. That's right! I took you out of the gutter so I could use you to fulfill my dream! I don't give a shit about your opinion or how much you cry! You're my tool. Mine to use until your last breath! Hehehehehahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!"

Drip.

Haku smiled a beautiful smile even as he was draped over a devil's shoulder like a piece of equipment. His arms circled the wickedly grinning monster's neck like he was hugging him.

Happiness, a sugary sweet, childish, happiness was found on his pale face.

Touma fought not to cry.

He stepped forward towards the wicked cackling demon.

Drip.

Small as it was, the single broken tears slipping out of the blind idiot's eye wasn't an illusion. Was Zabuza even aware that he was crying? Or had the bit of humanity left in his chest been broken?

"Hatake-san, please: let me fight him. Don't get in my way. Those two are my opponents and no one else's!"

Kakashi shook his head, eyes frustrated as he looked away from the unhinged Demon of the Bloody Mist to demon lord and his army.

"I'm not sure you'll be given a choice. I count sixty armed men and a ship docked close by with even more men. I'm confident in my skills to deal with them all on my own but I'm not exactly in top shape either. No matter how you look at it, we're at a loss. It is better if we retreat!"

Touma wanted to yell back and refuse. All he felt like doing was rushing at the tragic figures continuing to bleed themselves with such miserable faces.

But there was truth in Kakashi's words. Gato held over sixty-plus pawns in his hand. As if the short piece of shit would sit by and let things play out fairly. A flood of deadly weaponry would crash down upon them in a surf of metal. But running away wasn't an option. Not when the village behind them was already under siege. If they retreated now, they would only be leading Gato's demons into the burning homes of Nami's people.

What was the right move? What were they supposed to do?!

"Damn it! Is retreating the only option we have?!"

"DON'T RETREAT!"

Gato's eyes grew wide as a dark object flew past Touma's head and aimed itself at him. The short billionaire ducked low just before the iron dart could hit him, the sharp tip of the shot slipping into the knee of an unsuspecting thug. He ignored the howl of pain from his pawn and looked back at the bastard who took a shot at him.

His words were caught in his throat. His molars groaned.

"Another brat?!"

Naruto glanced back and felt his mouth drop open wide.

"N-No way!"

Even Kakashi was gobsmacked at the sight appearing from the opposite end of the bridge. His Sharingan saw no illusion. Beside him, he could see Sasuke rubbing his newly awakened Sharingan to see if he was seeing things.

He was just as shocked at first too but an odd smile made its way to Touma's lips. He shut his eyes and sighed like a proud father who had just seen his son take his first steps. No doubt...the man in heaven watching from above was wearing the same face.

Yet it was Tazuna, of all people, who felt the most speechless. His eyes quivered. His hands trembled. His legs shook. It felt like he couldn't breathe.

"I-Inari? Tsunami? E-Everyone…?!"

Marching footsteps were heard originating from the once-burning village. Men and women. Young and old. Experienced and inexperienced. Courageous and fearful. Strong and weak.

The people of Nami no Kuni's village had arrived to take the stage. At the head of that ignited army arming themselves with all manner of weaponry were four figures.

An eight-year-old wearing a cooking pot over his head like a makeshift helmet led the charge with a wooden crossbow. At his side stood a twenty-nine-year-old widowed mother with a cooking cleaver in her hand. And standing on either side of those two were a disgraced ronin who appeared more like a street thug, and a dark-skinned kunoichi from Kumogakure. Standing close to Tsunami was another figure, one who stepped out into the open at the sight of Touma.

Otohime was wide-eyed with a strange mix of concern and anger at the ugly state Touma was in. Her sharp teeth were revealed as if she were fighting back the urge to tear something apart in large bites.

Tazuna felt like he was going to cry. What he was seeing now was nothing but a fantasy he had long given up on. He had to clench his eyes shut as tightly as he could to stop the tears. Still, he found himself hiccuping and cleaning his wet face at the people who had shown up at their desperate hour.

'Are you seeing this, Kaiza-kun?'

They were late. So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so late. It took them forever to finally make it.

But he was so happy to see those late characters arrive on the stage!

Touma had to look away from all the lights shining down on those bright figures. He relaxed his shoulders for a moment.

And narrowed his eyes in determination.

"I thought I told you to protect them? That you were safer back behind the stage."

A cynical boy- no, a brave boy loaded his crossbow and took aim. Straight ahead at his enemy. The men and woman behind him readied their weapons too as Gato's army twitched.

"I'm done running away and letting the people I care about die. If it means a lot to me, fight with your all to protect it. That's what you both said to me, right? Well, I'm not the only one who feels that way!"

The voices of those brave characters were raised and shouted out loud.

"Don't take another step! Or do! Kami-sama knows I've been itching to break all your bones as you did to mine!"

"This is our home, you pieces of shit! You wanna step in than pay up a toll; an ass-kicking toll!"

"If you want to die, go ahead and step forward!"

"We're done cowering to a bunch of thugs and thieves! If you value your lives, get the fuck out of our island!"

"Don't think we won't beat you all into a pulp. I've been itching to pay you scumbags back for all the crap you've put my family through!"

"I've lost my wife to you monsters! So, I'll have you lose everything too!"

"We failed to stand up with Kaiza-san back then. Not again- never again! Today, we fight for our nation with all our might!"

Stepping up on either side of Inari, Kyofu and Zori held their weapons ready to add their own strength to the militia.

Lightning was channeled into Kyofu's jitte, adding more power to the blunt tool as she gave a frightening smirk to the cowering mercenaries.

Zori steeled his gaze with a small cold grin, hand gripped tightly on his katana's handle to deliver slashes that could reach long distances in seconds that would cut the thugs apart.

Without understanding how she was doing it, Otohime felt her lean and skinny body's muscles expand and the water molecules in the air swim around her like surging tides.

The last of Tazuna's tears were dried. He knelt down. His weathered hands found an iron mallet used to break through rock. It was designed to build a better future for his people. To help create the foundation each and every citizen of Nami no Kuni could utilize to seek a better tomorrow for their loved ones.

What better future could there be than the road they stood on now though?

Another character took a step into the scene ready to begin.

[-]

Are you satisfied?

It took a long time to arrive here, didn't it?

But now those main characters have shown up and found the courage to play their part.

It's been a tragic story. The Main Character lost his life and was unable to inspire a revolution. The chapters that went by were anything but happy or kind.

Right now though, none of the past matters. This long story has gone on long enough. It's time to put an end to this story of individual waves. The stage is set, all the characters are accounted for, and the climax is now at its peak.

Before the heavens and their gods, let's put on a show worthy of all the years of suffering.

[-]

"...(Sniff) Oh, my! Such a sweet soul. A tool of death, possessing no dream, who's as sharp yet delicate as ice."

"Of course, you would favor the child considering their magic. Or chakra nature, was it? Do they even align with your sense of justice?"

"Of course, you lousy death god. To ignore such a beautiful soul would be an injustice, after all. Just look at the smile, at the love in his heart, and the devotion to a demon who better fits your ideals."

Yes. Before the heavens.

Before their gods.

Someone smiled from a place far away. They set aside their large wooden mug of mead, their snow pale hand grasping at thin air as a cold chill was seen around their fingers.

The gears of the world were beginning to shift in a new direction. The boring old prophesied rails had been bent with the introduction of new characters who should never have even seen an appearance past one passage. And those unique and bizarre figures were witnessing it all play out as they lounged about while their own gears adjusted to the system.

CLINK!

They felt it all at once.

It wasn't a perfect fit. They could all feel those pieces struggling to turn. But the gears had fallen in place and were now beginning to turn. The calibration was complete.

And what perfect timing.

"Shall we see how well our reach goes? Such a story deserves a touch of magic, don't you think? When humans are left with no options, and no hope, isn't it common for them to pray? You caught the silent plea, right? I wouldn't be a god of justice if I shrugged my shoulders and left them to die without fighting with- what was it the humans said? If it means a lot to you, fight with your all to protect it?"

Pale blue lips smiled coyly as they saw a stage far away.

"Hmm, I see you too, our failed Sheath. Please, show me an ending befitting your delicious sense of justice. Show me something romantic."

And answered a silent prayer.

[-]

"Hehehehehehehehehehehehahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahageheheheheheheahahaha!"

In the middle of the two sides stood a single demon.

A demon who had sold his soul long ago.

To achieve a failed dream, no matter how many times he failed, at whatever cost. One born in the corpses of children he had once shared dreams with and laughed with. The sole survivor of a class of boys and girls who had each wanted to become strong for their village and become a famous ninja.

Graduation.

To become a shinobi, kill those who share the same dream. Leave no one behind. Kill your heart and you shall become strong.

A naive and fearful child had listened to those words as he found his friends turning their weapons on him too. The door was locked. Only one person was allowed to leave.

Momochi Zabuza had survived. He killed all his friends. Was it because he was strong? Was he lucky?

To this day, he never found an answer he liked.

The frail arms wrapped around his neck felt cold. He saw his breath come out in puffs of chilly white. The tool on his back was soothing the aches and hot flashes of pain from his various wounds. It felt as if a protective winter chill was summoned to cool him off.

Use and be used.

That was the way of this ugly and deceitful world responsible for a demon like him being born.

Because he was strong, he would use the child blessed with ice in his veins as a weapon to achieve his dream. He would use that child who was unfit for the life of a shinobi to kill the stubborn boy with a strange hand who wanted to stop them both from descending further into hell.

He couldn't hear that annoying crack in his chest any longer. Only a frigid cold.

"The bridge builder doesn't matter. The villagers don't matter. The Konohagakure shinobi don't matter. Gato doesn't matter. Not even this lousy bridge we stand atop matters. The only thing that matters is my dream; your death. Even if I have to destroy everything- I'll kill you and everything that gets in my damn way!"

Kubikiribocho was lifted high up with its tip aimed for the dark gray sky.

An immense pressure began to exude from the empty-faced demon.

Like an alien dye had fallen from above to stain the clear water, something colored the world.

Flakes of soft ice began to swirl around Zabuza. Bands of dense ice formed on his forearms. The moist concrete underneath his foot was frozen solid like a mirror. The roll of bandages covering his lower face began to unravel, loosen, and fly about like tendrils dying a ghostly see-through pale blue. The blood on his face moved up to his forehead, curving up to resemble horns, and froze. His every breath released a hiss of frost that swam around him like coils of mist before swirling around his neck. Misty beads adorned his neck with a single large crystal tomoe bead found in the middle of the beads.

Something had changed. A new development had befallen him. And the boy embracing him from behind felt like he was slipping away the more he held this euphoric energy.

"What's going on?"

"Shit! W-Why's it so cold all of sudden!"

"Zabuza, what do you think you're doing, you idiot?!"

"This energy...it's not chakra? What am I seeing?"

Only one person felt he had an idea of what was going on. He felt a familiar chill running down his back as his right hand twitched.

"Don't tell me…!"

The cleaving blade was covered in patches of hard ice. Dark metal was swallowed by a pale blue frost. And with a great roar, the demon's horn was slammed down onto the concrete bridge with the crack of thunder.

Reinforced concrete was obliterated. Chunks of rock were sprayed out as the crater grew in width and swallowed everything in the collapse to the sea below.

"Fall back!"

"Shit! Don't fall in!"

"Move, move, move!"

Everyone ran to escape the crawling fissures eating Tazuna's bridge. Except for one.

"Kamijou-san!"

"Touma-nii-san!"

Touma shielded his face from the spray of small and large rocks pelting his body. His squinting eyes caught the ocean waves below his falling form. From this height, it would be no different than if he were falling onto a hard road. Bones would break.

Salty waves cracked and froze solid. Before Zabuza and Haku even landed on the currents, their very presence had instantly frozen a large portion of the sea. From the mainland to the neighboring land, the surface of the sea was transformed into a reflective mirror of clear ice.

Water or ice, landing was still going to hurt like a bitch. Times like this he was kinda thankful for all the experience he had gained through his many misadventures in the science and magic world back home. Biting down on his teeth, the high school tucked his body in and rolled just as he met the chilly sea floor.

He heard a definite crack.

"Fuck!"

Stopping his roll, Touma ignored the way his left leg's muscles quivered and the dull pain on his calf. Now wasn't the time to be focusing on his wounds. If he did, he would have passed out again. A good thing to note: it was so cold that most of his bleeding wounds had closed up again.

Concerning but oh, well.

His right hand touched the incredibly hard and dense floor. Nothing was negated. Had the entire surface of the sea actually frozen solid because of he cold pressure Zabuza and Haku were exuding? Could Chakra do that without a trigger?

What a stupid thing to even ask.

The cold wind's howling from the two shinobi didn't feel anything like the odd pressure Shinobi gave off. It was like they were trapped within a mini snow storm, the visible chilling winds swirling like propeller blades as they descended. Their natures had changed.

With a puff of his breathe, Touma pushed himself up on his feet just as a swirling frozen meteor struck the frozen sea. A blast of cold air rushed out in every direction like shock waves. He had to brace for the cold sharp buffet that nearly knocked him back.

Cracks splintered off from the point of impact. Protruding spires of ice were kicked up at the center. With a pale-faced Haku thrown over his back like a piece of protective gear, Momochi Zabuza stabbed Kubikiribocho deep into the ice like a stake and glared down at the frowning spiky boy.

He no longer resembled a mere demon.

The whirling maelstrom of frost twitched. A ghastly and cruel mask was found in the cold force exuding the white-eyed shinobi who had cast aside his humanity. Blood lust, killer intent, morphed into a gigantic visible face that raged over Zabuza's body like an evil spirit. The face grinned wickedly, bearing all its teeth as its eyes glowed an odd red-purple light and sent a crashing wave of cold wind to nearly knock Touma off his feet again.

At the moment, Touma was reminded of a certain figure in Buddhist and Shinto mythology. Surely, if the likes of Index or Othinus were to seek the haunting mask glaring down at him with such malice, they'd know it too.

Kijin.

A Fierce God.

"800,000."

Air crinkled like plastic being crushed. Tiny beads of water were seen floating all around the new battlefield and began to converge into groups of flat boards. Mirrors, shining with the reflection of the newborn great demon spread all about to cage them in a dome like prison where only those three could be seen in the world.

Touma had no way of knowing it but the technique being utilized was the ultimate trump card hidden in the shadows of Haku's sleeve.

Demonic Ice Mirror Prison.

The greatest ability to compliment Haku's Ice nature had never once been used when facing Touma. Instead of those mirrors, he had decided to utilize a smaller scale version of his prized technique. The far too kind boy had understood his powerful card could be easily destroyed by that right hand. Or perhaps...it hadn't been revealed as a small sign of not wanting to completely slaughter the boy he wished to have befriended.

The ice below Zabuza's feet shimmered. Like water, his feet sank into the hard reflective surface like an illusion. As if his mass vanished, his entire body fell away into the cold floor.

Touma tensed as the deadly shinobi disappeared. Reflections of the awakened ice god could be seen on the mirror of every sheet of ice caging them in.

"800,000...I can attain it...if you just die...for 800,000…"

A sharp and long metal fin slipped out of the ice floor. And like the ultimate predator of the sea, that long fin raced across the ice straight at the spiky teen. Cold sharp metal threatened to bisect their prey like a log.

Touma dove out of the way of the blitzing edge. Like an actual shark's fin, Kubikiribocho turned around to continue its hunt.

"Damn it!"

Imagine Breaker was useless. Against a weapon not bound, supported, fueled, or created by supernatural means, it could only bleed. The sharp metal fin continued to race after him in several patterns. From back and forth, left, right, ziz-zag, curves, and figure eights. Were it not for the freezing temperature, he'd be sweating to the point his clothes would be soaked through as he dodged.

Seeing as his attack was doing no damage, the demonic shark surfaced with a roar.

Touma leaped back as Kubikiribocho slashed up and seemed to climb the very air in a straight line. Zabuza and Haku held onto the soaring blade as it kept climbing higher and higher.

Straight into a glistening mirror of ice.

The pair of cold demons sank into the mirror and reflected back down at the frustrated Touma. From Zabuza's back, Haku moved. His movements were stiff, reminding Touma of a puppet rather than a living boy as he fanned his left hand out. Water gathered between his fingers and froze solid to form needles as long a yard stick. Those no longer resembled medical needles but rather thin spears.

The next attack didn't come from one direction.

Various mirrors gleamed, serving as the only warning to what would follow next.

Like spears, salvo after salvo were fired out from the demonic reflections. Spines of clear death whistled a solemn tone.

'Don't pay attention to the numbers! Keep moving and just let your instincts do all the work!'

Touma spun past three ice spears, shattered one aimed for his head, leaned back and dropped onto his back to avoid two spears criss-crossing in trajectory, and rolled several feet to the side as five of the long ice needles stabbed into the floor. Whatever attacks missed sank into the reflective ice like water, were recycled, and changed direction as the mirrors adjusted their aim.

It was like he was dodging bouncing laser beams. If he stopped moving for even a second, those reflective spears would skewer him. A few of those long spears nearly hit their mark as Touma found the sharp tips tearing through his skin.

The next volley was destroyed with a few swipes of Imagine Breaker even at the cost of suffering a spear piercing through the side of his waist.

"Ghrk!"

Shakily, Touma had no choice but to risk a heavily bleeding wound with a top of his right hand on the spear. He couldn't be weighted down even a bit. Fortunately or not, the rush of blood from the removal of the plug froze over.

A shadow fell over him. With a sharp breath, Touma stepped far back to avoid the falling slash from the enraged ice demon god. Unlike before, Zabuza did not sink into the mirror surface. He chose instead to lash out with a heavy high kick towards Touma's face.

Touma threw up his forearms to absorb the blow. He was sent sliding back with a crack of bone from the frozen cast foot.

A sense of foreboding stuck him like a bolt of lightning as he saw Zabuza ruthlessly stab Kubikiribocho into the floor.

Death. Instant death.

Below his feet, he caught the reflection of a demon's horn ready to run him through. Without even thinking about it, Touma slammed the palm of his right hand at the glistening mirror of death.

Spider web patterned cracks split the illusion. Deep fissures were released like an earthquake's vibrations and sent large jagged chunks of ice flying from the center of the punch. The nullification of the attack caused Kubikiribocho to be rejected as if it had found its tip bounced back by an even greater force.

Zabuza's right arm was wrenched back with a sickening crack.

So, Imagine Breaker could break the ice below? No, it didn't show any kind of reaction previously. Than maybe it could only break the supernatural effect of the dimensional mirror technique when it was activating?

Five of the caging mirrors detached themselves from the cramped cluster closing them off from the world. Touma caught the faint sounds of battle waging above their heads. He didn't have the luxury to be worrying about anyone but himself now as those five frosted over mirrors began circling the three like drones.

Bruised fingers twitched but clenched tight as a coat of frost kept Zabuza's grip deathly tight. With the wraps of his face bandages flapping behind him like tendrils, he charged straight at Touma with a roar. He swung his cleaver down in a wide diagonal sweep, missing as Touma ducked and rolled forward beneath the sharp board of steel. Though he missed, the ice demon found himself walking into one of the five mirrors.

From the mirror above Touma, Zabuza's reflection was angled to send him shooting down like a meteor. Touma struggled to evade the incredibly fast attack; a large gash tore into his shoulder. It didn't end there as the moment Zabuza hit the floor, one of the mirrors slipped by and hide him into the demonic ice.

Touma huffed as he clasped at the freezing wound. His eyes followed after the mirrors, watching as they shuffled around around him like a deck of cards on a board.

"800,000…"

The bloody demon rasped as he rushed out from a mirror on Touma's left. He lunged with a stabbing motion like he was driving in a lance.

"Is that all you can say or think about?"

He evaded with a timed turn, clenched his fist, and smashed his knuckles into the mirror the swordsman had been launched from. Like a hammer to a panel of glass, the ice shattered to pieces. He could already tell the demon slipped away into another reflection.

Those four chilling mirrors spun around Touma, circling him in a small cage. All the while, the rasping demon and the silent boy on his back stared him down like cursed spirits.

"For my dream...I will use whatever is at my disposal...used or be used...that is the shinobi way…"

Cold steel and chilling spear lunged out from the circling mirrors. It was like they were stabbing fish in a barrel.

Touma weaved between dodging Kubikiribocho and smashing the frozen spears with Imagine Breaker.

"And what is your dream? What's so worthwhile for such a powerful shinobi like you to toss aside your own honor and pride, force the far-too-kind boy who's been by your side to kill his own heart, to bow your head and kill for a piece of shit like Gato?! What's the reason for the desperation I saw in your eyes that time?!"

"…"

Between the broken ice, the stabbing cleaver, and the charging swings, Touma caught it.

"...I wanted to overthrow Mizukage Sandaime: the leader of the Mizugakure no Sato. The bastard responsible for the system of shinobi that designed a bloodthirsty demon like me."

The Demon of The Bloody Mist was absent. The Fierce God was muzzled.

The human, Momochi Zabuza, had spoken up for once in their long battle.

"Long ago, I tried. I built up a small army, I stock-piled supplies, I found whoever I could who shared my cause, and fought my hardest to assassinate that piece of shit. And I failed. Those who stood by me either fell in battle, disappeared, or abandoned the fight. I should have succeeded back then but it was as if someone had seen through my plans from the start. In the end, I had no choice: I ran away. I was labeled a traitor to my own nation, branded a wanted nin worth a small fortune in the Bingo Book, and found myself with nothing to my name but the blade on my back. And yet, I refused to give up. I couldn't."

"Why? Why would you even try to kill the leader of your own home?"

"Because he created me. Your right hand, your ability- aren't you the same as Haku."

"?"

"A survivor of those bloodied massacres. The genocide of inheritors to kekkei genkais; of fouled demonic blood. Such atrocities were ordered by that unfeeling and cold figure who resided in an even deeper level of hell than a devil like myself. Man, woman, child- all were slaughtered for merely being born with a unique supernatural ability that the likes of the Uchiha could never hope to replicate with their own special power. Propaganda was spread out by his people and soldiers, painting those with special inherited gifts as monsters, as the cause of all the strife in our nation, as tainted humans, as a disease meant to be weeded out. We no longer resembled people of the water but people of bloodshed. This was but one of his acts as Mizukage."

Blood spurted from a slash of three spears wielded like claws by the silent Haku along Touma's left forearm.

"The Academy Graduation- only the strongest were allowed and the weaker boys and girls were killed. My generation had created thirty shinobi and kunoichi; over 100 children were culled- seven were chosen for the next generation of The Seven Swords."

A mallet of water was launched from a mirror on Touma's right. The extremely cold temperature instantly froze it. Water was shaped like a familiar comet, its very shadow engulfing the spiky teen. With a swipe of his hand, Touma shattered the gigantic wrecking ball to pieces.

"The Ninja Draft. No matter your desire, your dreams, your talent, all children at the age of 5 years old were to be enlisted into the academy to build up Mizugakure's forces. The civilian population could not escape the culling. If you were not of a noble house or government trade, you were forced to die trying to become a soldier. Because of such an act, the population of the village fell into the low hundreds."

Tiny needles of ice began to rain down from above from the glistening mirrors caging them in. Like a downpour of heavy rain, those piercing drops crashed down onto Touma. He threw his right hand up, spread all five of his fingers as wide as possible, and met the rain of death with a twisted grimace. The crashing roar of needles reminded him of a crashing waterfall. Thanks to the destructive nature of Imagine Breaker, the curtain of negation he had formed saved him from a nasty death.

"High taxes. Strict and cruel punishments. Enslavement of no-name clans. Corruption. What was freedom? What were dreams? Used or be used. That was what it meant to survive in such a nation reeking of solely blood. If you lived in Mizugakure, you were strong: a tool. If you were weak, you were a corpse."

Several more mirrors were destroyed by countering punches. Touma panted heavily as he leaned past an upward swing that would have split his face in two. More and more of those reflective panels broke away from the cage, seeking to protect Zabuza and Haku in a cold world behind reflections. The pattern of attacks kept changing up. As if the newly empowered Zabuza and Haku were experimenting with what they could do with the strange and foreign energy.

Buzzsaws of madly revolving ice-shaped Kubikiribocho were sent rolling down.

Serpent-like ice dragons soared through the mirrors and coiled about the air to strike their prey down.

Panels of ice slammed together to crush the shivering spiky-teen like a tomato.

Spears of ice were reflected back and forth like ping-pong balls.

Blasts of cold wind were fired by a batting Kubikiribocho's broadside.

Not a hand sign was ever made. A special phrase to cement its power wasn't needed. Those two shinobi did not need 'triggers' for their techniques. They could fire away with just the intention. All they required in order to form unique attacks was their imagination.

But the fuel for such terrifying attacks had to come with a price. Just as ninjutsu required chakra, the strange energy they were utilizing came with a cost.

Touma saw it. As he held his palm up to shield himself from a rushing dragon striking him with the force of a firefighter's hose, he saw what the cost of such a power came.

Cracks marred the left side of Haku's peacefully smiling face. The boy's eyes were glazed. As if he were stuck in some sweet dream. Faint puffs could be seen escaping his cracked lips.

Was that even a boy anymore? Or had the friendly and gentle boy who ate with Touma and Naruto been replaced with some crumbling porcelain doll?

That magical power didn't come naturally. Someone's life force was being forcefully transmuted by unknown means in great quantities to the point that someone's very life was being emptied like a powerful battery.

Touma ducked his head to avoid a steel cleaver and smashed his fist into the ice copy following behind.

"You wanted to save your village from a tyrant. That's your ambition: as a champion or a demon, you merely want to stop the tragedy, the despair, the suffering, the misfortune, that led someone like you to don the skin and horns of a heartless demon."

Such a desire wasn't wrong. How the fuck could you call it evil? Had those two met long ago, talked, bared their hearts to one another, and shared their dreams, maybe...maybe they could have fought side by side.

Momochi Zabuza's ambition could be called justice. It wasn't any different than Tazuna's.

"You fucking idiiiiiiiiiiiooooooooooooooooooooottttttttttt!"

From deep within that empathetic heart roared a rejection of that heartfelt ambition.

The next attack wasn't evaded. He wouldn't dodge it.

Sucking in a deep breath to pack his lungs and chest tightly, Touma threw back his left hand, tensed those ignored muscles and tendons, and continued to roar and met that great cleaver with his jitte. A deep vibration traveled down his entire arm. Bones creaked and groaned.

But Touma, a high school boy who lacked the athletic build of athletes or Skill-Outs, held back the heavy cleaver with his ordinary strength. Such a thing shouldn't have been possible.

Proving a certain budding thought correct: that great and mighty godly power hadn't healed a damn thing. The cannon had frozen and resembled glass. Meaning he could win this despite it all. He could make out the 'fierce god's' core was quivering from a deep blow to his abdomen.

"Can't you see?! What you're fighting for! What the people of Nami no Kuni are fighting for? Aren't they the same ambition?! Shouldn't you be up there too?!"

High above the now open cage of ice mirrors, another battle was raging and flashed across the countless chilling screens like monitors.

[-]

It all began with a furious cry.

"Ryu-sama!"

A certain angered guppy felt her emotions spike with the loss of her savior. She found her hands moving, flipping through a motion of signs she had no knowledge of ever learning. The churning waters gathered around her were sucked in, molded, and released with a fearsome roar.

It was far too great to call a bullet or a blast.

What erupted out of Otohime's small mouth was a surging tide of highly pressurized water blasting forward in a straight line. The rushing waves tore through the concrete like a shovel and smashed through whatever was unlucky to be caught in its way.

"Shit!"

"Damn it, brat! D-Don't fire that thing when we're so close by!"

"Otohime-chan, what the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!?"

Panic was heard as even those standing on Otohime's side were nearly caught up in the riptide like pull following behind the constant surging waves. Had it not been for Kakashi and Kyofu's intuition, a few of the citizens would have probably caught in the stream as those trained ninjas pushed them back.

Gato's army wasn't so fortunate.

Screams were heard. Grown men were swept up and drowned. Bones were broken. And in one move, a good 10 to 15 men were taken out by a little shark girl.

Gato shivered as he found himself doused in freezing water. Several of his men had stood in the line of fire and taken a great brunt of the fierce water surge. The large muscle-bodied man in front of him who had to weigh a good 300 pounds of muscle collapsed forward without even a groan.

The short billionaire sneered down at the spent piece.

"Is that all? Fucking worthless. The rest of you! Stop gawking and earn your keep! Kill whoever, torture whoever, fuck whoever! Just lay everything across this shitty bridge to waste!"

With a thick clack of his cane on the water-drenched bridge, the remaining tools at Gato's disposal charged forward. Planks of wood were thrown down over the large gaping hole by several men. Those with great athletic ability or use of chakra leaped over the hazard. Nothing would get in their way of ravaging the land they were promised.

A light bolt was fired towards the first thug who grinned as he crossed the hole. That thug flinched and stumbled back before a polished black kunai stuck his forehead like a nail.

Kakashi spun another kunai in his left hand and readied the deadly knife. He stared ahead, speaking out loud to his two students close by.

"Our mission has not changed in the slightest. The bridge builder, Tazuna, is to be protected at all cost. So, go all-out: fight to your heart's content to defend the country's hope and beat down the enemy with every dirty trick the academy has taught you."

Naruto grinned savagely as he tightened his headband.

Sasuke scoffed as his onyx eyes flickered into a wicked red decorated with one spinning tomoe.

"Fuck yeah!"

"Like I would hold back now!"

Those three shinobi found their steps accompanied by countless others. They were not alone. One step forward was mimicked by those who had grown tired of being mere props to someone else's story.

"Don't let a single one back on the mainland!"

"Let's show them that Nami no Kuni's people will no longer bow and cower!"

"Get the fuck out of our homes!"

"No more running!"

"For Kaiza-san!"

The roar of the spark ignited in the hearts of those brave heroes clashed with the howls of wild demons.

Weapons clashed against weapons. Bodies smashed into bodies. Roars and howls collided with one another. Blood was shed. Civilians and demons met on the battlefield and struck each other with whatever they could grasp.

A man decorated with several sharp weapons meant to strike fear in the scared villagers found himself pierced by sharpened poles and nailed down.

A pack of spiky-blond knuckleheads rained down knuckles onto several ax-wielding brutes.

A scarred ronin wielding two katanas was blinded by a pocketful of dirt and taken out by a metal skillet to the head.

A group of five bandits was burned alive by a giant fireball spewing out of a red-eyed raven-haired boy.

An old man and an old woman beat down a young street thug wielding a sharp knife with just their canes and began to berate him.

Sharp-edged crab taps designed as disks tore through the soft skin of whatever thug was in their way.

No more cowering. There was no great, charismatic, and strong-faced champion to shield them from harm anymore. Those who have taken the stage now found themselves a part of the story again and refused to move out of the spotlight no matter how harsh it was.

"Duck!"

"Tch! Who do you think you're talking to, kid?"

A hammer-wielding bandit found a sharp bolt digging into his forearm as he prepared to smash it down on his prey.

Zori clicked his tongue. A silver-blue flash was seen. The straight line skimming over the grimacing hammer-wielding thug vanished and a great spray of blood was seen as those bulky arms were severed.

"Fucking little brat!"

The disgraced ronin slammed his sheath back like a piston. He heard a deep thunk as the butt slammed into the solar plexus of the pissed-off bandit charging at them or more specifically, Inari.

"Hit the legs."

"Don't tell me what to do, asshole!"

"Ya wanna live long enough to make sure I keep living with this guilt, right? Then listen, brat, and maybe you'll get to scare off the shinigami leaning down both our shoulders."

With a spin, Zori cut the throat of the yelling bandit clutching his shot thigh. He didn't need to see the small boy beneath him nod.

An unlikely pair found themselves back to back.

Inari and Zori stood behind one another among the crowd of villagers and Gato's army. Bolt after bolt was fired from the teeth chattering eight-year-old. Slash after slash was delivered by the scowling punk ronin. Neither knew how they found themselves fighting alongside the other and neither bothered to care.

Due to Inari's inexperience, those hastily fired crossbow bolts failed to do any lethal damage. But they were enough to stun the enemy, allowing Zori to swoop in and deal the finishing blow. Long-range, mid-range, and short-range were covered by the two who disliked the other yet chose to protect the others back in the heat of battle.

"Inari!"

"The kid's in safe hands, you stay-at-home wife! Now's not the time to be looking away!"

Tsunami found herself being yanked back by the collar of her shirt. Just in time to avoid the long-fingered grasp of a very thin thug. The man's yellow teeth grinned perversely at her, his tongue flicking over his lips as he held a rusty knife in his hand.

"Aw, don't worry, sweetie~! I just want a nibble. J-Just a little taste of that sweet milky bre-!"

BAM!

"...Damn. I think you dented his forehead. By the way: why are you using a frying pan, of all things, instead of the meat cleaver? Stop being a cliché."

With a huff, Tsunami swiped her trusty cooking tool to rid it of the specks of blood. At her feet was the yellow-teethed thug, his face smashed in with an obvious dent in his skull. Kyofu couldn't help but whistle in awe while tossing back several shurikens into the charging bandits close behind.

"The cleaver has seen some wear and I rather not have to use it unless I have to. I've had it since before Inari was born. My skillet, on the other hand, is made of some very tough metal that Tou-san had made. I can even block a knife."

"...You're not cooking with it after all this; are you?" Kyofu muttered dryly as she shattered a large-bellied bandit's kneecap with a kick.

A ringing gong was heard as Tsunami took advantage of the kneeling fat man's groaning and smashed the top of his head with said cooking instrument. He went down with a gurgle.

"So long as it doesn't break, why not?"

A clot of orange bounced around the battlefield. Thanks to Naruto's Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, he could move about the bridge and help protect, support, and save as many villagers as he could. Of those villagers, one stood out to him the most.

"Huff, huff, huff!"

"Come on, ya drunken old geezer! My Hokage is, like, a hundred years old and he could probably kick everyone's assess here! Throw your back into it!"

"Ahhhhh, my back!"

"Yeah! Just like that! Show them your war cry!"

A teary-eyed Tazuna held back the urge to smash his hammer into the laughing spiky-blond boy leaping all around him. Those were clones, right? Fakes? So, it wouldn't be so bad if he bashed a few of them for poking fun at this poor old man?!

"It's the bridge builder! Do you know how much his head is worth!?"

"Oh, man! I'll be drowning in booze and woman up until I'm a boney old man!"

"Screw that! Ya see that daughter of his? Oh, I can just picture her down on her knees and suc-!"

Whatever was spewing out of that widely grinning tattooed-faced bastard's face was cut off by a savage swing of a mallet. Teeth were obliterated and the man's jaw was shattered.

Tazuna ignored the splat of blood on his face. Carefully, he fixed his glasses and lifted the heavy mallet designed to crush boulders and nail in metal spikes to rest on his shoulder. The old man's eyes glared darkly at the stunned 'demons' as he stepped onto the face of the weakly groaning man at his feet.

"You monsters want to kill me? Fine. You want to destroy my bridge? Fine. I don't- no. This nation doesn't need it anymore. But if you so much as dare, to ever! Touch my family again...I'll kill you. I'll pound your miserable bodies into mush, mix you into the cement mix, and use you as the building blocks for the people of this nation to step on."

The bridge builder swung his mallet at the cost of his body creaking and snapping. He charged straight into the flinching bandits with a roar, all while a happily grinning Naruto watched on with pride.

'Now you're looking cool, old man!'

A wicked red-eye rapidly flicked about the bridge, inspecting all the enemies in his sight.

Everything seemed to move slowly to him. Everything was clearer. Tiny movements were caught and he found himself moving automatically to counter whatever action he found harmful.

This was power. The power to kill his enemy. To avenge his family. Another step closer to hunting down that damned shadow.

"Kyah!"

So, why was he wasting such an incredible gift on such small fry?

Sasuke caught the falling sickles with his kunai, protecting the young woman who was in the way. Faster than the grizzled man, who appeared to have once been a shinobi, could react, the Uchiha prodigy delivered a quick series of jabs into the man's sternum.

The man's eyes rolled to the back of his head before he collapsed backward. It was too easy now.

"Thank you."

He glanced back at the young woman. From the looks of it, she was another civilian. Someone unfit for this kind of stage. The brushing hammer in her hands seemed to weigh her down more than protect her. She looked better suited to be picking or selling flowers rather than fighting.

He scoffed at the weakling.

"You should leave. This isn't your place; you'll only get yourself killed."

"No, I refuse. Not after they took everything from me. Not after he saved me."

The collapsed man at Sasuke's feet coughed. His fingers twitched as he groaned and tried to get back up.

Before Sasuke could finish him off, the large brushing hammer in the flower woman's two-handed grip was slammed down. An ugly squelch was heard. Blood gushed out and stained the clothes of the young woman as she lifted the blood-stained hammer off.

Sasuke saw it. Her arms were trembling and her lips were quivering.

In her eyes, though was a vengeful fire he knew all too well.

"These fuckers killed my family. Right in front of my eyes! They beat me up, touched me, violated me, and laughed at me like some beaten dog! And you expect me to run away? Never again. That...that boy saved me from that ugly hell. And even though he didn't want me to dirty my hands that time, I can't go back."

Strength was found in that shivering flower woman's words. She swung her hammer wide in a circle, smashing the thugs who had sneaked in without Sasuke's notice. He silently cursed at how easily he got distracted.

The young woman cleaned the blood off her face. She accepted the stains on her. Because she could no longer return to being the naive and ignorant girl who had stood by as her family was slaughtered in front of her and she was abused so foully.

"I'll avenge them. I'll become stronger. For that kind boy who saved me...I'll become the kind of woman he doesn't have to protect or worry about while being so mangled ever again!"

"...Hn."

Five shurikens were fired at the ground around the flower woman. Those deadly disks bounced off the concrete like super balls and struck the bodies of three bandits nearing that weak woman. This time, she did not thank him and instead chose to strike down the stunned bastards with vicious swings that tugged her body around.

An odd tug was felt on Sasuke's lips as he continued fighting, keeping close to that weak woman who was fighting so strongly. Was he...smiling?

Shio the Crab Fisherman found himself sweating as he was backed to the remains of a crane by two bandits wielding knuckledusters. He held only one razor-threaded trap in his right hand- his left tightly clamped over his dangling left arm. It had been broken.

"Not so tough now, pops?"

"Hey, I recognize you! You're the mother fucker who gouged out Nori's eyes! Ohohoh! He may be dead but I'll make that dumb asses corpse grin as I pluck out your eyes!"

Shio smiled grimly in the face of those cackling demons. Seemed he had run out of luck. At the very least though, his family had escaped the village. And when they returned, it would be to a home free of demons.

Even if it meant he would be buried there.

The two bandits froze perfectly still. Blood trickled down their lips as their puzzled expression spoke of not knowing why they were hurt.

Black tips pierced out from their backs.

"Hah...hah...hah! What...the hell's happening? I pass out...for a few minutes...and everything's gone to shit? W-Where's Kakashi-sensei? Naruto? Sasuke-kun?"

As those bandits fell forward with kunai stabbed into their backs, piercing their livers, Shio found a long head of pink hair standing behind the dead men. He recognized her as one of the young Konohagakure ninjas; the one frequently seen guarding Tazuna around town.

She did not look good. Her skin was deathly pale. Her long pink hair was split and fell around her face. And worst of all, her right hand, heavily bandaged, was leaking red syrup. Blood dripped down her dangling arm, signaling how damaged it was, so the young kunoichi must have used her left hand. She swayed on her feet, emerald green eyes staring at the bridge as a whole as nothing but fighting was caught in her sight.

She sighed in frustration as she brushed aside her long locks from her face.

"I guess I can't rely on them right now. I still have a mission to accomplish: protect Tazuna. Um, mister? Do you mind showing me where that drunk old man might be?"

Shio couldn't help but bark with laughter at the young girl. Close to his eldest daughter's age and here she was. In no shape to fight but gritting her teeth like the rest of them. The world of shinobi truly was harsh.

"You look like you only got one arm to use, kiddo. Me too." he motioned to his dangling left, smiling through the pained grimace on his sweating face, "So, how about we fight together and look for that overworked old man? Two hands are better than one."

Fighting with a wounded civilian wasn't the best option, and Sakura wasn't sure such a scenario had ever played out in her textbooks.

"Lead the way."

She stepped forward with the older man who only wielded a cage designed for capturing crabs as a weapon. Men, no different than those monsters who had been packed in Sector-D, were running amok on Tazuna's symbol of hope. Even if she was wounded and could only fight with one arm right now, she wouldn't run away or hide behind someone stronger either.

Textbooks? Perfect scores?

Such useless achievements meant shit outside her small world. It was time to stop relying on what she had learned through worksheets, lesson plans, and textbooks, and start getting dirty like all those blinding main characters hogging the spotlight.

Unfolding now was the change long sought by one man. The rebellion desired with all his heart even as he was sentenced to death in front of his beloved family. Courage now surged from hearts long gone silent and accepting of this lousy misery.

Once upon a time, Nami no Kuni had a champion.

Now, countless champions strove forward with a roar in their sparked hearts.

It had taken a long time. Far too long. Too many lives had been lost. People could have been saved and tears could have been stopped.

Who cares?

Does it matter how long the scene took to play? When everyone was fighting so passionately, with vigor, with hope, with an undeniable flare racing through their veins, what did what if or should haves matter?

You're here now. Doesn't matter how long it took for you to be here, how you got here, why you're here, or if you should be here: all that matters is that you're here.

A seasoned shinobi stared at the great scene of courage with a sense of envy.

"Hah, all those blinding characters are taking all the good parts. Casualties on our part are extremely low, so that's good. But how is a shinobi like myself going to be of any use when all those fierce men and woman are hogging the spotlight and throwing out all those rowdy intruders?"

The kidney.

"Grk!"

The intestines.

"Gggggrrraaaahh!"

Eyes then throat.

"Uuugggghhhhhaaa!"

The spine.

The Achilles.

The heart.

The spleen.

Lungs.

Brain.

Body after body fell behind Kakashi as he strolled the battlefield. The kunai in his hand was soaked in blood. There was no fighting him, not at his level. He wasn't a genin or a civilian. Ninjutsu wasn't even required. Killing was a boring chore for him. He could aim for those instant kills or dragged death points with ease.

It was like he was an invisible reaper. Passing through and casting death on those who were unlucky to graze him.

He had to admit: those spineless villagers were doing good. The enemy wasn't well trained or gifted but they had intimidation and numbers on their side. Enough of those lowly grunts were being taken down by the villagers to ease the toll on Kakashi's sore shoulders. He didn't need to overexert himself or waste any chakra, allowing him a chance to actually breathe. Even if his body had taken several heavy hits and he he lost a good amount of blood, he could feel his once dwindling chakra reserves charging back up.

At the corner of his one eye, he noticed a rope bridge attached to the bridge's incomplete end. It lead to a rather decently sized ship where more of Gato's men were scurrying to join the fight.

Black steel was spun fiercely like a wheel. A unique piece of paper could be found attached to the kunai hole. With a simple flick of the wrist, the puny steel blade was fired at the deck of the ship. A thunk was heard.

And then the boom.

A plume of hot smoke and searing flames popped up on the wooden ship, taking out several men carrying over what appeared to be explosives too. Upon being struck by a spray of fire, those explosives detonated and began to tear apart the ship. The rope bridge fell away with the flames, sending those screaming 'demons' falling straight into the hard ice with splats.

There was no effort really put into it. Unlike his battle with Momochi Zabuza, Kakashi's life wasn't at risk. Even with his wounds flaring up and the loss of blood, he could still keep going against these weaklings with ease. Because the people of Nami no Kuni

'Now, where is he?'

He wasn't simply walking around without purpose. Kakashi found the stage crowded so he decided to take a special role himself. He didn't need his Sharingan activated to search for his true target.

Among all those bandits, thieves, criminals, mercenaries, ronin, and ex-shinobi, he found a rather dense clump of those men packed together like barricades. Kakashi couldn't help but smile.

"Found you~!"

Several men noticed him and charged in with fierce yells as he approached the clump of scary men.

There wasn't any need for Kakashi to counter. Several villagers stepped in and clashed with those thugs. Kakashi only stepped in to help with a few stabs here and there as he continued forward.

"G-Get him! Don't let him get any closer!"

Adorable. The billionaire thought he could build a wall. Had no understanding of what that meant?

"If it stands in your way- tear it down. You must understand that well, eh, Gato-san?"

Kakashi spoke to the shivering well-dressed man hidden by a large gang of tough demons. All those bunched-together men gave off a silhouette of a wriggling giant octopus gasping for air.

Three of those demons detached from the main body. They each wielded a spear, daggers, and kunai knives, and rushed Kakashi.

"You're in the way!"

"Stay down!"

Kakashi kept going, not even batting an eye as Kyofu and Tsunami beat down those three men.

A lone ex-shinobi, one whose scarred headband branded him a missing-nin of Sunagakure, dashed from the main body. His tanned fingers were a blur of motion. A deadly wind-based ninjutsu was about to be unleashed.

"Yakun: Itten- Raiko(Matching Set: Single Point- Lightning)!"

Blistering metal sparked by sheer velocity cut through the air in a single lash. To the human eye, it was as if a stray branch of lightning had severed the fingers of the missing-nin. Before that ex-Sunagakure shinobi could scream, he was knocked down by several heavy bolts to the chest and a flying chakra blade.

Kakashi kept his eyes ahead.

From left and right, two twined-faced, seven-foot-tall, bulked muscled thugs rushed at Kakashi with just their bare fists. They grinned darkly as the glinting metal along their knuckles revealed hooked knuckle dusters to both bludgeon and tear up their prey.

Those twin meat heads found the color red exploding from their mouths as they found the cold shinobi run both his hands through their chests. Their chests felt like they were crushed.

"Mugen: Sokushi(Demonic Illusion: Instant Death)!"

The death blows crumbled away as soon as it came, causing those two thugs to gasp heavily and stumble. A trick of the senses; an illusion. The sudden genjutsu left them wide open for the fiercely grinning crab fisherman to swing his good hand at them with his trap and a flower-picking woman to break their faces with her brush hammer.

Off to the side, Kakashi noticed Sakura panting and sweating heavily. Her right arm was bloody and twitching abnormally as she relaxed her hands from forming the D-class genjutsu. But still, as concerned as he was for his precious student, he kept moving.

More and more of the squirming human wall broke off and attacked. Whatever mercenaries were close by were commanded to charge at the lone gray-haired shinobi casually spinning a single kunai in his free hand.

"Just where do you think you're going!?"

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu(Fire Release: Phoenix Fire Sage Technique)!"

Orange-colored missiles were launched into the demons. A rain of fireballs followed them, striking the enemy down alongside hard knuckles. A grinning Naruto leaped from thug to thug, smashing his fists and foot into whoever got in his way. In the midst, Sasuke worked on sniping Gato's men with well-aimed throws of his kunai and shuriken, mixing a few scattershot of his fire jutsus to clear away their numbers.

All around Kakashi, those main characters were beating down their aggressors with everything they had. He did not need to step in to save them. Everyone on this stage could fight with their all without some popular character taking charge.

In all the fighting, he did notice the lack of one important character. But knowing her, she was surely focused on playing her own individual part that mattered most to her.

The distance between his target had shrunk considerably. The squirming human body silhouette of a beached squid had been cut down to leave only three dark-suited men guarding a furious-faced Gato. Was this all that was left? How sad.

Kakashi narrowed his one good eye at the flinching suited bodyguards.

"What's it going to be?"

Only one of those men made the smart choice to run away.

"K-Kill him!"

Before those sweating guards could reach for a weapon, Kakashi had already stepped past them and loomed over the frightened Gato. Like a scarecrow, his tall body went on to cast a terrifying shadow that seemed to swallow the wealthy man.

The two guards choked, their windpipes broken by two lightning-fast strikes to the sides of their necks. Their bones were broken and their windpipes were bent. They fell to the ground with hard thuds.

The menacing red eye of the Sharingan wasn't needed. Kakashi alone was intimidating enough to cause Gato to stumble back and hit the railing of the bridge. The short man was grinding his teeth in both frustration and fear as the shadow continued to capture him in its darkness.

"5-5-50,000! If you leave me be, I-I'll give you 50,000 Ryo!" Gato stammered with a confident grin.

"Hm, tempting, tempting." Kakashi tapped his chin in thought with his dripping-wet kunai. His act caused Gato to breathe easily and regain his composure. "But you already have a very powerful shinobi under your employ, who you're paying more than 10 times the amount you're offering for just your life. Are we haggling, Gato-san?"

"T-That shitty demon? Fine! You can have his share! I wasn't even planning on paying him! Hell, the wad of Ryo I tossed him was some counterfeit bills I hand out to the lowest of low under my employ! I was going to have him killed even if he accomplished his mission, so you can reap the benefits! You can even become my new right-hand man!"

Kakashi had half a mind to choke out the blabbering piggy bank now.

Use or be used.

It was men like Gato who had created such a tragic figure as Momochi Zabuza and Haku in this unkind world. Had things been different…

The kunai seeping with red was pocketed. Gato began to grin more smugly as he fixed his tie. The billionaire couldn't help but laugh in satisfaction.

"Sorry, but I'll have to decline."

That confident grin cracked. Gato's eye twitched.

"What?!"

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, shutting his good eye as he stepped aside. Befitting his ever-lax and disinterested facade, he showed a lack of care for what was being offered like it had never even piqued his curiosity.

Someone stepped forward with a large step.

Someone who made the greedy Gato grow pale and snarl like a pissed-off dog.

"You see, I've already been hired by the leading character in this story to protect him. While not much, the village of Konohagakure no Sato has accepted the job. If you want us to come to your aid, you must send in a request to our Hokage and offer a reasonable price for protection from even one of our soldiers. Unfortunately for me, my employer has strictly told me I was hired to merely protect him; not rescue him. He said it best himself:"

Stepping up onto the front stage, with a far too bright and intense light cast on him, was a certain old man. A bridge builder. An architect. A father. A grandfather. A neighbor. A friend. A symbol.

"You…!"

Tazuna The Bridge Builder wore an ugly grin aimed at the red-faced seething Gato. The industrial hammer in his hand was dropped with a clack. His weathered hands were balled tight and cracked.

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask as he introduced the main character of the nation.

"Even a weary old man can get off his ass and knock the teeth off of the demon lord's face."

A thousand- no, a billion words must have come to mind. The fever of emotions buzzing in Tazuna's mind was enough to drive him mad. If he didn't calm down, he was sure he would have a heart attack.

In the end, Tazuna nailed his mouth shut.

Words weren't needed anymore.

The bridge wasn't needed anymore.

Neither Tazuna nor Gato were needed anymore.

Only action was needed to see a brighter and sweeter tomorrow in the morning.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

With a great roar from his youthful heart, Tazuna ran with a hard fist and swung back.

Gato spat to the side and swung his cane as that old man ran to him. No one was there to defend him, so he would have to beat the pathetic geezer to death himself.

No one intervened. All roles were taken and being played out, leaving those two figureheads to duke it out without anyone stepping over their lines or tripping their feet.

Hard oak slammed into the side of Tazuna's temple. Skin was split and a large burst of blood swam down the left side of his face. Even if one of his eyes was blinded by red, he still caught it.

A silver glint in the tiny demon lord's right hand.

To defend against the pocket knife slipping out of Gato's long sleeve, Tazuna opened up his left hand and caught the blade in his palm. He grunted deeply as the metal sunk into his flesh and pierced out the back of his hand. To Gato's disbelief though, he clenched that pierced hand over the billionaire's hand and crushed his small hand like a bear trap.

There was no escaping this.

Tazuna felt every muscle in his weathered old body come to life and howl. His heart pounded into his eardrums. The world came to a stop and the only thing he could see was the squirming little man who had stolen his nation's- his family's- future.

"T-Tazuna-san! W-Wait jus-!"

A powerful underhanded hook drilled into the underside of that babbling billionaire. Teeth were broken and flew out of Gato's bloody mouth as his smaller body was sent flying up high into the air.

And over the edge of the bridge.

Tazuna didn't bother to see off that sniveling loser as he cleaned the blood from his face with the backhand of the very fist he had knocked the false lord off his bridge. He clenched his eyes shut and fought the hot pressure building behind his eyes.

This was not victory.

Not yet.

"Kaiza-kun...I'm sorry it took this old bastard so long to do something so easy. Please...watch over this nation one last time, my dear son. We've all still got plenty of fighting to do!"

He turned his back to the edge of the bridge. Gato no longer mattered. That shitty demon lord's throne would be crushed now. Whatever remained of his army would be sent over the bridge with him. It was time for the real work to be done.

'Guess it's all up to you now, Kamijou.'

Kakashi saw Tazuna join back into the fighting. Gato's men were falling with each minute and it would only be a matter of time before the last of those demons was put down. The great force threatened to raze Nami no Kuni to cinders was no more.

All that was left one last obstacle. One far more powerful and wild than Gato.

Metal platting was lifted to reveal a wicked red eye. Off the edge of the bridge, Kakashi turned his gaze to the final battle playing out below them. He shivered lightly as tiny ice crystals floated up by some powerful gust whipping from the two clashing figures dancing about on a field of hard ice.

Sheets of ominous clear ice could be seen floating in the air. Those freezing sheets reflected Kakashi's own image back at him. And not just him. Flickers of the many battles transpiring on the bridge could be seen playing on those mirrors like tv screens.

Was that intentional?

"Just what exactly is happening down there?" he couldn't help but mutter with a narrowed gaze.

What he was seeing didn't look anything like a battle between shinobi.

A moment later, the gray sky glittered and gleamed like a mirror.

[-]

Zabuza saw them.

The bridge. The people. Gato's army. The fighting.

Through the haze of hot white consuming his mind, he caught the shattered images of a nation oppressed by a tyrant rising and fighting with their all to protect what mattered most to them. Everywhere he looked, he found those floating projectors displaying the battle above from multiple angles.

Flashes of those fed up with this miserable world, of its unfair system, of the one who stood at the top and allowed their world to fall into such a bloody state...

Such an eyesore. A fucking blinding eyesore.

He'd seen such scenes before. And like his time on such a stage, they would fail. Just like he had had.

The damn stubborn boy standing across from him saw it too. Those scenes playing out to them didn't bring a smile to his face. Frustration continued to build to the point he looked ready to tear his hair out.

"Had you come across Tazuna instead; would you have helped him? If you heard his story instead of hearing a price, would you have joined his cause? Heh, what am I saying? Of course, you would have."

The empty space in that fierce god's chest was rattled.

The heavy wave of slashing ice sent Touma's way was easily shattered. Those bold dark blue eyes continued to stab deep into Zabuza's now exposed soul.

"They're just like you. Only they aren't trading their humanity to attain their goals. They chose the hard route instead of a shortcut through hell. Instead of finding yourself getting into some stupid fight with a violent idiot, you could be up there and playing the part of the strong and tough-as-nails champion. That kind of scene...I think it fits you far better than your shitty role as a bloody demon."

The fierce white light consuming Zabuza's eyes suddenly burned brighter than the sun.

Those words hooked at something he had believed had been killed. He felt something was being reeled out like a gasping fish. Something soft and vulnerable was at threat of being dragged out.

C…..CCCCCRRRRRREEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKSSSSSSSHHHHHH!

The fierce god's cage came apart. Panel after panel of chilling icea floated up high like birds seeking the clouds. It was like gazing at shards of ice coming together. An ear-scratching screech was heard as those countless mirrors crashed into each other like colliding blades. Countless mirrors bunched together to form a massive screen high above Touma and Zabuza.

Above the rebelling villagers and Gato's army. Above the bridge. The darkening heavens were momentarily blotted out by the ceiling of gleaming mirrors reminiscent of massive solar panels.

From the sky reflecting the battle for Nami no Kuni, a wicked visage was seen. The mask of a fierce and demonic god grinned down at the mortals from their seat in the darkened heavens. Those purple-red eyes grew wide like dinner plates and cracked open its massive jaw. A diamond-like glimmer peaked from the back of the darkness of that fierce god's throat.

The gleaming and frost-covered tip of a giant ice-sculptured Kubikiribocho peaked out. Its see-through tip dangled like an icicle from the fierce god's throat like a uvula. And with a musical-like chime, it began to descend like a raindrop. Shouts of panic and fear were heard. Whether you were a part of Nami no Kuni's people or Gato's men didn't matter. That massive executioner's blade fell straight down to carve whatever got in its way. Its very shadow blotted out whatever light could be seen.

A large chunk of the reinforced bridge was cut through as the ice blade glanced at the figure. Cold steel scrapped through concrete with ease.

It sought only one target.

Touma didn't look away from the enraged Zabuza and peacefully smiling Haku. To the symbol of cold death, to an attack that could easily decimate an entire village with a mere swing, he merely threw up his right hand.

He opened his fist, palm exposed, and endured the whipping wind pressure crashing down from the massive object aiming not to cut him but smash him to bits.

That massive ice buster blade's tip slammed into his right palm with a shriek. The point of contact created a howling wind in protest to the inevitable and summoned a whirling frost to stretch out like a hurricane. It felt like gravity was centered at the very tip of that godly blade. Creaks and pops were heard from his body bearing through such insane pressure stamping down on his soft body.

The Fierce God's Wrath rejected his ambitions. It threatened to smash his beliefs into a squishy paste.

Touma snarled madly at that blade; at the unseen god who had answered a prayer.

'Fuck off. I don't know what the fuck it is you brats are up to but- fuck off. This story doesn't need some high and mighty director butting in to change the script with their lousy love of dramatics! Back off before you piss me off any further!'

Great cracks spread from the point of contact until the entire body of the frigid blade was marred with deep lines. Those numerous fissures cracked further and further. Until it could no longer hold its shape.

The Fierce God's silhouette above the clouds, hidden behind a world of cold reflections, was splintered. Numerous splinters tore at the face of that wicked idol's visage until a deep crack was heard. The purple-red light in the fierce god's eyes blinked.

And shattered.

The massive ice sculpture of Kubikiribocho shattered to pieces with an echoing boom. Its countless shards fell to the world of ice below and created a rather beautiful curtain of tiny ice crystals to float down. With just one hand, that great and deadly killing blow from a fierce god was brushed aside.

To see his attack, one so great in scale that it would have been the deciding factor long ago in his first coup attempt, destroyed so easily, was maddening.

Faint cracks popped near Zabuza's ear. He ignored it. He ignored how light and frail the tool on his back was growing with each passing minute. He still wasn't finished. He wasn't done. His ambition still hadn't been grasped.

'Maybe...I could have been a part of it…'

Something whispered in the ear of the blind ambitious demon. From a place silent and dead. From the wriggling soft mass reeled out by the damn bloody-faced boy who had cast his lure.

"It's not over."

Bloody, painted in ugly patches of frozen red and black, torn apart and bruised, with nothing but will and adrenaline keeping his trembling legs up, the spiky boy smiled simply.

"Nami no Kuni's story is far from over. Gato's army is still wreaking havoc. The stage may be crowded but I think it's still missing two more main characters. They may be late but so what? Everyone else was no different. All that matters is that you make it."

Zabuza felt the inside of his skull being squeezed. The silent tool on his back shivered and hugged his shoulders tighter.

"Being used by them won't net me any worth. There's nothing to be gained by becoming their tool of salvation. It's far too late to have a change of heart."

"Who said that? Did Kami-sama descend from the heavens, sit you down, and lecture you with a stern voice that you could never turn back once you fucked up? You wanted to bring down a tyrant for your nation; for your people. You're just like them. Look at the damn mirror already, you blind idiot. From the sounds of it…"

Popping cracks caused the weight on his back to tighten its hold on Zabuza's neck. That tool's shivering grew to such intensity, that he could feel his entire body being shaken. He could feel a tightness in his neck. The pressure inside his head felt like it was threatening to expand and pop his skull.

"You wanted nothing more than to prevent another tragedy like yours that forced that sobbing child surrounded by the dead bodies of his precious friends to kill his own heart. Why else do you think Haku still has his? Because no matter how much you saw him as a tool, a means to be used, you couldn't bear to squash those brilliant bits of humanity on that happily smiling face."

"...ut ...p."

From a place no longer responsive to empathy and goodwill, a whisper was heard in the world. The heart reeled out from a cold and scarred place let out a cry like a newborn exposed to the warm and bright world.

"Just...j-just shut up."

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Clear drops of visible humanity fell from the ambitious demon. Teardrops resisted the unforgiving frozen hell and hit the cold floor.

Momochi Zabuza wept. The clearly human adult man wept even though he reeked of blood and wore the chilling sharp horns of a fierce god.

"I don't like this any more than you do. A shinobi is an emotionless tool; a means to an end. What I'm doing is only the pure and natural way of the ninja world's system. Even I can't escape it! Those who stand at the top, above even the kage, have left no room for such tools to have a say. I can't stop now. I'm far too deep in that hell to ever see anything resembling light!"

A strange and cursed hand was gestured. It shattered the flakes of ice raining down from the destruction of the false mask that tried to reject the path in front of them.

Kamijou Touma reached out to the weeping human whose festival demon mask was slipping away.

"If it's a matter of being too far deep into hell then I'll simply have to dive in and pull you both out. That's my current ambition. And I'll fight with my all to make it a reality rather than an illusion."

"...Zabuza-sama…"

Sniffling could be heard. A trembling voice spoke up with a sense of sorrowful wanting. Like a child begging their parent for a childish toy they couldn't reach.

Zabuza clenched his eyes shut. He stamped down on his teeth and felt a tooth chip. The tears streaming down his face had frozen over, leaving a streak of ice down his eyes.

A decision was made.

"...It's too late for me, ya brat."

A look of fury could be seen on Touma's face but before he could speak, Zabuza cut him off with one action.

"But perhaps you're right. I don't need to drag Haku down into hell with me."

"Wha-!"

"Zabuza-!"

A powerful hand grabbed Haku's collar. And with a deep grunt, that hand tore the porcelain-faced boy off his back like he were a leech. Zabuza showed no restraint in tossing the weak boy aside, not even flinching as Haku's body bounced across the hard ice floor.

An audible snap was heard.

An invisible connection was severed.

A visible change came over Zabuza's figure. The cold winds whipping from his body fell away. The frost-coating parts of his body crumbled. The chilling ghostly blue-white wraps flapping behind him like a robe withered. And the blood-colored horns of ice protruding from his forehead snapped off.

"Gah!"

Zabuza hacked blood from his now visible lips. All at once, his injuries gave out a powerful throb that nearly toppled him. His left hand went for his abdomen, the ice cast once protecting the deep wound now gone. Exposed red muscles and nerves were touched by the cold wind- he nearly blacked out.

Everything hurt. Whatever power was running through him was gone. Leaving him not as a demon or something greater, but the mere human shinobi, Momochi Zabuza. He had willingly cast that great and terrible power that would have allowed him to cut an entire bridge in half, even cut down a small village, aside.

"Zabuza-sama!"

On the cold floor, Haku attempted to crawl over to the oddly leaning Zabuza. The ice-nin's attempts were in vain as his body was wracked by not just his wounds but the price paid to empower Zabuza with power no shinobi was capable of. Try as in vain as he'd like, all his trembling body could do was reach a hand out to Zabuza.

From his hand, a pale ghostly blue-white light emanated. Like a line cast out to sea, it tried to reach out to his master and grant him a miraculous power no shinobi could hope to achieve.

Once again, the connection was severed. Or, perhaps, destroyed.

Haku felt a comforting hand pat his head. One touch was enough to break the irregular power offered by an unknown party no one could see.

"Touma…"

"I'll end this. So, don't worry; I'll put an end to this unfair world you're living in with one blow. We don't need another world; this one is enough for us to smile with another."

Unable to even lift a finger, Haku's body gave out.

As Touma turned back to Zabuza, he found a familiar sight waiting for him.

Kubikiribocho: The Executioner's Blade.

The large broadsword, a buster blade better fit for some fantasy game, was leveled at him. Cracks could be seen on the tough metal and chips could be found on its beaten edge. The extreme cold it had been weathering must have damaged it as well due to thermal cracking. He even found a decently sized chip on the tip of the razor-sharp blade- had a chunk of the metal been broken off?

What was it? 4? 5? 6 yards?

Was that all that was between Touma and Zabuza now?

"Is this how you want it to go?"

"This is the only way I know, Kamijou. To fight and to kill; use or be used. This is my hell. If you want to drag me out of it, if you want to save Haku, then you have to meet me there with everything you got."

"I get it."

"?"

A self-deprecating smile was worn on the blood-stained face of Kamijou Touma. The boy who seemed to be leaning on one side of his torn-up body wore an expression of grim acceptance.

"As much as I like to preach about human kindness, hope, salvation, and goodwill, this battlefield might be all I know too. Fighting has become...a norm for me. In the end, I only ever get my way when I'm punching people in the face and my body is a mangled wreck. I guess idiots like us can only ever settle our disputes with one another through stupid fights, huh?"

"...Heh, perhaps you are just another violent demon like me."

"Maybe."

An ordinary right hand squeezed into a throbbing fist. Flesh challenged metal.

"Let's make this our last attack. We'll see whether you advance further to your ambition with my head, ya lousy demon."

"And if you beat me, boy? What will be your prize?"

"Prize?"

When Zabuza stopped to think about it, everyone on this stage was fighting for a reward at the end. The Bridge Builder was fighting The Konoha shinobi were fighting for the bridge builder's well-being. The villagers were fighting for the future of their nation. Gato's army were fighting for mayhem and sadistic pleasure. Gato was fighting for the right to rule a nation. Everyone struggling at this very moment had something in mind to go as far as they did.

No one fought for nothing. Blood was spilled for even something as simple as a bite to eat.

The boy struggling to stand upright, who had been beaten around, cut up, hammered by all manner of attacks, with blood soaking his body, surely had something in mind for all his efforts.

To his question, the spiky boy merely smiled.

"Why do I need anything rewarded to me? I made a promise to several people to stop Gato; because I wanted to. The ambition I'm striving for now probably won't gain me anything either- so what? At the end of the day, when all this is over, it's perfectly fine if I'm forgotten and pushed aside. I've always fought for myself and what I want, so I don't expect to be showered with riches or praise for selfishly jamming myself into a story I don't belong in."

"You put yourself through hell...just because you wanted to?"

"When you put it like that, I guess your goal of wanting to liberate your nation from a tyrant is pretty noble, huh? Guess I'd be the villain, ha."

Zabuza's grip grew incredibly taught. The six feet standing between him and that boy never felt so far out of reach.

'Back then, you weren't lying.'

"You're right; I have nothing to gain for myself here. But just because there's no reward doesn't mean I have a reason to stand aside while you hurt others! I don't need a logical reason to kick your ass here! I wasn't ordered to protect anyone, there's no money in it for me if I've successfully beat you down, and I won't be earning any kind of medal or pride from home for doing so; this is nothing more than the selfish desires of a weak nobody who can't stand idly as blood is shed pointlessly by a hired thug!"

A deep breath was taken. Even if his body was a wreck, Zabuza tensed his muscles for the charge.

'Perhaps you are right: you're selfish. If all you do is act in the favor of your interests then you're no better a demon than myself or Gato. You're annoyingly chatty but when it comes down to it, you'll beat down whoever disagrees with you just because they won't give to your demands. You have an ugly willingness to rush straight to violence just to get what you want.'

The spiky boy standing across from him tensed his body and fell into what looked like a running start. He was telegraphing his movements right now, ditching any tricks he could possibly use to his advantage. The attack that would follow was a simple one, lacking creativity or depth. The blunt jitte he held was slipped into the waist of his ragged pants.

'You're selfish. You're a monster. An Invisible Demon with horns far more wicked than my own. So…'

Cracks were heard. Like wrinkled plastic slowly crushed. Something was shut down before it could even creak open.

All around them, the cold world created by the miraculous power once flowing through Zabuza and Haku was coming undone. The hard ice beneath their feet shivered and chilling mist swam up to their ankles. Tiny branches of white popped on the surface of the frozen sea floor, creaking and cracking as bits broke off.

The sea would return to its natural form. Nature would demand its true shape and banish the last wisp of an unnatural occurrence in the world. It would return to a land of waves.

A distinct splash was heard and went ignored as both Zabuza and Touma ran forward.

"Momochi-san, if you think the world is so miserable that it can only be changed through bloodshed…"

No tricks. No talent. No deceit.

Like that roughly grinning spiky boy rushing straight at him, Zabuza would fight with his pride and honor.

800,000 Ryo.

At the moment, the number never felt so insignificant or dismal.

Kubikiribocho was angled low, scrapping along the cracking ice like a fine razor. The blade was marred with various cracks and nicks, reflecting its wielder's own beaten state. But even with its damage it could sever beams of steel and lob limbs off with just a swipe. One slash would put an end to the fierce beast who only chose to wield a scraped fist.

"If you think people can only be used or use,"

The world fell silent to all but the rapid tapping of their feet running forward. Nothing could be seen but the enemy who refused to budge to allow them a step to their desires. The cold chill in the air obscured their visions slightly as the puff of their deep breaths slithered out as they roared.

"Or that you or Haku have to dive further into hell just so you can achieve an ending you can be satisfied with!"

Sneakers were heard skidding along the softened ice. With nothing but a naked knuckle, Kamijou Touma swung his right fist down to interrupt the rising slash of the executioner's blade.

"THEN I'LL SHATTER THAT ILLUSION TO PIECES!"

He shouldn't have known. There was no way for him to know. How could he? In all the time they had fought, never once had Zabuza utilized Kubikiribocho's unique ability to repair itself via blood.

With just a punch, one of Mizugakure's legendary Seven Swords was shattered. The supernatural blood-sucking buster sword was broken into large metal shards. One of those very shards flew past Zabuza's face and cut a nasty line along his cheek and upper ear tip.

'Not yet!'

With the loss of his deadly weapon, all Zabuza had left were his mere fists. Just like that boy. Ninjutsu would be ineffective. His body was too damaged for taijutsu. He had spent all of his kunai and shuriken while fighting on the bridge. Right now, all he had to fight with was his bloody body.

Fingers were curled to make a blunt fist.

He wouldn't give up just yet. His hell wasn't so fragile it could crumble just because he lost a tool. Demons had no need for weapons when they could use their own sharp claws! Just like that boy, he would fight his enemy with just his bloody body until it gave away to an oozing lump of red meat!

The exposed heart that was reeled out of his chest was grasped. And clenched into Zabuza's fist with all his might.

'I'll create it...a nation free of the need for demons like me. Whatever it takes! Even if I have to drag my name through the dirt, bathe in the gore of my enemy, sell my soul! I'll use my own body and soul to realize the ambition of a Mizugakure where the mist is clean of misery and despair!'

Two sets of dark-colored eyes clashed in the descending shadow of the other. With nothing but their fists those two selfish demons standing in the way of what they desired most clashed.

[-]

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Two thick clacks were heard and echoed out in the cold world of breaking ice.

Knuckles were planted deep into the face of their enemy and refused to budge.

Someone twitched. A deep pang was felt in their destroyed abdomen. That someone slumped to the side where they fell with a thud.

Blood was spat out with a hoarse wheeze as the victor cleaned their broken nose.

"This time: stay down."

Kamijou Touma stood alone in the frozen world.

[-]

Even if the extremely frigid temperatures capable of freezing the sea's salty surface rock solid were dying down, Touma was still shivering uncontrollably. He felt his teeth chatter as he picked up the heavy body of a groaning adult man over his shoulder. Straight ahead he could see where the land of Nami no Kuni kissed the sea. On the dirt beach, he caught bits of concrete, metal, and smoking rubble. No doubt fragments of the raging battle being waged above.

With each footstep, he felt a bit of the thawing sea creak. If they didn't leave the battlefield of ice, they would all be swimming with the fish. He'd experienced drowning once(or several times) in his little quarrel with Magic God Othinus, so he wasn't eager to feel salty water filling up his lungs any time soon.

At the very least most of his wounds were still frozen over. Ice was nature's bandage...thank god, Heaven Canceler or those worry-wort nurses hadn't heard him.

"...Why?"

From his shoulder, Touma heard the bruised mercenary grumble irritably. Guess one punch wouldn't be enough to knock him out cold. Seriously, what a monster.

If it hadn't been for the first major blow in this fight- the deep contusion centered at Zabuza's stomach- Touma might have been the one to keel over.

"Because it's over. You're weapon is broken, your body is exhausted and badly beaten up, and that chakra stuff you shinobi use to fuel your magic tricks is probably running on empty, right? I got some explanation as to how you guys use it, so I know how vital it is to keep you guys strong; you exhaust it and you're going to kill yourself. Fighting isn't an option anymore. Your dream isn't so meaningless that you would kill yourself when you know the smart thing to do is stop and try again another day. Just like your first attempt to save your nation, you'll try again."

"…"

"You can brood all you like and stab the back of my head with those murderous eyes all day. I'm used to it. You lost. Not even Gato would give you 1 Ryo to kill a roach if it crawled by his feet in your current state. So, accept it. You failed your mission to kill either Tazuna-san or myself. Not like killing either of us would matter at this point."

"What?"

"Take a look, you stubborn idiot."

With a groan, Touma dropped off the heavy swordsman on the bank of the small beach at the bottom of the bridge. He swayed on his feet and nearly collapsed. He held firm though, knowing he still had one more person to grab before he could relax his crying muscles.

Too tired to use his overworked arms, Touma gestured with his chin to the bridge above. He couldn't help but smirk as that terrifying demon's eyes went wide in disbelief.

"OOOOOOOORRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"The main characters have already defeated the demon lord's army. There's no one left to maintain your summoning contract or reward you for anything. It's just as I thought: background characters like us weren't needed to make them shine any brighter."

Zabuza heard them. He saw them.

Upon the ruined bridge of Nami no Kuni's future, countless villagers stood atop it in victory. Men, women, and even children cheered loudly into the air with fists raised as high as can be. Ordinary tools and weapons were hefted high like trophies. Grins, smiles, laughter, and tears were found on the faces of everyone despite how bloody they may be.

If there were any of Gato's men left, they had either run away or been tossed over the bridge. No doubt, the greedy billionaire was trampled beneath the feet of those fierce characters he had tormented for years.

The Demon of The Mist was speechless. He had no words to say about the scene he was witnessing as he laid a broken wreck on the beach. What was he feeling at this moment?

"Was that what you were fighting for too, Momochi-san?"

Zabuza clenched his teeth and swallowed a thick mass he refused to let out from his quivering throat.

Just like him, Touma couldn't take his eyes off the stunning picture.

"If this was what you've been longing to see in your own nation then yeah: I think I can understand you a bit better now. Just like me...you just wanted to see people smile freely however you could."

Something wet and salty slid down Zabuza's face. He saw faces he could never see again among those victorious villagers. People he lost contact with. People he wished had followed him. People he had failed and betrayed.

Had things gone differently that day...

"Damn it."

The mist, the hazy and blood-colored haze emitting from the corpses he was born in, cleared away to reveal a wonderful picture.

With a weak grunt, Zabuza turned his head away from the boisterous and cheering winners. He sought the creaking bed of ice to someone he had let slip away. The single tear on his cheek was accompanied by many more as he took in the bruises, the rips, the gashes, and the red littering the pale-faced boy peacefully lying back on the lonely battlefield.

"H-Haku…"

Sore as he was, Zabuza gathered the strength to stretch out his hand in the direction of the gentle boy. Seeing that child so mangled, so abused, so beaten, stirred something in his dead chest. Had Haku been that small? Had the boy been so pale? Had he always worn such an accepting smile on his bruised face?

'Mister, you have the same eyes as I do.'

A street urchin, filthy, skinny, hallowed cheek, reeking of garbage, stared up at Zabuza. And smiled gently up at him as if he had come across a long-lost friend.

Zabuza had molded that unwanted child into a fine-killing tool. He had personally beaten endurance and stamina into him. He had taught the naive boy to silence his heart and kill with no remorse. He had raised a cold, calculating, tactical, and powerful demon with the sole intention of using him as a tool for his coup.

But the brightness, the sweetness, the happiness in that boy's smile were things he'd never instilled into him. Such fragile bits had survived even Zabuza's hellish training.

His trembling fingers sought to reach for that child who held no dreams, no hopes, no ambitions other than being useful for a bastard like him while wearing such a light-filled smile.

"It's alright. I can still see his chest rising, so he's only beaten up like us. Knowing him, he doesn't want to be away from his most precious person for much longer. So, I'll grab him and we'll get you two taken care of as soon as possible."

With a hand easing Zabuza's own, Touma walked back onto the ice, back facing the conflicted swordsman as he made his way over to Haku.

The conflict was over. All fighting had come to a standstill. The victors were declared with an uproarious cry. So, what need was there for hostility or violence now?

The violent and bloodthirsty Demon of the Mist found he couldn't muster up the strength to spit at his enemy's victory.

All he could do was lay back while covered in wounds and accept his defeat with a long sigh.

It was over.

Nami no Kuni's story was finally ove-

[-]

SPLAT!

A sopping wet thud was heard as Touma reached his hand out to pick up the unconscious Haku. He stiffened up, freezing up as he heard what sounded like something was breaking out of the thinning ice beneath their feet. The origin of the ominous cracking was only a yard or so away, so it was dangerously close.

The battle for Nami no Kuni was over.

The victors had been declared.

And yet-

"Y-You…"

There remained a lone demon who refused to let it end.

Touma saw him crawl out of the ice, fingers stabbing into the icy floor as he pulled himself out. He was soaking wet, shivering, clothes tattered, face bruised, and missing several teeth. How he had survived when he had been knocked off the edge of the bridge from several hundred feet was a mystery and a blessing he had no right to be granted.

One demon survived. Despite being knocked from his throne, he stood back up with a murderous glare on his face.

Gato surfaced from the cold watery depths to reject the hard-fought victory of Nami no Kuni's people.

Touma couldn't help but snarl at his appearance.

A foul curse fell out of his lips that he wished no one would ever hear.

"Why are you still alive?!"

Gato grinned viciously at the frustrated teen. He took pleasure in the darkness swirling in those eyes and laughed as he reached into the pocket of his wet suit.

"I'm not sure myself but an associate of mine did give me this lucky charm a few days ago. It wasn't free and did cost me a pretty penny, but as he was a new business partner with a growing base, I thought it would help to buy one of his wares. Who knows? Maybe this is a lucky charm after all!"

Touma felt his stomach drop at the little trinket dangling from the billionaire's finger. Such a cheaply woven charm was better found in the hands of a superstitious old man who fell to some merchant's honeyed words. It was made of red string and reminded him of the lucky charm the nice middle school girl(was it Saten?) had lent him during the sports festival.

Such a cheap festival trinket held no power; it should hold no power.

So, why couldn't he help but feel this ominous prick in his chest at the sight of it?

"That damn bridge builder. I should have had him and his family gutted in public when I had the chance. Not that fine daughter of his though. I'm the sentimental type, so it would have been nice to keep a souvenir I could play with whenever I feel nostalgic." the billionaire grumbled as he wrung out his tie.

Even though his forces were crumbled, and he had no one to protect him, the bastard was still speaking as if he hadn't lost a single piece on the board.

With a disgruntled sigh, Gato hocked a bloody loogie. The sickly goopy dark crimson snot flew past Touma and struck Haku's chest.

"God, I'm going to be sore in the face for a week. Fucking old man."

"You fucking piece of shit!"

"You're a rather loud dog, aren't you? Why don't you heel!?"

CRACK!

The swing of a hard cane took Touma by surprise. He hadn't been expecting an attack from the short billionaire and found his body too drained from the day's long fights to properly react. He heard a crack from his lower jaw as blood poured out of his gasping mouth.

He nearly blacked out but held his ground as he glared furiously at the widely grinning man.

Gato patted his cane on his open palm, more than eager to keep beating the unruly pest who didn't know how to properly bow.

"What? Do you think you won? Did you think that was it, brat?!"

The next swing came down with a whoosh. Even as Touma shielded himself with his forearms, the raining blows were still strong enough to rattle his bones.

"Who the fuck do you think I am?! I'm Gato! Lord of these seas! My connections go as deep as the councils of the neighboring nations! Kumo, Ocha, Mizu, Umi, Sora, Hani, Kaze, and even Hi! The seas touching all those shipping routes belong to me and my company! I've eaten with daimyos and even bedded some of their fucking daughters! My resources don't have a bottom! You think I'll stop just because a couple of shitty brats protected some frail old man from my pet demon? You think I'll back down just because one small island nation beat down a couple of thugs? Ha! All I have to do is make a few calls; I can summon up a greater army, and greater demons, and I can reclaim the board with a stack of Ryo as high as the corpses we'll leave behind!"

What made a demon lord terrifying? Was it their strength? Their intimidating aura? Their horns?

Or was it their ability to continue summoning forces to march to their destructive cause?

The words rushing out of the widely grinning demon lord held no compassion. No pain. No trauma. No hints of anything one could connect with. There was no empathy to be found in a man who laughed at the death of a father who only desired to protect his friends and family from ruin.

With one last deep echoing thwack to Touam's knee, the billionaire scoffed as the annoying teen fell to one knee. Even now, those sickening dark eyes glared up at him when they were struggling to keep open over sticky blood.

"Don't look at me like that. I gave you the opportunity to fall under my knee and reap the benefits. You could have been at my side with all the ryo you'd like. Hell, if you loved the champion's family and wanted the man's widow for your own enjoyment, I could have spared them. I keep my dogs well-fed so long as they know how to fetch, lay down, roll over, heel, and attack. If you want to moan and groan about your wounds; blame yourself."

Battle, after battle, after battle, left the heavily panting spiky teen unable to strike back. His limbs felt heavy. His second wind had been spent. Moving a big man like Zabuza had taken a lot out of him but adrenaline had been fueling him. Suddenly though, he felt all his strength and vigor sapped out of him.

The human body had limits. Limits Touma had pushed, strained, and bent countless times in his efforts to save the people he came across by fortune or misfortune. Constantly testing such a threshold would eventually cause something to give no matter how much he wanted to keep going.

The enemy standing over him was one even a high school boy could take out with one punch. Yet he couldn't even lift his arms back up to defend himself from the sloppy lash of a cane.

He felt the hard wood smash into his temple. Skin was split wide open. Blood popped. And he fell to the side with a hoarse gasp.

He tried to get up but found that same cane stamping down on a certain limb: his right arm.

The simple cane dug deep into the elbow, twisted, and created a nasty popping crunch.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Bones were crushed.

"Heh, my aren't you a brittle brat?" Gato sneered as he twisted his cane deeper into the separated socket with sadistic glee, "It's a little late but why don't we continue where we left off- your execution. Oh, and look! We have a big old crowd gathered above us who can witness the death of their latest champion. Ah, I'm growing nostalgic- it's Kaiza-kun all over again. Only this time I get to be the executioner."

Enraged shouting could be heard overhead. If Touma had the strength to look up at the bridge above, he would see the people of Nami no Kuni grow furious and upset, and cry out to the site of the defeated demon lord lording over another hero. He could see several familiar faces trying and climb down the wrecked bridge to intervene.

Even if his elbow was being crushed, Touma bit out a snarl.

"G-Get it through your skull, you piece of shit! You're done. Don't think you can run away with your tail tucked between your legs and try again later. Just accept that you lost and give up!"

"Lost? Oh! Did you grow a big head just because you cleared out the first wave?"

"!?"

Sticky malice dripped from the nasty smirk on Gato's face. A walkie-talkie, bent and damaged, was taken out of the man's sleeve.

"I made the mistake of thinking I could swat a few annoying flies with a spider. I thought I could instill fear into the masses with a little beheading. I see now I was too naive- too soft. No, if I want to ensure no one dares to bite back ever again, I need to ingrain the horror with a giant boot."

A cold mist still lingered on the creaking ice crawling out from beneath the bridge and to the mainland. But a glance off to the far side revealed it.

A shadow. Several large shadows. All slowly swimming forward as they cut through the weak ice to let the salty sea spill back out. Those shapes were familiar. The boy from another world was suddenly reminded of another icy scene, of a fleet of destruction aiming to wipe out a city with a downpour of magical artillery.

The smirk evolved into a crescent of wickedness and cruelty as the communication device was brought to Gato's lips.

"I own the seas, you fucking little dog. Did you think I wouldn't use it to my advantage? Bear witness to the lord of the sea's might before he razes your shitty land to scrap!"

There was no fighting this.

There was no defending this.

A unique power like Imagine Breaker couldn't hope to stop this.

Not even the shinobi, Zabuza, or all of Nami no Kuni's people could reject this in their current state.

Breaking through the light cold fog was a fleet of steel-made cargo ships armed with strange artillery. Men were lined on the deck, armed with various weapons and manning the bulky boxes being adjusted to their line of sight. Cannons could be seen atop the vessel, the type Touma may have found in old history books dating back to a time when pirates ruled the seas. Over a thousand tons of steel might loomed over the still frozen waters, their metal hulls smashing through the ice, and casting a menacing shadow on the now frozen people of Nami no Kuni.

Why was Gato so arrogant? Why did he always appear to be so in control when all it would take was one moment of rebellion to cause his house of cards to fall apart? Even as he witnessed his forces being knocked down, attacked, and found himself alone on a battlefield he was not suited for in any way, why was he not groveling and begging for mercy like a worm?

All it took was one card. One card to gain such arrogance to turn the tables even at their lowest point in the game to come out as the winner.

Bearing down upon Nami no Kuni's people and its protectors was a terrible card designed to strip hope and courage with just its reveal.

What was there to say to such a large fleet? What could you do when you were already spent and clinging onto a thread to stay awake? Sheer numbers, no matter how low quality the individual was, could more than make up for their lack of skill and talent with just brute force.

Touma knew he couldn't do a single thing to even one of those terrifying ships. A normal high school boy had no chance. Not even Imagine Breaker could be useful when it was a cruel and unshakable reality bearing its simple fangs upon him.

Pain throbbed from his arm. No doubt the elbow had been dislocated. Out of all his injuries, it was that fresh pain that cried out the most.

The buzzing returned.

Touma licked his lips anxiously as that very pain caused his mind to sharpen like a spear.

Trembling fingers twitched.

"How to do it, how to do it." Walkies-talkie tapping against his chin, the wealthy businessman contemplated how he would cement his victory.

All it would take was one message to command his fleet to call on a downpour of scorching metal rain to destroy the eyesore that was the people's hope. But such things could be remade. No, he needed something dramatic and powerful enough to sear the consequences into their very souls. A clear-cut show of might.

Gato grinned and came to a wonderful decision. Static was heard as the line on the other end of his walkie-talkie picked up on his voice.

"Aim for the downed spiky boy with the crushed arm; spear him through."

Chatter was heard.

An odd plastic crinkle was heard.

And in an instant.

Kamijou Touma was swallowed by an eruption of seawater, ice, and bursting air.

Crude metal shaped like a stake, a fishing harpoon, was fired from a mounted gun and struck like a missile.

As the shower of ice and seawater died away, all that could be found of the brave boy was a large gaping wound in the creaking ice off to the far side of Gato and Haku.


...

...

...

I'm not apologizing.

Eheheheheheheheheheheeheheheh! Anyways~!

There we have it! The last chapter before we close things off with the Epilogue. Get ready to say goodbye to Nami no Kuni and its characters. They were fun. We had some laughs. And overall, I really am happy to have taken this long to prepare for this course. I'd like to say more about the overall arc but we can save the trivia for our Epilogue.

Let's talk about the climax!

What was it? 3? Yeah, yeah, that sounds right- 3. I went through 3 different rewrites of the final battle on the bridge. And for those curious, I'll post the original document on my P a tron for everyone to read regardless of Tier. Other than the last two previous chapters, this was the most edited piece of the arc.

In the original draft, Touma didn't even have his jitte. Instead, he had used a metal baseball bat he had picked up before entering the scene. Several of the fighting scenes had to change just because I introduced the new card in his deck. In the original draft, I actually had him wielding a metal baseball bat he picked up in the village. I only had one Kamijou Shadow Clone in the first draft too instead of a small gang Kakashi had saved up to confuse Zabuza.

The entire first half of the fight between Touma, Kakashi, Haku, and Zabuza was an interesting one to write out again. I wanted these fights to be more epic and show off why Zabuza struggled to accept Touma wasn't anyone special. From the way he moves, he fights, he talks, the so-called average boy paints himself as abnormal. From their first fight, Touma was already shining brightly.

That's something I noticed a lot of when reading the Light Novels. Touma's at his best when he's at his worst. It's like he gets a buff the more damaged he is. Throughout this entire chapter, I wondered if it was believable that Touma would be able to fight off Zabuza and Haku when he's so injured. But then I remembered that this was the dude who regularly fights his opponents while heavily bleeding out. I mean, just read the entirety of GT to get a good idea of his stamina, endurance, and pain tolerance. Even when he was on the verge of death(Spoilers for GT10) he was able to clash with Alice, who could warp reality to her imagination, even as his body was rotting away.

One of the interesting tidbits spoken of in regards to Touma's talent comes from Haku. That the way Touma is able to adapt to the situation, predict his opponent's attacks, and react with such speed is very similar to the Sharingan. I mean, change Touma's dark blue eyes to onyx and he'd be seen as an Uchiha.

The constant fighting is Touma's attempt to understand Zabuza's ambitions. To understand the man who could raise such a kind and gentle boy like Haku despite his cruelty. The same goes for Zabuza. He's trying to understand the invisible demon who was perfectly content being used. Which ultimately leads to a devastating blow.

Naruto's 'awakening' had to be different than Canon. I wanted him to question what it meant to be strong. That if he would eventually have to be just like Zabuza in order to achieve his own dream. Seeing both Touma and Haku so torn up, possibly dead, was the trigger for the newborn demon to release his claws. And deal the most devastating blow in the fight. Well, emotionally speaking. Sakura took the cake. When I think about it, it's both Sakura's physical blow and Naruto's emotional blow that created the cracks Touma needed to break through Zabuza.

Ah, and then we have the true battle of the bridge! This is what I've been wanting to see by rewriting those original 13 chapters from years ago! The truly epic battle for Nami no Kuni's future with all the main characters accounted for. Man, was it fun writing the bridge scenes.

Speaking of the bridge scene, guess we can't ignore the elephant in the room.

Or, well, Magic Gods.

They were hinted at in the previous chapters but they're made official here. And with their 'configuration' complete, a test was in order.

Zabuza's transformation into his Kijin form was my favorite change. And his battle in general. I got Dark Soul 3 kinda vibe with Zabuza and Haku's joined attack patterns. Oh, and that final big attack was also fucking rad! The kind of attacks being thrown around would have definitely been enough to have clenched Zabuza's victory in his first coup attempt.

The final clash could have gone either way with how beaten up both Touma and Zabuza were. Yet it was Sakura's punch that turned out to be the deciding factor.

Touma won. The people of Nami no Kuni defeated the demon lord's army. At long last, it's over.

But misfortune strikes again. The gears of those destructive idols have begun turning. Good or bad, their miracles have begun to activate.

Gato's fleet, I imagine, would probably be a real thing. I mean, he controls all the shipping routes on the seas surrounding Nami no Kuni, so I would believe he has some kind of navy fleet at his disposal- even if its just cargo ships armed with weaponry. But because he's never been pushed that far, he's never had to even ponder whether or not to reveal the OP card was hidden in his sleeve. Only because a certain someone pissed him off so much, did he decide to say fuck it.

And once again, we see a familiar scene: the death of a champion.

Even in the original draft, this was the intended ending. Ha! Ain't I a stinker?

It's over. We've hit the bottom. All that's left is the Epilogue. Hopefully, I can get it up next month! Until, I hope you enjoyed this hefty plate!

Read and Review! It's common courtesy.

NeoShadows fading in and out.

P a treon . com (slash) NeoShadows.


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...Ah, hell. I can't do that to ya. Here's the last bite, ya gluttonous bastards! Lick the plate clean!


[?]

RIGHT_B_E_N_E_A_T_H.

[-]

"Hehe."

It was a small chuckle. Almost as if he could hardly believe it was that easy.

"Hehehehehehehehahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahah!"

Then full blown laughter. A raucous bark of glee as he stood there, stomaching heaving as laughed out to the heavens watching the grand play from up above a place even he couldn't reach. He felt his throat grow hoarse but kept going, enjoying every long second passing by.

Other than his laughter, there was no sound. No cries. No shouts of rage. Just a mute despair from those heartbroken worms who stood on the bridge. Just looking at the expressions on Nami no Kuni's people!

Gato couldn't help it. He couldn't stop laughing out loud.

Behind him stood a waiting fleet of cargo ships each modified with various weaponry. Cannons. Harpoon guns. A fun kunai ballista launcher- a gift from a certain daimyo of Yuki no Kuni. Mounted heavy bow guns. And explosive volleyguns. Those monsters of steel were covered in heavy metal platting powerful enough to shrug off even a shinobi's most destructive ninjutsu and could raze a village to smithereens. Each ship could hold up to 70 men, loaded with enough artillery and weaponry to go for hours without stopping their attack, and were even equipped with an advanced mechanical engine only found in the secluded nation of snow.

Out of all the cards in his deck, this was Gato's most powerful. Far greater than vicious criminals. Far greater than a rogue legendary swordsman regarded as a demon. It was a card symbolizing his wealth, connections, and status as the lord of the seas. One no man could defeat with courage or willpower.

Never before had Gato felt the need to so much as hint such a card was up his sleeve. He had believed all he needed to do was terrify the masses were his men, pillaging and killing every so often to remind them of the cost of daring to so much as raise their voices. As it turns out such terror could dwindle and lose its impact. He needed more than humans acting as demons to traumatize the sheep locked in their pens.

Staring down those fools who thought they could rebel against their lord was a symbol of destruction. Blunt. Cruel. Cold. Loud. And instant.

Multiple weapons and barrels were aimed wordlessly upon the scarred bridge connecting Nami no Kuni to the world outside. Gato didn't even need to command the men on the cargo ships to seek out the object of his eternal ire. Only a single command was needed to begin the pillaging. With just one move, the damn symbol urging those ignorant sheep to snap at his hand would be obliterated.

Those who were left of the island would remember this. Or become part of the tinder. It was time to claim this little land as his own and force that cowardly secluded daimyo to bend his knees and forfeit his throne.

With an eager and malicious grin, Gato spoke to the fleets to light the flint.

"Bring it down; all of it. Leave only cinders and take whatever you want of what's left of the village to do as you like."

The deafening roar of cannon shouts signaled the end of it all. A wall of hot iron, pointed metal, and sizzling paper tags tapped to knives crashed forward like a wave of death.

The likes of the infamous Sharingan no Kakashi could not counter such a move. Not even that secret technique in his back pocket could completely protect everyone on the bridge from the approaching wave of metal. Like many on the structure, he found himself frozen in dread and shielding his students.

And-

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!

Pale sea blue.

A rising wall of water arose in front of the bridge as something arose from the depths of the chilled sea. A strange color was seen in the foam of the water, one bending in an arc and shielding the people of Nami no Kuni from Gato's fleet. A silhouette could be seen in those rushing waters.

Snake.

To the disbelief of all those watching, the serpentine arch of a snake-like figure, larger than Tazuna's bridge, stood in the way of the wave of hot metal and sharp metal. Odd scales of pale sea blue were seen, tough enough to cause the blasts and metal to not only bounce off but break. The arching body of the serpent sunk into the waves, breaking the ice, and continued to hide its face.

It didn't end there.

Water was blasted out in torrents as the thing continued to burst out of the waters and dove back. Again and again, its blurred figure swam out. As if it was coiling the waters of Nami no Kuni in an embrace. The slithering behemoth rounded all corners of the waters until its long arching body could be found wherever one would turn their eye.

In Kakashi's eyes, it was like he was seeing the pipes hidden beneath the foundation being brought up to the surface. He had no idea what to say or do as that thing swam about like a thrashing wild animal.

'This...this sensation…'

A terrible tragedy came to mind. Of an incident going back 12 years ago and a night of destruction where the stench of death was palpable. Another tyrant had shown itself to the world and now proclaimed its might to hundreds.

It had risen from the water. Specifically: the gaping wound in the ice.

A trembling Gato stepped back. The back of his heel hit a soft figure. A gentle-faced boy who had gone forgotten found the foot of a billionaire stepping on his shoulder.

RRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

From the many coiling bends, it arose to reveal its face. The world finally got a look at the behemoth and were speechless.

It had one eye. A giant sapphire orb as if made from precious metal, leered down at the sniveling false lord. Rows and rows of sharp teeth gleamed and seeped with a sizzling murky purple liquid that dissolved the ice and water to vapor. Its head was sharp and fanned out like the hood of a cobra, its scales shining like the surface of the ocean on a sunny day, and stretched up high like a viper ready to devour its prey whole.

It looked like a strange cobra normally found in the hot desert plains of Kaze no Kuni.

But for some strange reason, only one word came to mind to all those who stared at it.

DRAGON.

The looming behemoth was a dragon who commanded the seas and produced an alien toxin more vile than the strongest venom any creature or human could hope to match.

That giant sapphire orb darted about like a cursor adjusting its aim. It grew still. And zoomed in specifically on the sniveling human whose dirty foot stepped on a gentle soul. Such an offending sight caused a violent twinge in a place the monstrosity could not see or touch.

It did not speak.

It roared.

Murky purple liquid gathered at a focal point in the back of the one-eyed serpent dragon's throat. The potency visibly seared the air like heat waves.

A great volume of torrential venom was not fired.

The concentrated venom was fired in a straight line. Purple toxins took the shape of an ever-extending long blade, its deadly point focused on only one point.

Gato felt his heart stop. Figuratively and literally.

The dragon's toxic long blade pierced his chest in one smooth stab. Venom sank into the small heart, spread its malice through every vein, and destroyed every cell in the shrieking organ. It exited out of his frozen back and continued stabbing through.

The fatal focal point of venom slipped past the unconscious gentle boy's figure. Not a hair was touched or even a fiber sliced.

"G-G-G-Gauuuuuuuhhhhh…?!"

Gato's breath was stolen and black blood flowed from his quivering lips. Unimaginable agony lit up his nerves and seemed to extend to every inch of his body. It felt like liquid magma was swimming along every pathway of his nervous system and melting him from the inside. There were no words to describe the pain and suffering he was experiencing as his heart gave out.

Gato's death did not come quickly. The venomous blade of a dragon did not exit or crumble, remaining still as it continued pumping copious amounts of alien venom as if it were desiring to cause the body to pop. It was as if the cobra dragon was seeking more than just physically destroying the man. Its venom was not of any known world or reality and sought to burn a concept that held no weight or form.

An invisible and unseen flickering wisp was corroded.

And annihilated.

Not even the evil soul remained.

With a wet and thick gurgle, Gato's body collapsed to the ice. His skin cell, folic cell, bone cell, every cell of that wretched devil's body was burned away like the edges of paper to fire. His remains would not even stain the world as he was destroyed down to the nucleus.

The murky blade of venom retracted back to the cobra dragon's throat and broke down into seeping liquid. The dragon gave the faintest traces of burning remains a scoff.

With its target gone, it turned its giant eye to a new body: the fleet of heavy metal and deadly artillery in its shadow.

If metal could show fear, it would- the humans did.

With part of its body arcing in a way that would shield the sleeping boy on the bed of ice from any harm, the cobra dragon cracked its jaw wide open. The fleet of floating metal inched back to escape the wrath of the beast now that their master was reduced to burning ash.

Escape was not an option. There was only one way this would end for those who followed after a man like Gato in the dragon's eyes.

Those sharp teeth grinned.

The sky above began to darken. Rumbling was heard in the pitch-black clouds. And the crack of thunder signaled the downpour of mayhem.

[-]

Water filled his lungs to the point he felt those soft organs ready to burst at the seams. He felt cold; so cold. That was all he could feel now. Not even his grievous wounds could speak. Especially the stiff harpoon piercing the side of his bicep nearly nicking said drowning lungs.

From the depths of the freezing sea, Kamijou Touma drifted further and further away from the loud world above. Like a stone tossed aside, he slipped away into a darkness of his own choice.

'C...C-Control it…'

Even as he drowned, Touma fought to keep his mind sharp. He fought against the rules of nature and logic that coldly told him his brain cells were dying due to ABI. He kept his eyes open, refusing to let the light dim even as the light above the surface of the chilling waves faded.

He saw something odd floating past him. Like a hand seeking the world in his stead. Not his actual hand, of course.

Touma's right arm, from the finger to the shoulder, was gone. The dislocated limb had been removed by means he wasn't even sure of. Pouring out of the torn-off socket was thick dark red blood, so rich that not even the salty water was able to dilute the liquid swimming out.

A new phenomenon was occurring. The thick blood pouring out was taking shape, molding itself not as invisible scales but in pale blue scales. From his own red cells, a massive serpentine dragon was birthed and wreaking havoc above the waves. Touma had the briefest of memories of seeing the dragon before only once. Why it had been the one to show up, he had no clue.

But he was glad.

'Oi...listen up, you wild brat.'

Bubbles escaped his gasping mouth as it became more difficult to remain conscious. He felt his brain gasping too due to the lack of oxygenated blood cells keeping it stable. No doubt his chances of suffering long-term brain damage were rising with every second but who cares? It wouldn't be the first time his brain took a nasty beating.

He spoke up to the slithering cobra dragon as it had its time in the sun, knowing it could hear him through the deafening roars.

'Go ballistic. Show them what ruin looks like! Honestly, I really don't care anymore! Maybe...maybe my normal cards can't overturn the situation in my favor. If I keep playing the same old boring combos like a stubborn TCG veteran who refuses to update his deck with the latest expansions, I'll have no one to blame but myself for the losses I suffer. There are some battles I can't even put up a fight against; I've realized that now. If...If I'm even holding back one card in my sleeve, no matter how illegal or forbidden it is then I'm not fighting with my all; am I?!'

Touma couldn't control it. The dragon flowing out of his missing right arm was as wild as they came. All he could do was chain it with his willpower and snap it back like he had it on a leash whenever it strayed. Whether those things could speak, he didn't know but he had an inkling that they at the very least could understand him when he spoke. This was the most he could do in his attempts to control it.

Would this have happened if he had unleashed it when faced with High Priest's comet?

A fog clouded the kind boy's dimming thoughts. From that fog, a dark line was produced.

'Destroy them. Don't you dare fucking touch one hair on the rest! Stretch your legs out however you like, so long as you leave the people of Nami no Kuni alone; lay waste to Gato's forces and show them fear!'

Above the surface of the waters, he saw the flickers of explosions. Deep vibrations were felt even from the depths he sunk to. From the attacks being unleashed, large pieces of those metal cargo ships sunk into the waters. Bodies followed suit in the raging flames and strange blasts crashing down upon them. A one-sided battle was waged and it was obvious who the victor would be.

No one answered back to him. But Touma had the feeling his words were heard and respected for once.

The rampage didn't last long. Just as Touma's eyes fluttered and his heavy eyes began to close, he felt the presence escaping his arm die out. Scales crumbled away. The shadow of the draconic behemoth vanished now that it had either lost interest or utterly decimated its targets.

Good. It was over.

Truly, and surely, over.

Gato was gone; Touma wasn't sure how but he felt the greedy bastard had been taken care of. His forces were laid to waste. No one was left behind to start more grief or suffering for the people of the tiny island nation. Whatever loose ends may be found could be solved by the people's own courageous hands.

The time to close this tear-jerking story of champions and demons was now.

Darkness encroached from the corner of Touma's gasping thoughts.

'It's fine; this is fine.'

Drowning was always one of the most agonizing flavors of death had tasted thanks to those hells. It never was swift. It never dragged on. It clenched your mortal coil just right and left you time to make out a few thoughts as you felt yourself suffocate.

High above the dark waters, he could picture those cheering main characters celebrating their clear and definite victory with grins and tears.

Touma wished he could be part of that ending too.

But the world above wasn't one he was part of. He didn't belong there on that stage. He was merely a gear that didn't fit.

So, this was fine.

'Whether it was here or there, I'd have fought the same. I would have utilized the same tools and cards in my belt to the fullest. Just so long as the people I was fighting for could find a way to smile again. There aren't any regrets left to cry about.'

If only it were true.

Faces slipped out of the drowning boy's mind. Of those precious people he had been separated from due to another decision he had made. Of a world he had been exiled to because he didn't want anyone harmed by a terrible maelstrom of havoc he had no desire to investigate from within. Of those normal days marred by magical and scientific disasters.

Before Touma's eyes closed, he stretched out his right hand, the strange limb back to its socket like it had never even been dismembered, and reached out to the glimmering light of the world above. He sought a world beyond, infinitely beyond, and longed to briefly touch a place he loved above all else.

'But...I would have liked to see your faces one last time. As unfortunate as am I...I would have liked a miracle like that to fall on my lap before I die. Index, Othinus...I wish I could have held you both...just...one...last…'

Death held no favorites. Misfortune could only stave the shinigami's cull for so long. Not even such a blessing could be negated with a power like Imagine Breaker forever.

As Touma's body lost the last of its oxygen and the cold sea filled up his lungs to their max capacity, he thought he saw something.

A hand.

As if someone was reaching out to this miserable idiot in his final moments.

'I...Inde…'

Touma lost consciousness as he tried reaching out to that desperate hand.

[-]

*GASP!*

Water erupted out of Touma's pale lips in a violent spray. He felt his constricted throat open wide and expel the salty dredges, coughing every last drop out of his lungs at the cost of tearing the walls of his esophagus. He even felt the water shooting out of his nose, no doubt causing snot to swim out as well.

Flat on his back, he felt the salty air replace the salty sea. Warm, bright light replaced the cold, dank darkness. It hurt to even crack his eyes open but they fluttered as he saw the still dark clouds gathered high in the sky lazily drifting away. From the feel of it, he must have been on the dirt bank of the sea right underneath Tazuna's bridge.

Touma was alive. Covered in wounds(as always) with a new gaping hole at his side from a harpoon, and struggling to breathe but alive.

How?

At the depths he had been sinking to, not even a professional swimmer would have been able to reach him in time. Everything happened too fast for even shinobi like Kakashi to react. Not to mention the cobra dragon's rampage would have stopped them in their tracks.

The answer came in loud in the form of the sound of sniveling. He heard a hiccup and crying.

"R-R-Ryu-sama…!"

"Fucking masochistic brat."

"It's alright. Just keep your hand pressed firmly on the wound, Otohime-chan. The wound has been submerged in water, so the skin cells are pruned and may cause severe scarring, but once we start stitching it up the blood will coagulate. Surely this village has a well-learned medical expert who can take it from here; my ice is not best suited for such grievous wounds."

Those voices were familiar. They were proof this lousy story that's been dragging on for far too long was, indeed, over.

With a twisted grimace, Touma turned his head to the right and found baby blue skin.

Kneeling on her side was Otohime, the shark girl he had rescued from Sector D, her shaking hands pressed deeply where a stiff metal harpoon had pierced his side and nearly took out his lung. Weakly, he turned his head again and found another feminine figure gently easing his head back so that the air could travel easier into his lungs: Haku. Despite being just as beaten up as him, the gentle-faced boy was using one hand to lean his head back and the other to massage his throat.

And sitting back on his worn-out, soaked feet was Zabuza. The deadly assassin was drenched, exhausted, and probably lacked the strength to stand back up again.

Touma couldn't speak. His throat was hoarse, his stamina was spent, his body was a wreck of all sorts of injuries, and if he could, he would have just shut his eyes and passed out.

But what bit of strength he could muster, he smiled happily.

Zabuza must have caught sight of his expression as a deep grunt was heard.

"Tch. You know...you're more of a fucking monster than I, you beast. Normal my fucking ass. It's no wonder I lost to such a freak who could have summoned something like that at any time."

"?"

"Hmm? No." Zabuza shook his head, gesturing his chin to the still sobbing shark girl at Touma's side. "The guppy was the one to have dragged you out of the depths. I was picking Haku up when I saw her bobbing in those waves and decided to pull you both out. She's the one who saved your life. Don't know how she did it; the waves were mad, constantly folding in and crushing whatever was in the waters thanks to that dragon's rampage. Only someone suicidal would have dared to have dived as far as she did."

"…"

"No. I have no reason to keep hunting the bridge builder. There's no reason for a demon like me to continue his contract if there's nothing to benefit me."

"…"

"Wipe that look off your face, you monster. You won; congratulations. You defeated the last remaining member of The Seven Swordsmans of The Mist and live to tell the tale. Meaning we have to accept the conditions of your victory no matter how brutal it may be."

"…"

"Keep talking shit with your eyes and I'll finish the job."

If Touma could, he would be laughing at the frustrated expression on the blood-reeking idiot. But the most he could do was cough harshly with a bit of seawater and blood coming out. He wouldn't be speaking any time soon in his shitty state. How was he even alive? This was a legitimate question considering how much blood he'd lost, how many holes/cuts could be found on his skin, a few bones here and there broken, and having been drowning for a good few minutes to cause irreparable brain damage.

Wasn't it always like this though? Against the firm laws of logic and science, his mangled wreck of a body would still have a pulse. Where a normal person would have died, Kamijou Touma would somehow survive long enough to be saved. Was this merely the work of Imagine Breaker at play...or something else?

'Don't think about it now.'

Such hidden secrets weren't important right now. No, it was time to forget about all those heavy thoughts and drama. The fighting was over. The ending was right there to be grabbed.

The calm after the brutal storm was always the sweetest, right? So, why not drift along with the pleasant waves?

Touma felt a tap on his naked stomach covered in wounds. He saw Otohime leaning her forehead onto him and hug him. She couldn't stop crying, having feared the worst had come to pass. If he could, he would have affectionately rubbed her dark blue locks and reassured her that everything was fine now.

"Kamijou!"

"Touma-nii-san!"

"You dumb ass!"

"Kamijou-san!"

"Kamijou-kun!"

A loud march of running footsteps was heard. If Touma lifted his head, he would have found the many main characters of Nami no Kuni rushing over to him from either the water or climbing down the bridge or down from the bank of the sea. Not even the idiot who saw himself as so unimportant as to accept death so easily would have been surprised to see grateful tears in the eyes of those brilliantly shining stars.

It was over.

A collective sense of relief, joy, tears, laughs of disbelief, smiles, hugs, and grins was born among the people of Nami no Kuni as they gathered around Touma, Otohime, Zabuza, and Haku. Victory was shared all around. No one bothered to care how three of those involved with Gato once before were part of the celebration. The happiness was that overwhelming.

The dark chapter in the history of their island was past them.

The uproarious cheers of those who had regained their smiles could be said to have been heard all over the island. And beyond.

And Kamijou Touma continued smiling even as his eyes closed and clocked out of the stage at its brightest moment.