Allied Shinobi Forces
Itama, Nightingale, Satō, and Uroko stalk through the war-torn jungle's ever-changing topography as ceaseless seismic activity devastates the shifting terrain. The ASF's collaborative Earth jutsu destabilizes the bedrock's structural integrity, generating contemporary geological fault lines, seeping with magma as foothills become craters and mountains crumble into bottomless ravines. A temporary hindrance in the unending tsunami of flesh-eating ghouls enables the Allied Shinobi Forces to contain the Amaterasu's silent, pitch-black flames into narrow choke points and funnel the hoards of Red Zetsus into self-sustaining annihilation lines, incinerating the vast waves of infectious flesh on a subatomic scale.
Nevertheless, the Allied Forces are in retreat; a courageous few stay behind, acting as bait to stem the looming cascade of mutants into the scorching Amaterasu pits. Amegakure (Village Hidden by Rain) shinobi rev the engines of their hoverbikes, drawing the abominations toward themselves as they speed down the treacherous trails, luring the zombie-like creatures towards the all-consuming black flames. The Grey Berets (Anbu) and kunoichis suppress their chakra to avoid alerting the hordes of cannibalistic fiends swarming the jungles. Though on the run, Uroko and Satō inspect what remains of the combat zone for any survivors along a gruesome path of destruction.
Using his sensory abilities, Nightingale surveys the surrounding area for potential hazards during their brief yet burdensome endeavor. They refrain from using firearms and jutsu, instead using blunted or bladed weapons to dismember and immobilize any Red Zetsus that pose an immediate threat while bypassing the lurchers and crawlers lurking within the dense vegetation. However, the charred, burning shinobi skewered upon stalagmites via Earth Release and the discovery of what remains of the Allied Force's defensive trench lines renders their prospects of locating survivors grim.
Smoldering with vexation, Uroko struggles to restrain herself as the Red Zetsus consumes her compatriot's remains. She tries distracting herself by listening with inquisitiveness and morbid curiosity as Satō questions the detrimental information deficit concerning ReDeads and Gibdos.
"Unfortunately, out of the many victims, I can count on one hand those willing to come forward, hence the Intelligence Division's severe lack of data to update our field manuals," Itama says.
Satō pinches the bridge of her nose, 'Oh, you've *got* to be kidding me!' sighing at the sheer absurdity of the ordeal, "Okay, I get it's an open secret, not many talk about, but where did those things come from in the first place?"
"The scarce information gathered by the Allied Shinobi Forces remains inconclusive, but there are suspicions of those ghastly monstrosities being, for lack of a better term, hideous perversions of the Akuta Kinjutsu."
The Anbu Captain's dispassionate account piques Uroko's curiosity: "Weren't those things an experiment the Hidden Stone Village lost control over, and why monsters live in the coastal city ruins along the Land of Earth's warm-water ports?"
Satō groans in dreadful realization, "Those eerie wooden masks, their glowing eyes—hell, the creepy bastards even have similar abilities! Why didn't I realize it before!?"
"Satō… surely you know something about those things. Is there a correlation between Akuta and ReDeads?"
Satō grimaces, reluctant to admit, "It's a forbidden jutsu developed by that mad scientist, Dr. Ōnoki, that helped my village push the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces back into the Aisu Bay during the War of Whirling Tides."
Uroko gasps, doing a double take, "Wait, you mean that fence sitter brat!?"
Satō nods, "Even with Amegakure's assistance, defending our borders from the Sovereign Grass and Waterfall Colonies spread our armies thin. Once the Marine Contras stormed the Land of Earth's shores, Iwagakure was on the brink of capitulation until the Tsuchikage deployed the Akuta despite Dr. Ōnoki's dire warnings of his research and development of the jutsu being incomplete."
The Senju's eyes narrow within his mask, "consequently, the Akuta were uncontrollable even before augmenting them with tailed beast chakra and used as an area-denial weapon; thus, the Land of Earth remains a landlocked nation. Though perhaps it was for the best, Dr. Ōnoki couldn't continue his research because the SCAF eventually got their hands on it."
Satō eyes Captain Falcon with suspicion, uneasy about how much Itama is aware of her village's classified information, "Dr. Ōnoki, Madara Uchiha, and Mū of the Dust Release tried stopping Malkhaz, but that damn kraut somehow used his kekkei tōta against them. Mū's particle style triggered an atomic blast that irradiated the Land of Earth's uranium mines along the border."
Nightingale grits his teeth, taking a deep breath as unpleasant memories and deep regret resurface within his mind, "not long after, the Sovereign Colonies turned their attention toward the Hidden Whirlpool Village. Tch, poor bastards never saw it coming. SCAF bombers dropped hundreds of storage scrolls containing Gibdos over the Land of Whirlpools."
Uroko turns toward Nightingale, almost afraid to ask, "Um… what the hell is a Gibdo?"
"Oh, they're the *hideous perversions* of Dr. Ōnoki's kinjutsu, the SCAF reverse-engineered... but—mummified with friction-triggered paper bombs. I'll let *you* do the math as to why the Hidden Whirlpool Village's ruins are known as *The Tomb of Boom*…"
Uroko's mouth opens behind her face mask, her eyes widen, and she blinks twice as her mind processes the horrific implications behind such an utterance, "Oh—my god..."
"Or worse, mummified with fūinjutsu seals that immunize ReDeads to Fire Release so they'd reanimate after being put down repeatedly," Itama says. "Once Mito, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was cast into the Eye of Terror and lost forever, the Uzumaki Royal Family, along with any loyalists or nobility, were overthrown and exiled to the Land of Fire."
Though subtle, the slight crack in Nightingale's voice fades. Yet the small trickle of blood from his tightening fists displays the aching pain in the Anbu's heart, "The Hyūga Incident was the final nail in the coffin that disrupted our supply lines, resulting in the fall of Konohagakure, which crippled our logistics, and did irreparable damage to morale. Without the Nine-Tails, the Allied Shinobi Forces couldn't liberate the Land of Fire's northern territories."
Suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Itama's voice becomes monotone, as if reading from a script, "in a final act of desperation, Izuna Uchiha sacrificed his pride and dignity so the Allied Shinobi Forces could retreat to Tanzaku Quarters. He fought bravely but was eventually overwhelmed."
Nightingale shudders, "Ugh, I still get nightmares remembering how many of those things it took to bring that bastard down."
"Well, other than the psychological trauma, Izuna made a full recovery. The Hokage relocated the village to the Land of Waves, renamed it Neo Konohagakure, and even built a bridge that connects the island to the Land of Fire to honor his son's heroic sacrifice."
"Oh, you mean The Great Izuna Bridge, right?" Satō says, suppressing a subtle snort.
Itama snickers, "Hmm, though maybe I wouldn't call it honor, considering the associated colloquialisms that further contributed to Izuna's alcoholism, but I digress. According to Izuna's first-hand account, if you're ever outnumbered or surrounded by Gibdos or ReDeads, it is essential to be as stationary and motionless as possible."
With a twitching eye and a nervous chuckle, Nightingale sighs, paraphrasing Izuna's report, "Though it's best to lay face down on the ground and play opossum; they *should* walk past you unless you draw their attention."
The seriousness of the Senju's voice amplifies, almost leaking killing intent, "but beware... if the fiends are suspicious, they'll Slavic squat in a circle around you, then poke you with their index fingers. Just be calm, keep your head down, and stay still; they'll eventually move on. If you're at all ticklish, then God help you..."
Dead Man's Hand Shadow Clones
A hyperventilating Hidden Rain shinobi sprints through the swampy jungle like a frightened child, scouring for his squadmates as he distances himself from the thousands of grunts and groans reverberating in the howling winds. His lungs burn with excruciating exhaustion and involuntary gasping from shellshock. The Ame-nin's heartbeat pounds in his ears as he strains to suppress his chakra; adrenaline bolsters the young infantryman's senses to almost inhuman degrees of awareness. The nauseating stench of necrotic flesh oozing with pus and stale blood, blackened from oxidation, assails the shinobi's nostrils.
With his eyes watering, he gags, muffling shrieks of terror with his hands as he clenches his butt-cheeks while ducking and dodging the occasional Red Zetsu lunging out of the bushes and trees around him. Much to his dismay, he learns that any uncontaminated biomass consumed by the cannibalistic fiends regenerates their injuries, thus restoring the abominations' mobility and speed, or excess flesh becomes cancerous growths emerging from random portions of their bodies that mutate into writhing unrecognizable, inhuman extremities, making them stronger.
The Ame-nin escapes the nigh-indestructible zombie-like creatures stalking the shadows yet saves one round in his sidearm if the worst occurs. 'I *refuse* to become a part of those—things!' As the coalescent blood-curdling screeches fade into the darkness, he stumbles upon a small clearing. The panting infantryman slides down, sitting against a palm tree, savoring the momentary respite to regain his bearings and assess the area. His bowls almost vacate after detecting subtle indications of barrier ninjutsu.
He readies a kunai before approaching a bound and gagged green-haired kunoichi from the Village of the Bloody Mist (Chigiri no Sato) hanging from a tree. Emiru struggles enough against the fūinjutsu enhanced restraints to not trigger the seals. Her muffled shouting forewarns the apprehensive Rain shinobi, reaching for the duct tape covering the Chigiri-nin's mouth. He halts, then tries to decipher her frantic murmuring, "Trap?" the kunoichi sighs in relief, then nods. The Ame-nin raises his index and middle finger at eye level, curling the rest into his palm, "release!"
The genjutsu dispels; the infantryman's eyes bulge at the roaring industrial-grade woodchipper below. He almost staggers atop a narrow platform above a shallow pit. Thunder explodes in a violent shockwave across the atmosphere; lightning arcs across the storm clouds, generating a blinding flash that turns night to day. Two gentle taps, then a human-size mass alights onto Emiru's back, chilling her to the bone. The Chigiri-nin's muffled shout alerts the shinobi to the dark figure blinking into existence before him. He gasps; the figure lunges forward, stunning the Ame-nin with a front kick to the face.
The infantryman stumbles backward with a bloody nose, "Argh! You bitch!" he swings a kunai, but Jim's shadow clone ducks then deflects a low follow-up kick with the side of his boot. The Rain shinobi dispatches a tornado kick at the duplicate's head; he shifts the ground beneath the Ame-nin's feet, redirecting the attack's trajectory. The infantryman lands, faltering from the slight seismic shift via Earth Release. The Marine Contra's clone drives his heel into the shinobi's abdomen, chains two kicks to his head and a third to the abdomen, doubling him over before ending the vicious combo with a downward ax kick to the back of the Ame-nin's head.
Recoiling from the rapid blows, the infantryman spins, forcing the shadow clone to avoid a reverse-turning kick. The doppelganger and the Rain shinobi vanish into swift blurs and metal sparks, clashing throughout the small clearing. They reappear before the bound and gagged kunoichi, exchanging a rapid succession of fisticuffs, each blow yielding minor concussive blasts that compel Emiru to shield herself from the perpetual rain droplets pelting her face. Jim's clone side-flips onto the Chigiri-nin's back; the Ame-nin casts a turning heel kick at the replicate's legs.
The kunoichi ducks; Jim's shadow clone backflips over the infantryman's leg, then drops to a prone position to avoid an incoming high roundhouse kick. Emiru's muffled protests go unheard as the fierce battle upon her back persists; the duplicate jumps above a turning heel kick, then butterfly twists off the Chigiri-nin, evading another kick from the Rain shinobi. The kunoichi whimpers as the chain dips a few notches closer to Woodchipper Kun.
The Ame-nin seizes the high ground, jumping onto Emiru's back despite her angry murmuring, "Wind Release: Blade of Wind!" Chakra emits from his fingertips, creating a nigh-invisible wind sword.
The clone's eyes widen, 'Shit! Wind Release!' he rushes forward, closing the distance. The infantryman swipes with his wind-blade, but the doppelganger teleports before him, deflecting the shinobi's wrist and dazing him with a solid uppercut. Jim's shadow clone dispatches a rapid series of sharp jabs and pokes up and down the Ame-nin's floating rib, shoulder, triceps, elbow, and wrist. He cries out in pain as the limb falls limp. The replicate thrusts his elbow into the infantryman's face and knees him in the stomach; however, the Rain shinobi tightens his abdomen, shifts through a series of one-hand seals, and conjures another wind blade on his non-dominant arm.
Jim's clone ducks both swipes before twisting the Ame-nin's wrist and grappling behind his neck, pulling him into a headlock. The duplicate thrusts his heel back into the top of the infantryman's head then jumps off the Chigiri-nin's back. The shinobi stumbles before rolling forward into a front kip-up, then turns around in a battle-ready stance, unfazed. The shadow clone teleports behind the Ame-nin; they erupt into a ferocious exchange of elbow and knee strikes while countering, outmaneuvering, or escaping each other's grappling techniques.
The kunoichi's eyes are bloodshot red with rage, screaming muffled obscenities as muddy bootprints continue trekking up and down her body. The doppelganger rolls between the infantryman's legs; he turns around, but the clone thrusts his boots into the Rain shinobi's face, sending him flying off Emiru's back. The Ame-nin is back on his feet; the replicate executes a kip-up on the Chigiri-nin's back despite the lean, narrow surface squirming in anger. With his arms crossed and fingers extended, he enhances his hands with Lightning Release before uncrossing and pointing them at the infantryman.
The Rain shinobi regains sensation in his dominant arm, conjures a second wind blade, and beelines after the duplicate. Jim's shadow clone hops off the kunoichi above an incoming swipe and ducks under another the moment he lands. The doppelganger dodges and evades the Ame-nin's duel wind blades; with a quick one-hand seal, he shifts the ground beneath the Rain shinobi's feet, changing the trajectory of an incoming attack. Jim's doppelganger thrusts his elbow into the Ame-nin's forearm, halting another inbound swipe. He seizes the infantryman's wrist before slamming his elbows, one after the other, into both the shinobi's ribs, stumbling him backward.
The clone pivots, thrusting his leg above his shoulder, and kicks the Ame-nin in the forehead. The infantryman retaliates with a spinning heel kick, the replicate ducks.
"Lightning Release: Fazing Flash Kick!" The shadow clone backflips, slamming his electrified boots one after another onto the Rain shinobi's chin. He b-twists, then lands a solid heel kick onto the Ame-nin's head. Despite the fierce blows, the infantryman springs back on his feet. The duplicate feigns a worried look at the shinobi, reaching for the holster on his hip. In a swift blur, he draws his sidearm; he forgoes the round's dire purpose and aims. However, his eyes widen in panic as each trigger pull results in the infamous *click-click-click*.
Jim's clone wags his index finger, side to side at the Ame-nin, "tsk, tsk, tsk… should've saved it for yourself," he says, rolling the bullet back and forth across his knuckles. The infantryman pitches the firearm at the doppelganger. He sidesteps, but the shinobi uses substitution jutsu with the handgun before appearing on the shadow clone's flank. He crosses his arms, blocking an airborne ax kick; the forceful impact creates a shockwave that disperses the pouring rain. The blow forces the replicate to kneel as he stops the Ame-nin's heel centimeters from the top of his head.
The clone and the infantryman reengage in close-quarters taijutsu (hand-to-hand combat); the Rain shinobi tries distancing himself, but the duplicate's relentless onslaught leaves no chance for withdrawal or escape. He uses teleportation jutsu; nevertheless, the shadow clone pinpoints his location and continues appearing before him, each time landing a devastating blow that weakens the Ame-nin. He ducks the doppelganger's roundhouse kick and counters with a reverse heel-sweep. Jim's clone jumps over the incoming sweep before responding with a tornado kick.
The infantryman ducks but is dazed by a follow-up spinning heel kick, then a secondary tornado kick that sends him spinning through the air across the small clearing. Despite his dwindling chakra reserves and low stamina, he staggers back to his feet. The replicate bolts after the breathless shinobi, executing a roundoff backflip before teleporting midair behind him. He seizes the Ame-nin's shoulders before driving his knee into the infantryman's stomach, causing him to dry-heave. Though dizzy, the Rain shinobi responds with a swift right hook, but the shadow clone ducks and slams his elbow onto the Ame-nin's temple.
The duplicate jumps, spins, and heel kicks the infantryman in the head. He grabs the shinobi by the collar of his flak jacket before headbutting him in the face. He rolls backward and flips the Ame-nin over onto his back. Jim's clone uses Emiru's head as a platform to jump off and inflict a powerful stomp onto the infantryman's temple.
'Tch, stubborn bastard,' The doppelganger shifts through a series of hand seals as the Rain shinobi lurches to his feet. "Lightning Release: Lightning Net Technique!" Electricity surges through the Ame-nin, seizing the muscles and nerves within his body and limbs. The infantryman stumbles back and forth, struggling to regain his bearings.
FINISH HIM
The shadow clone chains a swift sequence of one-hand seals, casting a genjutsu that darkens the area around the small clearing; he unfastens his helmet's chinstrap. He holds it upside down on his palm before reaching inside. He pulls a white rabbit out by its long, floppy ears, startling the Rain shinobi before placing the helmet back upon his head. In a dazed stupor, the Ame-nin giggles and waves at the small critter; the replicate vanishes and reappears beside the confused infantryman. With a fierce battle cry, he swings his arm at full speed, walloping the shinobi across the face.
He swings his arm back; the devastating blow upside the Ame-nin's head spins him around—Jim's clone swings in an upward angle, striking the poor schmo's netherregions. The infantryman's eyes bulge as he falls to his knees; the shinobi cups his groin with both hands, sustaining an opera-worthy high-pitched squeal. The duplicate pivots then strikes the squeaky Ame-nin in the back of the head, knocking him face down in the mud before bludgeoning the infantryman senseless without mercy until he falls unconscious.
Emiru stares in utter silence, eyes wide as dinner plates.
BRUTALITY
Despite Jim's shadow clone knocking the Rain shinobi out, the Ame-nin twitches, drawing the doppelganger's ire and attention. He rears his arm back, ready to bestow another vicious pummeling upon the infantryman; however, the white rabbit thrashes about within his grasp and bites his thumb. The clone flinches, releasing the bunny, "Ow! Little bastard!" hissing in pain while shaking his hand to relieve the stinging sensation.
The rabbit stops near the end of the clearing, turns around, and stands on its hind legs, chirping angrily at the doppelganger while shaking its paw at him. The shadow clone snatches the Rain shinobi's pistol, chambers a round, and aims. The bunny's eyes bulge before it scurries off into the jungle, drawing the attention of a wandering Red Zetsu that lurches after the small critter, "That's right, you better run!"
