I am not deleting this, I just needed the tinniest break from it. That is all.
"Really, me?" Mika asked, looking at Mei with awe and shock. In his hands, the sacred twin blades lay. The Sharpest blades in the world, tied for the second most powerful of the Seven Swordsman blade, one of which was owned by Chojuro. The only superior blade was the Samehada, and even then not by that much. His hands tingled, remembering the raw power of the blades as he fought Raiga.
Mei nodded, her eye filled with cold seriousness. "You defeated Kairi Ringo, her skills would have destroyed so many. You've healed a great many more. I cannot and will not ignore that. No, I will give you the tools you need to serve me the best you can. To that end, there is little I would not do toward that end." She patted his hand. "Remake yourself with these blades, and prove yourself worth them. Consider this our payment for your services, in part at least."
He bowed, and placed the blades onto his back. "I will honor them, my lady."
"Be sure that you do... and prepare yourself, for your world is about to become infinitely more dangerous. Real war starts now."
The next few weeks were hectic as hell. Several high scale battles mixed with real missions, all of which Mika worked his ass off on. It was a haunting process, and one that put so many things in perspective for him. Saving people from prisons was a primary mission, one he had four of in a week. He was tasked with helping to kill the guards, and then patch up the wounded soldiers and POWs. Over forty people passed, despite his skills, which was still only a tenth of what happened before.
The skirmishes on the other hand were brutal, terrifying and cold. Clashing against chunin, genin and jonin of various ages, it was a nightmare. One he could not wake up from. Blood soaked his clothes, into his skin, his soul.
The Kiba blades saved his life more than once. It was oddly easy to adapt to them, Yugao was an eager mentor as was Chojuro. The added defensive powers they brought, their electric powers mixing with his water based skills to create a near perfect defense that left him able to adapt to almost any other blade wielder or any taijutsu user. A simple surge of chakra and it would zap them to the point they could not fight at full strength.
Soon, before he knew it, a month had passed. One where he trained only seven times, his real training coming in constant missions or outright battles. It carved out skills he never could have developed without it. Soon he was moving with grace and precision that katas could not create. Strength and brutality that mere training could not allow. Focus and PTSD that missions just could not match, granting him paranoia and the shakes whenever he was alone.
No, he was a whole new being, and not all for the better.
His kill count moved to over a hundred by his second week, and over three hundred by the first month.
His healing count, those he saved with his medical skills, moved to over a thousand.
And it was then, as he became a recognized and beloved and trusted figure among the Rebels, that he saw Yagura for the first time and he knew true fear at the hands of a Kage level ninja especially one that was a perfect jinchuuriki...
""'
The night started with a thick veil of mist, not a trace of chakra in it's essence. Yet, Mika felt a deep unease, as did Chojuro and Mei. Looking at them, he nodded from his place on the wall. He often took up extra guard duties, having been easily claimed as stronger than most typical ninja. Only a few rivaled or surpassed him, so he offered to help where he could.
Mei, who he had yet to see battle but knew won every single one she was a part of, flickered to his location. "You sense it?"
"A heaviness in the air... I feel... watched, it is hard to... DUCK!"
He and Mei and all of the wall guards, ducked as a massive gale tore through the mist, slamming into the Rebel base. It was strong enough to crack the walls, sending all of them flying. Mika landed gently on his feet, blades out just in time to block a staff that slammed into his location.
'My wrist almost dislocated just from their raw strength, who is this?' He thought in an instant, looking up to see... " Yagura?"
The bloody thirsty kage looked at him with a bored, distant look. "You must be Mika, the Pale Medic. You've been a thorn in my side for a while... I cannot allow that to continue. Saving bloodline scum, it is disgusting... why do you do it?"
All the while, as he spoke, his tone frighteningly distant, he looked off into the distance and pushed on with greater strength. So much so that Mika skidded away, arms aching from the raw power he had just endured.
'What do they feed Kages, to be so powerful in all ways... kami damn it.' Twisting his blades, shaking off the pain, he leveled the man with his own glare. "I save them because they deserve better. You made them weapons, you and your forebearers, what right do you have to take their lives? They are people, first and foremost. Saving them is what I can do to limit the injustice in our world."
Mei, who flickered behind him with Ao and Chojuro, sighed though her body was deeply tensed up. The entire camp was there, most shaking. All were afraid, even Yugao who stood there blade out.
"There is no point, he will not listen. Will you, Yagura?"
The man shook his head, but as he did so, Mika noticed something and so many distant facts clicked in his mind, all around his medical training. "Your eyes are glazed... you're distant, and yet you can move and fight without impediment. You suddenly changed from a peaceful ruler to a brutal dictator... without any known reason. You are... Mei, is he under a genjutsu? That would explain everything."
She froze, turning her gaze to the man. "AO!"
The man in question turned to Yagura, chakra focused showing signs of Byakugan in his patched eye. "His... his chakra is erratic, and it is focused in his brain. Yes, the boy is right, he is under a genjutsu."
Yagura froze then, shaking with tears in his eyes. "Stop me, please, stop... STOP ME!" Almost seizure like, he convulsed before turning rigid. "You cannot be allowed to know this, you must be removed, like the bloodline users."
Mei barely moved in time to block Yagura's kick at Mika, and even that sent her skidding back four feet. "EVERYONE RUN, ONLY I CAN HANDLE THIS!"
And like that she blasted the man with a surge of lava, having Yagura flip black out of the rebel compound. Mei took chase, both releasing chakra that made the air heavy, hard to breath in. Several lesser ninja fell to their knees, Mika barely avoided that fate but it was a close call.
Flashes of light penetrated the world, splashes of water and lava thickened the mist. The world filled a thousand times scarier and Mika knew that if he wanted to live, he had to train harder, learn more and be far, far better than he ever had been before...
And that was absolute.
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was a joy to write.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.