"The lotus of Konoha blooms twice."
Rock Lee
Mikito followed him again, shifting direction and heading up steep slopes towards a vine and tree smothered ridge line. There would be little to see up there, even from their current location, because the foliage was so overwhelming.
They took a minute to rest, then continued on.
Madara was trekking through, clearing a path, even if he couldn't see every single thing that he was around him, he hoped his blade would cut it aside if it was dangerous. He stopped, checking branches and leaves, crouching low to the ground and dragging his fingers across it, touching claw marks on tree bark.
He sniffed the air.
He cut through vines and creepers with ease. Mikito stayed closed behind him, watching him, observing him, analyzing every little detail of him that she could. She didn't wish to interrupt his flow and concentration. She sensed his tension as he looked across the valley that opened up before them. It wasn't fear, and anxiety, not totally. They were at the end of the treeline, and they had a clear view of the land below, and all that rose up as high as it could.
Madara took a deep breath. The sky would be so blue, and the sun was shining, and everything was thriving, and so verdant. His skin was kissed, and he closed his eyes as a gentle breeze graced him. He felt like he was flying on a cloud.
"I love the blue sky."
The silence broken, Madara turned to Mikito. She was seated on the edge, eyes trained up at the sky. Without a moment's hesitation he put his eyes on the same spot as her, and just stared. He felt a sense of wonder. A sense of peace. Up here—it was only him and Mikito.
"The blue sky is so far and wide, no one can escape it. It is infinitely high and crystal clear. It must be clear no matter how high it is. Yes, the world should be like that. A world of infinite possibilities, laid before us, crystal clear."
Madara felt his heart clench at the words. They resonated with him, deep, deep inside. He wiped at his eyes, feeling emotion bursting from deep within his being. A world where they could all be free, and live how they wanted. Where they could all be friends.
A world that was bright and clear like this blue sky. Not covered in storm clouds of black and gray, not covered in clouds at all…
Madara always knew Mikito loved freedom more than anything, but hearing her say those words, it just made the point all the more clear. If they could all fly, and be blissfully ignorant of everything, and laugh like when they were children, totally innocent.
But, that wasn't possible for them. Too much blood was on their hands. But, still, he felt a deeper meaning behind her words. They touched his soul.
"Mikito..."
"Hmm?"
"Is that your...Dream?"
She closed her eyes, smiling. "That is my dream. I don't desire nothing grand. I want to the sky to always be like this, and for the world to be like this sky. I want people to be free, and to see a world of infinite possibilities."
Madara clenched his hand into a fist, struggling to control his emotions. He wasn't angry or furious. Far from it. He was just overwhelmed with emotions, all at once, that he could barely get a grasp on himself let alone reality. Mikito could invoke so many emotions within him, touch him, but she never touched him so deeply.
With mere words.
Mikito didn't want to establish a village like he and Hashirama wanted to. She had no grand ideas of peace or conquest...She just wanted people to be free, and for their dark world to be a bright one—like the sky he was staring at.
Mikito… He thought, closing his eyes.
Madara knew he would lay down his life for Izuna, without a second thought. He loved Izuna more than he loved himself. But, he would do the same for Mikito. He would do it without thinking twice. He would protect her, and her dream.
His lips parted, and the familiar feeling from before came back.
"I..." Madara trailed off. "I love you, Mikito."
Mikito snapped her head at him, eyes wide, mouth gaping. "W-What?"
"I'm going to scout around."
Madara trekked downhill for about twenty minutes, moving as swiftly as he could, finally coming upon a blue lagoon, where the river widened into a diamon-shaped valley nestled between a grouping of mountains.
He sunk into the shadow of a rick near the bank. He crept forward through the mud, slowly leaning forward, and cupping his hands.
He let the water fill them. He sipped. Clean, fresh water. He sighed softly, relieved. He wasn't sure what had come over him back there, but he finally said the three words to Mikito he had wanted to say for the longest time.
And, then he evaded, leaving her dumbfounded.
He dipped into the water, coming back up, shaking his head as hard and fast as he could. He dressed his wounds, washing the blood, sweat, dirt, and muck off of his body. He relieved himself after looking around for a few seconds.
"I told her that, and then left as quickly as I could..." Madara said to himself, shaking his head.
It was pretty shortsighted on his part.
An impact punched through the earth. It smacked into his hands and knees, ripping through his marrow. It shook his toes and almost brought him down to his knees. It sent massive ripples shimmering across the surface of the water. Water dripped onto his chest as he held still, ready and alert.
The hell can that be?
Another impact smacked, closer, and a shadow fell over him, blocking out the sun as effectively as any of the mountains here did. The surface of the water rippled, then slowly settled, Madara seen what had to be a mountain standing behind him.
Monster!
Madara's heart pounded. The ground shook again, like a drum. He turned his head, seeing the a giant ape-like creature kneeling close to the bank. It was bigger than the lost one he had seen, with red fur, and long arms that went to its ankles. It had to be less than three hundred feet away from him.
Too close.
Way too close.
If I don't move an inch. It won't notice me. It won't spot me. It shouldn't. As long as I stay where I am, it'll move along when it is done here.
Madara breathed in, deep, slow, maintaining his composure.
The beast hadn't taken notice of him yet.
The large rock he was leaned up against hid the majority of his body. He had a chance. Fighting this beast now would accomplish nothing—he had to be silent, had to meet with Mikito again. He needed her here with him.
The ape creature scooped a handful of mud and water from the bank, and slammed it onto its shoulders. It slathered it on the wounds. It took another handful, repeating the process with its other arm, side, and chest. Madara looked at his forearm, eyes on the wound that was in the process of healing. He had jammed his arm into a piece of tree bark, and paid for it.
The ape creature stopped, and looked in his direction. Its eyes changed. There was a flash of fury. Its face contorted as it drew in breath, snorting. It extended its massive arms, mud dripping down its hands. Its hands skirted along the water, reaching towards him.
Madara tensed, sword ready.
It plunged its handw into the water with a mighty splash, sinking right up to its shoulder, and let out a low, thunderous roar. Tidal waves crashed and splashed against the shore with horrible force. Madara took the opening, and sped out of the water, taking cover behind a rock. He hugged himself against it.
The beast yanked its arms out, with a roar, hands clasping a giant tentacled limb, ridged with muscle. Water erupted, exploding in every direction as hundreds of more tentacles lashed out from the water, wrapping around both of its arms, and torso.
The ape creature stood to its full height, pulling with all of its strength. It roared in defiance.
A horrible merging of worm, squid, and octopus emerged from the water. It was a true giant, a good four thousand feet from tentacle to head. It was twice as massive as its length. Hundreds of tentacles stayed underwater, while more snapped out from beneath the surface ensnaring the furry beast.
It tugged and wrestled to haul the monster out, but whatever remained under the surface, refused to budge the slightest. Water raged furiously as if they were in a typhoon, turning pitch black as sprays of ink or some toxic venom of sorts was ejected from the monster. It splattered down all over, it stunk, a heavy and thick as tar, but had a mist of green coating it.
Tentacles lashed out across the rock and terrain he was hiding behind. Even the very tip was hundreds of times the size of his body. Another four struck with trembling force. The impact carried him away, a heavy wet thud sounded as he smashed into the ground.
He cried out as he picked up speed, voice drowned out by the chaos. He heard a loud crunching sound, and he risked to take a look. A giant black squid had joined the fray and was chewing down on one ridged tentacles, while it latched onto the ape's body.
Its tentacles was coiled around the giant ape creature and the other tentacles. The ape roared, claws ripping and tearing away at the duo at its hands scrapping away. The skin on the squid creature's head ruptured, head ripping open in a shower of gore as brain and other fluids spilled to the water.
The monster beneath was getting impatient, and the giant ape stomped down into the water. Something ruptured. The monster beneath let out a pained shriek as more than three hundred tentacles were ripped open, gushing out putrid fluids, but more came out and held fast.
Eventually, the giant ape could no longer fight off whatever it was. The tentacles tightened and tightened until its head ruptured and neck snapped, and with a yank, the ape's head was removed spilling out gore and blood. It all spilled over like a stew, sticking to the fallen ape's fur. The aftermath began forming a thick slick across the surface of the watr.
Madara couldn't take his eyes off of the scene. He was breathing slowly, listening to the giant monstrosity. The massive furry arm laying beside it was torn off, and the tentacles around it went limp as well. One was jerked and tossed aside, as the monster beneath plunged the ape deep within the water.
He could only watch.
He could only listen to the crashing sounds that echoed across the landscape.
Blood, venom, ink, and gore drifted across the surface of the body of water. It became peaceful again, despite the mess, and he watched more than half of the ape's body become submerged.
Just before a blast of wind smashed into it, and a boulder the size of a mountain smashed into the water, throwing it up like a geyser, and formed ripples that were more like tidal waves crashing into a sheer cliff..
Madara slowly relaxed when the water stopped pelting as much, and the sound of thunder dissipated as slowly as it had came. They were all gone, as if they had never even been there in the first place. The red ape had been dragged beneath along with the squid. Whatever dragged them both down, was smashed to the bottom.
"Shit..." Madara muttered to himself, shaking his head.
He looked up, spotting Mikito on a branch.
"Are you okay!?"
He met her gaze when she narrowed her eyes, to focus on him solely, and he didn't turn away from her eyes until a few seconds passed. He didn't offer a response.
"Madara!" She was racing towards him.
He just watched her, even as she threw herself into him and sent them tumbling into the dirt.
"Are you okay!? Answer me!"
Madara stared in her eyes—wide and wild with fear and emotion. He swallowed with some effort, and nodded slowly.
Mikito put her hands on his chest, nestling her head near his heart. "I was mortified when you left, you have no idea. Seeing you safe eases my heart."
Madara blinked. "Mortified because I said-"
"No! Never!" Mikito insisted, not moving from her spot.
"Then...Why?"
"I was mortified that you would have been killed after saying I love you. I know you love me, without ever saying the words...But, it was...Enthralling for me, to hear you say it. I know it is hard for you to do those sort of things."
"Mikito."
"Sorry, sorry." She tapped his chest with her hands.
Madara kept his laugh down. Mikito was serious, and he didn't want to upset her by making light of her worry for him. But, it was still amusing. He wouldn't be dying anytime soon. He remained alert and ready so nothing could take him off guard. He wouldn't die after finally saying those three simple words to Mikito.
He wanted to live his life with her.
He shifted a little, trying to get comfortable. Mikito was staying silent, enjoying the steady beat of his heart. She wouldn't be moving for at least an hour. She wasn't grasping him like he was almost out of her reach, but the way she stayed on him, made it clear he wasn't to move.
It was going to get awkward, though. He was still a man, and his wife was above him in all of her naked glory. His body was going to start reacting if it hadn't already. He would prefer to get up, and put some distance between them so an incident like that didn't occur, but…
Mikito wasn't being very cooperative.
He shifted again.
"Mikito?"
Silence.
Madara shifted, putting his hands on her hips, and gently slid her down. He was very careful not to do anything unsavory. He stopped once she was on his stomach, her head still by his heart. He said her name two more times, but got no response.
"Are you okay?" He ventured, a little uncertain.
Silence.
She is sleeping… He thought to himself.
He wanted to wake up and tell her they needed to keep moving, but something kept him from doing just that. He was comfortable on the ground with her on top of him. He was content to just lay and think while she used him as a pillow. He also knew, from experience, that waking Mikito up when she was so sound asleep was a bad idea.
His heart had an audience, only one person, but Mikito was one of his most precious people he cherished.
He began to think of how they'd be able to take down that eyeless monstrosity. His first encounter with it, showed him that it would take more than ten mountains falling on top of it to kill it. His combined attack with Mikito had left the entire landscape destroyed and changed. The fumes were as deadly as they were annoying.
Relying on those fumes expelled from underground wasn't a viable choice. Improvising, of course, they were an option. But, for a concrete strategy, those fumes weren't the best choice and couldn't be put into the strategy.
There may be more of those valleys of hell than what he had seen. Worse than that one. Hundreds of times worse. Where no vegetation or life lived or even thrived. It was death, and only death. Skeletons of the eaten and fallen, fumes of the earth that showed it too, was weary of the monsters beneath.
Perhaps booby traps would be the best route to go. He and Mikito were experienced at setting them respectively, she may have the experience of setting them for something so big, while he didn't. It was the same principle, just more firepower, and a bigger trap.
The gorog would be their toughest obstacle. Mikito went as far to say that there was no way to defeat it totally. They could injure it, mortally even, but the gorog would just come back looking for more, mad beyond mad. They would likely be trampled, squashed, and crushed when it flew into it rage and began to thrash and bash.
His eyes snapped wide open as an idea came. It could be a long shot. If Mikito could use an earth jutsu to create a viscous liquid, he may be able to set that liquid on fire with his katon. Because the liquid is so thick and sticky, the flames would stick onto those damn eyeless monsters and the gorog, continue to burn, and the liquid itself would be super heated.
Madara thought it over, nodding after a few moments. They would need to be clear from the monsters that were doused with their combined attack, and a perimeter would have to be formed in order to combat the monsters' thrashing and attacks.
But, it could work.
He had no problem going toe to toe with them, not the slightest, but he was a smart fighter. He liked using brute force, but he knew that wasn't always the way to handle it. And, his jutsu couldn't really take out some of the monsters he had encountered—it could wound them, but utterly consuming and destroying them, his jutsu didn't do that.
His train of thought halted, and he flicked his focus onto Mikito. She was adjusting herself by a few inches, lifting her head up once from his chest, and set it back down an inch from the previous spot. A breath left her body, and she faded back into sleep.
I'll talk to her about my plan and what she mentioned before, when she wakes up…
He had to make sure that Mikito understood where he was coming from. He was certain that she did know, but he wanted to make sure. She always got emotional when it came to children, and he didn't want to step over a line with her.
He wasn't against her, he had to make that clear. The last thing he needed was Mikito thinking he was all for children being killed, ill trained, and sold only to be die on a war zone. But, he also wasn't going to let her adopt every single child in the Elemental Nations, or world, either.
Hopefully there was some middle ground they could both reach on the subject, because if there wasn't any middle ground...He hated to think of what that would be like. Mikito was just as stubborn, and more stubborn than him depending on the situation.
He inhaled, and let his breath out.
Madara scoped their surroundings keenly, making sure nothing was near them. Once he was certain nothing was around them he allowed himself to drift off into sleep, but he didn't retire completely. He was in and out, waking up every twenty minutes or so, looked around, then closed his eyes again.
Madara couldn't admit to himself, or openly, but he was lost. Somewhere within the past two hours he had left the route he was hell bent on taking, and now there was steep slope rising on their left, a fast flowing stream to their right, and a patches of trees with razor leaves all around him.
He didn't recognize any of it. Following the stream would take them back to the river, but that was much easier said than done. Just a few feet from where he stood, the stream turned into a raging torrent, speeding through a canyon that had no safe way through. The water was so violent it threw up a mist, spreading out the sun's light, and made rainbows.
"Nice place isn't it?" Mikito asked, coming to stand by his side.
"Sarcasm isn't a survival skill." Madara said.
He looked around, spotting what could be an easy route up the steep slope. The trees would still get in his way, but it would be easier ascending. Once he got up there, he'd be able to get a bearing from the sun and know which way to go.
He remembered the last time he had done something like this, the snake and pack hunters he had come across. Encounters like that wouldn't always end in his favor, and they didn't.
"Stay here. I'm going to the top." Madara said.
He headed into the mist, and started climbing.
"Hold on!" Mikito called. She held her sword in one hand, using the other to latch onto branches and roots.
He smiled for a second, glad to have her company, and glad she was so stubborn.
They headed up the slope, and as the heat continued to swelter, it got even steeper. What had looked like a low ridge at first was starting to grow the higher the climbed. Falling wouldn't cause too much harm since the slope was so overgrown with trees and shrubs, but all of the growth made the climb slow and hard.
Their physical conditions didn't help. Mikito was tired and hungry, and she knew that if she was tired, them Madara was starting to feel fatigue.
They helped each other up the slope, and reached the ridge line high above, falling on their backs and breathing heavy. After a few minutes Madara looked down below, but everything was out of sight behind the mass of trees. Even if they were to light a fire, he didn't think he'd be able to see through it from his elevation.
Mikito nudged him, turned, and pointed out at the landscape. To their right was sun, beaming across the horizon, soon it would be bleeding across the very same horizon as the moon cast a silver snake across the land.
"There." Madara said, eyes widening a fraction. "There's the river. We don't have much further to go now."
An eerie stillness settled around them, a heavy silence, like all of the jungle sounds were being absorbed by something close by. Something beyond giant. Something that was gargantuan. Madara froze.
He opened his mouth to breathe out, trying to figure it out. Trying to figure out when he had sensed, heard, or smelled. Trying to figure out the silence.
A lizard's head rose before them, breath misting the air, its eyes were fixed on the both of them as its long neck rose high above them and the entire ridge line. Madara had never seen something so magnificent. He never felt so microscopic. Beneath this creature's gaze he was but a whisper of who he once was.
All memory and experience were wiped away. He faced what had to be one of the kings of this land.
Mikito stumbled back, and Madara caught her by the arm. He felt her racing pulse as he pulled her to his side and they shared comfort in their contact. Madara could smell the long necked creature, and could feel its heat. It was real, alive, and breathing.
The creature moved closer as it stared at them, head dipping, frowning as if in concentration. Closer, closer, and closer it got, until its breath was washing over them. Madara could feel the beast's warmth, and hear its booming heartbeat.
He thought of this creature yawning, and sucking him and Mikito into it. A breath that would drag them off of their feet and into the monstrous stomach, or stomachs that it had, He remembered seeing pack hunters, slipping down a creature's throat, the gushing of blood and gore marking their progress through the monster's skin.
Would he and Mikito know that very same feeling? Would they survive long enough to be squeezed into its gut? Shoved alongside the remains of its last meal. In a stew of acid?
Even as his fear traced ice down his spine, everything changed.
Mikito took a step forward, reached out, and touched the creature. Her fingertips brushed the heavily ridged, textured, knotted skin of its nose. She pressed her hand flat against it. She held her breath, it was just her and this creature, monster and woman, a strange connection. The rest of the world revolved around them.
Madara felt so small, and so far away.
In the distance, heavy booms ripped through the air. Madara knew the noise all too well, he heard it far too many times, and the beast's reaction confirmed his thoughts. The creature dropped down and back, moving silently for such a gargantuan beast. One moment it was there, the next it was gone, vanishing back and down into the mist shrouded valley.
Mikito was left with her hand out and fingers spread, still touching the memory of the creature.
"What exactly was that?" Madara asked, still out of breath.
"A gentle herbivore." Mikito said, her voice was almost dreamy. She lowered her hand, turning to look at him.
"Let's go." He said. "Before we get another visit from something not so gentle that likes meat."
"Good idea."
He turned and headed back down the ridge, Mikito following him. They scampered quickly, hardly thinking about hand or footholds, grabbing onto trees and roots, yanking on vines and shrubs, climbing over rocks, and jumping across cracks in the steep valley wall.
Madara felt his heart pound with wonder and dread at what he had just seen, and he knew what was about to happen. More impacts shook through the ground, the nose shielded by the mass of the ridge, but the shockwaves tore across the land, ripples calling to the monster's possible doom, or whatever it went after.
"Madara." Mikito said once they were a short way from their camp. She grabbed his arm, pulling so he turned to face her.
They stood face to face. It felt like they'd known each other for a whole eternity, not days, and not a year.
Madara nodded slowly. He knew what she was trying to get at. Going up that treacherous hill had been an attempt to find out where they were and navigate a safe way into the north. Coming down from the serene place, everything felt different.
He took a breath, watching Mikito. Now was a good time to have that conversation.
"Mikito, we need to talk."
Her back stiffened at his tone. Mikito took a deep breath, feeling her emotions about to explode to the surface, but with astute control, she reined them in. Madara would surely bring the topic back into discussion, she didn't doubt that.
She just didn't think it would be so soon...
"Okay."
Madara gestured for her to sit. He felt a bout of nervous energy smack him, hard. Mikito stared at him before she sat down. She took the formal stance all women did. On her knees, hands resting in her lap. She looked very docile, if he had to say so himself, but he learned that going off impressions and looks was a mistake.
How that lagoon looked so tranquil, but beneath it had been a monster squid.
"You know I always have your back and I support you." Madara started.
Mikito nodded.
"Listen, I don't want distance between us, at all."
"What-"
Madara put a finger to her lips, not moving his finger until she nodded a little and stayed quiet. He wasn't going to tell her to be quiet, instead, he'd just put a finger to her lips. He had to be gentle with this, or it would blow up in his face.
He stared at her, eyes dimming a little. "I don't want distance between us. I know how much you love and adore children. I support your cause, and will flank you, however...Adopting hundreds of thousands of children isn't realistic. They are more than welcome into the compound, but I would prefer if you don't go off..."
"Go...Off?"
Madara nodded. "When you set your mind on something, nobody can steer you from that path. Even I can't change your mind. I just want you to know...That I am on your side, through all of this. I am on your side."
Mikito's eyes were wide with emotion. "Why are you...Saying this?"
"I know how emotional you can get. When you get too emotional, you can't be reasoned with and are irrational. You really don't think...You just vent..."
"So..." Mikito looked at him carefully. "You support everything except me adopting so many children?"
Madara nodded.
Mikito smiled for a second. "Is it because you are emotionally awkward?"
Madara scoffed. "I am not emotionally awkward. I would just rather not deal with one hundred girls going through puberty and liking boys. If possible, I would like to have children...Whenever the time is right."
Mikito blinked widely.
Madara shook his head at her expression. How her shimmering eyes could take him. She was so beautiful. And her eyes were like stars that entranced him. He gripped her shoulders, getting within a breath of her.
He could feel her thundering heart. The rapid rise and fall of her chest. How her mouth parted open as she wrestled with all of it.
"We will save those children, we will take them out of those situations, and we will make sure that they are alive ten years from now. You will not handle this alone, and I refuse to let you handle it alone."
Mikito wanted to ask why, but that would be a stupid question. "Madara..."
He turned away from her for a moment, closing his eyes. "That is my final decision."
She nodded, kissing him on the cheek. "Very well. There was never distance between us, husband. There never will be, I promise."
"What if I make you angry?"
Mikito grabbed a hold of Madara's wrists, and set his hands on her bosom. She felt them twitch, and with a little force, she kept them where they were. Right over her heart. Madara had always been an emotionally awkward and inept man.
Still, he was her husband, and she would never change him. He was still a man, and eventually, his body would react to her.
"I love you."
Madara went stiff, his breath leaving his body. "W...What?"
"You make my heart race like crazy, you know. You make me feel like a silly little girl peeking on the boy she likes. I love you. I love you so much, Madara. After hearing you say those three words to me, the world can end, and I will always love you. I reciprocate all of your feelings. I want to live my life with you."
Madara looked at his hands on his wife's bosom and he swallowed carefully. Slowly, he inhaled, feeling the fog in his head start to clear. He wanted to do a lot right now, but one of those things wasn't losing control to his more primal urges. Any other man would have taken their wife after hearing such a declaration.
But, he was not that sort of man.
Perhaps he was a fool.
"Mikito?"
She tilted her head, waiting for him to continue.
"I was thinking of a plan to take down whatever the hell those things are underground."
"Okay, tell me."
Madara looked at his hands again. He wasn't sure how he should proceed. Normally, he wasn't grabbing a woman's bosom when he went over a strategy. In fact, up until he made the alliance with the Domou, there hadn't been a woman around him when he was working over a strategy. But, here and now, his hands were on Mikito's ample bosom.
And, he was trying to steel himself in order to go over the strategy. Every part of him was wrestling with itself. A man not taking his woman was foolish, and therefore at this moment he was foolish. But, he was Madara Uchiha—one of the most feared and tactical warriors in the world. Someone who pushed Hashirama.
How could he go over a strategy like this?
"Mikito...My hands..."
She frowned, tightening her hold on his wrists. "They're cozy."
"That isn't how that word is supposed to be used."
"So."
"I...Can't think straight..." Madara hissed, biting his tongue.
"Relax. Just tell me your strategy."
Madara nodded, swallowing again. This was harder than he thought, and would care to admit. Izuna always said women could be more powerful than men, he just wasn't sure what root his brother had been smoking when he said that, but now, Madara had an idea.
He took a deep breath, pushing all urges and hormones to the side. "I think we should set an ambush for it."
"How would we do that?"
Madara narrowed his eyes a little, but continued on. "Like how we set ambushes for people. Just bigger things and more explosives."
"Seems a little too simple."
"Why make it so complicated?"
Mikito hummed. "Good point, but what about the other monsters and beasts that lurk here? What about the gorog?"
"I am focused on those...Creatures that have no eyes, that live underground."
Mikito hummed again, quieter than the first time. "Perhaps we'll need to confront the larger ones of them all, in that case. I have nothing against your strategy to be honest, but only one ambush will work on them...They are very intelligent. Let's take out the big one, instead of a small fry."
Madara grunted, eyes narrowing. He had been thinking there were a few of these creatures, ten at the most. Mikito was talking like there were hundreds, if not thousands of them underground in certain places. The thought brought a cold shiver down his spine. One of those creatures was bad enough, and if he were to believe her words—the one they encountered was small.
He didn't want to see how massive the larger ones were. He wondered if they'd even be able to sense him being that gigantic. He doubted eating him or Mikito would satisfy their monumental appetites, but they would still devour them, just for the kill.
For blood.
"Okay, we'll go after a larger one." He agreed, brows drawn together. "Question..."
"What draws it out?" Mikito ventured.
"You are very perceptive, as always."
Mikito laughed. "If we can get one of those giant apes to chase us, perhaps we could draw it out. Now. I have a question for you."
"You will use an earth jutsu to make a liquid that is sticky and viscous. I will use a fire jutsu to super heat the liquid. Once it starts on fire, it will continue to burn, and because you made the liquid so sticky, it will stick to their skin."
Mikito's eyes lit up, and for a second, she moved Madara's hands from her bosom.
He took the opening, and took control of them once more. As much as he enjoyed her ample bosom, he wanted to focus on the battle that was about to come.
Mikito felt her bosom, almost pouting. There was warmth missing from her husband's hands that had once been there, and she was tempted to snatch his wrists again so she could have that warmth...But, Madara would certainly yank and pull them back.
"Madara..."
He scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't you even think about it."
"You get me so excited and then you go and scold me like that."
"I put my hands on your shoulders, you are the one that..."
"Put your hands on my bosom."
"Exactly."
"I wanted you to feel my heart race and my love for you."
Madara was almost exasperated. He felt her heart racing, and her love for him, and soft flesh. He wanted to cup her bosom again, but he maintained self control.
There would be time for games later on, once they were in the clear. Right now they were prey, and he got the feeling one of those devils that lurked underground was stalking them at this very moment—the death of one of their own resounding like that explosion which took it.
"Mikito…"
"Your hands are cozy and very big."
"So?"
"I want them on my bosom a little longer."
Madara inhaled slow, and exhaled slow. "Fine."
"Thank you, bossman."
"You owe me, Mikito."
"I will make it even, right now."
"Where are we going to set the ambush?"
"That body of water we passed in the bottom of the valley. Flat ground. Good cover. Decent enough vantage points."
Mikito didn't speak nor offer any criticism.
They moved everything down to the body of water. It was difficult work, even though it was mostly downhill. The boles and branches could be rolled down, controlled with vines, but the evening's heat was overwhelming, and the work was getting to be backbreaking.
They were starting to get hungry. Madara didn't trust any of the berries he seen growing around him. For all he knew the beery may actually be a carnivore and bite off more than half of his nose. Everything else preyed on them, so the plants weren't exempt from that.
They went to work setting the traps. They were both more than experienced and setting booby traps and ambushes, but not for an enemy so huge. The basics were the same, the only difference was they'd need more firepower, and booby traps that would impale and shred.
"Night is falling..." Madara muttered, eyes on the sky above. "We don't have long."
Mikito moved off to gather the rest of the branches and boles, turning them into spikes that would bludgeon into mountains. Mikito eased forward as she progressed, knowing that if she made any fast movements, it would stir something up.
She emerged from the shadow of vegetation, Madara jammed a huge branch he had shredded into a projectile, into the ground.
This is it… Madara thought. This is it…
He stood, shrouded in shadows, still, and alert to movement and danger. While in the distance fires burned, and explosions flowered, before fading out into nothing. He was used to conflict. Battle. E could smell the faint trace of smoke in the air.
He waited, patiently, knowing that everything was drawing closer. The devil beneath. A giant spider, ape, or lizard, or Rikudo knows what else. The fight. The end.
"Mikito..." He muttered. "Do it."
More explosions erupted closer to his hiding place, streaking across the lake and canyon at its base. The echoes reverberated back and forth, shaking, trembling, almost sounding like a living thing voicing its fury. The explosions and echoes faded away, Madara held his breath…
Did it work?
Come on you eyeless devil! Madara thought. Come to me now!
He swept the clearing with his eyes, spotting where Mikito was hiding. He knew she was there, but he couldn't see her features, only her chakra. She was ready and waiting, just like him. In the distance he heard a thunderous, dull impact.
"Was that you, Mikito?" He asked, looking in her direction.
"Negative."
"Then it is one of those devils, or a huge ape, or one of those damned creatures. Be ready."
Another boom echoed, then another, and then another. Shadows danced on the canyon wall on the far side of the lake, thrown by moonlight and the flickering fires from the explosions. The shape was humanoid, huge, and hunched. The creature took the bait. Madara hefted the piece of wood he made to be a torch, and sparked it with a flare of his chakra.
He brushed it against the piled branches on either side of him, and jolted back when they ignited with vigor. The timbers spat and crackled as the flames raced and ravaged, consuming them. He stared across the lake, watching several trees close to the shore line splinter and smash into the water. And, there the ape-like monstrosity stood.
It roared. The sound it made was louder than thunder and any of the explosions that had went off prior. Madara watched the moonlight dance across the lake as impacts drove ripples across the surface. His hand tightened on the flaming torch, his resolve not wavering. The monster was doing exactly as he had intended. It charged into the lake, and started surging its way across, sending hundred foot waves in broken patterns to careen against the shore.
The water covered its feet, then went up to its ankles, then just barely reached its knees, as the beast shot forward. It moved incredibly fast through the water. Madara stepped forward, tempted to meet the charging beast head on. He could feel Mikito watching, and with his free hand he signaled her to stay low and hidden from view. If the beast sensed an inkling of an ambush, he would back off, and get them from another direction.
Their plan worked perfectly. As the monster reached the center of the lake, Madara swung his hand, and let the torch fly across the water. The beast paused, and Madara swore he saw a sliver of understanding in its eyes. He wondered. He wondered if the monster had some idea of the agony that was about to engulf it.
The lake erupted into white-hot flames, encircling the giant ape. It screamed and bashed its chest, smashing its gigantic fists down into the water in an attempt to put the flames out. While it quelled some of the flames, it ultimately only succeeded in spreading the flames further across the surface, splashing it up into its fur and on the shore.
The monster performed a wild dance, thrashing and roaring as the fire casted its silhouette in hundreds of directions. Madara drew his brows together as he watched the flames lick against the monster's fur.
"Now!" Madara shouted
Mikito opened up, sending wind and fire towards the beast's head, focusing all of her firepower on it. When her chakra jolted, she surged more of it forward, and opened up again sending boulders over the blazing water. The cacophony of sound was a concert to Madara's ears, and the beast's roar of fury, and not pain, made it all the more shaking.
Madara added to the chaotic maelstrom, firing streams of fire, picking his spots with meticulous precision, focusing on the monster's eyes. The monster's hide was hundreds of meters thick, easily, its flesh and blubber was more than dense enough to swallow a billion projectiles and weather fire, but if he could puncture its eyes, and gouge into its brain...
The monster surged forward like a typhoon, surging through the burning water, throwing waves of flames aside, coming right for the shore. Madara paused, starting to doubt his plan for the first, but seeing Mikito continuing the attack, he continued his own. The beast surged from the lake, fire flashing and flaring on him in hundreds of places. Its roar was nothing but rage and hatred as it flailed towards Mikito, and Madara watched as the ape-like creature fell forward.
The beast landed on its toro and front, knocking both him and Mikito off of their feet. Trees were uprooted and snapped in two like toothpicks. Waves of force were sent back across the lake, guttering flames rolling in complex patterns. They both found their feet again, and drew close around the fallen giant. It wasn't dead yet. Its breath was heavy, but even. Its frantic heartbeat pounded into the ground.
Fires still surged across its body, fur thicker than anything he had seen shriveling. The stench of burning flesh was overwhelming. It reminded Madara of the battlefields he'd douse in fire.
"You are barely fazed..." Madara stared into the creature's eyes. "You damn monster, lucky you, you are bait."
The ape creature blinked slowly, eyes shifting with rage, If it had any inkling of what he was saying, it did not show it. All Madara could see in its eyes was hatred and fury-and all of it was directed at him and Mikito.
The surface of the lake rippled, and the ground began to shake as something broke the water's surface in the distance. Screeches ripped through the sky, A chill went through Madara and Mikito, striking them deep, like something unseen had drawn its claws down their backs and shredding skin. They both stood their ground. They weren't going to run, this was it. They stared out over the lake.
"The plan is working, Madara. They're coming." Mikito said.
Geysers of water erupted and surged into the sky, firing splashing up with it, trying to consume the heavens themselves. Rising beneath the geyser, pushing it higher into the sky, rose the glistening mass of creatures. They were gigantic, their mass greater than the monster ape's before them, and the eyeless creature they had come across. Snake-like, reptile, its head was the size of mountains, its body immense and long, supported on dozens of strange flexible limbs.
The creatures' eyes burned, reflecting the fires, and reflecting their own diabolical light. Their mouths were surely the passage to hell. Sensing movement to her right, Mikito turned towards the fallen ape creature. It was lifting its head, glowering at them, and then beyond them at the monsters rising out from the center of the lake.
She could only wonder at the beast's strength, tenacity, and resilience. It was pure power in physical form, smashed by jutsu, set aflame, smashed and bashed, now it was rising again to combat its enemies. It pushed down, forcing itself upright, and turned at the same time towards the looming monsters. They faced each other. Ape on the shore, the monsters surrounded by floating flames. Like mountains drawing to each other, ready to collapse.
Mikito watching as the monsters rushed each other, collided, smashed, and crashed together with earth shattering impacts. Madara grabbed her arm, and pulled her back, and Mikito staggered back.
"Cover!" Madara shouted, his voice sounding so small beneath the sounds being made by the monsters.
Mikito turned, nodded, and sprinted into the trees. With every step she could feel the ground shaking, threatening to split in two, and she could remember the steady pound of the ape's heartbeat as it laid on the shore. She didn't believe for a second it had been close to death.
The moon's light smeared the jagged horizon, piercing the trees that smothered the distance ridge lines and mountaintops, and lit up passages of water that flowed in the tangled plexus. Madara would have spent time taking it all in any other tie, but he didn't have any time.
Another roar echoed around. It was hard to tell where the sound had come from. It sounded so far away, but so close, but those eyeless monsters were bigger than some of the monsters he had seen, and it would be foolish to think they wouldn't be able to reach him in the blink of an eye. Though he was fit, and Mikito was streamlined, however fast they could sprint with chakra, there wasn't any outrunning those eyeless devils.
Time was ticking. Dawn would soon come. The moon's light was beaming. While it did help them navigate through the tangled knots of trees, it also meant their window was starting to close. Mikito had said when one monster fights, kills, or bellows at night, more and more would come. It was signal. A sign.
He wasn't sure what direction they were taking. They were throwing all caution to the wind in their headlong rush away from the battling monsters, but he did his damn best to peer through the trees and tangled undergrowth that smothered everything around and ahead of them. Danger was behind them, he knew, but there was more danger all around them. He didn't want to run them off a ridge line, into a canyon, and into some giant rodent's or insect's next. The threat behind was known.
Sword drawn, Madara whacked through shrubs, branches, vines, and hanging plants. Always checking to ensure he wasn't slicing at the legs, or tail, of some waiting creature. Spiders and other creepers scampered away, some were as big as his thumb, others were as big as his torso. Snakes coiled around branches and trees, almost as big as the bole itself. It was crazy, but this ecosystem could support all of these beasts and monsters.
He spotted a clear space ahead of them, Madara increased his strides and swings. Mikito helped him with sheer ferocity, hacking away at hanging vines and tangled knots of vegetation until they smashed through the last of the trees into a wide open space.
"Finally!" Mikito shouted, gasping for air.
Madara's heart fell. They appeared close to the ocean, but between them and the sea was a wide, level spread of marshland, stretching left and right as far as his eyes could see. Trees spotted the marsh, their leaves drooping, as if the mighty boles were sinking into the marsh. At the center, halfway between where they stood and open water, were the skeletal remains if some creature, half buried in the marsh and rotted away. Madara wondered how many creatures had been wounded here, spending their last moments here.
"It's marshland. We'll sink and drown, or get caught, and..."
They could hear the fight behind them, and they knew that the warring monsters were coming right their way. The ground shook, sending ripples across the surface of a nearby pool of briny water. Their furious roars and screeches echoed into the night. Trees and boles cracked, snapped, and shattered, sounding like thunder and crumbling mountains in the jungle.
Those monsters must have snapped and twisted all of those trees they turned into spikes...
So simple...
It wouldn't be much longer...
"Now what..." Mikito asked, panting.
Madara assessed their situation for the hundredth time, taking in every possible detail he could about their location. It was hardly a plan, but it was the only think he could think of. He checked his sword, then Mikito's, and then put a hand on her shoulder.
"Get up on those rocks and fire a jutsu." He said, pointing at a rocky cliff, jutting out into the marshland. "One good hit, and we can knock one of them down."
"What about you?"
The battle was getting close. The tree line shook with increasing impacts, and Madara knew they only had minutes to act. They were preparing to make a stand, even though he was certain their swords wouldn't do much against these monsters. Madara didn't entertain the idea it was hopeless. He had only given up hope once, and that was when he was first put on a battlefield, seeing bodies at his feet.
He wasn't going to start now.
"Just go." He said to Mikito.
"But-"
"Go!" He rammed his lips into Mikito's. "Go now. I'll survive."
"O-Okay!"
Securing her sword in its sheath, she nodded, and sprinted for the rocks. Five eyeless devils smashed through the tree line, with three monsters that were a horrible merging between snake and feline. Their bodies were snakelike, but there were distinctive stripes going across their backs. Sets of razor, jagged teeth filled their maws. They seemed bigger than they had before, a lot bigger, none of their bodies hidden beneath water, and the moon's light revealed the eyeless devils grotesque bodies.
The eyeless devils were snakelike, but with massive, thick legs, and heavily clawed feet. Their heads were almost amphibian, but was mixed with lizard, but scaled and spiked. Their mouths were wide enough to swallow an entire mountains along with them. Their tails whipped from side to side, tearing deep rifts across tree trunks and the earth. They stood and focused on him, despite having no eyes. Their heads swept left and right. In the eyeless devils movements, and the lizard-feline's eyes...
He could see it.
Malevolent intelligence.
Madara unleashed his chakra, firing streams of inferno flames and meteorites of white-hot flames. Though he knew it wouldn't do much good in the long run, he continued his onslaught, aiming for the monsters' eyes and any vital points. The monsters stormed towards him. If his jutsu did penetrate anywhere, they didn't seem to bother the monsters. They roared as they came, continuing their battle, displaying vicious teeth and whipping forked tongues at the air, sensing, tasting, feeling.
He knew himself nor Mikito could be considered a meal.
Madara glanced back at Mikito, watching her run along a single chunk of land that jutted out into the marsh. She reached the cape, and hastily began scrambling up, looking back over her shoulder, but not slowing down. He had to give her as long as possible to give them both a chance. She was always good at creating openings, and he was banking on her talent.
Madara felt hope slip away, but his resolve didn't lessen at all. How could they combat such monsters? With jutsu and projectiles that could barely scratch their thick hides? Even if they still had that lake of flames, head on combat wasn't favorable. It would be brief, and there was only one possible outcome. Still, he would confront them head on, if he ran out of other options.
He ceased his blitzing attack and ran towards the sea, and he could feel the soggy ground beneath his feet. Areas of higher ground may offer some refuge, but these eyeless devils came from beneath the lake, and they would surely be at home in this marshland. He wasn't sure where lizard-felines came from, but given their leathery skin, they would be in their prime in this marsh.
He wouldn't give up. Not when he could still breathe. Not when there was still a breath in his body. He ran towards the marsh, if he worked his way across and towards the sea, he'd be able to hold them off. Madara glanced across the marsh at the old skeletons, and threw away the thought of heading there as fast as it came. It would offer scarce protection, and once inside, he would be trapped.
Madara turned back, hefted a breath, and unleashed fire. Getting the attack in one of the creature's mouths would be lucky. In the eye would be even better. The impact may not kill it, but it would deter the creatures for a second. The attack exploded against one monster's chest, snapping its head up. It reared up, shook its head, and fell onto its front feet again. Its claws sunk into the ground, forcing marsh into the sky.
They roared. Their breath reached him. It stunk like death. Rotting flesh.
"You want me that bad!? Come and get me then!" Madara shouted