?￢ﾜ ? ~ Chapter Ten ~ ?￢ﾜ ?
?￢ﾜ ? United They Fall, Divided We Stand ~ ?￢ﾜ ?
Gone. Shinrai was gone. Glacial ice churned in and out of Ryujin's heart as he frantically chased down the trail his student left behind. Damn that boy; he was always the one causing trouble, but this?
The clear morning sky beamed a painfully obvious trail of the Genin's footsteps. By the looks of it, his steps were leisurely, only hours old. They went through the forest of grass, up a hill. There was a second set of footsteps on the hill.
Yoraika. Of course… Ryujin clenched his fist. He trailed the set of dual footsteps down the opposite side of the hill. The steps were sporadic, close together, there was plenty of skidding and sliding.
Were they fighting? He noted the absence of blood and scorch marks. No… They were playing.
Ryujin followed the playful trail… and his heart dropped once he reached the scene he came across. Amber eyes wide, his blood somehow ran colder.
Yoraika was dead with an eternal expression of anguish shocked onto her face. Beside her was a man. His head and right arm were dismembered off his body and they both laid in a pool of their own blood. Around the two were the bodies of four other ninjas. Affiliates of Blade.
The grotesque scene he laid his eyes upon was horrid enough… but what was somehow worse…
There's no sign of Shinrai.
Ryujin ripped a kunai from his pouch and slashed behind him, feeling a tap at his shoulder. There was nothing there. At first glance, at least. A tree of grass behind him displayed a note.
Barely thinking, he flickered toward the note, checking for any traps or rigs before grabbing it.
If you want your little Genin back, then show up at where the Blade of Grass stands tallest.
With fire in his eyes, he resisted the urge to crumple the note into ash. I don't have time for these damned RIDDLES! No time was wasted as he flickered away from the scene and back toward Aiko's.
—⊱✿⊰—
Barely minutes passed before Ryujin returned. Gosei appeared mildly irritated, his finger tapping on the table in furious succession. Kusari simply leaned forward in her chair, hands clasped in front of her face, with eyes full of worry. Aiko was silent, unmoving, with her eyes closed.
All three turned her attention to the Jonin when he entered. "Yoraika is dead. Shinrai has been kidnapped by Blade."
Kusari's heart collapsed into her gut. Wordlessly, she shrunk in demeanor as she clenched her clasped hands.
"Dammit…" Gosei snarled through clenched teeth.
Aiko's silence became deafening as she sank into her chair.
"Whoever kidnapped him, left this note," Ryujin continued as he slid the letter onto the table. Everyone read. "Is there a place that fits this description, Aiko?"
Gosei shook his head. "It's an obvious trap."
"You don't think I know that?" Ryujin snapped back with a glare. "I can't let Shinrai die. I won't let Shinrai die."
Aiko shakily spoke up. "The place… they're talking about is probably Blade's headquarters. It's a massive tower… you can't miss it."
"Where?"
Aiko pursed her lips. "About two miles southwest of here."
"I'm going," Ryujin said, walking away from the table. "I'll infiltrate the base, get Shinrai, get out, then we all leave the moment I return. Until then, stay here."
Not even a moment passed before wisps of flames whirled where Ryujin once stood.
"I want to go out and help him." Kusari's determined face was harder than steel-clad bone as she uttered those words.
"Don't be ridiculous," Gosei huffed with crossed arms. "You'd be walking into a death trap and slowing down Sensei on top of that."
Kusari grit her teeth. Powerlessness clasped her throat in a vice grip as she clenched her hands harder—tighter. They trembled as Kusari glared into space. "Damn it all…"
"It's…" Aiko began, a tremble in her voice. "It's my fault she's dead."
Gosei looked toward her incredulously. "Aren't you the one who branded her a traitor and kicked her out?"
"I did…" Aiko bit her lip. "But if she was killed by Blade, then I was wrong. If I had thought about what I was doing—what I was saying… then both Yoraika and Shinrai would be here right now."
Gosei grumbled. "You're not wrong."
Kusari remained silent, glaring into space. "We just need to trust in Sensei. Then, hopefully everyone is going to be safe."
"Right…" agreed Aiko, clenching her fist.
—⊱✿⊰—
Eyes slitted crimson like a predator. A fox's claws, canine whiskers, chakra burning. Ryujin stormed through the Forest of Grass like a demon. A trail of fire was left in his wake with ash coating the monster's every step.
In a flaming flicker, Ryujin gripped the tallest blade of grass for miles and glared. Black wood the size of a mountain was constructed in the shape of a tower, utterly dwarfing the natural grass he elevated himself on.
This is the place.
The Jinchuriki suppressed his demon's power, only to find resistance. He pushed harder and his feral features subsided. He ignored the devil's laughter and shrouded his presence as he entered the base.
Get Shinrai and get out.
—⊱✿⊰—
At the tower's summit, Zero laughed as a very familiar presence entered his sensory field. Hiyenzo attempted to hide his presence, but he still sensed it, of course. On top of that, there was someone else who could know this as well…
Zero dropped from the sunlit roof and down into the window of the uppermost room of the tower.
"What do you want, Zero?" Kowasu grumbled.
The masked man grinned. "The Jinchuriki's here."
"Dammit," Blade's Leader cursed. His surrounding guards stood at attention as he stood. "Send word to every corner of this base; prepare for the battle of their lives," he commanded as he brandished his green, elongated Grass Cutter.
The guards flickered out of the base, except for one. "You send someone to kill Aiko and the three Genin."
"Two, you mean," Zero corrected.
Kowasu looked back at him. "What?"
"I have one of 'em for safekeeping," answered Zero with a laugh.
Blade's Leader shook his head with a sigh. "Either way, take them out."
The guard nodded and flickered out of the tower.
—⊱✿⊰—
Dammit… Ryujin cursed with his fists clenched. How do they know that I'm here already?! Sensors? But I suppressed my chakra…
Demonic laughter shook his chakra. He growled internally and continued to slink through the hallways for any sign of Shinrai. There were none. Not in the prison cells, not in the armory. He couldn't sense a trace of him.
Ryujin's fists clenched. Where is he?!
The devilish cackles inside of him only jeered louder. He couldn't even think.
Just shut up if you're not going to be useful, fox!
The Kyuubi's chakra inside of him spiked, and it only laughed harder. Ryujin's blood boiled and he couldn't help the instinctive growth of the Bijuu chakra inside of him. Eyes bled to crimson and his nails grew.
Footsteps behind him made him glare. The Shinobi froze. He was not from Blade. His attire was brown and mahogany, and his headband had a stone carved into it.
Iwa?! questioned Ryujin the exact moment he blitzed him. Demonic, elongated claws ripped his throat open so he couldn't scream. That didn't stop a conglomerate of footsteps surrounding him from all sides.
Ryujin growled and weaved hand seals. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flame Detonation!" From his mouth, he spewed a massive bird of sun-like flames. The ensuing explosion of fire scorched most Shinobi around him and incinerated the surrounding building.
The smoke cleared, and his eyes glowed from behind the smoke as he growled.
Dozens upon dozens—maybe even hundreds—of Blade and Iwa Shinobi surrounded Ryujin. The crimson eyes and chakra of the Kyuubi burned like a phoenix's feather. If it meant that he found Shinrai, he would turn the Land of Grass into hell on earth.
Inhale. "Where is Shinrai Uzumaki?!"
No response.
Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale.
Eruption.
Any Shinobi who dared to stand in a dozen meter radius of Ryujin was thrown back by demonic chakra. It flowed out of him like lava, burning anyone it touched. The collective chill of dread paralyzed the army.
Aside from a few brave souls. With a battle cry, they charged Ryujin. A simple glare was all it took for the chakra to ignite.
Those souls were sent to the afterlife, leaving nothing but smoke and ash behind.
Nobody else dared to approach the Avatar of the Sun.
The inferno roared as he growled. Like a heated pot, he boiled. Bubbling, crimson chakra bled from his skin—which steamed from the searing heat. His already lengthened teeth grew even more—so did his claws—the hair on his head became even more unruly, and the whisker marks burned into his cheeks smoked.
Boiling chakra cloaked him like a blanket of white-hot steel. Crimson formed itself in the shape of a fox. The fox grew three tails. Demonic laughter echoed in Ryujin's mind as he harnessed its power.
The Jinchuriki roared, and the flames bellowed out like a shockwave. It scorched the surrounding army, and screams replaced the sound of the raging inferno.
If he was going to turn this into hell on earth, then he'd take his place as The Devil.
—⊱✿⊰—
The wind blew, but there was only silence. Gosei, Kusari, and Aiko all breathed, but it was deathly quiet. Hearts beat, but it was mute, as if they weren't. The Senju's teeth slid in his mouth. The civilian's face streaked with a drop of sweat. The Hyuuga's Byakugan came to life.
Glass shattered.
Aiko leapt behind the table. The Genin leapt to face those who entered, but neither bothered to see who they attacked.
"Water Release: Lakeland Rush!" The shattered window was further destroyed by a condensed beam of water which made direct contact with their attackers.
They weren't phased.
Gosei was kicked and the force of which sent him to the wooden floor which splintered. Kusari charged the attacker only for her Juken to stop on a barrier of chakra. She barely had time to widen her eyes before she was kicked through the wall and out of the house.
"Hyuuga!" roared a boy. He dashed toward Kusari again and her ribs were battered by another kick she could barely react to.
With his face underfoot, Gosei couldn't even call for Kusari's name. He grabbed the ankle of his attacker and shouted, throwing her off with all the power he could muster.
"You're strong for a Genin," complimented a woman. "But, not strong enough."
Gosei stood, rubbing his face with a glare. "Don't you dare insult my strength."
Before Gosei could speak another word, he was knocked to the floor by an elbow. As he fell, he saw the glint of a kunai fly. It was in Aiko's direction. With speed he never thought possible for himself, he hit the kunai just enough for it to miss its mark.
Aiko then bolted down the corridor. The woman ran, but Gosei grabbed her. With a roar of righteous rage, he threw her across the living room and into the wall. His fists clenched. "I understand Blade's cause."
The woman looked up with an incredulous look.
"But what I don't understand is how you can go through with such detestable methods.
As she stood, the woman laughed. It was cynical, bitter, insulted. "We're only doing what's right. We're only matching the level of horror we were treated with. Just because Seed wasn't actively killing us, doesn't mean we weren't dying like we were."
She scoffed. "Just keep your mouth shut, Konoha Shinobi. You know nothing."
"You're incorrect," Gosei snarled. "I know many things, including right and wrong. What Blade is doing, what you're doing… is wrong."
The woman bared her teeth and attacked Gosei. He was on the floor again, and another wave of pain enveloped him. That didn't stop him from getting up. I am not weak; he declared.
Her knee caved his chest in. All breath exited Gosei, but he refused to fall to his knees. He retailed with a kick that she dodged. His leg was grabbed, and he was hurled into the couch, shattering the wooden structure.
Growling, Gosei grabbed the couch and propelled it toward her. With her hand, she split the couch into splinters. He was blitzed and slammed into the solid carpet beneath. Before the woman could let go of him, he grabbed her.
"I'll die before you touch Aiko," he spat. Gosei kicked her in the stomach and weaved hand seals. "Earth Release: Bedrock Explosion!"
Below the woman, the carpet erupted. She was bombarded by shrapnel of wood, stone, and concrete. Gosei remained unrelenting. He dashed toward her and kicked. His leg was caught and he was bashed into the wall. Not once, not even three times.
By the end of it, he was too dazed to count.
Waves of aching constricted Gosei. His back throbbed—his nose was shattered, with a stabbing pain shooting to his brain. He forced his fists to clench. The world spun around him, but he willed it to focus on the woman.
He grabbed her ankle with a glare. "I said, I'll die before I let you touch Aiko."
I am not weak, Shinrai. This pain means nothing to me.
A vow to never let pain hold him back again, a vow which held strong. A force who aimed to shatter that vow.
Gosei Senju would never let that happen.
—⊱✿⊰—
Byakugan eyes were wide and panicked. I need to lead him away from Aiko and Gosei. The hair on her skin rose as she barely dodged another strike. Rage drove the boy's fist like a madman into the tree of grass—making it quake.
"I bet you don't even know what I am!" he snarled as he yanked a kunai from his pouch and stabbed viciously.
Kusari narrowly evaded the strike aiming for her eyes. Veins of glacial blood sent chills throughout her entire body as she leapt backward. "You…" she began shakily. "You're part of that clan."
"Correct," Clanless growled. His Caged Bird green hair and eyes shone as he weaved hand seals. "If you have any shred of moral fiber, then let me kill you as retribution."
The Hyuuga took an uneasy step back. A slow crouch into her Juken stance made her Byakugan pulse. "I can not let you do that." She could barely see his chakra, his form, or anything with her eyes active.
Laying eyes on him was no different from making out a blue blur in motion. How?! With a quake in her breath, she waited for him to make a move. He made another series of hand seals. Panic spiked. Kusari bolted.
Once again, her Juken was halted by that barrier of chakra. He glared. "Your barbaric techniques won't work on me."
Sucking her teeth, she dropped into a Juken fueled kick. Chakra pulsed from her leg as the sole of her dominant foot struck that same barrier. Clanless finished his hand seals.
Kusari's eyes burned. Screams of anguish cried through the empty forest. Searing pain enveloped her entire head, and she dropped to her knees. She felt it. She felt it. The imprint of her Caged Bird Seal branded onto her forehead like white-hot metal.
He was using the seal.
She writhed on the floor, tears welling in her Byakugan eyes. Clanless' hateful stare pierced the air like a blade. "I don't even know my own clan's name because of you."
The metal of her cage cooled ever so slightly. Enough for her to be aware. Enough for her to hear his words.
"I hate everything about you, Hyuuga." His fists clenched, and the pain spiked. "Your entire existence is made for violence. The technique you use is designed to tear your opponent apart from the inside out; to attack the defenseless parts of your opponents because you're too weak to attack the strong."
Clanless' words pained her already scorching head. The seal had been activated for so long that dizzying nausea churned in her stomach and whirled in her head; her eyes felt as if they were going to pop out of her skull. She couldn't think straight—she couldn't think at all.
She just took the verbal beating.
Each word battered her like a wooden club.
It was as if every single one of her disgraceful thoughts was hurled back at her.
Kusari screamed. Not only out of pain this time.
Clanless ceased his monologue when he dodged a punch from Kusari. Not a palm strike, a balled fist. Tears streamed down her face, her legs were begging to buckle, and her brain was about to combust… yet Kusari stood.
"I am not going to die here," declared the Hyuuga through sweat and heavy breaths.
The defiance enraged Clanless. "YES YOU ARE!" he yelled, doubling the sequence of hand seals. Before he could finish, Kusari grabbed his hand and pulled him into her knee. Each movement was unnatural; she was fighting against every fiber of her instinct simply to survive.
Another stiff punch knocked Clanless back. A shaky jab, a trembling hook. He wasn't defending against her assault. She didn't know why, and it ripped at her with every strike she threw.
That didn't stop her.
A much more refined leg struck out. Her shin was embedded in his side and he buckled. Kusari punched him in the nose and he collapsed to the ground. The pain in her head still persisted. She was far from used to it. Such pain was impossible to adapt to. She simply had to keep going.
Kusari threw another punch—but it was caught. Her heart plummeted to her chest as she tried to yank her fist out of his grip. It was useless. More agonizing tears drowned out her vision, and she pulled harder.
Clanless only laughed. His free hand weaved three half seals. A green sealing matrix spread itself over his occupied hand. It glowed a searing green. The same green that ravaged Kusari's head—the same green that enslaved the Hyuuga Clan.
Flesh ripped and blood poured.
Kusari screamed louder.
Clanless cackled before he kicked Kusari in the skull, sending her to the ground in utter torment and agony. "LOOK AT YOU!" he accused with a pointed finger. "You're so quick to abandon your clan's technique the moment you see your life is in danger! It's pathetic!" he shouted, only to cynically laugh once again. "I shouldn't expect much from the Clan who enslaved its own members."
A tearful, hate-filled Byakugan glare made its way into Clanless' green eyes. He scoffed. "Don't give me that. If you were part of the Main Branch, you'd revel in having the power to…" he lifted that half seal in demonstration. "Do this."
The pain in Kusari's head erupted. The tears turned to blood. She wailed with her working hand on her head in a futile attempt to soothe the pain. Illness stemmed from the agony as nausea took hold.
The white-hot ruthless torment that was ripping her head open from the inside out spiked. She vomited into the dirt beneath her. Blood dripped from her eyes into it, with her vision dyed crimson.
Another kick to her head felt like a barbed metal skewer through her brain. She fell to her back, and another sickening wave of traumatizing nausea made her shiver. A sigh of relief escaped her breath as the pain dissipated.
A freezing, numb pain took its place. Then, another sear as a foot stomped on her head. She grabbed Clanless' leg, but her hand was shaken off and she was kicked in the chin.
"There's only so much I can make you suffer and that's infuriating," Clanless said, grabbing Kusari by the hair and throwing her against a blade of grass. "Your barbaric clan massacred my people and only benefitted. NO RETRIBUTION! NONE!"
Kusari's Byakugan fell out of activation and all she could see was the blurred crimson of the blood that stained her eyes.
"Can you even fathom how that feels?!"
The Main Branch… she managed. Retribution…
The one-eyed elder—
—the heiress—
—Hiashi—
—How dare he ask me such a question.
Clanless grabbed her headband and ripped it off. Frigid panic shocked her Byakugan awake. Her forehead was exposed—her seal—her branding was shown to the world. She forced her hand into a fist and she punched at him again.
A kunai was slashed through her hand, and Kusari growled. The air was soon knocked out of her by a savage kick to the chest. "All the Hyuuga got out of that massacre was our secrets and they wasted it on this!" he shouted, stabbing a kunai into the far left side of the Caged Bird Seal.
"YOU BASTARDS DON'T DESERVE TO HAVE IT!" he screamed. Fury ripped the kunai across Kusari's forehead and blood poured out like a waterfall. Her pale face was bloodied red, and the faded lavender of her eyes was drowned out by the crimson.
Clanless screamed again and drove the kunai into Kusari's skull—
—It shattered—
—shards of metal dropped to the floor.
"What the hell?!" Clanless questioned, holding his broken kunai.
Before he could even take in a breath, his hand was struck. In a morbid explosion of blood and bone—there was only a mere stub where his hand once was. He wailed in agony, stumbling back with blood spewing from his mutilated wrist.
With his free hand, he made a half seal. The mutilated seal on Kusari seared green, boiling the oozing blood. The Hyuuga remained unmoving.
Heat. All she felt was heat.
The heat of fury.
From deep inside of her, fury arose.
It was—wasn't—hers.
It was all the same.
The same searing fury.
Visions of the heiress flashed.
Visions of blood.
All she saw was blood.
Kusari bolted toward Clanless. He defended with his arm. The arm was blown off at the elbow and blood spewed. He screamed again, but it was cut short by a palm hitting his lung. It popped inside of him like a balloon as his ribs imploded.
He gargled out a pathetic wail, collapsing to his knees. Caged Bird green eyes trembled with furious fear—Bloodstained Byakugan eyes were lifeless with wrath.
"Ingoken," Kusari uttured.
The bitter—almost ancient—wrath struck at Clanless and he frantically stood. "You! You're no different from the rest of your clan! You're a monster! You're a barbarian! You're a—"
"—Silence," Kusari commanded. Her Barbaric Fist was over his heart with an open palm. Her command was followed as volumes of blood erupted from Clanless' back alongside shards of shattered ribs.
Kusari dropped her palm. Clanless collapsed face-first into the bloodied dirt. The Caged Bird quieted and the boiling blood on her forehead flowed freely down her pale face.
With a receding Byakugan, she fell to her knees. A pure white streak of hair like ivory on ash fell over her face.
She didn't notice.
For the first time since the battle started, she could think.
Horror enveloped her thoughts.
Kusari screamed.
—⊱✿⊰—
Nothing enveloped everything. Stray thoughts drifted in his mind like tumbleweeds.
Yora…
He gripped the blades in his hands. Solace came; so did pain.
I'm… alive.
His eyes ached like an overworked muscle. The natural process of his chakra moving through his body stung.
He groaned, reminding himself of the sound his voice made. "Yora?" he called, his voice strained and tight.
Cold air entered his lungs, and a chill went down his body. Nothing changed when he opened his eyes; everything was still black.
The fuck…?
He cracked the crick in his neck. A jolt of pain shot into his nervous system—sensation followed—
"—Your eyes… they're… beautiful too."
A flood of memories—
—a bloodied blade protruded from her heart—
"—Mercy—!"
—The blades were on each side of the man's eyes like a pair of scissors—
—Scarlet eyes—
—The light in her scarlet eyes went out—
—Shinrai jolted, pulling himself up only to be stopped by the chains holding him to the floor. Numbness froze his blood, and his heart was no different from a block of ice stabbed into his chest.
He ached.
"Fuck…" was all Shinrai could say.
—⊱✿⊰—
Smoldering corpses. The smell of ash and flesh burning. Inferno. Sun-like flames raged, incinerated, charred. Screams of crazed allies slaughtering each other matched the hellfire's roar.
Nobody was to blame aside from The Devil that stood above. The bastion of destruction—of chaos and disorder that anyone who dared to face him was crazed by mere eye contact.
Genjutsu was all he truly needed to eradicate Blade. He was too angry to stop there.
Three burning tails of chakra cloaked Ryujin. His growl boiled the crimson cloak, and any Shinobi not subject to the maddening Genjutsu faced the Sun's Avatar.
Brave souls destined to demonic damnation. They weaved hand seals and the earth beneath configured itself into a gigantic drill of granite. It dwarfed Ryujin, easily dozens of times his size.
The drill drove its way toward him. A roar was all it took for the earth to crumble into brimstone. A flash of flaming crimson charged and the brave souls were ripped apart by a hand of Kyuubi Chakra.
A barrage of countless kunai struck his cloak, but they merely melted upon contact. The Jinchuriki glared back with the Ninth Demon's eyes. Dozens of Shinobi mid-air pounced on the predator.
Ryujin stood upright, dodging them all with ease. He weaved hand seals. "Lightning Style: Reaper's Voltage."
The smoldering corpses erupted into a barbaric electric storm. Blade Shinobi attempted to dodge, but compared to lightning, they were snails. Bolts of voltage struck out from the corpses and impaled them all. The shock of the electricity charred their bodies black.
A sudden hit from the side launched Ryujin into the burning building. He saw it coming. He could've dodged. He didn't, however; there was no need. It did nothing.
The flaming wood crackled and popped as the flames raged and roared. Whatever hit Ryujin was reduced to ash, along with anything or anyone else in his vicinity.
More ninja helplessly attacked the Jinchuriki—doing anything to fight for their cause, but it was all futile. A swipe from his claws combusted dozens of Shinobi. Within minutes, they were smoldering corpses.
Ryujin took the flames from those corpses, combined it with the simmering voltage from the ones he used earlier. Hand seals were woven. "Electric Fire."
Screams overtook the roaring flames as the buzz of lightning-fueled flame massacred them all. In his rage, he blitzed through more hand seals. "Earth Style: Hellquake!"
The earth below shattered and splintered into shards of rock and stone. Some ninja were crushed, others were impaled by the rock. The blazing tower above collapsed from the destruction of its very foundation.
Meteors of black wood ignited rained down from the sky. More of Blade and Iwa's forces were eradicated. Ryujin stood, fighting against the primal demonic instinct to gaze upon the hell he created.
Rage boiled over as his cloak bellowed. Shinrai wasn't here.
If this wasn't where the Blade of Grass stood tallest, then where?!
A fireball hit Ryujin. It was no different from a summer day's breeze. In a flash, a vermillion ball of chakra formed in his hand.
He didn't even bother to see who his jutsu hit. He didn't bother to spare most of the people killed a first glance—let alone a second.
It was the only reason he could sleep at night.
"RASENGAN!" Blood spattered as the ball of chakra ground the Shinobi's chest into gore and bone.
There was another Shinobi next to him. His Rasengan whirled and his attention was turned—
"—STOP! PLEASE!" cried a girl.
Ryujin stopped immediately.
"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" she wailed over and over. On the ground of ash, her rose red hair was dirtied with sulfur and her glasses were stained with blood.
She was young, barely older than Shinrai.
The very life he was trying to save… he had ended exponentially more just like it.
Ryujin allowed his Rasengan to dissipate. "Where is Shinrai Uzumaki?"
"Uzu… Uzumaki?" she questioned—something akin to hope crossing her gaze.
Ryujin glared. "Where is he?!"
She jumped, skidding away from him. "I-I don't know!"
"I do!"
Ryujin's head shot up toward the voice. A black masked man stood with his cape flowing in the fiery wind above. The girl took her opportunity and ran. On the masked man's shoulders, a boy was slumped over, unconscious.
"Shinrai!" Ryujin shouted, glowering at the man. "Hand me my student, now."
The mask man pondered with a hum, theatrically placing his gloved hand on his chin. "Okay!" He then tossed Shinrai off his shoulder and onto the ground in front of him.
Ryujin bolted toward him, only for the Uzumaki to fade into the breeze the moment he got close. The masked man laughed hysterically. Flames raged as the Jinchuriki roared.
Another Shinrai was thrown off of the masked man's shoulder, then another, then another. Hundreds of Shinrais rained from the sky. With a growl, Ryujin dispersed the Genjutsu without even a half seal.
Neither the masked man nor Shinrai were visible.
A spike of fury ignited Ryujin's chakra as he blew through the barely standing building. Standing upon a burning tree of grass, there was Shinrai and the masked man. Half of his mask shimmered with crimson.
"Hey! I'm over here Ryu!" he called teasingly.
Ryujin ripped the grass in half, and the masked man popped into smoke. He appeared behind Ryujin and dropped his student on the cloak. Skin searing hit Ryujin's ears, and he suppressed his cloak as fast as he could. Three tails evaporated and Shinrai hit his sensei's back, before rolling off onto the floor.
"Shit…" Shinrai grumbled.
Ryujin looked frantically around for the masked man… there was no trace. With a sigh, he turned his attention to his student, who gripped the two blades that were chained to his waist.
The Jonin's crimson eyes widened slightly. "That's Yoraika's blade?"
"It is," Shinrai answered quickly. He stood, looking at the collapsed, flaming tower. "What's happening?"
"I was looking for you," answered Ryujin.
Shinrai let out a chuckle. "Nice to know you care about me so much, sensei."
"Now, what the hell happened with you?!"
The Uzumaki shifted, his demeanor shrinking. "I wanted to make sure Yora was okay. Her dad showed up. He was loyal to Blade. He killed Yora for not siding with him. I killed him. Then, a bunch of Blade nin showed up… after that, it got fuzzy."
Shinrai clenched his fists. "I'm sorry… I didn't know any of this was going to happen…"
"Nobody ever means for these things to happen," Ryujin answered. "I'm sorry that it happened to you… Sneaking out was reckless, but it was not your intention for Yoraika to die, or for you to get kidnapped. You had no idea that this could've happened."
Ryujin let out a sigh. "I'm just happy you're alive."
Shinrai unclenched his fists. "Thanks… Ryu."
"You're welcome."
"Not just for not killing me like I thought you would," Shinrai added half-jokingly. Ryujin raised his brow. "For taking down Blade as well. It's what Yora wanted…" His hand drifted to the blades at his side. "It'll give her something happy to look down on."
Ryujin nodded slowly. "I'm happy to have helped. Let's get back to Aiko's. They're waiting for us."
"Alright."
A clone of Ryujin appeared and grabbed Shinrai. They flickered through the grass forest at breakneck speeds. Minutes passed, and kunai flew.
Ryujin knocked them out of the air. The sound of a blade exiting its sheath cut through the air. Shinrai growled, cutting away the kunai aimed at him as the clone popped.
Master and Disciple looked back to see a squadron of Blade Nin chasing after them.
"Well, isn't this fucking great!" Shinrai exclaimed.
"Dammit—" Ryujin cursed, his Kyuubi chakra erupting into a one-tailed cloak.
The Uzumaki's eyes widened from the searing burst of chakra. "Shit—hot! HOT!" he yelled, leaping back behind his sensei.
"Run, go to the border and wait for me there," commanded the Jinchuriki.
With a nod, Shinrai weaved a short set of hand seals and flickered away. Ryujin, once again, was facing down an army. An intimidating roar shook not only the forest—but the spirits of the squadron as well.
Two more tails grew upon one and the grass ignited. The Jinchuriki bared his sharpened teeth with a growl, spreading his maddening Genjutsu to the army.
Infighting began.
Ryujin charged.
—⊱✿⊰—
This is all my fault…
Aiko clasped the collar of her shirt, hearing another pained cry from Gosei. He was not only fighting for his life, but hers as well. Kusari was doing the same right now. Hell, she didn't see her. Kusari could be dead right now. She would be to blame.
It was her and her inability to control erratic emotions that kicked Yoraika out of her house. Which made Shinrai sneak out, and that resulted in Yoraika's death, and Shinrai's capture.
Now Ryu was out there, risking his life to save him. Shinrai could already be dead as well. If she could've gotten out of Grass herself, then Team 5 wouldn't be here, risking their lives on a mission far above their pay grade.
She was to blame for everything here.
A tear rolled down her face. With each punch she heard, with each agonizing groan Gosei let out, more threatened to spill over her eyes.
She was useless; she was a damsel, and she loathed it. She loathed this feeling of suffocating powerlessness that gripped her.
Fists clenched. Memory flashed—
"—Y'know, Aiko," Ryu began with a devious smirk. The girl rolled her eyes. "It's not too late for you to become a Shinobi!"
Aiko let out a sigh. It was something she heard a thousand times before, and at this point, she refused to hear it even once more. "No, Ryu!" she declared with vigor.
The then-Chunin shrunk in demeanor.
With a stubborn crossing of her arms, Aiko huffed. "I'm not becoming a Shinobi."
"Ah… okay," Ryu conceded.
She never heard it from him beyond that day—
—If she had taken that offer… maybe she wouldn't have been in this situation. Crying in a corner while everyone around risked their lives for her sake. No more… she pleaded, wiping the tears from her eyes.
With vision now clear, she was able to see something in front of her on the counter. It was a knife, still fresh with the smell of onion. The silver blade glinted gold in the sunlight. Aiko's teeth grit with determination.
She reached forward, grabbing the knife in her sweaty palms. Panic froze her blood as she peeked from her corner. Gosei was growling as he held back the woman from stabbing him with a kunai.
Both arms of both Shinobi were occupied, and Gosei was clearly giving out. Once she laid eyes upon that, the hesitation left her. Aiko hurled the knife through the air, directly toward the woman's head.
With widened eyes, the woman dodged the knife, and it clattered on the broken floor. Gosei threw the woman off of him in that moment of changing focus. He pulled a kunai out from his own pouch. His fists clenched over it as he raised the kunai into the air.
However, he paused, looking the woman in the eyes. Aiko drew in a piercing breath. Gosei was stabbed through the chest with the onion-stained knife.
"Gosei!" Aiko called, going numb.
He snarled in searing agony as he fell off the woman. She leapt up, ripping the knife out of Gosei's chest and raising it into the air. There was no hesitation when she brought it down.
Before it made contact with Gosei, her head made contact with the floor. It was entirely separate from her body. Blood spewed from the stump that was her neck. It soaked Gosei crimson, and he screamed in horror.
However, a laugh broke through. "Hey, for once you're covered in blood that isn't your own! Truly an achievement, Gosei."
Aiko trembled, while a nauseating wave of relief washed over her. Shinrai crouched above the woman and Gosei. Blood stained the steel blade of his ivory white Grass Cutter. Her heart skipped a beat. Yoraika's blade…
With a flick of his wrist, the blood on the blade spattered off on the walls and the steel was clean. Shinrai sheathed the blade. Gosei looked up at him, shaking. "You… you saved my life."
"Well shit, I did," Shinrai realized. "Maybe I should've come a couple of seconds later."
Gosei let out a breath and crawled out from under the woman's headless corpse. He stood, a quake in his legs. "Where's sensei?"
"Yes, him. He's fighting an army right now," Shinrai said. Both Aiko's and Gosei's eyes widened. "He told me to get you guys and meet him at the border."
"I see…"
"Where's Kusari?" asked Shinrai after looking around.
"She's still out there," Aiko answered with a quiver in her voice, a jitter in her lips, ice in her veins.
Shinrai stared at her. Chills crawled over every inch of Aiko's skin. She took an instinctive step back as she peered into his eyes. Unsettling, careless, coal-black eyes. After an unnerving eternity of a few seconds, Shinrai looked away.
"We need to go get her," he declared.
Gosei nodded in agreement. He raised his arm and pointed toward the hole in the wall. "She went out there."
With narrowed eyes, Shinrai weaved a few hand seals and flickered out of the hole. Gosei and Aiko were left behind.
Gosei's eyes furrowed. "How does he know the body flicker—?" He shook his head. "C'mon," called Gosei to Aiko.
They both ran out of the house, with Aiko trailing behind Gosei. He was certainly holding back his speed for her sake. Yet another sacrifice made for her. She pushed down the guilt.
She needed to focus on living right now.
Little more than a couple minutes passed. Broken blades of grass tilted over, and the smell of bloody death clung to her nose. It made her sick.
"Aiko…" Gosei began. "You might want to hang back… just in case."
With fists clenched, she shook her head. "No."
"I respect your resolve, your bravery as well," said Gosei simply. "You would've made a good Shinobi."
Aiko let out a small chuckle. "Thanks…"
He nodded in response.
They trailed the footprints of Kusari and her opponent. However, before they could go all the way there, Kusari and Shinrai were already walking toward them. The former was visibly shaken. Her face was visibly blood-stained, her left hand was mauled, and there was a notable streak of white hair where it was once black.
Both were silent.
It seemed that Team 5 had an unspoken understanding. The battle was won. Aiko was safe… for now, at least. For long, she hoped. The Genin picked up the pace, with Gosei the caboose behind Aiko.
From then on, they made their way to the border.
They weren't the only ones headed in that direction.
Zero nonchalantly walked beside them. Entirely invisible. "So," he began, nobody hearing him. "You four are headed to the border as well? What a coincidence, I am too!"
No response.
"Where are you headed?"
Silence.
"Konoha, hm?" Zero pondered as he placed a hand on his mask. "That's quite the village. I, however, am planning to head to Iwa. I personally think it's a much better village."
The wind blew.
"You see, what happens when a rock—" one appeared in his hand "—and a leaf—"one appeared in his opposite hand "—come together? Hm?"
Not a soul answered.
With a smirk, he clapped with the two objects in his hand. A small crunch was heard, and the four looked in his direction. Zero simply dropped the stone to the ground and blew the remains of the shattered leaf out of his hand into the breeze.
"The leaf gets crushed."
Laughing, Zero joined the breeze, and a collective chill went down the spines of the four.
—⊱✿⊰—
About an hour passed, noon was high, Team 5 and Aiko sat at the border. Not a single word was spoken. The high hedges of Grass' maze cast a shadow where they hid from the unforgiving sun. Aiko told them about the places where the least amount of guards would reside. That's where they were.
It wouldn't take long for them to be joined.
"Ryu!" Aiko called, fully relieved.
Shinrai forced a smile and waved.
Kusari remained silent.
Gosei stood. "Sensei," he greeted with a nod.
Ryujin let out a sigh. "You're all alive."
"Unfortunately," added Shinrai.
His comment was ignored, and he walked closer to the group. Aiko got up to her feet and hugged Ryujin tight. "Thank you…"
The Jonin cleared his throat, awkwardly returning the hug. "Of course."
"KYUUBI JINCHURIKI!" shouted a voice.
Ryujin's eyes widened—Shinrai and Gosei stood on guard.
A Blade nin limped toward the group, shattered Grass Cutter in hand. "I won't let you escape this country alive," they declared, trembling in their stance.
The Jonin let out a sigh, letting go of Aiko and facing them. "I've killed enough people today. Don't waste your life on this."
"It's BECAUSE you've killed so many of my friends, my comrades!" their voice cracked, tears welled in their eyes and Ryujin's gaze narrowed. "That's why I can't let you leave here alive!"
They charged with a battle cry.
All it took was a simple kick to the chest, and the blade nin was on the floor. They attempted to glare at Ryujin, but slumped to the ground, unconscious.
"Sorry about that," Ryujin apologized, avoiding the massive fox in the room.
Aiko shook her head. "Did they just call you—"
"We need to get out of here before more of Blade's nin arrive," Ryujin cut her off and walked toward the Maze of Grass. He inhaled. "Fire Style: Burning Attack!"
From his mouth, a scorching ball of fire reduced any grass it touched to ash. It traveled for hundreds of feet, leaving smoldering ash in its wake. "I made a path," Ryujin stated.
"Wow, you're a lot better at that jutsu than I am," Shinrai said.
His sensei didn't feel the need to comment on the obvious disparity, so he walked forward. Team 5 and Aiko followed, the latter silent in suspicion.
At least, when they exited the Land of Grass, they would be safe.
Safety… is what all of them needed.
—⊱✿⊰—
A massive tower was carved out of stone. Ebony rock shone like a field of roses under the light of the setting sun—not only the tower sparkled. The entirety of the surrounding rock shimmered as well. The tower was the tallest thing beside the mountains that hid the village.
Iwagakure: The Village Hidden in the Stones.
In the tower, there was a man. A short, elderly man. A powerful elder. The Fence Sitter sat in his office, peacefully wrapping up his paperwork for the day.
Peace was disturbed.
The elder rose into the air and pointed two hands at the masked man in front of him. A transparent rotating cube whirled in his palms. "Get out of my office or I'll atomize you."
"Hey! Hey!" the black-masked man called, raising his hands in surrender. "I mean no harm, Lord Tsuchikage. I simply wish to inform you of a happening I believe you'll be interested in."
The Tsuchikage glared. "Toying with me is no different from playing with your life. You best not—"
"—I'm not!" said Zero, walking toward the Kage. "Y'know The Land of Grass, and how you were trying to turn it into a puppet state by starting a revolution. The Blade Faction?"
The cube in his palms shone. "How do you know that?!"
"That's not important," he answered. "What is important… is that your little Blade Faction has been eradicated to near extinction."
"What?!"
"And the culprit is Ryujin Hiyenzo, The Kyuubi Jinchuriki," Zero said, smirking behind his mask.
The Tsuchikage glared incredulously. "Boy…" he began. "Do you speak the truth?"
"I have no reason not to!" Zero laughed. "I'm telling you this because I believe an alliance with Iwa would benefit both of us!"
With a chuckle, the Kage shook his head. "What makes you think an alliance would benefit me?"
"As you can see, I have supposedly classified intel on your village, and other nuggets of intel that you don't have. Who's to say that I don't have the same amount of intel on other hidden villages?"
"And who's to say that you aren't playing double, triple, or even quadruple agent for the other Hidden Villages and leaking secrets of Iwa to our enemies?" questioned the Kage.
Zero paused. Then he laughed. "You'll just have to believe that I'm not."
In an instant, the cube in the Tsuchikage's hands exploded into a cubic beam that vaporized Zero. No trace that he ever existed was left.
"C'mon, you're going to have to try harder than that if you're trying to get rid of me," Zero taunted, walking out of the wall on the opposite side of the room. He was entirely unharmed.
The Kage glared. "You—!"
"Hiyenzo won't be in The Land of Fire for another three days if he keeps his current pace. You have until then to kill or capture him with minimal consequences," Zero informed. "I wish you good luck, Lord Tsuchikage."
With a snap of his fingers, Zero disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Dammit!" cursed the Tsuchikage, punching his stone desk. His chakra flared and three Iwa ANBU flickered in front of him.
"You." He pointed to one ANBU. "Go order reinforcements to Blade."
"You." He pointed to another ANBU. "Find any trace of a man with a featureless black mask and a cape. Put a bounty on his head."
"You." He pointed to the last ANBU. "Send word to Roshi. He has a target."
The three ANBU bowed. "Yes, Lord Tsuchikage."
With another flicker, they were gone with barely a trace.
?￢ﾜ ? ~ Chapter End ~ ?￢ﾜ ?