?￢ﾜ ? ~ Chapter Thirty — Ash of Formerly Beloved ~ ?￢ﾜ ?
It was after the eruption of Hell that the sky turned red. Elemental explosions, mostly fire, erupted from every nook and cranny of Konoha. Some were halted by barriers, those that were discovered. The larger summoning seals erupted with platoons of hundreds and hundreds of Shinobi. Jutsu blew over the gates and bombarded the buildings. His snakes hissed and blew buildings off their foundations, it didn't long for Jiraiya's toads to confront them in battle. Shukaku, or rather Gaara was in the distance, where Konoha's hospital once stood.
Red sky and black snow.
He truly found it beautiful.
The voice came from behind him, from who he refused to face. "Orochimaru…" Sarutobi-sensei began, he cut himself off with a sigh. Even in the barrier the Sound Four erected, the wind blew, his Hokage cloak rippled at the rhythm of the breeze. "I was wondering when you'd make your move."
"Is that right?" asked the Sannin, adorned in his false Kazekage cloak. A replacement he received from the man himself, golden sand in the distance gave way to his location. "If that's the case… then why aren't you better prepared?"
"Because I believed that you… are still worth saving."
The sentence nearly made Orochimaru whip his head back to face him. He didn't. "What makes you say that?"
"I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you. Neither would Miya, neither would Ryujin… neither would Jiraiya. After the Kyuubi's rampage, you sent in your snakes to heal us. If you were truly the heartless monster you pretend to be, then you would've left us for dead."
Orochimaru seethed—he cackled. He cackled at the utter stupidity of his sensei's statement. "You really are hopeless, Sarutobi-sensei. I only saved you all so I could kill you myself. How wasteful would it be for you to die at the hands of a beast and not the hands of your student? The poetry writes itself."
"I know every jutsu in Konoha, Orochimaru. The Inuzuka have noses like no other. Then can even smell whether truth is being told or not… and you reek of lies."
Orochimaru's entire body twitched with the urge to cut Sarutobi-sensei's head from his body. For some reason, he didn't—he couldn't. Why… Why was he cursed with these damned emotions?!
"Don't run from it, Oro," Sarutobi said—like he was still his sensei—"You will always be human, there is nothing you can do to escape it. All you do is run and that will always hold you back."
Damn that old, senile, bastard. The snake's hands slithered into a fist. "You've embraced what's made you weak… and now look at you. You can't even use Sage Mode anymore, you're missing a lung, you have no chance of defeating me!"
"And that is what you never understood, Orochimaru," Sarutobi said with a sigh. The pop of a summoning rang through the air. Adamantine hit the shingles of the roof, he heard them shatter. "Protecting that which you love, the value of bonds, comrades… if you simply accepted that, accepted what makes you your strongest, then you'd—"
"Don't you dare lecture me!" Orochimaru yelled, snapping his head back to face him finally. The welling of tears blurred his vision. Without missing a beat, Orochimaru bit into his hand, golden serpentine eyes glared at Sarutobi.
The pain of the body overwhelmed the pain of the mind. Orochimaru grinned, showing off his blood-stained fangs. "Much better…"
Sarutobi shook his head. "You could've been the greatest Shinobi Konoha has ever seen…" The Hokage ripped his cloak off, revealing his full battle armor. "But, if you're correct about one thing, then there's no changing your path now.
"And since I cannot change it, I will be the one to end it." Sarutobi pointed his Adamantine Staff at Orochimaru.
The Sannin cackled as he reached down his throat, pulling the blade of Kusanagi from inside. "You haven't got a hope of succeeding."
Orochimaru originally had a plan of using the Edo Tensei jutsu… to make killing Sarutobi easier. Since when was the easy way out worth a damn? If he couldn't kill off his humanity himself, if he couldn't break away from sentimentality himself… then what was even the point?
Tearing of fabric and Orochimaru's battle cry. Kusanagi clashed with Adamantine. Blood dripped from Orochimaru's fangs. "Enjoy your last sight… of Konoha burning to the ground! You'll go down as the failure of the Hokage you are!"
Sarutobi's face hardened. "We'll see about that, Orochimaru."
—⊱✿⊰—
His hands were clasped, supporting his head as he rested his chin on his fingers. Sasuke… lost. There wasn't any excuse for it. Kusari was simply… stronger. However, the loss wasn't the number one thing on his mind—it still frustrated him to no end.
He took a breath, the infirmary air was chilled. The yellow light above made the brown walls of the room eerie. An uneasy feeling sank in his gut, like there was something horribly wrong. It didn't matter…
The number one thing on his mind was.. Kusari. Not only did she defeat him, she… His eyes narrowed as he mulled over her words again.
"Don't be so foolish to think your revenge is the only one that exists. What is supposed to be my family tried to kill me. Revenge upon them is my destiny, just as you have your own fate of revenge.
"You avenge the Uchiha… I avenge the Branch Families."
Sasuke thought she was like Itachi… when in reality, she was more like him. He couldn't deny the pinch of guilt he felt, hating someone who didn't deserve it—he used the Chidori on her. Kakashi told him to only use the Chidori on an enemy, never an ally.
Kusari to him was an enemy, a threat, a killer.
It was wrong—he was wrong. He growled and slammed his fist against the bed. His mind drifted back to the preliminaries, to what started all of this… Kusari's battle against Hinata. Had Hinata tried to kill her? The thought seemed outlandish, based on what he remembered from the academy, that girl was nothing more than a ghost in the flesh.
The same otherworldly feeling that drew him toward Naruto, that despised Kusari… saw Hinata as something to be written off, not important.
If he found himself in battle against Itachi, Sasuke couldn't imagine acting much different than what Kusari displayed against Hinata.
With a sigh, Sasuke hung his head. The first thing he needed to do was apologize. Secondly, he needed to win against her again. That nagging, otherworldly feeling was almost more persistent about it than he was.
Something else called his attention, something else she said. She called him Indra. He had no idea how she even knew that name—but… that otherworldly itch was scratched. For the first time, it seemed satisfied.
Whenever Itachi was called Indra, a wave of irritation that didn't seem to be his own rippled in his very being. Was it… possible… that he was Indra, not Itachi…?
Then how the hell was Itachi so strong?! There was no way he wasn't. Either way, it didn't matter. Whether Sasuke was Indra or Itachi was, it'd end with Itachi dead at his feet no matter what. Sasuke sighed again, kicking out of the hospital bed, ripping off the IVs and anything else keeping him down.
His bare feet hit the cold tile floor, it didn't take him long to find his shoes and slip them on. From there, he made his way out of the infirmary—
A gigantic quake knocked him to the ground. His ears popped from a gigantic explosion. The shaking was so violent that it felt like the entire world was doing somersaults. Instinct whirled the two tomoe of his Sharingan to life. "What the hell—?" His eyes darted up, the ceiling was cracking, dust seeped from the parts like blood from a wound.
The crimson of the world spied a place of sanctuary, right beneath the doorway. A half seal and a flicker later and he was there once the roof fell. Everything was hot. Through the ringing of his ears, he heard roaring flames.
He sucked his teeth. What is going on?! Massive explosions, Fire—Ka'rai. "Tch. That bastard… does he have no control over his power?!"
Sasuke climbed out of the collapsed ceiling, out of the room he was once him. There was a red barrier around him. Through the gold of the barrier, ash fell like depressing snow. Shinobi were blurring and darting all around.
Someone screamed. His senses heightened and he drew in a breath—it hurt. The pain made him clench his chest. Dammit Kusari… With a slower, more controlled breath, Sasuke darted toward the scream.
In a flickering blur, he dodged falling debris, leaving a trail of crimson in his wake. His Sharingan spied a Chunin being slaughtered by a man, he was shirtless, his green skin had black spots, he had claws and his ears were sharp.
The brutality made Sasuke snarl. He sped up his body-flicker and kicked at the man—his foot was caught. He bared bloody fangs and laughed, throwing Sasuke to the wall. Just barely, Sasuke flipped and caught himself. Faster than his eyes could track, a fist the size of his chest slammed into his ribs.
If they were broken before, they were shattered now. He couldn't even scream because the jagged ribs pierced his lungs. All Sasuke could do was gasp for air. "Those eyes…" the beast of a man began. "You're Sasuke Uchiha, aren't you?" His voice was deep, fried, like every word he spoke was a growl.
His eyes were red, a primal ruby that circled a black hole of a pupil. "That means Lord Orochimaru wants your flesh for himself."
Orochimaru?! With a gargle of blood, Sasuke erupted with the violent violet aura of the Curse Mark. The heavenly cursed marks spread across his face and he pushed against the man's fist. Its Senjutsu healed his chest, he could breathe again, just barely.
The fist moved, he was being freed from his pin against the wall… The man laughed. He cackled. All he did was flex his muscles and Sasuke was pinned again. He was… getting bigger. Green skin grew hair—no fur. Just his arm was the size of Sasuke's entire body.
Wheezing—feeling his cracked ribs grind against each other, he managed to ask, "What the hell are you…?"
The man looked up, his eyes met Sasuke's—the Sharingan whirled. The man stiffened. Sasuke weaved a hand seal. "Mental Crucifix."
He didn't waste a second before bolting away. Something was going on. That much was crystal clear. Orochimaru… He looked back up. The gold of the barrier he was trapped in was covered entirely by ash, he couldn't see a thing. Is the village being invaded—?
A punch to the back sent him flying over the rubble of the collapsed building. If he didn't have his Curse Mark activated, his back would be snapped. "Oh, you must think that you're so clever, Uchiha."
The man's face was that of a leopard's, crossed with the features of a monkey… it barely looked human anymore. His feline fangs and stuck out from his mouth. From his loose, ripped pants, he had a green prehensile tail. The tail stretched out. Sasuke barely dodged before he was caught with it after a second swipe.
He used chakra to attach himself to the floor. The tail was wrapped around his arm and the beast pulled. Sasuke had to release to keep his arm. With a flip he leapt over the piece of rubble he was going to be clobbered into.
Next, Sasuke was yanked toward the man. Sasuke had a kunai ready and went to stab at him. Growling filled Sasuke's ears as the man bit Sasuke's kunai in half before another punch to the gut knocked the air out of him. A backhand to the face made Sasuke's vision go blank. A thrash to the floor left him on the brink of consciousness.
As he stared up at the beast… he saw cherry blossoms fall from the sky. Sasuke couldn't hold back his smirk. The man looked confused. He swiped at air and hit nothing. An orange flash kicked the beast in the face and he stumbled back.
Gentle hands grabbed him and pulled him out of harm's way, behind one to the few standing walls. He smiled at his teammate, just barely. "Sakura…"
"Don't speak, your lungs are too damaged," she ordered, pressing her medical green palms over his chest. Her cyan eyes narrowed. "Dammit… it's really unlucky that you had such a tough match before this…"
"Sakura…" he began, taking a clear breath.
She glared at him. "I told you to stay quiet!"
He ignored her. "That man… what is he? He transformed into that beast… his physical strength is insane… His ability to break out of Genjutsu isn't bad, either."
With a sigh, Sakura went silent, pursing her lips in thought. "He… must be a part of the Yokai Clan, then. They're a clan known for being able to transform into the most powerful and terrifying of beasts, many legends have stemmed from their mere existence."
"I see…" Sasuke forced a smirk. "You better hurry up with this healing, that idiot won't last for too long by himself."
"No… I think he'll manage."
As if it was on cue, a burst of wind decimated the wall next to him. Naruto was spewing with red chakra, on top of the Yokai's head, wrestling him single-handedly. Yokai's prehensile tail wrapped around Naruto and slammed him to the floor. Naruto took the chance to weave hand seals and inhale.
"Wind Style: Reverse Pressure Blast!" A gust of wind blew forward, disheveling Yokai, before doubling back with four times the power. Both he and Naruto were blown back to where they were before. Sasuke heard the popping of smoke, Shadow Clones.
Sasuke's fist clenched. "Dammit! Hurry up, Sakura!"
"I can't rush this!" she bit back.
Sucking his teeth, he forced himself up and gently shoved Sakura off of him. He forced his Curse Mark to activate further, squeezing all the healing he could from it as he stood. "Then we fight now and heal later."
Sakura stared at him, in disbelief.
He cocked his head in the direction of the fight. "C'mon!" In a cursed blur of crimson, he kicked Yokai in the eye with his heel. In sync, he and Naruto leapt back. Naruto's clones continued to futily dogpile the beast.
Sasuke analyzed Naruto with his Sharingan… the beastly features, slitted crimson eyes, elongated claws where nails should be, protruding fangs… "Are you one of them too?!"
"One of what?!"
"Yokai! That's what he is!" Sasuke pointed to the man they were fighting. "Sakura told me that's his clan."
"Uh… I don't think so?" Naruto pointed to himself. "This is something else!"
"What is it—?"
"You two dorks can talk about it later!" Sakura interjected, marching behind them. "Focus on beating him first!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" announced Naruto. With a toothy grin, he looked Sasuke in the eyes. "C'mon!"
All Sasuke responded with was a smirk. They blurred forward and kicked Yokai in the head at the same time. Naruto whirled around and kneed his cranium while Sasuke struck him in his simian nose. They both leapt back. Naruto clapped twice. The remainder of his clones knew what that meant. In the meantime, Naruto weaved hand seals and on instinct, Sasuke joined him.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
A white-hot searing wave of fire licked the floor and incinerated all of Naruto's clones. What followed was a catastrophic boom of explosive tags. Cherry Blossoms and ash fell from the sky. From the smoke, Yokai emerged and looked furious. Gigantic gusts of wind followed every swipe of his claws.
Thanks to Sakura, he couldn't see them.
With a smirk, Sasuke lit all of Yokai's wind blasts alight, turning them against him in a blaze. His green fur was charred. "Give 'em hell Naruto!" yelled Sasuke as he fell back. He landed next to Sakura and took her hand. She obviously turned red from it. "I'm going to add to the Genjutsu."
His curse flared and the onyx of his marks burned magmic, his Sharingan whirled. "Mental Crucifix!"
Cherry blossoms burned the Sharingan's crimson. A veil of black and shadow overtook Yokai and Yokai alone. Naruto continued to clobber him as if nothing was happening.
Sakura flared her chakra in sync with Sasuke. Yokai froze, screaming out with pain. The visage of a cross, blades pinned him to more blades and he was immobilized.
Naruto laughed and made two clones. He outstretched his palm and the clones began to strike at the forming chakra in his hand. Sasuke watched on curiously, his Sharingan picking apart the jutsu that Naruto planned to use.
Naruto's orange chakra swirled and pulsated, the crimson blossoms whirled around his jutsu like a tornado. The clones took their hands away from the jutsu then picked up the original. They whirled him then threw him at Yokai. Naruto yelled out, "RASENGAN!"
The spiraling ball of chakra hit Yokai directly in the chest and Naruto pushed into his ribcage. Blood spewed as his organs were grinded into mush and his bones into dust. Naruto performed a final thrust and the jutsu launched him through the crumbling rubble and what remained of the building itself.
There wasn't a question of whether Yokai survived or not.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Since when did he get so strong…?"
"Took him about a month," answered Sakura.
Sasuke snorted. "I figured that much."
With his skin crawling, Naruto flicked the blood off of his hands and jogged back toward Sasuke and Sakura. "We won!" he cheered, his feral features fading to his normal look.
Sasuke took his hand out of Sakura's grasp and chuckled, his Curse Mark receding. "We did…"
Naruto let out a breath. "It's really good that I rushed to the infirmary after your fight with Kusari… I don't think that I would've been able to get in otherwise. And it's a good thing that I brought Sakura!"
"Yeah," began Sakura. "What's up with that? You've been acting kind of weird."
Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "You see… I kinda… knew this whole thing was going down—"
"What?" questioned Sasuke. "What's going on?!"
Naruto's smile faded and his expression turned solemn. "The village is being invaded right now. Kumo, Iwa, Suna, Oto, and Kusa, all of them."
Both Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened. Naruto continued. "Ka'rai told me and Shinrai, because he was feeling terrible about it. Without that… you might've died, Sasuke. But, yeah… that's what's going on right now."
"I… see…" murmured Sasuke, before he coughed and grasped at his chest from the pain.
Sakura's eyes widened. "Lay on your back," she commanded. "We need to recover." Her medical green hands shimmered over Sasuke's chest.
As Sasuke looked between Sakura's focused and concerned eyes, and Naruto's contemplative expression… a thought crossed his mind.
The Word of Indra: The Uchiha Stone Tablet, the second line. Crimson soul overtakes the golden body; fight for that which you love.
Naruto and Sakura filled his vision… fight for that which you love. Could they be what he needed, his bonds? The bonds that Itachi wanted him to sever, the bonds that Indra instructed him to fight for.
Sasuke smiled. It was small, so slight, yet on his face it might as well have been a grin as wide as Naruto's. He let out a breath, audible, drawing everyone's attention. Sasuke simply stared up at his two friends.
"Thank you."
—⊱✿⊰—
Black and red churing utterly surrounded him. Roaring flames seared his eardrums and popping booms made his head ring. Gosei coughed, grabbing his bo staff from his back. The blackened ash made him blind.
The last thing he remembered was Ka'rai and Shinrai's battle… Ka'rai set off a giant attack—Gosei's eyes widened. Ka'rai did this?! The hell—? When he attempted to stand, his back was stopped by wedged concrete.
A unidirectional burst of chakra freed Gosei from the rubble. He slammed the head of his staff on the ground and the rock beneath him flattened per his command. Still, there was nothing but red. A red and clouded sky. For but a second it flashed to the Nibi's blue. Another devastating shockwave blasted Gosei back into more rubble.
The last thing he saw was Kakashi-sensei going to where Ka'rai was. Something burned on Gosei's back—it was metal—a kunai?! His staff whirled and he cracked the skull of his assailant. A Genin from the Otogakure…
Ash blasted, running away in terror from the blasting of blue fire. It was as if Ka'rai created a new sky of flames in the arena…
Shinrai had to be dead. There was no way he wasn't. Gosei didn't know how to feel about that. The man who saved his life no longer had his own, at the same time, he was a threat to the village with his fickle loyalty, while at the same time he was his teammate… a rowdy teammate who he never truly got along with.
Gosei clenched his fists. Above all, he was a Konoha Shinobi, a comrade of his… His death would not go unpunished.
Another attack he was forced to block. An Iwa Chunin. With a growl, Gosei fended them off. Water followed both ends of Gosei's staff and the Chunin dodged them all. Gosei stomped, the earth beneath the Chunin's feet opened and trapped them. A simple strike to the head knocked them unconscious.
Gosei shut his eyes before crushing their skull. Ignoring the sickening tremble in his stomach, he flickered away from the corpse. The ash was clearer when he landed. The… first person I've killed. With a shudder, he was finally able to take in what was truly happening. Konoha Shinobi were being slaughtered.
He identified three villages from the silhouettes. Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakue—their ally. Gosei growled. Konoha was betrayed, invaded. Otogakure was part of it as well. Kusagakure was a puppet of Iwa, their involvement was almost guaranteed. All of them conspired to invade Konoha.
His village was outnumbered… but… were they outgunned? No. Not while his mother was in the village.
Nobody had a chance of matching her.
The first thing he needed to do was find Natsuyo. Gosei whirled his staff and struck outward. Water spewed in a narrow wave. A board of earth rode the wave Gosei created and directed with his Godai. He blasted to where the finalist contestants were. There was no entrance, it was caved in.
All Gosei had to do was hit it with his staff and his Earth Release blasted the concrete open. Nobody was there, all of them had the sense to evacuate. Was Kusari alive? Where was Neji and the ones who were injured? Sasuke? Rock Lee recovered enough to be able to watch Neji's fight… Dammit—too many he had to be concerned with.
Natsuyo was first.
Gosei darted through the corridors of flickering lights. His staff clashed with a cleaver the side of his torso. A Suna Shinobi. The feeling of his boiling blood made Gosei sneer. "You! You were supposed to be our allies?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Wind coated his blade and blew Gosei back. "What do you know?!" His entire body was cloaked with robes. Only his hazel eyes and the brown skin around them was visible.
Gosei slammed his staff onto the floor and the earth shook. "I know that traitorous behavior is the scummiest crime in existence. You and your entire village committed it." He pointed his staff like a blade of justice. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
He snarled. "It's your village that put ours in poverty! We lost during the Second War and we were forced under all these forced 'treaties' and 'agreements' to the point where we had nothing for ourselves because we gave it all to you!'
"We were never your allies, we were always your slaves!" He roared and cleaved his blade in an arc of wind.
Gosei's eyes widened as he blocked with a wall of earth. All it took was a single hand seal for it to blast into bullets of shrapnel that blew bullet-holes through the Chunin's body. He cried out in pain and fell to the floor.
Marching forward, the flickering lights went out. The red of outside colored Gosei crimson, the occasional blue flash made his silhouette visible. "The powerful, the strong dominate the weak. That is the order of the world. Suna was weak. Your village has nobody but yourselves to blame.
"A Shinobi incapable of using Ninjutsu or Genjutsu is one of the strongest Genin I know. What the hell is your excuse for being so pathetic?" Gosei raised his staff with red twinkling in the coating of water. "You will pay for your crimes with your life."
A blue flash illuminated the hallway. His hazel eyes were lit. Gosei saw the fear the sadness the terror and anger. A glimpse into his humanity, the life he had and that Gosei was about to end. He froze—he bit his own tongue and kicked the Chunin the chest. "Get out of my sight!"
Gosei didn't spare a glance toward him before running forward. Another shake. This part of the stadium was going to collapse. Under his breath, he cursed. Earth rotated around the whirl of his staff. Anything in Gosei's path was blown to bits. It didn't take long for him to drill out of the crumbling building.
His deep breath of relief was filled with ash and shattered debris. All he could think was, where's Natsuyo—? Water washed over him. He took control with a whirl of his staff. Six half seals were weaved with his free hand. "Water Release: Turtle Destruction Wave!"
It blasted in a concentrated beam, drowning and breaking every bone of whoever was hit by it. Another set of footsteps—Gosei felt metal on his neck.
"Ingoken!"
Gosei heard the nauseating noise of a human body bursting into mush. Trembling, he did his best to ignore the blood that coated his back… it was so warm. "Kusari… how can you stand to use such a despicable jutsu? What did they do to deserve such a barbaric end?"
She stepped in front of him, covered in the blood of the one who attacked Gosei. "They attacked my friend. I'll never let that stand. Not for a second."
Gosei clenched his fist. "You could've used the Juken to incapacitate them."
"They would've gotten back up eventually. Ingoken is… permanent. Only a God can bring someone back from the Ingoken," Kusari reasoned, walking toward him.
Through the blood, Gosei spied concern that took the forefront in her Byakugan eyes. Behind that concern… was unbridled fury. "Are you alright? You're shaking."
Gosei sucked his teeth and looked away. "Have you seen Natsuyo?"
"I can barely see anything. The smoke, the fire… it's too thick for even my eyes. Everything's… blurry." Kusari hung her head… ashamed.
"Dammit!" He looked her in the eye. "Anybody else? Anybody?"
Grimly, she shook her head. A hopeless expression made his face hollow. He slammed his staff onto the ground, the earth quaked. Kusari placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find them. That is a guarantee."
"Heh…" Gosei's green eyes glowed with the force of his chakra. "You're right about that."
They bolted around the crumbling stadium. Gosei commanded Kusari to use her Byakugan to look for anything… even the smallest flickers of familiar chakra.
"Nothing!" Kusari growled. Her furious aura started to radiate… a shiver went down his spine.
Gosei looked back at her. "Anger is going to do nothing but cloud your judgment! Stay focused, Kusari!"
"Then you're not familiar with my anger," she spat back.
Gosei sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes.
A roaring came from above. It wasn't from a beast or a man… but a pure force of nature. Kusari paled. "Run. We need to go!"
Gosei didn't question what she saw… especially because it didn't take long for him to see it next. A burning ball the size of a house—it was a piece of the very sun itself. Immediately, the bedrock below Kusari's feet exploded, sending her far enough to where she wasn't going to be hit by the attack. Gosei himself continued to run.
He wasn't fast enough—the bedrock beneath his feet exploded and he flung himself away. He tumbled into a cavern of rubble. The falling piece of sun collided with the earth and a blasting shockwave flew over Gosei. Even still, he floated off the ground and was flung into a mountain of sharp debris.
The beating heatwaves licked his cut and ripped skin. Heaving and ragged coughs attempted to retrieve all of the air Gosei lost on impact. His lungs were just filled with smoke and miniature pieces of glass. His next cough spat out heaps of blood.
Dammit—
"Hey… I think we found one."
"Are you by any chance… Gosei Senju?"
Hiding the burning of his throat and lungs, Gosei stood, planting his staff on the ground and glaring at the two Iwa Shinobi in front of him. "Of course I am! What do you want?!"
"You're just who we're looking for," said the boy of the two. They were identical, obviously twins. Both were bald with dark skin, brown eyes. Both were tall and muscular. One was a male and the other female. Marks like cracked earth spread across their skin, seething evil chakra—
They have Curse Marks! Gosei narrowed his eyes, the ashen wind picked up with another gust. "And who the hell are you?!"
"The sins of your sensei fall on your head!" screamed out the girl, she stomped forward. "We're not dumb enough to think we could kill Hiyenzo or Uzumaki… so we'll slaughter you and the rest of you Genin shitbags ourselves."
Gosei's eyes narrowed—then they widened. "You're… the children of the Otoko Duo. Kuro and Kura."
"At least you know who's going to take your life," snarled the boy. "We won't even need our armor to kill a weakling like you."
I can't take two Jonin on by myself—Gosei's nose was broken by a fist. A kick almost snapped his spine. A dual punch to either side of his head rang his vision white. A knee to the chest brought him to his knees. Another kick, this time to his face made him drag across the rubble.
His body was built to take damage… what they were dealing was too much. Just those few hits and he was already at the brink. The back of his head was grabbed and it was grinded into the broken glass. Gosei screamed—his burst of chakra wasn't enough to even phase them.
Through all of the punishment, he kept his grip on his staff. Gosei flung it, coating it with water as his chakra spewed. An aquatic armory just at the tip of his staff. Whoever held his face let go—Kuro, he grabbed his staff.
Both of them were in a tug of war for control. Kura clobbered him in his chest. Wheezing whistled from Gosei's mouth… he saw white. A white wind flowed in his vision… was he… going to die?
Then why wasn't he panicking?
Why was this presence so calming… it almost made him believe he could win.
With his heavy eyelids, Gosei saw Kuro and Kura… they looked to be under something similar. The calmness of Gosei's mind allowed him to think. Genjutsu? "R-release…" he croaked. Nothing happened… it was no Genjutsu.
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four Dancing Palms." A white graceful flash hit Kura. Gosei's vision finally focused… and in the destructive expanse of black and red, a white-eyed angel stood above him. Angel's wings spread across her pale skin in countless marks.
The buzzing of bugs overshadowed the roaring of fire and the distant bang of explosions. Had the peaceful wind not been there, his skin would have crawled. Another sound—a bark then the sound of a drill—"FANG OVER FANG!"
Kuro screamed out, Gosei made out a whirling drill hitting him directly in the head. He was off guard, obviously, the attack even brought him to his knees. The wind approached Gosei and it was Hinata that picked him up off the ground.
The swarm of bugs clouded Gosei's vision and he was carried off.
"Team 8?" questioned Gosei.
"Keep it down," whispered Hinata, putting him down on his back. The ground below him moved, he was laying on bugs. Immediately, he tried to move but a white-eyed Byakugan gaze commanded him to, "Stay still."
"I would rather lay on the rock than these… bugs," sputtered Gosei, keeping his voice down.
He heard Shino grumble. "Insects, Senju. Bug is a generalizing, derogatory term. Insect is the proper term for them."
Gosei would've argued… but he didn't. It was only right to show respect to those who saved his life. "I do not want to lay on these insects."
"The ground under you is a bunch of jagged and fucked up rock," interjected Kiba. "Be my guest if you wanna lay all over that."
Gosei groaned. It didn't take long for a faded medical green to illuminate his body. Hinata's Byakugan was obviously picking him apart… figuratively and literally. The most microscopic and tiny pieces of glass in his lungs were picked out.
"This is GREAT!" Kura cackled.
Kuro walked beside her, utterly unaffected by the direct blow Kiba gave to him. "Four out of six, ready for us to kill."
"How is she still standing…?" questioned Hinata to herself, getting up to face them.
Without a second wasted, Gosei did the same. As he slammed his staff on the floor, raising the earth above the Otoko Twins, he explained the situation to Team 8. All that did was make Kiba laugh. "You're too weak to go after our senseis so you decided to kill a bunch of kids?!" Kiba laughed harder. "You two are nothing but a pair of bitches!"
Kura growled and Kuro scowled. "Mistaking common sense for cowardice…" Kuro began. "That is a perfect example of true idiocy."
"I may be an idiot but at least I ain't a bitch!" Kiba laughed and bared his fangs. Akamaru was already burning red. Licks of chakra spewed from Kiba's skin as he crouched into his battle stance.
Shino's swarm buzzed with the volume to burst eardrums. Slowly, his bugs levitated him and he disappeared into the swarm. Hinata stepped beside Gosei and Kiba, crouching into a modified Juken stance with that peace giving wind.
Gosei stepped forward, looking down on them because it was right. He pointed his staff down onto them. "It was your mistake to target the strongest of Konoha… for that, you'll pay with your life."
With that, the two sides charged at each other.
—⊱✿⊰—
That… idiot… Kusari grunted as she forced herself out of the rubble. Her Byakugan flashed to track Gosei, all she saw was haze. A blurry haze that encompassed the entire village… it was too thick to make out any detail—Kusari slammed her fist to the jagged ground. Skin was ripped but the rubble below her shattered. Alone and lost in the debris-filled haze. Nothing but a sky dyed red by fire. However… something was moving.
It was in the sky—the chakra was the color of the sunset. It stuck out like cancer on healthy skin against the firey red sky. It was Fuu. Kusari couldn't hold back her snarl. Her anger siphoned Shivua's rage in amounts she was barely capable of before.
So, this is what you meant, Shinrai?
Kusari was about to bolt after Fuu but then she hesitated. Neji… If she left to battle Fuu, then her chances of finding him later were slim. Kusari clenched her fists, her trembling became unbearable—Fuu was moving farther and farther—
Kusari bolted after her.
No matter what, she needed to avenge her brother.
Gosei was looking for both Neji and Natsuyo… he'll keep Neji safe.
It was her job to slaughter that bitch.
Shivua pumped more rage into her with every beat of her heart. It didn't stop. Her entire body burned with the strength—the power. The subtle activation of her Caged Bird didn't stop her at all.
The one glaring chakra that was Fuu, the only thing in the world of ashen haze that was clear to her. Kusari bolted, she summoned her own chakra nature of lightning, unconsciously. Her brain sparked—it hurt, she'd never done it before. The interference in her prison made it rebel even harder. Kusari didn't care.
Fuu was moving closer to the ground, lightning pulsed around her Byakugan. She could barely see what she was moving toward. The unbridled lightning pulsing in her nervous system was beginning to hurt… she hadn't even touched Fuu yet.
Kusari snarled and picked up the pace. Thunder echoed with each and every step. Her storm of vengeance approached Fuu faster then even she could track. She ran into a wall and it bursted into pieces at mere contact with her.
The jagged rubble made her bleed but Kusari didn't care. She could cut at Fuu's eyes with it. Another weapon in her arsenal. Fuu was clear beyond her intense chakra. She saw the insectile buzzing wings of her form. Kusari growled and pounced into the sky. Fuu whipped back just in time to catch an Ingoken to the chest.
Fuu screamed out as the hole in her chest spewed blood. Kusari's Byakugan pulsed and sparked as they both fell to the ground—it was only then she realized that she pounced over a hundred feet in the air.
Kusari reached out and grabbed Fuu's exposed ribs. She pulled her close and looked the Jinchuriki in her sunset eyes. "I… told… you…" Kusari was so furious that she could barely speak. "That fate… wills me… TO KILL YOU!"
Shivua screamed out a battlecry in her head and Kusari's hair stood as she blasted another Ingoken through Fuu's chest. Fuu screamed again—her armored arm grabbed Kusari's skull. Her bones never felt so much strain in her life—"I told you… DON'T SAY THAT FUCKING WORD!"
The lightning coursing through Kusari was turned against her—it felt like her own body wasn't even hers anymore. Kusari was whipped through the air as the lightning in her body fried her. She landed spine first into a jagged piece of rubble.
Of course, her back remained intact. She was heaving breaths already. Fuu was stronger—it wasn't enough—a fist to the face sent her skidding across flames and rubble. The chakra around her whirled in heatwaves of wind.
Everything was so hot. Her pale skin was cooked, her sweat glands were burned away. She couldn't sweat to cool herself off. Her heart worked overtime to keep her conscious. Kusari snarled through the wind, it was the same sort that was used against Neji.
Visages of the battle flashed through her mind—Kusari screamed… her seal— it was activating. It hurt, it brought her to her knees. But… she was getting stronger. With a pained snarl of pure fury, she ripped off her headband.
The gnarly scar that Clanless gave her was on full display.
Next she tore off her jacket, spattered with the red of Fuu's blood. Her toned arms pulsed with Shivua's strength. She couldn't bring herself to care about a damned thing. The only thing she wanted was Fuu's death.
Shivua wouldn't stop screaming in her head.
The Caged Bird wouldn't stop clawing.
Kusari couldn't stop seething.
She let out her own battle cry and spotted a weak point in Fuu's heatwave tornado. Her Ingoken blew a hole in it. Fuu anticipated, she was already there to rip her apart. An armored hand grabbed her face, dug into her skin—it was torn.
There was so much pain, that Kusari couldn't be bothered to scream anymore. She just needed to keep going. Fuu wasn't done regenerating completely. From what she saw, only her arms could regenerate with any sort of speed.
It was because of that armor.
Attacking Fuu's arms was useless.
When Kusari heaved through her mouth, she felt the smoking air come through her teeth. Her cheeks were gone. It worked to her advantage, it was one less thing Fuu could grab onto. An Ingoken kick took out Fuu's leg.
A bolt of lightning shot from her hand and hit Kusari's rib. So fast, Kusari could barely see it. There was… a hole. Somewhere—IT DIDN'T MATTER. Shivua forced Kusari to move. It was manic, each step she took. A blast of wind threatened to throw her back but Ingoken blew it back. She summoned the lightning, on purpose and bolted up to Fuu. Before Fuu could grab her, she deactivated it again.
Fuu grabbed at Kusari's neck—Kusari blocked with her own hand. Fuu's chest was nearly finished regenerating. She couldn't stand for that. Ingoken, channeled through the knee battered her again.
She needed to aim somewhere vital, like the head, the heart. That would take Fuu out of the fight. In the same vein, she couldn't let Fuu slit her throat. There were no strong bones to protect her from that.
Fuu threw her to the ground and the exposed skin on her arms ripped open. In a buzz, Fuu blitzed Kusari further underground. Shivua made Kusari move again, not a second could be wasted. She grabbed Fuu's tail and used all of the chakra she could muster to slam her to the ground. Next an Ingoken kick snapped one of her wings in half.
The tail whirled and slapped Kusari across the rubble. Blasting through the burning city blocks, she tumbled into what used to be a dog park. She landed in a burning tree and screamed. Shivua riled her chakra and blew the flames away. What followed was a gust of wind that threw her into a lake, merky with ash. She climbed onto the surface and stood.
Fuu was above her.
Lightning sparked into her Byakugan and it allowed her to dodge a bolt. She wasn't even conscious of anything she was doing anymore… Shivua's instinct guided her every move. Another bolt she whirled around. Fuu let out a frustrated roar and the wind for miles picked up.
A miniature storm bombarded Kusari with wind and lightning. On the water, she crouched and rotated. Water picked up and whirled from under her. It shielded her from the worst of it.
That was until Fuu proved herself to be worse than the worst.
The Jinchuriki blasted through her defense and held her underwater, forcing her to drown. Kusari didn't gasp… Shivua turned her fury calm. Her core flexed and she flipped up out of the water, wrapping her legs around Fuu's neck and pulling herself up, taking Fuu's arm with her.
With Fuu's head between her legs, Kusari almost struck with her Ingok—an eruption of sunset chakra illuminated the area and blasted Kusari to the lake's shore. Shivua willed her to grab at her own forearm, just as she did against the heiress. Kusari yanked her own bone out of her body, everything hurt too much for her to register even more.
A tanto of bone was in her hand, Kusari didn't even know how to use it…
But Shivua did.
The otherworldly presence overtook her and the caged bird screamed, Kusari was brought back and Shivua's rage left her in its entirety. Overcome with every agony, with everything that hurt so bad—she wailed. Tears were streaming down her face the entire time but Kusari didn't even know it. Now she did.
She was aware of how much her cooked and burning skin seared. Of how the burning of ash caking her ripped skin and how it dug into her wounds. The nauseating agony of the Caged Bird clawing apart her brain. How much it all—
Fuu buzzed in an electric bolt and struck Kusari in the stomach. It brought her to her knees but Fuu slammed her head onto the shattered concrete and screamed. Again and again, Fuu clobbered and battered her into the jagged ground.
"WHY WON'T YOUR FUCKING SKULL BREAK?!" she screamed out and punched her as hard as she could.
Kusari remained intact… her Caged Bird seal fuming and glowing. Fuu grabbed her by the hair and looked her in the eyes. Her entire face was just… blood. The searing heat of the Caged Bird seal made it boil on her forehead…
It hurt so bad, Kusari wished her skull would shatter—no. She couldn't die.. She needed to live… Fuu looked to be in a trance, just staring at her. Kusari managed to snarl—pushing past the Caged Bird to grasp for Shivua just one more time.
It blew Fuu back, the pure burst.
Kusari's hair raised as she entered the Eight Trigrams. Her Caged Bird made her twitch when she didn't want it to.
Her pain was so great it just made her numb. What was the point of stopping?
"Eight Trigrams… Eight Barbaric Palms." A pitiful number… but it was more than enough to take her out for good.
"TWO PALMS!" Kusari roared and she blitzed, Fuu couldn't react as two holes were blown in her chest.
"FOUR PA—!" Kusari collapsed to the floor. She couldn't move. The Caged Bird overtook her entire body… it made EVERYTHING HURT.
Fuu was on the ground, wailing out.
Kusari was on the ground, unable to do anything.
Fuu stood, seething and bleeding with those raging sunset eyes. "I'LL KILL YOU!" Her hand churned with chakra, visible without her Byakugan. It was going to kill her…
There was nothing Kusari could do besides accept her fate… Neji, I couldn't—
Something blocked the Fuu. She heard her scream out. Kusari barely looked up, seeing two fiery tails of cobalt blue chakra. If Kusari could move, her eyes would've went wide. "Fuu… you know she's off limits," he said, scolding.
"NO! I NEED TO KILL HER!"
"I said she's off limits, Fuu—"
"LET ME FUCKING KILL HER!"
"No. I made a promise to Shinrai, I can't break it."
"FUCK HIM AND FUCK YOU!"
She heard blue fire roar. A cage of fire separated Fuu from her and Ka'rai. He turned around, approached her and picked her up by the hair. "Damn… Fuu really fucked you up… Sorry, I guess. She's a bit harder to convince about the whole being a good person thing, y'know?"
Kusari couldn't respond to him. A selection of words Shinrai would use would've been her answer.
"Well, I just killed a fuckton of people so can I really be talking?" Ka'rai cackled. With a sigh, he dismissed his laughter but kept his smile. "Not talkative, eh? Oh well." She began to glow, blue… with the fire.
Is he going to kill—?
"This is to heal you, to make sure you don't die so I can really keep my promise to Shinrai. Well, not to him… but I promised myself that I wouldn't let anybody Shinrai or Naruto care about die if I could help it.
"I'm sure you get that much."
He… Kusari muttered in utter disbelief. He tossed her up and grabbed her by the throat instead of the hair. "This is going to hurt a bit, but it's to make sure I get you far enough away so Fuu doesn't try to kill you again… not that I'd let her."
With a sigh, he uttered, "Bakugami."
An explosion of his chakra launched her hundreds of feet across Konoha. When she landed, it was in a crevice of rubble. The bright blue fire remained burning on her… however, instead of hurting, it mended all of her wounds. The bruises, the ripped away state of her cheek… it was all going away. It even made the clawing of the caged bird hurt her less.
What remained of Shivua's power left her in its entirety. Kusari was left nothing but… the inevitable grip of unconsciousness.
—⊱✿⊰—
Ka'rai's attack was so much more powerful than I anticipated—Miya took in a deep breath; it was so sharp and so sudden that it hurt. From atop a pile of smoldering rubble multiple stories high, she saw the silhouette of the crumbling stadium through the red and ash. Half of it was incinerated in its entirety, the other half was falling apart… the half where Team 8 was, Shinrai and Naruto…
Occasional flashes of cobalt blue scorched the rising red of ash and fire. A simmering rage boiled beneath Miya's skin as Adamantine seeped out. Could he not just hold back? Even a bit?! If he cares so much… If my barriers weren't up then a good amount of Konoha would've been nothing but a crater.
She shook her head. The licks of Adamantine that flickered from her skin erupted. I need to see if everyone's okay. "First Gate: Gate of Opening! Open!" In a golden flash she bolted across the rubble, going by the stadium—
—Everything went blank. The tickle of dripping blood trickled down her nose, her forehead… the air around her was steaming—it felt like it was boiling. Immediately, she knew—Han! Miya flipped onto her feet and opened her eyes.
The red hue of the sky turned white. All she saw was white. Searing air burned her skin. Every inhale threatened to melt her from the inside out.
"Miya Uzumaki… The Lady of Infinity…"
The disembodied voice sounded like it came from every direction in the boiling steam. With a roar, her Adamantine Aura blew back the steam. A small dome of ash-filled air was her haven… it was barely better.
"This is the first time I have had the honor of facing you personally, I believe…"
Miya didn't respond. Instead, she weaved hand seals, then slammed them on the floor as a matrix spread in every direction for dozens of feet. A graph, a plane, that sensed any chakra. The steam, the haze, it was all chakra. Han's chakra was everywhere—
—From nowhere another hit clobbered her in the ribs. All thanks to her Adamantine, they didn't snap. Still the pain made her growl. She reached out her arm but all she grabbed was more steam.
Dammit, I can't sense him… I can't grab him, I can't—
"You must be wondering where I am? You're wondering why you can't touch me? Unfortunately for you, you'll never find an answer.
"Knowledge is power… and empowering my enemies is nothing less than stupid."
"Wind Style: Adamantine Pressure Blast!" Miya aimed the attack unidirectionally. Her golden wind drafted the steam away—
"Boil Release: Reverse Pressure Blast."
With a roar the boiling steam pushed against Miya's wind. Golden wind would've been shattered had Miya not yelled, "Third Gate: Gate of Life! OPEN!" The cracked Adamantine strengthened itself and blew back the boil.
"I already know that you're strong, you don't need to show me that. How about what I don't know? Hm?" Han chuckled. "No… how about we start with what I do know?"
Miya could hear her heart pounding in her ears. The earth beneath her feet shook. Booms and blasts came from all directions as common as buzzing flies around corpses. I need to help them—
"The most skilled sealmaster alive… the most powerful Uzumaki alive… the second strongest woman in the world… quite impressive, I might say. I would go over all your escapades during the Third War, but then we'd be here all day…
"You became a Genin at age five, Chunin at seven, Jonin at ten… However, your strength never quite matched your rank… especially shown when you defeated your Jonin mother, Kinka Hiyenzo when you were still a Chunin."
At the last bit of information, Miya's heart skipped a beat—"How the hell do you know that?!"
"That isn't all… she always said you had a Heart of Gold, didn't she?"
She did… her mother did always used to say that… and Miya forgot—but he knew?! Miya whipped back, she felt something move… it was a woman. Amber eyes and brown skin… she felt like she was the height of a child again as her mother smiled.
Her mother's smile was just as bright as Kushina's… she hadn't seen her in so long… right behind her was a tall man—her father… Gentei Uzumaki… his mop of straight and crimson hair, his striking blue eyes, and ever haughty smile. They were smiling at her, just like they used to all those years ago… over thirty—twenty… Miya didn't even know—
"It's been twenty-one years since you last saw them… I'm sure you miss them? Don't you?"
Miya shook her head—it was fake—an illusion—Genjutsu—"Release!"
Their mirages in the steam faded alongside her erupting Adamantine. Another phantom hit sent her skidding across the rubble. She looked up, she saw the sun… a clear day. Her hands were smaller, the ground was much closer to her head… she was a child again—just promoted to Jonin…
That sun looked too familiar.
She had to block a strike—from a blade? She had a kunai—she kicked away her assailant. They were from Iwa. A crescent of water sliced the face off of a woman who stuck a fist in her face. It never hit her…
"Miya! Stay focused!" yelled a voice—her father. She was on a battlefield, the Third War just started—
Miya knew what day this was. NO! She was a passenger in her own body. It made all the same movements she made that day—all of the wrong ones. The action that allowed her knee to get cut out—then her achilles. Her left leg was useless.
Ryu wasn't there… it was just her and her parents.
It wouldn't be long until it was just her.
Her mother was the first to scream… spiky stone turned her chest into a gorey mush that splattered onto Miya's face. Her father's scream wasn't one of fear but one of fury. He slaughtered the Shinobi who killed her, another came from his back and cut him. He killed them, he was slashed at again.
Eventually a blade hit her father's neck… blood spewed as his head flipped off his neck. It rolled in front of her. Unblinking and lifeless blue eyes stared into her own. Adamantine erupted from the young Miya… she had to watch again—experience again as she murdered seven Iwa Shinobi with her bare hands.
The snapping bone beneath her fists. How each blade shattered against her Adamantine aura. The way blood stuck her hair and clothes to her body. How the sticky liquid made her pouring tears invisible.
All of the pain left for those two minutes of slaughter.
It returned like a hammer that snapped every one one of her bones one by one.
The flash ended and Miya found herself bleeding. The white haze whirled around her like a cyclone. Some of her bones were snapped—through the Adamantine. Her heart hammered and hammered it made her chest hurt.
"Such a shame… or not… I should say. It gave you the knowledge to protect that which you loved, am I right? How about we find out~"
"NO!" Miya screamed. Chains whirled like sprawling tendrils to grab Han. Into the steam—into the smoke—it was night. The moon was full and bright. Ryu was at her feet, bleeding out—it was just her and only her.
If she hadn't awakened her Adamantine Chains then he'd be dead. It was all on her to keep him alive—a blast. Miya was knocked through a tree. It snapped and she landed head first onto a rock—it hurt—she fell down. Down a cliff and there was nothing but jagged rocks over the sea to stop her descent.
Chains reached from her open palm—she pulled herself up—she sped past and Ryu was gone. Miya screamed then she bolted. Nobody saw her for months. Not until she showed up at Kiri's doorstep. Another slaughter. Twenty Jonin were all decimated by her chains. Ryu was injured but he was okay he was alive.
"Thank… you…" heaved Ryu, finally saying a word after hours of silence. Even through that… he managed a smirk. "I don't know… how much longer… I could've stood waiting for you… slowpoke."
"Shut up…" Miya croaked, the tears in her eyes were undeniable…
When was the last time she cried—?
—Miya's eyes burned. The steam was drying them out—searing them, it hurt. Another gusting draft of Adamantine wind freed her from the phantom prison. It was only for a second. It was that time she saw the fist embedded in her gut.
Red armor—
—red chakra—
—crimson eyes—
—A Bijuu's roar.
Never in her life had Miya felt so small and so helpless. Nine wild tails with an aura of pure malice—destructive chaos. Everything shook. Kushina… she was dead and that MONSTER had to be sealed into her.
It was her responsibility—Kushina said so. In a bolting flash of Adamantine, Miya soared toward the Kyuubi. Every terrifying instinct SCREAMED at her to run and go the opposite direction to save her life—
Miya ignored them all.
The Kyuubi needed to be sealed into her it needed to—
By the time she got there the beast was gone as if it never appeared… the catastrophic state of the village was the evidence of its destruction. When she arrived to where she once saw the Kyuubi her stomach churned.
Minato and Kushina had holes in their chests, blood poured from every opening… their organs spilled out on the floor. A blond, whiskered, baby boy wailed with an Eight Trigrams Seal on his stomach. R-Ryu was unconscious, shaking, as if his very body was rejecting itself, bearing the burden that should have been hers. There was an Eight Trigrams Seal on his stomach, burned through his clothes.
She… failed.
She wasn't enough.
This was the price of her failure.
Miya cried as she stablized the seals on both Ryu and… Naruto.
Tears hadn't fell from her face for thirteen years and counting—
"So… you were meant to be the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki? Well, I suppose I should be thanking the heavens that you failed…" Han noted, with that unidirectional voice. "You would've been the most formidable foe that I've ever faced in that case…"
From behind her, she finally felt something. Miya whipped behind her. Her head was blaring with echoing waves of agony. She could barely see a foot in front of her. Each breath was fast and full and painful.
It was all Genjutsu—just illusions—but the memories were so, so real.
He was seeing them all— there was one more.
Five tails whirled in the steam—they were white— THEY WERE CRIMSON!
Miya screamed—
—Blood poured from her mouth—
—Miya held her own intestines in her hand—
—Ryu's arm was still inside the open wound through her chest. His arm was nothing but smoldered and shredded muscle. She didn't have the strength to move. She was forced to look at his hollow face—his teeth were seared black with no skin to hide it. He had no eyelids to cover the horrific image of his melted eyes.
All she could do was look until she lost consciousness… and what she expected to be her life—
The five white tails whirled in a boiling cyclone. Nothing but an opaque ghostly form stood in front of her. Bones sprouted from the cloak, a skull the size of her torso—like a horned dolphin stuck out and glared at her with phantom eyes.
"So… this is all there is to know about you? Miya Uzumaki?"
Shaking—fearing—terror struck her voice with all the bass it needed. "NO! All that you need to know is that you'll never lay a hand on the village I love! Not as long as I'm here to have a say!"
A single hand seal. "Infinity."
Han blitzed forward, he was so much faster than Miya could ever dream of tracking. That didn't matter when he couldn't hit her. Intricate seals looped around her body like dozens of figure eights… every inch of her body was surrounded by Infinity.
The steam searing her skin was expelled with the weaving of another hand seal. "Domain Expansion!"
From all points on her body, Infinity pulsed and blew back Han and all the steam.
Han said something… some snide remark she was sure. She couldn't hear it. His mask covered his face, she couldn't read his lips. The boiling steam around her had no effect on her lungs because she couldn't breathe.
The full body cloak of Infinity cut her off from the world. Four of her five senses were taken away from her. Han took away her sight, anyway…
It was just her… isolated in an infinite void. At least nothing could ever hurt her… as long as she could hold her breath.
Eight Minutes.
In a battle, that might as well have been forever. In that forever, Miya would show Han the true power of her Infinity. The steam she repulsed came back on her… didn't even begin to get close. It formed into a storm of pages, like that of a book and went to slice at her. Again, didn't reach… nothing would.
Han returned to the steam.
Another hand seal. Domain Expansion. Her domain seal spread far and far and far as the fog was caught in it. So was Han. The moment she felt a humanoid shape she made sure to keep it where it was.
Han was stopped in his tracks—he could still move… even if slowly. He was still moving toward her—Miya had to dodge. Her heart hammered. Infinity wasn't enough to stop him in his tracks. If she activated Adamantine Mode, then she'd lose the precise chakra control needed for Infinity.
If she used Infinite Void… then she'd have no chakra to be useful after this battle.
Another dodge. They were still close in speed—in the expansion of her Domain Seal, Han was still so fast. A blast of steam knocked her to her back. Immediately, Miya got rid of the steam. She weaved hand seals. "Water Style: Adamantine Jet Helix!"
It hit the skull towering over Han's cloak and did nothing. Her attack did nothing—
She dodged another catastrophic blow. If she got hit even once then she'd be done. Adamantine chains sprouted from her back to hold him down. Han was constricted, but not for long before he ripped them apart—just like the Kyuubi did.
Those invincible five tails.
Miya's heartbeat rattled her entire body. It took too much effort to keep her breathing in check. Four minutes passed already—her timer was halfway done. As she dodged more jutsu, more attacks, forcing Han back with her chains, she pumped more chakra into her Infinity, her domain. Han was forced to move slower.
She slammed her hand on the floor. Constriction seals belted from the ground and onto Han. The ink was melted and the seal deactivated. Miya's chakra was less than half, and so was her time—three minutes.
Nothing could stop him—she couldn't stop Ryu again—again she was a failure she could never save Ryu from the Kyuubi she couldn't protect Shinrai Naruto or Team 8 and she couldn't protect herself from herself—it was all so WRONG!
With a bellow she pumped all the chakra she could into Infinity. Han was finally frozen. He couldn't move—she was safe. Miya couldn't touch him lest her hand be melted. That meant she couldn't apply a seal. Instead, she sent her Adamantine Chains to trap him. Han roared… the sound never reached her ears. A dozen chains restrained him. Another dozen created a dome of Infinity that kept Han from moving.
Quickly, Miya released her chains and attached them to the floor. Han was immobile… she could see his cloak receding though his prison. Han was… dealt with. Barely defeated. Miya released the Infinity coating her body. Before she took a breath, she weaved hand seals. "Wind Style: Adamantine Gust!"
A golden wind blew away the steam and ash… the white was replaced with red once again. It was then when she finally took a deep long breath. Even still, her head ached from the lack of oxygen and bombardment of illusions. Her body shook from the lingering terror. Two Minutes was all she had left… Without Infinity, Miya would've been slaughtered.
Han was stronger than what Ryu was eight years ago…
If anything, it was the biggest relief she ever had. That meant if anything like that happened again, then she'd be able to stop it. All she needed was Infinity.
Her infinite haven… she'd never give it up.
Sudden footsteps caught her attention. A Hyuuga woman. Not Hinata. "Lady Infinity! With my eyes I saw something troubling in the outskirts!"
"What's up?" she asked without missing a beat.
The Hyuuga woman bit her lip. "A woman, her hair is red and her chakra's similar to yours, she's from Kumo. She's drawing a massive sealing formula, similar to the summoning that Lord Toneri saw… and I saw terrifying chakra seeping from it."
Miya's heart skipped a beat. Arasei—Killer Bee—"Thank you for telling me." In an Adamantine flicker Miya was gone.
—⊱✿⊰—
Her ears were still ringing. The white flash was still etched into her eyes. Aiko could feel cracked bones grind against each other in her own body. Everything was so overwhelming—she could barely process—
Another catastrophic bang. She no longer felt the jagged ground beneath her hands and knees. Above there was a collapsing ceiling of concrete, blown back by the bang. Aiko whirled through the air, skidding across the rubble with her clothes and flesh ripping apart. When she landed, she felt and barely heard a snap.
It looked like there was a new joint between her shoulder and her elbow.
Aiko screamed out from the pain. Every breath she took ripped apart her nostrils, jagged burns churned down her airway—what was worse was that she couldn't help but pant and heave every breath.
What… what's happening?! Aiko opened her eyes, shielding them with her unbroken arm. All she saw was red. Smoke hid the sun and fire burned the black into crimson. The occasional dash from a Shinobi she was too fast to track. Ash dropped from the sky like blankets of snow—a pitch black snowstorm.
Coughing, Aiko forced herself up. She couldn't stay in one place, she needed to find somewhere to hide. Moving her legs was torturous, but she had to push through or else she would die.
Aiko limped through the ash of broken glass and rubble. It was so dark, so red, she could barely see a foot in front of her. Was this what Hell looked like?
Through the ringing of her ears, a deafening blaze overpowered all. It spewed over her, she ducked behind rubble to shield herself. It went above, twirling and lighting up the darkness for meters around. The screaming flames gave way to orange twinkles like dying stars.
Those twinkles danced like glitter over what Aiko saw.
So much death.
Bodies were melted—burning green, black, red… all of the colors flesh shouldn't be. They were bloated, their age, gender, any detail was utterly unidentifiable. Others were charred entirely, looking like barely human ghouls of charcoal.
They were human… they used to be, at least.
It was a miracle she was even alive—the nausea got the better of her, she coughed then she vomited on the ground. The stomach acid and half-digested food seared on the floor. So did the soles of Aiko's shoes, the rubber was melting.
Impending doom made her nauseous stomach churn. She needed to run—she managed to pull up her melting shoes and limp again in a poor attempt at a sprint. Her next cough was accompanied with blood. Buildings were smoldering and split in half, falling apart as she shambled past them.
The next bang was accompanied by spewing lava, pouring down like the rain to the ashen wind. Aiko had no choice but to hide in a burning building. Every option was going to lead to her death—it didn't matter.
Even still, she had to survive.
"Help… me…!"
Aiko's heart dropped.
It was child's voice, a little boy. He was crawling on the floor… he didn't have any legs. Aiko could barely make out a face through the melted skin. Just two white eyes and an open mouth. Aiko almost vomited again… this time, all she did was cry.
"Please!" he wailed. "I don't… wanna hurt! Everything… it hurts!"
The child got his wish. Creaking and roaring flame, the building collapsed. He was crushed. What she saw distracted her from the fact that the building was going to fall onto her next. It was too late when she realized. Everything went cold in the searing heat—Aiko slammed her whole body against the burning wall. She threw off her burning and ripped coat and she barely escaped—it wasn't enough.
Fire and wood crashed down onto her—a burning skewer fell onto her face, clawing her eye. Aiko screamed—wailed. The fire tore apart her face and burned it burned it burned it burned it burned it burned—another blast of destruction blasted her back. Her broken arm was hit again.
Blood poured from her nose, her mouth, from all the destruction that merely breathing cost her. Aiko just cried—it was all agonizing. The blast of wind managed to blow the fire off, even still, she felt the burn of her melted skin. Her vision was only half as wide… her eye was gone…
With her one remaining eye, she still saw something, but a few feet away. Its skin was churning lava, the air surrounding it belted with mirages of heat. It looked right at her. Three tails of lava, the grafted face of a monkey etched on its head.
That sense of doom.
It was in front of her—she was going to die—
Tears poured from her remaining eye. It approached, slowly as if to make her suffering last so she could drown in all of the fear—
—Aiko blinked a blast of wind and dust blew the tattered and charred remains of her hair back. A screech and another bombastic bang. In a tornadic whirl the dust cleared.
It was another one.
It looked like flesh. Four tails of burning flesh of chakra were right in front of her. The sense of doom she had with the last one was nothing compared to this one. Mirages of her death plagued her scarred mind. It looked back at her, not more than three feet away, the sheer pressure making her feel like she was being crushed alive.
"Aiko…" it began.
Her heart skipped a beat. That voice… "R-Ryu?"
"Run," he ordered.
Nodding slowly, painfully, just that she did… just like she did before.
—⊱✿⊰—
The Ninth smoldered. His four tails flexed and Kyuubi's cloak growled. The fleshy cloak flickered between Ryujin's face and Kyuubi's demonic expression. As if he was one with the cloak as opposed to being consumed by it. He kept his vision forward, opposite the direction that Aiko ran… where Roshi was. I need to take the battle as from her as possible.
A crimson blur and the smoldering ash blew back in a shock wave. Halfway there, another boom as he clashed. Roshi and Ryujin growled in each other's faces. Rings were on his face, around his eyes. He's already in his Full Domain… No matter.
Through the demonic ape's face, Roshi managed a stoic look. "We meet again, Ryujin Hiyenzo."
Not a response was given. Only two words. It'd been five seconds… "Shinra Tensei." In a blink, a blast of chaos flung Roshi back hundreds of feet across jagged rubble—Ryujin was on top of him, even as Roshi was still skidding. A roar—Ryujin's Kyuubi claw roared with flames and slashed Roshi's cloak.
Molten rock spewed from Roshi and skewered him. Kyuubi's Jinchuriki didn't react as his body was boiled from the inside—he took the time to weave hand seals. "Fire Style: Ruinfire of the Ninth." From his mouth Kyuubi's chakra latched onto the churning blaze. The demonic combination screamed—Roshi caught it, moving farther and farther across the melting rubble.
A constriction of nature blew the jutsu apart. Roshi narrowed his eyes. "You're not the only one who's learned new tricks, Hiyenzo."
Ryujin didn't give him a chance to show them off. As he blasted forward, Iwa's Jinchuriki slapped him with a magmic tail. Any buildings left standing were flattened. Roshi roared—weaved a single hand seal.
A flesh-colored Rasengan slammed into Roshi's back. Even still, Iwa's Jinchuriki rocketed his hands into the ground. Pillars of lava spewed into the ground for hundreds of square feet—a quarter of Konoha rose above the ground. Smoldering pillars erected and each and every one of them fed Natural Energy to Roshi. The pillars individually were half the size of the Hokage's Tower.
AIKO! Ryujin screamed and corrosive fire bled from his cloaks like a spewing wound. It clawed into Roshi's cloak. Yin—Kyuubi's Yin Chakra it decimated the control Roshi had. Another swipe and Ryujin clawed Roshi down the mountain they now stood on.
The entire side of the mountain they were on melted into lava. Ryujin sunk in. Roshi had to weave multiple hand seals for his jutsu. "Sage Art: Erection of the Molten Mountain!"
The four towering pillars glowed, swirling. The peak of the mountain he and Roshi now battled on, matching the Hokage's monument in size, rumbled. What used to be a conical peak detonated. The shockwave rocked Konoha, it even bucked Ryujin as he sank into the spewing—boiling lava.
Another blast of pure chaos—Ryujin was freed from the crater. A crimson blur—a magmic streak. They clashed again. Ruinfire oozed into Roshi and Ryujin growled. Smoking ash from the erupting volcano sparked with lightning.
Kyuubi's will merged with Ryujin's idea. A sick smirk crossed the devil's face. The mountain shook—It was the Ninth's Vessel's doing—Ruinfire whirled in an inferno—booms of thunder blasted from the ash and it merged with the ruinfire storm.
Roshi didn't stand by idly. His three tails curled over his mouth, dense charka collected. Ryujin sensed it—Ryujin added his own lightning. Wind style encircled scorched the storm. The lightning was white—so was the fire—Kyuubi's chakra bled it crimson.
The Yonbi's Bijuu Bomb still charged. Ryujin never let it finish.
"RUINFIRE CATACLYSM!" Ryujin's jutsu coalesced over his hand and bombarded Roshi a hundred times over. Everything in the path of Ryujin's attack was vaporized without a second thought.
It was in the opposite direction that Aiko ran, Ryujin made sure of that.
Roshi had no left arm. Another smirk slashed across Ryujin's stoic face. Another scar—another corruption—He blasted forward. Ruinfire spun like tendrils into a blade. Roshi matched with a Sage Blade of Obsidian. They clashed.
There was no metal, no sparks flashed when their blades met. Just power. Each collision resulted in a new crater on the mountain. What Ryujin needed to do was draw him to the top. Another blast from their blades and Ryujin leapt up the mountain. Roshi roared and magmic hands of Son Goku careened toward him in fists.
Ryujin dodged one and was slammed by another—another—his bones broke even through the cloak. Footsteps and approaching chakra. Roshi was getting closer—two arms, two blades, Ryujin was skewered to the floor. Kyuubi's Jinchurki roared out—another Bijuu Bomb in Roshi's mouth—"SHINRA TENSEI!" A new crater and Roshi was flung down the mountain.
One.
The Kyuubi's tails pulled Roshi's obsidian blades from out of his shoulders.
Two.
Ryujin stood and Roshi blitzed through hand seals once again.
Three.
Hurry up! Ryujin stood his ground, his back was a hundred feet away from the crater and Roshi was two hundred feet down the mountain away from him.
"Sage Art… Molten Mountain's Eruption!"
Four.
A bombastic blast blew apart the crater. Lava poured from the jagged crater, the entire village shook, Ryujin nearly fell down—the Kyuubi's chakra tails planted him into the ground and it oozed into the rock. He was planted and not going anywhere.
Five.
Ryujin smirked. "Bansho Ten'in!"
From two hundred feet away, Roshi was pulled by the force of order. It only took but a twentieth for Ryujin's hand to clasp around Roshi's neck. An obsidian skewer to the chest only made Ryujin fling him harder. Right alongside him, Ryujin punched, kick and blasted Roshi up the volcano.
Kyuubi screeched as the crater's heatwaves blasted them. Through the Yonbi's cloak, Roshi laughed. "What made you think this would benefit you in any way?"
Ryujin tilted his head in response. "Stay and find out."
Another clash and the Ninth Vessel found himself disgusted with the chaos. There was never a volcano in Konoha. It wasn't supposed to be there…
Order needed to be established.
All four tails planted into the ground—five seconds have passed. "Shinra Tensei." Roshi was blasted in to the crater of the volcano. Right where Ryujin wanted him. His crimson blur tore through the lava was it was a pond's calm water.
Roshi bellowed from inside the crater. The lava swirled around him. The Yonbi's Tails were in position. Dense chakra merged with the Bijuu Bomb forming. Ryujin didn't bother to stop it, if anything, it'd work in his favor. At the crater's edge, Kyuubi's Jinchuriki charged his counter.
Two hands cupped, a Rasenova was born. It swirled with the power of the sun in his hand… it wasn't enough. The Kyuubi's chakra corrupted the miniature star. Ruinfire burned and screamed as it was terrified of itself. It swirled brighter—brighter and faster—faster—it… stopped. The rotation ceased then it reversed then it collapsed in on itself. A screaming pitch black void. The unstoppable chaos contained by the cage of order.
At the same time, the mountain shook. Roshi's Volcanic Bijuu Bomb was ready to be fired. Lava churned and blew and the entire mountain was ready to blow and take Konoha with it. The scenario in front of Ryujin didn't phase him in the slightest.
Ryujin leapt directly above the crater and Roshi fired his attack. Plumes off ruinflame spewed from his back to launch Ryujin directly at it.
"Bukimina Rasenova."
The attacks clashed in a catastrophic boom. A radiant light shone like a new sun… before the Kyuubi's darkness enveloped it all. Tendrils of crimson so dark it was almost black churned from Ryujin's attack and into the collapsing volcano.
The Volcanic Bijuu Bomb was absorbed by the Bukimina Rasenova. It consumed all and Roshi was next. Ryujin roared and Roshi wailed when the attack hit him. They descended into the collapsing mountain.
One last triumphant—bombastic roar and another detonation blew dust, fire, and, lightning into all directions. The fire never subsided, but the dust did. Roshi was on death's door at Ryujin's feet. His ribs were on full display in their blackened and charred state. They crumbled like falling ash. Every ounce of skin on his body was black, with the surviving bits of red barely able to ooze blood.
The only reason Roshi was even alive was because he was a Jinchuriki.
With his hands splayed, he set a seal onto Roshi's body. It kept him stable… so he could take the Yonbi for later. Even if Roshi got out of Konoha's hands, Roshi wouldn't access the Yonbi's power for a while.
Kyuubi's will overtook him and Ryujin let out an earth-quaking roar of victory. The land for hundreds and hundreds of feet was flat. Flat, burning, with pools of cooling lava riddling the landscape alongside the countless craters.
Quickly, he extended his senses. Miya's chakra was a screaming spotlight, just sensing it irked him. That wasn't his focus, he was looking for… Aiko… Ryujin's eyes narrowed. She's still alive. Naruto's around too. Gosei's fighting… That was where it ended. Panic spiked, he sensed harder. Kusari's chakra is weak, so is Shinrai's—Something else stabbed him with panic.
At the same time, a Yamanaka male flickered next to him, trembling and visibly wounded. "Hi-Hiyenzo… by the border… there's an Uzumaki woman! She's trying to summon Killer Bee!"
Ryujin turned to look at him. "I know." He pointed his finger at Roshi's body. "Make sure Iwa doesn't get their hands on him."
Trembling, he nodded and picked up Roshi, cursing as the heat burned him. The Yamanaka pushed through hand flickered away.
Ryujin set his sights on where he sensed wisps of the Hachibi's chakra. I only have a single Bukimina Rasenova left. Against Killer Bee…
That's my only chance.
?￢ﾜ ? ~ Chapter End ~ ?￢ﾜ ?