Shiori held the bars in her hands in an offensive position, yet still waiting for her to make the first move. She looked furious. Glaring daggers. Looking for an opening to attack.
What Shiori didn't expect was for her to throw her head back and laugh. "Oh my. What a smart little girl you are. Over three hundred years, and you are the first to get this close to the truth."
"As a courtesy, I will tell you the full story. Then you will meet your fate." She said as she let out another laugh.
"You see, long ago, there was a clan. Quite a special one. A clan of women. However, they were not normal women by any means. Their blood was quite special. It gave them various abilities."
"Their blood had a potent healing effect. So much so that it erased all effects of aging once they reached adulthood since it would only become more potent with age."
"Their bodies healed at accelerated so much so that even a scar wouldn't remain. Their genes were so strong that They also only bore female children, so soon enough the clan only consisted of women who all looked like one another."
"However, there was a drawback to their ability. The iron in their blood, which caused its potency and granted their abilities, was deadly to them outside their body. It burned their skin when they came into contact with it, and if they were wounded with iron, they would immediately die even from a scratch."
"The brutish clan next to them discovered this secret, and with their ability to control metals, they forged weapons to control them. They hunted them down and made a camp to confine them. Once in a while, they would take one of the women, bring her to their own camp, and use her blood to heal their wounds after battles. It also kept them young and healthy."
"Once the woman was dead they would take another. They would regularly force themselves on the woman to keep their population up to their liking. This went on for many years until something unexpected happened."
"One of their men betrayed them. he fell in love with one of the women, and they had a child. He took the child away in order to save her. She grew up with a small clan of genjutsu specialists."
"Her father would often visit her and tell her stories. Once the girl was old enough, she learned the truth. She wanted nothing more than to help her people. She was young and naive. Believing too much in her own abilities."
"It was not unexpected after all. She grew up not seeing the war and always getting praised for her abilities. She made a plan and attacked. She planned on killing the man who controlled her clan and free her people."
"She knew how to mind control people with genjutsu. She sneaked in at night putting the closest guards in a genjutsu. But she was heard by a man who was too strong for her and broke out of the genjutsu. alarms were sounded and the girl ran into the village to escape those following her."
"They couldn't distinguish her from others, and they started attacking everyone. Their prisoners were now fighting for their lives. It was a slaughter. The stupid girl hid in a well, praying not to be found."
"The next morning, she came out to find all her people dead. And it was all her fault. She was foolishly lingering around looking for survivors when she was found by a guard remaining behind for the same purpose. To get rid of the survivors."
"The guard overpowered her easily and decided to have a little fun with her before finishing her. He forced himself on the girl who was doing her best to fight back. The man took his time. Going on and on until he was tired."
"Just for a second, his grip loosened, and the girl bit him. The rush of blood in her mouth was a new experience. An exhilarating one. The man was frozen in place while she drank his blood dry."
"that day, she found another one of her abilities. Drinking blood gave her a boost in powers. Her senses were heightened, and she was stronger physically. There was only one thing in her mind: revenge."
"She wasn't about to rush in this time. She first tried her ability with some villagers. She would make them come to her into the woods. Drink their blood and finish them."
"Little by little, she became stronger, and it was finally time. She attacked their clan and took down as many of them as she could before they took her down. They couldn't kill her since she was one of the last survivors, so they built an unescapable cage and took her to a cave."
"They put a guard to keep her alive and draw her blood as needed. The other survivors were used for breeding in hopes of repopulating the clan. Alas, fate had other plans, and a while later, they were attacked and annihilated by another clan."
"The guard kept to his duty. It was his last order, after all. He kept the woman alive and, in turn, used her blood to keep himself young and healthy to continue doing so."
"One thing you learn with immortality is patience. The woman bid her time. She had a taste for human blood now and couldn't live like before. So she would lure oblivious humans to her trap and feast upon them."
"With each human, her abilities would grow. She could sense them from further distances, and the range of her genjutsu grew. However, she couldn't escape from her cage."
"So she waited, waited for a day that someone would free her. I have to thank you little one. if it wasn't for you, I would still be in that cage." She said with a smile. There was nothing good about that smile. It seemed cruel and dark.
"You still haven't explained how all of this is related to the dying part of the forest," Shiori said, keeping her voice even. If what she said was true, she had to be careful with her powers.
"Oh, there isn't really much to it. To sustain myself with my taste for the blood, he brings me fresh animals. I drink their blood, and he consumes the meat. I have a paralytic venom that enters their body as I bite them and they become docile so the blood consumption becomes easier. If I have to guess the venom is effecting the soil." She said while showing her slightly elongated canine teeth.
"Are you so sure of your victory that you are so willingly answering all my questions?" Shiori questioned. This was not going to be easy.
"Of course, my dear. You may be strong, but you don't have a chance against me. Now it's time to play." She said and in a flash she disappeared and reappeared next to Shiori.
It was her instincts that made her dodge in time from sharp nails that would have pierced her neck. Shiori jumped back and took a deep breath.
She was fast. Shiori focused her chakra in her body to enhance her speed. She doubted she would be as fast but she should stand a good chance. The woman was laughing madly at her.
Shiori blocked her out of her mind. She didn't need to hear her taunting. She sent a water bullet to where she stood, but she started running in a circle, avoiding all bullets while also getting closer to her.
She wasn't about to give her the opportunity so she stopped the water bullets and shunshined to the other side of the room. the woman immediately turned and ran towards her.
She couldn't avoid her forever, she just needed a bit more time. She took out a seal and threw it at her. The smoke went off in the cave making the woman stop and cough. Shiori used the opportunity to kick her in the back. the woman was thrown off and Shiori sent slashing water blades at her. She dodged and jumped towards her.
They engaged in a taijutsu fight. The woman's nails were sharp and elongated, and Shiori kept her away from herself with the bars. Her arms were getting tired, but there was no other way.
She was doing some damage since each time her stick connected, there would be a burn mark, but just as she said, her wounds healed within a minute. She created some distance between them by using a close-range water bullet.
She took out another smoke seal to buy some time. This time, she attacked head-on. She was using one bar for defense and the other for offense. She switched every once in a while so as not to fall into a pattern.
Her attacks were connecting more and more and her healing was taking more time. When she used the smoke bombe she used the opportunity to unseal some poison and it was effecting her healing.
No matter how her ability worked, it needed chakra to heal that fast. So she just needed to keep at it and make her fall into chakra exhaustion. Which meant she should also be careful with the amount of chakra she used for her plan to work.
By this point they were both panting. The woman seemed irritated. She was rambling about something or the other but Shiori didn't pay attention to it. she took another deep breath and started attacking again.
The woman had somehow become faster, which meant Shiori had to up her game.
She started channeling a small amount of chakra to the weapon to make her hits more impactful. Her weapon hit her in the ribs, but she managed to scratch her upper arm deeply.
Shiori jumped back and used chakra to stop the bleeding. Her body was already bruised, so she had to be careful of how much damage she took.
She suddenly felt the air shift in the room. The atmosphere had become dangerous. "I'm done playing with you." She heard her say. Suddenly she felt a kick to her stomach which sent her flying into the wall.
She covered her body in earth chakra to lessen the impact, but it was still quite painful. She had dropped one of the bars. It took her a moment to gather herself, but it was enough for her to be right next to her and grab her by the hair.
She was lifted into the air and dangled infront of her face. Shirori was reaching for the hand holding her trying to free herself but the grip wouldn't give. She was looking the woman in the eyes. Fear evident in her eyes.
"oh, little one, I think…AAAAAAAAAAAAH" She screamed and Dropped Shiori, who spit the special acid she was holding in her mouth. She was coating her mouth in chakra so it didn't affect her, but the woman's face was melting right off.
It was one of her strongest acids. She used the opportunity to grab the bar and plunge it deep into her chest. The woman let out an inhuman scream as she fell to the ground.
Shiori shunshined to where the other bar was and grabbed it as a safe measure. But it was not needed as the woman's body started melting. She was gone within a minute. Shiori stayed still until she was sure she was gone.
She was about to step forward and check when she heard another scream from the entrance. Her head snapped to the side, and she saw the man standing there with a rabbit in one hand and a bloody knife in the other.
"YOU…." He growled.
She had a feeling that This was not going to end well for her.