Betaed by Doodledon122
Chapter: 6
I had but a few moments to look up at the three massive ogres before me. The one in the center raised its club high into the air, and with a forceful swing to the right, the impact of the club hitting the ground caused a shockwave that sent me tumbling along the earth.
Springing back to my feet, I leapt high into the air, aiming to jump over the ogre's club as it dragged across the ground. However, I was struck mid-air by the second ogre's massive fist, sending me straight into a tree. Sliding into a sitting position, I quickly regained my senses as the second ogre stepped forward, throwing a downward punch to crush me.
I jumped up, landing on the back of the ogre's hand just as it struck the ground, allowing me to run up its arm. Halfway up, the first ogre reached forward with its free hand, trying to snatch me off its companion. With a quick lunge backward and a jump to the right, I landed on the first ogre's left shoulder. In one smooth motion, my sword cleaved clean through its neck.
Before the first ogre could disappear, I leapt forward, sinking my sword into the forehead of the second ogre. As I slid down, the sword sliced through its skull, causing it to dissipate into a cloud of smoke. I landed roughly twelve feet in the air, hitting the ground hard. I had little time to catch my breath as a large shadow quickly loomed over me.
I shot to the right, spinning around to see the right foot of the final ogre slamming into the ground, only to be raised back up for another stomp. For several moments, I darted left and right, narrowly avoiding being flattened. With each evasive maneuver, I moved closer to the ogre's left foot.
With one final dive to the left, I sprang up from the ground and performed a full spin, using my sword to slice clean through the ogre's left ankle. Spinning away from the severed foot, I swung my sword again, cutting through the ogre's right foot at the same point. The ogre toppled, falling face-first into the earth, where it vanished into a cloud of smoke.
Fully standing, I was winded and fatigued, having just taken down the three ogres. That left me wide open for the blurry figure charging toward me. It closed the distance quickly, striking me in the chest and knocking me onto my back.
Looking up, I saw Sakon standing in front of me, a smirk on his face. Scrambling for my sword, which had fallen a few inches away, I was just about to grab it when a pale hand reached for it first. A shiver ran down my spine as I heard Ukon whisper in my ear.
"Hey there, friend. You look like you could use a hand."
Turning my head, I saw Ukon's upper half protruding from my right side. His left arm wrapped around my back to grab my sword.
"Don't worry, you won't be needing this piece of junk anymore. Trust me," Ukon said, grabbing my sword with his other hand. A wave of pain washed over me, forcing me to release the sword entirely. Taking a few breaths, I stood up to face the remaining members of the Sound Four.
"Cocky attitude, one arm, newly developed dojutsu. You're the one, alright. Lord Orochimaru told us about you. He said, and I quote, if we ran into you, we were to skin you alive. Should be easy enough. You've got some decent kenjutsu skills, but in the end, that's all you have. You'll need more than fancy swordplay to defeat us. Maybe you shouldn't have been so quick to send your friends away. In the end, you're not even a shinobi, just some nobody."
Sakon mocked, insulting me for my lack of a headband while pain washed over me from Ukon's jutsu. I simply waited for the moment my body gave out.
"Hey, Ukon, you want our help, or do you got this?" Sakon asked.
"Ha. I can handle this shinobi wannabe; he's no match for my jutsu. I'll pick apart the cells in his body until he dies," Ukon taunted.
As another wave of pain washed over me, I focused on the man before me. Suddenly, a large purple time bubble enveloped us both, allowing me to think clearly. The time bubble formed in response to the intense situation and my command, and thankfully, I was beginning to understand how the chakra flowed through my eyes, letting me maintain the time bubble.
I stood still, the seconds feeling like minutes. Fortunately, the time-slowing effect was less intense on me than on others, thanks to my extensive training under Senshi. I drew Kubikiribōchō and spoke aloud.
"You know what? You guys are right. I'm not a shinobi."
I spoke through the time bubble before releasing my jutsu, twirling my massive blade in preparation. I swung the blade, aiming to cleave us both in half. Ukon tried to react, splitting away from me. Just as he did, I reactivated the time bubble, catching him in mid-split. Time slowed, and I redirected my attack with one swift motion.
As the time bubble faded, Kubikiribōchō sliced through the air, severing Ukon's head from his shoulders. His two halves fell to the ground with a sickening thud.
"I'm a swordsman!" I shouted, turning my attention to the remaining members of the Sound Four, now enraged and in their cursed mark forms.
Kidomaru unleashed several bursts of webbing from his mouth, while the others jumped into the air, releasing a barrage of kunai.
"Secret Sword Style: Ten Thousand Slashes!" I shouted, swinging Kubikiribōchō around me, twirling the handle between my fingers. The blade became a massive spinning fan, cutting through the webbing and knocking the kunai away with powerful echoes of steel.
I rushed straight for Kidomaru, continuing to twirl my blade. As I jumped, I aimed a powerful downward slash, which Kidomaru blocked with his armored arm. The force shattered Kubikiribōchō just above the hilt.
With Kidomaru open and vulnerable, I stabbed the broken blade into his chest, but it hardly cracked his armor, drawing only a single drop of blood.
"Tough luck. Looks like that massive blade of yours couldn't cut it," Kidomaru laughed, sinking his razor-sharp teeth into my shoulder.
It was only a drop of blood, but that was all I needed. The blade inside Kidomaru began to grow, twisting in pain and anger. I twisted Kubikiribōchō to carve deeper into his chest, the blade cutting through him brutally.
When Kidomaru's body slid off my blade and fell to the ground, I looked around at the remaining Sound Four, blood staining the upper right portion of my jacket.
Jirōbō stood several meters away, and I quickly recalled my training with Senshi.
"It should be really simple in practice. The point of hand signs is to help us channel and shape our chakra. Technically, we don't need them at all. We'll start small by teaching you to flow chakra through your feet, not your hands," Senshi had explained one day in the forest.
"To be honest, that doesn't make any sense. Only some of the best shinobi can perform one-handed jutsu, and you want me to one-up them by doing earth style with my feet?" I had responded, confused.
"Only the basics of Earth Style. I'm not expecting anything grand. Just experimenting with a theory. Earth Style involves infusing the ground with chakra and reshaping it. You usually perform it with your hands, but I think you can do it through your feet, since Earth is your natural chakra nature. The theory is that if you're skilled enough, you should be able to perform basic Earth Jutsu using your feet to channel chakra into the ground," Senshi had explained, his face bright with enthusiasm.
The thought lasted only a second, and a smile crossed my face. I sank Kubikiribōchō into the ground and took a grounded martial arts stance.
Alright, Senshi. Time to put your training to the test. Let's see if this guy is the only one who can use Earth-style jutsu.
I slammed my right foot into the ground, causing the Earth dome around me to crumble into a massive cloud of dust. I waited for the dust to settle, spotting Jirōbō through the smoke. Not wasting time, I took a step forward with my right foot, then my left, then to the left and right, and finally one backward. Each step sent a pillar of earth shooting up from the ground, slamming into Jirōbō with incredible force.
This continued for several moments, each pillar staggering Jirōbō in one direction, only to be knocked back into another. When I felt he was weakened enough, I slammed my right foot into the ground once more, sending a spiked pillar shooting up from behind Jirōbō. It impaled him through the back of his head, killing him instantly.
As Jirōbō's body fell to the ground, I scanned the area for Sakon and Tayuya, who were doing their best to hide. Despite their efforts, I could still sense their chakra, hidden high in the tree in front of me.
I've always been sensitive to sensing chakra. They wanted me to be a sensory ninja, but my lack of jutsu ended that.
Without hesitation, I gripped Kubikiribōchō and swung it with enough force to embed it halfway into the tree. The impact forced both Sakon and Tayuya to leap from their hiding spots, landing on separate branches. Tayuya wasted no time playing a new melody, causing the world to melt into a blur of colors.
Genjutsu... Shit, this is bad. I still can't properly release them, especially not one this powerful.
Pain washed over me, but I forced myself to my knees. I grabbed my prosthetic arm, strapping it onto my right nub. The canisters quickly filled with chakra, allowing me to control the prosthetic as if it were my own arm.
Another wave of pain hit, but as the genjutsu faded, I saw Tayuya on her branch. With a swift motion, I used the prosthetic to slash upward. Though the slash itself did nothing, the vertical arc of chakra shot forward with devastating force. As the genjutsu released and the pain faded, I watched Tayuya's body fall, cleaved in two, the branch she stood on splitting under the force of the strike.
No time to rest. I spun around just in time to block an incoming stab from Sakon, who had crept up behind me. I kicked him in the gut, sending him sliding backward.
Sakon and I clashed, his speed allowing him to narrowly avoid my strikes. However, my blade never found its mark. He retreated back into the trees, but I was quick to follow, using my superior kenjutsu skills to force him from branch to branch. Eventually, we clashed on a large branch far from the original battlefield.
My chakra was running low, and my prosthetic was near empty. Sakon began to overpower me, and with a powerful strike, cleaved through the forearm of my prosthetic.
I side-stepped his next attack, ducked under a kunai, and impaled him with my severed arm. For a brief moment, I felt triumphant. But Sakon managed to drive a kunai into my side with his dying breath.
Sakon fell from the tree, dead. I slumped against the trunk, trying to stop the bleeding.
Slain by a dead man... ironic.
As I weakly laughed, I looked up to see three figures landing before me. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro stood in front of me.
Assuming they had come to finish the job, I drew a kunai with my trembling hand and weakly pointed it at them.
"Well, don't just stand there. Who wants to die first? The fangirl, the puppet guy, or the sand boy?"
It was an empty threat. If they had come to kill me, they could've just waited for me to bleed out. But if I was going to die here, I would do it fighting.
Gaara stepped forward. I threw my kunai at him, but as expected, sand rose up in front of him, catching it before his hand shot out from within.