Chapter 67

"Hmm, I'll show you what it's like to pick on Kuoh!" Kodama unleashes her energy, ready for battle.

Lightning bolts appear all around her, before striking the two Eighth members, who quickly dodge.

(Strange, I have the impression that the air is much more static than usual, it smells like a thunderstorm for sure.) She thinks, creating a fireball in her hand.

Stefan, fires his concrete ball, projecting out like a shotgun blast. Having anticipated the blow, she pulls a huge root out of the ground, protecting herself and Usui.

"The power of wood? How is that possible?" Stefan is surprised.

The projectile shatters the root, but fails to penetrate it, being far too thick.

"Himegami-senpai! You're amazing!" Usui exclaims.

"Don't just stand there you moron! Go hide!" She said, throwing her fireball.

"You're going to have to do more, kid!" Keiichi punches the air, instantly dispersing the fireball.

He leapt over the huge root, surprising the young blonde. Seeing this, Usui pats Kodama's arm and throws a stone into the air. The exchange takes place directly, reversing the place of the two he touched. Kodama is surprised at first, but immediately recovers, firing a bolt of lightning at Keiichi, who had no time to see it coming and is struck by the bolt, which immobilizes him.

"Warn me next time!" Kodama lands on the root.

"Sorry!" Usui runs and disappears behind a building.

"Haaa... this guy I swear, I never know what he's thinking... Come to think of it, I do know, and it disgusts me..." Kodama makes a nasty face, knowing full well the images in Usui's head.

"Hey! Don't forget me!"

Stefan, sucking up the concrete again, which tangles in front of his hand, fires, throwing the whole thing in her direction. She throws herself to the side and narrowly dodges, tearing off the top of the root. He continues to suck in concrete, shooting in her direction. Kodama runs to dodge the continuous shots, she conjures up a fireball and throws it at him, who jumps to the side to dodge.

Suddenly, Keiichi appears out of nowhere beside Kodama, wind swirling around his arm like a tornado. He throws his arm forward, but Kodama disappears in a flash, only to appear further away.

"Thank you..." She's thanking someone. "But I didn't think it was going to be this hard, they're both strong..."

"Keiichi-san, what do we do with the other kid? He must be hanging around somewhere." Stefan asks.

"We'll deal with it afterwards, given his power, he won't try anything else, which means the kid's on her own, we'll have a lot of fun." Keiichi smiles.

"You pervert!" Kodama exclaims, sending roots shooting straight out in their direction.

In a strong gust of wind, both are propelled into the air. Stefan fires another concrete cannon. Kodama grows a root in the shape of a arch above her to protect herself.

"Tss, it's fucking frustrating, I'm not touching anything!" Stefan raged, destroying the concrete even more violently, drawing the pieces towards his hand.

"Ah!" Keiichi exclaims, throwing two blades of wind from his hands, cutting the root just above her. Two hand-shaped antlers emerge from the ground and catch it, then hurl it towards them. Keiichi charges wind around his arm and strikes, smashing the huge root to pieces.

Kodama follows up with five fireballs, passing through the remains of the root in the air, crashing to the ground and exploding. Keiichi protects himself with a wall of wind, while Stefan is hit full force by the explosion of one of them, propelled backwards and landing hard on his back.

"Tss! You're annoying!" Kodama exclaims.

She raises her hand, energy surrounding her, which transforms into electricity. A bolt of lightning flashes out, striking the ground and moving swiftly across to Keiichi, who jumps to the side to dodge, passing right by.

A second bolt of lightning forms, heading straight for him. Frustrated, he jumps back to dodge and leaps forward, trying to get as close to her as possible, but fracturing timbers protrude from the ground, blocking his path. Keiichi charges his attack and strikes, destroying the vegetation, but is surprised by a third bolt of lightning and fireballs. He makes a small jump and uses the air at his feet to throw himself to the side, narrowly dodging and crashing into a wall.

"Hah... Hah... Hah... It's getting difficult..." Kodama lowers her hand, still alert.

Suddenly, she sees movement on a rooftop. It's Stefan, who has loaded a concrete ball, aims and fires. With no time to react, she prepares to take the full brunt of the attack, but suddenly finds herself in a different place, watching as her intended attack destroys the ground.

"Damn it, where is that kid?!" Stefan huffs, looking all around him, ignoring Kodama.

She spots a black dot coming from below, passing behind Stefan, and it's directly switched to Usui, who uses the momentum of his throw to grab Stefan and knock him off the roof. Stefan falls to the ground in a direct knockout, and Usui escapes unharmed having used him as a shock absorber.

"Usui... It was..." Before she could compliment him, a great gust of wind made itself felt. "No! Usui look out!"

Too late, Keiichi arrives so quickly in front of Usui that you'd think he'd teleported. He punches him in the stomach, destroying his organs and shattering his ribcage. Usui lifts off the ground, a trail of blood from his mouth and nose following him. Kodama can only watch in horror as his comrade begins to fall. An oaken tree rises from the ground, takes the shape of a hand and catches him in the air.

"So kid, lost your tongue?" Keiichi is standing right in front of her.

With no time to move, Keiichi grabs her by the throat and lifts her up, no longer touching the ground, he squeezes tighter and tighter, cutting off her breath and trying to break her neck, but something stops him.

"What the..." Keiichi doesn't understand.

Taking advantage of his confusion, Kodama ignites her hands and grabs his face. He lets go and screams in pain. Kodama falls to her feet and places a hand on his chest, before charging energy and releasing it, causing a powerful shockwave, sending him propelling backwards. He rolls along the ground for several meters before smashing through a wall.

"This guy... is dangerous... Must... kill... But in my condition... impossible..." Kodama falls to her knees, rubbing her throat, a deep red mark on it.

"Guh... That kid really managed to take me by surprise... It's a damn shame..." Stefan struggles to his feet.

"...It's not true, they're puncture-proof!" Kodama tries to stand up, but her legs don't respond. "No, not now! Come on, move! Move!" She kicks her legs, but nothing happens. Then she looks to the side, as if challenged by someone, and waves her hands, trying to chase something around her. "I know I'm out of energy! But I've got to move!"

Suddenly, a red-haired woman falls on top of him, crushing him to the ground and knocking him out instantly. She gets away from Stefan and runs towards Kodama, looking panicked.

"Minori-sensei..." Kodama couldn't believe it, eyes wide.

"Himegami!" Minori crouched beside her. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner! You're a mess! We've got to get you to Aki right away! Are you alone?"

Kodama points timidly at the wooden hand in the air, still holding Usui being unconscious. Seeing this, Minori widened her eyes and leapt to her feet, landing softly on the wood. She picks Usui up and comes down, placing him on level ground. Faint breathing can be seen, the torso barely rising.

"Minori-sensei, is he going to be okay?" Kodama asks, seeing her sensei start to boil with rage.

"There are still traces of energy defense... but we have to hurry.

Minori turns her gaze, and Kodama also turns her head to see Present mic arriving, seemingly out of breath. Seeing two of his students in such a state, his eyes tighten and his fists clench. But before he can crouch down to apologize, one of the buildings explodes in a huge gust of wind, and the dust is immediately blown away, revealing Keiichi advancing towards them.

"There's still one left." Present mic moves into position.

"I'll take care of him." Minori said dryly.

"Wait, we don't know..." Present mic cuts short when she sees Minori's gaze focused on the Eighth. "At least avoid killing him."

Not responding, she began to move forward, her body beginning to heat up.

"I'll leave the kids to you." She said.

Present mic turns directly to its students and crouches down, examining their condition.

"Himegami, can you walk?" He asks.

"...Yes, I can." Kodama rose slowly, her body trembling but she held herself upright.

"...Ok." Present mic nods and takes Usui in his arms. "Let's go, it's best not to stay here."

Present mic showed her the way, and Kodama got busy and moved slowly forward, gradually pulling away. Seeing them off, Minori sighs and turns her gaze to Keiichi, who is warming up.

"Ah! I think I pissed off the mother hen, didn't I? At the same time, what an idea to send kids into a battlefield. Oh wait, what am I saying, it's a pretty recurrent idea, using kids as bait."

"All the students present came of their own free will, to save two of their comrades who are in danger. And these kids are kicking your ass."

"Pff! That's because I let them do it somewhere..."

"Let me be clear. Nothing will save you anymore, no excuses possible, this defeat, you won't escape it."

Minori takes up a fighting stance, flames erupting from her gauntlets, lighting up a raging face.

She leapt forward, fist raised. Keiichi prepares himself and when she arrives strikes. The two fists clash, creating a gust of extremely hot wind. Both are knocked back, but recover immediately, Minori sending up a fireball. Keiichi throws a horizontal blade of air, cutting in half and sweeping away the attack, the blade continues on its way, heading straight for Minori. She propels herself into the air with a burst of fire, dodging the attack and creating a wave of flame. Keiichi protects himself with a wall of wind. He raises his head to see a huge fireball resembling a dragon's head hurtling towards him.

He was propelled quickly to the side, having been pushed by a gust of wind. The huge fireball explodes on contact with the ground, creating a huge crater, destroying the surrounding buildings and charring the whole scene.

Wasting no time, Keiichi creates a powerful air current that throws Minori to the ground. Unable to do anything about it, she gives in and crashes into the rest of a building. Keiichi then creates a column of wind, which he throws towards Minori. The attack razes everything in its path, leaving a cylindrical trail. Taken by surprise, Minori strengthens her body and takes the blow head first. She's sent crashing into the wall of a building that's still standing. After a few seconds, a dozen fireballs emerge from the smoke. Keiichi sweeps them away or deflects them with powerful gusts of wind. Minori emerges from the smoke, running in a circle around Keiichi, leaving a trail of flame behind her. She continues to send out fireballs, annoying her opponent more and more. Fed up, he concentrates a powerful current around his arm and throws it, scattering everything in front of him. Minori uses a powerful flame to propel herself forward, dodging the attack and leaving an extremely hot orange trail on the ground. The gust of wind hits a building, destroying the windows, tearing the roof and then the building from the ground, destroying itself in the air and crashing further away.

Minori then launches two fireballs, as small as marbles but as bright as suns. First thinking of sweeping them away, he immediately stops, sensing their heat and especially the power they emit, he decides to create a wind shield, hoping that this might deflect them a little. The bullets pass through as if nothing had happened, forcing Keiichi to narrowly dodge the two attacks, which still burned him where they came close. They explode on contact with the ground, throwing Keiichi forward. Minori took advantage of the situation to charge towards him.
He immediately gets up and creates a wind shield, Minori approaches and strikes, but is blocked. She pushes with her fists to try and get through the current around Keiichi. He in turn attacks, throwing his fist towards her ribs. Minori retreats, dodging the punch and the ensuing gust of wind. He continues, each blow followed by a powerful strike of compressed wind. Minori dodges each attack meticulously, her clothes ripping here and there, causing a few light wounds but nothing to destabilize her. She leaps back with a jerk and places both hands forward, creating a huge wall of fire, digging into the ground in its path.
Keiichi lets out a long sigh, before spinning a powerful current around him. It spins so fast that the wind forms a huge ball around him, which he then expands to protect himself from the wall of fire that passes over him. Barely having time to breathe, Minori arrives and strikes his wind shield, passing through and hitting him in the face. Keiichi hits her at the same time, their fists making contact on their respective jaws, but they resist, having a thin layer of protection around them. Minori throws her left fist and aims for his ribs. He parries with his arm, pushes her away and throws his fist towards her shoulder. She stops him by catching his fist with her left hand, and flips him over with her right foot. He jumps to dodge, then pushes her away with a powerful gust of wind. He follows her and delivers a vertical kick, which she lets pass right by his face, only to follow it up with a boxing move.

Keiichi puts his forearms forward to protect himself, but each blow is more painful than the last, starting to burn little by little. He crouches down, dodges a right hook and throws his fist upwards, trying to hit her chin. She dodged by simply moving her body to the side, then pushed his arm back to leave it completely open, before hitting him with a fiery kick to the chest, sending him rolling backwards several meters.

Minori walks slowly towards him, as he struggles to his feet. He looks up at the sky, seeing black clouds invading his vision. Once on his feet, he raises his hands to the sky, then a current of air is felt, more and more powerful, then several form around and above him, sucking the clouds inside, making them fall to form a huge tornado, sweeping up and sucking up all the debris around them.

Minori clenched both her fists, placing them close to her waist. They ignite, becoming so hot that the air around her becomes unbreathable. She puts one foot forward, to throw her body forward, and strikes, launching a column of flame, taking the form of a Chinese dragon, which crashes into the tornado, scattering flames in all directions and sucking them in, becoming a tornado of fire. Consuming all the oxygen inside, the tornado dissipates and disappears, restoring calm to the area.

"Ha... Hahahahah! I must be really blessed!" Keiichi's voice is heard through the smoke. "I've finally found someone my own size! I know it's a little late to ask, but what's your name?"

"Minori. Minori Rokujou." She replies

"Very good! Minori Rokujou!" Keiichi emerges from the smoke, his body almost burnt, he advances with one hand raised, the one less burnt. "Here's my last technique! If I can't win, then I'll take you with me!"

Suddenly, a powerful current swirls around Minori, preventing her from moving or breathing. Keiichi takes advantage of this to store energy and wind in the palm of his hand, creating an unstable ball.

"It's...! The whirling orb, at least a pale copy!" Minori exclaims.

"Yeah, ever since our draw, I've been trying everything to get closer to the Fourth Hokage's technique, but I can't, so I'll settle for this. Get ready Minori Rukojou! I'm coming!" At his words, he leapt towards her, propelled by a gust of wind.

Minori closes her eyes and ignites her right hand, creating a ball of fire the size of a marble, shining like a sun. She propels it by hitting it with her thumb. The ball hurtles towards him, and Keiichi can't dodge it. The marble passes through his hand, making a gaping hole. He looks on, surprised, feeling his hand overheat and seeing sparks in his swirling false orb. He tries to dispel it, but too late, his attack explodes in his hand, and he falls to the ground, missing part of his arm.

Minori is freed from her wind prison and takes a deep breath.

"How... How is it possible...?" Keiichi wondered, breathing heavily.

"Your technique was imperfect. There were more wind elements than energy, which made it unstable, and all it took was one more element to destroy what little stability there was. I won."

"...And I lost... Now you'd better save the two kids' skins... Because they'll never win against One..."

"Save your tongue, I swear it would piss me off if you died. So shut up and stay awake..."

She is abruptly stopped by fear. An innate fear, of a prey with its back to a predator. She turns toward the warehouse, feeling a power that freezes her blood.

"That aura, don't tell me that!"

"Come on! All injured! Evacuate!" Kumi Amio exclaims, helping those who can hardly walk.

"The shinobis are taking over, all police retreat! Yes, even those who still have ammunition on them! Come on!" Ebisu points to the evacuation.

Kamui wood arrives, swinging from rooftop to rooftop, with some members of the Eighth k.o. in his branches. He drops them to the ground, before spraying himself with water.

"I don't know what happened, but the temperature suddenly rose..." He said.

"It's probably Minori-sensei. Or a member of the Eighth, or even both." Amio mutters.

"Excuse me! Are there still many people left to evacuate?!" Kimi asks, her maken in hand.

"And when are we going to attack? We're bored stiff!" Azuki exclaims, banging her fists together.

"I remind you that you're not supposed to fight, you're still apprentices. So keep helping with the evacuation, it's important." Kamui Wood explains. "And it's almost over, these are the last ones."

"Well received!" Kimi exclaims, returning to the evacuation camp.

"You could help me out on this one Sato-san! ...Not even she listens to me..." Azuki said, bored.

"Anyway, the fight's almost over. There aren't many Eighths left, and the few that are left are in the warehouse. We're getting ready to launch a final offensive, so be patient, we'll soon be able to rescue your comrades. Even if I'm against saving Senji..." Ebisu mutters his last sentence.

"A final offensive you say? Show it to me!"

A wall flies towards them, crashing into several policemen. Eyes turn to see a huge person, half-man, half-gorilla. He appears to be wounded all over his body, but walks with a determined step towards them.

"Damn, he's crazy to show off like that! Do we know his name?!" Amio asks.

"...He just crushed cops by throwing a wall...? That's crazy..." Azuki is shocked, seeing blood dripping from the debris.

"Azuki-san! Pull yourself together! He's coming!" Kimi warns.

"My nickname is Vitto!" Exclaims the heteromorph, taking a great leap into the air.

"I don't care about your nickname! Give me your real name!" Amio runs for cover.

Vitto lands in their midst, before taking aim at Ebisu, who remains impassive.

He dodges his punch, feeling the speed of it, then kicks him in the face. Vitto is barely embarrassed by the blow, a big smile showing his bloodied teeth. He raises his other fist and strikes, forcing Ebisu to step back to dodge. He destroys the ground where Ebisu was.

Kamui Wood arrives from behind and spreads his branches to catch and immobilize him. But he struggles and breaks through the vegetation as if nothing had happened.

"What a force!" Kamui Wood exclaims, massaging his reforming arm.

"Basem Maliki!" Amio exclaims.

Suddenly, Vitto is immobilized, the pattern of a spider's web appearing around him, who is at the center. He turns his gaze to Amio, who is holding a silver yo-yo with a gem at its center.

"That's a handy list of criminals the police have!" says Amio, gritting her teeth.

"Well done Amio-san!" Ebisu congratulates her, but he sees that she's in like pain. "Is everything all right?"

"This guy, he pulls at my web with his sheer brute strength... I don't know how long I'll last!" She says.

"Hang in there Amio-san!" Kimi arrives and uses her maken, a silver pen.

She draws something in the air, before propelling itself to Vitto's feet and sinking into the ground, which turns into quicksand. Vitto continues to struggle, but in addition to being immobilized, he's now sinking into the ground bit by bit. Ebisu watches him, hesitating to try and knock him out, but he remembers his first kick, which did absolutely nothing.

"With this he shouldn't be able to move!" Kimi says.

"The pressure's off, but he's still pulling on my power! How is it possible to have so much strength!" Amio reacted, a cold sweat passing down her cheek.

"Let's let him struggle! He'll get stuck on his own with the quicksand, continue to evacuate the last police officers and warn the Shinobis, get ready!" Orders Ebisu.

"I... I can't hold it anymore! He's going to break free!" Amio falls to her knees.

The spider's web around Vitto shatters, no longer having a hold on him. He hits the sand with as much force as he scatters it, freeing himself from his prison. He leaps into the air, aiming at Amio. Seeing this, Azuki conjures up her maken at her feet, rushes towards him and hits him in the air, sending him crashing further away.

"No choice! We've got to beat him!" She exclaims.

Just as Vitto is about to return to the fight, Kamui wood comes up from the side and grabs him with the expanding branches of his arm.

"Again?! It's time to renew! Hero!" Vitto scoffs.

Kamui wood ignores his mockery and runs towards him, transforming his left arm into a wooden club and hitting Vitto. Vitto breaks free, smashing the branches blocking his path, and grabs the club with both hands.

"Ah! That's a good one! I felt it go through my whole body! But you'll have to do better!" Vitto pushes Kamui wood away and strikes the mace, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

Suddenly, the ground becomes elastic, destabilizing the two fighters. Kamui wood uses it as a trampoline to get away.

"Thank you Sato-chan!" Kamui wood said as he landed alongside.

"You're welcome!" She exclaims, very focused.

Azuki took advantage of the elasticity of the ground to run at high speed towards Vitto and kick him. He takes the full force of the blow, but doesn't react. He raises his arm to catch her, but she uses the ground to leap, then bounces on air and falls on top of him. She hits him on the back of the head, causing him to fall forward and bounce on the ground, flying off and falling further, making small bounces.

"Yes! That's it! It's been a long time since I've felt this much pain!" Vitto shouts, charging towards Azuki.

But three Ebisu stand in his way, making the same signs, before spitting fire at him. He dives into the flames as if nothing had happened, then emerges and disintegrates the head of one of the Ebisu with a blow of his fists, which disappears in a screen of smoke.

Kimi draws and sends the drawing towards the smoke screen, which explodes immediately afterwards. The other two Ebisu take him from both sides and stab him with kunai. Kamui Wood arrives from the air, his arm transformed into a sledgehammer, even bigger than last time, and hits him on the head.

Just when they thought they'd knocked him out, Vitto grabs the two Ebisu and clenches his fists, crushing them and disappearing into thin air. Seeing this, Kamui wood moves away. But he wasn't fast enough, and Vitto leapt towards him and closed in, when suddenly several grenades hit him and exploded.

"Reinforcements are here!" Kimi exclaims.

A dozen shinobi arrive and take over, fighting Vitto, who is out of action in a matter of minutes.

"We did it!" Azuki exclaims, fists in the air.

"I thought the worst..." Kamui wood sighs.

"What an absurd force..." Ebisu mutters.

Suddenly, a wave of energy passes through them, immobilizing them in fear. They all turn their gaze towards the origin, the warehouse, with terror in their eyes.

"This aura... Brings back bad memories..." Kamui wood's voice trembles.

"What is it, why are my legs shaking so much?" Azuki looks at her body, which no longer responds to her.

KImi falls to her hands and knees, starting to vomit.

"As I suspected, the mission is a failure." Says Ebisu, a look of disgust hidden behind his sunglasses.