Disclaimer: See introduction chapter
-0-
His hands locked tight against scaled claws in struggle, Kakashi fought to pull his head out of the elongated tongue that was wrapped around his neck and away from the row of jagged teeth from his opponent. But Reptile was intent on making a meal out of the jonin's face, forcing him down to his knees while his tongue pulled him in close. Oddly enough, Kakashi was grateful that the acid spit was absent in this situation, but regardless the copy-nin had to think fast. Already, his breathing was beginning to labor as Reptile's tongue was slowly choking him out. He couldn't use his hands for jutsu and he couldn't overpower his opponent now. His vision beginning to darken, he forced his chakra for one desperate move.
The tomae of his Sharingan shifted...
His fangs veering closer to Kakashi, the eye of serpentine warrior soon shifted away to see a huge tree behind him beginning to fall down on him, the lower part of the trunk seemingly twisted away. Reptile immediately disengaged, his tongue uncoiling from Kakashi's throat and the two jumped away from the heavy object as it crashed. Taking a relieving breath, Kakashi rose up, the Mangenkyo Sharingan now in full bloom. Having to forcing it the way he did perhaps wasn't the best move. Normally, he needed a few moments before utilize it properly without too much strain as he had yet to completely master it.
Still desperate times called for desperate measures...
Shutting his eye to conserve chakra, Kakashi began to think on his next move. Already, he could faintly hear rustling from the branches of the tree that he had just felled, knowing that Reptile was on the move. Now that that he had to resort to using the Mangenkyo, he became to plan on how use it effectively in this situation. The power of the visual justu, Kamui, was an ability capable of creating spacial distortions. In fact, Kakashi was inspired to use it during his first encounter against Reptile when the serpentine warrior used a small portal to teleport them to the bottom of The Pit.
The drawback from it was that it was strictly a long distance ability. And he could only use that power another two times before his chakra was drained away almost completely. Again, recalling back to his fight with Reptile, he used the full limit of it, combining its ability with a volley of kunai and shuriken to rain weaponry on Reptile from behind. It worked enough to force the serpentine warrior to retreat, but as mentioned earlier, at a severe cost of his chakra. He was incredibly fortunate that he wasn't called to another match for the tournament as he would not be able to face anyone properly as that time.
His attention snapped as a small yellow sphere hummed toward him from the nearby bushes. 'What the...?' Quickly, Kakashi crossed his arms in defense and the sphere erupted. While it didn't hurt him, it was strong enough to push him backward. It took a moment to recognize the purpose of the projectile to keep Kakashi in place and half of that for him to flip backward as Reptile emerged behind and nearly swept him off his feet. But as Kakashi landed on his feet, Reptile suddenly shot low and slid across the ground, this time actually flooring the copy-nin.
'Just like Sub-Zero'.
That sparked another thought in his mind as he got back on his feet to see Reptile clasp his hands together. Opening his eyelid to the Sharingan, he immediately gauged the fluctuation of his opponent's chakra as the serpentine warrior released his hands to release the yellow energy sphere at Kakashi again. But Kakashi was unable to defend against it completely as it was closer and the exploding energy knocked him upward and out of control. Fortunately, the energy was just as mild and didn't hurt Kakashi all that much.
Unfortunately, the savage uppercut hurt quite a lot.
Hitting the ground, Kakashi rolled painfully on the dirt, making sure to get back up on his feet as well as fighting away the disorientation from the pain of the blow from his opponent, no doubt his mouth was bleeding beneath his masked face. Reptile pressed on, rotating into a flying side kick that Kakashi barely blocked and was almost knocked down. Despite the hurt he was feeling, Reptile's attack gave him the space he needed to counter. As Reptile speedily advanced again, Kakashi clasped him hands and spread them out, emitting the very same yellow sphere that Reptile employed on him. The eyes of the serpent warrior could not hide the surprise as his very same technique was used on him and had the same effect off knocking him off his feet.
And allowing Kakashi to return the favor with a heavy roundhouse kick...
As satisfying as it was, Kakashi remained focused during the spin of the kick, his hands reaching into his pouch for a pair of shuriken (as the majority of his weaponry was thrown away from the acid attack). As Reptile rolled from the ground and recovered, Kakashi backflipped and tossed them both toward him, oddly with neither one seeming to be going at him directly. Regardless, Reptile leapt up in avoidance only to feel a slight twinge. A thin wire had been connected between the two shuriken and was now wrapping around his ankle until they took hold of a nearby bush, tangling his leg into the branches. With a hiss, Reptile tapped down on the ground with his other leg to avoid falling completely, pulled his leg back and painfully spat with his acid, dissolving the wire and the branches as well that held him for a brief moment.
A brief moment Kakashi planned for...
"Kamui!"
Focusing his vision and chakra, the power of his advanced jutsu was activated. Just as Reptile managed to free himself from the tangled wire, he noticed a warping distortion directly in front of him. His slit-pupil eyes rose up to see Kakashi, or more specifically, the Mangenkyo Sharingan. Recognizing the immediate danger, Reptile jumped quickly away from the distortion. 'Oh no, you don't!' Straining to hold on to his focus, Kakashi directed the jutsu toward Reptile, with the distortion following his line of sight on his opponent until it quickly expanded. His aim was a bit off however, missing Reptile's body and instead severing his right arm. A loud scream came out of the mouth of the serpentine warrior as he crashed on the ground, green blood oozing out of the stump of what was his arm.
Meanwhile, Kakashi shut his eye once again, breathing heavily from the exertion of the chakra use. If he was perfectly honest, he wasn't sure he would be able to copy Reptile's energy ball. But if his opponent was using a chakra based technique, then it made sense. But using a new copied jutsu was a gamble, for its initial use typically takes a bit of a toll on his body. That, plus the Mangenkyo further weakened him. He was still strong enough to be mobile, but if Reptile continued to fight, things would go south pretty fast for him. But as it was, Reptile had enough. With his arm removed and his scaled face still marred from the Raikiri, fighting was no longer an option for him and he retreated, his camouflage mostly covering his retreat save for the bleeding from his arm.
With a relieved sigh, Kakashi pulled down his hitai-ite and moved toward his discarded vest, mangled due to the acid and the exploded tags he used earlier. As expected, much of the weaponry in it was gone or damaged. He should be grateful that his simple trick with the wired shurinken worked out.
'Naruto!'
Almost forgetting the true purpose of his fight, Kakashi swiftly put on the damaged vest and hopped up the trees. His body quickly let him know of the hurt he had gone through, but he had to ignore it and press on. Shang Tsung's palace was still a couple of minutes away, but close enough for him to be of some aid, if any. Hopeful whatever trap that the sorcerer had set up for Naruto, he would be able to deter it somehow before things went...
And right on cue.
Suddenly, the entire atmosphere of the island seemed to vibrate, like silent earthquake. Pausing from his sprint, he scanned about to see what was going on. But somehow, he felt it, as though his senses were hyper aware of the moment. And with that clarity, he just knew what that moment was, along with the realization that he was too late. His bout against Reptile had cost him more time that he thought and now...
Final Kombat had begun...
-0-
Throughout the entire island, the same phenomenon was experienced by everyone. An unknown, yet acute alertness that swept throughout the consciousness of the remaining fighters. Even those who were unaware of the true purpose of the tournament were now cognizant that something immense was taking place. To anyone who had taken noticed, the portal above seemed to expand ever more so, as if awaiting its full release.
But it wasn't just that one alone.
Scattered across the island, smaller portals, nearly invisible, also expanded as well. Unlike the main portal above them however, these did not have to need to wait for a full release. They were merely dimensional fissures; cracks that allowed entry for small groups to breach across the realms. With so many portals, this could be a seen as an invasion, a violation of the rules of Mortal Kombat. Yet the sorcerer's machinations throughout the tournament have allowed a bypass of the rules, and thus the entrances, although small, allowed passage into the realm.
Bringing in the harbingers of karnage...
-0-
"Tell me I'm not the only one who felt that."
Although she didn't vocally respond, Sakura's body language said enough to answer Cage's statement, for her entire body became rigid and then slowly shifted into a ready stance. For what precisely, she didn't know, at least not consciously. But whatever it was, it put her on edge. 'Easy there, Sakura' she mentally calmed herself, putting her mindset into her medic mode. Whatever it was that was coming, it wouldn't do her or anyone else any good if she fell into panic.
"Gaaahh!"
The abrupt scream from the nearby shrubbery almost made her forget her self-admonition. Behind her, Cage and the others around them also reacted similarly, arms and bodies set up in their respective stances. Several more screams and sounds of a fight followed and then an object was tossed out from the bush and rolled on the ground. The horror was immediate as the object was revealed to be one of the fighters from the tournament.
Or rather, his head...
Sakura didn't turn her head as she heard the sound of vomiting coming from one of the others behind her. Once more, she was grateful for her medical training keeping her from joining him. Despite the previous actions from Goro during the first championship match, the sight of mutilated body parts was never something someone get over (unless they were numb to it or a psychopath. Or both). Forcing her gaze away from the severed head, she turned it toward the direction it came from. The shrubbery suddenly burst out and a trio of snarling figures sprinted out into the open. Ferocious and hideous appearance, with exposed jagged teeth, battle-scarred bodies with various bumps across them and most fearsome, their wrists which sported a single long metal blade.
All of which was heading her way...
Deftly, Sakura dodged the oncoming blade swipe from the creature and then flipped away from the second slash. But the creature was surprisingly quick as he rushed at her as soon as she touched down from her flip, his arms crossed his body. It was pure instinct that Sakura bent backward into a near arch, narrowly missing the scissor attack from the creature that would have decapitated her. Rather than pulling herself up however, Sakura planted her hands onto the ground and fully pulled her feet up into the air, her feet snapping upward to kick the Tarkartan square on the chin, knocking him backward and onto the ground. But as Sakura was back on her feet, another of the attackers was immediately rushing at her. Her arms had only barely risen in defense before the blade was coming down on her.
Only to be stopped by a foot high in the air.
"Figures an ugly mug like you wouldn't know how to treat a lady."
Just beside her, Cage had intercepted the attack with a kick, holding back the Tarkartan's arm. While still holding his body upright, Cage flicked his leg, deflecting the Tarkartan's arm, and in a swift move, he hopped up on his other leg and spun his entire body about in the air, his leg whirling about into swirling kick that knocked the Tarkartan's head sideways and into the dirt. Touching down, he gave Sakura a grin and a thumbs-up, but it was a very brief victory as the third one rushed into one of the other fighters, stabbing its blade into the shoulder of the fighter. A cry of pain rang out and the fighter grabbed hold of the Tarkarkan's blade, working to pull away the blade (cutting his hands in the process).
Seeing the Tarakartan readying for a finishing stab with his other blade, Sakura rushed in to help, but she only made it half way before one of the other fighters came in for the assist, delivering a three-punch combo to the Tarkartan's gut and forcing it back, along with the pierced blade from the other fighter's shoulder. Staggering back, the berserker snarled in return, but a third fighter joined the second and confronted the enraged Tarkartan. Meanwhile, Sakura reached the injured fighter, who was bent on ground clutching his wound. With a brief word of reassurance, Sakura channeled her chakra into her hand, mending the injury. Fortunately, the stab didn't do any critical damage so it was a simple task to repair.
But she would have to hurry…
From out of her peripheral vision, she could see Cage fighting against by two Tarkartans, the very same ones they had kicked away before. Evidently, they were far from done as they rampaged at the lone kombatant. To his credit, Cage was holding his own on them, seeming to casually deflect and dodge their blades and returning with flurries of fierce punches and kicks. But it seems that with each attack delivered, the invaders became more and more feral. And that wasn't even the worse of it. Further off, the shrubbery parted away and more Tarkartans emerged, all with blades extended and faces in snarls. One of them was holding a headless body in their grasp, likely the victim whose head was rolling before them earlier. And as the savage raiders charged in, one thing will be certain in the very near future.
…More heads will roll.
-0-
The sound of clashing metal rang throughout the forestry. With a mild grunt, Sasuke deflected the wrist blade of the Tarkartan with his sword and quickly followed up with a sharp kick hitting deep into its gut and sending him colliding into two others behind them. Meanwhile, another Tarkartan rushed directly at Karin, only to be intercepted by a wide slash from a soaring Suigetsu. The Tarkartan managed to cross his blades together to defend himself from the massive sword, being thrown to the side rather than severing his body in half. As the bestial warrior snarled in defiance, Suigetsu landed on the ground and put up a defensive stance in front of Karin. Despite the save, Karin pouted slightly, mentally wishing for it to be Sasuke to be the one to save her.
But given the mob of snarling warriors emerging from the trees, she may get that wish yet…
Stepping away and back to his team, Sasuke quickly scanned his opposition. They seemed to be simple savage monsters, but the way their bodies moved and reacted greatly indicated an actual kombat style behind the savagery. And as the warriors recovered and the numbers began to grow, Sasuke mentally frowned. Despite the odds, he wasn't particularly worried about defeating them. But it would require greater use of his energy and strength to do so, strength that he wanted to reserve for Itachi.
But he didn't have to worry about that.
He had a team.
"Suigetsu." When Suigetsu turned his attention to their team leader and Sasuke simply directed. "Go wild."
Both Suigetsu and Karin turned to him in surprise, with a feral grin on the water-nin and a concerned expression on the medic as they both replied in unison. "Are you sure?"
Despite her adverse attitude toward him (particularly as his warden), Karin knew as a shinobi of the Kirigakure who were known for their vicious behavior, and him with skills that put him up on par with the deadly Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Suigetsu was more than dangerous should he be let to rampage. It wouldn't be no different than the creatures they were facing now.
A complete and outright slaughter…
…Which may have been Sasuke's point.
A slight nod from the Uchiha was all that was necessary. Karin's body stiffened as she felt the change in Suigetsu's chakra, more specifically, his killing intent. The creatures seemed to have sensed it as well because they paused briefly. Then one of them, likely the leader, roared aloud and spoke, with a grin that matched Suigetsu's.
"Challenge accepted!"