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Keotsu watched silently, his back on the trunk of a tree, as a mother bird doled out food to her hatchlings. They had ventured out to Saburo’s camp early and surprisingly, Torvald was already there, tending to a fire.
“Oy. Its about time ya got here,” he barked, his gruff voice making it obvious that he had not rested the previous night either.
Saburo was sitting on a rock that jutted from the base of the wall that extended hundreds of feet above him – it was only one small part of the massive expanse of stone that formed Copper Hill, as it was called, having been strip mined for copper many years prior to this day and age.
“So, what was your plan?” asked Saburo, directing the question at Asuma.
Asuma took a long drag off of his cigarette, exhaling, leaving a small cloud of smoke in front of his face that slowly unfurled and drifted away as he spoke, “Originally, my plan was to try and convince the bandits to leave. Once that failed, I was prepared to…rough up a few bandits and interrogate them to extract information on their base of operations. I figure, if we are able to take out the head, or the bandits’ structure point, the rest of the hierarchy will just crumble.”
“That was a good plan, and not all that different from my own,” Saburo admitted, wiping the sweat from his brow as the temperature was slowly climbing.
“Heh, its not that simple. They’re smart – if ya take down one, one more takes his place. We had a system to keep the gang runnin’ even if you took out the top twenty. Luckily, I’m the number three, and the number two ain’t much stronger than I am…Though…the Boss…he’s mighty tough. He could pro’bly take me down easy,” Torvald said, obviously holding a measure of respect for this man.
“Gah, what all can he do? I was hoping to get through this mission without having to do a whole lot…,” complained Shikamaru, propped up on a tree, relaxing in its cooling shade.
“Well, I guess the best place to start would be with me’self. I am named after the Norse God Thor; Torvald, seeing as my element is Lightn’in’. I’m pretty handy with it, too. You’ll see what I can do with it soon enough. Well, the number two beats me, as his element is Wind. He’s a scrawny little fella, but mighty quick.
He likes to fight with these two weird staffs…they have what look like knifes on the ends, but they are chained inside the staffs. He swings around the chains and the staff, and with his Wind, its devastatin’. Now, above him, is the boss. He uses Fire. And well.
He likes to fight witha sorta staff with a sickle blade on the end. He swings it around, and -I swear he uses Wind to do this- guides around the fire with the staff. I watched someone fight ‘im, and he slashed at the man from aways away, and caused a bunch of wheels of fire to fly at the man, and then they exploded! Wasn’t anything left of the fella, not even enough to give ‘im a burial…,” Torvald explained, digging into his mind, which was a much easier task in the refreshed, sober state he was in. If he lived, with how good he felt, he vowed to give up drinking.
“Alright…Shikamaru, Keotsu, and Saburo: you three pair up. You three seem the more…efficient team. Try and sneak through to the head honcho. Rena, Torvald, and myself will be the diversionary team - we have more than enough power to cause a ruckus. Once we clear enough bandits out, we’ll rendezvous in the central cavern. If what Torvald told me last night is correct, the central HQ of their entire operation is stationed a floor beneath. I have a feeling it will take all of us to get to that point. The head honcho is supposed to oversee everything from that point and he keeps his own team of personal guard with him. We’ll need all the firepower we can muster to take him out along with his personal forces. Any questions?” Asuma explained, snuffing his cigarette in the dust, showing a face of pure devotion.
There where no questions.
“We strike now.”
The two teams move away in unison, each going in from different entrances. Torvald was going to take Asuma and Rena to the “front door”, and just let all havoc break loose. Saburo, Shikamaru, and Keotsu, though, were going to wait for the commotion to build so they could descend through the tunnel system laid out long ago by the miners.
The assault started with the not-so-subtle crash of thunder. “Let’s go,” said Saburo, taking command. This was his bounty, so Shikamaru and Keotsu followed without complaint. The trio started out into the ragged mouth of the cavern’s opening, and before long, Keotsu lead the way ahead holding a faint ball of light in his hand, illuminating the path…
Torvald, Rena, and Asuma where quickly met by a brigade of grunts, taken by surprise by the fact that Torvald, their number three, was attacking them. And with Shinobi, no less!
Basic Fire and Lightning Jutsu flew through the air, aimed at the trio. Asuma, with his chakra blades out and enhanced with the Flying Swallow technique, was flying through the enemies, releasing a powerful Wind Blade when ever the opportunity presented itself.
With his wind enhanced blades, he had no trouble cutting through the brittle steel of the bandits’ aged blades. “Wind Style: Pressure Damage!”
It seemed as if a hurricane exploded in the small cave and a large portion of the bandits where flung into the air and smashed into the walls and ceiling of the cavern. As they fell, he threw a single blade; the chakra coated metal slicing through a row of eight falling bandits.
Torvald brought his weapon upwards in a mighty strike, catching a man in the belly on the axe-blade before reversing his swing and catching another man in the shoulder with the hammerhead, dislodging the dead body from his weapon.
Grasping his weapon in both hands, he ran a surge of Lightning Chakra through it as he slammed the blade into the stone below, using Lightning Release: Lightning Burial – Lightning Banquet to send snaking bolts of electricity across the cavern, striking a handful of the bandits.
Rena matched a man’s swing with a singlehanded slash of her own. As the man brought his sword up for another strike, Rena slashed across the underside of the man’s arm, cutting the muscles, making him drop the sword. Then, with a leap, she twisted in the air and delivered a powerful kick to the man’s temple, knocking him out cold.
Throwing her katana in the air, she quickly made the hand signs and used Earth Style: Stone Lodging Destruction to shake the cavern, dislodging boulders from the ceiling, striking the bandit’s in the head, but only knocking them unconscious, not killing them.
Her hands had never been stained by the life of another, and though Keotsu had already killed before, they had promised each other to avoid killing whenever possible; neither enjoyed it.
Asuma quickly surveyed their surroundings – they had made quicker work of the bandits than he had intended them to. The only thing to do now was to keep moving and cause more pandemonium.
Keotsu was the first to notice; a faint blue light coming from ahead. He quickly dispersed his chakra lamp and motioned for Shikamaru to take the lead. In the gloomy cavern, faintly lit by dim lights where shadows danced unnoticed…the Nara’s techniques would be invaluable.
Shikamaru, at the forefront of the group, flashed ten fingers and then eight more to signify that there where eighteen bandits inside the cavern.
“You got a plan?” asked Saburo, ready to fight.
“Yep. Shikamaru, stand ready with Shadow Neck Bind….,” said Keotsu, focusing his chakra, and then transforming into Torvald. He then walked into the crowd, trying his best to mimic Torvald’s dialect.
“’ey! Why’re you just standin’ around?!” Keotsu yelled, “Line up!”
The men formed a line in haste, not wanting to face the wrath of “Torvald”, but one of them piqued up, “Uh, we don’t serve you. Um, we’re Shou’s guard…”
Keotsu reverted back to himself, surprising all the men. There was a flash of ferocity in their eyes, but then a dumbfounded look as they realized that they could not move. Then, panic sat in as Shikamaru’s jutsu asphyxiated them.
Quickly, Saburo, Shikamaru, and Keotsu bound the men’s hands and feet together, and then gagged them so they could not speak. They were unconscious, but the trio didn’t need an early riser raising alarm.
“Let’s move,” Saburo said, running through the opening on the other side of the cavern to venture farther into the complex, with Shikamaru close behind. As Keotsu approached the opening, though, a large metal grate appeared from nowhere!
“What the heck!?” he cried, jumping back, as he was taken by surprise.
“Hehe.”
Keotsu turned around and a man stood there, a man he hadn’t seen before. He didn’t look much older than Keotsu, and his jet-black hair was very shaggy, covering a large part of his face, and falling down to the base of his neck. His eyes where a vicious flame red, like glowing orbs of fire even in the dim blue light cast about by the strange torches.
He was dressed in a simple black garment, light and practical. Keotsu could see the edges of a Shinobi chainmail suit edging past the sleeves of his black shirt. Well, he had some kind of armor.
Strapped to his back was a scabbard, black as night, with a large red piece unfolding down its length, which seemed similar to a column of red smoke. About every two inches, there was a gold band crossing the scabbard with a stone of onyx set in the middle.
The man reached up and grasped the hilt, pulling the mammoth blade from its scabbard that rotated on his back to allow the lengthy blade to be draw complete from his back. It was longer than a Zweih?nder, but shaped more like a Claymore.
And he held it effortlessly with one hand.
Keotsu swallowed, drawing Mikomi from its scabbard on his waist. He compared the blades: Mikomi was more akin to a long sword with gentle sloping sides. The blade looked perfectly straight, but Keotsu could see the gentle widening of the blade, giving a vaguely triangular shape, allowing Keotsu to continue to use Iaidō and other techniques better suited for katana. Mikomi was a silvery color with a tint of blue.
On the other hand, this man’s sword was monstrous. Closest to the cross-guard, the both sides of the blade were serrated like a saw blade, and the blade then went upwards like a claymore, declining to a point. His blade was deep maroon in color, with the fuller and central ridge of the blade being black, the entire blade being semitransparent like some kind of warped ruby.
The man raised his blade and at that moment all the Jutsu that Keotsu knew went out the window – he’d need all of his skills with a sword to beat this man.
Suddenly, there was a harsh ring as sparks flew from the two grinding blades, the two swordsman having met in the center of the cavern.
With a burst of power, the two fighters were flung to either side of the cavern. Keotsu dashed forward after touching down, slicing across with Mikomi. Using the blades length, the man flipped his blade over so that the point touched the ground, and stopped Mikomi’s slash. He then bent low, and slung his blade, twisting it in his hands, creating a long arc for a spinning slash.
Keotsu turned Mikomi sideways, bracing his hand along it’s flat, and block the slash, though it threw him back several feet and sent numbness up his left arm. The man then charged at Keotsu and struck with a powerful overhead strike. Keotsu, having no feeling in his left arm, leapt to the right, in the opposite angle of the slash, the blade passing harmlessly behind him and digging itself several feet into the stone.
Keotsu pivoted on his foot in the crouched position he was in to strike at the man’s legs with a sweep, but the man had anticipated this and had used his massive blade as a pole. He was up in the air, having pushed off the hilt, and was flying around.
Keotsu was sent sprawling backwards as the man’s foot connected with his face, and Keotsu felt hot blood spray from his nose.
Cupping his wound, he ran chakra into it, healing the wound and repaired the break perfectly. Taking Mikomi in both hands he slashed at the man’s waist from the right and used the same strike’s momentum to bring his blade upwards and then downwards in a two-handed strike immediately after a quick spin.
The man flipped the blade in his hand, blocking Mikomi’s slashes; the man taking advantage of his blades angle and length. Twisting his blade, the man grabbed his sword with two hands, and slung it downwards – Keotsu leaping to the side – the resulting collision with the ground creating a fissure that spanned the length of the room.
Keotsu turned and ran towards the man again, Mikomi raised high. Once he was within range he swung Mikomi in a powerful two handed arc, only to have the blade parried with an upwards slash that also raked across his arms.
Keotsu leaped backwards, examining the wound; he had felt his life drain from the wound. And not just blood. The blade had sucked out Keotsu’s life-force.
Keotsu rushed at the man again, and feinted at the man’s right, spinning around at the last moment for a strike from the left. With impossible ease, the man whipped his blade around from one position to another, effortlessly blocking the blow.
Keotsu struck again, stabbing at the man’s head. He raised his sword in a swipe and sent Mikomi harmlessly high, and then descended his blade into a downwards slash. Keotsu leapt backwards, the tip of the man’s sword digging into his shoulder and dragging through him for about four inches.
The man twirled his blade as he closed in on Keotsu, swing the blade in a tremendously powerful horizontal slash, so powerful that Keotsu couldn’t hope to parry it, much less counter. Instead, he ducked down underneath the blade, and stabbed at the man’s chest, only to find that the man hand spun around and had already countered with another horizontal slash.
He was insanely fast too! Keotsu hadn’t even seen him make the rotation.
He charged at Keotsu again, stabbing the blade at Keotsu’s chest. Keotsu used the flat of Mikomi to push the blade away and then cut across to slice at the man’s chest.
Mikomi simply skipped off the man’s chest, not even making him flinch.
The two rushed at each other again, Keotsu having to put all of his strength into two-handed slashes to simply parry the man’s single handed slashes. This was a terrible time to be in Keotsu’s condition.
For months beforehand, Keotsu’s physical strength and stamina had been rapidly deteriorating, so mush so that Toshi had had him examined by the Lady Hokage. They could find nothing, but Keotsu knew what was causing his weakness now.
Keotsu was the one to break contact, panting furiously. He was covered in many more slash wounds, each time drawing his life-force and precious, precious stamina from him. The man wasn’t even breathing hard.
“What…What are you?” Keotsu asked, panting.
The man didn’t answer; instead he rushed towards Keotsu, striking at his waist with a similar horizontal slash, using two hands. Keotsu raised and braced Mikomi to block the blow, and was promptly thrown across the entire length of the cavern and into a wall while Mikomi spun from his hands from the colossal force of the impact.
Dazed, he lay propped up against the wall. This man couldn’t be human. Able to carry a blade like that with one hand….And the blade of his sword sucked Keotsu dry of his stamina.
Keotsu stood and approached the man, though he had almost nothing left in him. Stamina, chakra, it was gone, all gone. He raised his blade and came down with a two-handed slash, but the man countered with his own two-handed slash that was so powerful that it blew Mikomi from Keotsu’s hands and sunk it up to its hilt into the stone wall on the other end of the cavern.
With another swipe he slammed the flat of his blade into Keotsu’s chest, launching him clear across the cavern and into the wall, cracking the stone around the impact area.
The man chuckled as he approached Keotsu, his blade cutting into the floor, carving a small path. Once he was in range, he raised the sword of his head with both hands, holding the blade the same way an executioner might hold his axe before a beheading. He arched his back, and brought his blade down with his full might.
Keotsu closed his eyes, waiting for death to overtake him.
“Keotsu!”
Keotsu’s eyes burst open. He was standing in the middle of the cavern…not a scratch on him.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Shikamaru said during a deep sigh, “I’ve been trying to snap you out of it for about the last half-hour. You’ve just been standing there.”
“Wait…So… there was no man here?” asked Keotsu, dumbfounded.
“Nobody. You’ve just been standing there. The other trio is downstairs, and I’ve heard quite a few explosions. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve taken out Shou already. That leaves only Akihiko, the boss” said Saburo, leaning against a wall.
“Let’s move,” Shikamaru said, the other two close behind as they started to work their way down the complex.
“…If that man had been real….I’d be dead right now…” Keotsu thought solemnly as he followed his teammates.
Torvald was panting heavily. He just couldn’t catch Shou. He was too squirrelly, and his element gave him a distinct advantage over him. Luckily, Asuma and Rena where enough support to balance that out, but fighting both Shou and his lackeys was exhausting on all three.
“Rising Water Slicer!”
A jet of water came roaring down from the winding tunnel behind them, and towards Shou, who was forced to coat his weapon in wind Chakra, and implant it in the ground, stopping the jutsu, but soaking himself in the process.
Torvald wasn’t smart, but he knew his element. Keotsu, having been the one to use the water jutsu, had just made Torvald’s fight much easier. “LIGHTNING STYLE: FALSE DARKNESS!”
A bolt of lightning shot from Torvald’s mouth. Though Shou jumped to the side to dodge the bolt his wet metal staff acted as a lightning rod.
Though the lightning didn’t kill him (as his Wind Affinity helped him survive the attack) it would have been a much swifter (and less painful) death. Torvald lifted his hammer-axe, and pulled it apart, flooding the room with lightning as he now held a hammer in one hand and an axe in the other, both coated in electricity.
He ran with thunderous steps towards Shou, who was picking himself up off the ground. With two might blows, the axe severed Shou’s body at the waist. And then, courtesy of the hammer head, the last thing he ever felt was a hot explosion of pain behind his eyes.
“Took you long enough,” Torvald said gruffly.
“Keotu was caught in a Genjutsu, I think. He said he saw a man, and he didn’t move for nearly half an hour, even though I used Kai on him. Must have been some kind of neurotoxin if it wasn’t a Genjutsu, and his skills as a Medical Shinobi worked it out of his system,” Shikamaru said with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Doesn’t matter. Next we have to go for the big fish. Five thousand Ryo says he’s past that iron barred door,” Asuma said, biting his lip to keep himself from pulling out a cigarette. Now was not the time to smoke.
Keotsu and Rena took the positions directly next to the door, while Asuma, Shikamaru, and Saburo stood behind Torvald.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Asuma said.
Not a split-second later, Torvald charged forward, roaring the whole way, and tackled the door, separating it from its hinges in one rush. Everyone charged in, with Shikamaru staying behind ready to bring an element of surprise to fight as well as to get a better view of the layout of the battle that was about to ensue.
Keotsu and Rena set out to the larger left leg of the room, while Asuma covered the right flank, leaving the Boss to Torvald and Saburo.
A man sat on a lavish purple mat in the center of the room. His hair was long and black, and the gang’s symbol was tattooed upon his forehead. His eyes were a deep golden color, and his body was covered in white bandages, almost making him look like a mummy.
“Ah, Saburo. I wondered when you’d attempt to reach me. But as for you, Torvald, this is unexpected.”
“Heh, I don’t see how. Ya shoulda know I was gonna quit soon,” Torvald said, bringing out his still separated weapons.
“Hm, I suppose so. You’ve been a good addition to our organization for the last decade,” said the man.
“I’m sicka what we do, Hitoshi. Plus, I’m getting to old fer this. I’ll be eighty-seven next month,” explained Torvald, drawing astonished looks from around the room, including a raised eyebrow by Hitoshi.
“Regardless…you are here to fight me, so let us begin…,” said Hitoshi, lifting a large scythe.
Torvald, not waiting for a second invitation, charged, lifting his axe high to strike. As he neared, he used a feint chop with his axe only to spin and smash his hammerhead into Hitoshi’s head. He grinned once the hammer connected, but realized his mistake once its head had been engulfed in flames and Hitoshi’s body disappeared in an explosion of flame that engulfed Torvald.
Saburo sensed the incoming attack and spun around, his rapier leading. He wasn’t surprised when his sword met fire…and absorbed it.
“What’s this…?” Hitoshi asked, more than a bit surprised.
“My blade’s name is Absorber. It allows me to absorb any jutsu that I don’t have an affinity for…seeing as I’ve purposefully not trained in any element besides Wind, I can absorb the ‘intangible’ elements like Fire and Lightning, negating the jutsu. With Water and Earth, I can just suck the chakra out of the mass. And the other ability is…this!”, Saburo roared, thrusting his blade forward causing a jet of fire erupted from his blade – Hitoshi vigorously spun his scythe, deflecting the flames as he backpedaled, keeping an eye on Torvald who had quickly shook off the explosion.
Saburo stepped forward and stabbed Absorber’s point into the ground, causing a spike to jut out of the ground just in front of Hitoshi, who quickly cleaved it off with his scythe.
“Fire Style: Combustion Ash Cloud!” roared Hitoshi as he let loose the volatile cloud of ash, and then gathered a large ball of flame at the end of his scythe, preparing to incinerate Saburo.
Making handseals quickly, Saburo countered with, “Wind Style: Wind Gale!” blowing the ash cloud back around Hitoshi, who only laughed, the fireball somehow not igniting the cloud.
“Haha…My affinity is for fire…I’ve studied it intensively for years and years…The damage fire does to a body is reduced by almost ninety-five percent in my case. Good luck! I can just as easily use this cloud later, all I need to do is click my teeth, and it will explode….”
“Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!”
An orb of electricity streaked through the air, slamming into the gloating Hitoshi, the electric shock to his body forcing his teeth to click, causing the ash to ignite and catching the arrogant man in his own trap. The heat from the explosion in the cave was enough to cause everyone - Keotsu, Rena, Asuma, all the guards they were fighting, and Saburo and Torvald - to throw up their arms in attempt to shield their bodies from the scorching air.
After a few seconds the heat and smoke subsided, dispersing through some hidden ventilation system. Saburo was glad that this wasn’t a coal mine, or they’d all be dead.
Hitoshi stood there; his bandages slightly scorched but he was not dead. If fact, he was barely damaged.
“RAAAAAAH!,” he roared as he charged toward Subaro. He swung his scythe in a large arc, leaving a trail of flames in its wake. Subaro leapt backwards, out of range, while stabbing Absorber forward, drawing the energy into the bowels of the blade.
Another thunderbolt was loosed by Torvald. As the bolt of energy streaked through the air. Hitoshi brought his scythe around in a backhanded swing, releasing a torrent of flames in its wake. The two plasmas collided, releasing an enormous charge of energy into the air.
The three fighters formed a small triangle, Hitoshi backed into a corner of the cavern during the last explosion. He eyed Saburo and Torvald, wondering how to free himself from this predicament. Normally, he could have defeated Torvald alone, his mastery over fire nearly unmatched by anyone in the world.
But that blade… Saburo would always intercept the attack, and his rapier would eat the fire like some kind of demonic spawn. On top of that, the small coup d’?tat three weeks ago had left him severely wounded and with a low chakra reserve. He had secluded himself in the deepest reaches of Copper Hill, threatening instant incineration to anyone who dare approach him.
All an idle threat.
“Hm. Guess I’ve no choice,” Hitoshi said, in a matter-of-fact tone, “Fire Release: Exploding Flame Crater.”
Hitoshi raised his scythe and plunged the blade into the scorched stone at the same time as he lifted his foot and stomped the ground. Even within the parameters of the jutsu, Saburo could see the two veins of magma bubbling up to the surface, hurriedly winding towards Torvald and himself.
Wasting no time, Saburo lunged and stabbed Absorber into one of the trickling veins of lava, feeling the massive surge of energy rebound through the sword, within his body, and back into the depths of Absorber.
Saburo could fill the immense power building; filling that abyss within Absorber, spilling over into him. He lifted the blade and pointed it towards Hitoshi, the trembling in his arms caused by the radiating power.
“Lightning Release: Thor’s Hammer!”
A massive bolt of blue energy launched from Torvald’s hammer, the monstrous bolt thundering towards Hithoshi, fusing with the massive tongue of fire erupting from Saburo’s blade as it would have from the mouth of a dragon.
Hitoshi, in an ultimately futile attempt, detonated what fragmented parts of his jutsu that were left and spun his scythe, creating a dome of spiraling wind around him to divert the fire and lessen the lightning, hoping to reduce the damage from the forthcoming elemental wrath.
The entire mine shook from the spewing energy, sending mountainous tremors through the earth for miles upon miles. The incredible shockwave rebounded off the walls of the chamber, amplifying their power, which was matched by the immense heat and raw power of the blast….
“Oy. Its about time ya got here,” he barked, his gruff voice making it obvious that he had not rested the previous night either.
Saburo was sitting on a rock that jutted from the base of the wall that extended hundreds of feet above him – it was only one small part of the massive expanse of stone that formed Copper Hill, as it was called, having been strip mined for copper many years prior to this day and age.
“So, what was your plan?” asked Saburo, directing the question at Asuma.
Asuma took a long drag off of his cigarette, exhaling, leaving a small cloud of smoke in front of his face that slowly unfurled and drifted away as he spoke, “Originally, my plan was to try and convince the bandits to leave. Once that failed, I was prepared to…rough up a few bandits and interrogate them to extract information on their base of operations. I figure, if we are able to take out the head, or the bandits’ structure point, the rest of the hierarchy will just crumble.”
“That was a good plan, and not all that different from my own,” Saburo admitted, wiping the sweat from his brow as the temperature was slowly climbing.
“Heh, its not that simple. They’re smart – if ya take down one, one more takes his place. We had a system to keep the gang runnin’ even if you took out the top twenty. Luckily, I’m the number three, and the number two ain’t much stronger than I am…Though…the Boss…he’s mighty tough. He could pro’bly take me down easy,” Torvald said, obviously holding a measure of respect for this man.
“Gah, what all can he do? I was hoping to get through this mission without having to do a whole lot…,” complained Shikamaru, propped up on a tree, relaxing in its cooling shade.
“Well, I guess the best place to start would be with me’self. I am named after the Norse God Thor; Torvald, seeing as my element is Lightn’in’. I’m pretty handy with it, too. You’ll see what I can do with it soon enough. Well, the number two beats me, as his element is Wind. He’s a scrawny little fella, but mighty quick.
He likes to fight with these two weird staffs…they have what look like knifes on the ends, but they are chained inside the staffs. He swings around the chains and the staff, and with his Wind, its devastatin’. Now, above him, is the boss. He uses Fire. And well.
He likes to fight witha sorta staff with a sickle blade on the end. He swings it around, and -I swear he uses Wind to do this- guides around the fire with the staff. I watched someone fight ‘im, and he slashed at the man from aways away, and caused a bunch of wheels of fire to fly at the man, and then they exploded! Wasn’t anything left of the fella, not even enough to give ‘im a burial…,” Torvald explained, digging into his mind, which was a much easier task in the refreshed, sober state he was in. If he lived, with how good he felt, he vowed to give up drinking.
“Alright…Shikamaru, Keotsu, and Saburo: you three pair up. You three seem the more…efficient team. Try and sneak through to the head honcho. Rena, Torvald, and myself will be the diversionary team - we have more than enough power to cause a ruckus. Once we clear enough bandits out, we’ll rendezvous in the central cavern. If what Torvald told me last night is correct, the central HQ of their entire operation is stationed a floor beneath. I have a feeling it will take all of us to get to that point. The head honcho is supposed to oversee everything from that point and he keeps his own team of personal guard with him. We’ll need all the firepower we can muster to take him out along with his personal forces. Any questions?” Asuma explained, snuffing his cigarette in the dust, showing a face of pure devotion.
There where no questions.
“We strike now.”
The two teams move away in unison, each going in from different entrances. Torvald was going to take Asuma and Rena to the “front door”, and just let all havoc break loose. Saburo, Shikamaru, and Keotsu, though, were going to wait for the commotion to build so they could descend through the tunnel system laid out long ago by the miners.
The assault started with the not-so-subtle crash of thunder. “Let’s go,” said Saburo, taking command. This was his bounty, so Shikamaru and Keotsu followed without complaint. The trio started out into the ragged mouth of the cavern’s opening, and before long, Keotsu lead the way ahead holding a faint ball of light in his hand, illuminating the path…
Torvald, Rena, and Asuma where quickly met by a brigade of grunts, taken by surprise by the fact that Torvald, their number three, was attacking them. And with Shinobi, no less!
Basic Fire and Lightning Jutsu flew through the air, aimed at the trio. Asuma, with his chakra blades out and enhanced with the Flying Swallow technique, was flying through the enemies, releasing a powerful Wind Blade when ever the opportunity presented itself.
With his wind enhanced blades, he had no trouble cutting through the brittle steel of the bandits’ aged blades. “Wind Style: Pressure Damage!”
It seemed as if a hurricane exploded in the small cave and a large portion of the bandits where flung into the air and smashed into the walls and ceiling of the cavern. As they fell, he threw a single blade; the chakra coated metal slicing through a row of eight falling bandits.
Torvald brought his weapon upwards in a mighty strike, catching a man in the belly on the axe-blade before reversing his swing and catching another man in the shoulder with the hammerhead, dislodging the dead body from his weapon.
Grasping his weapon in both hands, he ran a surge of Lightning Chakra through it as he slammed the blade into the stone below, using Lightning Release: Lightning Burial – Lightning Banquet to send snaking bolts of electricity across the cavern, striking a handful of the bandits.
Rena matched a man’s swing with a singlehanded slash of her own. As the man brought his sword up for another strike, Rena slashed across the underside of the man’s arm, cutting the muscles, making him drop the sword. Then, with a leap, she twisted in the air and delivered a powerful kick to the man’s temple, knocking him out cold.
Throwing her katana in the air, she quickly made the hand signs and used Earth Style: Stone Lodging Destruction to shake the cavern, dislodging boulders from the ceiling, striking the bandit’s in the head, but only knocking them unconscious, not killing them.
Her hands had never been stained by the life of another, and though Keotsu had already killed before, they had promised each other to avoid killing whenever possible; neither enjoyed it.
Asuma quickly surveyed their surroundings – they had made quicker work of the bandits than he had intended them to. The only thing to do now was to keep moving and cause more pandemonium.
Keotsu was the first to notice; a faint blue light coming from ahead. He quickly dispersed his chakra lamp and motioned for Shikamaru to take the lead. In the gloomy cavern, faintly lit by dim lights where shadows danced unnoticed…the Nara’s techniques would be invaluable.
Shikamaru, at the forefront of the group, flashed ten fingers and then eight more to signify that there where eighteen bandits inside the cavern.
“You got a plan?” asked Saburo, ready to fight.
“Yep. Shikamaru, stand ready with Shadow Neck Bind….,” said Keotsu, focusing his chakra, and then transforming into Torvald. He then walked into the crowd, trying his best to mimic Torvald’s dialect.
“’ey! Why’re you just standin’ around?!” Keotsu yelled, “Line up!”
The men formed a line in haste, not wanting to face the wrath of “Torvald”, but one of them piqued up, “Uh, we don’t serve you. Um, we’re Shou’s guard…”
Keotsu reverted back to himself, surprising all the men. There was a flash of ferocity in their eyes, but then a dumbfounded look as they realized that they could not move. Then, panic sat in as Shikamaru’s jutsu asphyxiated them.
Quickly, Saburo, Shikamaru, and Keotsu bound the men’s hands and feet together, and then gagged them so they could not speak. They were unconscious, but the trio didn’t need an early riser raising alarm.
“Let’s move,” Saburo said, running through the opening on the other side of the cavern to venture farther into the complex, with Shikamaru close behind. As Keotsu approached the opening, though, a large metal grate appeared from nowhere!
“What the heck!?” he cried, jumping back, as he was taken by surprise.
“Hehe.”
Keotsu turned around and a man stood there, a man he hadn’t seen before. He didn’t look much older than Keotsu, and his jet-black hair was very shaggy, covering a large part of his face, and falling down to the base of his neck. His eyes where a vicious flame red, like glowing orbs of fire even in the dim blue light cast about by the strange torches.
He was dressed in a simple black garment, light and practical. Keotsu could see the edges of a Shinobi chainmail suit edging past the sleeves of his black shirt. Well, he had some kind of armor.
Strapped to his back was a scabbard, black as night, with a large red piece unfolding down its length, which seemed similar to a column of red smoke. About every two inches, there was a gold band crossing the scabbard with a stone of onyx set in the middle.
The man reached up and grasped the hilt, pulling the mammoth blade from its scabbard that rotated on his back to allow the lengthy blade to be draw complete from his back. It was longer than a Zweih?nder, but shaped more like a Claymore.
And he held it effortlessly with one hand.
Keotsu swallowed, drawing Mikomi from its scabbard on his waist. He compared the blades: Mikomi was more akin to a long sword with gentle sloping sides. The blade looked perfectly straight, but Keotsu could see the gentle widening of the blade, giving a vaguely triangular shape, allowing Keotsu to continue to use Iaidō and other techniques better suited for katana. Mikomi was a silvery color with a tint of blue.
On the other hand, this man’s sword was monstrous. Closest to the cross-guard, the both sides of the blade were serrated like a saw blade, and the blade then went upwards like a claymore, declining to a point. His blade was deep maroon in color, with the fuller and central ridge of the blade being black, the entire blade being semitransparent like some kind of warped ruby.
The man raised his blade and at that moment all the Jutsu that Keotsu knew went out the window – he’d need all of his skills with a sword to beat this man.
Suddenly, there was a harsh ring as sparks flew from the two grinding blades, the two swordsman having met in the center of the cavern.
With a burst of power, the two fighters were flung to either side of the cavern. Keotsu dashed forward after touching down, slicing across with Mikomi. Using the blades length, the man flipped his blade over so that the point touched the ground, and stopped Mikomi’s slash. He then bent low, and slung his blade, twisting it in his hands, creating a long arc for a spinning slash.
Keotsu turned Mikomi sideways, bracing his hand along it’s flat, and block the slash, though it threw him back several feet and sent numbness up his left arm. The man then charged at Keotsu and struck with a powerful overhead strike. Keotsu, having no feeling in his left arm, leapt to the right, in the opposite angle of the slash, the blade passing harmlessly behind him and digging itself several feet into the stone.
Keotsu pivoted on his foot in the crouched position he was in to strike at the man’s legs with a sweep, but the man had anticipated this and had used his massive blade as a pole. He was up in the air, having pushed off the hilt, and was flying around.
Keotsu was sent sprawling backwards as the man’s foot connected with his face, and Keotsu felt hot blood spray from his nose.
Cupping his wound, he ran chakra into it, healing the wound and repaired the break perfectly. Taking Mikomi in both hands he slashed at the man’s waist from the right and used the same strike’s momentum to bring his blade upwards and then downwards in a two-handed strike immediately after a quick spin.
The man flipped the blade in his hand, blocking Mikomi’s slashes; the man taking advantage of his blades angle and length. Twisting his blade, the man grabbed his sword with two hands, and slung it downwards – Keotsu leaping to the side – the resulting collision with the ground creating a fissure that spanned the length of the room.
Keotsu turned and ran towards the man again, Mikomi raised high. Once he was within range he swung Mikomi in a powerful two handed arc, only to have the blade parried with an upwards slash that also raked across his arms.
Keotsu leaped backwards, examining the wound; he had felt his life drain from the wound. And not just blood. The blade had sucked out Keotsu’s life-force.
Keotsu rushed at the man again, and feinted at the man’s right, spinning around at the last moment for a strike from the left. With impossible ease, the man whipped his blade around from one position to another, effortlessly blocking the blow.
Keotsu struck again, stabbing at the man’s head. He raised his sword in a swipe and sent Mikomi harmlessly high, and then descended his blade into a downwards slash. Keotsu leapt backwards, the tip of the man’s sword digging into his shoulder and dragging through him for about four inches.
The man twirled his blade as he closed in on Keotsu, swing the blade in a tremendously powerful horizontal slash, so powerful that Keotsu couldn’t hope to parry it, much less counter. Instead, he ducked down underneath the blade, and stabbed at the man’s chest, only to find that the man hand spun around and had already countered with another horizontal slash.
He was insanely fast too! Keotsu hadn’t even seen him make the rotation.
He charged at Keotsu again, stabbing the blade at Keotsu’s chest. Keotsu used the flat of Mikomi to push the blade away and then cut across to slice at the man’s chest.
Mikomi simply skipped off the man’s chest, not even making him flinch.
The two rushed at each other again, Keotsu having to put all of his strength into two-handed slashes to simply parry the man’s single handed slashes. This was a terrible time to be in Keotsu’s condition.
For months beforehand, Keotsu’s physical strength and stamina had been rapidly deteriorating, so mush so that Toshi had had him examined by the Lady Hokage. They could find nothing, but Keotsu knew what was causing his weakness now.
Keotsu was the one to break contact, panting furiously. He was covered in many more slash wounds, each time drawing his life-force and precious, precious stamina from him. The man wasn’t even breathing hard.
“What…What are you?” Keotsu asked, panting.
The man didn’t answer; instead he rushed towards Keotsu, striking at his waist with a similar horizontal slash, using two hands. Keotsu raised and braced Mikomi to block the blow, and was promptly thrown across the entire length of the cavern and into a wall while Mikomi spun from his hands from the colossal force of the impact.
Dazed, he lay propped up against the wall. This man couldn’t be human. Able to carry a blade like that with one hand….And the blade of his sword sucked Keotsu dry of his stamina.
Keotsu stood and approached the man, though he had almost nothing left in him. Stamina, chakra, it was gone, all gone. He raised his blade and came down with a two-handed slash, but the man countered with his own two-handed slash that was so powerful that it blew Mikomi from Keotsu’s hands and sunk it up to its hilt into the stone wall on the other end of the cavern.
With another swipe he slammed the flat of his blade into Keotsu’s chest, launching him clear across the cavern and into the wall, cracking the stone around the impact area.
The man chuckled as he approached Keotsu, his blade cutting into the floor, carving a small path. Once he was in range, he raised the sword of his head with both hands, holding the blade the same way an executioner might hold his axe before a beheading. He arched his back, and brought his blade down with his full might.
Keotsu closed his eyes, waiting for death to overtake him.
“Keotsu!”
Keotsu’s eyes burst open. He was standing in the middle of the cavern…not a scratch on him.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Shikamaru said during a deep sigh, “I’ve been trying to snap you out of it for about the last half-hour. You’ve just been standing there.”
“Wait…So… there was no man here?” asked Keotsu, dumbfounded.
“Nobody. You’ve just been standing there. The other trio is downstairs, and I’ve heard quite a few explosions. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve taken out Shou already. That leaves only Akihiko, the boss” said Saburo, leaning against a wall.
“Let’s move,” Shikamaru said, the other two close behind as they started to work their way down the complex.
“…If that man had been real….I’d be dead right now…” Keotsu thought solemnly as he followed his teammates.
Torvald was panting heavily. He just couldn’t catch Shou. He was too squirrelly, and his element gave him a distinct advantage over him. Luckily, Asuma and Rena where enough support to balance that out, but fighting both Shou and his lackeys was exhausting on all three.
“Rising Water Slicer!”
A jet of water came roaring down from the winding tunnel behind them, and towards Shou, who was forced to coat his weapon in wind Chakra, and implant it in the ground, stopping the jutsu, but soaking himself in the process.
Torvald wasn’t smart, but he knew his element. Keotsu, having been the one to use the water jutsu, had just made Torvald’s fight much easier. “LIGHTNING STYLE: FALSE DARKNESS!”
A bolt of lightning shot from Torvald’s mouth. Though Shou jumped to the side to dodge the bolt his wet metal staff acted as a lightning rod.
Though the lightning didn’t kill him (as his Wind Affinity helped him survive the attack) it would have been a much swifter (and less painful) death. Torvald lifted his hammer-axe, and pulled it apart, flooding the room with lightning as he now held a hammer in one hand and an axe in the other, both coated in electricity.
He ran with thunderous steps towards Shou, who was picking himself up off the ground. With two might blows, the axe severed Shou’s body at the waist. And then, courtesy of the hammer head, the last thing he ever felt was a hot explosion of pain behind his eyes.
“Took you long enough,” Torvald said gruffly.
“Keotu was caught in a Genjutsu, I think. He said he saw a man, and he didn’t move for nearly half an hour, even though I used Kai on him. Must have been some kind of neurotoxin if it wasn’t a Genjutsu, and his skills as a Medical Shinobi worked it out of his system,” Shikamaru said with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Doesn’t matter. Next we have to go for the big fish. Five thousand Ryo says he’s past that iron barred door,” Asuma said, biting his lip to keep himself from pulling out a cigarette. Now was not the time to smoke.
Keotsu and Rena took the positions directly next to the door, while Asuma, Shikamaru, and Saburo stood behind Torvald.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Asuma said.
Not a split-second later, Torvald charged forward, roaring the whole way, and tackled the door, separating it from its hinges in one rush. Everyone charged in, with Shikamaru staying behind ready to bring an element of surprise to fight as well as to get a better view of the layout of the battle that was about to ensue.
Keotsu and Rena set out to the larger left leg of the room, while Asuma covered the right flank, leaving the Boss to Torvald and Saburo.
A man sat on a lavish purple mat in the center of the room. His hair was long and black, and the gang’s symbol was tattooed upon his forehead. His eyes were a deep golden color, and his body was covered in white bandages, almost making him look like a mummy.
“Ah, Saburo. I wondered when you’d attempt to reach me. But as for you, Torvald, this is unexpected.”
“Heh, I don’t see how. Ya shoulda know I was gonna quit soon,” Torvald said, bringing out his still separated weapons.
“Hm, I suppose so. You’ve been a good addition to our organization for the last decade,” said the man.
“I’m sicka what we do, Hitoshi. Plus, I’m getting to old fer this. I’ll be eighty-seven next month,” explained Torvald, drawing astonished looks from around the room, including a raised eyebrow by Hitoshi.
“Regardless…you are here to fight me, so let us begin…,” said Hitoshi, lifting a large scythe.
Torvald, not waiting for a second invitation, charged, lifting his axe high to strike. As he neared, he used a feint chop with his axe only to spin and smash his hammerhead into Hitoshi’s head. He grinned once the hammer connected, but realized his mistake once its head had been engulfed in flames and Hitoshi’s body disappeared in an explosion of flame that engulfed Torvald.
Saburo sensed the incoming attack and spun around, his rapier leading. He wasn’t surprised when his sword met fire…and absorbed it.
“What’s this…?” Hitoshi asked, more than a bit surprised.
“My blade’s name is Absorber. It allows me to absorb any jutsu that I don’t have an affinity for…seeing as I’ve purposefully not trained in any element besides Wind, I can absorb the ‘intangible’ elements like Fire and Lightning, negating the jutsu. With Water and Earth, I can just suck the chakra out of the mass. And the other ability is…this!”, Saburo roared, thrusting his blade forward causing a jet of fire erupted from his blade – Hitoshi vigorously spun his scythe, deflecting the flames as he backpedaled, keeping an eye on Torvald who had quickly shook off the explosion.
Saburo stepped forward and stabbed Absorber’s point into the ground, causing a spike to jut out of the ground just in front of Hitoshi, who quickly cleaved it off with his scythe.
“Fire Style: Combustion Ash Cloud!” roared Hitoshi as he let loose the volatile cloud of ash, and then gathered a large ball of flame at the end of his scythe, preparing to incinerate Saburo.
Making handseals quickly, Saburo countered with, “Wind Style: Wind Gale!” blowing the ash cloud back around Hitoshi, who only laughed, the fireball somehow not igniting the cloud.
“Haha…My affinity is for fire…I’ve studied it intensively for years and years…The damage fire does to a body is reduced by almost ninety-five percent in my case. Good luck! I can just as easily use this cloud later, all I need to do is click my teeth, and it will explode….”
“Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!”
An orb of electricity streaked through the air, slamming into the gloating Hitoshi, the electric shock to his body forcing his teeth to click, causing the ash to ignite and catching the arrogant man in his own trap. The heat from the explosion in the cave was enough to cause everyone - Keotsu, Rena, Asuma, all the guards they were fighting, and Saburo and Torvald - to throw up their arms in attempt to shield their bodies from the scorching air.
After a few seconds the heat and smoke subsided, dispersing through some hidden ventilation system. Saburo was glad that this wasn’t a coal mine, or they’d all be dead.
Hitoshi stood there; his bandages slightly scorched but he was not dead. If fact, he was barely damaged.
“RAAAAAAH!,” he roared as he charged toward Subaro. He swung his scythe in a large arc, leaving a trail of flames in its wake. Subaro leapt backwards, out of range, while stabbing Absorber forward, drawing the energy into the bowels of the blade.
Another thunderbolt was loosed by Torvald. As the bolt of energy streaked through the air. Hitoshi brought his scythe around in a backhanded swing, releasing a torrent of flames in its wake. The two plasmas collided, releasing an enormous charge of energy into the air.
The three fighters formed a small triangle, Hitoshi backed into a corner of the cavern during the last explosion. He eyed Saburo and Torvald, wondering how to free himself from this predicament. Normally, he could have defeated Torvald alone, his mastery over fire nearly unmatched by anyone in the world.
But that blade… Saburo would always intercept the attack, and his rapier would eat the fire like some kind of demonic spawn. On top of that, the small coup d’?tat three weeks ago had left him severely wounded and with a low chakra reserve. He had secluded himself in the deepest reaches of Copper Hill, threatening instant incineration to anyone who dare approach him.
All an idle threat.
“Hm. Guess I’ve no choice,” Hitoshi said, in a matter-of-fact tone, “Fire Release: Exploding Flame Crater.”
Hitoshi raised his scythe and plunged the blade into the scorched stone at the same time as he lifted his foot and stomped the ground. Even within the parameters of the jutsu, Saburo could see the two veins of magma bubbling up to the surface, hurriedly winding towards Torvald and himself.
Wasting no time, Saburo lunged and stabbed Absorber into one of the trickling veins of lava, feeling the massive surge of energy rebound through the sword, within his body, and back into the depths of Absorber.
Saburo could fill the immense power building; filling that abyss within Absorber, spilling over into him. He lifted the blade and pointed it towards Hitoshi, the trembling in his arms caused by the radiating power.
“Lightning Release: Thor’s Hammer!”
A massive bolt of blue energy launched from Torvald’s hammer, the monstrous bolt thundering towards Hithoshi, fusing with the massive tongue of fire erupting from Saburo’s blade as it would have from the mouth of a dragon.
Hitoshi, in an ultimately futile attempt, detonated what fragmented parts of his jutsu that were left and spun his scythe, creating a dome of spiraling wind around him to divert the fire and lessen the lightning, hoping to reduce the damage from the forthcoming elemental wrath.
The entire mine shook from the spewing energy, sending mountainous tremors through the earth for miles upon miles. The incredible shockwave rebounded off the walls of the chamber, amplifying their power, which was matched by the immense heat and raw power of the blast….
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