kinghadouken
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Chapter 17: The Demon and the Snake
Momura Rouzuke was outside the cave, the Akatsuki hideout. The sky had become dark, a signal of silence and rest. He was looking at the stars glinting in the moonlight, thoughts floating around his new assignment. Crickets and owls have started to chant their forest song, which prompted him to return into the dimly-lit cave.
“So, you’re the newbie?” White Zetsu inquired carefully, apparently suspicious to see that another member was recruited at such an inconvenient time. “I sense that you own different sets of chakra.”
“**** off, you prick,” Rouzuke retorted, irritated by the sudden questioning. “Your leader offered me a spot in your group, and I agreed by settling some conditions. Now shut up and guard the brat.”
White Zetsu did quiet down, thinking that confrontation wouldn’t please Uchiha Madara at all. He turned to a blindfolded Uchiha Sasuke whose head jerked towards Rouzuke’s voice. White Zetsu can detect that Sasuke was getting impatient with waiting for his eyes to heal. Madara came into the scene looking for Rouzuke, beckoning the latter outside the cave.
“You’re going to accompany me tomorrow,” Madara declared, still staring at Rouzuke. “We are going to commence the war after we’ve planned the next move.”
Rouzuke didn’t speak, nor did he question Madara’s motives. He knew about the Akatsuki wanting to wage a war against the rest of the Shinobi world, yet he felt deep down that there were far more complicated achievements that the masked man wanted to attain. He merely nodded in agreement and went back inside the hideout, still pondering this train of thought, leaving Madara to warp out of sight.
It was a hot, sunny morning. Konohagakure was still doing its usual routines for the day, except for the fact that Konoha ninja have spread all throughout the village corners to tighten their security measures, lurking on the roofs of houses and through every nook and cranny. A scream from an elderly lady alerted the shinobi at once.
“LADY TSUNADE!” Shizune exclaimed, bursting inside the Hokage’s office. Tsunade almost choked on her usual morning tea while in the verge of talking with Sora Hitomi with the sudden interruption. “Saito Hibiki has been found unconscious and wounded in one of the streets in the village!”
Hitomi stood up instinctively as she heard Hibiki’s name. Tsunade rose up as well, and observed her interviewee who was ready to well out bucketful of tears. The Hokage commanded Shizune to lead them to the site.
Arriving at the area however, they saw a crowd that surrounded the spot. Hitomi pushed them away and witnessed as Haruno Sakura, Hyuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino and the rest of a medical squad were trying to clean the wounds and revive Hibiki. Hitomi’s eyes welled with tears as she rushed to Hibiki’s side, knocking back Sakura and the others. Tsunade and Shizune followed suit, still wary of a possible trap that didn’t come.
“Hibiki, wake up, Hibiki!” Hitomi shook Hibiki, desperately trying to jerk him to consciousness with no avail. She looked at Sakura frantically, as though the latter might have another solution that wasn’t implemented.
Sakura glanced to the Hokage, as though pleading that she should do something to avert this saddening situation. Tsunade understood the message and walked towards the two, her hands glowing with green chakra, and proceeded to revive Hibiki. Within a few more moments, Hibiki’s eyes started to flutter, and eventually regained consciousness, much to the many sighs from the witnessing crowd.
Hitomi and Hibiki’s eyes met, and the latter grinned stupidly, apologizing for whatever he had done to the former. Hitomi smiled and shook her head, saying that it wasn’t necessary. The joyous moment was shattered by the approaching guard shinobi being led by Morino Ibiki, who quickly grabbed Hibiki’s scruff in an attempt to arrest him. Hitomi wanted to intervene, but was halted by Sakura who just shook her head.
Inside an interrogation room, Hibiki was bound to a metal chair, while the hanging lampshade shone on his face. Hitomi, Tsunade, and Shizune were watching from the other side of a one-way glass. Ibiki and some of the members of his team surrounded Hibiki, trying to size him up. Ibiki walked to the bound man, his fist shaking with fury. He punched Hibiki with such force that blood from the latter’s mouth spewed on the wall, while Tsunade restrained Hitomi from busting the operation. Hibiki recovered, spat on the floor and looked up to his interrogator’s face with a lifeless stare.
“You’ve shown elements similar to the recently wanted criminal, Saito Hibiki,” Ibiki began as he circled the chair, while his team waited anxiously for his signal to torture their subject. “There have always been doubts to where your loyalty lies, and that includes your lady companion as well.”
“DON’T YOU EVEN DARE TOUCH HER, YOU BASTARD!” Hibiki retorted, his eyes suddenly showing signs of life, immediately angered by the statement. “IF YOU LAY EVEN A FINGER ON HER, I SWEAR THAT I WILL KILL YOU!”
Ibiki’s eyes glinted, and he turned to two of his team members. He motioned for one of them to initiate the interrogation procedure, while he signalled the other to standby for follow-up orders. The one who was commanded to do the procedure was Tobitaki Tonbo, who placed both of his palms on Hibiki’s head, intending to tap into the latter’s mind using the Mind Reader Technique.
HIbiki showed signs of trying to struggle, which prompted Ibiki to send another member to restrain the person being interrogated. The other man stepped up and placed his hands on Hibiki’s shoulders. It was Yamanaka Inoichi and applied the Mind Body Disturbance Technique, rendering Hibiki futile to resist the mind reading with pure will.
A few more minutes passed when both Tonbo and Inoichi removed their hands on Hibiki, who was then paralyzed by Inoichi’s technique. Tonbo whispered to the commander that there was no intel into which they can base threats that Hibiki might’ve posed. The commander looked at Hibiki with disbelief and reviewed the folder which contained the classified data reporting the latter’s behaviour the day before. After confirming with Inoichi as well, Ibiki was forced to let Hibiki go. They knocked him out and admitted him in a hospital ward, where he was in the comforts of a warm bed.
Hitomi was then allowed to visit Hibiki in the hospital room, carrying a basketful of fruits with one hand and a plasticful of energy drinks with the other. She embraced Hibiki so tight that the latter couldn’t breathe from her large bust. Hitomi let go as soon as she felt Hibiki gagging from her chest, and continued to blush as she sat down and decided to feed the latter with the fruits.
Hibiki was halfway with a bunch of grapes when Tsunade came busting into the room, her face as stern as ever. She was accompanied by Inoichi and Shizune, both of whom looked nervous because of the Hokage’s expression. Tsunade stormed towards Hibiki, who was clueless with what just happened to him in the interrogation room earlier.
Tsunade handled Hibiki roughly, pulling him out of the bed with minimal force. Hitomi was ordered to aid Hibiki in standing up. Tsunade beckoned Inoichi forward and told him to inspect Hibiki on the spot. Inoichi’s palms hovered in front of Hibiki, the hands glowing with blue chakra. He slowly moved his palms around the patient, starting from the head and spiralling downwards to the feet. He stopped at Hibiki’s right hand and proceeded to focus more chakra into the latter, forcing a small tomoe mark to appear.
Tsunade and Shizune witnessed the whole procedure and glanced at each other, already knowing what has happened. Tsunade motioned her apprentice to accompany Hitomi outside the room, despite the latter’s protests. Once Hitomi and Shizune were out of earshot, Tsunade prompted Hibiki to take off his hospital robe. Tsunade blushed a bit as soon as she saw Hibiki’s naked body. However, she carried on the phase with the air of professionalism. Inoichi pumped in more chakra to Hibiki’s right palm, which reacted instantly by multiplying the markings and spreading all over the latter’s right hand. Inoichi and Tsunade weren’t surprised by this, yet both understood the reason their subject acted that way previously.
“It seems that our enemies have planted a bomb in our village,” Tsunade declared, watching the tomoe markings retreat back to the single tomoe that disappeared shortly after. “Whoever did this to him has quite a powerful knowledge of the impending war.”
Meanwhile in the Akatsuki hideout, Rouzuke was busy tending for his weapons; there were various whetstones scattered around the large boulder where he sat in a cross-legged manner. However, he was sharpening his tools with his eyes shut. Metal scraping stone was the only sounds that echoed within the cavern. He was already in the verge of polishing when he opened his eyes, only to see Madara warp into view.
“It seems that they’ve already found out about the seal,” Rouzuke began even before Madara could speak. “That would give us some sort of disadvantage. Good thing that I erased his memory of our mock duel before I let him go.”
“I see,” Madara replied, and he wasn’t even surprised. However, he glanced at Sasuke and signalled Rouzuke to pack up and leave. “We have things to do, newbie. Do as I say and it will be over soon.”
“Where are we going?” Rouzuke inquired, wondering how long he’ll have to stay in the organization to achieve his goal. “You’ve been hiding too many information from me, Uchiha Madara.”
Madara merely glared at Rouzuke, as if daring to speak any further. Instead, Rouzuke diverted his attention to his left arm, which has a seal gained from his previous fight with the mirage-Madara. The seal still looked as menacing as he had seen it during that battle. His train of thought was derailed as Madara began to explain what their current plan was, which was to go to Yakushi Kabuto’s position and debrief the latter regarding the implementation of the war.
Madara and Rouzuke warped without question and were instantly behind Kabuto, who was already expecting the former in the middle of a forest which was near the vicinity of their Akatsuki hideout. Rouzuke was made to wait behind clumps of trees while Madara and Kabuto proceeded to discuss their plans.
Kabuto demonstrated his technique, the Impure World Resurrection to Madara, a technique which caught Rouzuke’s eye. He even saw Madara’s reaction as he saw the last coffin rise from the earth. As the lid fell off, Rouzuke’s eyes widened with surprise as he recognized the body stashed inside the coffin.
Immediately his trust diminished, yet he knew that combat won’t help in his situation. Instead he withdrew from his instincts and continued to watch the demonstration. However, it seemed that Kabuto has already sensed Rouzuke and was already turning around to confront the man when Madara told him to halt.
“He’s with me,” Madara said, still shaken by what he had just seen. “You’ve still have a long way to prove your trust to us, though I’m going to let you participate for the sake of my plans.”
“It seems that this member of yours have some unrecognizable abilities,” Kabuto jeered, while his eyes were still locked onto Rouzuke’s figure. “I do hope that you will trust me when you see my risk-free technique during the war.”
Rouzuke twitched with fury, his blood boiling and flowing like lava in his veins. He didn’t like Kabuto even a bit, considering that he already read the latter’s chakra flow, which made the person more suspicious and dangerous. He forced himself into calming down as soon as he saw Madara give him the ‘stop’ signal. Kabuto was still leering, as though provoking Rouzuke into attacking him. Madara stepped between them and told Kabuto that there was something that he wanted to show to the latter.
Kabuto agreed to come, showing signs of interest for whatever Madara was planning to reveal. Rouzuke stealthily followed suit, still distrusting Kabuto. When they reached the site however, Rouzuke thought that it was odd to see the opening of the entrance to be larger that he remembered. Nevertheless, he entered the cave as well, thinking of what Madara was up to.
They went down to a spiralling staircase which eventually led them to a humongous tree in which bore a face that Rouzuke recognized as Senju Hashirama. Just beneath the roots of the tree lay a bluish barrier that acted as a floor to reach the tree itself. Rouzuke noticed that there were humans that filled the entire space underneath the barrier, an army consisting of the clones of White Zetsu. Kabuto was impressed by this and complimented Madara for the amazing display of manpower. Rouzuke wasn’t amused, already able to put some of the details together to form a theoretical explanation for Madara’s mysterious plan.
“You look like you’d need fresh air,” Kabuto commented, mistaking Rouzuke’s glazed look for sickness. He turned to Madara, smirking at the thought of having a flawless victory. “We’ve seen quite enough. I do hope that you and I will work together and win the war.”
To be continued...
Momura Rouzuke was outside the cave, the Akatsuki hideout. The sky had become dark, a signal of silence and rest. He was looking at the stars glinting in the moonlight, thoughts floating around his new assignment. Crickets and owls have started to chant their forest song, which prompted him to return into the dimly-lit cave.
“So, you’re the newbie?” White Zetsu inquired carefully, apparently suspicious to see that another member was recruited at such an inconvenient time. “I sense that you own different sets of chakra.”
“**** off, you prick,” Rouzuke retorted, irritated by the sudden questioning. “Your leader offered me a spot in your group, and I agreed by settling some conditions. Now shut up and guard the brat.”
White Zetsu did quiet down, thinking that confrontation wouldn’t please Uchiha Madara at all. He turned to a blindfolded Uchiha Sasuke whose head jerked towards Rouzuke’s voice. White Zetsu can detect that Sasuke was getting impatient with waiting for his eyes to heal. Madara came into the scene looking for Rouzuke, beckoning the latter outside the cave.
“You’re going to accompany me tomorrow,” Madara declared, still staring at Rouzuke. “We are going to commence the war after we’ve planned the next move.”
Rouzuke didn’t speak, nor did he question Madara’s motives. He knew about the Akatsuki wanting to wage a war against the rest of the Shinobi world, yet he felt deep down that there were far more complicated achievements that the masked man wanted to attain. He merely nodded in agreement and went back inside the hideout, still pondering this train of thought, leaving Madara to warp out of sight.
~ ~ ~
It was a hot, sunny morning. Konohagakure was still doing its usual routines for the day, except for the fact that Konoha ninja have spread all throughout the village corners to tighten their security measures, lurking on the roofs of houses and through every nook and cranny. A scream from an elderly lady alerted the shinobi at once.
“LADY TSUNADE!” Shizune exclaimed, bursting inside the Hokage’s office. Tsunade almost choked on her usual morning tea while in the verge of talking with Sora Hitomi with the sudden interruption. “Saito Hibiki has been found unconscious and wounded in one of the streets in the village!”
Hitomi stood up instinctively as she heard Hibiki’s name. Tsunade rose up as well, and observed her interviewee who was ready to well out bucketful of tears. The Hokage commanded Shizune to lead them to the site.
Arriving at the area however, they saw a crowd that surrounded the spot. Hitomi pushed them away and witnessed as Haruno Sakura, Hyuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino and the rest of a medical squad were trying to clean the wounds and revive Hibiki. Hitomi’s eyes welled with tears as she rushed to Hibiki’s side, knocking back Sakura and the others. Tsunade and Shizune followed suit, still wary of a possible trap that didn’t come.
“Hibiki, wake up, Hibiki!” Hitomi shook Hibiki, desperately trying to jerk him to consciousness with no avail. She looked at Sakura frantically, as though the latter might have another solution that wasn’t implemented.
Sakura glanced to the Hokage, as though pleading that she should do something to avert this saddening situation. Tsunade understood the message and walked towards the two, her hands glowing with green chakra, and proceeded to revive Hibiki. Within a few more moments, Hibiki’s eyes started to flutter, and eventually regained consciousness, much to the many sighs from the witnessing crowd.
Hitomi and Hibiki’s eyes met, and the latter grinned stupidly, apologizing for whatever he had done to the former. Hitomi smiled and shook her head, saying that it wasn’t necessary. The joyous moment was shattered by the approaching guard shinobi being led by Morino Ibiki, who quickly grabbed Hibiki’s scruff in an attempt to arrest him. Hitomi wanted to intervene, but was halted by Sakura who just shook her head.
Inside an interrogation room, Hibiki was bound to a metal chair, while the hanging lampshade shone on his face. Hitomi, Tsunade, and Shizune were watching from the other side of a one-way glass. Ibiki and some of the members of his team surrounded Hibiki, trying to size him up. Ibiki walked to the bound man, his fist shaking with fury. He punched Hibiki with such force that blood from the latter’s mouth spewed on the wall, while Tsunade restrained Hitomi from busting the operation. Hibiki recovered, spat on the floor and looked up to his interrogator’s face with a lifeless stare.
“You’ve shown elements similar to the recently wanted criminal, Saito Hibiki,” Ibiki began as he circled the chair, while his team waited anxiously for his signal to torture their subject. “There have always been doubts to where your loyalty lies, and that includes your lady companion as well.”
“DON’T YOU EVEN DARE TOUCH HER, YOU BASTARD!” Hibiki retorted, his eyes suddenly showing signs of life, immediately angered by the statement. “IF YOU LAY EVEN A FINGER ON HER, I SWEAR THAT I WILL KILL YOU!”
Ibiki’s eyes glinted, and he turned to two of his team members. He motioned for one of them to initiate the interrogation procedure, while he signalled the other to standby for follow-up orders. The one who was commanded to do the procedure was Tobitaki Tonbo, who placed both of his palms on Hibiki’s head, intending to tap into the latter’s mind using the Mind Reader Technique.
HIbiki showed signs of trying to struggle, which prompted Ibiki to send another member to restrain the person being interrogated. The other man stepped up and placed his hands on Hibiki’s shoulders. It was Yamanaka Inoichi and applied the Mind Body Disturbance Technique, rendering Hibiki futile to resist the mind reading with pure will.
A few more minutes passed when both Tonbo and Inoichi removed their hands on Hibiki, who was then paralyzed by Inoichi’s technique. Tonbo whispered to the commander that there was no intel into which they can base threats that Hibiki might’ve posed. The commander looked at Hibiki with disbelief and reviewed the folder which contained the classified data reporting the latter’s behaviour the day before. After confirming with Inoichi as well, Ibiki was forced to let Hibiki go. They knocked him out and admitted him in a hospital ward, where he was in the comforts of a warm bed.
Hitomi was then allowed to visit Hibiki in the hospital room, carrying a basketful of fruits with one hand and a plasticful of energy drinks with the other. She embraced Hibiki so tight that the latter couldn’t breathe from her large bust. Hitomi let go as soon as she felt Hibiki gagging from her chest, and continued to blush as she sat down and decided to feed the latter with the fruits.
Hibiki was halfway with a bunch of grapes when Tsunade came busting into the room, her face as stern as ever. She was accompanied by Inoichi and Shizune, both of whom looked nervous because of the Hokage’s expression. Tsunade stormed towards Hibiki, who was clueless with what just happened to him in the interrogation room earlier.
Tsunade handled Hibiki roughly, pulling him out of the bed with minimal force. Hitomi was ordered to aid Hibiki in standing up. Tsunade beckoned Inoichi forward and told him to inspect Hibiki on the spot. Inoichi’s palms hovered in front of Hibiki, the hands glowing with blue chakra. He slowly moved his palms around the patient, starting from the head and spiralling downwards to the feet. He stopped at Hibiki’s right hand and proceeded to focus more chakra into the latter, forcing a small tomoe mark to appear.
Tsunade and Shizune witnessed the whole procedure and glanced at each other, already knowing what has happened. Tsunade motioned her apprentice to accompany Hitomi outside the room, despite the latter’s protests. Once Hitomi and Shizune were out of earshot, Tsunade prompted Hibiki to take off his hospital robe. Tsunade blushed a bit as soon as she saw Hibiki’s naked body. However, she carried on the phase with the air of professionalism. Inoichi pumped in more chakra to Hibiki’s right palm, which reacted instantly by multiplying the markings and spreading all over the latter’s right hand. Inoichi and Tsunade weren’t surprised by this, yet both understood the reason their subject acted that way previously.
“It seems that our enemies have planted a bomb in our village,” Tsunade declared, watching the tomoe markings retreat back to the single tomoe that disappeared shortly after. “Whoever did this to him has quite a powerful knowledge of the impending war.”
~ ~ ~
Meanwhile in the Akatsuki hideout, Rouzuke was busy tending for his weapons; there were various whetstones scattered around the large boulder where he sat in a cross-legged manner. However, he was sharpening his tools with his eyes shut. Metal scraping stone was the only sounds that echoed within the cavern. He was already in the verge of polishing when he opened his eyes, only to see Madara warp into view.
“It seems that they’ve already found out about the seal,” Rouzuke began even before Madara could speak. “That would give us some sort of disadvantage. Good thing that I erased his memory of our mock duel before I let him go.”
“I see,” Madara replied, and he wasn’t even surprised. However, he glanced at Sasuke and signalled Rouzuke to pack up and leave. “We have things to do, newbie. Do as I say and it will be over soon.”
“Where are we going?” Rouzuke inquired, wondering how long he’ll have to stay in the organization to achieve his goal. “You’ve been hiding too many information from me, Uchiha Madara.”
Madara merely glared at Rouzuke, as if daring to speak any further. Instead, Rouzuke diverted his attention to his left arm, which has a seal gained from his previous fight with the mirage-Madara. The seal still looked as menacing as he had seen it during that battle. His train of thought was derailed as Madara began to explain what their current plan was, which was to go to Yakushi Kabuto’s position and debrief the latter regarding the implementation of the war.
Madara and Rouzuke warped without question and were instantly behind Kabuto, who was already expecting the former in the middle of a forest which was near the vicinity of their Akatsuki hideout. Rouzuke was made to wait behind clumps of trees while Madara and Kabuto proceeded to discuss their plans.
Kabuto demonstrated his technique, the Impure World Resurrection to Madara, a technique which caught Rouzuke’s eye. He even saw Madara’s reaction as he saw the last coffin rise from the earth. As the lid fell off, Rouzuke’s eyes widened with surprise as he recognized the body stashed inside the coffin.
Immediately his trust diminished, yet he knew that combat won’t help in his situation. Instead he withdrew from his instincts and continued to watch the demonstration. However, it seemed that Kabuto has already sensed Rouzuke and was already turning around to confront the man when Madara told him to halt.
“He’s with me,” Madara said, still shaken by what he had just seen. “You’ve still have a long way to prove your trust to us, though I’m going to let you participate for the sake of my plans.”
“It seems that this member of yours have some unrecognizable abilities,” Kabuto jeered, while his eyes were still locked onto Rouzuke’s figure. “I do hope that you will trust me when you see my risk-free technique during the war.”
Rouzuke twitched with fury, his blood boiling and flowing like lava in his veins. He didn’t like Kabuto even a bit, considering that he already read the latter’s chakra flow, which made the person more suspicious and dangerous. He forced himself into calming down as soon as he saw Madara give him the ‘stop’ signal. Kabuto was still leering, as though provoking Rouzuke into attacking him. Madara stepped between them and told Kabuto that there was something that he wanted to show to the latter.
Kabuto agreed to come, showing signs of interest for whatever Madara was planning to reveal. Rouzuke stealthily followed suit, still distrusting Kabuto. When they reached the site however, Rouzuke thought that it was odd to see the opening of the entrance to be larger that he remembered. Nevertheless, he entered the cave as well, thinking of what Madara was up to.
They went down to a spiralling staircase which eventually led them to a humongous tree in which bore a face that Rouzuke recognized as Senju Hashirama. Just beneath the roots of the tree lay a bluish barrier that acted as a floor to reach the tree itself. Rouzuke noticed that there were humans that filled the entire space underneath the barrier, an army consisting of the clones of White Zetsu. Kabuto was impressed by this and complimented Madara for the amazing display of manpower. Rouzuke wasn’t amused, already able to put some of the details together to form a theoretical explanation for Madara’s mysterious plan.
“You look like you’d need fresh air,” Kabuto commented, mistaking Rouzuke’s glazed look for sickness. He turned to Madara, smirking at the thought of having a flawless victory. “We’ve seen quite enough. I do hope that you and I will work together and win the war.”
To be continued...
