:| This took quite some time, mostly because I couldn't settle on a design for Tenzu's mangekyou. I went through like a hundred drawings lol.
The raiders were already too close to their destination to prove to be a problem for Captain Jacob?s crew when they departed.
Riku walked up to the side of the ship, and jumped up slightly to land in a crouched position on its broadside. It was his turn?he and Tenzu had been alternating chances to attack ever since they first departed?to raid this ship, taking whatever supplies or other interesting things that he saw and then sinking, simply for extra provisions and, more or less, to kill a bit of boredom. This would probably be the last ship before they weighed anchor at the Water Country. The seas hadn?t proved to be much trouble at all, a few waves here and there of course, but this crew, lead by Captain Eraqus who was apparently quite renowned as far as seafarers go, showed themselves to be quite an able group, though Riku didn?t know whether they were always like this or if it was simply because their lives were in limbo. The sturdiness of the ship didn?t hurt, either. It only rocked from the most powerful of waves, and even then, not enough to make anyone on the ship stumble.
Riku watched closely with squinting eyes as the ship passed, scanning about it to see where would be the best place to start. He saw no place on the ship?s deck that he could get onto without risking being shot down by an arrow before even making the jump over there, and so his eyes shifted immediately upward.
The crow?s nest was rather large, compared to those that he had seen before this one. There was only one person in it, scanning the area with his telescope, and more often than not looking back at the ship that Riku was at. He hadn?t seen Riku yet, it appeared, but only caught small glimpses of the crew.
Riku waited for only a moment longer, as the man slowly turned to the right, and then when Riku was sure that his eyes were completely away from him, that not even the man?s peripheral vision would catch enough sight of him to make him turn and see what was going on, Riku jumped upwards diagonally, high enough for any of the crewmen on the deck not to see him, a kunai producing itself from the pouch tied to his belt, on the opposite side that Soul Eater?which he likely wouldn?t even need for this?was into his hand.
The kunai left Riku?s hand as quickly as it had appeared.
It went in through the man?s skull on one side and stayed there, perhaps it would have gone through the other side, but the crewman had already fallen, and so the crow?s nest would suffice to lodging the kunai if it were to slide through.
As he hit the ground, Riku landed silently and lightly in the crow?s nest, leaning over it. There were many crewmen on deck, up and about with daggers close at hand and some with bows slung over their broad backs.
Picking up the lifeless corpse next to him, Riku inched closer to the edge of the small platform, and hoisted the body up and over the edge, slamming down with a thud on the ground. Riku watched impassively as crewmen gave surprised jerks upon hearing the thump and then cautiously walk over to the body. Soon enough all of them, at least ten in total, were crowded around the body, looking at it, and Riku gave a slight chuckle as he watched some almost look up, but a part of their conscious, a part of them that thought that if they looked up that they?d be next, made their heads go back down.
Riku seized the moment of confusion when all of the men who were on deck were crowded around the body. His right hand flashed in a blur into several, single-handed seals.
Slowly, behind each one of the crewmen on deck, a small needle of ice appeared, practically a more concentrated version of an icicle. Only one appeared behind each of them, and because of the way that the crowd was positioned, there was nobody behind one another, or if they were they were at an angle in which they wouldn?t see unless they were looking for it, so the needles remained invisible.
Until, of course, they stabbed through their hearts.
One stab was enough, even for those that missed the heart. As soon as the needles came through the other side, ice began to encase the crewmembers, starting from the newly made hole and then going outwards until they were completely frozen. It didn?t exactly matter, though; each of them had been dead the second that the needles went through.
Riku slammed his hand shut, and each of them, every one of frozen men, shattered completely, their existence wiped out in a matter of moments, and ever-so silently it had happened.
Riku dropped down as lightly as he could, and immediately went into motion. There was a small opening on the deck, apparently the only way to get inside of the ship?s body. Taking a few long steps, closer to jumps, until he came to the opening, twisting around and then grabbing onto the ladder, sliding down it with ease.
This ship had much more ?loot? than the others. The very back of the small room was lined with bags of ryo and other supplies. Riku walked towards them tentatively, expecting more crewmen, or perhaps even the ship?s captain, to jump out at him. Leaving something like this completely unattended seemed more than foolish to Riku.
Though, that?s exactly what they did. Riku walked up to one of the bags, and as he turned, beginning to hoist the bag over his shoulder, he immediately dropped it, as the Soul Eater lashed out.
In front of him stood a man, in a long, black coat, a zipper going down the middle and a hood over his head, and in the opening of the hood there was only darkness, even more-so since the man had his head slightly tilted downward, assuring that Riku saw nothing. Something told Riku that this man wasn?t part of this ship?s crew, that he wasn?t the captain, and that he didn?t have anything to do with this soon-to-be nonexistent ship at all. Never before could Riku recall seeing him, but something told him that this man had just now come.
For Riku.
The robed man took a half-step forward towards Riku, and Riku took an equally as long step backward, and asked, ?And you are??
The robed man retracted his outstretched leg as to stand normally again, and tilted his head slightly to the side. His deep voice seemed rather hollow and ghostly as he spoke, as if he wasn?t even truly there, ?So... you have forgotten? I suppose that we never had a very formal encounter, though. I told you that we?d meet again, didn?t I??
?Wha... what are you talking about?? Riku asked, trying to keep himself as calm as possible and doing well to hide the trembling in his voice, ?I don?t know you... or... I don?t remember you, at least.?
Riku could hear the man chuckling as he spoke, and when Riku was finished, he picked up, ?I wonder if you truly forgot, or if you simply chose to forget... Did the memory get buried within everything else that you?ve learned by accident, or were you the one to bury it?? he pressed.
Riku stared at him for a long time, and suddenly remembered that he was on a mission here, muttering under his breath, ?I don?t have time for this...? right before charging forward towards the man, slashing wildly.
Riku was halted after his first attack, though.
He had come with a diagonal slice that would start from the man?s shoulder and then go down, but using the back of his hand, the cloaked man slapped Riku?s attacking arm to the side, and then twisted his hand to grab the young ninja?s wrist. Smoothly, before Riku could counter, the man took his hand from Riku?s wrist, and before Riku could take advantage of that small time of freedom, he was pushed back to the ship?s wall by an open palm to his chest.
Slamming into the wall, Riku coughed and then fell forward to his knees. Slowly, he forced himself to look up, and saw the man rushing towards him. Instinctively, Riku brought his blade up, but as the man continued rushing, Riku noticed that his feet weren?t even touching the ground; he began to fade away, slowly, until it finally seemed as if he went through Riku.
As he went through Riku, though, the young and new Akatsuki member could still here the man?s final words, ?We will meet again in a more... familiar environment.?
Riku stayed there, kneeling on the ground, for many more moments, and finally rushed towards one of the two bags on the ground, deciding that he wouldn?t come back for the second at this point; being in a rush just to get off of this ship.
As he ran up the steps to come back to the top of the deck, slashing from left to right to cut down two men who had come from either side of him, Riku spun on his heel, and then jumped diagonally upwards, back to the ship that they were on. As he jumped, he twisted his body so that he was facing the ship that he was now leaving, and went into a series of handseals.
Slowly, the water around the ship rose up and over it. Soon enough, the water practically made bubble around the ship. Riku formed one more hand seal, and the water around the ship froze immediately, the entire ship being frozen; encased completely in ice.
Riku landed onto their ship, and made a final seal. The ice seemed to implode on itself, as if it were taking the ship to another dimension.
All was quiet after the silent implosion was complete, and then there was a giant, and more than a slightly loud, outburst. The ice and most of the ship seemed to have disappeared; the explosion was purely fire with small planks of wood that flew around. The explosion made giant waves, and Riku was sure to make it so that the ship that he was standing on now hardly suffered from any of the waves, using a water jutsu to part the worst part of the waves heading towards them. The waves went out in all directions, starting from the ship and then going outwards, as if they would never end.
Riku was hardly paying attention to them, though; he kept looking back to where the ship once stood. He was too busy with his own thoughts to pay attention to the explosion, though his eyes lit up a sort of light red color from it.
Who had that been?
~
Sora and Reina saw the explosion as well, and Lagia?the name of Captain Jacob?s ship?had a giant wave coming towards it, and a powerful wind from the explosion. They had to be miles away from it, at least, but a giant blast it was, the ship taking a heavy wave to its starboard side.
The wave had only been enough to shake it back, so that its starboard side would be off of the ocean for a few seconds. Would be because most of the weight of crewmen and guests alike was shifted to that very side, all trying to get a view of the explosion. The wind had died out, for the most part, by the time it reached them, causing only a slight and brief rush that pushed them back, leaving them without the need to worry about protecting themselves.
Only to wonder what the heck had happened.
But Sora already knew exactly what it was, and as he and Reina shared a worried look at each other, he could tell that she had drawn the same conclusion.
Things were about to get interesting when they weighed anchor at the Water Country.
~
This harbor was considerably smaller in size to the one that the pair had departed at. Tenzu and Riku walked off of the boat silently, waiting until night to make their departure. As they walked off of the boat, standing on the docks, Tenzu turned around to face the large ship and went into a series of handseals.
Riku?s hand shot out and grabbed the Uchiha?s arm, already aware of what he was going to do, ?We don?t need to burn it down; they?ve done nothing wrong.?
Tenzu turned slightly to regard Riku, ?They know who we are, and so they must die now.?
?And you think that the entire Water Country and more won?t know who we are after our mission whether we kill them or not?? Riku retorted, forcefully though quietly.
Tenzu stared at him for a moment longer, and then shook his head helplessly, ?I?ll make sure to get rid of that empathetic side of you soon enough. But fine. Let?s leave quickly, then,? Tenzu said, turning and walking away, while shaking his head and snorting to himself, ?Empathy...?
The two walked away, Tenzu still grunting and snorting to himself, and they hardly noticed, or cared to regard, the boat coming right behind them?the Lagia going into port?having had enough time to catch up considering that the duo had decided to wait out the day in the ship, so that they could move through the night.
Even more unnoticed, though, was the large, blue fin that stuck out of the ocean, and the odd-looking man that rose up from the ocean, a gruesome grin on his shark-like face.
~
Riku stared at the gate for a long while?the gate of the Kirigakure. Tenzu stood next to him, looking back though, squinting as if he could sense something approaching.
?You go on ahead; I?ll wait here,? Tenzu said, turning as he spoke, ?You know what to do, right??
Riku shrugged, it was simple enough, get the Mizukage and capture her. From there, taking over the place wouldn?t be too much trouble.
Tenzu was still staring back, ?Remember, hit and run.?
Riku looked at him, ?What if someone else comes that I can?t take by myself??
?What part of hit and run don?t you understand?? Tenzu asked curiously.
Riku offered another shrug, and then set off into the town. Tenzu turned back around and watched him leave, and then his arm suddenly shot out as he felt a figure, apparently a ninja, attempting to dart past him?clearly in pursuit of Riku.
?Sorry,? Tenzu said, his extended arm holding the katana that he often used in battle, extending out of his sleeve as usually, covering both Tenzu?s hand and the blades hilt, ?But I simply cannot allow you to go any further.?
The cold steel of the blade was resting on the neck of Sora, who had caught a glimpse of a figure entering the village?the he had no idea that it was, indeed, Riku.
That blade, and Tenzu?s arm, was quickly retracted, though. A kunai whistled through the air, nearly impaling itself into Tenzu?s arm, though the Uchiha quickly took his arm back and jumped backward. Sora tried to advance again, but Tenzu?s arm rose up quickly, a wall of fire producing itself in front of the advancing ninja, not only stopping him in his tracks, but also startling him enough to lead him to backflip a few times until he was standing next to the one who had thrown the kunai.
Tenzu recognized her immediately, both from his brief assault outside of Konoha and from their assault, only weeks ago, on the Akatsuki spire. Reina, he believed her name was, and the one next to her, standing impassively with a rather small sword in hand, he had recognized as Raiden.
Sora?s arm lashed out to the side, as a rather peculiar looking blade suddenly appeared in his hand. Tenzu took a moment to observe it. It was a silvery gray color, its handle with a black guard around it. The blade, if it could be called such, seemed to grow thinner as it reached its end, and at the very end there was a lion?s head where the tip should be. On one side of it, there was a spike coming out of the blade, and on the other side, there was a smaller one. Going down the center of the actual blade, there was a hole, more like a slit, that closed itself around where the lion?s head appeared.
Tenzu had fought Reina before, and didn?t doubt that he could take Raiden just as easily, but there was something different about the boy. Mainly the simple feeling of unease. Tenzu hadn?t recognized this boy, never saw him in his life, and the peculiar sword and the equally-as-odd way that it had appeared into his hand set Tenzu off more than slightly. This uneasiness led Tenzu to a simple decision, though one that he hadn?t expected to use so soon.
The Uchiha smiled?though none could see his grin because of the hood tucked securely over his face?as his eyes closed, ?I had been waiting to try this out in battle...? he said, laughing more at himself than anything, wondering if he even had to.
When his eyes opened, they were clearly different. The same bright, scarlet red, a color that looked like recently-shed blood, to be sure, but there was a different design found in them in place of the normal three tomoe state. The tomoes had completely disappeared, and his pupil seemed to have grown considerably in size, but it wasn?t a normal circle. It seemed to be almost chopped off in some areas; the color was the red of his actual eye instead of black, there were small slits that were cut off. There were three in total. One was at the upper left corner of his eye, one at the upper right, and the final at the very bottom. The pupil was almost like a dot with fans three fans around it. Around the pupil, though, there was another design near the very outer part of his eye. It was a ring that went around his eye, and from that ring, three curved spikes protruded out. They were basically the other way around in positioned than the slits on his pupils. The first spike was at the very top of the ring, and the other two were at the lower left and lower right corner. The red background, though, still lit up his eyes.
Tenzu stared at Sora, tilting his head, and then turned to face him, looking at the rest of the group through the corner of his eyes. In a heartbeat, he went from his original position to standing in front of Sora, looking over his shoulder, listening to the young man?s shaky breathing and he could see a bit of the sweat coming down his face, ?Ready?? he asked.
Weighing Anchor
The raiders were already too close to their destination to prove to be a problem for Captain Jacob?s crew when they departed.
Riku walked up to the side of the ship, and jumped up slightly to land in a crouched position on its broadside. It was his turn?he and Tenzu had been alternating chances to attack ever since they first departed?to raid this ship, taking whatever supplies or other interesting things that he saw and then sinking, simply for extra provisions and, more or less, to kill a bit of boredom. This would probably be the last ship before they weighed anchor at the Water Country. The seas hadn?t proved to be much trouble at all, a few waves here and there of course, but this crew, lead by Captain Eraqus who was apparently quite renowned as far as seafarers go, showed themselves to be quite an able group, though Riku didn?t know whether they were always like this or if it was simply because their lives were in limbo. The sturdiness of the ship didn?t hurt, either. It only rocked from the most powerful of waves, and even then, not enough to make anyone on the ship stumble.
Riku watched closely with squinting eyes as the ship passed, scanning about it to see where would be the best place to start. He saw no place on the ship?s deck that he could get onto without risking being shot down by an arrow before even making the jump over there, and so his eyes shifted immediately upward.
The crow?s nest was rather large, compared to those that he had seen before this one. There was only one person in it, scanning the area with his telescope, and more often than not looking back at the ship that Riku was at. He hadn?t seen Riku yet, it appeared, but only caught small glimpses of the crew.
Riku waited for only a moment longer, as the man slowly turned to the right, and then when Riku was sure that his eyes were completely away from him, that not even the man?s peripheral vision would catch enough sight of him to make him turn and see what was going on, Riku jumped upwards diagonally, high enough for any of the crewmen on the deck not to see him, a kunai producing itself from the pouch tied to his belt, on the opposite side that Soul Eater?which he likely wouldn?t even need for this?was into his hand.
The kunai left Riku?s hand as quickly as it had appeared.
It went in through the man?s skull on one side and stayed there, perhaps it would have gone through the other side, but the crewman had already fallen, and so the crow?s nest would suffice to lodging the kunai if it were to slide through.
As he hit the ground, Riku landed silently and lightly in the crow?s nest, leaning over it. There were many crewmen on deck, up and about with daggers close at hand and some with bows slung over their broad backs.
Picking up the lifeless corpse next to him, Riku inched closer to the edge of the small platform, and hoisted the body up and over the edge, slamming down with a thud on the ground. Riku watched impassively as crewmen gave surprised jerks upon hearing the thump and then cautiously walk over to the body. Soon enough all of them, at least ten in total, were crowded around the body, looking at it, and Riku gave a slight chuckle as he watched some almost look up, but a part of their conscious, a part of them that thought that if they looked up that they?d be next, made their heads go back down.
Riku seized the moment of confusion when all of the men who were on deck were crowded around the body. His right hand flashed in a blur into several, single-handed seals.
Slowly, behind each one of the crewmen on deck, a small needle of ice appeared, practically a more concentrated version of an icicle. Only one appeared behind each of them, and because of the way that the crowd was positioned, there was nobody behind one another, or if they were they were at an angle in which they wouldn?t see unless they were looking for it, so the needles remained invisible.
Until, of course, they stabbed through their hearts.
One stab was enough, even for those that missed the heart. As soon as the needles came through the other side, ice began to encase the crewmembers, starting from the newly made hole and then going outwards until they were completely frozen. It didn?t exactly matter, though; each of them had been dead the second that the needles went through.
Riku slammed his hand shut, and each of them, every one of frozen men, shattered completely, their existence wiped out in a matter of moments, and ever-so silently it had happened.
Riku dropped down as lightly as he could, and immediately went into motion. There was a small opening on the deck, apparently the only way to get inside of the ship?s body. Taking a few long steps, closer to jumps, until he came to the opening, twisting around and then grabbing onto the ladder, sliding down it with ease.
This ship had much more ?loot? than the others. The very back of the small room was lined with bags of ryo and other supplies. Riku walked towards them tentatively, expecting more crewmen, or perhaps even the ship?s captain, to jump out at him. Leaving something like this completely unattended seemed more than foolish to Riku.
Though, that?s exactly what they did. Riku walked up to one of the bags, and as he turned, beginning to hoist the bag over his shoulder, he immediately dropped it, as the Soul Eater lashed out.
In front of him stood a man, in a long, black coat, a zipper going down the middle and a hood over his head, and in the opening of the hood there was only darkness, even more-so since the man had his head slightly tilted downward, assuring that Riku saw nothing. Something told Riku that this man wasn?t part of this ship?s crew, that he wasn?t the captain, and that he didn?t have anything to do with this soon-to-be nonexistent ship at all. Never before could Riku recall seeing him, but something told him that this man had just now come.
For Riku.
The robed man took a half-step forward towards Riku, and Riku took an equally as long step backward, and asked, ?And you are??
The robed man retracted his outstretched leg as to stand normally again, and tilted his head slightly to the side. His deep voice seemed rather hollow and ghostly as he spoke, as if he wasn?t even truly there, ?So... you have forgotten? I suppose that we never had a very formal encounter, though. I told you that we?d meet again, didn?t I??
?Wha... what are you talking about?? Riku asked, trying to keep himself as calm as possible and doing well to hide the trembling in his voice, ?I don?t know you... or... I don?t remember you, at least.?
Riku could hear the man chuckling as he spoke, and when Riku was finished, he picked up, ?I wonder if you truly forgot, or if you simply chose to forget... Did the memory get buried within everything else that you?ve learned by accident, or were you the one to bury it?? he pressed.
Riku stared at him for a long time, and suddenly remembered that he was on a mission here, muttering under his breath, ?I don?t have time for this...? right before charging forward towards the man, slashing wildly.
Riku was halted after his first attack, though.
He had come with a diagonal slice that would start from the man?s shoulder and then go down, but using the back of his hand, the cloaked man slapped Riku?s attacking arm to the side, and then twisted his hand to grab the young ninja?s wrist. Smoothly, before Riku could counter, the man took his hand from Riku?s wrist, and before Riku could take advantage of that small time of freedom, he was pushed back to the ship?s wall by an open palm to his chest.
Slamming into the wall, Riku coughed and then fell forward to his knees. Slowly, he forced himself to look up, and saw the man rushing towards him. Instinctively, Riku brought his blade up, but as the man continued rushing, Riku noticed that his feet weren?t even touching the ground; he began to fade away, slowly, until it finally seemed as if he went through Riku.
As he went through Riku, though, the young and new Akatsuki member could still here the man?s final words, ?We will meet again in a more... familiar environment.?
Riku stayed there, kneeling on the ground, for many more moments, and finally rushed towards one of the two bags on the ground, deciding that he wouldn?t come back for the second at this point; being in a rush just to get off of this ship.
As he ran up the steps to come back to the top of the deck, slashing from left to right to cut down two men who had come from either side of him, Riku spun on his heel, and then jumped diagonally upwards, back to the ship that they were on. As he jumped, he twisted his body so that he was facing the ship that he was now leaving, and went into a series of handseals.
Slowly, the water around the ship rose up and over it. Soon enough, the water practically made bubble around the ship. Riku formed one more hand seal, and the water around the ship froze immediately, the entire ship being frozen; encased completely in ice.
Riku landed onto their ship, and made a final seal. The ice seemed to implode on itself, as if it were taking the ship to another dimension.
All was quiet after the silent implosion was complete, and then there was a giant, and more than a slightly loud, outburst. The ice and most of the ship seemed to have disappeared; the explosion was purely fire with small planks of wood that flew around. The explosion made giant waves, and Riku was sure to make it so that the ship that he was standing on now hardly suffered from any of the waves, using a water jutsu to part the worst part of the waves heading towards them. The waves went out in all directions, starting from the ship and then going outwards, as if they would never end.
Riku was hardly paying attention to them, though; he kept looking back to where the ship once stood. He was too busy with his own thoughts to pay attention to the explosion, though his eyes lit up a sort of light red color from it.
Who had that been?
~
Sora and Reina saw the explosion as well, and Lagia?the name of Captain Jacob?s ship?had a giant wave coming towards it, and a powerful wind from the explosion. They had to be miles away from it, at least, but a giant blast it was, the ship taking a heavy wave to its starboard side.
The wave had only been enough to shake it back, so that its starboard side would be off of the ocean for a few seconds. Would be because most of the weight of crewmen and guests alike was shifted to that very side, all trying to get a view of the explosion. The wind had died out, for the most part, by the time it reached them, causing only a slight and brief rush that pushed them back, leaving them without the need to worry about protecting themselves.
Only to wonder what the heck had happened.
But Sora already knew exactly what it was, and as he and Reina shared a worried look at each other, he could tell that she had drawn the same conclusion.
Things were about to get interesting when they weighed anchor at the Water Country.
~
This harbor was considerably smaller in size to the one that the pair had departed at. Tenzu and Riku walked off of the boat silently, waiting until night to make their departure. As they walked off of the boat, standing on the docks, Tenzu turned around to face the large ship and went into a series of handseals.
Riku?s hand shot out and grabbed the Uchiha?s arm, already aware of what he was going to do, ?We don?t need to burn it down; they?ve done nothing wrong.?
Tenzu turned slightly to regard Riku, ?They know who we are, and so they must die now.?
?And you think that the entire Water Country and more won?t know who we are after our mission whether we kill them or not?? Riku retorted, forcefully though quietly.
Tenzu stared at him for a moment longer, and then shook his head helplessly, ?I?ll make sure to get rid of that empathetic side of you soon enough. But fine. Let?s leave quickly, then,? Tenzu said, turning and walking away, while shaking his head and snorting to himself, ?Empathy...?
The two walked away, Tenzu still grunting and snorting to himself, and they hardly noticed, or cared to regard, the boat coming right behind them?the Lagia going into port?having had enough time to catch up considering that the duo had decided to wait out the day in the ship, so that they could move through the night.
Even more unnoticed, though, was the large, blue fin that stuck out of the ocean, and the odd-looking man that rose up from the ocean, a gruesome grin on his shark-like face.
~
Riku stared at the gate for a long while?the gate of the Kirigakure. Tenzu stood next to him, looking back though, squinting as if he could sense something approaching.
?You go on ahead; I?ll wait here,? Tenzu said, turning as he spoke, ?You know what to do, right??
Riku shrugged, it was simple enough, get the Mizukage and capture her. From there, taking over the place wouldn?t be too much trouble.
Tenzu was still staring back, ?Remember, hit and run.?
Riku looked at him, ?What if someone else comes that I can?t take by myself??
?What part of hit and run don?t you understand?? Tenzu asked curiously.
Riku offered another shrug, and then set off into the town. Tenzu turned back around and watched him leave, and then his arm suddenly shot out as he felt a figure, apparently a ninja, attempting to dart past him?clearly in pursuit of Riku.
?Sorry,? Tenzu said, his extended arm holding the katana that he often used in battle, extending out of his sleeve as usually, covering both Tenzu?s hand and the blades hilt, ?But I simply cannot allow you to go any further.?
The cold steel of the blade was resting on the neck of Sora, who had caught a glimpse of a figure entering the village?the he had no idea that it was, indeed, Riku.
That blade, and Tenzu?s arm, was quickly retracted, though. A kunai whistled through the air, nearly impaling itself into Tenzu?s arm, though the Uchiha quickly took his arm back and jumped backward. Sora tried to advance again, but Tenzu?s arm rose up quickly, a wall of fire producing itself in front of the advancing ninja, not only stopping him in his tracks, but also startling him enough to lead him to backflip a few times until he was standing next to the one who had thrown the kunai.
Tenzu recognized her immediately, both from his brief assault outside of Konoha and from their assault, only weeks ago, on the Akatsuki spire. Reina, he believed her name was, and the one next to her, standing impassively with a rather small sword in hand, he had recognized as Raiden.
Sora?s arm lashed out to the side, as a rather peculiar looking blade suddenly appeared in his hand. Tenzu took a moment to observe it. It was a silvery gray color, its handle with a black guard around it. The blade, if it could be called such, seemed to grow thinner as it reached its end, and at the very end there was a lion?s head where the tip should be. On one side of it, there was a spike coming out of the blade, and on the other side, there was a smaller one. Going down the center of the actual blade, there was a hole, more like a slit, that closed itself around where the lion?s head appeared.
Tenzu had fought Reina before, and didn?t doubt that he could take Raiden just as easily, but there was something different about the boy. Mainly the simple feeling of unease. Tenzu hadn?t recognized this boy, never saw him in his life, and the peculiar sword and the equally-as-odd way that it had appeared into his hand set Tenzu off more than slightly. This uneasiness led Tenzu to a simple decision, though one that he hadn?t expected to use so soon.
The Uchiha smiled?though none could see his grin because of the hood tucked securely over his face?as his eyes closed, ?I had been waiting to try this out in battle...? he said, laughing more at himself than anything, wondering if he even had to.
When his eyes opened, they were clearly different. The same bright, scarlet red, a color that looked like recently-shed blood, to be sure, but there was a different design found in them in place of the normal three tomoe state. The tomoes had completely disappeared, and his pupil seemed to have grown considerably in size, but it wasn?t a normal circle. It seemed to be almost chopped off in some areas; the color was the red of his actual eye instead of black, there were small slits that were cut off. There were three in total. One was at the upper left corner of his eye, one at the upper right, and the final at the very bottom. The pupil was almost like a dot with fans three fans around it. Around the pupil, though, there was another design near the very outer part of his eye. It was a ring that went around his eye, and from that ring, three curved spikes protruded out. They were basically the other way around in positioned than the slits on his pupils. The first spike was at the very top of the ring, and the other two were at the lower left and lower right corner. The red background, though, still lit up his eyes.
Tenzu stared at Sora, tilting his head, and then turned to face him, looking at the rest of the group through the corner of his eyes. In a heartbeat, he went from his original position to standing in front of Sora, looking over his shoulder, listening to the young man?s shaky breathing and he could see a bit of the sweat coming down his face, ?Ready?? he asked.
