CLANG—! A sword clashes against a kunai. The latter's grip naturally trembles, for kunai, in a head-front confrontation, pales against the opposing weapons.
CLANG CLANG CLANG! At a rapid speed, two forms blur, attacking and parrying each others' attacks. It was one hell of a showoff—with lives at stake.
CLANG!
'How did I end up in this situation...' Danzo grimly thought as he gazed into Akashi's bloodthirst-reeking eyes.
CLANG!
As blades strike against one another once more, the blade of Ryuma—one held by Akashi—reflected Danzo's eyes, looking right back at him.
And beyond the blade, there existed Akashi, whose lone eye gleamed in a cold, icy blue.
"...Yamamoto clan, hailing as the rulers of Kusagakure for years, naturally had many servants. Shizen clan was simply one of them."
Within the darkness, Danzo was found genuflecting in front of one elderly man—the supposed leader of Kusagakure.
"They were nothing but lowly farmers... but learning from our kind, they've attained the power... one which those of their kind shouldn't possess."
Boom. The elderly man slammed his fist on the ground,
"Recently, they completed... the development of special Kekkei Genkai suitable for them."
"..."
No word came out from Danzo; he simply listened.
"They've become far too dangerous for the peace of the Kusagakure, and thus, had to be disposed of. But I've been careless..."
The elderly man growled,
"My biological son, one whom I chose as my heir and successor... harboured the blood of Shizen. Killing all the assassins sent after him and taking the scroll that contained the essence of Kekkei Genkai, he ran away into the Land of Rain."
"Then..."
As Danzo muttered, the elderly man stated,
"Kill him and anyone related to him."
"...As for the scroll?"
The elderly man's eyes flashed,
"You're free to do whatever you may want with it."
"And in addition to that,"
Danzo smiled darkly,
"You will help me in making a tie with Hanzo the Salamander."
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire!"
From Akashi's mouth, numerous balls of fire blast out,
Poof!
to which Danzo quickly responds by using the Body Replacement technique.
Right after, Akashi flipped backward, evading a sharp arc of wind that sliced the air which he occupied just a second ago.
CLANG—!
Danzo blurred into Akashi's sight, and the sparks flew as the blade met kunai once more.
Then, Danzo's body began to glow, causing Akashi's eyes to widen—
BOOM!
"...Seven years."
Danzo snarled, mixed with that of rage.
"You've somehow noticed that I was chasing after you, and that I couldn't afford to earn Hanzo's attention."
In front of Danzo stood the man lied in a pool of his blood, dead.
"Where is your wife? Your child?"
Lifting the dead man by the collar of his bloody attire, Danzo growled into the man's face.
"And where's the scroll?"
The man didn't answer, for the life had already left the body. Smashing the body back on the puddle of blood out of anger, Danzo quickly moved out of the scene.
"Huff... huff..."
As the dust cleared, Akashi was seen standing with his hand gripping the hilt of Ryuma, one that had its blade stabbed on the ground.
The blood dripped down from his body as he breathed heavily.
"..."
Danzo, standing at some distance away from Akashi, stood with a stoic expression on him.
Then, his form blurred. Dashing at Akashi at a rapid speed,
CLANG—!
The metals collided once more, and Danzo, revealing a second kunai under his sleeve, threw it at Akashi's chest.
The kunai landed, and,
Poof!
upon landing on Akashi's chest, Akashi exploded with a puff of ash—indicating that he was a clone holding onto Ryuma.
And then, a pair of bloody hands was revealed from the ground, one that grabbed Danzo by the ankles.
Simultaneously, another Akashi, just as bloody, rose from the ground behind Danzo with a kunai in his hand and stabbed Danzo in the back.
Poof!
Danzo, too, exploded in a fit of smoke.
Taking his hold over Ryuma and having his clone beneath the ground dispel, Akashi looked around his surroundings in caution, knowing that Danzo was lurking by.
Strength. Speed. Stamina. Deceitfulness. Ninjutsu and other combat prowesses.
In every single aspect, Akashi was lacking in contrast to Danzo.
Kenjutsu, along with Danzo's lack of information about him, existed as the joker cards that allowed him to go on par with Danzo up until this far, but even such were now falling apart as his stamina, accumulated throughout his journey, was beginning to take a toll on him.
However, Akashi's eye didn't register the exhaustion or pain.
It burned in a cold rage, vowing to kill his foe no matter what.
Then, Akashi turned abruptly as he heard the sound of leaves bustling from the back.
"Wind Release,"
"Fire Release,"
And there stood two Danzos—presumably him and his shadow clone,
"Great Breakthrough!"
"Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
The wind and fire were blasted as a form of torrent of fire as they flew toward Akashi.
Holding his index and middle fingers up, Akashi whispered,
"Kai."
His vision suddenly subverted, and such a torrent of fire disappeared along with Danzos.
In front of him, there was now Danzo who was about to slash him by the throat, which he dodged at the last second by tilting his neck.
The blood was drawn as the tip of the kunai left a gash on his neck. Ignoring it, Akashi jumped high up in the sky,
BOOOM!
just in time to dodge several kunais with explosive tags that were flown right underneath him, as Danzo exploded into a puff of smoke.
'Danzo won't reveal himself in this forest.'
Akashi thought as he hovered over the sky,
'He will hide and attack me from afar, looking for an opportunity to assassinate me from my blind spot.'
He threw Ryuma up.
Rat. Tiger. Dog. Ox. Rabbit. Tiger.
His hands rapidly moved, and his cheeks bellowed,
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
He spitted a volley of small fireballs throughout the forest below, setting it aflame. Landing back in the middle of the now-burning forest, Akashi watched as the fire quickly spread and illuminated his surroundings in that of crimson and orange.
"Wind Release,"
And in that state, Akashi felt the wind picking up. Narrowing his eyes, he stared ahead, and saw Danzo standing beyond numerous burning trees,
"Great Breakthrough!"
An incredible surge of wind arose, fuelling the fire into a massive wave that was now flying toward Akashi.
Akashi, holding his hand out and grabbing Ryuma that landed right back, dashed toward Danzo immediately.
BOOM!
A burning tree bark landed right on the space at his left and exploded.
The fire travelled on his left and right, burning and emanating a scorching heat.
His skin was seared and burned as it endured through the heat.
And thanks to that, his bleeding stopped.
"You..."
Caught off guard by Akashi's brash charge, Danzo's eyes narrowed.
SWOOSH!
Akashi finally reached Danzo and swung his blade, one which Danzo quickly backstepped to evade.
Turning around without losing momentum, Akashi swung for the second time, which Danzo avoided once more by jumping up,
SWOOSH!
before backflipping in midair to dodge the third slash.
CLANG—!
Then, quickly flipping out two kunais from his pockets, Danzo, right after landing the ground, was forced to meet Akashi's blade with them.
And Akashi, as if having waited for this moment, growled,
"Ryujin Jakka."
Danzo's eyes widened as the blazing fire arose from Ryuma.
The heat quickly transmitted to the kunai, and Danzo was forced to let go of them out of the heat.
The kunai dropped, and there no longer existed an obstruction for Ryuma.
Caught off guard, Danzo kicked his feet backward, however, while doing so, Ryuma managed to leave a gash across his chest.
The searing noise resounded, and from Danzo's chest, the blood and smoke arose simultaneously.
With his eyes bloodshot and blood dripping from his wound, Danzo quickly formed a hand seal,
Poof!
performing the Body Replacement Technique to attain some distance from Akashi.
However, Akashi wasn't the one to watch and let that happen.
Within this moment of time, he has charged up yet another fire, one that blazed vigorously upon the mix of fire and wind.
With his eye pinpointing the location where Danzo took an evacuation to, Akashi immediately swung Ryuma,
"Blaze Rend."
"...Wrong side."
Then, a voice was spoken from Akashi's back, much to his disbelief.
Danzo, yet another one, was right behind him, albeit with a wound on his chest.
Poof!
Danzo who received the full-blown hit of 'Blaze Rend' was revealed to be nothing but a clone.
And currently, in Danzo's hand was the sword made out of vacuum.
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade.
The blade of sharp wind tore through Akashi's chest, generating a wound atop the gruesome burns.
The blood splattered, and Akashi felt his body falling.
"Where is it?! Where?!"
In Akashi's mind lingered, the roar of Danzo,
"Where did you put it?! Your husband must've given it to you, right?! Just where can it be?! Say it, and I'll end your pain immediately!!!"
"TCH—!!!"
Gritting his teeth, Akashi generated all his will to put strength into his feet.
Raising Ryuma,
BOOM!
he barely managed to block the second strike from Danzo, but was knocked back from the impact and rolled on the rocky ground.
The fire continued to burn all around, generating the smoke that encased them from all directions.
Akashi, huffing rapidly in shortness of breath, stood back up—although wobbly and in a blurry vision.
"And at last... here we are, Akashi."
Danzo, with the vacuum blade still in his hand, was walking toward him.
"You must have that scroll... the secret of the Shizen clan."
"Huff... huff..."
"...Live... on... my... son..."
The bangs shadowed Akashi's eye as he lowered his head and lifted Ryuma.
Through the bangs, his eye, uncaring of what state his body was in, was intently locked in on the approaching figure of Danzo.
"That, along with your life. Everything that I desire shall be mine."
Akashi knew, that the clean scar on his left arm was left intentionally.
He knew that just as Danzo spoke, his parents left something for him.
"Don't... forget... your heritage... the energy... release..."
...Initially, he thought that it was a tangible thing such as a scroll. However, it wasn't that.
This scar... it was a memory—one which he's forgotten for a long time after going through everything that he was placed under.
"Chakra is something that's been us all along—for quite a long time."
Akashi recalled when his father explained to him as they sat under the roof that blocked the rain from falling onto them.
"In essence, it is the fundamental unit of life, the energy that fuels us to live on."
Akashi, back then, was nothing but a young child. And during then, he was busy crying due to a gash on his left arm, one that was generated due to him falling over.
His father, placing his palm above his arm, healed him back then—though in an imperfect manner that left a scar on it.
"It is through pains and grits that we live on, Akashi. And we live on to protect those that are precious to us... they are the 'energy' that empowers us, and in return, we grow. Therefore, chakra is the very reflection of human life."
Danzo's speed began to pick up.
"...I get what you mean now."
And Akashi whispered under heavy breathing.
Energy Release.
It wasn't about the mixture of two different elements, fire and lightning. Though the process of mixing made it easier, such wasn't the key.
Akashi's ability to achieve the nature transformation of chakra subconsciously at a very young age—it was the indication of his incredible talent in the aspect of chakra control.
And such was the bloodline limit of Shizen clan—the incredible chakra control. Through the mastery of chakra control, one is not only able to increase the efficiency of chakra usage, but also...
"Katsujinken (Life Saving Sword)."
...extract the very essence of chakra—at its pure, unbridled form that gave up the characteristics of elements or conventional blue-ish chakra that spoke of efficiency, in return for destructiveness.
Danzo, in an instant, appeared right in front of Akashi, with his vacuum sword ready to stab Akashi on his chest.
"By slaying you,"
And Akashi spoke in determination,
"I save the lives of millions."
The faces of those whom Akashi met throughout his life flashed in front of his eye.
His parents who taught him love.
The unknown shinobi who taught him peace.
Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato who taught him responsibility.
Jiraiya who taught him trust.
Gin who taught him reality.
At the final moment, Ryuma glowed in a dim green energy, one that glowed subtly within the fire.
"What—"
Danzo's eyes widened in surprise, but it was too late to stop.
Time seemed to be slowing down as Akashi's Ryuma moved.
Danzo's vacuum blade then met Ryuma, and Ryuma, encased by the green, vibrant energy, effortlessly tore through said vacuum blade, much to Danzo's shock.
Not stopping there, Ryuma continued to move past the destroyed mess of vacuum blade, onto the exposed chest of Danzo, and,
Swoosh.
The green glow brilliantly arose in all areas as it landed right on Danzo's chest, going through the already-generated wound and slashing his heart into two.
"..."
Danzo, looking down at his trembling hand, found blood. He realized that he was bleeding heavily.
"How..."
Behind Danzo, there were hundreds of burning trees that were lacking their top half.
Slayed along with Danzo, nothing but short stumps were displayed, indicating a clean cut.
"Cough..."
With hollow eyes, he stumbled a few steps forward, past Akashi whose arm dropped loose as he breathed heavily.
"My... ambition..."
He held his hand out wistful, before the top half of his body slid down from the lower half,
Thud.
Danzo fell, dead, in two pieces.
It was Akashi's victory.
"...Let's go."
And Akashi dully whispered as he began to walk, albeit slowly.
"Home... is near."