Naruto: Tales of Ashihara
Kakumei – Arc 4: Might Makes Right
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Chapter 97 – The Battle of Hikari II
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Battles rage in Hikari between the ninjas of the Shinobi Union, who came to free Izuna Uchiha, and the army of Kakumei defending their territory. The battle has already made numerous victims on both sides, but no objective was reached so far.
In the streets of Hikari, the ninjas of Kiri have seen all their efforts be reduced to ashes by the tremendous power of the Kyubi trapped in Mikitaka. In his rage and excitement, Kakumei's jinchuriki has almost completely destroyed the army that opposes him.
Only Mizuno, the Mizukage's assistant, who assumed the responsibility of leading this fight in the general's absence, and her students that she carefully covered all along are left standing. The enemy isn't unharmed however. His size slowly decreased as the fight went on, indicating that he is also not limitless and lost a visible amount of chakra.
Yet at the moment, Mikitaka is still in euphoria, trying to annihilate the few opponents he has left. Having done her best to cover Teru, Mio and Mariko, Mizuno has taken damage and is currently being healed by her daughter while the two others are struggling to keep the beast back.
Mariko is sitting on a water bird that flies in rounds above the enemy. She's looking for reinforcement but the closest she finds is Suna's troops who are on the way from the entrance. From there, to keep the monster busy, she shoots several water jutsus to attack him.
Suiton – Suidori
She sends dozens of small water doves that fly down and crash on Mikitaka from many directions. To counter them, the former mercenary quickly spins around, cloaked in his 9 tails, and creates a momentary tornado that stops all the water birds. When he stops spinning, he looks up to see the Kiri-nin on her water mount and bends his knees, ready to leap to her. He is however held back in time by Teru.
Katon – Gokakyu
The young Uchiha, with his Sharingan on, uses this jutsu as a flamethrower to push Mikitaka who falls on his butt and tries to get up. Drowning in flames, the jinchuriki gets frustrated and focuses to stand and go forward, unbothered by the fire torrent. Fortunately, Mizuno joins to help, healed by Mio.
Futon – Oroshi (Mountain Wind)
She emits a wind vortex from her palms that fuses with Teru's flame thrower and greatly increases its power. Surprised by this sudden change, Mikitaka loses his grip and is buried in the flame tornado that rages around him. While Mizuno and Teru put all their strength in this effort to overtake him, he lets his anger out in a powerful roar, characteristic of the Kyubi.
Biju Otakebi (Biju War Cry)
The raw power unleashed with this scream cracks the sky and ground around them, collapses the few surrounding buildings that were still standing and, most notably, totally dissipates the fire whirlpool. Teru and Mizuno manage to stand still and, now in coordination with Mio and Mariko, use a common jutsu to push the enemy once again.
Suiton – Cho Suijinheki (Great Water Barrier)
They all shoot large waves that fuse into a single enormous one and flow toward Mikitaka who counters with the corrosive breath of Saiken, the first Biju that was sealed in him.
Chirokyu
The two waves collide and result in a large mist cloud. The Kiri-nin team stands still and ready, waiting for it to settle, but Mikitaka isn't as patient as them. Hidden by the mist, he lengthens one of his tails and sends it through the cloud to strike the leader of the team. Unable to see it coming, Mizuno is abruptly struck by the Biju tail and sent off to crash in the debris of a building nearby.
Teru, Mio and Mariko get startled by this sudden strike and naively leave Mikitaka enough time for a second one. By dashing his claws through the air, he sends a series of wind slashes through the settling mist toward Mariko's water mount. The bird is struck by the invisible attack and explodes in a water puddle. The slashes reach Mariko who's violently scratched by the attack and left to fall from her height.
Mikitaka dissipates the cloud around him by waving his tails around and reveals his growing body heating in anger. Mio is more worried about Mariko falling from the sky, left to land unsafely anywhere. Suddenly, a flashing white light blinds Mikitaka who's hit in the face by an unseen ninja's foot. It is Takeshi Minamoto who simply blitzes through the scene and catches Mariko as she falls.
In nearly an instant, the swift prodigy reaches an intact roof far away on which he leaves his girlfriend, who only now gets to understand what happens. He lets her stand there and embarrassingly stares at her face wounded by two huge claw marks crossing the left side from the cheek to the forehead. After this, he simply rubs his hands against her shoulders, turns around and prepares to leave.
"Uh, wait! What are you doing?" asks Mariko, who was glad to see him at first, but is now doubting his action.
"I'm leaving you out of reach." Takeshi simply answers.
"What? No! My friends are still down there fighting this creature. I don't care about my injury. I have to fight with them!" she complains, unsettled by Takeshi's overprotective behavior.
"Don't worry. I'm taking care of it." he confidently replies. "I'll handle the piece of shit who did this to your face." he adds before leaping off the roof and disappearing in a flash, as quickly as he came.
Facing Teru and Mio, Mikitaka scratches his own face in confusion after the ghost kick he received. In frustration, determined to end it all for good, he gathers his power in one ultimate attack.
"AAHH! GO TO HELL, YOU BRATS!" he screams. "I AM THE JINCHURIKI OF THE KYUBI NO ONE CAN DEFEAT ME!"
He gets on all fours and starts to create a chakra ball that condenses Yin and Yang energy. A Bijudama. Teru stares agape at what their opponent is preparing and looks back to see Mio in panic healing her mother again. For a moment, he thinks that he's the only thing left between her and death. After a deep breath in, he resolves to get in the way as he should.
"Mio…" he tells her, as a final message. "I never had the occasion to tell you, it may be too late now, but I need to get it off my chest before I die… I love you."
Mio slowly raises her head in confusion and looks at Teru, standing back to her, face to face with the enemy. From his words and posture, she guesses that he's about to do exactly as she always begged him not to. He's going to bring his inherited ambition to sacrifice for others to its climax. She inhales, ready to yell at him, in an attempt to change his mind, but is interrupted by the same flashing light as earlier.
Takeshi Minamoto returns to confront Mikitaka and save Teru from his needed sacrifice. Teru sees the light pass over his shoulder and feels relieved that the one who was to serve as the general actually does his job. Mikitaka now swallows the orb that grew to the size of a human being. He encloses it in his jaw right as he notices the Minamoto raising both his hands and forming a thunderous light orb.
Unfortunately, at the exact time where he was to fire this attack, Takeshi suddenly vanishes in a lightning flash. The one present here was only one of the clones left behind by the original to whom something must have happened in another battle. Something that caused all his clones to be dismissed. Mio and Teru stare in shock at the lightning fading, feeling deceived.
They're left alone with the enemy again as he's about to end them with his next attack. Forced to embrace his sacrificial urge again, Teru quickly performs a jutsu through which he channels all his remaining strength, right as Mikitaka fires his ultimate jutsu.
Bijudama
Katon – Karyuheki
Teru uses a defensive jutsu that he learned from his father, Kobo Uchiha, to block and hold back the raw energy fired as a chakra beam by the jinchuriki. He knows this fire barrier won't hold forever and is only buying enough time for Mio to run away with Mizuno while he leaves his own self to a certain death.
"Please… Mio." Teru says, in a trembling voice. "Let me get this right. Ninjas of Suna will arrive anytime soon. Just make sure that you and sensei make it alive."
Mio stares agape at Teru and can't contain her emotion as she sees him put all he has left in this ultimate effort. She bursts into tears as she's confronted with a fatality that Teru failed to notice. Her mother and sensei, Mizuno, is stuck under debris and completely unconscious, knocked out by the last strike she endured.
Teru is very quickly reaching his limit and it is impossible for Mizuno to get out of here in time. She's condemned. Mio realizes her mother can't escape from this fate. The only choice left to do is whether she or Teru will be the one to live…
Suddenly she sees her mother with open eyes, stuck under the debris, looking at her. Moving slowly, Mizuno raises her hands and starts to show a series of hand signs to her daughter. She's too tired to actually perform the jutsu, but Mio recognizes it.
The choice she has to make, she always knew how to make it. And her mother is just here now to remind her. Just like she did during the international chunin exam when she refused to let Teru give up and abandoned herself instead, Mio refuses to leave the egoism of sacrifice to her teammate.
Futon – Kaze Jutan (Wind Carpet)
Focused on his protection and slowly coming to peace with his decision, Teru is suddenly pushed far in the distance by a wind stream that crawls under his feet and carries him away at tremendous speed. As he's being repelled out of range, he stares at his fire wall who dissipates since it lost its hold. Behind it, he sees Mio, with her face hidden by tears, holding her two hands against the ground as she's the one who just saved him.
He catches a last glimpse of her and Mizuno for just a millisecond with his Sharingan before being blinded by Mikitaka's deadly beam that buries their image forever. By the shock, Teru is repelled even further away.
When he stops his lethal breath, Kakumei's jinchuriki thinks for a moment that he eliminated all his enemies and starts to laugh maniacally, incredibly satisfied by the power he has. Teru Uchiha sits up, deafened by the sadistic cheers of the enemy, he tries to see through the blur of his tears, but fails to find Mio again. He can't feel the one he loves or his sensei anymore at all.
Silently, he stays sitting on the ground in horror, realizing that he's now left alone, and that his resolve and egoism was turned back to him. Struck by the fatality of loss, and by the hatred burning inside him, he screams it all out, so loudly that it alerts and interrupts the creature's celebration.
Mikitaka turns his head to look at where this sound comes from and sees a massive light green shape taking form right before unleashing an endless rain of chakra arrows on him. Sharp and long arrows that pierce through his chakra cloak many times and leave him immobilized and confused. To complete this unexpected strike, the ninjas of Suna arrive just a minute too late.
Nunoshibari no Jutsu
First, Maki surprises the target by wrapping him in her giant roll of cloth and binds him. Further added seals set a first layer to the enemy's containment. To follow, Kankuro, Shakiro, Mariona and many other puppet masters tighten the cloth prison by wrapping it in chakra strings. Finally, Shinki sends his whole Iron mantle to bury the whole.
Kurogane Sotaiso Fuin (Black Iron Imperial Funeral Seal)
He shapes it into a giant pyramid locked by seal notes. Teru barely sees this happening before losing consciousness, exhausted from his own emotions. As the last remaining from Kiri's team that was brutally annihilated, he leaves the rest to Suna's squad.
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Earlier, as the previous battle was going on, the 10 heads squad of Kumo was striking in unison against Kakumei's leader, Oshio Uchiha, in his throne room.
Having met Rinnegan users before, Darui prepared an attack plan that won't put them at disadvantage in such a tiny space. Maroi and C are staying back as medics, ready to intervene if anyone gets severely hurt. Omoi, W and Atsui attack with their swords, while Yukai, Aoki, Kaminari, F and the Raikage go with their Taijutsu and tools.
The sovereign of these lands, whose Taijutsu and perception skills were trained by Otsutsuki Momoshiki himself in the Rikudo realm, manages to keep up with this all out offensive, even though he finds it hard to handle without his most important sense: his sight.
Slowly feeling overtaken, he trips and lets Aoki land a punch in his chest that makes him fall over, now as an easy target for the red blades of W and Omoi's pair of Kiba. Behind them, Darui and Yukai coordinate their chakra to free a huge black bolt that they throw in a curvy trajectory to the enemy.
Futsu no Mitama
To get out of this ambush, Oshio uses his right hand to pull an all black sword out from his left palm. He blocks the weapons falling on him, absorbing the flames of W's swords and the electricity of Omoi's Kiba. He then pushes them forward to make a distance, enough to leave him time to raise his sword and slice through the black lightning falling on him.
All the ninjas of Kumo step back and stare worriedly at the weapon that Oshio just revealed. W makes a rather impressed face, flattered by this blade that he just saw absorb Ninjutsu and cut through the Raikage's famed Black Lightning.
"Futsu no Mitama" Oshio presents his weapon. "It is with this sword that the Kyubi was sealed and released from Naruto Uzumaki's body."
"I-Incredible!" W says out loud, not containing his excitement in front of such a charismatic relic.
"This one is a physical version of my ability, enclosed in this dark blade." the Uchiha adds.
"It's not gonna rival the swordsmanship of Kumo." Darui exclaims. "W, Omoi, Atsui. With me!"
The Raikage pulls out his heavy Cleaver Sword that he unfolds and firmly holds with both hands before leaping forward with his subordinates to unleash Kumo's Kenjutsu on the target again. Oshio sees them coming with his raised left palm, and dashes his Futsu no Mitama, imbued with his chakra, to slice the blades of his opponents. Atsui's katanas, and W's red swords are broken and cut in half by the divine weapon of Kakumei's leader. The legendary Kiba that were once wielded by Ameyuri Ringo, and the thick lightning coated swordof the Raikage withstand this confrontation.
Atsui jumps back, flabbergasted by what happened to his swords. W looks in surprise at his broken blades too and is even more impressed and jealous of the opponent's weaponry. Having not broken, Omoi and Darui keep pushing against the black sword of Oshio to make him step back.
As he opposes his strength to that of the two tall grown men against him, Oshio senses a light beam that he slightly notices with his eye, flying past him, to his back. Curious about what this subliminal image was, he hurries to get free from action to focus
Shinra Tensei
With a repulsion, he throws Darui and Omoi away, freeing himself from their strength. However, he still doesn't manage to avoid the hit that this light was bringing. He suddenly receives a violent kick in his ear. Behind him, Yukai, who disguised himself as a light beam, reached his opponent's back at light speed and struck him by surprise. Rather than just kicking him down, Yukai curves his foot and turns around to project Oshio and make him crash into his throne.
Aoki, Kaminari, Maroi and F all look at each other and smile, impressed by Yukai's move. C and Atsui help Omoi and Darui to get up from the last repulsion. Yukai lands on his feet and stares at Oshio standing up.
"This was well done." the Uchiha says. "I see that Kawaki's friends were as talented and gifted as he is."
"Speaking of this guy. I have unfinished business with him." Yukai answers before exclaiming to get his rival. "Aoki!"
"C!" Darui calls his partner as well, asking him to take action as his daughter leaps into action with his disciple. The Raikage's assistant immediately takes action.
Raiton – Raigen Raikochu (Flash Pillar)
With a lightning-based illusion, he blinds the eye in Oshio's palm and distracts him long enough for Yukai and Aoki to get back in action and land a double punch in his chest that throws him back in his throne. Before taking a second obvious hit, he ducks and lets them destroy his throne with the next strike.
After crawling away, he has to dodge their offensive again. He tries his best to avoid their punches and kicks while skillfully swinging his sword to force a distance. Suddenly, he sees Yukai catch Aoki's hand and toss her up toward him as she coats her arm in lightning.
Diving Elbow
She falls elbow forward and aims for his upper body to stab him with her folded muscles. To stop her, Oshio holds his sword up with both hands and blocks the diving strike and absorbs its ligutning. But as all his attention was on her, he lost sight of Yukai who vanished and suddenly reappears behind him. With a light kick to the back of his leg, Oshio is forced to his knees and makes easy prey for Aoki.
With a knee kick to his chin, she pushes Kakumei's leader into the wall. Shaken, Oshio wonders again how Yukai could get in his back so fast. To not be overtaken again, he prevents his enemies from coming forth again before he can step away from the wall.
Bansho Tenin
With a light attraction force near the ground, he interrupts Aoki and Yukai who were already running back to him. As they're almost stumbling head down before him, he tries to quickly behead Yukai. Slowed down by a sudden thought for Kawaki, he's interrupted by Aoki who is far quicker to react than Yukai and kicks the handle of the blade out of Oshio's hand.
To his expense, he finds himself once again blocked between the flowing offensive of the two ninjas. They seem equal in Taijutsu, but Aoki is stronger while Yukai is faster. And they know it, which is why their combos are so well organized. He still can't figure out what it is that Yukai does to move so quickly out of attention.
What he needs to get out of this, he just needs to understand their abilities, and see their movements. Otherwise, he'll be ridiculed by just two younglings. Fortunately, as just an answer to his will and need, his body decides to help. In the heat of action, Oshio just relaxes as if the situation was in control again.
Shinra Tensei
With a very light repulsion, he interrupts Aoki and Yukai's moves, and rips the bandage around his head to free his sight. He opens his eyes lets everyone see an unplanned advantage. His new Eien no Mangekyo Sharingan.
His pupils now have the Mitsudomoe symbol in black in the middle of his eyes, surrounded by a straight cross that looks like the sight of a sniper rifle. He blinks several times to get used to his newly recovered ability to see from the right spot. Yukai and Aoki don't stay patient and immediately get back in action.
However this time, the Uchiha easily reads their movements. Freed from his limits, he shows them how unreachable he truly is for any ninja. Not a single of their hits lands. Just to get rid of his doubts, he uses Futsunushi, his original Mangekyo Sharingan ability, and finds out about all their tricks.
"I see… So you're turning into a light beam just for a short moment." he remarks about Yukai.
Seeing that their heroes are at disadvantage, Atsui, W, F, Kaminari and everyone else join them to overwhelm Oshio, but nothing helps. No matter how much people attack, it just gets slightly complicated. No chakra can reach close enough and any strike is avoided with ease.
Just when Kumo's team sets the ground for Aoki and Yukai to sandwich Oshio between a double Lariat, he makes use of the newly awakened power of his eyes.
Ameno Hohi
He promptly disappears and leaves Aoki and Yukai's arms to be forced in a collision. Everyone stares agape as Yukai is repelled by the superior strength of Aoki's move and crashes into the wall. They all look around, seeking to find Oshio who vanished. F, seeing W fixing a corner of the room, followed his gaze and alerted everyone.
"There!" she points at Oshio, who's where his Futsu no Mitama was thrown earlier by Aoki's feet. He takes the sword from the ground and stares at all the ninjas before him. With his eye prowess, he still sees all their skills and potential. He raises his left hand that still has the Rinnegan in its palm toward them and points it toward them.
"I see… Let's eliminate the biggest problems first." he tells them as he moves his hand to the left of the room.
There, Kaminari sees Aoki standing next to him and hurries to jump in the way between her and the enemy. Oshio gets his hand to face there and shoots a black rod at high speed. The projectile hits Kaminari through the chest. Gladly, it didn't pierce his heart, but he's left severely damaged while his chakra is being sucked out by the rod. Aoki makes a shocked face, flattered by Kaminari's instinct and sacrifice.
With his palm still open facing the elite, Oshio throws a range of black rods to eliminate them all, but it's stopped by the Raikage who swings his thick blade through the air and intercepts all the projectiles. Done playing, Oshio immediately tries a different jutsu to take down everyone, which the Darui immediately opposed.
Katon – Goka Mekyaku
Suiton – Suijinheki
The Uchiha expels a wave of flames that the Raikage stops with a water wall. In his effort, Darui's joined by his daughter and F who do the same jutsu. While they're busy trying, Oshio annihilates their chances with another attack.
Shinra Tensei
With a strong repulsion, he breaks everything in front of him and pushes through the flames and water, repelling everyone except for the Raikage who holds his ground by blocking the push with his sword. While he keeps this jutsu going, Oshio notices a light beam flying by his field of view and this time knows exactly how to react.
He stops his push just as Darui's sword flies off his hands and leaps away right when Yukai takes his true shape again and misses a kick. Still in the action, and with black lightning already gathered in his hands, the chunin of Kumo goes all out with his strongest move at short range.
Black Dragon
Oshio, however, already knowing all of Yukai's possible moves, gets away with the same ability as earlier.
Ameno Hohi
This time, Darui and Yukai clearly see what he does. He teleports himself away from the attack instantaneously and appears standing on the collapsed roof. The black dragon flies by, up and away toward the sky to avoid making any useless damage. But when Yukai notices his enemy standing nearby, he directs the thunder monster down on him.
Before it lands, Oshio raises his Futsu no Mitama and holds it to stab someone who isn't there. Yukai, still too bad at anticipating, doesn't plan ahead. Darui, however, guesses what Oshio will do from his stance. Yet he doesn't have time to do anything about it.
Ameno Hohi
Oshio suddenly vanishes from where he stood, and Yukai feels something impaling him in his back. The Uchiha appeared behind him and stabbed through his body. The new Mangekyo Sharingan ability he got from Izuna's eyes is a descendant jutsu of Sasuke Uchiha's Ameno Tejikara that allows the user only to teleport himself in a short range, or to teleport objects to his hands.
Yukai pukes a puddle of blood, taken by surprise, and looks down to see the blade that emerges from his chest.
"I… didn't see th-that coming…" he comments as his chakra is quickly being absorbed by the blade.
Now, out of mercy or respect for the one who once was important to Kawaki, Oshio pulls the blade out and leaves Yukai heavily wounded, but doesn't consume all his chakra or injure him any more. Instead, he focuses on sensing all his friends around the battlefield. Unable to detect them all, he sighs and clenches his teeth in frustration, understanding that he already suffered losses.
He stares at the Raikage who has to face his defeat.
"This has been long enough already." he says, before throwing Yukai over to Maroi, the only one left standing with Darui.
Kanzentai Susanoo
The Uchiha unleashes the power of his eternal eyes and lets his black chakra leak out to shape into the body of Susanoo. Now able to use this jutsu with no limits, and boosted by the power of his Rinnegan and unique chakra, he immediately awakens the perfect form of this jutsu.
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Earlier again, as the other battles are going on, Minoka is running through her lab and checks every room to see if anyone went by there, but fails to find anything. Worried that Izuna Uchiha may be roaming free somewhere close, she hurries to the steel door that locks the access to her lab.
Before she can open the door the traditional way, she's startled by a violent push in her back that sends her flying through, leaving a human sized hole in it. She lands face first on the ground of the endless corridor that leads to the forest. She lightly gasps in pain, as she clearly feels her back having been broken by the hit she just took.
Unsettled, she turns around to see what caused this sudden push. There, she holds her breath in fear as she sees him. Izuna Uchiha. As naked as she had him against the wall, but with no single wound remaining. On his forehead, she sees a lit up purple diamond shaped mark. The Byakugo no In.
"Lady 5th was right after all." Izuna thinks to himself. "Taking my eyes off really did make it faster."
The Uchiha then focuses to hear or sense the one he's hunting, lacking the eyes to see her. Minoka knows that and does her best to stay unheard, but fails. Too afraid to bother about the pain anymore, she grabs the bag in which she stored all of Suto's research, and goes running through the hallway as fast as possible, and as far as possible from the Uchiha behind her.
In her run, too carried away to think straight, she can't cover the sound of her steps that resonate through the hall. While running in panic, she thinks of what she should do. Who can help her? Is Kawaki busy up there or will he be able to rescue her?
As she flees, she notices the very clearly audible sound of her pursuer's fast steps behind her. She senses the terrible violent intent he emits. Frightened and frustrated by how ridiculous this situation is, she quickly turns around and throws a kunai she pulls out from her weapon pocket.
Izuna gets stabbed by the projectile that lands in his shoulder, but doesn't show any concern. He just keeps running, unaffected. Now seriously in anguish, Minoka slams her hands on the ground after a precipitated series of hand signs.
Doton – Iwayado Kuzushi (Rock Breaker)
With this jutsu she breaks the cave behind her and makes it collapse. As soon as she doesn't see Izuna anymore, she doesn't take the risk of waiting any longer and just hurries to leave the corridor. After a few minutes of calm, she reaches the end and leaps out of the cave, getting her to the forest glade.
There, she stops for a moment to catch her breath. She sighs from relief and prepares to go on. But just as she raises her head, she finds herself face to face with her nightmare again. Izuna has taken advantage of the collapsed cave and went on to the forest through the digged hole of the fallen ceiling.
Enken
Condensing all his hatred and pain from the last two weeks in one hit, he punches her in the belly with a burning fist that sends her flying through the woods. She lands several meters away, after crashing through a dozen trees. Lying on the ground at the bottom of a column of fire that reduced everything to ashes, she screams in pain and agony as her skin is being melted by the flames nourished by the Uchiha's hate. She turns around and desperately tries to crawl away to safety.
"Kawaki! Help me!… Lord Oshio! I know you can see me! Heal me! Save me!" she complains.
However, at that moment, Oshio is still fighting the Raikage's disciples and can't give her attention. Suddenly, unable to think straight, she sees the bag that she let go during her fall a few meters away. By instinct, and out of real options, she goes toward it.
"I know! I'll learn other jutsus from Suto-sensei! It'll make me immune to pain! Immune to fire! Immune to-" she hopelessly yells before she's interrupted by Izuna who gets to the bag before her.
With his hand still coated in fire, he lets his flames entirely consume it, erasing all traces of the knowledge it contained. Minoka stares in horror as she sees what motivated all her latest work burning away. Too deep in her emotion, she doesn't even notice Izuna coming to her.
He turns her around with his feet to make her lie on her back. Then, he finds the Mitsudomoe tattoo on her belly and digs his hand through her melted skin as she screams in pain. Out of it, he pulls the white receiver that Oshio implanted in her. He firmly holds on it and, for a moment, thinks that he got all he wanted.
"Couldn't you just stay locked up! No one's waiting for you outside anyway!" Minoka complains, hopelessly.
From the few words he heard, Izuna is reminded of what brought him here, what he was forced through these last weeks, and who the responsible is. He gets down on his knees above Minoka to sit on her abdomen. The desperate scientist dumbly tries to push the escaped prisoner back, but all she gets done is to have her hands caught by the enemy and her cuffs and elbows crushed by his strength.
After this, Izuna lets her dead arms fall and clenches his fists. Annoyed by her endless cries and fueled by his wish for vengeance, he punches her once, twice, thrice… Again and again, with all his strength, caving the ground a bit more with each hit. He destroys her jaw, her chest, her shoulders… He keeps doing so with such violence that each punch makes her wish she couldn't feel any touch, like she forced upon Sorito Kijima.
In the heat of the moment, Izuna goes on and finds comfort in this. After nearly a minute, he stops abruptly, having a sudden rush of consciousness. He takes a moment to analyze what he's doing and realizes that his current intent is to kill her. Killing. This is what he swore never to do. To never waste a life. This is his nindo. Without it, he can't pretend to be worthy of the title of Hokage.
He focuses for a moment and trembles as he notices that he already can't hear Minoka anymore. He can't hear her cries, or even her breath. He can't feel her heartbeat, and can't sense her chakra. Terrified by his own actions, he thinks of Lady 5th, and of his sensei, the 7th Hokage. He thinks of their lessons, and of how he couldn't hold a single promise he made to them.
Disgusted, ashamed, beaten, he stands up from the barely recognizable body of Minoka and silently steps away, thoughtless.
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End of Chapter 97 – Next Chapter: The Battle of Hikari III