[Maguro]
A wave of light spread out from the Pillar of Creation across the ground, transforming it into lava, except for the section around the pillar that Okimi and Kurotenshi were on.
Maguro heard the screams of the corruption monsters once more, somehow now even more disturbing in their distress as they apparently sank into the lava, or perhaps were simply caught in the blaze that had ignited over all the trees around them.
Takara made some hand signs and a wave of water rushed up from the pillar, then down, spreading across the land, hardening the lava.
Nakami's branches glowed brightly, then changed back into arms.
"Everyone, back to the village, now!" Takara said, a complex pattern now visible in her crimson eyes.
Maguro stood atop a roof as the nightmare continued.
The village was under attack. The sky was darkened by a thick, sickly green mist that crawled across the land like a living thing. Buildings crumbled as monstrous shapes crashed into them, and screams echoed through the streets.
"Its the Kyuubi! Its come back to kill us all!" Maguro heard someone shout. What?
Maguro's vision became blurred as the massive creature emerged from the darkness. He could barely comprehend the sight of the corruption monster, its immense size and horrifying visage. The beast towered over the village, its tendrils writhing and twisting in the air like serpents. Its pulsating flesh was a deep shade of crimson, oozing a viscous liquid that burned through the ground and the air.
Maguro could feel his heart racing, and his breath caught in his throat as the monster let out a deafening roar that shook the ground beneath him. The creature's eyes were pure black, staring directly at Maguro with a sense of malice and hatred that he could feel deep within his soul.
The air was thick with the smell of decay and rot, as if the monster itself was an embodiment of death and decay. Maguro could see its twisted, malformed limbs and the gnarled, vicious claws that extended from its massive hands. He knew that he was powerless against such a creature, and he could feel the tendrils of fear wrapping around his mind.
"There are so many spiders!" he heard someone shout.
"The giant clown! It's right there, can't you see!?" Maguro saw the man who had shouted this. He was pointing at the same nightmarish creature that had Maguro about to piss himself.
Spiders? Clowns? Fear! This thing was like fear itself.
"You don't know who the hell you're fucking with, c-creature," Maguro said as he trembled. "I'm so weak, I've never once been in a real fight and not been afraid for my life."
Maguro felt his stomach sink as the creature leaned closer to him. He could feel its breath running down his body. Just give up. You have no chance. Every part of his body was telling him he was powerless.
Maguro burst out laughing. "I'm powerless, huh? Of course I am. I've never once succeeded at anything, and that's why you can't defeat me!"
His eyes welled up with tears as he socked the monster in the nose. This did nothing. Of course it did nothing.
A claw slashed out at him. He threw his arm in the way. His arm was slashed open and he was thrown onto his back on the next building over.
He checked his arm. His wound was covered in a bubbling green viscous fluid. It seeped into his arm, which became covered in orange scales. His fingers now ended in claws. Fins erupted from the sides of his arm. The hell was this!? A fish arm?
He stood up and glared back at the thing. Now that he looked at it more closely, its face resembled his own. The source of his despair, or something? Well, fuck that! If this was a creature made of fear and despair, then he would show it both.
"It's time for us to die!" Maguro said, giving the creature the craziest look he could muster. "I will show you the ultimate shinobi technique: The Reaper Death Seal. It will be the last thing either of us every see. I consider that a win, trading my life for yours. I'll be known as a hero in this village."
He made some hand-signs.
The creature took a step back. Was it… actually working?
The creature turned and disappeared into the fog.
A hand slapped his back, gently. "We-we did it, Mr. Maguro!" Hanjiro said between his gasps for air. "I used my genjutsu, and showed the creature a scary reaper standing behind you."
"Huh?" Maguro said.
"I've got your back!" He gave Maguro a thumbs up.
"I could have scared him away on my own," Maguro grumbled. He'd thought the kid looked up to him, but had he just been playing along? He turned his back and crossed his arms.
The mist dissipated.
As the dust settled, the gruesome aftermath of the battle came into view. Maguro couldn't believe what he was once proud and bustling village was now a scene of carnage. Corpses of shinobi, their bodies twisted and contorted by the corruption, litter the ground. The stench of death hangs heavily in the air, mingling with the acrid smell of burning buildings and smoldering ruins.
Survivors, some with missing limbs or grotesque deformities, wandered aimlessly through the rubble. Their eyes were blank, their expressions vacant, as if they had seen too much horror to process. Broken and crumbled buildings loomed over the ruined landscape, their walls pockmarked with craters and burn marks.
The once-beautiful forest was now charred and lifeless, the trees and flowers turned into withered, blackened husks, at least immediately around the village. The water in the once-clear river was now murky and black, choked with debris and the bodies of those who fell during the battle.
And the corruption that had brought this destruction had already taken root inside of Maguro.
***
The next day, Maguro barged into Takara's office. Hanjiro followed sheepishly behind him.
Takara was slumped over her desk. "Not now Maguro. I have to focus on the reconstruction efforts."
"But, Takara, can you believe it! I defeated the big boss monster and made it run away scared. So, do you recognize my amazing power now?"
Takara lifted her head. "Maguro, what point is there in power if you have nothing to protect?"
"Mr. Maguro did repel the Kyuubi," Hanjiro said.
"That wasn't the real Kyuubi or he would be dead."
Maguro clenched his fish-arm fist. "You've brushed off everything I've ever accomplished. You could never get it. Everything's always been so easy for you."
"Not everything," Takara said. "I couldn't save Takashi-sensei or Rina. And yesterday, I failed to protect so many pe—"
Suddenly Maguro's arm lashed out, faster than Maguro could see, grabbing Hanjiro by the throat and lifting him into the air.
Hanjiro stared into Maguro's eyes with a mixture of fear and betrayal.
Takara slammed Maguro to the ground in an instant, freeing Hanjro. She pinned him with her legs on both side of his body, and held each of his wrists to the ground.
"Control that arm or I will cut it off!" She shouted down at Maguro.
"I didn't know! This is the first time my fish arm tried to kill someone, okay! Well, except for a fly, but it kept buzzing in my ear."
Takara glanced back and forth at Maguro's wrists, then blushed. She released Maguro, stood up, and cleared her throat. "Um, Fish don't have arms, Maguro."
"Can't you heal my arm?"
Takara's eyes sunk down towards Maguro's arm. "No, Maguro. My Creation Chakra Mode cannot alter or remove the corruption. We have no way to heal those who have been corrupted."