Yoriichi and Kojiro are lying in the middle of a charred plain somewhere in the land of fire…Well it was a lush forest only a little while ago, now it looked like a great calamity had come through destroying everything, leaving only carnage. The corpses of decomposing hollows are everywhere besides the patch of grass they lay on making the area look like a setting from a Lovecraft novel.
"You must have done a bunch of training with that sword of yours over the past five years." Says Yoriichi gasping for air lying on the ground.
" Me?! You swap sword spirits like trousers, that must've been easy to achieve! Lying there training for five years, with no disturbances!" Kojiro complains as he had lost. Barely, but a loss is a loss as he sits up with a sword still piercing through his stomach.
"Shut up. We both know you have been ignoring your zanpakuto. If you would use it this match would have gone completely different." Yo says with an irritated sigh.
"I do not intend to just borrow this sword's power, I want to make it my own! Until then I won't utter its name at all! A swordsman dominates his sword not barters with it!" Kojiro says getting irked the sword won't bend the knee to him.
"Ahhh whatever, what's the move now?" Yo asks looking up at the newly arrived Shisui.
"Well first you guys need to clean this mess up," he says gesturing to the destruction all around them. It's clear he was irritated by their irresponsible behavior, but he still had business with them. "You could have addressed the village before you just suddenly leave your own event…but it's you so you'll go when you're ready…" Shisui says.
"Anything actually important going on with the old farts?" Yo inquires of the council's recent plans he may have missed.
"Beyond that, there's the matter of your little brother's trip, no mission to the village hidden in the sand in about a month. He's managed to weasel his way into the team going as diplomats. Beni's actions could play a big part in how the lands of wind and fire's future relations go."
"I already know about that…if he's my little brother it should be fine. You can chaperone if it worries you. I need to head to the land of grass to pick up a lost Uzumaki or two, and then to the mist to make sure our efforts in the last war, and the alliance with Miss Terumi is still holding up." Yo answers.
"From what I hear she's going strong. The medicines you sent for Mangetsu Hozuki and Ameyuri Ringo were very effective so she's had an incredible increase in her faction's strength. The likes of Kisame Hoshigaki, Zabuza Momochi, a kid using the Yuki clan's techniques and many more have joined her ranks but the fourth mizukage is fighting back with all he has. She just needs one last push to take over then the land of fire will have a permanent ally." Kojiro explains.
"Optimist. There are no permanent allies, only allied benefits. Now, say if our little prince here married her that's a different story." Yo says looking at Kojiro he's roughly sixteen but mature enough to get the ramifications.
"She is indeed a noble as well, so there wouldn't be any issues of status." Chimed in Shisui with a playful smile.
"What good brothers I have, trying to sell me off…but if it is for the land of fire I shall fulfill my duty." Kojiro says solemnly but Yo and Shisui know he's always had a crush on her.
"So Kojiro, you head to the land of mist as my representative, bring along with you the enchanted blade project, make sure every member of the seven swordman of the mist get one. Take at least three zodiacs with you, also with some of the younger members…it'd be a nice way to flex for Mei haha. Shisui you head to the sand village with Beni. And hopefully I'll be back with two Uzumaki. Be careful, there are enemies we should be wary of out there." Yo says sounding more like a commander.
"I assume you mean Masamune?" Shisui asks.
"He hasn't sat idly by these last few years, this volume of hollows with a moniker of strength is proof of that. I have a feeling he'll make a move soon. What will you do if he comes for you?" He asks Shisui dead serious, in that moment he sat with the disposition of a god judging weather or not Shisui could actually survive Masamune.
"Oh don't worry, we've had a few skirmishes here and there." Shisui says casually dispelling the tension. He's bad at breaking genjutsu, I can definitely get away with the kids." He responds matter of factly.
"Well brothers, let's hop to it. A month is ample time to prepare." Yoriichi and Kojiro both start limping away before they get drop kicked. "Hey! What's the big idea!?!"
"Who do you think you are ?!"
"Clean this mess up first! You self centered swordsmen!" Shisui shouts looking back at them with his eyes blazing. He is a ninja, not a swordsman. He will take advantage of their bad shape and they know it!
"Okay, okay." Yo grumbles with some inaudible cursing. Going for his sword to restore the area he realizes it's not in its sheath. "Give me back my sword loser!" Yo says ripping the blade from Kojiro's stomach.
"OW! You bastard!" Kojiro punches Yoriichi in response.
"How dare you?" Yo asks ready to attack him again, but he stops himself. "Just for that I'm not healing you," he says smugly as he prepares to restore the area.
"I don't need your healing, this scar will serve as a reminder of this loss…Never again will I lose to you." Kojiro says as he flexes the wound closed.
"Shut the hell up edgelord!" Yoriichi kicks him and they start fighting all over again.
"Dammit you two, just restore the area!" Shisui calls after them to no avail, it's clear he has to step in. "And these are the two most influential people in the land of fire…"
...….
Almost a month passes as they prepare for their journeys. During that time, his friends were making sure not to waste any time in growing stronger. Over in the land of demons Yami, runs into a problem. A big one at that. In front of him is an actual demon that has been sealed for ages and he freed it himself!
"Defeat him and let me devour his soul," Meliodas says with a confident snicker.
'Easier said than done you insane demon sword…Ugly sunnova bitch is strong as hell' Yami thinks as he readies himself. Relying the dark breathing and swordsmanship he's honed, he quickly realizes that isn't enough. The demons grow stronger by feeding on souls, and this one has been ritualistically fed hollows and humans, he knew it would be strong but this is crazy! That thing's strength could rival a tailed beast, and this one has darker more dangerous jutsu!!
The demon looks as though it's body is made of free flowing darkness. Jet blackness shaped into an almost human form with a hollow-like mask being the only thing to stand out from the figure. The excessive darkness leaks from its body as a black mist billowing around it.
The demon fought using it's hands that had no fingers but tapered into deadly blades that changes size and shape on a whim. It was fast so fast Yami could barely keep up with it but he pushed the abilities in his arsenal to the maximum to keep up. The monster moves with no logic, no patterns, no fear, or strategy just a constant onslaught keeping Yami on his back foot the whole time.
"What's the matter you aren't getting scared are you?" Meliodas asks.
"No of course not!" Yami yells at the sword. "I was just thinking about how whoever loses this fight is food for the other…lose and that's the end." This was not the type battle of he was used to, this was a battle to devour! The loser will be nothing more than a meal, and his opponent seemed to feel it too. It fought with the ferocity of a cornered beast.
The two off them charge each other, attacking all out. Deflecting a dark slash, the demon cuts Yami across his chest. Tasting the blood gets it excited as it works it's self into a fervor and spouts a second set of arms. Yami could see that it was going to kick it up another level…and here he thought they'd both been going all out. '…forget a plan, I'll just have to surpass my limits! Me five seconds from now it's all on you!'
"You still got a long way to go kid, I'll save your ass this once." His sword declares before darkness spreads from Yami turning midday into midnight for a split second. It closes in on the demon wrapping it up in seconds. Even if the demon could move it didn't dare try, fear had taken an even tighter grip on it. Even this lowly creature could see that in the presence of a king, it was nothing. It didn't even get a chance to be in awe of the demon lord residing in that sword as Yami didn't hesitate to send a decisive swing.
With that it was as if the demon was pulled into the blade, dying it black for a moment. "Thanks for the meal!" Meliodas says. "Now hurry and absorb all of the spirit energy."
"Wait-"
"I devoured all of the demonic energy myself so it won't affect you. Now stop being a wuss and absorb the spirit energy before it disperses!" He answers the question Yami was going to ask. Yami quickly complies devouring all the pure reishi. He can already feel it, he and his sword have taken a new step forward.
When Yami finishes he can finally address the odd obelisk they destroyed to free the demon, or more importantly the hole that it crawled out of never faded away. "Hey what's that thing?" Yami asks feeling more demon energy beyond the hole that this beast was sealed in.
"Beats me. This wasn't in his memories when he made me, but I do know demon energy when I feel it… It's gotta be a portal to a small demon realm." He surmises feeling the energy. " Well whatcha waiting on? Let's go have ourselves a feast!!" He urges Yami forward.
'Well this is my path to surpassing him, but damn that energy is creepy.' He thinks.
"Don't worry so much. Remember when it comes to demons I'm not a king, I'm a god!" With that reassurance Yami leaps into the hole into the abyss.
...…..