Chapter 48
SHISUI UCHIHA
"You," he asked simply too perplexed by the notion of fighting the daimyo-sama himself, that he forgot his manners.
"...daimyo-sama," he added as soon as he got his bearings, though the young lord did not seem to mind his lapse in manners as he smiled, still chakra rushing off of him as waves, showing highly trained control.
"Indeed, me. Do not worry, though, Shisui Uchiha, I am not so easy to kill," the young lord spoke as if reading his mind. Regardless of his age, Shisui Uchiha was a fully trained shinobi, one who had achieved the rank of jounin because of merit and who spoke of his skill and prowess.
He glanced back at the guardian twelve and saw them unmoving. He decided that this was no joke. So, he leaned forward and reached for the tanto on his back as he riled up his own chakra in response to that of the young daimyo.
Regardless of the words, he decided that he would have to be careful not to overwhelm the man, so he pushed his chakra into his feet as he raced forward, and the man's eyes narrowed.
"No sharingan," he heard him utter as he blocked Shisui's strike with ease, looking him straight in the eye.
"I must say, I am rather insulted," and with that, Shisui swung again and again, pivoting off his foot and trying to slash from the side, from above in a flurry of blows which became faster and faster incrementally.
CLANG! CLANG!
Yet none were able to break through the young lord's defense as he continued to parry his blows with ease. Suddenly, Shisui saw the blade light up. In an instant, the young lord had coated his blade with wind-natured chakra, making him try and do the same. He saw him pivot slightly, avoiding his strike, before the lord took in a small breath.
"Ninpo: World Cleaver!" he heard him whisper as he brought down his blade. Just as he brought up his tanto to parry the strike, he realized the mistake he had made and tried to jump away. Yet the strike was too strong, and even as he jumped away, he was caught off guard.
BOOM!
The area exploded, and a cloud of smoke covered the clearing as Shisui jumped back, tanto still in hand, the hesitation from the beginning of the duel long gone from his face as blood dripped from his shoulder, the wound shallow yet still a wound.
"I believe I must apologise," he began as the dust began to clear up, and Shisui pushed his chakra into his eyes once more as he had a hundred times before, and felt the world clear up and come into focus as the young lord smirked.
"I underestimated you, it was a lapse in my judgement," he said and the young lord narrowed his gaze.
"Come, show me why they call you the Teleporter, Shisui Uchiha," the young lord challenged, and Shisui cycled through a set of handseals.
Could he defeat the daimyo-sama if he used his full prowess? Probably, yet this was not about winning. It was about showcasing his skill and prowess in handling an enemy in a nonlethal way.
"Shunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted as he felt his chakra reserves fall as two Shisui appeared beside him, as he raced forward towards the daimyo-sama once again, this time throwing kunai at him, forcing him to deflect them as three of him surrounded the man.
He attacked the man from behind, yet he parried his strike. However, one of his other remnants moved and tried to attack the young lord's shoulder, which he avoided by jumping back. Shisui aimed a kick at his back, forcing him to jump, and he had him as all three of his forms jumped at once and surrounded the man.
"There is no more place for you to run," he said as he and his two clones zeroed in on the young lord.
"Well, that is what I was about to say," the young lord replied as he lifted his sword once more, and a wave of chakra rushed off of him. His blade gained a purple hue as he raised it into the air, and Shisui's tanto was inches from the man's neck.
"Tsubame..."
"THAT WILL BE ENOUGH!"
"...GAESHI!"
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JRAIYA-The Toad Sage
Jiraiya had been impressed by the more global approach of their new daimyo, and surprised even more so by his ability to pick the right man for the job.
He had made Minato the new kage, and now, despite the major upheavals suffered by the village, the atmosphere in the village was hopeful. Minato's calm and positive demeanor and his prowess as a shinobi inspired confidence in the village, where they had suffered one of the greatest tragedies in the form of treason and defection.
Making Tsunade his advisor showed his intent on keeping a close eye on the shinobi affairs yet also showed a willingness to learn and follow advice in matters he did not have a full grasp on. If anyone thought that Tsunade's words were not going to matter in an advisory role, they were just being obtuse.
And now this. He did not know whether their young daimyo had somehow foreseen this very thing or if it was this just another stroke of luck as he found himself face to face with the very shinobi that he had been searching for, the most feared rogue nin to come out of Konoha, his very own teammate, and a sanin of the leaf.
Orochimaru.
"It has been quite some time, old friend," he said scathingly as he checked in on his past students. They were all beaten up. Yahiko and Nagato the most, the latter of which was still screaming as the blood dripped from his face.
"AGHHHHH!" Nagato screamed as Yahiko lay unconscious beside him, and Konan heaved fearfully, looking him up and down, placing herself between himself and her other two friends.
"Who are yo..." she asked, as he turned to face her, and she stopped midsentence as she saw his face, and he saw relief fill her face.
"Sensei?" she asked in a shaky voice, pale and covered in injuries all over. He could tell that they had been fighting for some time, and he was impressed that they had been able to hold back his teammate for so long.
They had all grown up so much.
"Look after Nagato and Yahiko," he said to her with a reassuring smile as he turned to face the infamous snake sanin, a man he had once called a friend.
"And leave this to me," he said as he let go of his chakra and looked Orochimaru in the eye.
"I never thought I would see you again. After all, you have been avoiding me for quite some time," he spoke vehemently, and Orochimaru smirked.
"I am surprised to see you here, Jiraiya. What is the leaf's infamous toad sage doing so deep into Ame's territory," Orochimaru asked.
"I could ask you the same question, you damned defector," he challenged as Orochimaru's eyes lit up.
"Ohh, me. I just came here to collect a little something," and with that, he saw Orochimaru drop a pair of eyeballs into a glass container filled with a green liquid, the sight of those eyes sending a shiver down his spine a he looked at the screaming form of Nagato and realized that those were his eyes.
Those were the Rinnegan.
"Well, then you must have run out of luck, for no matter what, I am not allowing you to leave this place," he said as he bit into his thumb, just as Orochimaru did the same.
"You wound me, Jiraiya, coming after me and labeling me a criminal while you should be thanking me," Orochimaru said as his golden eyes lit up. He could feel his teammate gathering a large amount of chakra as well.
"After all, did I not kill Konoha's greatest traitor," he said.
"You are Konoha's biggest traitor." He retorted as he struck his hand on the ground.
"Ninpo: Toad Mouth Trap!" he whispered as they were immediately covered by the red membranous wall of the insides of the sage toad's stomach.
It was an unbreakable trap, yet Orochimaru seemed unbothered as he smirked.
"This brings back quite some memories, but if you think this is enough to stop me, then you are quite mistaken, old friend," he uttered before he struck his own hands on the ground.
"Ninpo: Summoning Jutsu!"
0000
Back in Konoha, Kushina Uzumaki lay awake late into the night, unable to sleep as she tossed and turned, her mind continuously fixated on the events of the last few days and the revelations they had begun.
Minato was still working, preparing for the eventual negotiations with Kiri for an alliance, yet in some ways. It was a relief that he was not here, for it gave her the solitude she needed to think about what she had heard.
She had spent all her life blaming the Kyuubi, the bijuu, for what had become of her clan, blaming it for the loneliness, the discrimination, and the isolation she had suffered.
Yet only now did she come to imagine just what it must have been like for a sentient, self-conscious being to be trapped inside another being forcefully robbed of its freedom. She had barely suffered such helplessness, and her anger and frustration were unexplainable.
So what would the Ky...no Kurama feel? And as she thought of that, she felt uneasy and conflicted until she decided to sit up as she calmed down her breathing and reached into the insides as she had done so infront of the young daimyo.
And she found herself in that same place once more, the floor covered in a thin stream of water, a thrum of ancient chakra in the air as she felt those red slit-like eyes focus on her.
BOOOM!
The chakra hit her first as a wave that would have rocked a lesser shinobi. And it still impressed me that despite the seals, the Kyuubi had so much chakra at its disposal.
"WHY ARE YOU HERE? You witch!" he roared, and Kushina steeled her heart as she gathered up her courage.
"Do not call me a witch!" she roared before she sighed and looked the kyuubi in the eye.
"So, tell me Ku...."
"DO NOT CALL ME BY THAT NAME!" it roared, as it thrashed against its bindings, surprising her with the sheer vehemence it said those words.
"All right, I won't, but I came to talk."
"I HAVE NOTHING TO TALK WITH YOU!"
"Then just listen because I am not going anywhere, and though you may be stubborn, I can tell you my clan would give you a run for your money when it comes to stubbornness."
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