The clearing was heavy with silence, broken only by the soft crackle of the earth beneath their feet. The masked girl's footprints lingered, glowing like embers against the forest floor. Her cloak, black as night, swayed with her every movement, her mysterious nature adding to her allure.
The broken red mask covering her face revealed a fraction of her pale features, her skin held signs of exhaustion, the bags under her eyes were a dead giveaway about her current state. Strands of scarlet hair framed her face, rose and fluttered like the plumage of a battle-worn helmet, each lock flickered like embers in the breeze. The contrast between her vivid hair and the broken red mask created a disquieting aura, blurring the line between where the mask ended and she began.
As the tension thickened, Tayuya felt the weight of the masked girl's gaze settle on her. Something about her presence stirred a deep unease—like the shadow of an old memory she couldn't fully grasp. Recognition brushed the peripheral of her thoughts, faint but persistent, as though the woman carried the burden of something lost long ago.
"What the hell do you want!" Tayuya spat, her voice filled with frustration, cut through the still air. The figure remained silent for a moment, tilting her head as if in contemplation, her crimson gaze locked onto Tayuya, searching for something unspoken.
"It's not what I want," the masked girl finally replied, her voice filled Tayuya's ears with a nostalgic melody. "It's about what you've lost."
Tayuya shoved Naruto aside, clutching her stomach as she swayed for a moment, struggling to regain her strength. Her face contorted in pain, but she forced it away. She raised her head to face the masked girl.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded, her voice sharp and laced with impatience. That flicker of familiarity still gnawed at her, stirring emotions she couldn't quite place.
The girl's crimson eyes gleamed behind the broken mask, calm yet enigmatic. "It means," she said with a voice that lacked a shred of emotion, "what you've buried isn't gone"
Tayuya's jaw tightened, frustration stirred beneath the surface. "Stop with the cryptic crap. If you're not gonna talk, I'll just have to beat those answers out of you!"
At that moment, Neji and Hinata a distance away exchanged a glance, and with a silent nod, they moved in opposite directions, each darting towards the trees to face the red-hooded cultists encircling them.
Naruto stuck close to Tayuya, his eyes narrowed as he observed the masked girl 'Why is she here in the land of fire, she doesent wear a ninja headband either'.
The girl tilted her head slightly, her focus floated around Tayuya, her vision blurred the more time passed. Under her subtle command, the red-hooded figures took action against their assailants from the Hyuga clan.
A dark aura whirled around Tayuya's body like a vortex of shadows, obscuring her form. As sudden as it came, it vanished, revealing her transformation into the second stage of her curse mark. Seven large, curved horns sprouted from her scalp, framing her head with an elegant ivory crest. Her eyes, once white as marble, shifted to the deepest obsidian, her irises, once a simple bronze, had now become the purest of gold. Her hair grew longer, cascading past her waist while her milky skin deepened into a sun-kissed, rich brown.
"Ready?" Naruto muttered, his gaze flicking briefly toward her, his jaw nearly dropped at the sight of her transformation. 'What the hell just happened? Is that jutsu?'
Tayuya shot him a fierce look. "Just don't get in my way." With a mutual understanding, the two launched forward, coordinating their movements as they closed the distance between them and their common enemy. Tayuya's speed was a blur; she jumped straight for the masked girl, her attacks were met with a mountain of defense, the masked girl remained rooted to the ground as she simply intercepted Tayuya's assault as if it was a child's tantrum. Naruto and a clone of his appeared at her flanks, launching a repeated assault on both sides, yet the girl remained in place, her arms waved around deflecting their attacks with an unnerving precision.
Suddenly the masked girl stumbled back, momentarily losing her grasp over the little strength that remained in her overburdened body. "Take this!" The girl managed to avoid a fist that grazed the skin on her face; as a result, she leaped back a distance away from Naruto and Tayuya in hopes of gaining a little breathing room
.
Meanwhile, Neji and Hinata engaged the Lambs of the cult in stride, their Byakugan activated. They moved gracefully through the battlefield, each strike sealed off the chakra points of the red hoods. The cultists fell back, disoriented by the swift and coordinated strikes, giving Naruto and Tayuya the room they needed to focus on the masked woman.
Utilizing the Gentle Fist technique, Neji and Hinata targeted the cultists' chakra points, disrupting their flow of energy and leaving them incapacitated. The red-hooded cultists stumbled and fell almost as if the strings that puppeteered them were cut, their attacks slowed as their chakra networks were blocked by Neji and Hinata's precise strikes.
"Oi, cover your ears if you know what's good for ya!" Tayuya, without skipping a beat, positioned her flute beneath her lips and played a forbidden song, The Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique, unleashing a high-frequency sound wave that echoed through the clearing. The disorienting vibrations targeted the masked woman and the surrounding cultists; the result, however, was not up to her expectations. Although the lambs were frozen stiff, stuck within an illusion yet, the masked girl moved as if she wasn't affected to begin with. "....What kind of control do you have over your damn chakra, you freak!"
The red-hooded cultists began to fall; it became clear that the masked woman was a foe far stonger than they once thought, her presence radiated danger even in her current state of weakness. Naruto glanced at Tayuya for a moment, lifting his hands away from his ears. "Didn't work, huh? This isn't looking good for us," realizing the true extent of the threat they faced, Naruto could only place his trust in his team
.
Shikamaru watched the events unfold from the shadows, his body melded into the shadows as he silently moved from one strategic position to another. He analyzed the masked woman's movements, stalking her from the dark cover of the forest, searching for any weakness he could exploit. When the masked girl first showed signs of exhaustion, Shikamaru deduced that sooner or later she would slip, and when she did, his shadow would be there.
Meanwhile, Naruto faced off against the masked girl in an exchange of attacks. The masked figure landed a gruesome punch deep into Naruto's gut, rupturing one of his internal organs. Naruto fell to his knees, a mouthful of blood spilled from his mouth. Tayuya jumped in and pushed the monstrous girl back, buying Naruto time to recover. In his moment of desperation, Naruto's body began to sizzle, his wounds gradually came undone under the influence of the demon fox's red chakra. His organs slowly healed, and so did the burns on his arms. Naruto felt a surge of bubbling chakra flow through him; his eyes became that of the fox, his teeth sharpened into razor-like fangs, and his nails elongated into lethal claws. An intense, primal energy overflowed from within him, shifting his presence into something wild and untamed. Although it left a bad taste in his mouth, he wouldn't refuse help in this kind of a situation, even if it came from a demon.
Tayuya moved with the grace of flowing silk, blending her physical strikes with her sound techniques. The girl in black engulfed her leg with an intense red chakra that created powerful gusts of wind in its presence, rotating on her axis, the masked girl unleashed a kick towards her chest. Tayuya barely managed to lift one of her arms up to block, but the force of the blow knocked her backward. The blow sent her crashing into the ground. Pain shot through her arm, leaving it numb;"Aaah!, damn it!, damn it!, damn it!!!" a large burn spread across its length.
The masked girl struggled to regain her footing; her perfect bance wained as her body swayed as a result of the kick, a hint of dizziness creeped in as the exhaustion from the sleepless nights began to take its toll. In a swift motion, Shikamaru's shadow possession snapped around a tree and attached itself onto the girl robed in black, freezing her in place. A flicker of irritation crossed her crimson eyes as she struggled against the immobilizing jutsu. "Hey, Naruto! It's now or never; I can't hold her for long!"
Tayuya sprang up from the ground and propelled herself forward, shouting, "As if! ....She's mine!!!" Caught off guard, Shikamaru narrowly managed to release his shadow possession before Tayuya's foot sunk into the masked girl's face. 'That was a close call. I'm sure she knows how my shadow possession works; she's not someone I'll place my trust in; she's still an enemy.'
The force of the kick shattered the mask into pieces and sent her hurtling into a nearby tree. As the figure remained on the ground, Tayuya caught a glimpse of her face through the swirling dust and debree; it was twisted and broken, with a crooked nose and visible fractures marring her features. "Ouch! Serves you right! I'd say we can call it even now."
A dark occult energy seeped out from within the girl and enveloped her face. Beneath the veil that hid her face, grotesque sounds filled the air sickening cracks and pops filled the ears of all those around; Her disfigured face, bone and flesh realigned. The visceral symphony of healing twisted in Tayuya's stomach, sending a chill down her spine. When the shadows finally lifted, the masked girl was no more; she sat on the ground with her back against a tree, her face revealed to the world. Tayuya's cocky expression fell, giving way to one of recognition; overtaken by shock, she stumbled back, tripped over her own foot, and fell to the ground. Breathless, she called out a name almost as if it was a question, ".....A-Aiko?"