Mana had no idea for how long they’ve been fighting. These Justicars weren’t just ordinary bandits. She hit them as hard as she could, they took all she could dish out and stood right back up. Every blow she dodged she attempted to counter in return. Ten or more people attacked her at once, none of them landed a solid blow, all of them got counters coming their way, aimed at their joints, their eyes or ears. Every time Mana thought she broke something, injured someone beyond recovery, even thought she may have gone too far the guy or gal just jumped back on their feet with bloodied faces or limbs dangling strangely and kept coming at her.
Just their degree of hate directed towards her was disgusting, it wasn’t fear of violence from their part, physical violence was something Mana experienced for the most of her life. For a person who spoke of peace she was somewhat of a hypocrite as she was a child trained in combat since the days she could firmly stand on her feet. No, violence wasn’t what scared her, not the prospect of being beaten or having her face caved in or her flesh exploding from being unable to withstand the force behind those superhuman blows. It was the more spiritual part that scared her.
These people wished to kill her, to an extent that was scarier than any of their beaten and battle hardened faces grunting at her, trying to scare her by staring at her to death because they could no longer land a blow on her. These men and women hated Mana because she could not allow any harm to come to those poor misshapen men and women of some settlement who were now doomed to spend their days in hiding, shy of their own misshapen forms. Was that so deserving of hatred? Why did these people come at her with such devotion, such ferocity? Was it not human nature to try and help each other to the best of one’s abilities?
Maybe it was Mana and not these violent people who was misguided. Maybe she was the anomaly who didn’t belong and deserved to get murdered in a cave deep below Takigakure waterfalls? Maybe she was wrong to change Kouta’s life, to try and change everyone she met? Maybe Kouta was for the better as a violent spawn of his Juugo father, maybe the efforts of his mother to make a medical ninja out of him, a person not at all similar to his father were wrong? Maybe violence was the norm here for the sole reason that much more people accepted it as an option, not even that, a solution.
A flurry of kicks sent a wall of people crashing into the cave walls. Mana was fast, she was getting slower however. Avoiding blows was beginning to wear on her, her own body was beginning to break down for using so much physical chakra. And yet these people stood back up, they sacrificed just as much to kill her and then kill those dwellers trampling on Mana’s dead body while doing so. They were just as devoted to their cause as Mana was on hers. For how long could she play this perfect protector of peace when she was the minority, how long until she falls and with her the last of this world’s, what seemed to Mana, common sense?
Fury, previously unheard of rose inside Mana’s heart. She became visibly more devoted to her strikes, more violent. She no longer felt content at pushing these men back, she felt angry, violent. She continued to strike, kick and push people even while they were down, she continued to dislocate, crush and twist their limbs, the more gruesome the noises came from them the better. She killed no one but killing was not the only immoral thing in the world. What was this anger she felt, why did she not feel content just pushing back? Maybe she had more of this world inside her than she thought, maybe she was no saint herself? No… There was nothing perfect about Mana, imperfect origins, average skills and now her disability…
A violent explosion ripped Mana apart from the twelve Justicars she continuously maimed and bashed at. Just barely couple of them didn’t drown in… Magma? Mana felt blood rushing from inside of her, immense heat rising up before the physical chakra helped her deal with it. Augmenting her body… Physical chakra wasn’t really working as potently as the real thing. Mana coughed up handfuls of blood and felt her lungs burning up. She almost got incinerated from inside by just breathing this hot air in. She heard loud yells, the Justicars were fleeing back, focusing on Meiko and Kouta instead as magma blocked them off.
That was when the girl saw figures emerging walking right through the magma like it was just water. Shrugging the burning sludge off, the blood of mother Earth itself felt no different to these four than spring rain.
“She’s just a civilian, remember how she shook and quivered when we first met? Just turn on your Intents, make her beg for us to kill her” one of them spoke, finally… Actual fear was born in Mana’s heart, fear not for the lives of others but for that of her own. The magician wondered just how could Kouta and Meiko have been doing. Then the magma cleared out, with a small peek the magician witnessed Kouta continuously firing at the overflowing torrents of magma that threatened to fill the room. If it had flooded the room it wouldn’t have killed Meiko and Kouta, Mana knew that all of them could survive it but it’d wear them out, also it’d kill the dwellers that the three were so adamant to protect.
“Let’s just kill her, those dwellers have nowhere to run, they’re cornered, to squirm and hide pressing their furry misshapen bodies to the rocks is all they’re good for. We’ll bash their heads against the rocks once we’re done here, only seems fitting” one of the Justicars spoke. Mana felt it “ the burning feeling in her heart, that strange sensation she had only felt a couple of times in her life. Except now it was multiplied a whole thousand times. The girl’s legs shook and crossed themselves, just barely could she remain standing once the Intents kicked in. She’d have much rather choked on her own lungs refusing to breathe in fear from the Killing Intent, this Charming Intent variation was actually incomparably more sinister.
“Look at her, shaking in her sandals, before she could fight all of us off without a scratch, let’s see her move now, let’s see her DANCE!” a Justicar lady screamed out with the same scary bloodlust in her voice as she kicked Mana below the belt sending the magician down and writhing in pain. She could not tell which was stronger, that burning pleasure in her heart that was overflowing and pumping throughout her entire essence from those blasted Intents that these people used, the sadistic twist on Tanshu’s abilities that they’ve put or the pain from being beaten.
Mana tried to pick herself up, she realized that she must’ve looked pathetic, fighting not only the damage from that kick but also her own body that begged to stay down, just writhe and enjoy the pleasure that the countless Intents around her attacked her with. Before the magician thought that people that hurt their victims with pain were cruel but she had never previously encountered someone as sinister as people attacking people with pleasure. People who hurt other people, killed them while making them beg for more. Mana wanted to change the world but she realized that she had no idea just how twisted it actually was.
A kick right to her face sent the magician down again, she couldn’t even move, the best Mana could do was not to give in to the vile impulses that the raging pleasures inside her provided. The Justicar woman began trampling Mana, stomping her viciously before kicking her around. The magician felt the taste of blood inside her but her body didn’t listen, it loved every second of bleeding out in some tunnel that was slowly filling with magma. Mana’s bloodshot eyes wandered onto the sight of Kouta firing his chakra cannons in overload mode trying to keep magma away from filling the tunnels. Where did it even come from in the first place!?
Meiko was the only one still actually fighting, Mana was just getting kicked around at this point and Kouta also was getting pummeled by the Justicars while being occupied keeping the magma at bay. Those suicidal idiots wanted to flood the tunnels, they knew that the dwellers would’ve been the only ones to die in it and that must’ve been their plan. Kouta fell on one knee, he roared in pain as he couldn’t even protect himself but he held the cannon literally blasting the magma away from the entrances. New cannons opened on his back, branched off from his hands. Mana saw his muscles tense up so intensely that it tore his clothes apart, some of them tore and opened bleeding gashes all over.
The redheaded blacksmith was too busy to see Mana getting kicked around and grinded into stone. The magician could no longer feel the pain from the punches and kicks. Her body just broke down, her entire nervous system was tearing itself apart overwhelmed by pain and pleasure at the same time. Mana wasn’t even sure just how badly she was beaten. It was then that a cold sensation came from above “ something froze the magma and the tunnels no longer felt like literal Hell. It even drew the rampaging Justicars away from her, for a moment at least…
Then an arrow flew right through the eye of one of them. It must’ve been some strange, chakra enhanced arrow, normal arrows wouldn’t have come close to sufficing. Then a flurry of crackling and chirping arrows covered with actual lightning chakra pierced several of them without any resistance, hitting the vitals and sending them down and dead. Mana looked at the side and saw a woman with hair shaped into buns tearing Kouta out of the hardened magma, just before it froze the young man must’ve been overwhelmed and drowned in it which made it harden with Kouta inside. He looked worn out and wounded, his clothes were singed off and he was bleeding all over. Almost like he’d have just survived literal war and that suggestion wouldn’t have been too far off. The woman punched and kicked behind her a couple of times knocking out the Justicars that pestered her instantly.
The feet and fists of the woman glowed with the blue flares of chakra that Kouta had when he punched and kicked using the strength enhancements of medical ninjutsu. She must’ve been a medical ninja too, only made sense for a party to have at least one. Then another man launched himself at the group of Justicars trying to attack these new challengers, it was like he wore some sort of armor all around his body, a thick green and purple plate with bladed shoulders and helmet, the man carelessly swatted his hand aside with some strange ninjutsu technique, forming whips of lances of water in his arms that slashed the Justicars in two pieces like they were butter being split by a heated knife.
The Justicars did not falter, with each crushed intent and plan they tried doing something else, the few that remained split between trying to locate the camouflaged dwellers and slaughter them and focus on downed and beaten Mana. The ones that tried to find the dwellers got quickly gathered together into a bear hug and crushed into bloody stains by a colossal chubby who had half bald head and wore a pair of dark green tunics tied together with a purple rope around his waist and shoulders.
The ones that rushed at Mana got downed by more chakra imbued arrows as well as a short devil-man whose dance with knives must’ve been the fastest one Mana had ever seen and the magician has tangled with Hisako, the daughter of Yoruma, herself. She didn’t even see the short man before, he just appeared out of nowhere and whirled around with knives in a blond flash as his spiky blond hair gave color to his blurry dance. Another color contrasting the blood red of the liquid that splattered on the walls. Whoever these ninja were they spared no one, no one except the Konoha ninja, of course.
The ginger man with a strange triangular hat looked at Mana, “Hey, Caitrian, I’d appreciate a look or two at this girl here, she looks pretty messed up…” he yelled out. Mana then felt gentle feminine hands picking her up and saw a gentle face of the woman with the hair buns who pulled Kouta out.
“Awww, she looks worse than that kid who went magma dipping… I’ll get right on her but first let’s get outside, this whole place is falling apart as well as flooding” the woman called Caitrian said.
The bald fatso playfully slapped at Kouta’s body which he carried on his shoulder, leaning his head so that it fit into the tunnel. Meiko rushed and started shouting something, from what Mana’s bashed around head could tell she wanted to get a look at the magician and felt curious if she’d be alright.
“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine, once Ivalgith here got both his arms removed by this large rogue ninja named Regiglan, he was a big cheese around those parts but Caitrian patched him right up. The girl’s got a pretty tough face for a civilian though” the ginger goatee wearing man remarked placing his hands at his sides in a heroic pose. He must’ve felt really well about himself for his heroic deed. Mana’s consciousness began to slip in and out, she could only remember bits and pieces of what followed. She remembered hot air passing through her cheeks, Caitrian must’ve been running. Meiko’s silly grin kept smiling at Mana from above with green glow visible above her face “ the signature light of healing being done. Bits and pieces slipped through and out.
Mana blinked and raised her head up, it hurt like she had just been beaten by a bunch of self-righteous fops but she was thankful to have survived, even better, thankful that the horror of the Intents ended. The entire time her will was being tested, she felt like her mind was violated which was a thousand times worse than just being beaten, as someone who gets beaten half to death on a daily basis, Mana would have known.
Meiko screamed in joy when Mana sat up, she was so glad that the blacksmith rushed at Mana and speared her with her shoulder with a hug of happiness slamming the magician and almost leveling her to the ground. Mana looked around, the place that once was a swamp-like paradise of falling waterfalls and larger than mountains trees was now just a barren wasteland of hardened magma and rocks. The magician could only wonder what could’ve happened here.
Kouta walked up and sat on his knees, he tried to hug Mana as well but then backed out of it when the two blushed and it began looking far too awkward. Shimo walked up to Mana, his kimono looked ripped up and singed, there very little green left in it, it was black as tar from being burned. He must’ve had his fair contacts with magma too.
“Looks like the Takigakure ninja noticed the destruction. This ginger man with the arrows is Connallhod, this large gent is Brendonk, the lady you should feel thankful for your life for is Caitrian. The little man I didn’t notice before is Wilsamh and the tall guy with the rubber like hair and long beard is Ivalgith. I think I got it right? Those Takigakure names are a mouthful…” Shimo pouted looking at the Takigakure party curiously.
“That’s right, we’re the five currently active Takigakure jounin, pleased to meet our colleagues from Konoha. Even more honored to have the chance to give you guys a helping hand. Takigakure does take pride in its neutrality in inter-village affairs but when it comes down to rogues and self-appointed vigilantes all villages must stand united” the short ginger man called Connalhod laughed out to himself before noticing that the Konoha kids felt more devastated than cheerful.
“Did you save the dwellers?” Mana’s voice grunted, her throat still felt crushed so Caitrian looked at the girl with a troubled stare and felt the girl’s body up before asking her to allow for her throat to be healed. She was apparently getting strangled at some point, the magician could vaguely remember the details of what those Justicars did to her starting from one particularly painful point in time. In the midst of the healing Kouta shook his head.
“I’m sorry, they’re probably all dead, magma is slowly filling the tunnels. The Takigakure ninja told us that eventually this place would be fixed and all the magma would be casted back into the depths from where it came but… Right now there’s nothing to be done…”
Mana jumped up and pushed Caitrian aside. Of course the girl would have lacked the strength to do so if the jounin woman resisted being pushed aside but she did not object. Shimo and Kouta jumped after Mana.
“Wait, Mana-chan, you can’t possibly… You won’t even enter the system before it fills up with…” Kouta tried to object.
“The system is huge, it’ll take you a hundred years to search it for each and every dweller, that’s even if they even aren’t camouflaging, Meiko said they’re usually pretty careful about…” Shimo tried to stop Mana too.
“I’m afraid I must agree with your friends, fair maiden, whomever you are trying to save, you’d have to search these tunnels at impossible speeds to pick all these… Whatever they are ” the tall towering man called Ivalgith who wielded lances of drilling water so efficiently before remarked, now his helmet laid off and on the ground and his funny towering hairdo was shaped by the helmet to look like the rubber end of a pencil which contrasted to his pointy long brown beard.
Mana’s body flared up with red. She felt her eyes tearing up, her vessels bursting, her muscles tearing apart as her cells angrily flared with physical chakra. There were people in those tunnels. People who have already been wronged by fate, people who were looking at drowning in magma for their own desire to hide from the world that wronged them. No person was welcome nowhere, everyone must’ve had a place to belong in, somewhere there must’ve been a home for everyone!
A sharp pain interrupted all of the girl’s thoughts, pain stabbing right at the back of her neck as her vision blurred. Shimo had dashed behind her with a cruel but restrained chop to the back of her neck while Mana was distracted. The girl crumbled down as all of her lights went out. The Yuki swordsman looked at the unconscious body of his friend, dried out blood stains still present on her torn white shirt and on her healed face where it was broken. The cave blew up from internal pressure spouting out hot sludge of magma out into the air before the holes closed up and the entire structure crumbled on itself.
“There was a slim chance she could’ve made it, probably…” Brendonk the large fat shinobi of Takigakure remarked bitterly looking at the scene of friends knocking friends out. “Had a solid microsecond of head start before the cave exploded, maybe she’d have pulled some people out”
“She’s an idiot, a loveable idiot, but idiot nonetheless…” Shimo closed his eyes and places his hands into the pockets before sighing helplessly. “Her chakra system is torn up and completely non-functional, physical chakra is the only kind she can use. She’s already broken her limits before and almost killed herself in the process. As her friend I’m not willing to see it happen again. Maybe she could’ve pulled everyone out in time, maybe she’d have emerged covered in magma while her body desperately tried to not let her burn and melt away, burning her physical chakra while her network broke again in the process… The bottom line is that I don’t care. I won’t stand and watch her kill herself trying to prevent others who have long since resigned from life dying”
“This won’t be pretty…” Meiko closed her eyes and sighed, the sight of her incapacitated friend felt uncomfortable. It wasn’t too long ago that Mana learned of another betrayal by her friends committed entirely out of care for her own life, if that time was any measure of future events the girl will be outraged and feel betrayed, her trust in her friends might falter…
“As her friend I am ready to accept that hatred and anger. If you’re not, you were never really her friend to begin with. You may be one of the physically strongest out of all of us but you’re a big softy, Meiko, you don’t really want to get in Mana’s way because you feel indebted to her for taking you on this mission and training you and Kouta is too worried to chase after Mana’s affections to do it. I was the only logical choice to stop her” Shimo concluded.
The night sky was lit up by small patches of magma bursting out from the ground in gazers, fountains of Earth’s burning blood bursting and leaking colored the sky blazing red, almost like the Sun hadn’t even set yet…
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