A powerful shock shook the platform on which Tanshu and Misu were fighting. Misu managed to realize what was going on after he noticed the black cube below that was sucking in chunks of rock and debris and reducing the entire room to rubble, increasing in size and strength with each passing moment. “Damn, Shirona must be pushed really hard to use that on such a scale, she’s gonna blow the whole place to bits…” the Sannin thought to himself as he gracefully leaped from one chunk of rocky wall and ceiling to another as they were rotating and being pulled towards the cube.
Tanshu seemed to also realize the danger of Shirona’s technique, unlike Misu however he didn’t trouble himself with the thoughts of how his partner was doing. The Sannin knew full well of Howoku’s abilities, the man was not put onto his seat of Hokage for nothing. Then there was the fact that Tanshu’s Sage Mode sensory allowed him to track not only Misu’s movements but also the battle below. While Howoku’s chakra was in the red zone for certain, Tanshu was confident that the man could pull it out in the end. Howoku was a man who lived his life holding himself back, restraining his abilities from incinerating and disintegrating everything around him. If anyone knew how to restrain and control the level of strength he puts out “ it was the Fourth.
Tanshu could feel the immense power of the cube dragging him towards it as well, Misu happened to avoid that power by hiding behind the surface of the rubble he leaped on, he always stuck to the side that was not exposed to the cube’s gravity and so overcoming the pressure and great attraction came easier for the man. Still, it was not enough even for him, Tanshu could feel the Sannin’s chakra decreasing rapidly as Misu kept making new clones further away and replacing himself with them, letting the clones get dispelled and leave a cloud of vapor that also got caught in the gravitational pull. It formed an impressive twister of a black cube in the center, vapor clouds around it and large chunks of the torn apart temple rotating around the cube. The construction was almost poetic in its beauty.
And then it all just blew up, luckily enough Tanshu and Misu had moved up onto the cover of trees above, they were quite far away from the battle between the Kage and the Sage could no longer sense Howoku’s or Shirona’s chakra. It could’ve meant a great many things. It could’ve meant that both of them died in that violent explosion, it could’ve meant that their chakra were so weak now that even Tanshu’s Sage Mode couldn’t pick them up, the simplest and by far the most positive explanation was that Tanshu simply leaped out of the range of his sensory. After a brief look back at the decimated temple Misu grinned and clenched his sword more tightly letting his chakra flow through it.
“So… How long does your mode last? I bet you can’t just use it as often as you want, having in mind that we worked plenty of times together and I never saw you use it.” Vashia’s killer tried to keep Tanshu talking. The Sage spread his legs and evened his balance slowly positioning his arms in a jaw-like position up front. A wild burst of the Sage chakra concentrated on the center, lighting up both hands and forming a more clear jaw-shaped construct out of pure chakra.
“I never found a situation where I would need it. Make no mistake you’re not a special case, Shirona should’ve been, I just spent so much chakra preparing it that now I’ll just have to crush you with it instead. Don’t get delusional and think for a moment that you can just stall the battle and have my Sage Mode time out. I have more than enough time I’ll need to beat you.” Tanshu’s chakra burst more violently as rage itself made the Sannin force his chakra out in much larger quantities and higher density than it needed to be. Tanshu purposefully supercharged his technique.
“Sage Art: Hellhound Crunch Jutsu” Tanshu mumbled to himself as his body simply disappeared, aiming not for the Misu’s figure that was standing right in front of him but instead at the one above and behind him “ the real Misu, not one of his Vapor clones. Tanshu moved faster than Misu could even perceive him and replace himself with the clone, or maybe the Sannin just used too much chakra making the clones and having his body replace itself with them, spreading those vapor clouds and all that and now his tired body could no longer keep up with the reflexes.
The Red Dog’s tight grip locked into Misu’s shoulder making blood shoot out from the wound. The overflowing with chakra grip tore right through bone and flesh with no resistance at all, it tore the chunk of flesh and cauterized the wound with intense flow of Tanshu’s Sage Chakra so fast that Misu didn’t even feel the pain, he just lost his balance and tumbled down with his right shoulder looking like a mashed mess “ his flesh was torn out and then molten into some sort of mass that stuck back to the spot where it was torn from. It was usually a wound that’d kill a person outright, even if there was no bleeding “ a major blood vessel was now missing from the vital circle of blood flow. Misu however defined reason and stood back up, spitting out blood from his mouth signaling some sort of irregularity in the way his blood flowed.
Blood broke through Misu’s nasty wound and started dripping onto the grass, that shouldn’t have happened “ the place hit by Tanshu’s technique was completely dead meat. He wasn’t supposed to be able to bleed from it or even stand back up or live for that matter. Within seconds the Red Dog realized the solution. Chakra was a combination of a person’s physical and spiritual sides, its flow could’ve been used for various purposes “ to strengthen one’s physical abilities or make one survive blows one shouldn’t have. Misu’s chakra control went a bit beyond that “ the Sannin was temporarily sustaining himself by using chakra to redirect his blood flow. It was a pathetic final solution but it kept Misu alive at least, it was killing him but much slower than it should’ve. It was a desperation move.
Three Misu vapor clones appeared out of nowhere swinging their copied swords at Tanshu trying to cut him down. The real Misu below also weaved a hand seal. “Vapor Style: Deceitful Blade Jutsu!” he shouted out in pain with more blood shooting out from his mouth as he forced air out of his lungs. Misu’s body dissolved into a figure of gaseous state water and shot towards Tanshu, the Red Dog knew that technique well, he had seen Misu use it plenty of times. The Sannin would harden his body and normalize it right at the last moment to deliver the cut, then quickly replace himself with one of the clones to avoid a counterattack. Tanshu leaped forward standing up upside down using one of his hand and spreading and twisting his body to avoid every single cut from Misu’s clones. The Sage then pushed his body up using all of his strength in that one hand making the branch break off and crumble down but also propelling himself upwards and landing on a higher branch.
The Sage then leaped forward diving down and landing onto the solid branch where the clones were at striking rapidly and precisely to dispatch of them, they may have dissolved into move vapor upon being taken down but at least Misu would have to trouble himself making more clones and using chakra if he wanted to replace himself with them using his Vapor Mode. A painful shock woke Tanshu up out of his fit of rage he was fighting in “ Misu managed to land a cut onto his back, instinctively the Sage leaned forward and avoided what would’ve been a beheading blow and then tried to roll to the side but got another deep cut right on his back. Tanshu had to hand it, Misu was giving him a fight, while on a one on one fight Sage Mode would blow the Sannin away, his opponent was playing it smart “ using cheap hit and run tactics to wear him down. While Tanshu still had plenty of Sage Chakra in his system those injuries made him worry about his physical state. If he gets hurt too much he’ll need to start spending chakra to keep himself standing and if that happened… Senjutsu chakra was the only kind of chakra he had to spend.
Tanshu leaped forward cutting through the vapor with his right hook, connecting to Misu’s painful messed up wound and making the man shout in pain with the most horrible voice that Tanshu had ever heard. Even having the fact that Misu was the man who killed Vashia in mind “ that shout almost made him feel sorry for the man… Almost. Another punch missed its mark but the Red Dog saw that his opponent was opened, he was dodging out of sheer instinct and not plan. With a powerful uppercut he sent his opponent flying, Tanshu hoped that Misu would hit a really thick branch and open his skull killing him instantly, sadly he only flew through smaller branches and eventually landed on one of them that stopped his fall.
“Got no more clones to substitute with? So now perhaps you realize how Vashia felt? Overwhelmed, fighting an opponent she had no chance to beat but having pissed that opponent off to the point where they would have never let her go alive. Do you feel it now? The kind of fear of inevitable doom, the kind of helplessness that she felt at her last moments?!” Tanshu shouted it out. Misu stood up, he was huffing and grunting, throwing up blood but for some reason he still stood up. The Sage smiled as he realized what it was that kept the man standing up.
“I know what your game is, why you told me what you’ve done to Vashia. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, Misu. You were fighting one of the most powerful ninja in the world so why tell him something like that? Why piss them off? Now I know, you wanted for it to be personal, you wanted it because you knew that if this was strictly business I’d kill you in a couple of seconds and never worry about it. You made sure that I’d do everything in my power to prolong your death, this way you’ll get maximum chances to outlast me seeing how I’ve already fought several powerful ninja today. You always were a snake, Misu, but to me snakes are just pests, things to crush with my boot!” Tanshu’s half canine form growled out angrily.
Even when his strategy was revealed to be known Misu didn’t react significantly, his eyes did display a certain distaste of his plan being known but he just gulped that despair down and kept fighting. He must’ve known that the fact that Tanshu finally caught up to what Misu had been doing meant nothing. Just acknowledging someone’s feelings didn’t make one feel differently, even if Tanshu knew of Misu’s strategy he’d still try and make the Sannin die as painfully as possible. Even with the Red Dog’s knowledge being there “ ultimately nothing changed.
Misu sheathed his blade and focused immense amounts of chakra into his feet, vapor shot out from below and formed streams of gas that rotated around the man. The ninja swordsman leaped at Tanshu diving at the Sage with great speed, the Sannin shot his strongest stream of vapor through his sword right at the bottom of his sheath that added to his natural strength and speed of the draw propelling the sword from his sheath. With a powerful drawing and swinging motion Misu intended to cut his Sage opponent down. “Vapor Style Secret Technique: Misty Flash Murder!” the Sannin grunted out through sheer pain and exhaustion. Overpowering death just to kill his opponent before he eventually kicks it himself.
Tanshu looked at his opponent triumphantly from the side “ he had dodged the swing and the compressed jet of vapor that shot out after it was over. With a strong punch the Sannin sent his opponent down. The Red Dog thrust his arm forward slamming his palm into Misu’s stomach making the man shout in pain once again as his palm drove deep into Misu’s body. Something was wrong, that punch should’ve definitely killed him… Unless Tanshu’s Sage chakra was actually weakening, could he have been spending it in his blows unintentionally this whole time? Enhancing his every blow without his mind agreeing to it? In that case Tanshu needed to end it all, the Sage let his Sage chakra burst wild and slammed the branch with his palm again making the entire tree fall down cut in half.
Misu managed to slip off of the branch and swing onto another tree. The Sage tried to balance out his breathing, he was starting to feel the pain in his back from before, he was starting to feel the edge of his abilities “ the limit of his Sage chakra that he spent so much time storing up. Even after all this time he couldn’t properly control this state, he couldn’t fully control how much chakra he was spending, or maybe this was just his unstable emotional state? Rage dictating his actions and making him foolishly enhance every strike. Make every blow hit like it was meant to move the world and crumble mountains. Misu jumped up from below with an upwards slash, Tanshu stepped back losing his balance and backflipping onto another branch. The Sage felt a warm drop of blood run down his forehead as Misu’s hit didn’t entirely miss its mark.
There he was “ Misu dove right after Tanshu, the Sannin made a couple of hand seals and shot his arms forward channelling his chakra through them. “Sage Art: Cerberus Howl!” Tanshu shouted as his body got enveloped in a powerful stream of chakra that quickly shaped a sphere around him that dissolved blowing Misu away. This wasn’t Tanshu’s technique however, this was the natural occurrence of his Sage Mode ending. The last of his Sage chakra left his body in a blast of force that wasn’t that powerful but at least it kept Misu off his back.
Misu laughed out loudly landing on a branch and wiping blood off of his face. “All this arrogance, all those big words and swearing you’d avenge your sweetheart!” he yelled out. The bastard couldn’t stop laughing his ass off. “I guess you really did love her, how else could you have gotten played like that? Even after realizing my game you kept on doing it, getting angry and empowering your strikes. All it took was conserving my chakra at the last moments, using it to withstand your onslaughts and then see your beloved Sage Mode end. That’s why I always hated you, it’s only fitting that your cockiness made you fall hard. Well, on the plus side “ you’ll get to meet your Vashia pretty soon!”
Tanshu stretched his neck out. This really did suck, how could he have overlooked something like that? Of course ninja’s emotional state influenced how they used their chakra, an angry ninja worried less about conserving it, their chakra mastery was impaired and imperfect. Imperfection of his chakra mastery added to his already imperfect Sage Mode made it all just a one big balloon that couldn’t wait to blow up in his face. An angry ninja unintentionally enhances their blows with chakra, Tanshu got played like a fool. Had he known how to simultaneously control both his Sage chakra and his own chakra, using his own chakra for enhancement of his blows and using his Sage chakra for blowing Misu away… Oh well, it was too late for that. That darned back hurt so much!
Misu leaned forward and once again sheathed his sword. Jets of vapor once again shot out from his body and started rotating around in a wild twister as Misu prepared to use his ultimate killing technique. “Or maybe… You won’t. She was so young and innocent that she couldn’t have went to the same afterlife we’ll go. After all, skilled ninja like you and me have so many dark spots in their files that they couldn’t possible go anywhere else but hell. It’s going to suck having to share an afterlife with a cocky bastard like you but if that’s the price of Shirona’s plan coming to fruition and her perfect world being born, I suppose it’d be worth it.”
Tanshu sighed and stood tall. Almost like he wasn’t going to even fight it anymore. His chakra was at an alarming state and he probably didn’t have it in him for any jutsu. He made sure to use all of his own chakra that he didn’t need to stay alive before using his Sage Mode so that he didn’t mess it up and now he’ll pay the price for it. “Well you’re right about one thing, sharing an afterlife with you really would suck. But the thing you’re wrong about is that you’re forgetting one thing…” Misu’s body leaped forward, closing the distance between Tanshu and Misu almost instantly and drawing his sword using jets of vapor that shot right at the end of his scabbard driving his sword out of the sheath.
That nasty flesh cutting sound echoed through the forests around what used to be the temple where the Summit was supposed to be taking place. A loud sound of dripping blood, hitting the wood like raindrops from the sky could’ve been picked up by anyone close by, the crimson fluid of life flowed freely through the branches, down onto the leaves and then hit the floor below colouring the puddles of water blood red. A sound of flesh hitting the ground and tumbling to the ground below right into one of those puddles followed, the man that fell down had their life leave their eyes long before hitting the ground below. Even Shirona and Howoku must’ve felt that wild burst of chakra, that fateful moment that decided the man chosen for victory by fate itself, leaving the other one in pieces. Then again, in a battle between monsters like that there could’ve been no victor. The sky itself started to cry, rain broke out with a strong gust of wind driving it into the faces of whoever was still alive to feel its cold embrace.
The bloody puddles coloured with the blood and guts of the loser were quickly about to be washed away by a wild flow of water. The fresh tears of mother nature were about to clean the impure signs of death and destruction that man had created that day.
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