Yugakure Terrorist Arc: Part Two

Ray has not been having a good time, lately. He just almost got killed by having his throat sliced open, and he was basically out of chakra. But, he was saved by Taiki! But, now Taiki has something to hold over his head. Anyway... all's well that ends well, and Ray thought that he can go take a shower! Unfortunately, Taiki had good reason to disagree with that notion.

"...Can't thank me yet."

Ray turned to see a shinobi from Yu. An ally of the ninja that Ray had just attempted to gut like a fish in their fight. The ninja that almost actually did gut Ray like a fish in their fight. They were also allies in another way. I mean, all kekkai genkai freaks were truly allies to each other, right? They can all sympathize with their fellow mutants, after all! Well, this freak could turn into fire. And he was mad.

"Well, looks like ol' Tetsugyō kicked the bucket! I suppose I have to avenge him now, huh?"

Or... at least, he was interested in the deaths of two particular Konoha ninja.

A ring of fire surrounded the three ninja. It was a big ring of fire, one that you wouldn't want to touch. Not like you would want to touch any rings of fire, but if you did, you wouldn't even want to touch this one. Unless you're suicidal.

"Ray, stay close to me!"

Ray did as he was told; he did not want to become fried. He hovered just behind Taiki, keeping the Yu ninja in view. Then, the ninja disappeared.

"Poor, poor, Tetsugyō. Oh, well. Can't just leave him here."

Ray and Taiki turned around to see the ninja standing in front of the body of the other ninja that Ray had fought earlier. They didn't even see him get there. Then, the ninja held his hand out, and the body burst into flames. Once more, the ninja vanished.

"Taiki... keep your guard up."
"Yeah..."

Ray and Taiki watched their surroundings, looking for the faintest movement.

"I guess you two would like my name? Y'know, so you can tell your folks down in hell exactly who sent you!"

Hovering directly above them was the burning ninja, wreathed in flames. Ray was surprised, and a little terrified, but he couldn't miss this oppurtunity.

"Of course we need your name. You wouldn't want your grave to be unmarked, would you?"

This was actually a form of incredibly efficient psychological warfare! You see, Ray has to give it his all in this fight now, because the humiliation he would feel if he lost would be astronomical. Imagine that being the last thing you feel before going to the big ramen vendor in the sky. Just can't happen.

"Name's Nenshōtoko. I like to refer to my technique as 'Incineration Style', just so we're clear. Any further information needed?"

Taiki was the one who had something to say this time.

"Tell us what you want, already!"

Nenshōtoko had a smile creep up on his face.

"I want... just a little fun."

The man wreathed in flames stuck out a hand, and heat started to intensify around Ray and Taiki.
Ray tried to jump away, but he stumbled and fell to his knees before he could manage anything. Taiki grabbed him by the arm and lept away with him, as an inferno raged in their previous position.
Taiki looked in the direction of Nenshōtoko and planted down several logs, forming a wall between them.
Ray realized what was going to happen if this fight continued.

"Taiki, get outta here."
"What?!"

Ray's next words were going to be:

"I'm a liability. Retreat and regroup."

After all, there was no way that Ray would be able to help Taiki with chakra so low, and Taiki might get killed trying to protect him.
...But then Ray had a better idea. Taiki wouldn't accept abandoning him, anyway.

"Actually, I gotta get outta here. Trust me, Taiki. I have a plan. You know how to use paper bombs, right?"
"I could figure it out. What sign do you use?"

Ray had to accept the less than satisfactory answer. The logs Taiki put up were starting to burn, and Taiki was setting up more.

"Snake. The one where you-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know Snake sign!"
"Good! Take these."

Ray handed Taiki several paper tags, all labeled with several numbers. He took a second to register them, and put up a log roof over them before he took them.

"These are bombs?"
"No, they're jutsu that I sealed up for use during a fight. I'm almost out of chakra, so I can't activate them, but you should be able to, with THIS!"

Ray hovered his hand over Taiki's and strained, causing a small blue dot to appear on the back of it. Just doing that took a lot out of Ray, and he was out of breath.

"What's this?"
"A 'key.' Direct your chakra to a paper seal like you would a paper bomb, make the Snake sign with that hand, and it'll activate."
"So why do I have to run?"
"I did all I can to help, I'll just slow you down. You give me an opening, and I'll run off. I'll be gone, and he'll be fighting you."
"...Alright. I trust you."

A fireball blasted apart the wall that Taiki had set up, and he stuck a log out sideways in front of him and Ray, taking the brunt of the blast. They were launched backwards, and Ray landed directly on a burning tree, that was right next to the edge of the fire ring that made up their arena, while Taiki managed to slow himself down.

"GYAGGH"
"Ray! Are you okay-"

Taiki was interrupted by Nenshōtoko suddenly appearing and kicking him directly in the head, launching him back in the direction of the center of the arena. Taiki managed to once again regain his footing, and readied a tree trunk to throw directly at him.

Ray was burned, but he managed to stand back up and get away from the ring. The burn on his back seared with pain, but he knew that if he didn't move, he would definitely die. He stumbled after a few steps, but he saw Taiki readying a projectile at the burning ninja out of the corner of his eye. As Taiki threw the log at him, Nenshōtoko merely smiled and stood still. The trunk harmlessly passed through him, as his body turned into flames that licked at it. The wooden pillar flew into through several trees before stopping, well outside the makeshift arena. Nenshōtoko vanishes once again, this time appearing in front of Ray, his arm outstretched. He was still smiling.

"TAIKI! THREE, FIVE, FIVE!"

Taiki slapped a paper seal on one of the trunks, and launched it directly at his enemy. Nenshōtoko turned his head, and merely watched, his arm still outstretched. He was clearly attempting to dodge this move by turning into fire, letting the trunk crash directly into Ray.
It was like slow motion for Ray. If Taiki ended up not placing the right seal on the log, he would most definitely end up with an embarassing death.
He places a spike jutsu? He's skewered.
He places a bomb jutsu? He's vaporized.
He places a paper jutsu? He probably survives getting cut. Then he gets crushed to death by the trunk.
Not to mention, if Taiki sets something like an explosion off at the wrong time, Ray will get blasted by fire, anyway. There was also the chance that Taiki simply messed up the hand seal.

As the log got closer and closer to its target, Ray realized that this was HIS idea, and Taiki trusted him. So, he has to trust Taiki, as well.

The log got directly to the smiling man's face, which turned into flames in retaliation. As it passed through, Ray read the paper seal as the trunk got closer towards his own face.

"(THREE!)"
"(FIVE!)"
"(NINE!? Oh. Five. I don't even number them nine.)"

The seal on the log exploded into mud. Nenshōtoko clearly wasn't expecting that, as he most definitely shrieked. Being made of fire and coming in contact with mud is most defininitely a painful experience. I guess it would feel really cold. Really cold.
As for Ray, this is exactly what he had hoped would happen. The sticky mud surrounded him, redirected the log as it touched the ground, and sent Ray flying through the ring of fire.
As Ray landed, he hurt the new wound he had gained on his back. Adrenaline was coursing through him, so he powered through, shook the mud off, and looked behind him. Through the hole in the fire ring created by the mud, he saw his opponent kneeling on the ground, looking in his direction, covered in mud. He saw that the mud steamed before caking onto him, and subsequently falling through his body. He stood up and raised a hand in Ray's direction, aiming another blast.
Taiki was not entertained by this, and had made his way behind him, swatting him away with a log like he was a gnat.

Taiki glanced in Ray's direction and gave him a thumbs up.
Ray returned the favor, and began to dash off, into the forest.
But, as Ray ran, one thought lingered in the back of his mind. He had labeled his paper seals with numbers, as a code. Each number, from one to eight, meant a different word, depending on it's position. This was to try and hide what each seal did, while still letting him know which seal is which, and tell others which seal to use.

"(...Taiki doesn't know what the numbers mean.)"

Of course, he couldn't turn back, now.
He had another thought, but it was far less of a pressing matter.

"(Who sent Taiki to help me?)"

"Guess you didn't like the mud very much, huh?"

Taiki walked towards Nenshōtoko, with another log, ready to smash it into his head.

Nenshōtoko snarled out a retort, a vast difference from the way he was talking earlier.

"Your mother's a whore!"
"That's not very nice."

Taiki slammed down the log, aiming directly for his foe, but his opponent blocked it with just his arm.
Nenshōtoko's eyes widened with pain.

"Konoha swine! I'll burn your village to the ground-
ACK!"

Taiki punched him right in the stomach, and hard.
The formerly burning ninja went flying, and he landed next to the ring of fire. He stuck his arm into it, and relaxed, regaining his composure.

"Lost my cool, for second. I'm sorry you had to see that."
"I'm sorry I had to see that, as well."
"Now..."

Nenshōtoko burst into flames, and his flaming aura burned much hotter than before. The ring of fire around them burned far hotter, as well.
Perhaps he didn't regain any composure at all.

"I, Nenshōtoko, hereby swear that you and all of Konoha will be personally cremated, by myself!"
"(This guy's a nutcase.)"

A ball of fire was launched towards Taiki, but he held up his log and blocked it before it could make direct contact.
A shower of sparks blocked his view, and he barely dodged a kick from his opponent, who had suddenly appeared next to him.
Nenshōtoko took a couple steps back; his footwork was impressive.
Taiki watched carefully. You don't get to be a jounin by mindlessly swinging a trunk; that only gets you up to chunin. He had to watch and wait for what someone as fast as his opponent would do next.
Nenshōtoko held out his hands and sprayed a plume of flames.
In response, Taiki changed the nature of the tree he was holding, making it far more elastic.
Just before the flames reached him, he managed to stretch out the trunk into a shield, blocking most of the attack. Although his fingers were singed, he held onto the shield-like wood.
The fire began eating away at the wood, and just before Taiki could break away, he felt movement beside him.
Nenshōtoko had appeared there.
He was preparing a kick.
Taiki was ready, and braced for impact as he attempted a shoulder check to his right, aiming to hit him dead on.
As Taiki's shoulder connected with his opponent, he vanished.
On Taiki's other side, his opponent was there, and kicked him hard in his left ribs

"(I only hit an afterimage!?)"

Taiki was sent to his right, and stumbled, rolling across the ground. He got a couple of scrapes, especially from pieces of wood and metal on the floor, but it didn't hurt anywhere near as bad as one of his ribs did.

Taiki, however, was a man.

He powered through it.

As Taiki righted himself, he noticed that his opponent had once again vanished.
He heard a small amount of noise, and looked up to see that his foe was already preparing a kick.
Taiki did the 'Dog' hand seal, and a giant wooden log appeared out of the ground, meeting the kick.
His opponent cracked the tree and set it alight, but the recoil caused him to flinch, and he started to fall towards the ground. Clearly, something hurt.
Taiki prepared a wooden log, and took aim.
As Nenshōtoko fell to the ground, he did a 360° leg sweep, causing a small circle of fire to appear around him.
As Taiki launched the tree trunk, Nenshōtoko did a skyward kick, bringing the fire from the circle with his leg.
As his foot connected with the log, they both stopped, but the fire behind the foot kept going, connecting with Taiki, knocking him back.

"(This isn't going well...)"

Suddenly, Taiki's eyes lit up.

"(THE SEALS!)"

Taiki created a wall of wooden logs, like he did to give himself and Ray time earlier, and then looked over the couple of seals that Ray had gave him.
...They were nonsensical.
Each seal had three numbers on them.
That's it.

"(Which seal did Ray tell me to use earlier!? I think... three, four, and five? Yeah, that makes sense! Ray's a logical guy! Alright... something similar to that...)"

Taiki looked over the seals he was given, and saw one labelled 'One Two Three'. Numbers in order! That worked the first time!

Taiki placed the seal onto a log, and peaked behind the wall to see Nenshōtoko doing hand seals.
And he was doing a lot of them.

"Incineration Style: Burning Wheel Jutsu!"

Nenshōtoko kicked, and a large wheel of fire sprung from his leg and swirled towards Taiki. Taiki went back behind his cover, and braced for impact by pressing his log into it.

As the flames connected with the wood, Taiki held strong and didn't break form. However, the wood was breaking, and starting to catch fire.

"(MUD!!)"

Taiki braced, made a the Snake seal, and then remembered something important.

"(Wait. Wasn't it 'Three FIVE Five' that was the mud? What's this gonna do?)"

Taiki's question was answered when a wall made entirely out of just paper erupted from the log.

"(That wasn't what I wanted at all!)"

The paper was surprisingly effective against the fire... but not effective enough.
The blazing wheel burst through both walls, and Taiki was sent flying, once again.
Taiki hit the ground, right on his left side.
Of course, Taiki still started to stand up.

Because he was a man.

"(Think, Taiki, think! What can I do? ...Another paper tag?)"

Taiki looked through his tags again, and saw one labelled 'Five Seven Six'.

"(Five? Five! Five was good!)"

As he placed it on a trunk, Nenshōtoko appeared once again, and aimed a kick right at Taiki's left side.
Taiki coursed his chakra through the wood, and it became far more elastic.
As the wood streched to intercept the kick, Taiki made the Snake seal, and the paper seal was activated.

Water!

A stream of water gushed out of the seal, covering both combatants.

This was very good for Taiki.

This was very bad for the man who was made of fire.

As Nenshōtoko shrieked in agony, once again, Taiki prepared a beatdown.
First, a log to the head. Nenshōtoko fell to his knees.
Second, Taiki grabbed his throat. Nenshōtoko gasped.
Third, a punch to the stomach.
Then, another punch to the stomach.
Once again, punch to the stomach.
Repeat the previous few steps.

As Taiki landed consecutuve punch after punch, Nenshōtoko grew warmer, and so did the air around them.
Although Taiki's hand started to burn, he kept his grip.
Eventually, Nenshōtoko grew hot enough that steam from the water came off of him.
And then, something that hasn't happened in a while happened.

He smiled.

"Incineration Style: Hell Glimpse Jutsu!"

He turned completely into flames, and the flames that made up the ring of their arena swarmed the two.
Taiki, while being burned by the flames, fell to his knees, but he promptly regained his prior stance.
Then, he was punched in the stomach, and was sent flying.
He crashed into a tree, and would've passed through the flame ring if it still existed.
As Taiki coughed up a small amount of blood, he got a better look at Nenshōtoko.

A giant, completely made of flames, stood in the center of the arena, irradiating heat.
Taiki stumbled back up, and made his decision.

"Wrath of the Forest God!"

Wood grew and grew over Taiki, just like armor, and it kept on growing.
Although it caused Taiki pain, especially on his left side, he gritted his teeth and kept going with the technique.
The other combatant merely waited, excited to see what was going to appear.

"Now THIS! THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO! SHOW ME SOME FUN!"

The technique was complete.
Before the colossus created by Nenshōtoko, there was another colossus created by Taiki.

The two looked at each other, as if they were taking in what was going to happen next.

"FOR KONOHA!"
"YOUR MOTHER'S STILL A WHORE!"

The two giants charged, opposite fists raised and ready to fight.
As Taiki's right landed on Nenshōtoko, his left landed on Taiki.
As the two goliaths traded blows, shockwaves from the attacks caused nearby trees to be destroyed.
Sparks emitted from the burning giant, while chips of wood fell from the other.
As the sparks caused fire to break out among the trees, the wood chips aided it.
This would be the climax of their fight.
Whoever lost here, would most certaintly be killed.

Nenshōtoko started to laugh.

"HAHAHAHA! CHECKMATE!"

Fire started to rise from the surroundings and drew towards the flame collosus. As it made contact, it was absorbed into it, and it's size grew.

"IT'S OVER, KONOHA SWINE!"

Nenshōtoko's form now was larger than Taiki's, and it smashed its arm directly into the head of the wooden giant.
As Taiki's armor fell to the ground with a thud, Taiki felt the pain get worse.

"(I have one more seal with 'Five'! 'One Four Five'... I have to take this chance!)"

Taiki had the seal already planted on the giant's hand, from when he first activated the jutsu.
As Taiki formed the behomoth's hand into a fist, he launched it directly at the opposing one's head.

"(Ray... this better work!)"

Just before the fist connected...
It burst into flames.

Taiki's burning fist did nothing, as Nenshōtoko's monster took the brunt of the attack, didn't even budge, and completely absorbed the fire on it.

"(Ray, why did you even give me that!?)"
"(What were you trying to do!?)"

"HAH! YOU TRIED TO ATTACK ME WITH FIRE? DIE!"

Nenshōtoko's giant raised its hand as Taiki's fell to the ground. Taiki could hold his together no longer due to the previous wound, and it was starting to fall apart.

Then, Nenshōtoko started coughing.

"W-WHAT!? WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

From the runis of his armor, Taiki looked on as Nenshōtoko's started to fall apart, together with more coughs.

With the part of the head that was attacked as the origin, the fire that made up the giant fell apart like a spreading disease.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?"

First the head.
Then the chest and arms.
Then the waist.
Then the legs.
All gone.

Taiki's ruins crumbled apart as well, and he fell to the ground.

Good thing he could stand back up. He was a man.

"What... what happened to me..."

Nenshōtoko was laying on the ground, which is where a particularly dark piece of ember from the giant armor fell.
That must've been him.
He kept coughing.
He coughed up burning embers.
Similar embers slowly fell from the sky where his colossus once stood.
As Taiki walked over to Nenshōtoko, one ember landed on him.
Despite expecting a small amount of pain, he didn't actually feel anything.
Taiki was thoroughly confused.

"Hm? I don't really get what's going on."

Nenshōtoko had similar embers fall onto him, as he kept coughing.
Taiki got a good look at them as they fell.

"Why is that paper burning on only one side?"
"What... what are you talking about?"
"Really? That's not your technique?"
"What?"

Taiki had a stupid look on his face, and he looked into the sky. He hadn't noticed that more of the paper had fallen onto him.

"Why... why are you burning? Tell... me..."

Taiki looked at himself, and then he looked at his opponent, also covered in burning paper.
Then he did it again.

"Did you happen to absorb this paper by any chance?"
"...What? ...I... I... oh..."

Taiki took his "oh" as a yes.
Then he realized what had happened.
Then he started laughing.

"My pal, Ray, gave me a seal that was suppose to mimic someone being on fire! The paper burns on one side, so it looks like you're on fire, but you're really not! And then..."
"...I... absorbed it..."
"And now you're coughing it up. I don't think Ray knew you could do that. So, he gave me an option to fake my death, huh? That way I could get away! But it ended up getting in your lungs, I guess!"

Nenshōtoko had a look of pure terror on his face.
But then he smiled.
And then he started laughing.

"...What... a... stu... pid... way... to......... die..."

Nenshōtoko stopped moving. Since Taiki had seen what happened to Ray when he tried to investigate someone who he presumed to be dead, he tried to get a trunk to hit him one last time, first.
But he couldn't even do that.

"(Oh, well. Guess I'll go home.)"

As Taiki started walking back in the direction of the village, he saw someone walk in front of his path.

"Name's Nikuya. Taiki, right? You're the tree trunk guy?"
"Yeah."
"Looks like you did a fine job out here!"

Nikuya snapped his fingers, and several Anbu appeared at Nenshōtoko's body.

"He's still alive, sir!"
"Not for long. Take him in."
"Yes, sir!"

As the Anbu carried away Nenshōtoko, Nikuya faced the direction of Taiki.

"Found a couple of my men killed out here. Was that the guy?"
"Were they burnt?"
"No."
"Then no. That guy burns people. It could be him."

Taiki pointed over to where the burnt corpse of the guy he saved Ray from earlier was.

"He's dead, though."
"Hmph. Alrighty, then."
"You seen Ray?"
"He should be back at the village."
"He got there? That's nice. I'll head there, too."
"I imagine you should."

Taiki walked off, following the Anbu that had graciously stopped for him, likely to help escort the injured man home. The injured man who wasn't the guy they were taking in for questioning, that is.

Nikuya stayed behind, and walked over to the cremated corpse, feeling around where its shirt was. He placed an elaborate paper seal on the body, and started doing hand signs.
After several minutes of hand signs, he finished.
Tetsugyō's body seemed to go back in time; eventually, it was in perfect condition.

"Time for the fun part."

Nikuya took a knife, kneeled down to work on the body's face, and started doing his job.

"Sensei! Forgive me!"

Ray never made it back to the village.
Instead, he was at a stream, performing a kowtow to a mollusc, with tears in his eyes.

"USE MY FULL TITLE, BOY!"
"Honored Sensei Togetatsuwanikami, Grand Master of the Snail Fang, May All Who Defy His Superiority Be Sentenced to Impalement! Forgive me!"
"Damn straight."

TBC