Chapter 47
Utakata's red eyes met Yagura's red eyes as they stared at each other. They said nothing as they circled each other. The room they were in was too small for their fight, and even though Utakata felt bad that he would have to destroy the room and probably the house. He knew that Harusame would have forgiven him.
Maybe seeing his hesitation, Yagura moved first. His hook-like weapon sprung for Utakata's head. Utakata tilted his head and dodged the stab. But Yagura wasn't done; he pulled the weapon back, wanting to stab the hook into Utakata's back. If Utakata didn't know better he might have fallen for that, but he was no fool, so by bending forward, he evaded the hook.
But in return, he was met with Yagura's foot in his face. Utakata managed to cross his arms and block the kick. He negated most damage even though he was sent flying through the wall of the room. There was no time to think, as Yagura was already upon him, trying to stab his hook into his chest. Utakata barely had time to roll to his feet and dodge the attack.
Yagura was relentless, not even letting Utakata breathe. Yagura's hook-like weapon was hard to deal with, too. Utakata couldn't let the hook pass him, as when Yagura pulled back, he could stab him in the back. But Utakata couldn't continue to back down from the weapon too far, as the house was restricting his movements.
Utakata expected Yagura would have a harder time wielding his weapon in close quarters, but it seems he underestimated Yagura's strength. The Fourth Mizukage easily tore down the walls that hindered him; it didn't even slow him down. And since Yagura's form was smaller, he had an easier time moving and dodging Utakata's strings.
As his strings cut through the walls like they were made of paper and reached Yagura, he unnaturally twisted his body and dodged them once again. This time, though, Utakata found himself against the wall of the corridor they were in. Yagura launched himself at Utakata, stabbing his weapon. It went through Utakata and the wall behind him.
Or at least that is what seemed to have happened to Yagura. Utakata and the wall soon disappeared, revealing it was nothing but an illusion made of mist. Before Yagura could pull his weapon back, Utakata caught the hook and pulled Yagura to himself. Taking a note from Tsunade, Utakata punched Yagura's face with all his strength, sending Yagura flying from one end of the corridor to the other.
"Water release: Water dragon."
"Water release: Bubble barrier."
As Utakata heard the roaring of the unleashed water, Utakata blew a bubble that enclosed him and protected him from the water as the water dragon slammed at him. Not wanting Yagura to go for another jutsu, Utakata summoned a water prison to entrap him, but it was already too late. As Yagura was trapped in the water prison, Utakata was stabbed by multiple water spears.
His bubble couldn't protect him from piercing attacks. It burst the moment the water spears touched it, and Utakata trapped Yagura. Anyone else would have lost concentration and let Yagura go, but Utakata didn't. He held him even as he was bleeding out. The wounds weren't life-threatening and would heal on their own; the pain wasn't difficult to ignore either.
"Do you even realize that you are under genjutsu?" Utakata asked as he slowly walked to Yagura, making sure he touched the water that led to Yagura's entrapment. "Or do you not care anymore? You are creating the world you wanted anyway, so why would it matter that someone else is using you, right?"
"You know nothing of what you are speaking of," Yagura replied coldly and Utakata couldn't tell if it was him or the one in control that was talking.
"Then tell me," Utakata pleaded, as he truly wanted to know what was happening inside Yagura's head.
The answer that awaited Utakata was a red chakra tail that freed Yagura from the water prison and slammed Utakata to the wall. Utakata was getting tired of going through the walls, and he fell to the ground. Maybe Yagura could tell that, so he decided to bring his foot at Utakata's chest breaking through the floor and sending Utakata to the first floor of the house.
Utakata rolled off the way as Yagura tried to fall on him. The house shook as Yagura landed on the floor with two red tails protruding from behind him. A red chakra cloak was covering him, too. Unlike Utakata's cloak, which would be smooth and shiny, Yagura's was rough and looked more like a shell that protected his body.
Now that Yagura was protecting in his shell, Utakata wasn't afraid of killing him with his attacks anymore. Pulling his hands back, the strings Utakata left behind as he rolled away rose and captured Yagura. But Utakata had underestimated Yagura's chakra cloak. Utakata couldn't break through it, and his strings started to snap as he put more pressure on them.
Not able to hold on to the strings any longer without them snapping, Utakata backed away. Yagura quickly rushed at Utakata, ramming his body, trying to crush Utakata, but it didn't work. Utakata used his chakra to stick to the floor and tank the attack. Coating his chakra into his hands, he started beating Yagura, who was left with no choice but to defend himself.
Utakata's punch fell like a hammer on Yagura's hard shell, but it didn't do much damage, no matter how many times he hit Yagura. The floor cracked, and the walls of the house shook from the impact of his punches, but Yagura took them without backing down. Utakata had no choice but to once again back away, as his knuckles started bleeding as he used too much force.
"Is that all?" Yagura asked. "You returned showing only this much? Did you really think you were my match?"
"It is not what I think or believe," Utakata replied. "It's what I must do. Even if it is the last thing I do, I will beat you down and stop your tyrannical rule. I will destroy the Bloody Mist."
"All you will do is die," Yagura said as he swung his tails.
Utakata jumped over one tail and blocked the second one that hit him while he was in the air. Another wall broke as he crashed through it. The house was loudly creaking now. But Yagura wasn't going to stop so quickly. Not letting Utakata even take a breath, Yagura jumped him, his body ramming at Utakata.
The heavy and sturdy shell of Yagura's chakra cloak broke a few of Utakata's ribs. As he spat the blood rising through his throat, Utakata could tell that his wounds weren't healing as fast as he hoped they would. And seeing that Yagura was about to slam at him once again, Utakata had to make a decision. He couldn't take another such a hit, as he wouldn't be able to handle the damage.
"Come, this isn't the end," Yagura said as Utakata cleaned his mouth from the blood he spat out. "Why aren't you using the tailed beast chakra? Where is your sword? Were you really so confident in your abilities to kill me without using them? If you are, then you are nothing but a fool."
"Enough talking," Utakata replied as he extended his hand and let the strings fall from his rings. "Let's dance."
Using mist blades ninjutsu, Utakata coated his strings in the thin mist that turned them even sharper. To strengthen them, he even pushed a little of his tailed beast chakra into them. Yagura was right. He couldn't hold back if he had any chance of defeating him. As Utakata took his stance, Yagura responded by rushing at him. As one of his tails swept by the floor, Utakata jumped over it. But as the second tail was coming for him, Utakata unleashed his strings.
The strings cut Yagura's chakra tail into ribbons. Seeing that, Yagura quickly tried to get back, but it was already too late. Still in the air, Utakata swung his hands, and the strings ran through the walls, floor, and ceiling, leaving Yagura with no way to evade them. All Yagura could do was put his arms in a defensive position and receive the onslaught of strings cutting through his chakra cloak and skin.
As blood spilled from Yagura's arms, Utakata intensified his hand movements, making the strings move even faster, to the point where they couldn't be seen with the naked eye. But, his attack broke the stability of the house first before it cut through Yagura's defense. With a loud creak, the walls started to collapse, bringing down the ceiling on top of Utakata and Yagura.
…
Oh, it felt good. The people who looked down on her. Those who waited for her to die, weak and defenseless from her illness, were now running for their lives. Ringo cut through them, and she made it as painful as she could. She was sure they had a taste of her lightning before they died. Their horrified and painful expression only gave relief to her.
They were weak, pathetically so. And yet they were so brave to insult her, to call her a traitor, to say that she should have died with the rest of the Seven Swordsmen. Well, she proved them right; she was a traitor now. She still couldn't believe she just followed Utakata's words so easily. But she knew why she did it.
Utakata was the only one who was truly concerned for her. Even her master didn't care much about her, and she looked up to him as her father figure. To him, she was only a replacement for Kiba blades, and she could tell that he hated her because of that, just like she hated that arrogant brat, Mangetsu Hozuki.
On that thought, an explosion rang through the village as she was blown away. She quickly did some backflips in the air to stop herself and landed on her feet. The brat stood so proud of himself, with the sword made of explosive tags. Oh, she hated him. Just because he was from a strong clan and was the most talented in his generation, he was always looking down on everyone, and then she was forced to teach him her techniques.
How else could she feel? Ringo was done being used; she would show this village that she was strong, and it was their fault for thinking they could chew her and then spit her out. Crossing her blades, lightning ran through them. There were too many small fries around, so she stabbed the swords to the ground and let the lightning travel through the blood that she already had spilled.
Dozens of shinobi around her let out painful cries as they were fried up from the inside. She didn't care if among them were some of her new comrades. It was their fault for not being able to evade the attack. Ringo let out a feral laugh as she smelled the cooked meat falling to the ground. And just as she was about to kill that annoying brat, the house she should have been defending collapsed with a loud crash.
"Dammit," She was worried about Utakata and wanted to run to him but had to stop herself forcefully.
A cloud of dust and debris rose from the destroyed house. She couldn't see anything that happened inside it. Ringo believed that Utakata was strong, and that is why she respected him, but was he as strong as Yagura? She never could imagine herself winning against Yagura, and that was one of the reasons why she never considered betraying the village, even when they treated her like she was trash.
"Too bad," The arrogant brat said as he also looked at the cloud of dust. "I wanted to test him myself. I would like to shower in his blood. How dare he even think of challenging Yagura? The fool should just keep hiding like the coward he was."
"What do you know?" Ringo now had another reason why she hated that brat. "You are nothing but a toy to Yagura. It was Utakata he always wanted, but he settled for you as his replacement. And that is what you will always be, Mangetsu, a replacement."
"Just die, bitch," Mangetsu didn't like her words and rushed at her.
Even if she could feel herself getting weaker and her heart was beating abnormally fast from exertion, she was still one of the Seven Swordsmen. She had countless battles and had trained to surpass Utakata for years. How could someone like Mangetsu even hope to catch her speed? All the brat could do was hopelessly swing his weapon, creating explosions and hoping that one of them would catch her.
"I will die," Ringo said as she jumped over Mangetsu. "But not by the hands of someone like you."
Ringo kicked Mangetsu's wrist, lifting his arm and his weapon in the air before going for the kill by stabbing her blades into his chest. It wasn't that easy, of course. Mangetsu was still a talented shinobi who had been trained by the best. He moved like water out of the way of her blades and dropped his weapon. Ringo had no choice but to jump back as his weapon landed on the ground and exploded.
Damn her illness. A year ago, she would been fast enough to cut him into pieces before she even needed to think of retreating. But now, her heart was beating so forcefully that she felt pain in her chest and couldn't concentrate. She needed to calm down, but it wasn't in her nature to do so. So, she needed to kill him quickly and be done with it.
"Ringo-senpai," Kimimaro landed next to her and blocked the axe coming for her. "I will handle him. You can rest easy."
Oh, Ringo hated this. Being protected by someone. She couldn't believe she had lost her sense of her environment. Even though she was confident she would have been able to dodge Mangetsu's attack, she might not have been able to do it without sustaining an injury. How she wished she could just not feel that pain in her chest. She could fight to her heart's content without worrying that her heart might jump out of her chest as it was beating relentlessly.
"I thought the Kaguya clan was dead," Mangetsu said as he tried to push his axe, another weapon he was in possession of, through Kimimaro's bones that blocked the attack. "Well, I guess I will finish what you weaklings couldn't do."
Ringo was ready to cut that arrogant brat's arm off as he brought down the hammer on his axe. But she didn't have a chance to do so as the dust cloud behind them exploded, and the shockwave knocked them all back. Ringo quickly rolled on her feet and looked at two beasts made of red chakra clashing. Three thick and flat tails were blocking six that were trying to pierce through.
Chapter 48
In the dust and rubble, Utakata felt a surge of powerful chakra. He was unsure of what to do, afraid to face it because he knew he would have to use his tailed beast chakra. But a choice was taken from him as he felt Ringo's chakra get weaker all of a sudden. At that moment, he realized he had no time to doubt himself. He was putting an end to this now and here.
Just as Yagura's chakra exploded, so did Utakata's. Both of them attacked at the same time. While Utakata was a moment behind Yagura, he sensed the whereabouts of Yagura in the dust, while Yagura could only attack blindly. Yet, even as Utakata tried to stab him with his tails, Yagura's tails blocked his.
As their chakra exploded, the dust and rubble were blown away, revealing the extent of their transformations. Yagura, almost unrecognizable, had morphed into a red, turtle-like beast with three tails and a shell on his back. Utakata, on the other hand, had unleashed all six of his tails yet still maintained his humanoid form. The only difference was that he was now a figure of pure, burning red chakra.
Utakata didn't know if Yagura had yet lost control of himself, but he knew he couldn't risk dragging this fight into the village. There were too many innocent lives. He needed to get Yagura out of the village or finish this quickly. The first option didn't seem possible, as he still could sense numerous shinobi fighting each other around them; if he moved even a bit, they would get in the way.
Utakata extended his tails, trying to pierce through Yagura's defense, but his attempts were blocked. For a moment, Utakata felt nervous as he didn't know how this fight would go, but worries disappeared as a massive water dragon clashed at Yagura's side. Then lighting struck him from his underbelly, giving Utakata a gap to pierce two of his tails into Yagura's body.
Utakata wasn't finished. He spewed an acidic torrent of water at Yagura's eyes, temporarily blinding him. With Yagura temporarily blinded and weakened from the lightning strike, Utakata maneuvered quickly. From the looks of it, the weakest part of Yagura was his stomach, as the shell completely protected his back.
Yagura's tails lashed out blindly while Utakata evaded them and slid under Yagura. At this point, Utakata didn't know how he should proceed. He could only try to injure Yagura enough for him to waste his tailed beast chakra and undo the transformation. Utakata's tails pierced through the softer parts of Yagura's shell.
Even though he had little understanding of his corrosive abilities, Utakata still managed to turn the tips of his tails purple as they pierced Yagura's body, further injuring him. Despite the damage, though, Yagura's resilience as a jinchūriki was evident. He quickly rolled over, using his massive size and weight to crush Utakata. If he hadn't been fast enough to get out of the way, Utakata might have been crushed to death.
"You won't win like this," A voice in Utakata's head echoed.
"Six tails?" Utakata asked as he still focused on Yagura. "Is that you?"
"Listen to me. You need to devour him."
"What?" Utakata didn't have time or energy to listen to the nonsense.
"Capture him with the tails and spread my chakra surrounding him," The six tails continued. "Once my chakra has enveloped him whole, you can get inside his mindscape and stop him for once and all. Trust me this once and use my full power."
"I will lose control of your power, as I always did."
"You are no longer a kid, Utakata. You have grown, and you are strong enough now."
"Even if I can do it, is that even possible?" Utakata asked.
"I have never done it myself, but we tailed beasts are connected," the six-tails replied. "I believe that with your help, I can get you inside."
Well, Utakata didn't have much of a choice. A battle in Yagura's mental plane was better than a fight in the village. As much as Utakata didn't want to accept it, he still couldn't control the tailed beast's chakra for much longer, and Yagura didn't look any weaker, even with the injuries he received. Utakata had to gamble on that small chance of it succeeding.
Jumping over one tail, Utakata quickly slid over another. The shinobi on Yagura's side and Mei's side fled away from Yagura, as no one was safe from him. As Utakata neared Yagura, he quickly though of the plan of how to swallow Yagura. He would have to use all his tailed beast chakra he had to fully transform, even if that meant he could lose control of himself.
But he still had other options he could exhaust first. He used hidden mist jutsu to spread his chakra over Yagura. He already was risking a lot, so taking more risks didn't seem to be so bad at this moment. As the mist surrounded Yagura, Utakata concentrated on his chakra. Tsunade's lessons came in handy as he felt and controlled his spread chakra to swallow Yagura and trap him in the mist.
"What now?" Utakata asked through gritted teeth as he struggled to control his chakra.
"Yagura is too free. You need to restrain him and then connect to the tailed beast chakra."
Restrain him? It was easier said than done. But since he already took Yagura's sight, he might try to do just that. Summoning a water pool under Yagura, Utakata created a massive water prison. It took most of his strength to drown Yagura's body in his water, but he somehow succeeded. And now came the last part of this ridiculous plan.
He summoned every bit of his tailed beast chakra and felt his body transform, making him a giant slug that swallowed Yagura.
Then, the world turned dark. He could not see, hear, or feel anything. There was only darkness and nothingness. For a second, Utakata thought he had died or passed out, but he wasn't sure. He didn't even know if he was controlling his body or if the surroundings were controlling him.
"Are you lost?" Utakata heard Yagura's voice and became aware of his surroundings once again, realizing he was inside Yagura's mental plane. "You don't need to look any further. There is nothing. Only darkness."
"Darkness and you," Utakata felt Yagura standing before him as he started to get more used to the darkness and being aware of his body. "It suits you."
"You good," Yagura said with a cheer. "I have to praise your efforts. Not only did you escape my village, you even returned to save it from me. But isn't it too late? You knew of my condition from the very beginning, and yet you did nothing. And now, what, did you think you could be a hero? Save everyone?"
"I came to save myself," Utakata replied. "I felt guilty. The past was haunting me, killing me, so I had no choice but to confront it. To confront you. Even if you weren't controlled, I would still have come to end this bullshit you call the Bloody Mist. It didn't work out. It is time to let it go. It is what my master would have wanted, and it is what I want."
"Hahaha," Yagura laughed, and it echoed around Utkata. "You were the best of us, the most talented. And even then, you hid your abilities. I wasn't wrong to try to make you into my weapon. You would be a weapon the world would have feared, a weapon that would have carved the path for the glory of my village."
"I would break in your hands; I did break," Utakata said as he focused on Yagura. "Harusame reforged me. He ironed out the cracks. And made me whole. Then he set me free."
"He made you dull!" Yagura replied. "He let you go. You became nothing but a useless blade—a blade that couldn't cut anyone or anything—a worthless weapon."
"I might be a dull weapon, but getting hit by me still hurts," Utakata was done talking.
He rushed at Yagura, throwing a punch straight to his face. But Yagura barely moved, so Utakata continued to punch him with all he had. After a dozen or so punches, Yagura just sneered at Utakata. His eyes were glowing red in the dark.
"Wake up to reality," Yagura's voice was distorted, making Utakata flinch.
"You are the one who is still dreaming," Utakata didn't let it affect him. "You are still clinging to the past like there was something worth in it. It has only pain and suffering. You wanted to make the village strong. But you could only accept strength you could control. That is why this village has lost—because of people like you, who can't let anyone undermine you. You coward."
"It was proven time and time again that only the strong survive," Yagura said, catching Utakata's fist and twisting it as he looked at Utakata with his red glowing eyes. "For the village to thrive in this accursed world, only the strong must live. The weak are to be sacrificed. Their fate is to become a stepping stone for the strong to reach even higher places."
"And who are you to tell who is weak and strong?" Utakata bashed his head into Yagura's face. "You don't know what it means to be weak, so how can you tell what true strength is? Look around you! This is the world you envisioned—a dark place where only you exist. There is no village or anyone in your world. So, wake the hell up and face the reality!"
Utakata continued to bash his head into Yagura's face. He felt the pain but ignored it until, finally, Yagura was forced to let go of his wrist and step back. Bright cracks started to appear in the darkness as Yagura's red eyes started to dim. Finally, Utakata was reaching Yagura. But he couldn't stop here. He needed to continue to wake that fool up.
"It is futile," Yagura's voice distorted again, making Utakata stop in his tracks and filling him with dread. You know that only pain and suffering exist in this world. Your efforts are futile. Your selfish intentions have already brought numerous lives to an end. Why are you continuing this pointless fight?"
"Because I found something more than pain and suffering," Utakata replied, taking a step closer, ignoring the fear as he realized that he wasn't speaking with Yagura. "Hope, even for someone like me, still exists. I, who didn't deserve it, was forgiven. And if I can be forgiven, then even you can be forgiven, too. So, wake the fuck up and face your village. Fix the shit you caused and make the village stronger as you so wanted. Wake up!"
Finally, Utakata felt his punch impacting Yagura as his fist reached his face. The darkness started to break. And Yagura's eyes were changing to his pink ones. As Utakata thought he had finished his work and woke Yagura up, he felt immense fear as red eyes looked down upon him from the persisting darkness.
"This world, created by the shinobi, isn't a place for the guilty or the weak. It is a hell for those who were left behind by the cruel shinobi system. And you, Utakata of Blood Waters, will understand it soon enough."
And with those words, the world of darkness shattered. Now, Utakata stood in a world of storms in the middle of the sea. Yagura's head was down as behind him, three tails in all its glory, looked at Utakata. Turning back, Utakata saw the six tails standing behind him.
"It is your chance to finish me off," Yagura said, finally sounding like Utakata remembered him. "Since you freed me, I will give you this chance. Finish me. Kill me for once and all."
"And why would I do that?" Utakata asked. "It won't solve anything. If you want to die so much, do it yourself."
"You fool," Yagura looked up at Utakata. "Did you think the genjutsu on me would have lasted so long if I didn't let it? It made it easier to achieve my goals. Removing the hesitation, I would have otherwise. All I had done in this genjutsu I would have done anyway. So, you have to realize that it won't change anything."
"It already has changed," Utakata replied. "You can continue to cling to your desperate plans, which make no sense, or you can accept that you have lost. Bring this infighting to an end and help rebuild your village. The village will get stronger with or without you. And I think that you must have realized it, too. Otherwise, you wouldn't have had any hesitation to begin with."
Utakata looked at six tails, asking it to get him out of there, as he didn't know how to do it himself. The three tails rumbled as it moved towards Utakata and stopped right before him. His and three-tailed eyes met, but Utakata couldn't understand what it wanted to portray. Three tails just looked down on Utakata before he was brought out of Yagura's mental plane.
Utakata felt numb as he got up. Yagura was already standing before him, with Mei's kunai at his neck. The destruction didn't reach deeper into the village, but most shinobi around this place were either killed or severely injured. Still, Utakata felt relieved that it was finally over and Ringo was safe next to Kimimaro.
…
In the Land of Rain, a masked man looked in the distance. He felt it; the genjutsu he used on the Fourth Mizukage was broken. His lone eye looked in that direction as it narrowed. It was undone sooner than he planned, but nothing of value was lost. What concerned him was who had broken the genjutsu.
"Utakata of Blood Waters, six tails jinchuriki," The man muttered making sure he would remember that name.
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