Mizuryu Unleashed ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Shinrin Jinja The following corridor out of the Room of Meeting led to the Room of Present. Just like Setsuki had told Shiki. This wooden door was not one to be slid. But opened. And beyond that door would be Yagami. Shiki took a deep breath before she pressed her hand into the door to open it. Her last fight with Yagami had been almost a complete disaster. If not for Hibuki... then Yagami would have killed her. Without a doubt. After Genryukai gave her the Mizuryu Scroll and she read it... she was made aware of the one thing that could stand against the Kuro-houhou-jutsu. It wasn't the only scroll that contained secrets to the defeat of the Kagayaku Family. But it did hold the technique that had been created specifically to take down Kagayaku bloodline members. Or rather... it was a technique that allowed them to counter the Kagayaku power. But Yagami was no ordinary ninja. From his current skill, he would surely grow to be a Grand Master of Ninjutsu. Would Shiki have enough to beat him? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "Love is worthless in the face of power. The only way to live life to its fullest is to forsake emotions such as love and caring. Affection can be a ninja's greatest weakness..." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It was time to find that out. The young woman forced her weight onto the door and shoved it open. It swung to one side of the doorway and revealed the next room. The Room of Present. It was just like the Room of Meeting. Spacey and bare. With only one difference. The walls of this room were adorned with open scrolls. Each one was of a different colour and they were all attached in symmetry. And on the very far side of the Room of Present was the bloodline descendant of Kagayaku Family. Yagami. They locked eyes with each other. Shiki's stern green orbs with Yagami's equally confident red ones. Shiki took the time to observe him a little more. He was clothed differently this time around. His slacks were different. They were still of a light brown but now marked with gold prints of an intricate set of lines and corners. A sort of Aztec-like pattern. The red belt that had been wrapped around his waist in the Shinrin Jinja was now replaced with a white one. That possessed Kanji markings that Shiki couldn't quite make out from that distance. Over his torso was an Indian-style garb. A milk chocolate-colour shirt shaped like a mix between an Indian Sari and Greek toga. It had only one shoulder; over the left, while the right shoulder and right half of Yagami's chest was left exposed by it. Attached to his back was the crescent moon glaive he was do deadly with, Mikazuki Satsujinki. His braided brown ponytail flocked behind him. His deep red eyes studied his rival. Shiki had not forgotten how intimidating this man could be. Maybe even more so now. Because she knew what he was really capable of. And how well he could use that power. Shiki was the first between the two of them to speak. "I had a feeling I'd run into you again. I know all about you now." Yagami sneered. "Then you should know that you stand no chance against me. I assume that Setsuki-san wasn't enough to stop you. I did not think that he would win." Shiki blinked, a little confused by that, until she realized that Yagami probably wasn't aware of Setsuki's true gender. So just ignored that and focused on what she needed to. This battle. And what she was going to use to win. "Setsuki-san was powerful," Shiki admitted, "But I'm stronger. In the end, that's all it amounts to. And if I were you... I wouldn't be so sure that I'm going to win. It might not seem like it now. But I have improved a lot since the battle at the Diet Building. Give up and get out of my path so I can meet with your master. I don't have to kill you if you do that." Yagami chuckled. "I am not too sure about your power... but your confidence shines well. But what less can be expected of a woman who literally decimated the Six Orochi? You have done well for yourself, girl of Morioka. But here in the Room of Present... we shall conclude our battle. And you will die. Because in my veins flows the crimson blood of a ninja people so powerful that we suffered virtual genocide because of it. I will destroy you in the name of the Kagayaku Family and Hirotsugu-sama. Prepare yourself!" He wasted no time in this shot. Yagami bent ahead from the waist then charged straight over the large distance between the two of them. His speed allowed him to cover a good 85-metre gap in the space of a few seconds. But Shiki remained focused and calm. Watching his blurry image come at her. He was reaching back for his glaive. They soon reached striking distance of each other. Then his body just vanished into a blur. The relentless speed of the Kagayaku bloodline. Shiki's eyes flashed with understanding and her whole body dove backwards. To the naked eye, it looked like she was dodging nothing but air. She skidded backwards on her sandals and pressed her hand into the ground to stop moving. Yagami appeared again. With his Glaive at the ready. The older youth smiled. "...You seem a bit faster than before. But not by much. If that is the improvement you spoke of then you've signed you own life away by challenging me once again." Shiki's eyebrows shot up, while her right hand made the two-finger sign. A cold anger passed through her. "Don't you worry about me, Orochi. I've been made aware of things that you couldn't dream of. Like the truth behind the Mizuryu, the Kagayaku and Tengu Kokomaru. But there is one question left that remains unanswered. And your master's gonna answer that question as soon as I'm finished with you!" Shiki fixed her eyes on Yagami. Stating the seriousness of her point. There was no more time to be spared for holding back. It was time for... that technique. The Secret of the Scroll. As she focused her Chi energy into a central point in her body; bright green flames started to engulf and surround the Burning Kunoichi. Yagami watched this curiously. He could feel that she was generating a large amount of Chi for this. But what was she doing? Shiki looked over at the older ninja; tightening her free hand into a fist. Her body became nothing more than a black silhouette with comparison to the raging green flames of her spiritual power. And while Yagami couldn't quite notice it... those flames were growing bigger. More intense. Shiki's lips parted swiftly and she began mouthing a chant before she was even partly aware that she was doing so. "Oooouuaaaaagggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!" She screamed, "Chi (Blood), Rei (Spirit), Jiko (Self), Shinzou (Heart). Chi... Rei... Jiko... Shinzou...! Chi... Rei... Jiko... Shinzou...! Chi, Rei, Jiko, Shinzou! Chi, Rei, Jiko, Shinzou! Chi, Rei, Jiko, Shinzou! Chi, Rei, Jiko, Shinzou! Chi, Rei, Jiko, Shinzou! Chi, Rei, Jiko, Shinzou! Chi, Rei, Jiko, Shinzou! Chi, Rei, Jiko, Shinzou!" Yagami suddenly blinked in disbelief. "...It can't be! Kakegoe no Reiteki Jiko-Chouwa (The Chant of Spiritual Self-Unity). This girl... actually read the Scroll of the Mizuryu? That's impossible! Genryukai-san knows that only bloodline members of the Mizuryu Clan are allowed to read the scroll! Even HE wouldn't break that oath!" An evil expression was shown in Shiki's face as she burned in her spirit fire. "...What makes you think that he broke the oath!? Genryukai-sama, your grandfather, is an honourable man. He knows full well about me and my past. The only one in the dark is you. And it's time you learned a bit more about me, boy. And about the innate powers of the only shinobi family that was ever capable of withstanding the might of the Kagayaku bloodline!" Yagami was so stunned he could hardly react. "...A-Are you... Hirotsugu-sama's...?" Shiki said nothing more, not bothering to wait for the time to answer his questions. She leapt from that position and travelled like a bullet, knee-first. Yagami grunted hard as Shiki's smooth knee (still burning with green spirit fire) rammed brutally against his cheek. Blood spurted from his jaw as he stumbled back. Shiki ignored the fresh draw of blood and leapt up into the air with almost twice the speed as before. Her hand reflexively shot into one of her shuriken pouches and withdrew three shuriken. Her whole hand burst with more green fire, igniting the three shuriken on it. Her eyes viciously locked on the momentarily stunned Yagami. Her voice bellowed the attack. "Mizuryu Style! San Shuri-Hou!" Shiki's thin arm whipped around her in an arc motion and cast the three shuriken straight for the target below. But unlike the regular San Shuri-Hou, these were decorated with the lethal green flames of her spirit. Yagami looked upwards as he felt a burst of danger. His sheer adrenalin kicked in. And Yagami jumped backwards to avoid them. The three shuriken attack spiked the ground one by one. The split second after Yagami dodged the attack; Shiki blurred behind him with a powerful scowl. She rotated her hips with a frightening swiftness and extended her leg. Yagami grunted as Shiki's foot thrust into his ribs. It forced him straight back; his own sandals slid across the floorboards. Shiki landed in a crouched position. Her emerald spirit fire still burned on her body. The deep representation of her true powers now manifest in the physical world. Yagami wiped his jaw of the blood that had been drawn from his mouth during the first blow. Now he understood. "Ah..." He mused, "...You are a member of the Mizuryu Family. I don't even have to ask to whom you are related. It was obvious from the start..." Shiki grinned at him. "...So you've finally figured it out. I was surprised that he didn't tell you himself. But I won't mistake it as shame. Rather as... hiding the facts for the benefit of the 'greater good'" Yagami ignored that issue and focused on the more glaring one. "...Regardless of that. You have mastery over the sacred skill of the Mizuryu Scroll. The only scroll that rivals the power of the Scroll of Kokomaru. It's interesting. By chanting the Kakegoe no Reiteki Jiko-Chouwa over and over and over again you are able to hypnotise yourself into believing that your powers are peerless. And thusly... bringing out the full potential of the physical body and the hidden soul. The Mizuryu Gijutsu (Mizuryu Technique). But this ability works within reason. At your age you probably couldn't keep this up for more than ten minutes without passing out. Even the Mizuryu and Kagayaku have their limits." Shiki reached back behind her for Miyuki. "I won't need ten minutes to take you out, Yagami-san. You are the only thing left that stands between me and Hirotsugu-yarou. I will kill him. That is my mission. And I will kill anyone who stands in the way of me completing my mission." Understood. Yagami nodded. Then eased upright, taking his fist away from his mouth. Shiki was clearly more than he first thought. But Yagami of the Kagayaku Family was not leader of the Six Orochi for nothing. "Wonderful. You really have improved since our battle at the Diet Building. But it presents a good opportunity. A rare opportunity. To express the full scope of the Kagayaku bloodline..." Shiki waited for his next move. She felt more ready than ever. Yagami watched her. But he wouldn't be using his eyes much for what he had planned. The Fifth Orochi made the sign of the shinobi and took a deep breath. Gathering strength. Gathering Chi. Focusing his thoughts. Just like Shiki, when he did this, Yagami's mustard gold spiritual fire made an appearance over his body. Shiki took note of this action. He was invoking the powers of the Kagayaku that existed within him. Then the focus turned on his left hand. The free one. The flames that circled it grew stronger and writhed more. His vision glazed over. Then he clutched his free hand into a fist. And extended the index finger of that fist outwards. And Yagami then brought his hand to his face in this position. He grit his teeth and then; defying all logic, he shoved his left index finger straight into his right eye socket. "Uggh!" Yagami scowled and Shiki retched as the young man punctured his right eye socket. He yanked the finger out of the hole in his skull, and now it was coated with the pureed remains of what used to be his right eyeball. Effectively blinding himself in one eye. Yagami then brought his goo-laden finger to his other eyeball. And Shiki had to force her to resist the urge to regurgitate as Yagami ruthlessly poked out his second eye. New blood surged from it as well, running down the frame of his cheek and dripping to the floor. She couldn't believe it. The man had willingly blinded himself. What on earth was that about? Surely this had nothing to do with Ninjutsu? Yagami pulled his finger out of his bloody eye socket and breathed heavily. He had never expected to use this against anyone. Yagami flicked the scrambled remains of his eyeballs off his finger. "...Now then. Shall we?" "You insane lunatic..." Shiki replied, disgusted, "Why on earth would you mutilate your own body like that? Has your own power driven you mad?" "Heh, heh, heh. Thanks to the supernatural properties infused into the blood of the Kagayaku Family, my eyes will regenerate in a few hours time. But for now they are useless. I wish to introduce you to a technique that my ancestors invented. Shinda Koukei (Dead Sight)." Shiki had no idea what this maniac had planned but killing a blind man was not out of her range. The girl lunged forwards with all the increased speeds given to her by the Mizuryu Technique. Her hand gripped the hilt of Miyuki ready to draw it. One quick kill and then Hirotsugu would be next. Shiki sharply withdrew the sword and brought it around in an arc motion, to cut through the head of Yagami. Things seemed to slow down from then. The blade of the short sword reached closer and closer to a blow through the cranium. But one second Yagami was there... then the next he was gone. The now blind Fifth Orochi swung himself straight out of the path of Shiki's attack and rotated around the younger shinobi. He zoomed behind her with more blood dripping from his punctured eye sockets. Then reached for the Mikazuki Satsujinki. He pulled it from his back, twirled it around and slashed violently at the back of the Burning Kunoichi. Shiki grunted from the pain as the curved edge of the glaive sliced her open from her back waist upwards. She staggered ahead to get away from a second offensive. She peered over her shoulder with a stunned glare. "...How did you...?" "Sight isn't everything," The self-blinded Yagami said with a grin, "At least not the physical sight of the body. My Mind's Eye compensates for the loss of my eye sight. You see in this form of Ninjutsu... when I wound a sense that my body possesses (in this case; sight) I can enhance the reflexes of my other senses. So you might have increased your speed and power with the Mizuryu Technique... but I can recompense that with a boost to my ability to reprise any attack you so choose to launch. This in effect... negates your slight advantages over me." Shiki scowled as Yagami stated laughing at her. "...Clever bastard..." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Outside the Shinrin Jinja The Hibuki Clone rushed forwards at one of the eight lesser ninja that were surrounding him. It gripped the copy of Tsumeitai Ryuu Ga and went straight for the neck of the closest ninja. The short sword slashed straight at the throat of the unknown minor shinobi. As soon as that sleek blade found its mark, the Hibuki Replica ripped the sword straight out. The gagging chokes of the ninja continued as he dropped to the ground. Dead as a doornail. His corpse simply joined one of many that laid dead over the front way of the Shinrin Jinja. The Hibuki Clone had left its sizable mark on this place. More than twenty shinobi for the Mizuryu Clan had been killed by it already. But more were making an appearance to it. They were very zealous. The bona fide Hibuki could see that from his position on one of the far oak trees. Those men and women were more than willing to die for the Mizuryu Clan and its leader, Hirotsugu. And in some respects, Hibuki could relate to that. He had things to protect too. Like his family. Now that his secret was out, now that Hirotsugu knew Hibuki was secretly working with Genryukai; the other members of the Uchida Family were bound to be targeted by him. Unless Shiki was successful in her assassination attempt. And Hibuki could only pray that she would be. They really couldn't afford to fail now. So until Shiki got the job done, he had to keep the Mizuryu Clan out of her way. Hibuki used his right hand to wipe the sweat from his face while the other made the two-finger sign. This Mizuppoi Gizou Harada technique (derived from Ryoko's abilities) put a large amount of strain on his Chi supply. Maybe not as much as the Kogoeta Kankyou did, but it was a battle all the same. All the same. Hibuki had no choice in the matter. Keeping the Mizuryu busy with a copy was a good strategy in that would hold out for a little longer. The Uchida Brother then took a deeper look at the battlefield. His watery copy had slaughtered another three of the lower class ninja. But the remaining four were getting into position for a conjoined attack. Something that Hibuki had forgotten the Mizuryu were aware of. There were five main styles of Ninjutsu in the modern world. Weapon-based (involving tools like kunai, swords, shuriken and any individual/personal item the user could develop a use for), Elemental Chi-based (attacks involving the spiritual elements of the person's Chi; like fire and lightning), Physically Chi-based (skills that used the body and Chi with magical influence, like martial arts and illusions), Forbidden (ancient skills that are generally tied to blood and are very rare) and last came the Contemporary (modern skills invented in recent years of memory). Hibuki remembered that the Mizuryu Clan specialized in Contemporary Arts (hence most of the Six Orochi were familiar with Compound Ninjutsu, a sub-style of Contemporary Arts). One of those Contemporary skills happened to be Kessoku-jutsu (Art of Unity). Which involved working as a team to give out even stronger attacks than any one individual could muster. It wasn't a good thing; but Hibuki was pleased that these lesser ninja were going all out. It probably meant that they hadn't figured out that the target for their attack was just a water-borne imitation of the real thing. The four lesser shinobi surrounded the Hibuki Clone and all withdrew a kunai, holding it above their heads. Hibuki began to sense a strong gathering of Chi energy from them. Now he knew what this technique was. And it wasn't good news. A heavy variation of Compound Ninjutsu. Triple Compound Ninjutsu. Using three techniques fused into one. Hibuki knew each one of the three techniques they were going to use from memory of this assault. One would be Kunai-jutsu (Art of Kunai), obviously. The second was going to be Kessoku-jutsu, due to the team effort. The third would involve forms of Elemental Chi-based attacks. All three skills/styles meshed into one attack. It was bound to be powerful. Over at the front of the Shinrin Jinja, the kunai of one of the lesser ninja burst with a bright red flame above his head. "Hi!" (Fire!) ...The second ninja's kunai did the same. But with blue flames. "Mizu!" (Water!) ...As did the third ninja with his brown flames... "Tsuchi!" (Earth!) And finally the fourth one with green flames. "Kaze!" (Wind!) Each of them the pointed their flaming kunai to the centre of the ring they had formed around the target of their attack. That was the Hibuki Clone. The counterfeit copy looked at all four of them. Keeping its eyes open. It would have to dodge this rather than block and hope for a counter-offensive to come to mind. All of the lesser ninja shouted the attack at the fake man who was about to receive it. They all screamed in unison, "Renzoku Shuugeki! Genso no Ha!" (Sequence Attack! Element's Wave!) Each of the four warriors threw their element-flaming kunai straight for the centre of the ring. A bright light flashed from that point onwards. The combined lights of the elemental Chi. The Hibuki Clone leapt upwards so fast that the action appeared to be nothing more than a judder of movement. Its body climbed skywards until he was a good twenty-metres above the four attackers. It then quickly went for the kunai pouches at its thighs. Two kunai to either hand. The copy then aimed the kunai down and began spinning its body in motion; while the four kunai in his hands gathered an icy presence of their own. "Yon Kunai-Kori!" (Four Kunai-Ice!) The Hibuki Clone flung down the four kunai to strike the lesser ninja. They were so thrown by the failure of their Triple Compound Skill that avoiding the iced kunai would have been impossible. Each one of the minor Mizuryu Clan members were struck in the chest by the icy sharp kunai of the Yon Kunai-Kori attack. Each kunai striking a vital point in the body. Each ninja falling down dead seconds later. The Hibuki copy slowly descended from the air; body still spinning, and landed to the ground safely. The second he did this; another eight shinobi from the Mizuryu blurred into sight for a new challenge. From the distant oak tree, Hibuki was growing impatient. These Mizuryu guys were not stupid. They might have had the disadvantage now but their attacks were slowly wearing the Ice Shinobi down. It would only be a matter of time before the gas in Hibuki's tank ran out. And Hirotsugu had more than enough shinobi to spare until it did. "...C'mon, Yui-san..."
Back to Burning Spirit, Kunoichi! Index - Back to Original Fiction Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction