Chapter 44: Weapon Styles
(Author's note: I decided to expand more on weapons in the Naruto world as well. Sorry if your unhappy with the choice, but if Taijutsu can reach such a range, so can Bukijutsu)
Tetsuya took a deep breath, his grip tightening around his spear as an eerie, pitch-black aura coated his weapon. The very air around him seemed to ripple and distort.
"[Spear Style—Border Between Worlds.]"
In an instant, he vanished. Or rather, it felt like he vanished. His presence flickered, slipping through the seams of reality itself.
One moment, he was in front of Sora, the next—behind.
His spear lashed out from impossible angles, aiming to pierce through Sora's defenses before he could even react.
Sora barely managed to dodge the first strike.
A sharp gust of displaced air cut across his cheek, the aftershock of Tetsuya's attack alone enough to draw blood.
His body strained to keep up, his sword flashing up just in time to deflect the second strike—only for Tetsuya to disappear once more.
It was suffocating.
Every time Sora adjusted, the spear came from another blind spot, a relentless storm of unpredictable thrusts.
He couldn't keep dodging forever.
His grip tightened around his sword. His breathing slowed.
[Sword Style—What Can I Cut?]
Sora moved.
The world itself seemed to shatter around him as he swung his blade, a single arc that felt like it could carve through the environment itself.
The sheer pressure of the strike sent a deafening boom through the battlefield.
Tetsuya's form flickered mid-step as the invisible force of the cut rushed toward him. He barely managed to shift his stance, pivoting on his foot as he reappeared a dozen meters away.
But even as he evaded, a thin cut ran across his sleeve—a testament to how close it had been.
A grin formed on his face.
"It seems like you have finally perfected your Sword Style, Sora." Tetsuya spoke in a calm voice as the battle between the two continued.
"And it seems like you have changed your combat style yet again, Tetsuya." Sora spoke.
There was an air of familiarity between the two.
Which made sense…after all, the two were inside of the same squad at one point.
As Sora continued his combat with Tetsuya, he was able to observe something from the corner of his eyes…
And he couldn't help but smirk.
It seems like 2 of his genin were capable after all.
…
(Shikomu Pov)
As I unleashed Morning Peacock, every punch I threw ignited the air with relentless destruction.
Shockwaves rippled outward, the sheer force of my strikes turning the battlefield into a storm of searing fists.
Yet, deep down, I knew—this alone wouldn't be enough to bring down Itachi Uchiha.
And just as I expected, a crimson glow erupted around him.
A red, skeletal Susanoo took form, its monstrous ribs encasing him in an impenetrable barrier.
The ethereal armor shimmered with raw power, standing like an unyielding guardian in the midst of my assault.
Itachi remained unscathed.
Of course, he was.
The Susanoo was among the most formidable defenses in existence—one of the ultimate techniques of the Sharingan.
Breaking through it... wouldn't be easy.
What the hell was I meant to do? This match would probably be one of endurance.
Sure, against a cancer patient like Itachi (I don't remember what his disease was), I would probably win.
Yet, I didn't know if the same applied to the other 3 Jonin.
How was I supposed to get out of this situation?!
Just as I was bracing myself for whatever came next, a familiar voice cut through the tension.
"It seems my Grand-Disciple has been holding on pretty well."
A towering figure landed in front of me, long white hair flowing behind him, a smirk on his face that radiated confidence. Jiraiya, the Toad Sage.
"Pervy Sage?!" Naruto blurted out, eyes wide in shock.
Right… Naruto was still here. I had been so focused on Itachi that I'd nearly forgotten about the rest of the battlefield.
And speaking of that—what were the other Genin doing?
I scanned the area, trying to make sense of the chaos. Hopefully, no one was dead yet.
"Jiraiya." Itachi's calm voice acknowledged the arrival of one of the Three Legendary Sannin.
Jiraiya crossed his arms, his presence alone shifting the balance of the battlefield. "Give it up, Itachi. Your allies are about to lose too."
But Itachi remained as unreadable as ever. "Is that so?"
His crimson gaze flicked to the side.
From within the shadow of a nearby tree, something inhuman emerged—half white, half black, twisted and unnatural.
Zetsu.
An endgame-level threat.
After making eye contact with Zetsu, Itachi looked away from us and rested his hand inside of his Akatsuki attire once again.
"Did I allow you to leave?" Jiraiya questioned, as he took a step forward.
Itachi simply looked back, and commented, "You're not in the position to be able to tell me what to and what not to do."
His gaze flickered towards me, before eventually landing on Sasuke and Naruto.
"Make a move, and I will make sure to kill everyone here." Itachi spoke in a calm voice.
I knew Itachi still had his Mangekyo Sharingan still activated, since I could feel the aura of the Susanoo even at a distance from Itachi.
Yet somehow…the aura became much more oppressive within an instant.
I glanced around, making sure to not make eye contact…and damn.
He upped the Susanoo, from its bone form, to its muscular form.
I glanced at Jiraiya, thinking about what he would do.
The entire battlefield was at a pause for a moment, even the ever so brash Sasuke didn't make any rash moves.
He knew he was outmatched right now.
After what felt like forever.
*Whistle*
Hope seemed to shine for the Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf.
…
After Itachi had left, the battle had essentially ended. From my understanding, the Elite-Jonin and Genin were able to take care of the other Akatsuki members.
Well, I say take care, more like they were able to stall the other Akatsuki members.
Just enough so that Asuma was able to send a Shadow Clone to Jiraiya and request for immediate back up.
Since the war camp was much closer to them then the main village was.
What was the main body of Asume doing?
Well, this was the shocker…I say shocker, but this made a lot of sense.
I was given the dummy scroll of the supposed Jinchuriki. The original never left the person of the Elite-Jonin.
They planned for an ambush in case of an information leak, which did end up happening.
Asuma held the scroll, while the other 3 stronger Jonin would hold off whatever threat that came their way.
And it worked, since Asume was able to safely bring the Jinchuriki back to the village in record time.
While our group took 1 week at maximum speed, since we didn't want to once again encounter an Akatsuki member.
One bad thing did happen though…
Kurenai Yuhi was under critical condition, her brain suffering permanent damage from Itachi.
After a week of nonstop travel where we were unable to do anything else, we were finally able to reach Konoha.
The second I arrived there I made my way to my lodgings and began to unpack all my items.
Used rations over the journey were discarded, weapons that were damaged were either going to be scrapped or sent for repair.
Any damaged clothes were also discarded, since the village would be providing new uniforms in due time.
Also…I might be getting promoted soon.
I mean, I wasn't told so, that being said from my understanding, such a thing was considered normal when it was war time.
Due to the accomplishments of a ninja in a mission, they would eventually be ranked up.
Technically, I was already acting as a chunin, as I had already led plenty of missions as a squad leader during the war.
Mainly due to a lack of higher ranked Ninja, but still, those should be testament and prove as credentials for me to be able to rank up.
I did not want to rank up for any particular reason, other than I would be able to officially gain access to higher ranked missions, which then provide more EXP.
*Knock* *Knock*
Hearing the knocking on my door, I frowned a little…I don't remember ever having someone I know meet me within my room before.
"It's me." Naido sensei's voice came from the outside.
"Sensei, please come in." I told Naido sensei as I opened the door for him to enter the apartment.
"Shikomu, I just wanted to let you know that you should probably prepare for some assassination attempts within the Leaf. Also, I wouldn't expect a promotion anytime soon." Naido sensei said, as if what he had just said was not that important.
"May I know how you got this information?" I questioned.
Naido sensei seemed to think about it for a second, before he explained his thought process.
"Officially, it will be because you disobeyed a mission directive." He said, "Your mission was to take the scroll given to you and move to the village at full speed. Disregarding your allies as well."
As he said that, I nodded. I was instructed to prioritize the delivery of the scroll, but since when did the leaf punish ninja for assisting their fellow ninja?
Was the 3rd Hokage actually high from all that smoking now? I understand punishing, but he must have heard how I can open the 6th gate…
Something like that at my age, I had to be seen as a genius on the level of the greats, like Kakashi and Itachi.
So why punish me, a prospective powerhouse?
But I understood something from the underlying tone of sense and his choice of words.
"How about unofficially?" I asked sensei.
"Danzo, an elder in the village has grown interest in your personal power and is using every means necessary to control you inside of his secret organisation of the village."
Ahh, this is Danzo's doing…everything made sense then.
It's the 'Root.'
...
Authors note:
You can read some chapters ahead if you want to on my p#treon.com/Fat_Cultivator