Pov: Kenzo
*CRASH!* *SLAM!*
"I GET IT ALREADY!" I yell out as the trees around me crumble... a 'lumberjack' is chopping down the entire forest and making me think on my feet.
While I am trying not to think at all in any capacity.
Rude.
*SLASH!*
An axe swings down where I am about to nd and I raise my feet and swiftly turn them to use the axe head as a jumping point.
*Jump!*
I leap off the axe and dodge the lumberjack... who looks like some form of shadowy human, as if a man where to be made from shadows from his hair to his clothes.
*Slide!*
I slide across the ground and as I y in a more horizontal position the lumberjack disappears and appears in front of me- I kick my heel into the ground and flip upwards.
*Sm!*
A jump using my heel... is exactly the stuff I am learning.
*Woosh!*
I nd on my feet and look up to see the axe embedded in where I was sliding... I see the lumberjack dissapear once more and I suddenly without prompting jump upwards.
Dust picks up after me and I spin in the air... gncing in every direction to see where I need to dodge.
No lumberjack in sight...
I nd on the ground and take a breath.
*SLASH!*
I suddenly jump backwards and slide across the ground... scattering the dirt as an axe smashes through the earth and rises up from where I was standing.
They attack from underground now too!?
I tense up looking around and wait to jump...
*Blink*
*SLAM!*
I hit my head on the dirt tunnel I dug up and groan in annoyance... the Box did that on purpose... I scratch my scalp and slide downwards to the bottom of my hole again... and poke the dead guy.
Yep. Still dead.
...
Next scroll then? Okay, next scroll.
I without thinking further jump into the next scroll, opening my eyes into the same orange box.
A third time.
*Scratch!* *Scrawl!*
'Select your poison. Take it. Make it'
...
I use poison from the animals I have eaten and soak my skin in it... makes sense that to gain a better poison I must 'take it' and most probably consume it.
I blink and three bottles sit upon pilrs in front of me... words are engraved into the pilrs face.
The purple bottle:
'Potent Poison meant to paralyze an enemy'
The green bottle:
'Potent Poison meant to attack the heart and possibly kill an enemy'
The orange bottle:
'Potent poison meant to make an enemy tired or drowsy'
...
Its obvious- even has my colour, the orange bottle would help with my skillset immensely- especially the genjutsu side of things... the more tired my enemy the more distracted they are.
I walk up to the pilr and take the bottle from it... I take a breath and then chug the bottle entirely.
...
...?
....
I feel...
...horrible.
Like someone just numbed my brain... except I couldn't feel my brain before... is this a headache? My head doesn't hurt... its more like I am very aware of my brain in my skull.
Gods I hate that... and my eyes feel dry while my eyelids feel so, so heavy.
*Scratch!* *Scrawl!*
I gnce to the wall and focus my gaze... luckily I can stare myself awake.
'Consume it till you are immune... don't drown'
?
I look around slowly and squint... is that?
*Clink*
I tap gss... I am suddenly surrounded by gss... why am I suddenly surrounded by gss?
*Drip*
I look up as orange liquid drips onto my forehead... I let out another yawn as I tilt my head... oh.
Don't drown... of course.
*RUSHHH!* *WOOOSHHH!*
Heaping amounts of the poison drips down onto me and I watch as it starts to rise to my knees- fuck.
I start to... sway within the gss tube and feel a sudden sense of dizziness that eventually takes me out.
...
*Thrash!* *Sm!* *Thrash!*
I suddenly wake up as my lungs reject the poison- coughing up as much as I can I try to leave the tube but cannot- I can't use gills as there is no oxygen in this liquid!
*Thunk*
I sm the tank... and feel my vision darken.
...
...
...
...
*Gasp!*
I wake up in the dirt... I slept so much and yet I returned to this tired body... great- I feel like shit and my entire body feels like its on fire or maybe covered in ants.
Just... need to focus on my shapeshifting and ease my body out of its funk.
...
Phew...
*SLAM!*
I burst out of the dirt and multiple bodies follow me as I drag them with a tail... a small rat crawls from the forest and crosses his arms.
"Looked around the area- twins are down by the river, next time don't take so long resting, I need to prepare dinner- you want anything?" Jun asks me and I shake my head.
"Good- I will see you ter" Jun says and dismisses himself.
Great- river, got it.
I sp myself awake again and sprint through the forest- dragging the corpses behind me.
---
-One day ter-
Pov: Kakazu
Finally- if that damned clerk would have just accepted the head I wouldn't have to drag this bloody bag all the way to the nd of stone.
I enter into the bounty collection office and look to the counter... I see Kenzo collecting some coins from the clerk... a low amount of coins considering what heads he usually brings in.
I walk over to him-
*Jolt!*
Kenzo turns around suddenly and takes a calming breath when he sees me.
"Sorry... haven't slept- didn't hear you approach" Kenzo yawns and pockets his coins.
"One and a half C-rank bounties... why do you waste time on these?" I ask in concern, if he wasn't sleeping because of pocket change-
"A few dozen D-ranks actually. And I was chasing a lead and just so happened to come across a very profitable head" Kenzo says with yet another yawn.
D-ranks? Lets hope he has found someone entertaining at least.
"Who?" I ask.
"Oorochimaru" Kenzo smirks.
"Konoha would pay a pretty price for him... tell me all the facts" I ask as Kenzo and I leave the bounty house.
"Well- I stumbled upon a man who was caught up in a affair, and so I grabbed the money from his wife... which led me to discover a few dozen D-rank heads who just so happened to be involved with that man. All of these men where unknown informants of Oorochimaru... meaning they did not know they where giving that snake information and thought they where giving that information to someone else- I grabbed all their letters and such... which I just sold- but those letters contained information on his bases within the nd of Stone!" Kenzo expins.
"Right- where is this base" I ask.
"In a rundown mine south of here- just three hours away meaning he won't see us coming or know his spies are done by the time we get there" He nods his head.
Heh. This brat has learnt a lot.
"How do you know he is in that base?" I ask him another question.
"The letters were just distributed- but even if he isn't... that base is one three hour trip that could contain boat loads of experimental stuff to sell" Kenzo offers.
"Fine. Game pn, what is it?" I wonder.
"One entrance- I walk down the front one and you cover the outside! I will slowly take out any enemy-" He begins to rant and I can see the madness in his eyes.
"No- I will head in first. You and your monster business takes too long to clean up, stay outside and watch for any secret exits... keep an eye from the sky" I command.
"Eh- of course. Don't want my emotions to lose us any potential money..." Kenzo agrees after a moment of reflection.
He stops and puts his arm out in front of him... as if catching something- but nothing dropped?
"What was that?" I ask and turn to him.
"... okay I am a bit out of it aren't I? Maybe one little rest before we head off" He smirks shyly.
"Never mind- you rest here and fly after me to catch up" I shake my head and continue onward.
---
Pov: Kenzo.
...
One strength scroll obtained from my title... meaning I have a very limited window in using it and then attacking Kakazu.
Do I risk it?
I look up at the sky as the winds cool me down and think to myself on what I should do... be stronger but probably in pain... or rest and use my current strength to beat him.
...
Well... it has to be the riskier option right? No pain no gain... and I have so much strength I need to gain.
I open the scroll and focus on it in the middle of the road.
------
Strength has reached maximum improvement. Choose a skill to merge it with!
Improv Taijutsu.
Effortless Jump.
Kenzo Deflection Jutsu.
------
The pain enters my body and mind as I get a notification... and my body starts to heat up- but unlike before where I melted and was rebuilt... it feels almost like my body is being healed rather than built again.
Heat flows through my muscles and gives them its insane strength once more.
I focus my mind on Improv Taijutsu.
And kneel on the ground... as my eyes look up to see the orange box with its multiple options dispyed on four pilrs in front of me.
- First Pilr: A picture of a fist is carved into the pilr- below it reads:
'Chakra soaked Flesh: your body naturally soaks itself in Yang chakra and gives you an immense statistic boost in the strength stat'
- Second Pilr: A primal humanoid visage is carved into the pilr- below it reads:
'Primal Taijutsu: Your body fills with strength and allows you to fight without thought- body moves before you can think it to move'
- Third Pilr: A humanoid who shapes his hands into bdes and various weapons is carved into the pilr- below it reads:
'Metal Shapes: Your body mixes metals and bck bone to create a metal which you can Shapeshift with, this metal will be filled with Yang chakra and allow you to move your body as if it were flesh'
- Fourth Pilr: A humanoid who shapes his hands into liquid is carved into the pilr- below it reads:
'Liquid Shapes: Your body uses Yang chakra to puppet the liquids within your body allowing you to use them like any other muscle- making your improv Taijutsu many times more effective'
...
Soaked flesh is an instant no- I can always increase my strength higher and while a modifier to that strength is amazing... I am already quite strong enough when I really need something unique to surprise the Akatsuki with.
Primal taijutsu is a no, because I want to control myself while fighting... although being able to focus on genjutsu and fighting mid battle would be great...
... Metal shaping is great- unique shapes, powerful armour and weapons... not being restricted to using organic weapons as I can't use a sword arm if I don't pce muscles in the sword... its honestly a great pick.
But Liquid shapes are not as good- sure I could shift my body into blood when someone hits me and just ignore the attack... and just a whole bunch of liquid bullshit to apply to my skills... but not as great as Metal shift in my opinion.
So... Metal shift?
But Primal Taijutsu could glue my skills together...
New stuff?
Or...
Solid foundations?
...
I made the mistake long ago to not focus on improving myself and instead getting random unreted skills entirely... I cannot sit here and do it again.
Although disappointing I walk over to the Primal Taijutsu pilr.
...
And now for that instant B-rank scroll.
---
-Three hours ter-
Pov: Kakazu.
I walk within the mines and scope about... It has only been five minutes since I entered but I can tell that Kenzo got false information.
...
Because this isn't Oorochimaru's tunnels... its a base for some other ninja group- masks like an Anbu or hunter squad, most likely a spy base or perhaps an Iwa unmarked ninja organization.
*Swish*
I dodge a kunai and look forward to see three Masked shinobi rush me from further within this tunnel.
*Sm!* *Bash!*
I sm my fist into one of their unarmed strikes and push the next one back- as I do so I suddenly kick straight into the first shinobi's stomach.
They do hold up quite well... limited in number but not in quality it seems..
"Kakazu! I'm here!" A voice calls out throughout the tunnels.
Isn't he meant to be outside? Damn it, probably forgot when he slept.
"Down here!" I yell and kick a rock straight into the eyes of one of the ninja.
*WOOOSH!* *CRACKLE!*
Fire assaults me as two ninja preform a wind and fire based combined breath attack- I flicker back and perform some hand signs, creating a mud wall in front of me that seals them away.
...
I turn around and see Kenzo at the end of this hallway within the mining tunnels.
He stands silently.
...
I focus my gaze.
"Kenzo. Go outside, I can deal with these three- its too cramped in here" I command him.
...
He still stands there without saying a word.
*Smash!*
The dirt crumbles as two shinobi jump out.
I turn to face them and take off my cloak to throw at them- *Woosh!* it covers their sight and I perform a few hand signs.
*Haaa!* *FWOOOOOSHHH!*
I breath in and then breathe out fmes at my target- *CRACK!*
I stumble forward into the second shinobi's kick- *Smash!* who kicks my chin upwards...
One of my masks just cracked... Kenzo just punched my mask with full force... the heart is fine however.
Tch- and I was getting along with this one too... time to kill my partner once more.
I swiftly turn around and burst out my remaining masks so that they fly and impact in the direction of the three ninja before flickering at Kenzo and attempting to tackle him.
*Wooosh!* *Slice!*
I push through the mirage and meet a bde on the other end... I dispel the genjutsu and catch my left hand as it gets cut off- *BOOM!* a thinner variant of his bone give tail impacts straight through my chest and rips out one of my hearts...
"I know you currently have five hearts... four now I suppose" Kenzo says coldly.
Tch.
"I will admit... you caught me by surprise- but don't think you can get anymore hearts now" I attach my hand back onto myself and gre at him as he unshifts his tail and stares at me bnkly.
...
No response? So he is going full monster on me then.
*SWISH* *BAM-BAM*
I rush him and attack twice- smming both hands into his shifted bone bucklers, good- he is focusing fully on shifting... I just need to keep him busy so he doesn't try any genjutsu.
Then... when my masks are done I will beat him back out of this tunnel and pin him down from multiple sides... I also have to keep an eye out for any surprises along the way.
*Crash!* *Sm!* *Pow!*
I throw more and more punches which keep Kenzo on the defensive- *Sm!* a third arm grows out of him and punches my side. I kick him back as he grows another arm for a total of four.
I rush again.
*BAM!*
And again.
*POW!*
And again.
*SLAM!*
He sms his back against the tunnels wall and I fire out my arms to pin his added arms against the wall.
My threads crawl and tighten as the hands grip him tightly... I start to slowly move backwards as Kenzo sits and does nothing.
A genjutsu is coming- I have to focus....
I see the world darken and I dispel the genjutsu... I dispel the next attempt and that sets Kenzo off as he shrinks his arms and slips out of my hands grip.
*Woosh!*
I retract my hands and start performing hand signs before- *CRACK!* *WOOSH!* Sinking into the stone beneath me and then shooting forwards, out right behind Kenzo-
*STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!*
I dodge three spear like attacks that pierce the stone around me before shooting back out behind Kenzo and performing a few more hand signs.
*FWOOOOSH!*
Fire fills the tunnel as Kenzo rips his bone spear give tail out of the ground and faces my fire.
I breathe out heavier and heavier doses of fme until they dwindle... before unching my hands once more along with accompanying threads to fully restrain Kenzo in what I assume will be a defensive form.
*Sm!*
I stand correct as the fmes dissipate and reveal Kenzo to be in full bone armour. My hands and threads wrap the armour and tighten around him keeping him from moving too much.
I then move the chakra within my masks to divert them back towards me... the have dealt with those shinobi and will bst Kenzo into smithereens... or at least force him to retreat.
Kenzo tries to escape my hold by shrinking down but I tighten and tighten the wires.
...?
Why aren't my masks...? why can't I feel my hearts properly? the connection feels weak?
*Slice!*
My threads slice through Kenzo's head and decapitate him- its at this point where I dispel my chakra and any genjutsu within my system... he must have got me when the fire jutsu was cast, he is much faster- I didn't know he could cast so quickly and unnoticed.
*SMASH!*
Kenzo is down the tunnel stomping on my st mask.
Crushing it and smearing it into the dirt Kenzo smiles at me as I release the masked shinobi from my grip... I applied too much strength into the threads... and because the shinobi wasn't actually shrinking I cut his head off.
Just when did he have time to cast a genjutsu? It's been seconds!
I groan out in annoyance and grip my chest.
...
One heart left so suddenly... how did he do it!?
"One left Kakazu. It was an honour working with you- you taught me a lot" Kenzo states and then loses all emotion once more.
...?
That is something new- he isn't actually focusing on fighting but rather genjutsu? I am so used to seeing him rage out with terror and might. Doesn't matter lets just treat him as if he is an unidentified enemy.
I crack my knuckles and feel my threads thrive.
"You cannot survive. Just give up" a voice enters my head and echoes throughout it.
I scrunch my face and dispel the genjutsu- Kenzo stands still five feet closer.
"You keep getting caught... but don't realise how" The voice echoes again and I dispel it.
Kenzo stands still five feet closer.
"You are strong Kakazu. Don't get me wrong... but I outmatch you" Kenzo's dread filled voice mocks me and I dispel it from my head again.
Kenzo stands five feet away from me.
...
"You have two hearts Kakazu" Kenzo smiles and says, showing emotion again.
?
I... do.
Oh no... I do...
"I call it Yin-poison... when I pierced your heart I never ripped it out- I just soaked it in that poison and let it seep into you. That is why I used a thinner bde. Its made up from a poison I have been concocting that makes one drowsy and mixed with my other Yin-picking skill I was learning... I combined the two using a B-rank technique I just got called 'Chakra soaking' an idea I got inspiration from when deciding on my new strength based taijutsu... I soak the poison in my chakra and let it become a constant genjutsu... though it was tough I soaked it with an A-rank genjutsu capable of letting me mess with your visuals I call this new S-rank technique 'Genjutsu Blood'- blood being the liquid I covered my tail in, after using that I then constantly cast a second sound based genjutsu to make you think you had dispelled it, but the poison never left your body" Kenzo expins to me...
I rip out my second heart and throw it away... it looks a ghastly colour and I close my wounds with my threads.
My vision lights up as Kenzo disappears... and re-appears down the hall where he stomps on the final mask repeating what I just saw.
"Ah? Finally out are you? Heard the expnation then? The least I could do was let you in on how I killed you" Kenzo wipes the blood from his mouth as he drops the dead masked shinobi behind him.
"Now- before you is two realities... one where I poisoned your heart and one where I didn't. Tell me- the second heart you sensed, could it have been the one still beating over here? The one I just crushed?" Kenzo states and I can't move.
I'm... did I just...? My whole life ending like this...?
"If that is so... then we are in the true reality of having no poisoned heart... meaning you just ripped out your own heart" Kenzo smiles... a bit too warmly for this situation.
...I look down to my own heart and prepare to pull it back in-
"Then again..." Kenzo starts back up with a tune and I frown... what do I do here?
No- not like this.
"On path 'A' where I did poison your heart... couldn't I have used my one amazing skill of staring at you? Making you unable to move- because right now your mind is occupied with this genjutsu so your body will instinctually freeze up when I stare at it... and then I make you think that this is the true reality- very easily by the way, me talking is casting genjutsu remember? And when was the st time you dispelled my genjutsu again?" Kenzo asks and I dispel my chakra.
I look down to the hole in my chest... and see both hearts on the ground together... I look up and see Kenzo standing warmly holding his hands calmly... one of his hands is covered in blood.
His gaze... stares through me... I need to run- can't run- what do I-
"It was path 'A' by the way"
...
Monster.
Thanks for reading! :)
I guess you guys didn't see much of the fight considering that Kakazu didn't see much either... my bad.
Also- chapter 100! thank you very much for staying interested in this story!
