Chapter 89 - I Can't Face Her Like This!

Ekyt waited, cigarette in hand. Ten were ground under his boot as he waited patiently. Who was he waiting for? He didn’t know himself- just that it was going to be a fight. Truthfully, that fight had already begun inside him.

This smile always means something big. Good or bad, better or worse, til’ death do us part… It’s like marrying my emotions. I’m a slave to them. Before I fell in love, I served no feelings from within. Now look at me.

It’s not altogether terrible, though. I wish I could just figure out what it is that’s causing this insipid smile. It’s irritating, not knowing my own feelings. I’ve never been any good with that; and even less with expressing them.

Ekyt looked up casually, seeing a large force of ninja surrounding him. He flicked the cigarette away, staring down his attackers. He felt strangely calm, and he let it bleed through to his actions.

“Here for the bounty? Or the sword?” Ekyt asked pleasantly, trying to not look threatening. Maybe there was a mix-up, or maybe they wouldn’t take him for a threat, so he could gain an edge.

All at once, they attacked. In a half-second, Ekyt had picked out their ranks. In the second half of a full second, his traps sprung and suspended the Mist shinobi. An intricately-laid web of exploding tags ensured they would stay snared for a while.

“Now you relax up there. If you’re the first wave, you must be genin pawns. Trying to assess my threat level for some higher-ranked ninja in the background. Am I right?”

With that confidence that Ekyt spoke and felt, he tried to think of the last time he had felt so confident.

It was with Azami. When I was in my ANBU persona. But why is that surfacing now?

Screw thinking about it! Just go with it!

“I won’t take hostages!” Ekyt announced, standing at ease in the center of the clearing.

“You mean to kill all of us?!” a genin shouted, suspended by his ankle, high above the ground. There was more than a hint of fear in his voice.

Ekyt rolled his eyes. “No. I just mean that you Mist ninja don’t take care of each other. No one would get mad if I took you hostage. That, and I have no desire to take life. That’s why I’m here alone- the company I keep tends to be more violent than I.”

Ekyt opened up his summoning scroll, carefully extracting his prized sword, Suitoru, the absorption blade.

“If you’ll call off this retardedness, then you can have this. It’s not ‘your’ sword. But then again, neither was the last one.” Ekyt paused, letting his voice echo for a moment. He continued after that little pause. “Can whoever is masterminding this crap please just come out and face me like a man? Cat and mouse gets old. That, and my traps already caught lots of mice.”

“SUMMONING JUTSU!”

A giant lake fell from nowhere. The water flowed, destroying the landscape and killing many people on the ground. Ironically, Ekyt’s captives were safe, high up in the trees in nets.

WHOOMPF!

Ekyt went sailing, a foot planted in his chest being the reason. He never let himself get kicked like that. He landed hard on his back, though the damage was minimal. He rolled to his feet, not yet seeing the animal that had accompanied the lake.

False modesty aside, that is an Orochimaru-level threat that just caught me off-guard. I’d better not take chances.

Biting his thumb, Ryouko ran blood on both his shoulders and the back of his neck. Three small tattoos, normally concealed, flashed briefly.

“Summoning Jutsu: Air, Land, Sea!”

Poof Poof Poof!

Ekyt was standing atop a hawk (Taleo), a water dragon on his shoulder, and a miniature snake around his neck.

“Taleo- seek! Umisu- suck the water!”

Taleo began to circle, with Ekyt riding on top of him. Umisu, the water dragon, leapt down into the lake below. In a few short moments, the lake was half gone, drunk up by the tiny dragon. That finally revealed Ekyt’s opponents.

The Mizukage himself, and his giant…Leech?

“Lord Mizukage?!”

The Mizukage was a man of about fifty years. He was rough-looking and battle-scarred. There was no doubt he was in charge because he was someone who loved bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed.

“So, you forced my hand? A child, like you, is a nemesis of my Village? Allow me to make a prediction for you, then…”

The Mizukage raised his hand. “There will be a new series of legends, and very soon. You may very well be among them. Or perhaps, you’ll be their stepping-stone…”

Ekyt knew this ability. “Clairvoyance? Sorry, your predictions come five years too late. I was already told this by the Leaf’s Third Hokage. And I choose my path.” Ekyt bowed his head. “If I am to become legendary…to me, that means serving others. And I already serve the both the past legends and the future legends you speak of- THAT I am sure of. If I am numbered among them, then I’m honored. If not…well then, at least I’ll have helped the next generation in my own way.”

The Mizukage stayed on top of his leech, walking in a small circle. After a few circles, he took out a battered black ops book.

“Let me see…Ekyt, adopted name of Kaguya. Age twenty. Jonin, Leaf Village. It seems you’re proficient in genjutsu, while your weakness is offensive ninjutsu. And yet, you managed to blitzkrieg my village during a sacred ceremony, largely working alone. Impressive.”

Getting the drift, Ekyt asked “So how many ryo are on my head now?”

The Mizukage just darted forward in response to Ekyt’s question. Again reacting too slow, this time it would cost Ekyt…

It was almost artistic, in a gruesome way. Ekyt’s left eye was marred with a diagonal scar. Blood flowed freely- too much to be a minor injury. Blood coagulated around the lids, making it impossible for Ekyt to open his eye.

He didn’t even want to try, for fear of what he might or might not see.

A cry of pain and rage bubbled up from the depths of his soul. But the pain wasn’t entirely physical. In a rage, Ekyt exploded!

“YOU! YOU TOOK AWAY MY RIGHT TO FACE HER AGAIN! WHAT I HAVE LIVED FOR! WHAT I HAVE TRAINED FOR! WHAT I WOULD DIE FOR! BUT NOT HERE! NOT LIKE THIS! NOT AT YOUR HANDS!”

Ekyt’s mind had long been obsessed with stopping Azami. Add in his ever-present anxiety, and perhaps you have a weakened mental state. That state led to the emergence of Ekyt’s last link to Azami- Ryouko.

Ryouko and Ekyt are mostly polar opposites. What stands out is that Ryouko will end fights much less passively than Ekyt. And he really couldn’t care less about a number on his head- if anything, he would see that number increase.

In short, Ryouko was everything Ekyt wanted to be, deep inside his mind. Someone who could fight without restraint. Someone who could be a tricky bastard when the situation called for it. Someone who would do whatever needed to be done. Ekyt wasn’t that man. But Ryouko…

“Shuurai, I need some acid on that damn leech! Then bind it! I’ll handle his owner! This just went BEYOND personal!”

Summoner and summon moved in perfect harmony. It’s proven that when the brain hits a limit, it will stop feeling pain. This is not altogether a good thing. Pain the body’s warning sign. Without it, you don’t know when your true limit has been hit. But sometimes that is best left unknown.

Shuurai wound himself around the giant leech, squeezing until he could bite his own tail. When he did, both he and the leech disappeared. No one knew where summons went when they weren’t being called forth, but both were back there now.

Caught by surprise, the Mizukage hadn’t had a chance to land after leaping toward Ekyt a second time. His sword was poised (Ekyt hadn’t seen the sword the first time) perfectly on Ekyt’s blind side.

WHACK!

Ekyt’s tonfa smacked the Mizukage across the stomach. The sword fell from his grasp. Twenty more times the tonfa raised and fell before the Mizukage hit the ground. Before his world went black, he saw Ekyt standing over him, his tonfa poised for a killing strike.

“You aren’t worth it,” Ekyt spat. No, Ryouko. Ryouko spat. “What kind of leader are you? Well, that doesn’t matter. You’re gonna help me leave this piss-ant country of yours. Now get up, or I’ll forget that you’re worth the trouble for the moment.”

Ryouko grabbed the Mizukage around the neck. After a moment’s thought, he snapped both of the Mizukage’s arms, then stomped on his fingers. After putting a kunai to his neck, Ryouko began to drag him toward the border.

--

Hayate’s eyes widened- there was no way he was really seeing this.

He…he captured the Mizukage? Wait…no.

Ryouko dropped the luckless genin at the edge of the border. He looked at the group waiting for him.

“You noticed, too? Clever bastard, using a replacement jutsu with a human. Not bad genjutsu, either. I doubt the Mizukage was ever actually there. Still, he fooled his own people, so I didn’t bother to break the genjutsu.”

Ryouko melted away, and Ekyt became himself again. Then the pain came.

“Gah!” Ekyt quietly wailed, sinking to his knees, holding his eye. Again! My eye!

Focusing his chakra until it glowed with the tell-tale green of healing energy, he pressed his hand to his eye. This would preserve his eye until he could get real medical attention.

Even in his pained state, Ekyt couldn’t help but feel that this was too easy…

Nothing to be done about it now. I got lucky to stay conscious with this kind of pain.

The pain…did I push it away? Or did I overcome it somehow? What exactly happened? I’m never that vicious…that focused. I didn’t even think or care of what would happen if I kept attacking. I could have killed him… Was it rage over my eye? Or was it something more deep-rooted, psychologically speaking?

Never mind. I’m in charge until we get home.

Mimizu had taken up residence on Ryouko’s shoulder again. She weighed nothing, so Ekyt didn’t protest. He just kept his hand over his eye and began to walk.

No one dared speak. The trip home was traveled in silence.

--

Haitsuchi stood over the lifeless corpse. Blood dripped off his sword as he silently surveyed the damage he had caused. Incredible damage to his own Village. A blow from which the Mist could very possibly never recover from, if the truth became known.

The Mizukage lay at Haitsuchi feet, drenched in his own blood. He was long dead.

“Complete,” Haitsuchi said aloud.

“Excellent work,” a familiar voice complimented. A snake on the ground was the source of the voice.
“Now then, add the finishing touch.”

Haitsuchi took a small dagger from his belt. With careful precision, he carved a Leaf Village symbol onto the Mizukage’s back.

“With any luck, that bratty apprentice of the Third Hokage will be blamed. We can demand him as reparation for this slaying. Once he’s in our hands, we’ll kill him. He won’t be there to protect those Leaf children anymore. Once the Reaper Death Seal’s heir is removed, we can begin the next invasion of Konoha!”

Orochimaru, back in his lair, smiled widely, licking his lips. Things were going his way.

The most troublesome thing is that what the Mizukage said was correct. The potential for the next legends to eclipse even myself is disturbing. But they aren’t yet at their peak. Ekyt isn’t either, but he’s the one who possesses the knowledge of the Reaper Death Seal, and the will to use it. He must be destroyed before I can destroy Konoha. My pride demands it.

He clenched a fist. The Third Hokage had come so painfully close to destroying Orochimaru. It had never stopped running through Orochimaru’s mind. It ate at him.

The most perfectly laid plans can be laid to waste. I myself gave Sarutobi the opening. I must not allow his apprentice, who is still in his prime, the same opening. I will kill him before he matures fully.

It’s his state of mind that makes him so dangerous. It’s erratic. Other shinobi you can predict. But him… If you didn’t know his ultimate goal was to protect his Village, then he would be a complete mystery. But that little bit of knowledge is just what gives him away.

Orochimaru glanced at the mummified had still wearing the Akatsuki ring. He had kept it all these years. Orochimaru had no use for the ring, aside from irritating the rest of the Akatsuki by keeping it. That in and of itself was enough for him. The Akatsuki wouldn’t just kill him until they found out where the ring was.

If only I could have taken over Ekyt. Or even Naruto. They have remarkable luck against the Akatsuki. Or perhaps skill? Though I find it hard to believe that any brats like them could hope to master any jutsu capable of taking down someone more powerful than myself.

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