Manuster *******-Tsukegami (Chapter 19)

[Manuster]

Part 14 - continued


It was Onimaro.

How on Earth did Onimaro end up saving us?!? Scrunching up his nose at the sight and smell of the guards, Onimaro had punched the door off of its hinges, causing Taiga and Kamiko to dive to the side to avoid it. He stood at the door, clefts of snow and blood on his armoured vest and trousers.  For just a brief second, he appeared to be slightly confused.

"Where's Satomi?" he asked, glancing around at the 3 shinobi before him. Seeing Diamond Lee's scars, his temper flared up, his jaw and fists clenching.

"Why am I even here? I'd come here to wipe out the Yugure....how did I even know they had a dungeon..." Taiga and Kamiko shared a look at the older man's rambling, Taiga speaking out their concerns.

"Erm, Satomi isn't here...and how did you get here? Did you use one of those kunais?"

"Too many questions." responded Onimaro, he walked right past Taiga and headed forward, into the dungeon, glancing briefly into each cell. Ignoring the snarls, shouts and screams; he walked on with an eerie focus. Inexplicably confident in his rescue. There was something in his head telling him to go forward, that Satomi was here. It didn't take him long for him to find her cell. Badly bruised but otherwise uninjured, he smiled gently as he tore apart the bars with brute force alone.

The voice in his head was at once silenced, only to be replaced by it's realistic version.

"My oh my, so it does work. I've got to thank Crono for this." Onimaro turned to see Konohuro standing on his own, wiping off fake blood from his cheeks with a white napkin; his posture serious yet still radiating an air of laid-back confidence. His eyes were perfectly back to normal, seeming to glisten as if new. Almost as if to illustrate this point, his left eye began to rotate lightly, the pupil vanishing to the back of his head. Konohuro chuckled and with a swipe of his finger, his eye rotated back into place. Several blinks later and he smiled, his eyes apprarently back to normal.

Onimaro grabbed Satomi, throwing her over his shoulder and with a leap, flew back towards the dungeon door. His eyes wide and his mind racing, he took out an emergency scroll from a pouch on his waist and told the others to stay close. He opened the scroll flat on the ground, and poured some chakra into it as Kamiko returned with Diamond Lee's still-sleeping body. The forumla spread across the floor, circling the group and in an instant they were gone, teleported to safety.

Onimaro panted, looking around at the group with him. A bruised Satomi, one-legged Taiga, and horribly scarred Diamond. How had this happened? And so soon? He thought of the tragic scenes he had left at the Snow and not for the first time he doubted his ability to lead the Clan.

He had had to escape to Jyuunshin headquarters. Whatever genjutsu Konohuro had placed on him had caused him to act irrationally, there was no reason for him to have know that Satomi was taken by Katakiuchi and although he was glad to have her back, he was still concerned as to how the impenetrable genjutsu defense of Sage Mode had been breached.

"How the fuck did he even get in my head?" Onimaro checked his body for foreign chakra, circulating the Nature Chakra in the process. "When did he even place a Genjutsu on me?" He was confused, medical jutsu, fuinjutsu and kinjutsu were his specialities, his role in Jyuunshin mainly being that of support and research.

The emergency scroll he had just used was a testament to his skills, and although it only had a one-time use, it was not too difficult for someone of Onimaro's skill to replace. Onimaro led the odd group out of the room, he gave them over to one of the full time guards with instructions to heal their injuries before being blindfolded and lead to safety.  With no explanation to the confused guard, he strode to the nearest stairs and ran up, heading over to check on his wife and son. He still couldn't figure out why Konohuro had led him to the dungeons in the first place, but that was not his priority. He had a clan to lead.


Kuria awoke as if waking up from a nap. He smiled at the roof above him, recognising the roof from his many visits here. His smile was interrupted by a hard flick on his forehead.

"Ow...mum tha-"

"Dont give me that. What have I told you about using all 8 gates! And in public for that matter!! This is the 8th time I've had to resurrect you now, you've got to stop treating this as a joke."

Kuria scowled, annoyed that she had made such a big deal about it. Ever since Kuria had carelessly opened the 8th Gate during training, his mother had had to resurrect him time and time again as he abused her rare, widely sought after ability.

"I don't see what's the problem...you bring me back each time. And besides, I kept it up for almost half an hour this time!" Kuria had occasionally been "training" his 8th gates, hoping to reach a point where he wouldn't die.

"Tsk. This isn't funny Kuria, what if I die? And you waste your life over another training attempt? Or because you're feeling bored?!?"

Kuria rolled his eyes, earning him another, harder flick on the head. 

"You say this every time, but it's not like you're not going to bring me back. Aaaaaand" he hopped out of bed, giving his mother a tight hug. "This is only the first time I've died in public, no one is even gonna suspect you." He grinned at his mother, his eyes shining with childish innocence. Despite the fact that she was seated and he was on his feet, the small 14 year old was still several inches shorter than his mother, only serving to remind her of how young he truly was. Especially to have died 8 times.

"Revival or not, no mother wants to see her child laying dead." She said as her throat caught and she pulled him tighter, tears in her eyes. Several seconds passed before either of them spoke.

"I saw Kazuki....I mean...I met him. He's why I..." Kuria waved his hand to gesture the present scenario "opened all 8 gates." Mika Himitsu pushed Kuria back and looked him in the eyes.

"I know, Kenshi told me everything."  She smiled, understanding the frustration he felt. Her smile dropped as she realised something.

"Did you...did you kill him?" she asked, apprehension in her voice. Kuria's face fogged over in confusion.

"Wait...isn't he here??" He looked around the hidden room he was in, a room deep within Jyuunshin headquarters, which itself was deep within the Hidden Forest. His mother's eyes widened.

"Kuria! Did you kill your brother?!!"

"No! I mean...I don't know! I left him badly injured! I'm here so why isn't Kazuki??" His mother closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in a failed attempt to calm her rapidly beating heart. She stood up, unable to keep still in her worry.

"Kenshi said he could only get to you, by the time he got there, Kazuki was gone. He said he thought he had won the battle and escaped but survivors said they spotted shinobi wearing masks carrying both Haruko Tsukegami and Kazuki out of the village." Kuria's shoulders slumped.

"Nonono...does anyone know who they are? Masks? What masks??" Desperation seeped into his voice. He had been too childish. Too fast to act, he didn't think things through, severely injuring both himself and his brother. Killing himself when it would have been easy to knock him out and take him. This was exactly what Kazuki had said...he thought over one of the last things his brother had told him.

"Just because you are strong, does not make you wise. You are wrong, you always have been, and no amount of strength will change that."

Kuria visibly saddened at the memory and Mika's heart pained to see her son so hurt. She moved in for another hug but Kuria stepped back, rejecting it. He had to stop acting like a child. He would fix this. He would go to the Hill, ask around, see if anyone saw anything. With an almost comical look of determination on his face, Kuria thanked his mother and sped out the room, already planning on the fastest way to the Hidden Hill from the Hidden Forest.


Kuria had ran out with the briefest of goodbyes. Whilst she didn't fully trust her son, she was fully aware of how capable he was at combat, despite his odd decision to completely ignore ninjutsu and genjutsu. He wasn't even bad at ninjutsu, being fairly capable at Wind Style; just like his father.

A guard ran in, interrupting Mika Himitsu's merry thoughts and she was told that Onimaro had appeared with 4 other Himitsu members. Seconds after, Onimaro ran in and the two embraced, glad to be together after so long apart.

"Hey where's Kuria?"

Noticing a strange chakra, Mika Himitsu pushed him back taking up a defensive stance.

"What's that? That chakra. And why are you in Sage Mode?" Her immediate elation vanished as she realised the peculiarity of the situation. "And why are you here?? Weren't you planning on sieging the Snow?"

Onimaro smiled gently at his wife, motioning at her to calm down.

"It's fine, everything's fine." Ignoring her questions, he repeated his. "Just...tell me where Kuria is."

In a flash, Mika Himitsu was covered in a cloak of raging red chakra, her brown hair fading to silver and white lines streaking her face and exposed arms. She still had quite alot of Nature Chakra left over from reviving Kuria, his small body and the thick Nature Energy of the Jyuunshin base greatly aided in her healing, leaving her with over half her chakra. Concentrating a large amount of chakra into her fists, Mika held up her hands and posed Onimaro a question.

"Oni...why do you want to know that?" At his wife's offensive gesture, Onimaro's head cocked to the side, and his face momentarily flashed to confusion and then clarity.

Slow clapping could be heard from the doorway and the couple turned to greet their new guest. With blood running along the floor and a kunai in his throat, the guard who had reported of Onimaro's arrival was dead or dying and standing over him was none other than a clearly elated Konohuro.

"Not only do I get invited to this splendid hideout, but I also manage to get the wonderful honour of meeting not only the fabled "Hand of God" but her husband too! None other than Onimaro Himitsu!  The face of Jyuunshin! One of their founding members!!! Leader of the Himitsu clan!! The greatest clan in the world!!"

Konohuro exaggerated his praises, raising his hands dramatically, a look of genuine awe and admiration on his face. The smile on his face dropped and he cracked his knuckles.

"Mika, I've got some work for you to do." By his side appeared Crono Sabaku, his face very badly bandaged, a rushed job that looked like he did it himself. He held up an electronic device, a crooked look of pride and victory plastered on his bloodied face.

"I'm sure Onimaro will remember being attacked with this." Onimaro's eyes widened in shock and realisation. 'So that's how he got in my head' Raising a finger weakly to Konohuro, he realised why he hadn't sense any foreign chakra within him. He realised why his original intentions had been forgotten, he realised why he had been forced into a situation where he had to teleport to Jyuunshin.

"You planned this...every single step of this..."

Konohuro brought his hand to his chest as if being accused of something he didn't do.

"Whaa? Mee?" He laughed at his own joke, before turning serious again. "Every. Single. Step. From attacking the Hill to the perfect scenarios you encountered when you arrived." He chuckled again. Konohuro seeming to be in quite a good mood.

"I mean did you even think that there was a reason I only sent 2 Yugure to attack the Hill? If I was trying to wipe it out.... well, just look at what I did with the Hidden Ocean." His voice lowered at the mention of the Hidden Ocean, sending shivers down the spine of everyone around.

"So it wasn't Heathen..." Konohuro rolled his eyes at Mika's comment.

"Well which kind of idiot would destroy a village and leave their organisation name inscribed in the mind of the survivors. The Kage are far too easy to manipulate, but isn't that what makes it soo fun."

The hum of Sage Mode only grew in volume as both Onimaro and Mika worked on absorbing more Nature Energy. Mika took a step towards Onimaro but as she reached out a hand to his back; he collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. With a genuine look of regret on his face, Konohuro shook his head, waving the electronic device in the air.

"A small needle, barely a millimetre thin, it travels through a simple taser but is a bitch to get out. Not that I'm going to let you try."

As if to show that Onimaro's condition was his doing, he pressed it again, eliciting further screams and an explosion of chakra from Onimaro's body, an obvious attempt at overloading and destroying the chakra needle. Konohuro only rolled his eyes again as the needle absorbed the chakra, fuelling it in causing more pain. Onimaro lay on the floor, sweating and convulsing in pain, looking up at Konohuro with eyes filled with agony, anger and hatred. Smiling gleefully, Crono Sabaku stepped towards Onimaro and looked him in the eyes, soaking in every drop of pain.

"The second I tagged you, you were done for. Most shinobi need to make contact, some good ones even use sound or touch. But not Konohuro. All he has to do is transfer his chakra to an object and anyone who comes into contact with it is his bitch." He made sure to say the next part slowly. "Even. With. Sage. Mode."

"Stop...please...stop" Mika Himitsu fell to her knees. If not for the red chakra around her, she would've looked weak, almost pathetic even. A weeping wife, begging for the life of her husband. "I'll listen please, just leave him alone. I'll bring back anyone you want me to, please."

"No...Mika...don-AAARGGH" Onimaro was cut off as his words descended into unintelligible screaming, his Sage Mode withered into nothing as he rolled around, the suffering too much to bear. A drop of sweat formed on Konohuro's forehead. Onimaro's genjutsu defenses were impressive, reminding him of his mentor when he first attempted to cast on him. He would be glad to kill him, he was far too useful to let run around. Poking his arm into the corridor, he gestured for those in need of healing to come forward.

Ken Himitsu, his leg crushed from his fight with Haruko came in on crutches, a look of boredom on his face. The deceased body of Arashi Himitsu, struck down by Vuregu was carried over the shoulder of Hishiro Nakai, the look of apathy mirrored on his face. In his hand was the ghastly head of Nibui Kirishima, flies and maggots eating away at the long dead face.

Through gritted teeth and a tear filled face, Onimaro gasped out a warning, telling Mika of the dangers of reviving such deadly shinobi. Shaking her head as tears streamed down her face, Mika apologized to Onimaro.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry", crawling she headed towards the Yugure, new and old, dead and alive; praying, despite everything that her sons were alright.

[Diamond Lee]

FUCK YES



great chapter plus I'm the first to comment


these are part of the pleasures of life

U have to wait a while but It's always worth the wait

[taigakun]

Ayyyyyyy Manu so fucking liiiittt faaaam gjgjgj

[Toratsume Nyshn]

Manu. You bitch.;_;
Cant get over this /(>o>)/
pls release next chapter.... pls relieve me of this tension pls pls XO

[lollernoob9]

:3

[Ken]

That was awesome, like fucking always, waiting for the next chapter, finally I'll get some action.

[Yamasukage]

XD Manu bruh if you don't join the events team i'll kill you dawg

[Manuster]

This should've been out on tuesday rip, but I've just been soooo lazy

and errr idk if any of y'all are gonna notice...or care but i made a lil change to Ken in chapter 6

yare lmao

Last Time

Spoiler: show

Itsuki escapes death once again.
Kuria awakens.
With the assistance of Crono and Nanami, Konohuro's trap plays out, ensnaring both Onimaro and his wife.
Taiga, Kamiko, Satomi and Diamond are led to safety.

Part 15


After finding themselves in an building that seemed as though carved out of wood, Kamiko, Satomi, Taiga and Diamond Lee were handed over to the first guard Onimaro saw. Without a word the Clan Leader rushed off, giving the group no chance to ask any questions.

Their guard was a young bearded man with a scar across his lip, despite his rugged look, he spoke rather gently, ushering the group towards the medical room.

Laying the shivering Satomi and unconscious Lee on separate beds, medics rushed in to inspect the injuries, both physical and mental. Taiga was swiftly knocked out before being rushed off to an emergency room, as an expert medic-nin swaggered in, rolling up his sleeves to begin the regeneration of Taiga's leg.

Kamiko stood in awe, taken aback by the sheer preparedness of the base. In the past week, she'd uncovered bigger secrets than she had in her entire ANBU career. She briefly paused as she wondered where she would return once this was all over. Her thoughts were interrupted as a blonde haired medical ninja ushered her over to a seat, beginning to ask her a series of questions as to judge her eyesight, hearing and mental state. 2 assistants ran over, one holding a change of clothes and the other with a warm meal of beef and chicken curry. With a grand sigh, Kamiko settled into her seat, taking the meal into her lap and brushing off any questions of psychological trauma.

"I've been through worse, and besides, what doesn't kill me only makes me stronger"


"I...I think it'd be best if I start with the least injured..." Mika Himitsu gestured to Crono Sabaku to lay down on the bed by the wall. Sharing an apprehensive look to Konohuro, Crono Sabaku obeyed, keeping his eyes firmly on Mika. She'd stopped crying and dried her eyes, seemingly resolved in the situation and ignoring the moans of pain from Onimaro.

As Konohuro opened his mouth to ask a question, Mika's hands flared red with Nature Chakra, her left hand moving to Crono's laying figure. She ripped out Crono Sabaku's heart, his shout of fear halted in his throat, leaving only a pathetic gargle. Simultaneously, she swung out her right hand, sharpening her chakra around the side of her palms and aiming at Onimaro's kneeling figure. With a crunch of bone, his head came off his neck, his body slumping to the floor and blood spurting out both his detached parts. With a thought, she parted the chakra cloak at her chest, an attempt to make her suicide more timely and less painful. Her left hand had reached her chest, her fingers already penetrating through her skin, ribs and lungs when she paused, a look of shock and then defeat flashing across her face before it froze. Blood slowly poured out of the 5 holes in her chests where her fingers rested, each one lightly gripping her heart. No one moved, the athmosphere tense and volatile.

Konohuro let out a sigh of relief as he lowered his outstretched hand.

"Damn, if I wasn't expecting that, you'd have almost got away with it." He shook his head and chuckled. "Tryna kill yourself and hubby taking out Crono as well. How noble. How predictable." He reached into his black cloak and took out several needles, each of them looking no different than the standard available at every decent weapons shop.

"Have you ever actually wondered why Senjutsu repels Genjutsu?" He chuckled, as if only realising that she couldn't speak. "Because Genjutsu can't get past the thick bodies of Nature Chakra. So of course the question is, what if the Genjutsu comes from behind the chakra cloak?" He paused as if expecting an answer, his pale face merely resembling an enthusiatic teacher posing a question to his class.

"Well, it turns out that when the Genjutsu is sourced from behind those cloaks, well, theres nothing you can do!! Infact, I'd go as far as to say that the Genjutsu is stronger." He nodded to himself, as if proud of his revelation.

Hishiro Nakai subtely shook his head, both surprised and humoured by the sarcastic boasting. Konohuro the Pride of Katakiuchi, he had never seen someone so fitting for their role.

Mika Himitsu, spurned on by Konohuro's boasting fought with renewed vigor against the genjutsu, applying all her willpower and training in an attempt to take just a little bit of control.
'Just enough to squeeze my fingers' she thought, mentally straining at her efforts, however her attempts were futile. The more she tried, the less control she seemed to have. Her entire body was unresponsive, a simple paralyzation genjutsu was normally easy enough to repel but Konohuro's skill was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. Konohuro appeared at Mika's side, slowly removing her fingers from her chests, he laughed out loud at a lecherous joke made by Ken and with a sly grin he agreed to Ken's following request.

"Sure, you'll get to do whatever you want with her. But first she's gotta revive the others, and we all know how Nibui likes to repay favours."

Mika was sure she shivered at the words, but she wouldn't know. With a simple command, her body began to work on it's own; her feeling, control and future all but lost.


Kamiko woke up several hours into the night. Having chosen to stay with the recuperating Diamond and Taiga, she briefly checked on the comatose pair before heading out to find a toilet. As she placed her foot out of the infirmary, she heard the sounds of worried whispering, and the rushing of steps.

"You just left them there with Mika Himitsu?? What the fuck is wrong with you!" hissed a high-pitched voice, the agitation and fear palpable even from where Kamiko stood.

"There are 3 of them! I called for some of the elders the second I found out about it but Takeshi-sensei is on a mission several hours away!" replied another. Peeking out, Kamiko could make out the fear-stricken face of the bearded guard that helped her earlier. Patting down herself, she cleared her throat and stepped out, making her presence known.

"I happened to have overheard you. If I may ask, are the 3-"

"Excuse me madam can you please return to sleep, this is nothing that the Toratsume clan can not solve on their own." Tilting her head to the side, Kamiko studied the weary looking man in front of her. A tall, thin man with a distrusting face and cracked teeth, his grey hair only reached halfway into his head and stuck out in poorly combed tufts.

"Takeshi, even with the assistance of his escort, won't be enough to stop the Yugure."  At the mention of the Yugure, both men tensed. The attacks on both the Hill and the Thunder still fresh on everyone's mind.

"I'm sorry but you have no way of knowing whe-"

"Tsk.You really think any 3 random rogues could infiltrate this place and not raise a single alarm? You really think Mika  can't take care of 3 average rogues?" At the lack of a response, Kamiko continued, changing back into her torn and burnt mission-wear.

"You, guard, what's your name?"

"M...Myaki, miss"

"Don't stammer. It's annoying, you take Taiga, Lee, Satomi and any other people you have healing here with you to a place of safety. Far, far away from here."  At Kamiko's commands, the older man's face fell into a frown, his balding head shining in the light.

"As I said, the Toratsume clan have this covered. In our 6 years as the protectors of this base, not a single scratch has occured to anyone within it. Myaki, you will not be following her instructions, I am the appointed Head of Security and we will wait till Takeshi and his escort arrive before a decision is made. Also, could you kindly change back into your night-gown, your assistance is not needed and no one wants to see that anyway." Finishing his response with a pumped out chest, the old man looked Kamiko in the eye, as if daring her to test his authority. Squeezing her feet into her boots, Kamiko stood on one leg, muttering to herself about getting new combat boots. As she placed her foot on the ground, she pounced forward, crossing the distance of 6 metres in the blink of an eye, pinning the Head of Security to the wall by his neck, holding the thin man with just one hand.

"You pompous bastard, Onimaro and Mika are likely getting tortured as we speak and you waste time playing your stupid games of dominance. Clear everyone who's not combat capable out of here and gather every spare hand you have. If you're lucky, one of us will survi-" Wood spurted out of the roof, walls and ground, grabbing each of Kamiko's limbs. As she struggled fruitlessly against her binds, the sound of slow footsteps could be heard descending from the nearby stairs.

"Han, the girl is right, do exactly as she says." At the head of the group stood a middle aged man with flowing white hair, radiating power in his brown and blue armour, Takeshi, the current Head of the Toratsume clan and whom many of the citizens looked to as the deserving Kage. His exploits in the last Ninja war brought great pride to the Toratsume clan, his combination of Wood-style and the Clan's Ki-Kyugan dojutsu left him unrivalled in the Hidden Forest, even surpassing the Great Wood Sage; Shishida Amigake. Takeshi stood at the bottom of the stairs, surrounded by over a dozen identically armoured shinobi.

"However, the girl is vastly underestimating my abilities if he thinks that we'd be lucky to leave alive. At worst, I'll be forced to use these." He smiled, a small smile that radiated confidence, yet not one that could be labelled as over-confident. His pupils shone golden and the whites of his eyes darkened to a deep black. He turned around and left just as suddenly as he had arrived, leaving Han and Myaki rushing about to alert the guards of the evacuation.

Ceasing her struggles, Kamiko let her body hang in the entanglement of wood. As she watched Diamond Lee's snoring body being rolled out by a escort of medics and guards, she allowed herself to momentarily relax. Perhaps Takeshi would be enough to stop them. Her body jolted as realisation hit her like a lightning bolt. What would 3 Yugure be doing in a room alone with Mika Himitsu -none other than the Hand of God- if not to raise more Yugure? Her panic ascended when she realised that no one had mentioned anything about Onimaro, likely meaning he was dead or worse. She needed to get help, not even Takeshi would be enough against 5 or 6 Yugure and who knows how many shinobi Konohuro wants to revive.


7 hours later and Mika Himitsu was still at it. Hishiro glanced around the room, Crono Sabaku had been revived almost immediatly he was killed. Ken and Arashi were handled next, the former's a mere healing of a shattered tibia, and the latter being revived from a vicious thunderstrike by Vuregu. Nibui Kirishima was taking longer, his entire body having to be reconstructed from pure Nature Chakra. Mika's methods were highly interesting, each bone, muscle and organ was formed in her hands, and with the utmost delicacy, she pieced his body together, the proportions, shape and size of each tendon having to be perfectly accurate otherwise the entire revival process would fail. Konohuro stood over Mika's shoulders, his eyes wide with fascination at the process. Hishiro however, was far less interested, the chakra control displayed by Mika alone was utterly monstrous, for any other human being the mere sight of such a process would only make one feel inferior, even Ken and Crono were not paying attention, the pair discussing which emblem Nibui would take once revived.

"And what of Gluttony?" asked Crono, his words had a slight slur to them, as he adjusted to his recently mended jaw. Ken sighed at the mention of Gluttony, rolling his eyes before responding.

"It's taken and by a bloody pregnant woman too" The statement caused Crono Sabaku to perk up, the idea of a kunoichi odd amongst the Sabaku Clan and Dust Village.

"A female? And one with child too? How absurd. She must be useless in battle."

From his vantage point behind Mika Himitsu, Konohuro interjected,  "She is currently working on finding her own replacement. I full faith in who she chooses. As Hishiro is now Greed, Nibui will simply have to take the place as Wrath." At this statement, Ken stood up, his fists balled up in anger.

"Kazuki isn't dead, you said it yourself, we know nothing as of yet." At the mention of her son's name, Mika Himitsu's hand faltered, the Genjutsu weakening for a brief second. Konohuro placed a hand on her shoulder and her body resumed movement as usual, with Mika internally struggled for a solution.

"If Kazuki returns, he will simply have to battle Nibui for his old position. Or, anyone one of you."  Ken seemed to calm down at the statement, even smiling at the thought.

"Hehehe, none of you would stand a chance. That little guy scares even me when he's angry."

Crono posed a question, resuming their previous conversation.

"The woman..this Greed...is she the one who stole the former Morikage's eyes?"

Ken chuckled, "Good luck, she's as talkative as Hishiro right here. But hey, who am I to judge? Pregnant and silent might just be your type. Maybe she'd cast a Genjutsu on you so you'd see her as your mother." Crono frowned at the vile suggestion as Hishiro stuggled to hide a smile and Ken laughed out loud, with even Konohuro letting out a small chuckle. His great pride wounded, Crono momentarily considered killing the sick bastard in his sleep,  just revenge for daring to ridicule one such as he.

Arashi lay on one of two beds on the opposite side of the room from where Mika was working. Yawning as he woke, he streched out both arms and looked around blinking as he tried to adjust. His face fluctuating between a mix of surprise, confusion, realisation and panic.

"Wait what did i die???"

"Horribly and painfully, your screams were heard all over the continent." Ken responded with a smirk. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes Crono briefly explained the situation to the confused youngster. Arashi looked at the headless body of Onimaro on the floor, an unfamiliar feeling of loss rising up within him. He buried it, and looked up to Konohuro.

"Why do you have a remote in your hand? What does that have to do with chakra needles? Don't you just need to cast a jutsu to control her?" Konohuro smiled, glad that someone had finally asked the question.

"You'll see."


If the door wasn't opened, Hishiro simply wouldn't have witnessed it. Bulging as if alive, the wooden floor grew and rose, a resplendently armoured white haired man stood at the front with an equally well dressed entourage. At the sight of them, Hishiro backed away from the door, kunai flying from his pouches and floating by his side, shimmering as he pumped chakra into them. Ken and Crono appeared at his side and Arashi, albeit slowly, joined them. Konohuro ignored the fray, not even bothering to look up from his obvservations.

"I am Head of the Toratsume Clan, Tamers of Tigers, Champions of the Forest, Protectors of Jyuunshin and the Clan of Golden Eye. My name is Takeshi Toratsume and you will meet your demise." Ken unsheated 4 of his swords, holding 2 in each hand.

"Konohuro, this guy got some serious chakra. Take Mika somewhere else, this is going to get messy."

"Hmph. You sound scared." said Arashi.  With a single fire jutsu and a command to Mika, Konohuro created a hole through the adjeacent wall. Walking through with Mika and the bed where Nibui's half body lay, he looked back at the challengers for the first time.

"Arashi, you should be. This guy killed the Pride before me." At the revelation, Arashi gulped, looking back to Takeshi with substantially less confidence than before. Ken continuted staring Takeshi in in the eye, a cheeky smirk inviting him to make the first move.

Takeshi raised his right hand, and a wall of earth rose up to block the hole Konohuro left out of.

"Good. Now that Mika is gone, I have no reason to hold back."

As soon as he said those words, the 6 kunai floating by Hishiro's side vanished from sight, barely a second later, 3 dead bodies slumped to the floor, a small pool of blood spreading from each of their necks, the only sign of their quick and easy deaths. As the kunais discharged electricity through their targets, a groan of pain came from one of the standing shinobi.

"Dammit, these things hurt like a bitch." Pulling out the kunai from her hand, one of the targets that Hishiro had failed to fatally hit fell to the floor as the 3rd wave hit her.  Someone else fell, a kunai having grazed their shoulder.

The only person to have dodged the kunai was Takeshi, a look of unmasked anger on his face. To have 5 of his followers murdered so quickly was not going to be forgiven easily. If ever.

"Do not let those kunai touch you. They are infused with electricity and dipped in poison. Stay behind me, summon your Tigers and do not let these scum escape. Today we show them they messed with the wrong Clan."

[taigakun]

Loved it once again!
Good job Manu

[Toratsume Nyshn]

OMG... honoured!!!
and a really nice chapter.
Sad tho, cuz onimaro died... ;_;
MORE FAST!!

[Konohuro]

Nice chapter!

Such a jerk this Konohuro...

[Diamond Lee]

Gib moar chapter



also please give me an award for best sleeper I have slept through it all hahahaha


I love it gaaa

[Manuster]

Yeah I got exams so literally expect one more chapter this week then NONE (or maybe 1) for da next 2 and a half months <3 smd

Last Time

Spoiler: show

Takeshi Toratsume, hero of the Forest engages the Yugure.
Kamiko realises that there are more Yugure than initially thought.

Part 16

'These Yugure were strong, handling them would leave us too weak to forcefully take Mika from Konohuro. How the fuck did that worthless Han mistake 5 Yugure for 3???

'I would've gotten backup if I knew there were going to be so many.' thought Takeshi to himself. As Crono crushed the skull of one of his most promising students, Takeshi made up his mind.

"Formation 6, Offensive Retreat" Parrying one of Ken's thrusts, Takeshi cast a Wood Wall behind him, which was quickly reinforced by 6 other walls of various elements. Dodging one of Crono's punches, he swung up the shinobi by his arm into the path of Arashi, disrupting his Water Cannon jutsu. As the pair untangled, Takeshi backed into a wall, drawing in the Yugure's attention and then activated his Dojutsu ability: Temporary Hypnosis. Safely behind the series of elemental Walls, his comrades had began casting varioius powerful jutsu whilst the 4 Yugure stood frozen in place, their eyes closed and chests heaving. Slipping by Hishiro, Takeshi took one of his floating kunai and stabbed it into the skinny rogue's arm.

"See how you like your poison now, you fucker."

Lacing his arm with over a metre of wood, Takeshi plowed through the wall, opening a hole into the room with Mika and Konohuro. Stepping through, he was already halfway into casting a jutsu when he was blown back into the room by a savage punch. Climbing to his feet, he darted in once again, ducking under Mika Himitu's punch and running towards Konohuro.

"Wood Style: Crushing Cage Jutsu" The very walls near Konohuro tore apart as they encircled him, creating a cage with only a single horizontal slit to peer through. The walls began closing in just as quickly as they formed yet Konohuro stood stock still, as if oblivious to the jutsu. Turning around to the charging Mika, Takeshi once again activated Temporary Hypnosis, bringing to a stop the corrupted Sage's charge. 'Don't worry I'll save you Mika. And then you'll teach me the ways of a Sage.' Takeshi turned back and smiled at Konohuro's nonchalant look through the slit before raising his hands in a Boar sign.

"Wood Style: Cage of Spears" True to the name, the cage formed spears on it's interior, slashing where Konohuro just stood. A hole perfectly shaped to Mika Himitsu had torn through the cage, standing on the other side her kneeling figure showed deep cuts, exposing the ribs on her back and a mass of flesh. For the first time since Takeshi had attacked, Konohuro reacted, waving a remote to the troubled opponent.

"That Hypnosis of yours is supposed to stop all Genjutsu isn't it? As if I'd use such a simple method." Takeshi could sense that Mika's jutsu was disturbed, a foreign chakra roaming in her body. But if the remote was the source then simply knocking out Mika wouldn't work. As the Yugure broke out of the Hypnosis, the sounds of battle resumed in the previous room.

"Fire Cannon!"
"Wind Cannon!"
"Dust Cannon!"
"Boil Cannon!
"Convergence of Thunder: Struck Thrice."

Several short explosions rang out, the surrounding walls and roof ripping to shreds in the impact as light rain fell from the now exposed cloudy sky. 3 lightning bolts fell into the room, each seeming to come from a different direction yet hitting the same point. As his surbodinates took control of the battle, Takeshi pieced together the best way to save Mika.

"So? All I have to do is destroy that remote and Mika is back to normal? Simple." Takeshi smiled at the blurring image of Konohuro, agitated that he'd already had to use his dojutsu 5 times.

Konohuro looked Takeshi straight in the eye as he told the lie.

"Yes."

Reminance sat in a heated tub across from Takami Himitsu, taking the short break to celebrate his 30th birthday. Despite the 14 year gap in age, Reminance chose to spend this 30 minute-turned-3 hour-break with Takami, the two already getting along like brothers. Which was rather a relief for Reminance, as he had 5 younger sisters of his own.

Takami, the young, rising talent who excelled in long range distance jutsu had been taken in by Reminance as a pupil. Unbeknownst to him, Reminance had plans for the youth to supercede him as the next leader of Roguhanta. Dedicated, talented, diplomatic and enthusiastic, Takami reminded Reminance of a younger version of himself.

Leaning over to one side, a loud tearing sound erupted from Reminance and bubbles rose to the surface of the tub as Takami recoiled in shock horror. Letting out an even larger eruption, Takami shot Reminance a grin, earning him a nod of pride from his tutor. An awkward cough from the door earned both shinobi's attention, Reminance lowering his face into the water to hide from Hisaki Nakai's glare. Takami steeled himself, bravely and naively challenging Reminance's assistant to knock the door in the future before entering.

'Oh he's going to regret that,' thought Reminance.

To say that Hisaki scared him would be an understatement, despite Reminance's dominating 6'3" frame, Hisaki's no nonsense glare sent shivers down his spine. Reminance briefly wondered whether the Nakai clan had a tendency to produce scary individuals. The fact that both Hisaki and Shiro scared him senseless could stem from some sort of secret clan jutsu.

Looking at Hisaki, Reminance noticed several odd things about him, his eyes looked tired and his shoulders sagged, his arms hanging loosely by his side and his mouth wasn't set in it's usual half-frown - ready to blast Reminance  for not acting as an individual in such a respectable position should. Reminance sat up, knowing only something serious would effect Hisaki like this.

"Somethings wrong." sensing Reminance's tone, Takami climbed out of the bath as Hisaki simply nodded in response, before briefing Reminance on the occurences. Utilising a chakra linked tattoo system, Roguhanta could keep locate and keep tabs on their members. When one of the marks faded, one of 3 possibilities had occured; either the limb the tattoo was attached to was disconnected from the body, the shinobi had simply poured their chakra into the tattoo and destroyed the tracker, or the shinobi had died. Seeing as most shinobi attached their tattoo to their chest or back, the first outcome was often rare.

For over 100 trackers to lose connection within the space of 5 minutes was disastrous, coupled with the fact that the mission wasn't even a Roguhanta assigned further increased worry. Grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his waist, Reminance stormed out after Hisaki.

"100 members around the Snow village? I don't get it, we only have 37 members from there."

"Very early reports suggest a failed siege on the village but we have nothing conclusive." Hisaki responded, handing Reminance several reports.

"A siege? On the Hidden Snow? Who would gather so many Roguhanta members for such a thing?"

Takami spoke up from behind the pair, fighting to get himself into his trousers while keeping up with them.

"M..maybe Onimaro, ouch....maybe he went through with that plan he told you about." Reminance and Hisaki froze, glancing at each other with a look of worry etched on their face. The pair looked at Takami who sat on the floor with his shirt on the wrong way round and his trousers around his knees. He looked back at them and blinked.

"Fuck." said Reminance, doubling his pace. Hisaki followed effortlessly, verbally running through several calculations.

"Assuming Onimaro used mainly Genin and Chuunin for the siege, as well as hired guards for the Genjutsu users, then 100....65% of Jonin...30....Hmmm. There should be anywhere between 300 and 350 shinobi fatalities, including Roguhanta members. We can expect most if not all of them to be Himitsu." Reminance kept on walking in silence, venting his frustrations on the door by throwing it open, threatening to knock it off its hinges in the process. Practically holding up his towel with a single hand, Reminance began poring over the control panel, absorbing the information regarding each individual's name.

"I swear when next I see that idiot..."

Ken sat in a puddle of blood, water, and ash, leaning against the battered wall with a sword in his hand. 5 swords. He had lost 5 of his swords against Takeshi and his entourage, a feat that no one had accomplished since he first sparred Kazuki. Arashi, the only Yugure to have escaped unscathed delivered the finishing blow to Takeshi, before calling out to Ken and tossing him his arm. Ken stretched out lazily, missing completely and getting slapped in the face by his detached elbow.

Rendered blind by Takeshi's Radiance, Ken had no vision in either eyes. He groaned as one of his loose teeth fell out.

"Urgh...Arashi, where's Hishiro..."

"The guy got poisoned by one of his own kunai, he's there somewhere underneath those bodies." Arashi gestured to a pile of decapitated limbs, Hishiro's last stand before death was upon him.  Another moan drifted from the other side of the room; Crono Sabaku crawling on both elbows towards the crumbling wall separating them from Konohuro, both of Crono's legs obliterated off by Takeshi's use of Golden DeathLight led to his intestines trailing out behind him, a sight that both disgusted but puzzled Arashi. Konohuro's head appeared, a slight smile at the scenes before him.

"By the Beasts. Where the hell is Hishiro? And I vividly remember telling you guys not to die? Just because we got a medic now doesn't mean we have all the time in the world." Arashi looked pointedly at Konohuro.

"You barely fought the guy, you just got Mika to do all the work." Konohuro smiled sweetly at Arashi.

"That's because I'm the brains. Now, Arashi, carry in Crono, might as well start with him." Mumbling under his breath about hygiene, Arashi awkwardly grabbed Crono's hands, pulling the shinobi towards Mika.


After going through the control panel, Reminance had called out 112 names, 112 members to have died within and outside the Snow Village. He sighed and looked at Hisaki who scribbled down the last name with the same look he wrote down the others with. Hisaki looked up.

"How many left?" Reminance looked back, barely needing to count.

"6...so about 20 survivors right?" 

"And Onimaro?" Reminance's sighed in response.

"I don't know, I didn't check on him. I couldn't bring myself to do it." Hisaki stood up and walked over to the panel. On a large, detailed, 2D map were single red lights scattered unequally. Filtering out any shinobi belonging to the Hidden Snow, there remainedover 100 grey lights around the Hidden Snow Village, each one gradually fading as the individual's chakra dissipated into the air.

"Well he isn't dead so he has to be one of the 6 left." Hisaki stated matter-of-factly, hiding his turmoil within. He silently tapped on each light, bringing up an  extensive page of each individuals status and details. A short while passed before Hisaki continued.

"He...he isn't here." Reminance rushed to the panel, double checking each status. Moving to the filters on the right he highlighted each light belonging to a Himitsu clan member, he then highlighted users of Wind Style, Medics, and Jonin.

A single grey light stood out towards the outskirts of Morigakure, faded almost into nothing. Opening the screen, Hisaki read out the connection status, fighting back the lump in his throat.

"Last connection detected, 513 minutes ago." Reminance reached over to the panel, removing the filter for 'Wind Style.' As he did so 4 more lights came on, 1 in the Hidden Haze, 1 in the Hidden Hill, 1 in the Hidden Inferno, and a last one in the Hidden Forest, practially on top of Onimaro's faded light. Reminance let out a sigh of relief as he brought up Mika Himitsu's screen, reading over 'Active Connection' with near glee. Whatever reason Onimaro had had to go to the Jyuunshin headquarters had obviously been resorted if Mika was fine. At least his death wouldn't be in vain. Sharing a half-smile with Hisaki, Reminance reached to close her screen when he froze in horror.

Mika Himitsu's light faded, turning from red to grey right before their very eyes.


'Oh no, oh no, oh no' Kamiko was near panicking, getting out of Takeshi's wood jutsu was simple enough but she had massively underestimated how big this hideout, or rather fortress was. She spent over 10 minutes wandering through the emptying halls and asking clueless guards and evacuees before the large sounds of battle drew her attention. She could hear a crashing noise almost directly above her and it seemed to be gradually getting closer.

Throwing herself to the side, Kamiko dodged the falling body as one of Takeshi's screaming entourage flew past her; several weapons and lightning jutsu evident over his half-armoured body. Kamiko peeked through the hole the man had left, gazing upwards at the scenes of battle. She jumped into the hole, propelled upwards by her Fire Style: Jet Propulsion, pondering as to what exactly she could do if even Takeshi failed against the mighty Yugure.

Tucked in on a bed to the side, Nibui Kirishima lay snoring, his body completely regenerated during the fight. Crono Sabaku lay on another bed, currently being worked on by the tireless Mika Himitsu, who, if not for the high Nature Energy density, and the fact that her controlled mind could no longer feel fatigue; would've long passed out.

Arashi had just managed to drag Ken's bleeding and unconscious body through the crumbling wall when a figure appeared out of the one of the numerous holes in the ground.

Her feet emitting a steady stream of fire, Kamiko stood floating, taking a quick look around at the scenery before bending her knees and propelling herself to Nibui, landing rather painfully on his abdomen.

"Ow!" Nibui sat up, glaring at the individual who interrupted his nap. "Wait what the fuck? Where's Vreg?" Before he could ask anymore questions a kunai was placed at his neck and Kamiko began weaving signs with her free hand.

"Cancel the Genjutsu, give me Mika and I will let you go."

"Urgh. Konohuro, please dude, I'm sooo tired, can you just like put her in a Genjutsu or something, I can't bear to fight anyone else." Arashi sat heavily on the ground, subtely placing himself behind Hishiro and Ken's laying bodies, creating the least effective meat shield he'd had the misfortune of using.

"Do not turn around, have Mika turn towards me and tell me something only she and I would know." Kamiko finished off her demands by placing her fingers to her mouth, the Flamethrower jutsu ready to be released.

"Hey. Arashi. You asked me what the remote was for?" Konohuro raised his arm showing the electronic device. Confused, but sure that he was supposed to answer, Arashi agreed.

"Yeah...what of it?" Konohuro threw the remote towards Kamiko, who simply grabbed it, thinking it was merely the device that controlled Mika. The second the device was in her hands and she laid both eyes on it, she was attacked by a Genjutsu, triggering each and every nerve cell in her body. Falling to the floor, Kamiko writhed in pain as Konohuro simply explained.

"Well with someone as important as the 'Hand of God' in our midst, we would undoubtedly be targeted by shinobi of all backgrounds. And some, if not many will attack us when our guard is down, such as now. Rather than fighting back against each and every single one of them, the easiest thing to do would be to submit to them. Or rather, pretend to. Appearing to use a remote misleads them to think that theres still a way to save Mika when in fact, the best method would simply be to kill her." 

Arashi gaped in admiration at the forethought and detail of Konohuro's elaborate scheme, but he still had a question.

"Wait, how will the world know we have the Hand of God if her identity has always been a secret?" His question earned him a chuckle in response.

"Boy. Why do you think I left Taiga and Kamiko escape in the first place?" Konohuro's laughter echoed as Kamiko screams came to an end and she gladly faded into unconsciousness.

"Errr is no one going to explain what the fuck is going on?" Nibui sat up, rubbing the point on his neck where the kunai had rested. "Seriously? I'm guarding Vuregu around Shogekigakure, he starts to go into Sage Mode and all of a sudden I'm being sat on by some bitch. And where the fuck are we??"

Nibui glanced around the room, the questions and confusions pilling on thick. Looking down, he kicked at the spasming body of his attacker, a wicked smile forming on his face with even wickeder thoughts.


Kamiko had been raised as part a member of the Hidden Ash's infamous assassin-orientated clan; Hoshi. With an unparalled training program, children as young as 4 were forced to kill, leading to a terrfyingly high number of teenage suicides and desertations. Those who deserted were ruthlessly hunted and if found, were subjected to a punishment that would make them wish they had committed suicide. As one of the brightest products of the Hoshi clan and Hidden Ash Academy, Kamiko's future in the clan was cut off when it was attacked and annihilated by the Ennia of the Hidden Metal. Kamiko was in her twenties when she discovered her mother's links to the Himitsu. After being welcomed into the Himitsu with open arms she returned to Hidden Ash in order to change the village's financial destitution once and for all.

As she slipped into unconsciousness, Kamiko thought of the debt she held towards the Himitsu. She absolutely refused to ignore such an instance where her help was greatly needed. She begged her arms, her legs, anything to move, but whatever genjutsu had been placed on that block, made every movement agony.

"Appearing to use a remote misleads them to think that theres still a way to save Mika when in fact, the best method would just be to kill her."

As Konohuro finished his speech, Kamiko perked up, fighting the waves of unconsciousness that threated to overcome her. She renewed her attempts with added vigor, slowly, but definitely, she moved her arm up, hidden by her body that lay on top of it.

'How ironic...the only way I can thank the Mika is by killing her.' She chuckled to herself, blinked away the pain, and drew the remaining quantity of chakra to the tips of her fingers. With a single swift motion Kamiko punctured the middle of her chest with her fingers.

"Die, you scum."


Arashi Himitsu heard a weak chuckle from the floor, stopping him mid-laugh. He turned to see that Kamiko's elbow had moved, placing her hand somewhere underneath her torso. He turned to Konohuro to see an expression he had never seen and would never see on his face again; fear.

The world went black.

[Diamond Lee]

now that. Was a cheeky chapter. So many things I loved about this-- the hot tub flatulations, badass Ken not catching his arm, and the end, oh the end. You and america need to collab in a crossover story because u two make me wet with ur stories.




rip 2 months tho

[taigakun]

Fam this was liit!
Loved everything about this chapter and now you've really got me looking forward to the next one

Spoiler: show

And you got my 1000th post <3