Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Shinden Saga – Arc 1: Kimera

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Chapter 120 – The Chimera

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Just a minute after Takeshi Minamoto ran off from the capital of Lightning, Hideo Kotobuki arrived at the place by the front gate. As soon as here, he goes toward the closest Kumo-nin present, being Ru, and looks at the surroundings, understanding that a fight took place here recently.

Judging from how it looks, ninjas from Kumo must have come here and faced an enemy who was trying to get in… No. Since the guarding corps at the gate is only made of a few Kumo-nin, the enemy must have instead tried to get out, and succeeded.

Ru, unaware of who this man is, gets in his way and does his job, keeping the gate.

"Sir, I can't allow anyone to enter." He says, also staring at the few elite hunters in Kiri uniforms behind the intruder. "Was your coming anticipated?"

Kotobuki looks at the ninja and his bird mask covering his face. As he reminds himself of all the intel he has on Kumo, he guesses that he is Ru, the one that the Blood Master tried to turn against his village 2 years ago.

"I am the Daimyo of the land of Water, young man." he says, before taking a step forward and calmly laying his hand on the ninja's shoulder. "My visit was planned with the Daimyo of Lightning. I've come to fulfill my ambitions, which is… To take this land as my own."

Just as he whispers these last words in Ru's ear, he spreads his chakra through the hand lying on his shoulder, and uses one of the many Kekkei Genkai abilities he possesses.

Hyoishi

"Now, tell me." he asked the one he cursed. "What happened here?"

The Chimera knows that Takeshi is in this same land. And he knows that the sensory capabilities of his tengu could detect him any minute. This is why he's been hiding his chakra print all along the way. He doesn't know where the Minamoto is at the moment, but isn't afraid of meeting him. He'd just like to delay this as much as possible since it would necessarily start a fight.

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South of the land, the said Kiri-nin is running toward Naomi Yuki's hideout, hoping to find her and bring her to the capital. While at it, he questions himself about the odd hostility that ninjas of Kumo show toward him. Unable to understand or justify it, he asks Tentoki.

"I really don't get what I did to Kumo." he says. "Why do they seem to hate me so much?"

"… I don't think it's hate. Take it easy, but it feels more like jealousy or rejection." the white tengu explains.

"Jealousy?" Takeshi exclaims.

"My guess would be that they see you kind of like they saw 4th Hokage, Minato Namikaze." he continues. "It's simply that you beat them at their own game of pride, just like he did. Throughout history, Kumo has always had the most physically strong and fast ninjas. It's not for nothing that they've been considered the most powerful of the hidden villages since the 1st Great War. They know how to embrace their uniqueness. But you, Takeshi, are a Koton user. And to them, Koton is the power of Yukai. They've always been welcoming of the Kekkei Genkai abilities that they take so much pride in, so having other villages beat them at it is infuriating for the people… Especially if it's someone from Kiri which, unlike them, feared unique powers for long before Lady 5th normalized it."

"… About Kiri, I guess that's why Naomi and her clan's survivors had to hide." Takeshi thinks aloud, forgetting about his first question due to the new topic. "It's because of Kiri that she ended up believing she was alone…"

"I sense some compassion in your voice." Tentoki teases him. "Seems like you've taken a liking to her."

Takeshi just lightly smiles under his mask and doesn't answer his tengu's guess. It's true that since they left Rihetsuki Otsutsuki's house, he got to know Naomi more, and now actually feels different about her.

He gets off this train of thought when he arrives at the shore and notices the cottage in which Naomi should be in the distance. Unsettled, he finds it totally destroyed, with many massive ice formations piercing through. This is obviously Naomi's doing, but why did she do that? And more importantly, why can't he sense her chakra anywhere?

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At the same time, while Takeshi is kept busy by his discovery, the Raikage and his subordinates have read through the notes he left on Minaa's armor. He's given just a quick tale about who he is after, what this person wants, and what it can do. They're now discussing it.

"A man who absorbs Kekkei Genkai?" Sana comments. "And Naomi used to work for him? She wasn't really talkative back in the day, so she never mentioned such a thing. Couldn't tell if it's true."

"Well, apparently Tsubai's boy is bringing her right away." Minaa enthusiastically exclaims. "Can't wait to see how she's doing!"

"Raikage, I can't get myself to believe this man." W shares his thoughts. "He'd certainly be less suspicious if he actually gave his sources. No, instead he just writes that he has a reliable source but we wouldn't believe it if he tried to explain… What's that supposed to mean?"

Darui doesn't talk. He quietly thinks of it for himself. It seems like this Chimera that Takeshi mentions is the same person as the new Water Daimyo, and occupies the role of Kage for the underworld of the land of Water. This is similar to a case that they've dealt with in the past. While in his wonders, he stares at Yukai, the one who solved that case, lying unconscious.

"So we're talking about an acquaintance of the Blood Master?" he says aloud, catching everyone's attention by mentioning this name.

"Well this would be problematic." Yurui says. "I hate to put it this way, but in some way we're lucky that the Daimyo was killed. If this guy reached him and convinced him to join him, we'd have the enemy in charge of the land."

"This is Kiri's business, not ours." Tarui says.

"If this guy comes here as he planned, it will necessarily become our business as well." Kaminari answers.

"Let's not forget that the Blood Master's case isn't closed either." Toroi reminds everyone. "He may be dead, but mercenaries are still working in the land. Someone is still maintaining order. There's still leads that we didn't investigate. Like the Blood Master's family that was under cover in Kumo before being unveiled."

"What happened to them?" Aoki asks.

"They escaped before we could capture them." The Raikage tells his daughter. "It's his wife, young daughter, and son. They were all traitors, part of Kumo's ranks."

"Yeah I remember Akui." Toroi comments about the Blood Master's son. "He was with us at the academy."

"Really?" Kaminari asks promptly out of curiosity. "I mean… I wouldn't know, since I came to Kumo only 3 years ago."

"Hmmm, this is bad, isn't it?" Omoi lets his wonders out. "As long as they're free, they could be taking back the family business and come back for vengeance against us later. Considering that White Claw is out there in this land, it would be really messed up if they worked together to overthrow us… And let's not forget that they apparently have allies overseas, like that Chimera guy."

Aoki, Minaa, and all don't pay attention to Omoi's words, thinking it's just another wild theory like he often does. Darui, however, listens closely and takes it into consideration. Just as he was thinking of it, the ninjas who were guarding the gate came back to them.

The Raikage confusingly looks at them, wondering why they left their position. He sees Ru come by his side to stand at his guard with W, and point toward the visitor who made his way in. They've never seen him before, but the striped pattern on his pullover and the army behind him makes it easy to guess. It is who they've just been warned about. The Daimyo of the land of Water.

Kotobuki calmly analyzes the scene as he arrives face to face with the Raikage's elite, himself accompanied by disguised mercenaries and Kumo-nins. He looks at the faces before him, at their hostile expressions, and at their ready postures. He then looks at the defeated ninjas being healed and at the feudal residence in the distance.

"So your Daimyo has really been murdered…" he acknowledges, speaking out loud to the Raikage. "I was told that White Claw did it, but it isn't possible. This one only goes after rival hunters and doesn't kill the powerless. It wasn't him… It was probably Sandman's daughter… Anyway, it seems I've come here for nothing. And judging from your behavior, I assume you've been warned about me and I'm in a bad posture right now."

Darui understands that he's the one being spoken to. He raises his shoulders, ready to order his troop's assault, but is promptly interrupted before he can take a step forward or say anything. He suddenly feels something in his abdomen. Looking down, he sees a lightning blade stabbing through from his back. Behind him, it is Ru, under control of the Chimera's will, who initiated the conflict.

To W and Aoki, it looks like their friend abruptly returned to his former intentions of betrayal. The one with the red blade immediately pulls out his sword and tries to behead the traitor who counters with his thunder weapon that he pulls from the Raikage's wound. Busied by W, Ru doesn't see Aoki who vengefully and angrily strikes him in the torso with a lightning enhanced fist.

Lightning Straight

With this unseen attack, she sends her teammates flutter a hundred meters away, instantly defeated. Behind the invader, the army of will-possessed Kumo-nin and mercenaries engage in combat against the Raikage's elite.

Aoki, left in charge, yells out a war cry to motivate all her father's troops to defend themselves. Worried, she looks for her injured dad that she luckily sees being brought to Sana by Minaa who immediately prioritized the Raikage's safety. Aoki goes to check on him, being laid down next to Yukai.

"If I hurry, Lord Raikage is in no danger." Sana reassures them.

Darui, still conscious, raises his hand to hold his daughter. He confidently stares at her.

"Excuse Ru and the others. They're being manipulated." he says about those who are helping the enemy. "Sana will take care of me. You handle that bastard!" he orders before taking a rest to be healed.

Aoki nods, and looks toward the one responsible for this attack: The Chimera, Hideo Kotobuki, who's just standing still in the middle of his army. Getting ready to enter the fight as well, he calmly takes off his lab coat and pullover, and opens his eyes.

He's now topless, letting everyone see his body and its atypical traits. On his left breastplate, over his heart, is a mark that resembles the black mass and straps of the Otsutsuki's Shigetsu no Juin. The veins over this region of his body are inflated and beating like his heart. On his right shoulder and arm is what remains of the fatal injury he got by attempting to absorb Madara Uchiha's cells years ago. And in his eyes, he reveals his right Sharingan and left Byakugan.

Minaa stands up next to Aoki and stares at this man, determined to lead the fight. Aoki looks at the Nii clan leader and nods before looking aside to give a last order.

"Sana, get Yukai back on his feet quickly." she says. "We'll beat that guy's ass together."

"I'll do my best, but it surely will take time." the medic answers.

"So be it. In the meantime, I'll start the warm up. You with me, Minaa-sensei?" Aoki exclaims.

"You've read the notes of Tsubai's boy, haven't you?" Minaa warns her. "That guy is bad news. You sure you can do this?"

"Pff! If Yukai beat the Blood Master, then this is my time to shine!" Aoki proudly replies.

"He seems way stronger than that." Sana comments behind them.

"This just makes it better." she says.

"Ha! Right! Let's go then!" Minaa exclaims before getting on all fours and activating her signature transformation.

Raigeki Modo

Aoki and she leap through the crowd, toward the Chimera who gets in a fight pose, ready to receive them. Then starts the kind of physical combat that Kotobuki only rarely had to get to. The Raikage's daughter isn't as fast as Minaa, but has jutsus that can keep up, and uses them so.

Ranton – Laser Circus

She creates a bubble filled with lightning that explodes to let the energy fly through the air in the shape of light beams. These lasers follow Minaa's movements and burst forth along with her. From this combination, as she sees the flashing bolts around her, Minaa gets a pleasant feeling of nostalgia, reminded of her past battles side by side with her deceased best friend, Z.

Kotobuki, with his Sharingan, can clearly decipher the moves of both the cat kunoichi and the lasers. At the right exact time to act, he raises his hand to create an ephemeral wood shield from his arm that blocks all the beams and Minaa's foot that came along.

By the strength of this woman's attack, Hideo is pushed back with his feet sliding on the ground. The shield successfully contained her but breaks as soon as she leaps off. Now unprotected, he prepares to receive Minaa again, as well as Aoki who jumps forward to join the short range action.

With both her fists covered in lightning, Aoki tries to box her opponent who skillfully avoids and mimics her strikes. This young girl may not be fast or strong enough to overcome his Sharingan, she keeps him just busy enough to let Minaa be too much for him.

Just as he pushes back the Raikage's daughter with a punch to the chest, the Nii clan leader crawls on all fours between her ally's legs and rapidly pushes her talon into the Chimera's chin. When she sees the swift and powerful movements of her elder, Aoki envies her Lightning Armor. She's been training to get a jutsu that would complete her Taijutsu like this one, but isn't ready to use it yet.

Any human would have been knocked out by this kick, but the increased durability that Hideo acquired by absorbing stronger genes and bodies make him tough enough to endure it. He takes just one step back and firmly catches on the cat woman's ankle. He flinches just a bit, deranged by the flowing thunder around her, but holds still.

Minaa shakes her leg to make him let go, kicks his chest and face with the other foot, but nothing works. Standing still, he lets the chakra flow through his skin and enhances his durability. Aoki raises her hands to interfere, but is quickly dealt with by Hideo who lifts Minaa off the ground and throws her to smash the younger one.

Aoki resists this collision and catches her acolyte. Minaa quickly gets back on all fours, ready to return to it.

"Aoki, you gotta be faster." she says. "His right eye can see us move, but his body can't keep up to me. You need to surpass his speed."

"I'm not ready to use this for now." Aoki complains about her training being incomplete.

"Doesn't matter if you've trained enough!" Minaa advises. "Ever heard of adrenaline?"

Aoki makes a surprised face, taking this advice. After these words, Minaa activates the second cat-like stage of her transformation and jumps back into action. Hideo, who took some distance to give himself time to anticipate, raises his hands and gathers lightning and water in his palms.

Ranton – Rankiryu (Demon Dragon Storm)

By combining them, he creates a stormy cloud that he tosses forward to engulf Minaa before she can reach him. The hand-made storm comes at high speed toward her, but is fortunately slowed down and held back by Aoki's own use of the same Kekkei Genkai.

Ranton – Waterbolt

She throws a mass of lightning flying through the air and flowing like a large water puddle that covers the artificial storm and contains it, preventing its spread. Helped by this, Minaa leaps over the colliding jutsus and catches sight of the enemy again. Hideo looks up to see her and prepares to receive a kick from above, but she has something else in mind that even his Sharingan doesn't see coming.

Raiton – Thunder Strike

As she throws her foot down, she doesn't wait for the landing to strike, and instead lets the yellow bolts of her armor flow down and be propelled toward the target like lightning coming from the sky. Hideo widely opens his eyes in surprise and only has time to cross his already raised arms to take cover.

He's shocked by the projection and thrown back, away from the battling armies. As he rolls on the ground, he clenches his fists out of frustration. He is meant to obtain a greater power and surpass the limits of humanity. The only one who should be allowed to outspeed him is the young Minamoto.

Out of determination, he gets on his feet and stops himself straight right before Minaa catches up to him again. He sees her coming and swiftly raises his fist that he coats in an acidic layer to confront her flying kick. The woman in her cat armor looks down and thinks. He's shown wood, storm and acid already, along with his eyes and whatever he did to control Ru and the others. How many people did this guy kill and rob to obtain all the abilities?

While she wonders, Hideo opens his hand and, helped by his Dojutsu, carefully moves along her foot and leg to catch her by the calf and let his acid dissolve her. Alerted by this feeling, she raises her other foot again. This time, using her best form, she stabs through his shoulder with her toe claws, making him flinch.

Troubled by this hit, he quickly reacts and spins her around before throwing her away when he notices Aoki coming again.

Raiton – Shunshin

The Raikage's daughter doesn't feel ready yet to activate anything close to the legendary jutsu she aims to learn, but she can at least attempt one of its fundamentals. Using lightning spread through her chakra pathway system, she accelerates her movements up to lightning speed and lets this effect last long enough to be used in battle.

Kotobuki lets her come, counters her hits and copies her moves until feeling the difference made by this new speed. She's, just like Minaa, going too fast for his body to keep up. Before he realizes it, he can't stop her offensive and lets most of her hits slip through his guard and reach him.

While taking light punches meant to shake his insides, he hurries to stop this uncomfortable situation by forcing her away with a lateral blade dash.

Mokuton – Daisoju

By turning his arm into a short spiky tree, he hopes to stab her and grow it through her body to fatally end her, but his movement allows her to get behind him by crouching and passing under. Once in his back, she joins her hands around his waist and firmly holds them together, ready for one of her best Taijutsu moves.

Thunder Suplex

After tightening her hold, she starts to lift him up, ready to throw him over her shoulders and let him crash head and shoulders first into the ground, all while fastening and strengthening her move with Raiton Shunshin.

Hideo can feel, from the moment his body is being brought in and the power in his opponent's arms, that this jutsu could be fatal if added to the damages he already took. This fight was impressive and entertaining, but this close to a possible defeat, he has to bring an end to it.

Hyoton – Hyoro

All of a sudden, Aoki is stopped in the middle of her movement, trapped in an ice prison enclosing her whole body, leaving only her head free. Hideo, suspended above her, calmly rolls off to get back on his feet. Immobilized, the Raikage's daughter can only powerlessly watch as the Chimera slowly walks around her.

"I would have gladly taken your heart, Aoki Yotsuki." he tells her as his bruises heal thanks to the 1st Hokage's regeneration ability. "But I wouldn't get any new ability from it. So I will just dispose of you."

Hyoton – Hyoken

Using Naomi's jutsu, he creates an ice blade that he prepares to plunge into Aoki's neck. Minaa Nii, lying on the ground further away, was spectating the young kunoichi's efforts in amazement. Her emotions were totally twisted around when she saw the Chimera use Hyoton.

It isn't one of the abilities that Tsubai's boy warned them about. And judging from what Kotobuki just said, he must have acquired it by taking someone's heart. There is only one person that Minaa knows and who has this Kekkei Genkai. It is the former teammate that she was feeling hyped to meet again. Knowing what Hideo using Hyoton implies about Naomi, she trembles.

By her cooperation with Aoki, she just got in a nostalgic mood in remembrance of Z. The possibility of meeting with another Karasu member again cheered her up, only to be cut short by this realization. Now looking at the one who must have killed Naomi also threatening Aoki, Minaa snaps. She lets anger take over and emits a strong lightning wave that tears her clothes apart and catches Kotobuki's attention.

Hideo looks aside to see the source of this mayhem, and is immediately startled by a double kick to his face that smacks him away from the Raikage's daughter. He tries to stand up as quickly as possible but is forced to stay on his knees by the now naked cat woman who jumps back and forth and relentlessly tears his skin and flesh apart with her thunder claws.

Trapped in this ferocious offensive, Hideo lets out a slight scream of complaint. Yet, even if his body can't keep up and has to bear this pain, his right eye can see her move while his left sees her coming from any direction. After analyzing her movements, he slowly tries to get his hands together for a counter.

Mokuton – Sashiki

He makes a wooden spike in his hand which he intends to use to interrupt the kunoichi's rush. But before he can do as planned, Minaa stops right under his eyes and steals the pointy branch before it is complete. She promptly stabs him in the chest with his own weapon and kicks him in the chin again, but this time with her toes first, dipping her claws into his jaw.

He's pushed up and back, flying over the whole battlefield to land on his knees again on the other side of the crowd. Ready to finish it, Minaa grows foot long claws on her fingers to which she spreads all the yellow electricity gathered on her arms. She gets in position and goes through the whole combat place in one leap.

Hideo had just a few seconds of respite, but was expecting them for clever use. When Minaa reaches the other side of the battling armies, she needs to lay her feet down once more in order to take a second leap and get to her target that she's ready to slice down. The Chimera saw this coming, and is holding a hand sign as he waits for her to land.

Deiton – Deiteimu

When her feet touch the ground, they dig in and end up trapped in a puddle of mud. It isn't just little mud at her feet. Hideo just turned all the ground under the battling armies to liquid that is slowly swallowing everyone. But this inconvenience doesn't seem to be enough to stop Minaa's rage. To stop her and the on-going battle, he adds an extra layer of panic.

Mokuton – Jukai Kotan

An entire forest emerges in the middle of the capital and hides the nearby ninjas. The trees keep growing and get wider to immobilize everyone in range. Minaa, just as she was getting out of the mud, is caught by lianas that come down from the trees and hold her limbs to bind her. These plant tentacles wrap around her and pull her down into the mud. Once fully emerged, the forest is slowly swallowed by the swamp.

Hideo admires his own spectacle while healing all his wounds. Not yet satisfied, he decides to add a final touch to annihilate everything in sight, including the medic team and the injured ninjas that are still being healed.

Katon – Goenkyu

After leaping up to let himself be carried by the highest tree of the forest, he breathes out a massive flame that sets the whole field on fire. Aoki, still trapped in the ice block, screams in determination, as she pointlessly tries to free herself. Her prison is slowly being swallowed by the swamp and pushed down by the branches on top of it.

As she understands her doom, she thinks of Yukai, Ru, her father, Omoi-sensei and everyone who's just as trapped as her. The level of this threat is comparable with what Lord 4th described to her about Madara Uchiha. There was no way she could have defeated him anyway.

Just as she gives up, she notices someone who keeps fighting in the woods. It is Kaminari who comes toward her in an attempt to help her. He seemed to be navigating through the traps and flames almost flawlessly, until she noticed him. Just now, a liana catches his leg and pulls him into the mud. Aoki, afraid, screams his name. He stares at her with no fear in his eyes. It seems more like doubt or determination than dread.

Seeing him, yet so self-conscious about his limits as a ninja, give all he can to keep fighting motivates her. She clenches her fists, lets lightning flow through her body and tries to push through the ice with all her strength. She shouts a war cry again to motivate herself and Kaminari who's being swallowed.

Suddenly, a white flash passes through the forest and blinds everyone who's still conscious.

Shiden

The Chimera, on top of his highest plant, sees the burning trees fly up in ranges, cut off from their roots. With his Byakugan, he tries to see what is happening underneath. To his surprise he doesn't find any living thing in his massive trap. Have they all been swallowed? No. They've all been pulled out.

Behind him, near his blind spot, he notices all of them, all the ninjas of Kumo and all his mercenaries. His men are all defeated, tied up or passed out while all the Kumo-nin are safe. Minaa is conscious and catching her breath. Aoki is free from her ice prison and checking on Kaminari's vital signs. Confused, he looks around to know how this is possible.

It is by following W's gaze that he notices who just entered. Aside from the crowd, standing on a pile of debris, the Chimera sees Takeshi Minamoto with his face hidden under his mask, carrying the dead body of Naomi Yuki that Hideo robbed of her heart. The MInamoto in black found in her hideout, and carried her all the way there.

The Chimera knew this meeting was to come. He was confident about its outcome, but the sight of this ninja in grief and anger with the body of his former subordinate that he felt entitled to eliminate is… disturbing. Still, he needs to appear as certain as he planned.

"Good evening, young Minamoto." he calmly says, showing no concern about Naomi's body. "You made it here, congratulations."

Takeshi doesn't answer to this careless greeting. Instead, he gently lies the former huntress' corpse on the ground and shows respect before standing up. He looks at Minaa who's gazing toward him and showing her concern and remorse for the one who could have been a better friend. He then sees Sana who looks at the dead body too, saddened by the news of another fallen member of Karasu, just like her husband.

Then, at last, he stares at the Chimera. In his mind, Makura states once more the will he shares with his host.

"We need to kill him." Fear itself says.

Agreeing with the tengu, the Minamoto prepares an approach.

"Miss Sana, …" he asks. "Will you be ok with taking care of the injured?"

"What?… Um, yes I guess." the medic replies, a bit troubled by this entrance.

"Ok. Miss Minaa, Aoki." the Kiri-nin then asks. "Would you mind leaving the rest to me?"

Aoki and Minaa look at each other to think of an answer. It is Aoki who speaks first, refusing to leave the spotlight to a foreigner.

"No way!" she yells as she stands up. "If you wanna get involved. You'll have to do with us."

Minaa accepts the young woman's choice, stands up and gets by her side. Hideo looks at them, and then at Takeshi again.

"Young Minamoto, it is time for you to make your choice." he says. "Don't let feelings get in the way. Think straight, and wisely. What is best for the future of this world?"

"Mister Kotobuki… My choice is made." he replies. "I've already told you that disposing of Karasu was a fatal mistake. What you did to Naomi, to me, is just asking to pay. Actually, my choice was made the moment I learned the truth."

"Uh… Things would have been so much easier if you didn't know." Hideo complains. "How did it even happen?"

Takeshi, to this, doesn't answer. He just comes down the pile of debris where he left Naomi and joins Aoki and Minaa. Hideo, knowing that his biggest battle is about to start, comes down his tree and gets ready as well.

"So be it, then…" he says. "Together, we should have been the incarnation of all powers. Instead, one of us will have to erase the other and take on the mission to eliminate who stands in the shadows by himself. You or me, young Minamoto. One of us will live to rise above humanity. I will consider you as the final challenge before my ascension to godhood."

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End of Chapter 120– Next Chapter: The Chimera II