Chapter 24: Chapter Twenty Three: Rise Uchiha
Rise Uchiha:
Everything went dark. My breath was ragged, like I was drowning on dry land. I shouted to the pilot, my voice laced with panic. "All weapons are down! I can't do anything! What's your status?"
But the response was just the piercing wail of alarms, slicing through me.
Smoke clouded my vision as I leaned towards my new friend. But what I saw made me recoil in horror.
There he was, lifeless. His eyes shut, his face a canvas of blood.
"No, no, no! Hizashi!" My voice broke as I screamed his name, but he remained still. Trapped in this suffocating, smoke-filled cockpit, tears clouded my eyes. I couldn't even tell if he was breathing.
I knew I couldn't operate this tank, not like him, especially not under fire, not with a water coming inside the tank.
Then I saw it—the eject button for his seat. A last resort, a glimmer of hope, clearly marked.
With every ounce of panic, I yanked the handle. It moved smoothly, almost too easily, catching me off guard. Suddenly, I was ripped from the tank, my body hurtling through the air, spinning out of control. Below me, the River Tank hit an embankment, the impact reverberating through the ground.
Then, my parachute jerked open, stabilizing me just seconds before I would have hit the water. The river embraced me instantly, dragging me down, urging me to move quickly.
I fought with the gear - clips, straps, braces, foam - the things that were supposed to protect me but now seemed to be conspiring to drown me. There was a specific way to do this, a particular order – this lever first, then that button, slide this to unlock – like a puzzle that needed solving before the gear would release its grip on me.
Or, more accurately, before it would let me go.
Water rushed into my nose, pulling me down while I struggled to break free. Every breath was a fight, the water tightening around me, but I wasn't giving up. My hands flew, working on instinct, fueled by panic. I got one strap off, then another. But time was running out, and my lungs were burning for air.
Everything was a blur of dark blue, the sounds around me muffled and strange. Making me slower, dimmer, then, I released the last clasp.
I ripped the gear of me, cutting it of like it was a arm stuck under a rock - I pulled myself upwards, my body heavy but desperate.
Gasping for air, I surfaced, coughing and spluttering. The world above water was a blur of sky and sound. My arms ached as I paddled, trying to find a direction, any direction that would lead me away from the river. The current was strong, but I was stronger, driven by a sheer will to survive.
I could feel the cold seeping into my bones, numbing my thoughts. But there was no time to be afraid, no time to think about the close call in the tank or the dizzying fall. Every stroke was a fight against the pull of the river, every breath a victory against the water trying to claim me.
When I finally dragged myself onto the shore, it was with the last dregs of my strength. I stumbled away from the river's edge, taking in where I'd ended up. My heart sank. Sure, I was alive – but looking around at this unforgiving wilderness, I couldn't help but wonder for how long.
Standing there, soaked to the bone, disoriented, I'm starred at the endless river and woods. What now? My whole life, everything's been easy – food, water, comfort. It's all been right there. But here? Here, I'm as lost as a child, with no clue how to survive.
I risked a look back at the river, half expecting to see the tanks chasing me. But there's nothing. Just a pair of seagulls flying south, too big for comfortable. Are they carnivores? They're not circling me – not yet, anyway. But in this wild, unknown place, who knows what could happen? I need to do something. I need to move. And I need to do it now.
That's when I noticed it: smoke spiraling up in the eastern sky. The wind had stilled, making it visible. How had I missed it before? Panic, probably. A fire out here, in the middle of nowhere? There had to be someone. Dragging my heavy armor with each step, I pushed myself towards the smoke, clinging to a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, Hizashi had survived the crash too.
But honestly, it didn't matter. They were coming to us. If anyone found us here, alive and wandering. We would be goners. I've learned the hard way over the last month: nobody walks away from the Inja No Mi and lives to tell the tale.
The ground was mushy, and every step felt like a battle. "Hizashi! Can you hear me? Hizashi!" I called out, not really expecting an answer, but hoping against hope that I'd hear something.
As I approached, flames danced with the smoke around the wreckage of the River Thank. That ship, sturdier than most in its class, had somehow weathered the crash – though just barely. Debris were everywhere, and I tripped over it, feeling the bite of metal and the kiss of heat. The cockpit, twisted and torn, yawned open like a wound.
Smoke stung my eyes, thick and alive, as I clawed my way closer. Desperation strangled me. I had to find Hizashi. But the smoke was a monster, blinding and suffocating.
"Hizashi!" I croaked, my voice lost in the fire's roar.
The ground crumbled beneath me, not out of fear but because it was literally giving way. Water surged up, cold and menacing, lapping at my ankles, threatening to pull me under. My heart raced as the ship, my only hope, started to slip into the watery grave it had carved.
I needed to get out, to live. But the thought of leaving Hizashi behind was like a knife in my gut. I stumbled back, away from the sinking tomb.
"Hizashi!" I screamed, voice cracking.
The river was a beast, dragging the ship down into unknown depths. Below the surface? Deeper? I didn't know. All I knew was that I had to keep moving, find solid ground, even as hope slipped through my fingers like sand.
The water continued to rise, swallowing the tank and hastening the ship's descent into an underwater tomb. In moments, it was gone. Just like that. Disappeared. All the remnants of our crash scattered, lost to the depths. There was no trace left, nothing to show that it, or we, had ever existed.
Then, abruptly, a force burst from the river. It was so close, right beneath my feet, knocking me back. I stumbled, nearly falling, as a massive fireball erupted, soaring into the sky. It blazed a furious black and red, a momentary specter of anger and fear, before it melted into the orange sky.
Regaining my footing, I moved forward, cautious. Where our tank once was, there was only debris now – with no sign of anyone. No trace of my friend, nothing to hold onto.
That's when I heard them – enemy river tanks. Four of them, rumbling towards the shore.
For a moment, I just looked at it. I was alive, somehow still in one piece. But standing there, with everything gone, it felt like I might as well have vanished with the rest of it.
If only there was a way from me to destroy them, burn it to a crisp … In an instant, the world around me muted, and my vision tunneled on that strange, single desire.
I blinked, and for a moment, I was not in the shores of a random river anymore. Instead, I found myself in a kaleidoscope of memories and information, not my own.
⋘Ninjutsu…⋙
It hit me like a brick. It wasn't painful, but it was overwhelming, like someone flipping through a book at lightning speed, only the book was my brain, and the words were skills I never learned.
I saw hands — my hands — moving with precision and grace, weaving intricate patterns in the air. It was as if I had been practicing them for a lifetime, yet I knew these motions were foreign to my conscious mind.
But foreign or not.
Suddenly, I knew Ninjutsu. I know, it sounds ridiculous, like something out of a bad movie, but it's true. The hand stances, the moves, the philosophy – all of it downloaded straight into my head in less than a heartbeat. My body felt different, aware of its own strength and energy in a way that was both alien and exhilarating.
Then, the world snapped back to its regular pace, I took a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart.
But ready for the enemy.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Evil_Monologue
Evil_Monologue How was your Christmas?
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone