Chapter 157: Chapter 152: Rokubi
To make sure the Rokubi doesn't escape, Konan left a small paper butterfly on Utakata's yukata. This way she will be able to locate him without needing Toru.
She continued to watch the man silently.
***
At the same time, Utakata leaned back inside the bubble and continued to question himself. Did his master really betray him? He could only recall that event with pain and anger. Bound by his legs and arms with chakra-suppressing chains, he felt his master's hand pierce the seal of the Bijū locked inside him.
That master said a few words, but Utakata, blinded by anger and rancor, blocked those words in his mind.
He continued floating inside the cloud in silence, closing his eyes to rest a little.
***
"So this is what the Jinchūriki looks like, huh..."
Konan gave a small jump where she was when she heard Toru's voice near her ear so suddenly. She frowned and felt a foul smell.
When she turned around to look at Toru, she saw the boy covered in blood.
Unable to keep her face expressionless, she looked away. "You stink..."
He tilted his head in confusion. Then he looked down at himself covered in blood and raised his arm. "Hm... I think I overreacted..." He sniffed himself and realized that all this time he was covered in this foul smell. He narrowed his eyes and then looked at Konan. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize. I'll go take a bath..."
Toru walked in front of Konan, at the same time as the sun began to set. He felt Utakata's chakra moving away, but it seemed to be getting closer to Naruto's chakra. Because he could still sense the Rokubi's chakra, there was no rush to go capture him. If he is together with another Jinchūriki, everything becomes dangerous and he is sure Konan understands this.
Still, she followed him so as not to lose sight of him until they reached a small lake. There Konan folded her arms while resting her back against a tree.
Standing in front of the lake, Toru began to take off his clothes without any embarrassment. He carried the clothes in his hand, for he needed to wash them, after all, the bad smell was not only on his body.
Konan did not mind this. In fact, she looked silently at Toru, who was submerged in the water up to his waist. His body was full of scars, some bigger than others. Most of the scars were on Toru's arms, which was the place he occasionally imbued with Shakuton.
Imbuing his own body with Shakuton causes great damage to his nerves and skin. He is aware of this, but by combining his Shakuton imbued body with the Senjutsu of the Ōkami clan, he was practically becoming a weapon of mass destruction.
Silently, he pulls out a soap from one of the seals he previously had tied to his wrists and washes the clothes.
She watched as Toru did this with a rather peaceful expression. In just a few minutes the clothes were clean, so he left them floating to the side while he bathed.
Konan remembered all the times Toru was wounded in battle, but the scars from those battles were nowhere on this boy's body. The wound on his stomach, on his shoulder, they were gone. It is assumed that when a wound of that size heals, it leaves very noticeable scars, but these were not there.
Her eyes widened slightly as she noticed Toru looking at her. Their eyes met as the night grew more present. The moon broke through the clouds and illuminated the scene a little.
"It doesn't hurt anymore... it never hurt, if that's what you're wondering..."
"How did you know I was thinking about that?"
Toru looked at his hand after hearing Konan's question. "Because you were looking at me with pity."
...
...
[If you want to cry, do it. If you want to scream, do it. Curse this world that has given you such a miserable life] Again those words echoed in her mind. From the beginning Konan thought of Toru in a very superficial way, just as Nagato does. However, as Madara said, "Asahi Toru, he looks like you... and you too, Konan..."
Now she understood it better.
Perhaps, like her, Toru was just hiding what he felt behind that expressionless face, behind that murderous aura that sometimes seems to be fake. However, is this true?
They both seemed to be the same, yet so different at the same time.
When Konan came back to reality after much thought, Toru came out of the water with his clothes on. His clothes were soaked. However, that didn't seem to matter to him, as he walked to stand in front of her.
Steam began to rise from Toru's clothes and Konan could see that, underneath the robe, the boy's body glowed faintly crimson, as when iron is heated in a fire.
"I can regulate my body temperature using Shimikomaseru and Shakuton to a certain extent. When I exceed my limit, my own jutsu starts to hurt me."
"Ha~..." I sigh tiredly. "And you use a jutsu like that to dry your clothes?"
"I use it from time to time. But mostly for fighting. You've seen it before, I guess."
"..."
She closed her eyes and let out another sigh. She thought she was thinking about this whole situation more than she should, so she just stopped. There were more important things to worry about.
"Since we're in this place, let's set up camp and wait until tomorrow. The target is accompanied by dangerous people. More specifically, the Kyūbi's Jinchūriki and his teammates. If we interfere now, I don't think I can survive a fight against two Bijūs."
"I see..."
She just walked away silently and climbed up a tree branch. This was as if she had said, "Do it by yourself" To which Toru could only nod his head before setting up a small fire near the lake.
He sat there in front of the campfire and watched the stars in silence.
-The next day-
In that field of flowers, yellow and bright, full of life once tinged with blood, a man and a young girl walked. The girl seemed quite happy. She even played among the flowers while the man, Utakata, rested with his back leaning against a large rock in the middle of the flower field. The girl, Hotaru, looked at Utakata and smiled at him. Now she, after all the adversities that happened in these last three days, could finally live a peaceful life together with her sensei, Utakata. She wished to learn jutsu from this man and improve in the craft of kunoichi.
None of this would have been possible if Naruto and his friends had not accepted that mission. But now they are gone, now all is well. No more Kinjutsu with the power to destroy villages, no more inherited wills. Now it's just Hotaru and Utakata.
Suddenly, Utakata stood up and took Hotaru by the shoulders.
"Hotaru... I have to go talk to the ninjas of Kirigakure. I will tell them that from now on I will be on a training trip together with you. I'll try to convince them, but no promises."
Hotaru smiled and sat down on the rock where a few seconds ago Utakata was resting. "Then I'll wait here. Good luck, kyoshou."
"Yeah..."
Utakata nodded his head and went to find Tsurugi.
***
He quickly went deeper into the forest. He used his tool to use the bubbles to find Tsurugi faster, but there was no sign of him or his teammates. He jumped through the trees as he searched, but found no trace of them. It was as if the earth had swallowed them up. A little nervous, Utakata relaxed and walked a little. However, he frowned when he saw Tsurugi's mask lying on the ground, stained with blood, as if he had had a horrible battle.
The leaves on the trees moved and, out of the shadows, a young boy appeared. His eyes glowed blue as the sky, red as blood, with a strange organic X sharpening inside his pupil.
Utakata immediately understood the situation when he saw the clothes of the one who seemed to have killed the ANBU of Kirigakure.
"I guess you must know why I'm here by now" Toru took a step forward and looked carefully at the Jinchūriki. "If you understand the situation, you should surrender and give yourself up to Akatsuki."
"Tch..."
In a quick movement, Utakata pulled out a kunai and threw it at Toru, but Toru caught it between his fingers as if it was nothing. However, this was only a distraction, as two translucent bubbles floated around Toru and then....
BOOM! The two bubbles exploded in Toru's face. This gave Utakata a chance, who quickly ran away with all the strength he had. He ran and ran, but then....
In front of him, in a millisecond, he saw crimson eyes that glowed brightly. Then he was sent flying by a strong punch in the face.
At that moment, he felt part of his skin disintegrate upon contact with Toru's fist, which glowed with the flames of the Shakuton.
Utakata crashed into a stream and Toru just stood in front of him looking at him with an expressionless face.
He was unable to move, as the punch he received left his body in a state of temporary shock. Still, he held the instrument in his mouth and with the water from the stream, he blew hundreds of bubbles that began to rise up to the sky.
Toru watched this, but allowed it to pass. He had also seen that girl next to Utakata, so surely he was saying goodbye to her, or was simply looking for help.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Utakata got up from the ground and let out a scream into the air. He clenched his fists and his eyes turned crimson.
'Please... lend me your power. Otherwise, we'll both die'
Inside Utakata, somewhere in his soul, a strange being smiled. Its tentacle-like tails twitched grotesquely and, facing that beast, Utakata found himself wrapped in black chains and paper seals.
The Bijū's tails began to wrap around Utakata and then a great wave of wind pushed Toru.
Crimson bubbles rose up from the stream, at the same time Utakata's skin began to peel away from his body. His body was completely enveloped in the Rokubi's mantle of chakra and at the end, he sighed letting out a small cloud of steam, as the six tails lashed the ground.
"Now if you take this situation seriously" Toru had the Sennin Mōdo activated, for if he activates the Shigan it is more dangerous due to the fact that it can kill the Bijū as it almost did to Fuu.
Boom! Boom!
Like strange drums, Utakata's heart pounded and his tails launched themselves at Toru.
He opened his eyes at how fast one of the tails pierced him, but immediately his body disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Behind Utakata, Toru lifted his leg and used a hammer kick that destroyed the entire stream and left a gigantic crater.
***
From above, Konan prepared to take action. Although the Rokubi shouldn't be stronger than the Nanabi, they still had to finish this as quickly as possible. So she raised her hands and hundreds of sheets of paper began to orbit near her.
Her angel wings spread out and, like her arms, closed forward pushing all the sheets of paper.
***
In the meantime, Toru stepped back and immediately the sheets of paper fell down and managed to give Utakata a few scratches.
"Wuaaahhhggg!!!"
Utakata obviously felt the pain of this, so, in front of his mouth, a black sphere began to form. The chakra from the spot began to gather and mix with that of the Rokubi, the tails held tightly to the ground and his gaze was now pointed at Konan.
'I'm not going to let you do that' Toru jumped up and punched Utakata in the mouth, immediately he jumped up and disappeared hundreds of times in front of him, while each time connecting punches to the target's face.
This was disrupting the Bijūdama's creation, so, filled with anger, it managed to grab Toru with its tails and crush it like a grape.
Although this was all planned by Toru, who was able to replace himself with a wooden log. Now, using Kage Bunshin, Toru distracted Utakata in a fight, while the real one jumped to where Konan was.
"Konan, summon as many sheets of paper as possible. I want you to throw them to where the Jinchūriki."
"Understood..."
She opened her arms and her wings spread. Hundreds of sheets of paper began to detach from her body and lined up like a rain of impending death.
"If you'll excuse me."
"¡¿...?!"
Surprised by Toru's sudden action, Konan felt the boy's left arm gently embrace her waist. At the same time, with his remaining hand, Toru took Konan's left hand and intertwined his fingers with hers.
She looked at him in confusion. However, she realized the situation when she saw Toru's calm expression. The boy was looking at Utakata with those crimson eyes of the Sennin Mōdo. Slowly, the mark on his face and the red color in his eyes disappeared. The light of death illuminated his eyes and he gently squeezed Konan's hand.
"Shimikomaseru... [Imbue]."
One by one, at an incredible speed, the sheets of paper were covered in bright crimson. All the sheets of paper were imbued by Toru's powerful Shakuton.
She watched this in surprise. Her eyes widened a little as she saw the light show in the sky. The sheets of paper, so ordinary and dull, now shone like stars in the sky.
She let out a sigh and looked at the Jinchūriki next to Toru. Without a word, the sheets of paper imbued with Shakuton were thrown at Utakata, who at that moment was being distracted by Toru's Kage Bunshin.
Boom! Bam!
"Ahhhhhhh!" Like a meteor shower, they fell hard against the ground. Many of the sheets of paper pierced through Utakata and even pulverized Toru's Kage Bunshin.
Multiple explosions covered the area in dust and slowly Toru let go of Konan's hand.
She stood with her hand outstretched, thinking after having used such a powerful attack.
'His hand... it's not as cold as before...' She remembered that day when she cut Toru's hair. That day, when Toru touched her cheek looking at her with that drop of blood that disguised to be a tear. She clenched her fist and shook her head. However, even though there were a few seconds of silence, a roar was heard. Now, the Jinchūriki, which was previously covered in blood, now showed a slimy and strange appearance.
It now seemed to have turned into a giant slug.
"Konan, step aside!"
Toru realized too late. Utakata opened his mouth, from where the Bijūdama he couldn't throw before came out. His speed was so much that Toru had no choice but to use Sennin Mōdo again as he did with Fuu.
The Bijūdama crashed into his hands, all this while Konan watched helplessly. The chakra sphere slowly began to become small in Toru's hands, who taking advantage of this, did a 360° turn and returned Utakata's attack.
Boom! The whole place exploded from the power of the sphere.
Konan was shocked by this. She had seen Toru take a Bijūdama in his hands and return it before, but seeing it up close was much more impressive. There was no time to think though because Toru grabbed her by the waist and forcibly pulled her closer to his body.
"Summon nine paper spears and aim them at all of the Jinchūriki's limbs, including its tails. The ninth spear points to its back. Quickly!"
She followed Toru's instructions and extended her hand. Up in the sky, nine sharp spears were formed from the remaining sheets of paper floating around Konan. Likewise, Toru transmitted his chakra through Konan's body again and imbued all the spears with Shakuton.
On their own the paper spears would not be able to hurt the Bijū, but combined with Toru's power, this changed the situation completely. The Shakuton, which uses millions of microscopic wind element blades along with the destructive power of the fire element, are capable of disintegrating almost anything. But this could also be used...
Boom! Like powerful blades capable of cutting through anything. The spears took advantage of Utakata being distracted gathering chakra to use the Bijūdama, piercing each of his limbs and leaving him clinging to the ground. He even lowered his head after being pierced in the back with one of the spears.
At that moment, Toru let go of Konan and quickly went down.
As his feet touched the ground, Toru lunged forward and in one power-packed blow, he enlarged the crater that was there by hitting Utakata's head. But this was not going to be enough, so he deactivated the Senjutsu and activated the Kodō Shigan.
"Dansu gyakusatsu: Deadlocked..." Pulling out one of the daggers from the sleeves of his robe, his eyes showed him a red dot the Jinchūriki's stomach. So, in one swift movement he stabbed the dagger into that spot and then Utakata fell to the ground.
Slowly his body returned to normal and he could barely stay conscious while lying face down on the ground, as the paper spears had been quickly consumed by the Shakuton.
"Now we will take you with us. So don't move" Toru crouched down and grabbed Utakata by the yukata, to a second later stab him in the stomach with his dagger. His eyes showed the pigmentation of the Kodō Shigan, with that X starting at the pupil and ending at the ends of the iris.
Utakata felt his eyes slowly closing, as if he was very sleepy. 'Hotaru... I'm sorry...'
-Elsewhere-
Hotaru, lying in that field of flowers, watched as hundreds of bubbles came down from the sky. She smiled because she immediately knew who was responsible for this. A small bubble fell on her hand and a second later it burst.
She let out a happy little laugh, then looked up at the sky.
'Don't you think you're taking a little while, kyoshou?'
If she knew what had just happened, her cute, innocent smile would be wiped off her face.
To be continued...
[Dansu gyakusatsu: Deadlocked] This is an ability that Toru named based on the taijutsu he uses. It allows him to see a weak spot on the target's body that, if attacked, causes the enemy to faint without danger of killing him. However, despite being named based on its origin, this is actually an ability from Toru's eyes, an ability he obtained by awakening the Kodō Shigan after death touched his hands more than once.
Interestingly, Uchiha Toru's Mangekyo Sharingan had the same ability.
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