A lone figure stopped in front of a dark cave. He looked around, making sure he wasn’t followed, and then continued onwards. It was cool and damp inside of the cave. He held up two fingers and whispered something. A small spark lit up the cave. The man’s face was dimly lit by the ball of fire. It was old. He had a dark gray beard and dark gray hair. He was muscular, despite his age, and unaffected by the sudden cold breeze that swept up from the end of the cave. He walked for another ten minutes and then stopped when he came to a small room. It was empty, but he knew this was an illusion. He held up two fingers and said, “Release.”
The wall in front of him melted away and revealed a small iron door. He walked over and turned the handle. A strong, repulsive odor entered his nostrils as he opened the door. He made his way forward along another passageway and finally stopped in when he came to a large room. He figured he was deep underground, almost two-hundred feet, and he instantly realized he wasn’t alone. The ground started to rumble and nine pillars of stone arose out of the ground. Nine figures appeared on each of the pillars and the figure that resided on the highest pillar said, “Welcome. Please introduce yourself.”
The man bowed and said, “My name is Takashi Roushi.”
The figure nodded and said, “I am honored to be in the presence of such an incredible shinobi.”
Takashi nodded and said, “Likewise.”
Another figure laughed and said, “This old man is supposed to be an incredible shinobi? I doubt he could even lift a kunai.”
The lead figure sighed and said, “This man is the leader of a clan of shinobi that has incredibly powerful genjutsu. Their genjutsu has yet to find anything it can’t trap. The only genjutsu that was more powerful than any of theirs was Susanoo, but that died with Itachi Uchiha. If he wanted to, he could lock everyone of us in a genjutsu and we could be trapped in it for the rest of our lives. Do not underestimate this man.”
The second figure grunted and sat down. Takashi smiled and said, “You seem to have done your research. I’m impressed. What is your name?”
The figure grinned and said, “I research each of the members of this organization thoroughly, so as to make sure that they are worthy enough. You caught my eye in particular. So do you accept?”
Takashi nodded and said, “I do, but you still haven’t told me what you are called.”
The figure nodded and said, “Welcome to the organization our forerunners, Akatsuki, created. I am Shini and you are the final member of Hakumei!”
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Ichinaru spun around. He brought up his kunai and deflected the oncoming shuriken. He flipped backwards onto a branch and scanned the tree line. Nothing. He took a deep breath and muttered something incoherent. Chakra slowly poured from his body and he looked around again.. A faint chakra source emanated about twenty yards away. He concentrated on the target and said, “Fire Release: Phoenix Flower.”
He sucked in some air and shot multiple balls of fire at the target. It dodged to the side. Ichinaru immediately stopped and refocused. He held up a hand and said, “Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!”
He threw it with all his might and it went flying at the target. The target jumped back, but the shuriken expanded and he wasn’t able to avoid it. Ichinaru smiled and said, “Match.”
What was left of the target dissolved and a figure appeared in front of Ichinaru. His face was completely masked, save for his right eye, but the indents where his mouth indicated a smile. Ichinaru smiled back and said, “What did I say, Nuroshi-sensei? Six months, no problem.”
Nuroshi nodded and then Ichinaru fell to the ground, face first. Nuroshi took a step forward, alarmed, but heard low breathing. Ichinaru had fallen asleep. Nuroshi sighed and said, “You may be able to activate it, but you can’t maintain it. Well, we were close enough.”
He hefted Ichinaru up on his shoulder and said, “You should lay off the ramen for a while.”
He smiled to himself and walked back to the village.
*****************************
The man nodded as he watched the young kunoichi practice. She waved her hands and the earth around her disintegrated into sand. She thrust her hands forward and the sand rushed forward past her. She then made a few hand signs and said, “Mirror Style: Reflecting Gateway.”
She held up her hand and five mirrors appeared behind five target dummies. A sixth mirror appeared in front of the sand. The sand hit the single mirror passed straight through it. There was a moment of pause and then, quite suddenly, the five target dummies were encompassed by sand that had attacked them from behind. A figure came into her peripheral vision. She flicked her hands and sent a stream of sand at it. It dodged into the air, but she was prepared. She made three hand signs and said, “Mirror Style: Six Plate Mirror Prison.”
Six mirrors took shape in mid air and slammed into the figure’s midsection, creating an almost flower like look. She flicked her wrist and sand converged on the figure. They were encompassed and she closed her hand.
“Sand Burial.”
The sand condensed and then exploded. Gaara appeared beside her and said, “Excellent work, Alzid. The clone didn’t stand a chance.”
Alzid smiled and said, “You really think I’ve been slacking? I’ve been training my behind off every day for the past six months,” she frowned as a thought came to her, “By the way, how has the war been going? I haven’t been keeping track.”
Gaara frowned and said, “It’s only getting worse. Kusa was almost wiped off the map a few days ago when Iwa attacked it for resources. Kusa was lucky that Konoha was able to send back up. The smaller villages will be hard pressed, but we seem to be on friendly terms with them.”
Alzid frowned and asked, “Has anyone made an attack on Konoha or Kiri?”
Gaara shook his head and said, “No. I think that Iwa and Tsuchi are trying to gather all the resources they can before they attack one of the larger nation. I’ve proposed a Kage summit quiet a few times to see if a cease fire is possible, but the answer, from both nations, has been a straight no.”
Alzid sighed and said, “I hate stupid people.”
Gaara nodded and said, “I feel the same way.”
*****************************
The kunoichi smiled and said, “Is that all you’ve got?”
The young shinobi said nothing and shot forward. She dodged out of the way and was glad she did. The area that his fist had impacted exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. The shinobi growled and said, “Nursai, you continue this charade, I might just kill you. Fight back.”
Nursai smiled and said, “Are you sure, Ryomo?”
Ryomo nodded and Nursai said, “I hope your ready, I had hoped not to destroy the area outside of Kiri, but what the heck, right.”
She jumped into the air and crossed her arms in an x-shape. She then said, “Butterfly release.”
She threw her arms apart and the area exploded. Ryomo shot back and then fell to the ground as Nursai was instantly upon him. Her fist left a trail of chakra in the air as she swung. Ryomo flipped backwards and said, “Eighth gate release.”
Nursai barely had time to react. Ryomo’s fist was suddenly right in front of her face. She ducked down just in time to avoid the hit. She slid back and prepared for his next attack.. Ryomo stood and said, “Now this is more like it.”
Ryomo dashed forward and the two were lost in a blur of combat. The two finally darted down to ground, breathing heavily. Nursai smiled and said, “Well done, but I’ve won.”
Ryomo frowned and asked, “What do you mean?”
Tons of Nursais appeared all over the place. Ryomo counted over one-hundred easy. He shook his head and said, “Cloning won’t help you.”
He tried to look for the original, but something caught his eye. One of the figures wavered. A voice came from directly behind him, “Not clones, after images. I told you, this is over. You’re strong, very, very strong, but you’re not in my league yet.”
Ryomo saw all of the images fade and then he felt a sharp chop to the back of the neck and then nothing.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Well here we go with the third installment of IchiAlRyo. Hope you like it.
