Third-Person POV
"Summoning Seal: Cursed Inferno."
Yusuke Honoo coated himself in the flames of hell as he performed the Gyan Mudra hand seal to unleash his power. He knew who his opponent was, and therefore had no intention of underestimating her.
The Infernal Flames will prevent the ice particles from reaching me and still give me leeway to perform my techniques, however, the real issue is her absurd chakra reserves. In a battle of attrition, there's no telling who'd win or lose, and that's not a risk worth taking. I suppose I'll have to ensure victory by other means.
Behind Yusuke, Akio, still intent on getting to Kahyo's office to retrieve the Scroll, whipped a card from his deck box and was about to play it. However, Kahyo had moved at astonishing speed, bringing with her a storm of frost and forming a giant ice sword to wield.
She swung it at a surprised Akio but Yusuke intervened, having manifested a sword with a hilt shaped like a vajra from pure flames. The two clashed blades in a spectacle of fire and ice, and Akio chose that moment to slip away.
"No!" Kahyo gritted her teeth in annoyance.
"What's the rush?" Yusuke smiled. "Stay and talk with me a while, won't you?"
She pulled herself away from him and doubled back, dissipating her sword. Then, performing the correct hand seals, she cried out, "Water Style: Furious Current!!" and flooded the entire cell block.
"Soul Summoning Seal: Immovable Lord."
In response, Yusuke clapped his hands together and amassed to himself copious amounts of fire to dispel the waves. A moment later, the Infernal Flames began to take shape around him into a humanoid figure.
What is that thing? Kahyo thought. It looks almost like the Uchiha clan's Mangekyo Sharingan technique.
"Ice Style: Ice Prison!" Cupping her lips with her hand, she blew cool air onto the scene and the flood was frozen over immediately, turning the cell block into an ice death trap, veiled in a snowy mist, with her and Yusuke trapped in it. Yusuke was astounded by Kahyo's range and mastery over the Kekkei Genkai, so much so, that he couldn't help but stare at the scenery.
That was his error, for she had suddenly appeared before him, having cloaked herself via the mist, with several of the prison bars in the block turned to ice spears, and struck. Yusuke blocked and parried with the Vajra Sword, but several more came in succession, not to mention her speed had increased from skidding on the ice with ease, putting him entirely on defence.
She's trying to overwhelm me, he realized. He released another barrage of flames to summon back the Immovable Lord, this time to watch his back, which caught Kahyo off guard. She retreated into the mist to skate circles around them as she assessed the avatar spirit.
It looks like it's immobile so I simply just need to work my around it and hit him in his blind-- !!
She was shocked the very next second when she saw the avatar move one of its arms to manifest a sword at least eleven feet long in its hand, then swing it at her with devastating force. Kahyo erected a Frozen Wall to block it but it was shattered instantly, throwing her into the air and at the mercy of Yusuke.
"Got you. What do you say we take this outside?" he grinned. "Summoning Seal: Cursed Infernal Technique - Nova."
KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!
The temperature in the cell block, which was near subzero, began to rise at a rapidly dangerous rate, creating a condensed heat pressure, and obliterating the cell block. Kahyo had just managed to get out in the nick of time and took to the bulwark, still sliding on a trail of ice. Yusuke was hot on her tail.
This isn't good, she sweatdropped. I need to distract him so I can buy myself time to figure out how his ninjutsu works!
"You wanna talk? Fine, let's talk!" she said while performing hand seals. "What would a couple of rogue ninjas want with some ancient relics? Why do they matter to you?"
She jumped into the air and, upside-down, fired a water projectile shaped like a viper.
Yusuke sliced through it easily with the Vajra Sword, keeping his response short and simple, "Because we aren't shinobi (or samurai, for that matter)."
He was upon her that same second with Kahyo forming an Ice Hammer to cross him. A series of complex attacks, parries, and evasions followed, displaying the full extent of their bukijutsu and pushing the other to the utmost limit.
"So if you're not shinobi, then what are you?!" she demanded, as she slammed him into the wall with the hammer. But she withdrew right after when Yusuke summoned his avatar again to ready herself for its attack.
Just as it struck, she caught it with her hammer by the palm, then performed the Ice Prison technique to snuff out its flame and root it in place. To finish it off, she called out, "Wind Style: Gale Scythe!!" and released intense gusts of wind in their direction.
And now he's defenceless!
But before the attack could land, both Yusuke and the avatar dissipated, as if they were nothing more than mirages, surprising Kahyo and leaving her unprepared once again for Yusuke's next move.
He appeared behind her, having already performed the necessary hand seals for, "Fire Style: Majestic Demolisher Flame."
He fired at point-blank range, enveloping Kahyo in a sea of unavoidable flames [https://img.wattpad.com/8eabc4353293b39667940df8f7d32877ff17d578/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f615a3051592d53724e70486d35413d3d2d313435353633303136302e313765346264386631353265626130663332323639313935393938362e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
He fired at point-blank range, enveloping Kahyo in a sea of unavoidable flames. It wreathed and spread everywhere, catching barrels of oil on fire and adding to the impact. So destructive was this technique, that it blew up the entire half of the prison, razing it to the ground and completely wiping it off the map, along with the other security guards that were still in there. It was so grand an explosion, everyone outside the prison had stopped fighting to brace themselves for the shockwave.
"What the hell are they doing?!" Momo shouted.
✧✧✧
As the explosion went off, the operators within the security control room could feel the reverberations throughout the rest of the prison.
"Master Kahyo must have engaged them," said one of them. "She's sacrificing everything for us. Everyone is doing their part to ensure we come out of this victorious, so we have to do the same!"
"The transmissions are back up and running!!"
They didn't waste a second in sending out a signal to the Grass and Leaf Villages. At first, there was nothing except static, but soon enough, Iwa was the first to respond.
"This is Homebase to Hozuki, what's the si-- zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz."
The operator on the other side was speaking, but just then, the signal was cut and it went static again.
"That was close," said Akio, suddenly in the same room as them. "Wouldn't want you ruining our grand plan, now would we?"
The operators were dumbfounded. They backed away from the control panel and huddled into a corner.
"You guys are tricky," he went on. "I thought I would only need to disable your transmission once, but if this is going to be a repeat annoyance, I might as well just do away with you all now. Oh, but before that, would one of you happen to know how to get to Kahyo's office? (Choose your response carefully, by the way.)"
One of them decided to risk it all. They made a lunge for the emergency gun on the wall and Akio, in kind, teleported his head away from the rest of his body. A few of the operators shrieked.
"That was the wrong response," said Akio. He gave a death glare at the remaining operators with his single red eye, frightening them even more. "I'll ask one more time. Where. Is. The office?"
✧✧✧
The fire began to subside around where the prison's garden was located. Yusuke walked out of the destructive inferno, just getting off the comms, as his last words to whoever was on the other end were, "I'm counting on you."
He walked in on Kahyo, still intact, albeit semi-covered in ice and burn marks across her skin. Once white and regal, her clothing was covered in soot and frayed beyond recovery, and her hair was dishevelled. However, she still looked undeterred which did not sit well with Yusuke.
"I commend you on having not only saved yourself but all the guards still left in the prison," he said, gazing at the myriad of soldiers on the ground who were left puzzled and confused as to what just happened. "You must have converted the seal you embedded on them into an Ice Prison technique to protect them."
She said nothing to confirm this so he kept talking. "Earlier, you asked what we were if not shinobi. I'll tell you. We are revolutionaries. And you could be, too, if you chose to join our organization."
Kahyo looked up at him, and he knew he had her attention.
"I did my research on you, too, and... I sympathize with your plight. Your husband drank himself to an early grave because he couldn't cope with the undeserved hate, and your son succumbed to wounds inflicted on him by hornets because his friend refused to have any association with a 'freak' and there wasn't a single doctor willing to treat him because they were all concerned with the Ninja War. Your whole life, you and everyone you've ever loved have been discriminated against over something you never asked to inherit. That was why you and your brother established the Ryuha Armament Alliance.
"You and I are actually quite similar. We're both against a system prioritising material goods over what is truly valuable. For me, it's knowledge, and for you, human life. Though the Alliance failed, it's not too late for you. There could be a place for your dream in our organization, one the shinobi could never offer you. All you have to do is step down as master of this prison."
Kahyo remained quiet. She thought of Kakashi, his stern but caring demeanour, looking at her in place of Yusuke.
"I already know what you would say," she smiled.
"Well, that's my answer," he replied. "What would yours be?"
"You try to kill me, and all my personnel," she spoke, "then offer to help me realize what you suppose is my dream if it meant I was no longer against you. You know what you people really are? You're hypocrites."
She shakily got back on her feet. "I won't deny your offer is tempting but I'm no longer the person you claim I am. After everything I've been through, and the sacrifices made to bring me where I am today, I would rather die, protecting what I have left to cherish, than try any longer to change the world so it fits my vision."
"Is that your final answer?" Yusuke looked bleak. He had stopped smiling entirely.
Suddenly, it started to rain.
At first, it was just a drizzle, a few drops here and there, but then it started pouring until it became a deluge. Yusuke was confused.
How? I was sure I had picked a day that boasted a low chance of precipitation...
The rainstorm poured even stronger, putting out the rest of the fires. He looked at Kahyo, who had her head bowed.
Yusuke realized, "No... it's you!!"
She shot her arms out, and in a millisecond, every single raindrop in that area had stopped in midair.
image [https://img.wattpad.com/88ddb214b7d8c1791a5334263da61f7429ce9349/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f3437547034704b36644737646d513d3d2d313435353633303136302e3137653566373534343739316666373938323436383238303039302e676966?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Then they froze over, becoming shards of ice. Yusuke was too slow to react in time: The shards of ice violently flew past him at over 500 kilometres an hour, imitating a life-threatening hailstorm, except it was all centred on him.
They cut through him in at least two hundred different places before he could coat his body in his Infernal Flames.
I see, he gritted his teeth, she used my Fire-techniques to her advantage and spurred along the perfect conditions for a storm. Damn, I suppose I did end up walking myself into that o--
He was never even given the chance to finish his thought, for as soon as the hailstorm stopped, it was manifested into the biggest ice snake Yusuke had ever seen.
"Ice Style: Evening Viper!!"
She hurled it at him with insane speed, forcing him to respond with Majestic Demolisher Flame. All the flowers that were ashes on Yusuke's side were now getting frozen, while the flowers that were frosted on Kahyo's were getting burnt to a crisp.
Suddenly, Yusuke got hit with a huge body of water, effectively putting out his flames and disorienting him. He had no idea what was going on. When he looked at Kahyo, he saw she was controlling blobs of water big enough to submerge an elephant in them-- and then he was hit again without getting the opportunity to block or do anything.
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The force of the waves was akin to being thrown into a deep body of water, back and forth, over and over again, drowning him, then un-drowning him, over and over and over again.
By the time Kahyo was finished, Yusuke lay limp against the wall, his internal system entirely flooded with water. All the fire in the vicinity had been put out as well. It seemed the Master of Blood Prison had won the battle.
"Woohoo!! Yeah, way to go, boss!!" the guards cried out, giving applause.
Yusuke coughed out water to speak. "You summoned the very waves that surround this prison, huh? That is impressive."
Kahyo looked down at him with the waves behind her looming over them, showing she was ready to strike at a moment's notice if Yusuke did anything.
"Only one option remains for you now," she said. "Turn yourself in, and relinquish your dream. Your organization was never going to succeed anyway. You aren't the first to seek a change in the status quo, and you won't be the last. I guarantee it."
"Kill him, boss!!" the guards shouted. "Go on, do it!! He doesn't deserve to live!!"
At that, Yusuke began to laugh while his head remained bowed. It was a cold and chilling snicker, low but resounding in tone, and it was powerful enough to silence the guards while putting Kahyo on high alert.
"You're right," he said. "About all of it. In some way, we are hypocrites, and maybe all of this will have been for nothing and we'll be swept away by the tides of time, forgotten and forlorn, but where I choose to draw the line is in whose ideal will outlive the others. For you see, my dear, to me, it's not the history that matters but who writes it. Who will be the one to tell that story?"
He looked up at her, revealing his eyes had changed colour. Instead of them being pitch black, they were now a stark yellow with his sclera having turned red. What's more, something was glowing on his forehead under the headband.
"NOW!" he shouted, holding his arm up and shooting a cluster of Infernal Flames at the guards.
Kahyo easily stopped it with the waves... but realized a second later that they were not alone. Nanae was there.
The girl had her fingers shaped like a pistol and said, "Go-go gun☆"
A Mini-Tailed Beast Ball manifested and was fired straight at the remaining guards, breaking through Kahyo's waves with ease.
"I can still stop it!!" she panicked, forming the hand seals needed for an ice technique.
"Summoning Seal: Tenchigan Technique - Nine Circles of Hell."
The unthinkable happened.
As Yusuke formed the Gyan Mudra hand seal, he and Kahyo, for less than a second, were somewhere else entirely. The environment had changed, and Kahyo caught a glimpse of a cavernous world, made entirely out of fire, brimstone, and lava. It was as if she was in hell itself.
They had returned to their world almost instantaneously but in that critical time of inactivity, the Biju bomb had hit. The guards were caught in the blast radius and vaporized, leaving nothing behind.
"...what?" Kahyo was stunned, unable to process what happened.
And Yusuke gave her zero time to recover, running up on her with the Vajra Sword. Kahyo snapped back to reality, and created an Ice Sword to swing back--
--but was a second too slow...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Her sword fell to the ground and melted away, along with a piece of her shoulder, clumps of her hair, parts of her clothing, her right earring, the right side of her head, and gallons of blood.
The waves dispersed, contributing to the rain that continued to fall on the three individuals present in that garden. Kahyo fell to her knees but Yusuke, having deactivated the Vajra Sword, was there to stop her from falling. He gazed somberly at her.
"You only had to say yes," he said, "and there would've been a place for you, too, in the New World."
She tried to speak but only coughed up blood, suggesting it was caught in her throat. Yusuke shook his head in disappointment. He was about to leave her but she grabbed him by the sleeve and, with enough struggle, uttered to him:
"You.... will... fail..."
She completely collapsed afterwards and bled out. Yusuke looked at her lifeless body with his eyes returned to their normal colour and darker than ever.
"That's just the kinda thing good guys say when they don't win," said Nanae. "You okay?" she asked Yusuke.
"I've never been better," he replied. "Thanks for your help." Next, he contacted Akio. "Grief to Regret, over. Have you got the Scroll?"
"This is Regret, over," came Akio. "The Scroll is sitting quite comfortably in my deck box. You dealt with Kahyo?"
"Yup, it's all done." Then, he switched to a wide broadcast. "Everyone, gather all the prisoners to the courtyard. It's time for Phase Two of the plan."
⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕ Some time later ⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕
They arrived to find a swarm of orange jumpsuits gathered in the area; characters of varying sizes, colours, shapes, and backgrounds, hailing from the four corners of the Ninja world, all brought together in a single confined space. Momotaro, Purin, Joaquin, Michio, and Akio stood before them on a raised platform.
"What's the reaction level of the crowd?" Yusuke asked Akio.
"They seem glad to be out of their cells and are happy about the guards being dead, but more than anything they're scared, confused, and concerned about what happens to them now." He looked at Yusuke. "What you have to say will be the deciding factor on if they join us or not."
Yusuke exhaled. "No pressure, right?"
"Exactly. Michio, if you don't mind, please and thank you."
The giant-of-a-man stepped up to the raucous crowd. Everyone was talking so loudly they could hardly hear each other. They certainly would not have heard anyone on the raised platform had Michio not spoken first.
"ATTENTIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!"
Dead silence.
Michio backed away to let Yusuke take centre stage.
"No doubt some of you are wondering why we've brought you here," he began. "You may think this is a trap of some sort, that we intend to kill you in one place; or perhaps force you to do our bidding. It's neither of those. No, we've brought you here to give you an opportunity."
Eyebrows were being raised and expressions turned around, which gave Yusuke more confidence to speak.
"When was the last time any of you set foot off this accursed rock? A fairly long time, I'm sure. You've forgotten what natural grass feels like, how the wind and sun feel on your face. Some of you have even forgotten what it feels like to be loved, to not be looked at with scorn or treated with prejudice, and that might've been before you were brought here.
"Listen, your oppressor is dead. The great Kahyo of the Yuki clan lies in the dirt along with her personnel. I am offering you your freedom, to go where you will, do as you please, and strike back at whoever wronged you. But I am also offering you a second opportunity, to take part in a grand ambition that concerns not just you but the entire Ninja World, and when we are successful, the system that put you down and discarded you, that failed and abandoned you, it will no longer exist.
"A New World awaits you all, but those of you who choose to help us realize it, you can rest assured that your name will be etched into the history books."
"We've all heard that one before!!" said an inmate. "It's the same bulls#$t the Akatsuki was spoutin' way back when!"
He made his way to the front of the crowd, revealing himself to be a young man in his mid-twenties with wavy white hair and a small goatee.
"My granddad was there when the Akatsuki first became a big shot," he went on. "He and everyone else believed Yahiko's promise of a world without war, so much so, he'd invested everything in them, 'cos he wanted a better life for his kid. And when they failed to deliver, it ruined us!! I'm here because of that empty-a$$ promise, so how do I know the same won't happen with you guys?"
The man's words of provocation had stirred the rest of the prisoners who were likely thinking the same thing as him.
Mugen isn't making any moves to put this guy in his place, Joaquin thought. He must not be a Jashinist.
The prisoners looked like they were getting ready to fight Fukkatsu, most likely intent on taking their chances with the whirlpools rather than risking Akio's teleportation, and they had responded in kind.
"Should've known it'd turn out like this," said Momotaro. "Guess there was no point at all."
That was all until Yusuke stepped down from the platform and approached the man, the prisoners stepping aside to make way for him.
"You there, what's your name?" he asked him.
"Toshinori," he spat. "What's it to you?"
"With all due respect, Toshinori, this offer wasn't made to your grandfather but to you, so forget about the Akatsuki. They've been dead and gone for almost six years now. We are not them." He looked around at all the prisoners as they encircled him. "However, I won't deny there is a chance of failure. Indeed, if you choose to come with us, you will face the prospect of losing even more than you already have. But let me ask you this: When has that ever NOT been the case with any endeavour since the dawn of humanity? Yes, there was loss, but there was also gain! Are you telling me you're afraid to grasp that opportunity just because we suffered defeat once before? If, in your lifetime, you had the chance to do something different and be able to say you were the cause of such, why wouldn't you jump at it?"
"Don'y you get it? No one wants to fight for a lost cause, man," Toshinori sneered. "The only hide worth lookin' out for is our own. Why the hell should we care about being the change we wanna see in the world if it don't put food on the table?"
"So, you want a 100% guarantee of success, is that right?" said Akio, suddenly beside Yusuke. "Well, that doesn't exist, so you can go on home because this offer isn't for the likes of you. We told you you're free to go, and we meant it. Nothing about that was a lie in the slightest. But remember there's no place for you in our current society anymore. If you're here, it means you were rejected, and your fate is to run away every day, slave about for morsels, and then die in obscurity. You would only have ever been known as a statistic, a figure. So long as you're fine with that, I will teleport you away from here right now. But, if you come with us, that gives you more than a 0% chance at making something of yourself in this life. Not anyone else, just you. How do those odds sound to you?"
Yusuke smiled. "The choice is yours, folks! Eternal damnation or a chance at salvation," he said, looking right at Toshinori. "Either continue to struggle endlessly in a system whose very foundation is built against you, or help us dismantle and rebuild that system, thereby giving you and anyone else you care about a CHANCE! It's a cruel world, and those are your only options. Pick a side."
The duo walked to one side and stood facing the crowd. At first, no one bothered to move, but then a few inmates left the main group to stand with them. Those were mainly the Jashinists, however, a few more who weren't came forward, and the number steadily increased as the minutes passed. Afterwards, they started moving in droves, leaving Toshinori behind.
"Your grandfather is dead, Toshinori," said Yusuke, "but you are still alive. What kind of story will you tell?"
His lips trembled with uncertainty, then he gritted his teeth. "Kuso!"
In the end, about two-thirds of the prisoners had joined. As promised, Akio teleported away those who refused to the shore, leaving them to do as they pleased.
Afterwards, Yusuke met up with Mugen at the very edge of the prison, right by the cliffside, with the Scroll of Jashin in hand.
"You may not have been able to convince all of them," said Mugen, "but you certainly got the majority on your side. You, Yusuke Honoo, are certainly a statesman."
"Aw, shucks, I do try," he replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"That's something you and I have in common. We could bring more to our cause together than we ever could alone. I thank you for recovering the Scroll."
"My thanks to you, too. You've been a great help on this mission, Mugen..." Yusuke held out the Scroll to him, but when Mugen was about to take it, he suddenly withheld it, earning a confused glance from the Jashinist.
"Although, I can't help but wonder," he said, "where do you and your followers go from here?"
Mugen was concerned by the question. "Out into the world to spread the teachings of Jashin."
"Yes, yes, yes, but what use would this Scroll be to you? It seems to me you have it all figured out. What more could be gleaned from this dusty, old parchment?"
The wind blew fiercely. Mugen looked darkly at Yusuke. "You're asking a lot of unnecessary questions, Yusuke. Just give me the Scroll."
"Yes, of course," he handed it to him. "My apologies. I only wanted to know a little bit more about Jashinism and how it works."
Mugen unrolled the Scroll to make sure its contents were still intact. He smiled. "Why? Were you thinking of converting?"
"Less so conversion and moreso research," said Yusuke. "For instance, what's the significance of Kalika?"
Mugen's smile was turned upside-down. Yusuke had never seen a man change expressions so fast and so prominently. He was frowning so hard, he looked dismayed and horrified.
"Where did you hear that name? Who told you that name?!" he raised his voice.
"No one told me," said Yusuke, coolly. "I uncovered it myself after years of meticulous research. You know who it refers to, don't you? It's Jashin's real n--"
"NO!" Mugen screamed so loud it echoed across the prison and the currents. "That's impossible!! You're not supposed to know that!! You shouldn't know anything about that unless you're a follower...!" He stopped. Upon looking at Yusuke's headband, it clicked for him. "This isn't the first Scroll of Jashin you've gotten your hands on, is it? The information you have... you took it from our sacred texts-- You violated them, amongst others."
Mugen gazed into his eyes, eyes so black it was like a void into nothingness.
"Yusuke, what is your true purpose?"
"If I told you, you wouldn't give me back the Scroll."
"You're not getting it back anyway," he whipped out a triple-bladed scythe and pointed it in Yusuke's direction. "I hear the Lord Jashin loud and clear now. You are a threat to his security and must be eliminated at once. So ends our partnership, Yusuke Honoo."
"Dang, I guess there's no talking my way out of this one."
Mugen deftly swung the scythe at him. For his jujutsu to work, he would need a drop of Yusuke's blood and to draw the symbol of Jashin on the ground, but before he could do either of those things- before he had even taken a second step, the man's whole body had caught on fire.
"Ah, it worked!" Yusuke beamed. "All it took was me mimicking Kahyo's exact chakra control method, then applying Fire Style instead. Nifty."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Mugen writhed and thrashed about as his body was destroyed in the most painful way possible, dropping his scythe and the Scroll of Jashin in the process. Though he was practically immortal, if not put out, Yusuke's Infernal Flames could burn forever, which meant he would suffer for eternity trying to heal himself against the burns.
He ran to the edge of the cliff and jumped, hoping to douse the flames in the whirlpools, but all that awaited him was an open portal. Yusuke ran to the edge to watch him fall through it and into what looked like a confined space made out of metal. Then the portal was closed.
"How deep did the Hands bury that Titanium* coffin?" Yusuke asked Akio.
"At least 30 feet."
"Nice."
"What're we going to tell his followers?"
Yusuke picked up the Scroll of Jashin and stashed it in his pocket. He kicked Mugen's scythe over the edge of the cliff. "I don't know. Maybe something like, 'Your leader received a divine revelation from Jashin, and f$#ked off to the Land of the Sun*, singing Kumbaya.'" He sighed. "I didn't want to kill him, but I had to prioritize the success of the mission over our partnership. We've had to kill a lot of people today."
"Yes we have, Grief," said Akio, as they turned around to meet with the rest of the team. "Yes we have..."
⭕
"Here we are!" Yusuke announced to his team. "Our new home away from home!!"
After everything had been sorted at Blood Prison, Yusuke and Akio took the team and the recruits to their new base of operations for the foreseeable future. As Despair had ordered, it was located in the far northern reaches of the Land of Fire, cushioned between the Land of Sound to the west and the Land of Hot Water to the east.
The base itself was a complex interplay of houses and buildings on platforms built around the bodies of the trees in the air, and it stretched across the forest for a good distance, connected only by bridges. It was the perfect playground to host an all-out battle.
image [https://img.wattpad.com/036e5f4475056a458d4d8e52908ebf52515775c5/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f35736271743774447352336b6f413d3d2d313435353633303136302e313765373636363763386336643237613132333035323731373930362e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
"It's not exactly a four-star hotel," said Yusuke, "but we're not exactly here on vacation either so it'll do."
"I thought we'd be situated on ground level," Momotaro deadpanned.
"And where would be the fun in that?"
"Question! Question!" Nanae called. "Is there at least a decent shower?" She pointed at Joaquin.
"Oh, yes, we made sure of that."
"Settle down," said Akio, "make yourselves at home, grab a bite to eat, and then we'll convene at night in the main hall to discuss our strategy against Konoha."
As everyone else ran up the trees, Yusuke halted Momo before he could join them.
"I meant to ask earlier, is it still on you?"
The Shadow user nodded.
"Good, because that will be a key factor for what's to come."
Momo had finished unpacking quickly. For the next few minutes, he decided to wander around the home base and acclimatize himself to the new surroundings, knowing it would be vital for him to do so for the fights to come. At length, he came upon Joaquin, sitting on a bough that jutted out from a massive tree.
He dropped down on him from above. "You already settled in?"
Joaquin looked back at him. Momo saw he had cut his hair back to its old-fashioned undercut style, shaved his beard off entirely, and was dressed in fresh new clothes. "Oh, hey. Yeah, I didn't have much to unpack. You?"
"Same, pretty much."
They went quiet, simply gazing at the forested horizon.
"You doing okay?" Momo later asked.
"Yeah, it's just nice to finally be out in the world again. Feel the wind in your hair, and the sun on your face, and take a decent shower. There were days when I thought I'd never get to experience this again." He went quiet again, collecting his thoughts, and then he said, "I've been thinking about Grief and Regret-sama's speech."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. Especially the part about us not having a place in this world anymore. It keeps taking me back to when we were kids and we had nowhere to go and no one to help us. But that village had extended a hand to us. They'd given us a place we could call home."
"That was a long time ago, Joaquin."
"I know, but do you think if I hadn't done what I did, that place would still be our home?" He quickly added, "This isn't me regretting, by the way, I'm just wondering."
Momo closed his eyes and crossed his arms, thinking carefully about his answer. "It's easy for wonder to teeter on the edge of regret. Do I think that village would still be our home today? I think sooner or later, we would've revealed our true selves to them and the same events would still play out. It was only a matter of time. I don't think there's anywhere left in this world we can call home, but that's why we have the New World to look forward to."
"The New World, huh? Do you think there'll be a place for people like us there?"
"I hope so, buddy."
They remained standing on that bough, looking off into the distance.