Chapter 19

-Meltdown

Ritsuko's fist trembles with anger as she stares at the perpetrator in the shadows. Her eyes settle into a glare full of bloodlust, ready to strike Jōran down. The man's evil grin glistens in the shadows, his aura filling the surrounding area with a dense presence. Finally he takes a menacing step forward, bringing himself out into the moonlight.

"Hmph. You must be the one who's caused this. All the lost business... gone," Jōran elegantly states.

"Business?! These are honest people making an honest living and you're terrorizing them!" Ritsuko yells, pointing an accusatory finger.

Jōran takes off his tiny spectacles, rubbing them with his vest before examining them and resting them back atop his nose. He then runs his hand through his slicked back white hair, tidying it up into a neat position. The man oozes with high-class demeanor while also maintaining a maniacal presence. Ritsuko can feel the heavy chakra in the air almost as if it was sticking to her skin. The girl grits her teeth before taking a step forward while whipping out a kunai, her resolve dead set in her mind.

"No no... this simply won't do," Jōran says quietly, disappearing in a flicker.

Before Ritsuko can even react, Jōran knocks the kunai out of her hand, grabbing her wrist at the same time. The woman is paralyzed with fear, coming face to face with the wicked man. Ritsuko's lip tembles, unable to handle being close to the source of his malicious chakra.

Jōran leans in, smiling with the insanity of a bloodthirsty murderer, "You've only led yourself into a trap. You're just bait for the others!"

With one swift and effortless movement, he plunges his hand through Ritsuko's chest cavity, holding her heart on the other side. The woman's eyes fade away into to dark emptiness of death, her body slumping forward onto Jōran's arm.

"And they will come," He whispers into the girl's ear.

Shizake and Kenta are the first one's to drop into the market square. Both of their eyes go wide in horror, observing the girl's still beating heart gripped by Jōran's large hands. Ritsuko's heart takes one last beat before he squeezes it, blood gushing out of the organ like a fountain.

Nitatchi and Toshika are the next to drop in, both of them reacting the same way as their comrades. Shizake's temper flares, manifesting as pure rage. His Sharingan activates as a result of this anger, staring at Jōran with murderous intent. In this heated moment, Shizake observes the man's chakra but ignores its size, its presence, and its density.

"Ah... I knew it would work. Now I can rid of you parasites so that my business suffers no more," Jōran says eloquently.

"Your days are done you sick twisted excuse for a human!" Shizake roars, "We won't give you the pleasure of mercy!"

"I think you're the ones who should be worried about mercy!" The man manically yells as his chakra concentrates around him. The man makes one single bird seal with both of his hands. His arms and hands seemingly split apart, giving him four sets of limbs, four hands, and twenty fingers. He brings all four hands together, making simultaneous hand seals in the blink of an eye. As he lifts up all four palms, a mixture of fire and electricity blasts out towards the ANBU group. Each of them narrowly escapes the destructive attack as it completely shreds two buildings to rubble. Each member of the team scatters. Toshika and Nitatchi find their selves on top of a building of the village on opposite sides of one another. Shizake and Shītto both duck into an alleyway to observe Jōran from a safe vantage point.

"Cowards. The lot of you. Step out and fight like real ninja!" Jōran yells.

Shizake signals with his hand to Toshika who relays the signal to Nitatchi. The Hyuga nods, reaching into his pack. The rest of the team does the same, each of them wielding a few kunai with bomb tags attached. Simultaneously, the ANBU squad leaps out from their cover, all of them unleashing the explosive ninja tools at the man.

The sharp blades soar through the air, reaching Jōran and delivering a fiery explosion. As the smoke and dust clears, the ANBU squad sees two mud walls brought up around him. Shizake grits his teeth, electricity surging into the palm of his hand. The Uchiha rushes out, running up the mud wall with extreme speed.

"Kouen!" Nitatchi yells out in an attempt to stop his hasty captain.

Just as Shizake reaches the top of the mud wall, Jōran appears in front him with blinding speed. The man smiles maliciously before socking the Uchiha square in the face. Shizake is sent careening towards the ground like a meteor soaring at the earth. Kenta steps out into the open, throwing together hand-signs as quick as possible. A small wind cyclone catches Shizake, bringing him back to the ground softly. Kenta grabs Shizake, throwing the Uchiha over his shoulder before diving back into cover. Shizake groans in pain as Kenta places him against the wall. The large squad member observes Shizake for any wounds, patting him on the shoulder once he checks out. The blow to his head caused the Uchiha to be knocked out for a brief moment, causing his Sharingan to deactivate as well.

"You can't be so hasty captain... this man's power is beyond just one of us. It's going to take all four of us to bring him down," Kenta says.

"Rgh... you're right. I just can't believe he killed Ritsuko without hesitation," Shizake replies.

"I can't either... but we have to press on. We need to form a strategy."

"You're right... sorry for acting hasty back there. We have to link up with Toshika and Nitatchi."

Meanwhile on the opposite end of the market square, Toshika and Nitatchi hide behind a food cart. Nitatchi peers at Jōran with his Byakugan, observing the immense chakra coming from his system. Toshi fumbles with her weapon nervously, twirling the chain between her fingers.

"You okay Toshi?" Nitatchi asks, deactivating his Kekkei Genkai.

"Y-yeah... it's just his chakra signature. It's... so heavy. It feels like someone has my lungs in a vice," The girl anxiously responds.

Nitatchi places a hand on her shoulder, giving her a warm smile. His gaze then shifts over to Shizake's side of the market square. He sees Kenta talking to Shizake whom is lying against the wall, recovering from the punch.

"Captain took a pretty nasty blow. He might be cunning and intelligent but Shizake sure has a temper," Nitatchi says.

Toshi lightly chuckles, setting the chain and blade down in her lap, "You got that right."

Nitatchi's eyes lower downwards as he looks upon Toshika's weapon. A plan formulates in his head, a light bulb going off in his mind., "Hey Toshi, that weapon of yours could be the key to this thing."

"How so?"

"From what we know so far, Jōran can fire off two different jutsu at once due to his four arms and hands. Frankly I've never seen such an ability but if we can immobilize his hands, then we'll be able to strike," The Hyuga explains.

Toshika tilts her head, asking, "But how does my weapon play a role?"

"You're smarter than that Toshi. Clone yourself and the weapon. Spread out across the market square. I'll act as a distraction while your clones move around and in doing so I'll relay the information to the other two."

Toshika ponders on the plan, realizing how crucial of a role she'll be playing. All her years in the ANBU never prepared her for a moment like this - a moment when the enemy's chakra overwhelms a total of four ANBU. Even with all the emotional training she's endured, her hands begin to shake causing the chain in her hands to rattle. Nitatchi notices her anxiety, placing his hand upon her shoulder once more. Instead of the warm smile he gave her earlier, Nitatchi's demeanor is serious and stoic.

"Toshi. You can't worry about what could go wrong. His chakra is strong yes but we were given this mission for a reason. We were given this mission because we are strong as a unit. We can do this. You can do this. All of us, Shizake and Kenta included, we believe in you," Nitatchi says.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

All of Toshika's movements stop, her shoulders dropping a well. This time, she grips the chain in her hand tightly. The resolve radiates from her like a burning star, her eyes sparkling with a determined glare.

"Thank you," She quietly says before dashing out from behind her cover.

Nitatchi smirks before he too dashes out behind his cover in the opposite direction. Jōran notices the quick movements, focusing his gaze upon Nitatchi, "Parasites must be eradicated before they harm the host. You little ninja are deplorable," Jōran says.

Jōran pulls out a scroll from his vest, opening it. A large poof of smoke appears as he grips a demon wind blade in one of his four arms. His eyes settle on Nitatchi whom is standing across the way from him. The man reels his arm back before launching the massive shuriken like tool towards the Hyuga.

Wait for it, Nitatchi thinks to himself. Jōran then makes the seal for the clone jutsu, the single demon wind shuriken becoming four.

There it is.

As the weapons close in on him, Nitatchi forces chakra to his palms, spinning around quickly, "Rotation!" He yells.

The ninja tools bounce off the chakra dome and into the air. Just as the Hyuga's technique stops he leaps in the sky and grabs two of the shurikens. As he flips through the air, Nitatchi launches the shuriken back at Jōran while firing off two air palms to increase their velocity. Jōran smirks before easily catching the ninja tools with his four hands.

"A Hyuga in the midst of things? How troublesome!" Jōran yells.

Nitatchi ducks into the alley way where Shizake and Kenta are posted up, sliding next to them.

"Why did you do that?" Shizake asks.

"Toshika is making her way around the square. I was acting as a distraction. I hope you're ready to fight because she's going to subdue his hands," Nitatchi quickly explains, "I don't have much in terms of long range jutsu but if I can get up close enough I'll be able to hit his chakra points."

"Do it after Kenta and I hit him. It's going to be a powerful jutsu," Shizake says, pushing him self up off the wall. Kenta, use your wind jutsu to strengthen my fire."

Kenta nods his head, mentally preparing him self to take Jōran head on. Nitatchi runs back out into the market square, standing across from the evil man once more.

"Heh. You sure are strong! A little stupid but definitely strong. You'll have to teach me that technique of yours some day!" Nitatchi teases, provoking the criminal leader.

Jōran glares at the Hyuga, tossing the massive shuriken blades at Nitatchi again. Nitatchi manages to dodge the two blades with ease as they become stuck in the side of a building. At this instant, Nitatchi lets out a quick but sharp whistle that echoes throughout the market square. At the same time, Jōran makes more hand seals before engulfing the market square in a massive fiery blaze. Nitatchi barely escapes the hell fire, a part of his shirt toasted by the flames. The Hyuga pats the fire out, looking up to the rooftops for Toshika.

Toshika and her clones all throw their blades out towards Jōran, aiming for his hands. One blade sinks deep into his huge palm, the others landing in various places relatively close to his hands. Toshika and her clones then surge chakra into their arms, yanking the chains as to force Jōran to extend his arms out. He grunts in pain but smirks, knowing that his strength out-powers hers. Shizake and Kenta both step out from the alleyway, forming hand seals in tandem.

"Fire style: Giant flame spear!" Shizake roars, focusing tons of chakra into his spear like fire attack.

"Wind style: Chaotic burst!" Kenta yells while a powerful tornado like wind attack billows out from his mouth.

The wind wraps itself around the fire jutsu, growing four times its original size and strength. The fire spear rips through the market square obliterating everything in its path. Just as the attack slams into Jōran, he frees himself from Toshika's blades. The fire roars with intensity, exploding like a ten-ton bomb. Nitatchi jumps into the black smoke, using his Byakugan to pinpoint Jōran's exact location. The Hyuga lifts up his palms, finding the chakra nexus of Jōran's chakra system. Without hesitation, Nitatchi bombards the nexus with a flurry of palm attacks. The smoke finally clears up to reveal Nitatchi still attacking the man's chakra points. The Hyuga then slams the central chakra nexus with one last brutal attack.

Jōran stands still, his mouth agape in silent agony while his eyes go blank from the sheer excruciating pain. Nitatchi quickly retreats back to his squad just in case the plan somehow didn't work. Toshika eventually joins back up with them too as they all observe the statue like crime boss in his frozen state.

"Nitatchi your plan worked like a charm," Shizake says, "Kenta, you-"

Shizake freezes in his words, his gaze solidified in horror at the blades stuck through Kenta's chest cavity. The large ANBU member coughs up a good amount of blood, his eyes slowly losing their vivacity. The rest of the ANBU turns around to face the inexplicable tragedy, watching as Kenta falls backwards. Shizake falls into a dead sprint, sliding across the dirt to catch his squad member.

"Kenta! Kenta are you okay?!" Shizake screams.

"Cap...tain...?" Kenta weakly asks while blood continues to trickle from his mouth, "I guess this is it for me. Heh, I didn't even see the attack coming."

Nitatchi and Toshika both slide through the dirt as well, coming to their teammate's side. Toshika grabs Kenta's hand with both of hers, bringing it close to her chest, "Kenta... you can't go out like this!"

Nitatchi's head drops as he in unable to think of anything to say in the moment. He begins to carefully remove the blades out of Kenta's chest, tossing them to the side. Toshika frantically reaches into her pack for some bandaging but is stopped by Kenta who puts his hand up.

"Don't waste your energy Toshi... I'm too far gone. I can go peacefully knowing I served alongside some of the greatest comrades... and friends. Just... tell my younger sister that I am sorry. I am sorry I didn't make it long enough to become a captain..."

As Kenta utters his final words, his last breath escapes his mouth. His head slumps over to the side and his eyes lose all of their color and vibrancy. Toshika rests both of his hands upon his chest while Shizake mournfully closes Kenta's eyes.

"Hehehehe..." The statue like figure lowly chuckles. Jōran fixes his gaze upon the ANBU team, cracking his neck as well, "I missed my target. I was aiming at you," He says, pointing a finger at the Uchiha.

Shizake and the rest of their team slowly turn their heads back to Jōran whom is still statue like but laughing to himself. In that heated moment, Shizake's arms begin to tremble. His blood bubbles beyond boiling, beyond any rage or anger that the Uchiha has ever experienced. His dark coal pupils are replaced by the design of the Sharingan, which begin spinning around ever so violently. The blades cloned by Toshika earlier disappear in a poof of smoke, leaving only the original one lying in a heap on the ground next to Kenta. His blood still stains the tip, dripping onto the dirt and mixing with it.

Electricity erupts into Shizake's left hand as he picks the blade up and coats it with his lightning. The blade soars through the air with immense speed, impaling Jōran in the center of his sternum. Shizake then flickers forward, using his lightning coated fist to punch the blade cleanly through Jōran's chest. The blade then explodes in a bloody mess as it erupts from Jōran's back. Just as the last of the chain is about to slip through the hole, Shizake grabs the end of it. He yanks the chain and blade towards himself, allowing it to come back through Jōran's backside and through his chest once more. Blood spatters onto Shizake's face as he whips the blade around one more time. This time the blade slices through Jōran's neck, blooding gushing from it like a geyser. The despicable man falls onto his back, hitting the dirt with a loud thud.

Shizake climbs atop the massive man, electricity sparking and crackling through both of his fists this time. He begins to punch Jōran in the face over and over again, unleashing all the fury he has within him. His punches don't let up in intensity either; continuously delivering crushing blows to the already dead man. Eventually Shizake breaks Jōran's face, caving in the facial bone while blood continues to splatter everywhere. Nitatchi soon runs up having witnessed enough of Shizake's carnage. He grabs Shizake from under his armpits and yanks him back, pulling the Uchiha off of the corpse.

"Shizake stop it! HE'S DEAD!" Nitatchi roars, barely snapping Shizake out of his bloodthirsty rage.

Shizake slumps onto his knees, huffing from all the energy exhausted, "DAMNIT!" The Uchiha roars at the top of his lungs.

Without warning, several rogue bandits gather around the ANBU team, glaring at them. One of them steps forward, an evil smile settled across his face.

"You killed our boss... which means we have to kill you!" He says.

Nitatchi and Toshika settle into a defensive stance, pulling out a kunai into their hand. Shizake still sits on his knees, huffing in anger. A ninja dressed in sand attire drops down into the market square, landing next to Nitatchi and Toshika. Within a matter of minutes, citizens and ninja guard alike come to the side of the ANBU group. The group of several bandits freezes in fear, knowing that this is their last day of freedom. They surrender without putting up a fight, becoming handcuffed by the ninja guard.

The first ninja to drop in earlier approaches Toshika whom is crouched besides Kenta's body. He looks over to his right, seeing Nitatchi try to pull Shizake out of his moment of rage.

"We would've helped if we knew this was going on..." The sand ninja grimly says, "We had no idea there was a unit sent here to take out their boss."

Both ninja and citizens stop by to offer condolences for the fallen ANBU member. Some offer hot food to the mourning team while others kindly offer a place to stay for the night. Toshika accepts their kind gestures; sadly nodding while her hand still rests on Kenta's body. Shizake finally stands up, his eyes glazed over with remorse. He looks up to the night sky and all the stars, cursing under his breath.

"Shizake..." Nitatchi says as he places a hand on his comrade's shoulder.

"I should've reacted faster, I should have had my Sharingan activated way before. Maybe then... I could've seen the blades coming and done something about it," Shizake states.

"No," Toshika interrupts, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, "It's my fault. I should've dismissed the cloned blades. Maybe then Kenta wouldn't have suffered such a lethal blow,"

"Look you two, there are a lot of things we could have done to prevent this but... there's no use in looking back on it now. What happened happened... and there's no going back. Kenta died with a smile knowing that we were by his side. He died honorably and respectively, that's all we could ask for," Nitatchi says.

Shizake balls his fist, gazing upon it, "I told myself I wouldn't let anyone on my team be injured... and I failed on that promise. But from here on out... I vow to never let another teammate fall under my command."