XII
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Arc XII Chapter 13
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Asami and Kakashi. Two jonin. Two former ANBU. Two former ANBU Captains. Two veterans. Their kunai interlocked in a tight grip. Blade met blade. Metal met metal.
“...” Asami’s lips formed a smile, her kunai slowly cutting through his kunai, her chakra slowly grinding through his chakra. Her purple plasma shone with the brilliance of a star, invincible. As usual, it was the strength of her chakra to prevail, despite his most sincere efforts. Kakashi fought. He fought. His chakra fought. “Kakashi, you appear to be hard pressed, unless I am mistaken~.” Her taunt proved ineffectual, eliciting no reaction from her experienced enemy.
“... ... ...” Kakashi gritted his teeth, much less in a talkative mood. What a shame. “...”
Hers and his stares interlocked. Their eyes crossed, purple, dark grey and the red shade of his sole legendary sharingan. Kakashi ... The wielder of the infamous sharingan ...
He had removed his eye patch, revealing his prized treasure, his sharingan. A prized treasure it was. It was given to him by his fallen comrade in arms. It was a beautiful eye. A deep, crimson shade. Three proud black tomoe. It was a mature sharingan. It was ripe. Full of power. Unless her eyes deceived her, his eye even had awakened what was considered forbidden. It showed traces of a power familiar. The unmistakable powers of the mangekyou slumbered within it.
Not that such a meagre power would save him. His mastery of his eye was found subpar. Admirable, yet falling short of her expectations. Such facts had not escaped the keenness of her instinct. His sharingan was found lacking in so many aspects, but what else could be expected of a mere pretender, made the heir of a legacy not his own.
It showed. Unlike her, Kakashi was never born an Uchiha, but rather chosen by the vagrancies of fate. Even so, the eye rejected him. The eye defied him even after all these years. The sharingan refused to obey one not of her blood. The eye strained his stamina. The eye strained his chakra reserves.
Asami giggled, deigning to offer a rare instance of praise. Her curiosity, her interest in his sharingan had not escaped Kakashi. “A sharingan ... Such a rare sight these days …”
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. “A rare sight indeed ... Yet you hardly seem surprised.”
Asami giggled, armed with a beaming grin. “How true~. Well, let's say, they are a sight that I have grown accustomed to. I am certainly no stranger to the allure they hold. Not when the butcher of the Uchiha clan walks among us.” Her words lingered, producing the desired effect, even when more was said than strictly necessary.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. “Him ... I understand.”
This was her opportunity. Asami doubled her efforts, her chakra flaring up, invigorating the purple coat of heated plasma surrounding her kunai.
“...” Kakashi’s eyes widened. His body reacted now that it was already too late ...
The clattering sound of wood gave Asami pause. It was a sound that she had come to know throughout the years, once reminiscent of Sunagakure. It was the puppeteers and their puppets. The creaking, clicking, groaning, grinding cacophony of moving jaws and joints. They were coming for her, and they were closing in.
Asami glanced sideways, spotting a pair of puppets approaching her, their wooden frames and inhuman nature covered by a set of long coats.
The puppets deployed their blades, directly extending from their arms, prepared to cut her down and quite likely laced with deadly poison. Par for the course for any puppeteer of renown. Of course, it was the old woman who commanded them. It was her pulling the strings from behind the scenes, her chakra threads skilfully controlling her creations. Two puppets, both clad in matching black fur lined robes. Two nameless wooden husks without defining features beyond the simplest of contours. They looked and felt like the cheapest of cheap mass production models. Because they were.
The old woman noticed her stare. Her gaze hardened. “Take this! You Akatsuki bastards should never have messed with Sunagakure! Old though I am, I will show you why I was once hailed as the greatest puppeteer under the desert sun!”
Asami disengaged instantly, evading. Obviously, being bisected alive was a thought she was hardly eager to entertain, nor was the poison coating their blades. Their blades missed, their sharp edges cutting the air, passing directly before her eyes. It was a close call. Closer than she would have liked to admit.
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Pain’s gaze wandered across the dark expanse of the cave, targeting a certain flickering silhouette, a certain shark toothed companion. Kisame had returned from his mission with modest success, much to their leader’s apparent displeasure. His monotone, lifeless voice betrayed his thinly veiled irritation and short temper. Pain had never been one to tolerate failure. “Kisame ... You have returned earlier than expected ... What happened? Were you defeated?”
Kisame grinned, uncaring of the accusations levelled against him. “They were strong. Far stronger than expected.”
Pain nodded. “I see ... How disappointing. Not that it matters, though. The ritual is proceeding smoothly. The essence of the One Tail will be sealed soon at this rate.” Streams of extracted chakra were extracted from the Kazekage’s body, only to be devoured by the giant Gedo Mazo Statue.
Kisame smiled. “And what about our little princess? Hope they don't cause you too much trouble, Asami. You know what a stubborn bunch you Konoha-nin are.”
“...” Asami ignored Kisame, her eyes closed, her hands forming a seal. Her attention was spread rather thin at the present moment, with little room to spare. The sealing ritual, the fight against Kakashi and his companions, processing the stolen essence of the One Tail, all of these demanded her attention. “...”
“No response ...” Kisame flashed his teeth. “You wound me, Asami.”
“... ... ...” Asami maintained her silence. No reaction, whatsoever.
Kisame shrugged his shoulders, slightly disappointed. “Oh, well, I guess our little princess has her hands full at the moment. Nothing we can do. How are things going on her end, Zetsu?” His gaze shifted.
“...” Ever the dutiful scout and subordinate, Zetsu obliged to report, his considerably more perceptive black half speaking. “The enemy outnumbers her five to one, yet they appear to be equally matched. Thus far, at least. I predict that her superior skill and ability will allow her to slowly gain the upper hand. In my opinion, their defeat is only a matter of time.”
“Impressive”, Kisame commented. “Wouldn't you agree, Itachi?
“... ... ...” Itachi, however, was silent.
Meanwhile, Pain agreed. “I am pleased to hear so, though I recommend you to hurry, Asami. Time is of the essence.”
Asami furrowed her eyebrow, the majority of her attention still dedicated to the ongoing battle, remote as it might be. “How so? The fight is far from over.”
Pain conceded, “Such might be true. Unfortunately, though, the jutsu is already reaching its limits. You are consuming his chakra at an alarming rate. I don't expect his body to last much longer. You are on the clock, Asami.”
“... ... ...” Asami clicked her tongue, her consternation showing. “I understand ... I will see what I can do.”
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Noo...!!
I want to read more!
Pls it's been months when is there going to be a new chapter or is this droped
Not dropped. I am organising stuff and working on illustrations for the chapters.
@Assurbanipal_II thanks for the quick reply I was kinda worried because you said something similar to zukigi in April and there is no new chapter yet so I can't wait
@Novelty Well, the chapter was kinda already finished, then I thought. Hey, why don't I introduce illustrations too for this novel, like for my other novel. And that led to this, and now I am here trying to generate good illustrations for important chapters. There will be about 20-25.
While doing that, I also created a list to keep track of the chapters and what happened inside them, and to write down the appearance of characters.
@Assurbanipal_II nice pictures are awsome in fanfics I usually have another tab open with the wiki of whatever series the fan fiction is based on so I can remember what characters look like and who's who
@Novelty Well, they are mainly for scenery, my OCs, and Asami of course. And Yuki. There are some very cuddly ones among them.
@Assurbanipal_II I also love how you have taken advantage of the glossary too so keep up the great work can't wait until you manage to finish you first novel on here hope it's this one😘
@Novelty Oh, I see ... Glossary ... There is a lot of incorrect and outdated stuff there inside. Should probably delete all of it and bring back codex pages like with my other novel.
@Assurbanipal_II just pls don't let it delay the chapters
@Novelty
@Novelty Read my other work then.
@Assurbanipal_II I know I probably should have realised this by now but is the protagonist a reincarnation of a different one of you works or is it a new one
@Novelty They are the reincarnation of a previous work that only exists in concept and ideas. Yet.
@Assurbanipal_II thanks because the fact that she was presumably innocent stated in the synopsis threw me off when I read like the second chapter where she mentioned mana.
@Novelty I think it has become pretty obvious by now that you need to take her words with a grain of salt. Asami ... is not entirely truthful. And something must have happened to make her like this. But you will get some glimpses into her true past if you read my other work.
@Assurbanipal_II Which one?
@Novelty The one that is periodically linked at the start of each arc. Schwarz -‖- Der Wille zur Macht
@Assurbanipal_II thanks