Of Bone And Ice - Chapter 40

The battle between the Mizukage’s Anbu and Fuyōna’s forces continued to rage as the sound of steel echoed through the air.

Even though Fuyōna’s forces outnumbered the Anbu unit two to one, they were outmatched.

Most of Fuyōna’s troops where at chunin level, with a small handful being jonin. Meanwhile, the Anbu were all elite shinobi who had been tried and tested, forging their skills on the battlefield over and over again.

“It’s no good! They are too strong!” One of the ninjas shouted as he fell back with the others.

The Anbu had formed four man teams that kept a tight circle formation to cover every blind spot.

The Anbu attacked with perfectly timed taijutsu and ninjutsu combinations, leaving no time for a counter-attack.

“Look out!” Someone shouted as a large fireball and showers of shuriken rained down upon them.

The explosion shook the ground, and bodies dropped to the floor as the deadly missiles showered them.

The men’s morale was dropping rapidly as they quickly realised the Anbu shinobi outclassed them in almost every way.

“No surrender!” Ganryū shouted as he pulled his men back from the brink, forming a rapid counter-attack.

The others followed his lead, and we’re able to hold their own, surviving another attack from the Anbu units as they continued to blast them.

“We can’t hold out much longer. We need reinforcements.” Ganryū thought as he blocked an attack with his sword, pushing the Anbu back before cutting him down.

“You!” He shouted at the first ninja he could find on his side.

“Y-yes, sir?” The lad said.

He didn’t need to tell him twice as the lad gave a swift nod and turned on his heel to retreat. The Anbu, however, were no fools and noticed their plan right away.

“Kill that one!” The leader shouted as he pointed to the messenger.

“Don’t let them attack!” Ganryū shouted

Another battle broke out as his forces tried to defend their messenger, and the Anbu wished to kill him.

Meanwhile, Mei was in a standoff with the young Mangetsu. She was amazed at his ability and could see why he had climbed the ranks so swiftly.

“Give it up, kid! The Mizukage is being controlled. You are fighting for the wrong side!” Mei shouted as she ducked under one of his attacks.

Mangestu was quick, though, and countered with a spinning kick that Mei was forced to block with her arm.

“I follow lord Mizukage’s orders.” He simply said as he placed his sword over his shoulder.

Mangestu was wielding Hiramekarei (the twin swords), and it was still wrapped in bandages, meaning he hasn’t even gotten serious yet.

She already knew that Taijutsu wouldn’t work, thanks to his Hōzuki clan ability and she would have to be careful when he got close.

Ao and Hatsu were also having trouble battling Ameyuri. She was the newest member of the seven, and it’s first female member, making her even more deadly.

She held the Kiba blades and wielded them with deadly skill. The blades were thought to have been lost when Raiga became a rouge ninja. However, the blades had been stolen from him thanks to Hatsu and a team of tracker nin.

Raiga had gotten away, but the swords had been recovered, allowing Ameyuri to master them with her powerful lightning chakra release. Something Hatsu was currently regretting.

Ameyuri was a fierce opponent with her skill and wild attitude for battle, making her a severe threat to Ao and Hatsu even together.

“What’s the matter, boys! can’t handle me two on one?” She said as she licked her blade. Giving them a toothy smile.

Ao had already activated his byakugan, yet for all its power and vision it offered, it was no help against Ameyuri’s ferocious attacks.

Ameyuri raised her swords into the air and summoned a huge lightning ball that she fired towards both of them.

Hatsu and Ao jumped out of the way, avoiding being electrocuted.

Hatsu landed but didn’t have any time to react as Ameyuri appeared behind him, slashing with each of her blades in smooth succession.

Hatsu blocked each attack with his own blade as he was forced on the defensive. Quickly Hatsu ducked and spun around in an attempt to counter.

Ameyuri was too fast and ducked under his blade as she opened her arms wide, bringing both her blades overhead and crashing down with a powerful attack.

Hatsu raised his sword to block, and his shoulders felt the pressure as they trembled from the force.

“Not so simple,” Ameyuri said as she suddenly realised a massive burst of lightning chakra from her swords.

The Kiba blades easily cut through Hatsu’s sword and tore through his torso like buŧŧer. Ameyuri smiled at her handy work. However, Hatsu’s body suddenly turned into a log.

“Substitution,” Ameyuri growled as she turned around to dodge a thrust attack from Ao.

“You dare try and fool me!” She roared as she suddenly jumped off her back foot, spinning rapidly, creating a tornado of lightning that would shred anything it touched to pieces.

Ao dashed back as he made a few quick hand signs before he fired a high-pressure stream of water of out his mouth in an attempt to halt

It was just enough to push her back and Ao to get out of the way.

“Wind style, pressure slice!” Hatsu shouted as he quickly blasted two large blades of wind style chakra from his mouth.

Ameyuri saw them coming from inside her jutsu and slashed her blades, cutting them across each other to release a bolt of lighting style to meet the wind blades.

Both of the ninjutsu clashed in the air and exploded as they cancelled each other out.

“Blast, it wasn’t strong enough!” Hatsu shouted, realising Ameyuri’s lightning style was more potent than his wind style that held the advantage.

“We need more firepower,” Ao said as he regrouped with Hatsu, both of them facing off against Ameyuri as she slowly twirled her blades.

“She is indeed a powerful foe,” Hatsu said, noting she was worthy of the seven swordsmen.

Meanwhile…

“Alright, Saiken, it’s time to power up!” Fuyōna said as he allowed Saiken’s chakra to envelop his body sprouting all six tails from the get-go.

“Do you not think you should also enter version two?” Saiken asked.

“I don’t want to kill him if I can help it, Saiken,” Fuyōna said as he readied himself for the Mizukage’s next attack.

Yagura suddenly burst forward off all fours as he lunged at Fuyōna, attacking him with all of his might.

Yagura was little more than a beast now, and his attacks proved it. Swiping with his claws as he tried to rip them into Fuyōna, over and over again.

Fuyōna was to fast for him as he jumped back to avoid all of his attacks.

“He must be trying to use his coral palm.” He thought as he decided to go on the counter-attack.

Fuyōna stopped a right swipe from the Mizukage with his arm and countered attacked with a massive punch amplified with wind style chakra.

The blast sent Yagura flying back through the air and crashing through the trees. Fuyōna could see the coral growing up his arm as it had taken effect.

“So, even if you touch him anywhere, it still gets you. Interesting.” Fuyōna thought as he stopped the spread by growing bones out of his arm that broke it away from his skin.

Three large red and black tails shot out of the tree line as they headed right towards Fuyōna.

With rapid reaction speed, he jumped into the air and formed hand signs that summoned large ice spikes in a large circle around his body.

The tails acted like whips as they changed direction, trying to rip Fuyōna to ribbons, ripping the surrounding terrain apart. Fuyōna flipped and used a blast of wind style to propel him through the air to avoid the tails, one after the other.

“Now!” He shouted as he fired a load of ice spikes at the tails in an attempt to pin each of them to the ground.

The ice hit but shattered as the three tails hide was too strong for them to penetrate. The tails reacted and smashed Fuyōna through the air as he was forced to block with his arms.

Even with his own tailed beast chakra cloak and his bone defence, he could feel the force behind the attack as it broke both of his arms.

“Damn, he’s stronger than he looks.” Fuyōna thought as he flipped backwards and landed on the ground skidding from the force.

The tails hadn’t stopped, and they darted after him like a homing missile. Fuyōna was ready for this, though, and summoned an ice mirror with one hand as he had already regrown the bones inside it.

All three of the tails went right into the mirror as it absorbed them. Fuyōna had created another mirror for them to pass out through, causing them to crash into themselves, getting tangled up form the force.

“Now!” Fuyōna thought as he saw his opportunity arise.

“Ice style, flash freeze!” He shouted as he created the hand signs, pumping a massive amount of chakra into the jutsu.

Fuyōna quickly unleashed a massive frozen wave that froze everything around it. All three of the Mizukage’s tails froze in almost an instant.

This way, the Mizukage couldn’t retract his tails, and they would be stuck there, giving him time to get close.

Fuyōna had used a massive amount of chakra for the jutsu, and he was now down to three tails in his first form.

Yagura let out a wicked howl of pain as he could feel his body freeze almost instantly. Instead of pulling his tails back to him, he was pulled back to them like a yoyo as he crashed through the forest, uprooting any tree he crashed into.

Fuyōna waited for him to get closer and fired a barrage of lightning enhanced bone bullets to distract him.

They did the job and hurt him before he stopped dead, crying in pain at his frozen tails.

“Now!” Fuyōna thought as he flipped over his body and reached his hand out, trying to place a seal on his body so he could enter his inner world once more.

However, the Mizukage wasn’t so succumbing. At the last moment, Yagura grabbed Fuyōna’s arm, stopping him in his tracks.

Fuyōna was face to face with the three tails as it growled in his face preparing to do something drastic.

Suddenly the beast ripped its frozen tails off to gain its freedom. Fuyōna couldn’t pull his arm free and quickly formed a few one-handed hand signs in an attempt to free himself from it’s grasp.

Ice shards suddenly rained down on Yagura, and razor-sharp bones cut into his hand, forcing him to release his grip on Fuyōna’s hand.

Yagura let his jaw break as it opened as wide as it could, getting ready to unleash a massive blast of concentrated chakra, even being prepared to hit himself to take Fuyōna out.

“If he fires that thing, he could die!” Fuyōna thought as he was left with no other option.

Fuyōna closed his eyes for a moment and suddenly burst full of crimson chakra as he entered stage two.

His body had become enveloped in red and black chakra, and all six tails were waving about as his powerful aura flare to life.

Moving at speeds far greater than before, Fuyōna wrapped his body around Yagura like a coil as he started to squeeze.

Yagura’s body was solid indeed but not indestructible, as Fuyōna released his acid from all over his body, making the three tails more compliant due to the burning pain.

Yagura lost his concentration, and the chakra bomb dropped, causing an explosion that sent both of them flying through the air.

Fuyōna had managed to stop him from trying to blow both of them up with a last resort move. Now he needed to stop him before he went any further.

Fuyōna glanced as Yagura flipped in the air and opened his arms in an attempt to steady himself midair.

He had a look on his face that said a thousand words, and Fuyōna didn’t like any of them.

“He’s going to transform again.” He said to Saiken.

“Not good. You have to stop him before he does. Otherwise, this whole area will be destroyed.” The six tails said.

Just as Fuyōna had said, Yagura suddenly transformed, turning into the fully giant body of the three-tailed beast.

It was an enormous turtle-like creature with a crab-like shell with spikes all over its body and three giant shrimp-like tails.

This was the second tailed beast Fuyōna had seen up close now. But he had no time to be impressed. He had to act fast if he wanted to stop the Mizukage from trying to destroy the entire area.

“I guess I have no choice!”

“Let’s do it, Saiken!”

“Alright!” Saiken shouted back.

Suddenly Fuyōna transformed into the full version and all its glory of the six tailed beast. (You know what it looks like!)

Now the two tailed beasts were at a standoff, and everyone around them had been blown back from the power of their transformation.

Meanwhile, Mei had been battling against Mangetsu in and serious life or death contest. Mangestu was currently around 15 years old, but there was a reason he was called the second coming of the demon.

His ability with the sword was genuinely unique. Along with his control over water release, he was a deadly adversary. However, Mei was just as much of a threat.

Mei possed water, fire, earth and lightning release as well as two Kekkei Genkai, Lava and Boil release. She was indeed a deadly opponent, and she was about to prove why.

“I have to say Mangetsu. You really are something. But, if you don’t surrender now, I won’t hold back any longer.” She said.

Mangetsu lifted his sword onto his shoulder. He could tell that she had been holding back up until now, but then again, so had he.

Mangetsu dropped his blade from his shoulder as he unwrapped the cloth that was around it.

Mei took note, knowing that this fight was about to get dangerous.

“So be it “, She said as she formed a few hand signs before spitting a large amount of lava towards him.

Mangetsu reacted swiftly and swung his blade with such skill that he cut through the lava style like buŧŧer. Mangetsu darted towards Mei and let his chakra surround the edge before it took the shape of a massive hammer.

Mel was shocked he had easily avoided her lava and was on her in an instant.

Mei had nowhere to go and rapidly formed a few hand signs in an attempt to stop his attack.

“Earth style, mud wall!” She shouted as she raised an earth style wall in an attempt to absorb the blow from his sword.

Mangetsu’s blade smashed the earth style wall to pieces as he passed right through Meis defences. However, he had fallen right into her trap.

“Lightning style, lighting trap!” She shouted as she let her chakra surround Mangetsu in a circular lightning barrier. With his Kekkei Genkai and weakness to lightning, Mangetsu was left helpless and trapped like a rat in Mei’s jutsu.

“I know all about your Hōzuki clan’s ability. I’m afraid this time it wasn’t enough to save you.” Mei said as she formed a few more hand signs.

“Such a waste to kill a handsome man, but I’m already taken.” She said as she opened her mouth and released her acid mist.

“This mist will melt even you alive, Mangetsu.”

Mangetsu couldn’t move due to the lightning style trap he was in. He couldn’t even liquefy due to the electricity running through his body.

He could feel the acid vapour start to burn his skin as it’s effects got stronger and stronger.

With one final attempt to save his life, Mangetsu pumped all of his remaining chakra into his sword, trying to get it to attack Mei.

It was no good. Mei had already seen this coming and stopped his attempt with lighting style that hit his wrist, preventing him from gripping his sword.

“Now melt away,” Mei said as she blew a kiss of deadly acid vapour.

Suddenly an explosion not far away gave off a shock wave that cleared the acid mist and disrupted the ground, ending the lightning style on Mangetsu, freeing him.

Both Mei and Mangetsu were blown back by the shock wave, but Mangetsu did his best to seize the opportunity by firing a clip of water bullets at Mei.

Mei was so shocked by the sudden explosion that she had lost her footing even before the shock wave had knocked her back. She flipped in the air and watched the water bullets head her way to late. As one of them ripped through her left shoulder.

Mei screamed as the pain set in before she crashed to the ground, rolling into a heap, clutching her wound.

Mangetsu landed smoothly and regained his sword. Splitting the blade into two half’s this time as he intended to finish Mei with one blow.

He had already learnt his lesson and didn’t intend to give Mei another chance to use her lightning style or acid mist.

“Time for you to die!” Mangetsu shouted as he raised both of his blades, covering them in chakra.

Suddenly another huge shock wave hit as this time two huge tailed beasts suddenly appeared, ripping the terrain close to them to shreds and blasting everything away, including Mei and Mangetsu.

Further away, Hastu and Ao were facing off against Ameyuri. The female swordsmen proved to be a mighty foe as her control over lightning style was too strong for them to handle.

Ameyuri could wild lightning style from her body and swords without the need for hand signs. She could even summon lightning from the clouds above.

“Lightning style, thunder gate!” She shouted as she struck her swords into the ground.

Thunder and lightning crackled and roared, blasting down from the sky towards Hatsu and Ao.

“Look out!” Ao shouted as he jumped back to avoid the lightning bolt.

Hatsu did the same, and both of them took cover in the trees, hoping she wouldn’t be able to see them.

Ao was smart, as a leader of tracker ninja and Anbu captain. He had dealt with all sorts of foes. However, he had never fought such a proficient user of lightning style and struggled to develop a plan.

Hatsu could use wind style, but as shown, he wasn’t skilled enough in its use to combat her lightning.

Their only option was to set out a trap that would either disarm her or trap her movements long enough to get a counter-attack in.

Ao started forming hand signs and created three water clones. A water clone was a basic jutsu, yet more advanced than the ordinary clone jutsu, as a water clone had psychical mass. However, it was only one-tenth as potent as the user, meaning they were only good as a distraction.

Hatsu caught on to what Ao was doing and decided to play along as he created three water clones himself.

Ao allowed his clones to run off into different parts of the forest, with Hatsu doing the same. The clones would cover the tree line trying to confuse Ameyuri as to where their actual whereabouts were. Becoming a valuable distraction.

Hatsu’s clones did the first part as they rained kunai down upon Ameyuri. The projectiles served as nothing more than a pest to her as she blocked them with her swords.

“There you are!” She shouted as she let loose a lightning strike towards Hatsu’s clone.

She wasn’t sure if she hit her target and tried to get closer to confirm it.

“You won’t get away from me!”

Ao quickly darted out of the bushes and attacked, aiming for her vitals with his senbon needles. Ameyuri turned around and blocked his first strike before dodging his second attack.

Ameyuri slashed with both blades in a counter-attack and cut Ao in half with ease.

“Why you! No one tricks me!” She shouted as she watched his body turn into a water clone.

“Now!”

“Wind style, air bullet!”

“Water style, water bullet!” Both Ao and Hatsu shouted as they fired a combine jutsu mixing wind and water together.

Ameyuri raised her swords in defence.

“Lightning style, depth charge!” She shouted as her body became enveloped in lightning, protecting her from the blast of water and wind.

The force of the jutsu blew her back and both Ao and Hatsu retreated back into the forest, taking cover once again.

“How dare you!” Ameyuri shouted as lightning crackled off her body in her rage.

“I never lose my prey!” She said as she crossed her blades over each other, taking a kneeling position.

Ameyuri suddenly rushed into the forest, letting lightning bolts shoot out all over the place in an attempt to hit anyone who might be hiding.

Ao noticed this and was becoming worried that his trap might not work now.

“Only one option left.” He thought as he gave Hatsu a nod.

Both of them had laid out an explosive trap that would result in her capture with conductive metal wire. But the entire plan counted on weather or not they could disarm her.

Ao jumped from his cover and threw a handful of shuriken to distract her.

“There you are!” She shouted as she let her lightning lose, zapping him on the spot as well as stopping the shuriken.

Ao’s body burst into water, and another hm appeared further away.

“Over here!” He shouted as he made some rapid hand signs.

“Water style, high-pressure arrow!” He shouted as he blasted arrow-shaped water blasts from his mouth.

The blasts pressure was strong enough to rip through a tree trunk, and Ameyuri didn’t want to chance it by trying to block them.

She swiftly jumped out of the way of the attacks and spun around rapidly in a circle towards Ao, ready to cut him in half.

“Die, traitor!” She shouted as she zapped him with a massive blast of lightning style from her swords, dropping his body toward the ground.

“Another clone!” She shouted as she looked up, getting ready for the next attack.

“Not this time…” Ao said as he fired another water arrow from his mouth.

The blast was no way near as powerful as the others, but it caught Ameyuri off guard.

“What! He wasn’t a clone!” She shouted as she had no choice but to cross her swords across her body in an attempt to block the attack.

The water arrow was a direct hit, and it knocked Ameyuri into the air from the force. She was stunned from the blast just long enough for Hatsu to get behind her as he wrapped the metal wire around her body.

Ameyuri realised what was going on and slashed one of her blades behind her in a desperate attempt to get Hatsu away from her.

It worked as she cut his left arm, leaving a large gash in his bicep. Hatsu bit through the pain and quickly kicked Ameyuri in the ribs before wrapping the wire around her wrist.

Ameyuri had failed to defend against his kick and fallen for his plan, but with a quick burst of lightning, she zapped Hatsu and sent him flying before he smashed into a tree.

Ameyuri landed on the ground and tried to undo the wire that had been wrapped around her waist and left hand, but it was no good as Ao pulled it with all his might.

Ameyuri was pulled through the air while her left sword was ripped out of her hand and stuck into the ground.

“Now, Hatsu, do it now!” Ao shouted.

Hatsu pulled himself up best he could and pulled out an explosive tag that was wrapped around a kunai. He threw it as hard as he could, and it landed on the target, just making the mark before he fell back against the tree.

Ameyuri had been pulled by the wire through the air, and from what she could see, was towards an explosive tag filled trap.

She couldn’t cut the metal wire, and even her lightning style couldn’t break it. With little to no time to react, she did the only thing she could.

“Thunder gate!” She roared as she summoned a massive amount of lightning style. Pumping as much chakra into it as she could.

The lightning struck the ground just as Hatsu’s kunai hit its mark, and the two created an explosion that covered the entire area taking all three of them out together in the consuming light.

That’s the end of this chapter! I do hope you enjoyed it!

Check out my P-A-T-R-E-O-N for more chapters! link in Bio.

Also, check out my original Novel Tails of Astaria!