AFS 56: The Civil War (Part 10) (Patreon)

The waves under my feet reflected the bright sun above as I ran at full speed, stepping on air and focusing my senses on the battle ahead. The Kirigakure fleet clashed with Mei's rebels with unprecedented violence. More precisely, it was Mei who unleashed most of the violence. I could feel her chakra saturating a large area, she was probably using some form of Boil Release jutsu.

The Loyalists were falling fast, their chakra signatures vanishing by the dozens, but at the same time, many more signatures were rushing toward the battle from Kirigakure itself. Getting a concrete count of the reinforcements was difficult, mostly because Yagura's chakra was so overwhelming. His raw power obscured the numbers, but either way, this should be the last large battle of this war.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally landed aboard the lead ship, surveying the battlefield. I immediately noticed the melting ships of the enemy forces, not to mention the melting corpses—a gruesome sight. I almost preferred seeing open guts and leaking brains to this.

“Mission success; the naval base on Aokujima won't be sending any forces anytime soon,” I reported, trying to catch my breath. Even though my chakra reserves were still about half-full, the physical exhaustion from running such a distance was present.

“Good. Take a short rest, Ryuuzaki... I'm afraid I will need you to fight soon,” Mei said, glancing between me and the horizon.

I nodded sharply and sat down, reaching into my seal for a single soldier pill.

“Yagura is on his way with an entourage. You should send people away before he lobs a bijudama our way,” I warned, biting down on the pill and grimacing at the foul taste. It was like biting into a very hard, rotten apple. Even then, I would have preferred the taste of the rot over this.

These pills were a last resort, usually used only by ANBU. Though the taste was horrendous, the effects were nearly miraculous. One pill would reduce exhaustion, recover chakra reserves, and even slightly boost the user’s chakra reserves.

It did come with severe drawbacks, however. Repeated use diminished the medicine's effectiveness and could be dangerous. Taking more than one in quick succession could lead to poisoning or even developing a chakra illness.

I was more concerned about the massive hangover-like feeling I would have afterward, though. Hopefully, one day, I would be strong enough to stop needing these pills. Even though I used them sparingly, they always made me feel terrible the next day.

I took a deep breath as the effects of the pill began to kick in.

“I'll be ready in ten.”

“And how long until Yagura gets here?” Mei asked, already signaling for the fleet to disperse. It wouldn’t be wise for us to be grouped together if Yagura was on his way. None of us wanted to be vaporized by a single attack.

“Half an hour at best, likely faster… much faster if he runs ahead,” I said, breathing deeply. “I will warn you if he does.” Mei smiled at me and quickly passed command to Ao, which surprised me a little. Was Ao the designated general or something?

“We will take him on together, then,” she declared, her sweet smile taking on a rather sadistic quality.

“That will limit much of my arsenal…” I replied cautiously. I was glad for her help, but also wary. Senbonzakura doesn’t discriminate; it shreds anyone and anything in its path. And while Senkei was less indiscriminate, it would still trap us all or leave Mei on the outside and unable to help.

“My most powerful jutsus... they don't work well with allies nearby, Mei. Neither do yours, from what I've heard.” I laughed softly, realizing the paradox in our situation. Fighting together could potentially hurt us more than it would help.

“I would appreciate assistance with the alpha strike, if you don’t mind,” I offered, leaving Mei lost in thought for a few moments.

“Are you sure? Last time you—” She caught herself. “You didn’t exactly win last time.”

“I have a few new tricks up my sleeve now… and I doubt that Kirigakure would accept being liberated by a foreigner.” I shrugged.

“Mhm. You just want a rematch against him, don't you?” Mei giggled, though her tone was playful rather than scolding. Damn it, woman, stop joking at a time like this.

“Can’t say I don’t want a rematch. But can you deny that I’m right about the liberation thing?” I asked earnestly, her teasing smile disappearing as she shook her head. She knew I was right.

She sighed before speaking again, “Alright… What kind of alpha strike do you have in mind?”

I grinned viciously, forming a deep blue crystal in the palm of my hand.

“Did you know that sapphires are very heat-resistant?” Naturally, they wouldn’t be heat-resistant enough to withstand her Lava Release, but chakra is somewhat like magic, and enhancing an already naturally heat-resistant crystal like sapphire with chakra would likely make it completely heat-proof. Brittle, yes, but almost entirely heat-resistant, too.

Mei appeared to catch my meaning, and that dark smile returned in full force. Yagura’s usual tactic of transforming and blasting enemies away wouldn’t make him an ideal target for a collaborative jutsu.

———

The ocean itself looked uneasy as Mei and I prepared our jutsu, waiting for the moment Yagura would attack the rebel fleet. We stood on the ocean’s surface, the waves getting larger by the second; even the sun retreated behind the clouds as Yagura’s massive chakra signature approached.

I could clearly sense his full Biju transformation, but you didn’t have to be a powerful sensor to feel it. In fact, I was sure everyone could feel that oppressive chakra.

“He’s coming. Ready?” Mei asked, already running through hand seals. I nodded and crystallized a sizable part of the water beneath us, creating a platform from which we could form our collaboration jutsu.

My own hand seal sequence was much longer than usual. I was essentially inventing a new jutsu on the fly—well, modifying a jutsu, but still.

“Lava Release: Melting Apparition.” Mei declared calmly as molten lava flowed from her lips, landing on the platform and infusing it. My jutsu was ready, too, and the lava quickly vanished into the cracks of the crystal platform, sealed inside thin, sapphire needles.

I could tell Mei’s lava was potent; something my usual crystals would struggle to stop. However, these chakra-enhanced sapphires held the heat well.

Finally, Yagura halted his advance, a massive Bijudama forming in front of his maw. It was time to unleash our jutsu and hope it would be enough to damage him.

“Crystal Release: Injecting Needle Barrage!” I cried out, releasing the first volley.

Truly massive, thin spikes of sapphire shot upward from beneath us, each at least fifty meters long and filled to the brim with Mei’s potent lava.

I didn’t stay idle, though. Mei had provided me with more lava than could fit in just one volley. I immediately fired another barrage after the first, then the third, fourth, and more—I lost count of the projectiles I hurled, but it must have been close to three hundred, likely more.

The barrage struck its mark, the brittle needles pierced into Isobu before shattering, and delivering Mei’s lava past the hardest parts of the monstrous turtle’s armor.

Yagura, even in his transformed state, howled in pain; the Bijudama he was forming destabilized due to his agony and exploded in his face. But that didn’t stop the additional barrages of needles from finding their target.

Even though many needles were incinerated by the explosion, countless others pierced the transformed man moments after the detonation subsided. It was impossible to look away as the massive beast writhed on the water's surface. However, shortly after, Yagura submerged completely, licking his wounds before anyone could take advantage of his injured state.

At least he would need to use a lot of Isobu’s chakra to heal himself.

“Get to liberating. We’ve got this,” I chuckled, quickly summoning Zangetsu. The black cat perched on my shoulder before jumping down to the water’s surface, growing to his full size.

“Don’t die… It would be such a shame to lose you before you can grow into a handsome man,” Mei said. I decided to ingore her teasing this time; I’d get my revenge after I won. She leapt away toward Kirigakure’s main army. She should be able to get through them relatively easily, especially with the rest of the rebels to support her.

“Time for a rematch already, huh?” Zangetsu hummed quietly, and I could already feel his power swelling. That ability of his is really absurd. We only had to last long enough for him to grow strong enough to directly contend with Isobu.

I couldn’t be lost in my thoughts for much longer, though.

Yagura burst from the depths, clad in his version two cloak and heading straight for us.

“You know what to do!” I called out to Zangetsu, who quickly dashed behind me, intending to grow before committing to the fight. I unsealed Senbonzakura and met Yagura’s charge with my own attack.

My bones rattled, just like last time, as I clashed with him, but the power behind my attack nullified his. The water beneath our feet exploded outward from the powerful shockwave as we were flung backward.

I did not waste any time; holding back in a fight like this could very well lead to my death. This time, however, I wasn't concerned about my identity being revealed.

“Bankai.”

Hundreds of massive crystal swords pierced upward from the water, forcing Yagura to dodge or be impaled.

“Scatter: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!” I declared, dropping my sword onto the ocean’s surface.

The moment they fully formed, my command turned those hundreds of massive swords into millions of tiny razor blades that circled me protectively, forming a pink hurricane of death.

Yagura didn’t seem too impressed and charged through the maelstrom. The small blades weren’t able to wound him severely enough as he approached.

Painful as his advance may have been, he endured and forced me to dodge. I quickly enhanced my body, my fist singing with Conqueror’s Haki as I met his attack. A loud boom echoed as our fists collided, but this time, it was only Yagura who was pushed back, unable to contend with the combination of chakra enhancement and the full application of Haki.

He landed gracefully after flipping in midair; the loss of his arm clearly didn't matter to him in this form. The bijuu chakra simply created a new one temporarily.

I directed the petals towards him, motioning with my arms as dense pillars of razor blades rushed forward, forcing him to dodge instead of attacking directly.

Yagura weaved through the many tendrils of razor-sharp crystal blades. The moment he touched the water's surface again, coral exploded around him and rapidly grew towards me.

"Crystal Release: Grand Crystal Wall!" I called out, conjuring a thick wall to stop Yagura's jutsu from hitting me. The impact shook my barrier; perhaps using the 'Armor Layered Wall' would have been safer.

Nevertheless, my crystals slowly began to overtake Yagura's coral, which would provide me with a significant amount of chakra to work with.

"Starting a fight without me?" Kurama's voice echoed in my head. "He is still stealing Isobu's power..." The growl felt worse than before, a mix of disappointment and righteous fury.

"I can try asking him to stop," I replied, my sarcasm evident. Yagura would not cease drawing on Isobu's power just because I asked him nicely.

I sent more of Senbonzakura's tendrils after Yagura, who blasted them away with a powerful wind jutsu. He used the brief respite to start charging another Bijudama.

"No you fucking don’t!" I hissed, bringing my hands together.

I quickly performed three hand seals and cut my thumb. My blood steamed briefly, recognizing the activation of the true form of Senbonzakura.

"Senkei," I proclaimed, and the hurricane of cherry blossoms stilled for a moment.

The petals transformed into thousands of swords, each glowing a bright pink. They moved to create a barrier around me and Yagura, forming an arena that would hopefully decide the outcome of our battle.

The swords arranged themselves into rotating rows, while powerful fuinjutsu formulae wove between them, ensuring no outside interference could enter.

Yagura's Bijudama collapsed, unable to form due to Senkei's most complicated seals: chakra suppression and inhibition seals. The design aimed to make any outward expression of chakra impossible for anyone trapped inside, forcing everyone to rely solely on chakra reinforcement and adjacent techniques.

Unfortunately, this had never been tested against a god damned rampaging jinchuriki. The deep crimson color of Yagura's cloak shifted to a weaker orange aura, but the three menacing tails of corrosive chakra remained, as did the chakra arm that replaced his missing limb.

"Well, it's better than nothing... The seals clearly need improvement, though," I sighed internally, receiving a rumbling hum from Kurama in response. He didn't seem impressed, perhaps he still didn’t get over his dislike for fuinjutsu itself.

I quickly summoned one of the floating swords into my hand, its pink glow fading to reveal the sealed form of Senbonzakura.

There was no time to waste. I had no idea whether Yagura could tap into more of Isobu's chakra after getting used to the suppression seals, and I wasn't keen on finding out.

In the worst-case scenario, Zangetsu would step in if Senkei couldn't contain him; by that time, he should plenty powerful thanks to his special ability.

"You still stand in my way..." Yagura growled, his voice deep and coarse, undoubtedly a result of the biju chakra.

"I guess you’ll have to kill me to be rid of me." I shrugged before charging in, preparing for a close-range brawl.

Using Hirenkyaku, I blitzed past Yagura and quickly turned on my heel to strike at his back. However, his chakra arm was the only target I managed to hit as he moved aside.

A blob of orange chakra fell to the water’s surface, and I quickly absorbed it to refill my strength before rushing towards him again.

My sword swished just inches above his head as he ducked at the last second. His clawed chakra arm reached toward me, intending to gut me again, but I anticipated it in time.

Another Hirenkyaku repositioned me behind him.

Yagura rolled forward to dodge again as his three chakra tails swung at me, forcing me to block the corrosive chakra. Haki surged through my arm as I caught one of the attacking appendages and flung Yagura upward, planning to slice him in two on his descent.

I sensed the chakra he hastily pushed toward his missing arm. He was sacrificing his cloak to block my attack.

My sword halted midway against the chakra claw; even with hasty reinforcement, I could not fully cut through the combined mass of Isobu's chakra.

I had to abandon the sword to avoid his powerful kick by rolling away. I summoned another sword from the rows of blades circling around us, thinking of the best approach.

Seriously, this was my best chance to beat him, and he was this slippery... Did he seriously train for this kind of situation? It would explain why he hadn’t been seen for so long. He didn’t look like the type to fight without having an overwhelming power advantage.

The problem was that Senkei drained my reserves significantly, so I had to stay in close contact with Yagura, which tired me out as well because of Isobu's corrosive chakra.

That cloak forced me to keep Armament Haki active the entire time. Just touching him without such protection would likely burn me badly. But now that the chakra cloak was gone, I had a chance.

I rushed in again, using Hirenkyaku to move as fast as possible. This time, however, I didn’t aim to cut him.

I made a promise I intended to keep.

Yagura flipped forward, narrowly avoiding my hand as I tried to grip him, but without the defensive boost the chakra cloak provided, he could not run forever.

Once more, I attacked, and he dodged again, wary of my striking power that had contended with his stage-two cloak before.

I managed to grab onto his arm shortly after. Now that we were in contact, I could attempt the simplest solution.

"Release!" I cried out as my chakra flooded his system.

I saw a strange look in his widened eyes for a brief moment, but it was fleeting.

"More chakra, kid. You need to release both of them!" Kurama urged hurriedly.

Yagura, meanwhile, tried to kick me away, but I pulled him toward me by his arm and tried again, this time aiming to find Isobu's chakra as well. Kurama was right; they were both under the same genjutsu. The moment I freed Yagura, Isobu's chakra reapplied the illusion onto him.

"Release!" The instant my cry left my mouth, I felt a shift in my vision. I was no longer at the ocean's surface, trapped within my own technique.

———

The surroundings were pitch-black, yet strangely, I could see the floor quite clearly. I vaguely recognized this place, mostly due to Isobu sitting on the other side of the large circular room.

"I'm starting to get too old for this shit..." I sighed, but the voice that startled me came from behind.

"Old, you? Do not make me laugh." It was unmistakably Kurama's voice. How in the world did he get here? It also seemed that my sensory abilities didn’t work in this space; there was no way I wouldn’t have noticed him, even with the most basic sensory ability.

The giant fox looked down at where I stood and shrugged, or at least it seemed like a fox version of a shrug.

"Do not ask me. I have no idea how I got here either... maybe through that connection of ours?" he theorized, and I could only groan as I turned back to Isobu.

Now that I looked at him properly, Yagura was here too, sitting on Isobu's head.

"Uhh... Hello?" I said, uncertain of what they could possibly want.

"Hello, indeed," Yagura replied, his tone much friendlier than it had been in the outside world.

"I take it that this place allows us to talk without that nasty genjutsu." I took a wild guess, receiving a nod from Isobu.

"I didn’t expect you here either, brother," the turtle said, its voice a mixture of deep baritone and gurgling water.

Did every biju have such a peculiar voice? Clearly not; Kurama sounded relatively normal.

"Correct. But I must admit, having the Nine-Tailed Fox behind you... Even with that genjutsu, I would have recognized you as a jinchuriki." Yagura mused aloud.

"You probably would have. Good thing I’m not Kurama's jinchuriki then," I grinned.

Isobu's one visible eye widened; the giant turtle seemed surprised that anyone would befriend the grumpy fox.

"The kid is more amusing than annoying. I keep him alive for that reason only," Kurama said, noticing Isobu's surprise. The fox was as tsundere as ever, and a bit more defensive when others were around.

I laughed softly, quite sure that the worst Kurama would do is sulk for a few weeks.

"Anyways," I sighed, bringing the conversation back on track. "I can't seem to break that genjutsu on you guys. Any tips?" I asked while delivering the bad news.

"That's easy," Yagura said as he jumped down from Isobu's head. "You have to kill me." His eyes were sharp, but there was no ill intent in his gaze—just a mix of resolve and perhaps regret.

"I can only promise to try," I sighed, looking up at Isobu. "What about you? Are you fine with reforming?" "I would choose the discomfort of reforming over being trapped any day, young man," Isobu replied, seeming at ease with the possibility of dying here.

"Are you certain, Isobu?" Kurama asked again, his eyes narrowing.

"Yagura and I have come to a mutual understanding after we were both put under this genjutsu," Isobu answered almost casually. I guess trauma bonding is a real thing even in this world.

"And I have done things too terrible to be left alive," Yagura added.

That man was far too eager to die, but being stuck in one's own body and only able to watch as you kill thousands of your own people might have that effect. I couldn't really argue with him; it wasn't like I could free him from the genjutsu anyway. That plan had already failed.

"Do you know who put you under the genjutsu? I don't think I've ever seen genjutsu so potent," I asked, and I wasn't lying if we discounted Itachi's Tsukuyomi, and perhaps Tsuki’s… whatever her thing was.

"It was a man in an orange mask with a Sharingan in his right eye. My best guess at the time was that he was someone from Konoha," Yagura replied. It was a reasonable deduction, and it confirmed that Obito was up to the same bullshit he had been in the original timeline.

"I see," I hummed, hoping Kurama wouldn’t do anything too drastic. However, the whole room shook violently as Kurama's chakra spiked. I guess that was wishful thinking.

"Oi, Kurama! Time and place," I shouted at the fox, hoping he would stop letting that mass of chakra out. It was getting very uncomfortable even to stand near him. My conqueror’s Haki spiked sharply, for a brief moment clearing Kurama’s oppresive chakra from the air. "We will get that guy later,"

Kurama growled slowly, sounding like a wild animal rather than the sagely creature. But the pressure retreated. With such enthusiasm, we just needed a way to make Kurama immune to the Sharingan, and the Akatsuki would be completely fucked. Easier said than done, though.

"Mei should probably know," I commented flatly.

"And so should the Hokage," Yagura added, making me tilt my head in confusion. "If there’s a rogue Uchiha powerful enough to put both Isobu and me under a genjutsu, I think it would be better for the other villages to know. Don't you agree?" he explained.

"Of course I agree. I just didn't expect the willingness to share such information," I chuckled. Maybe building some form of alliance among the villages would be possible—especially if we had a common enemy.

"I'll relay the message after I win," I promised, a smile spreading across my face.

"Good. I'll leave it to you," Yagura said, but what surprised me was Isobu extending his fist... Fin? toward me.

"Be careful, young man. My chakra will be drawn out the moment you leave this place," he said as I bumped his fist.

"Did you just... give me a chakra refill?" I asked the turtle. "It isn’t much; your body is not used to biju chakra coursing through it," he replied, looking almost apologetic.

"Don't worry. It will be plenty," I grinned as the surroundings began to fade. Kurama's posture became more relaxed; he would likely stay to talk to Isobu for a while.

———

The moment my senses returned to reality, I immediately jumped back, just in time to avoid an explosion of Isobu’s chakra. A mass of crimson chakra exploded around Yagura, completely frying the seals that were supposed to prevent this exact scenario.

Senkei held, but it was no longer suppressing us.

Yagura's form changed back to his full second-stage cloak. Deep crimson and black danced around his body as the chakra contorted his posture. But this time, it didn't stop there. His body grew rapidly in size, with coral growth sprouting from the chakra cloak as he took on Isobu's form.

"No matter how many times I see it, it never gets less terrifying," I sighed.

Yagura simply roared, a bijudama already forming before his mouth. Staying in Senkei might prove impossible. I pointed the sword in my hand at the transformed jinchuriki, swishing it to summon every sword that formed Senkei.

"Ikka Senjinka!" I declared hastily.

Every single sword that formed the arena around us pointed at Yagura at once, and then they flew. The impact was massive, and the bijudama destabilized. I was blasted back before I could clearly see the result of one of my most potent attacks, but at least I wasn't injured, thanks to the Crystallization jutsu.

I landed on one knee a few hundred meters away from Yagura. He didn’t take the hit well; almost half of Isobu's form was gone, completely vaporized by the technique.

Yagura, however, was still alive. He was smart to hide himself in the back. My hope to end this fight in one swift cut was gone, and Yagura looked far from finished.

What was worse, I wouldn’t be able to reform Senkei for some time.

"Crystal Release: Advent of a Crystal World!" I declared, and the water beneath my feet immediately crystallized. I mentally thanked Isobu for replenishing my chakra reserves.

The crystal spread far and deep, creating a small island in the middle of nowhere. It was time to use all that chakra against Yagura.

Yagura didn’t stay idle, though. He abandoned his full transformation and rolled toward me in his version-two cloak, all three tails whirring like blades.

"Hirenkyaku!" I dodged to the side and smirked as a wild torrent of white-hot flames crashed into Yagura from behind. Zangetsu, who was already larger than any normal animal I had seen, was ready to join the fight in earnest.

"Fuck him up! Shiden!" I cried out as I landed on top of Zangetsu's head.

“Majestic Destroyer Flame!” Zangetsu joined me immediately.

A massive storm of purple lightning combined with a wide wall of white-hot flames, the two jutsus merging into one. A loud roar echoed as Yagura emerged from the flames, fully transformed once more, Isobu's shell protecting him from the worst damage.

Zangetsu jumped back to dodge a tail swipe, and the simple action from Yagura shattered a large part of the crystal island.

"That one would have hurt..." Zangetsu hummed.

"Let's make sure we don't die in one hit, then." I grinned and flashed through a few hand seals.

"Crystal Release: Dragonscale Armor - Majestic Attire."

Thousands upon thousands of tiny crystal scales enveloped Zangetsu in a layer of armor, hiding him under a layer of pink protection.

"This better hold. I can't make it more durable than this," I said as the armor closed beneath my feet. It still allowed me to move freely, unlike Susanoo would, but I doubted it was anywhere near as durable as Susanoo would be.

Another bijudama was forming before Yagura's maw, much larger than any I had seen him use in our fight before. There was no time to try and use the chains now.

Zangetsu saw the danger and quickly jumped back to give us as much space as possible.

"Reinforce!" I cried out, my hands moving through hand seals at a rapid pace. "Crystal Release: Triple Armor Layered Wall!" I quickly created three massive walls; one had been enough to stop a small bijudama before, but against something like this…

Before Yagura fired, and Zangetsu added a decently large Earth Wall between my crystal walls. It was a shame Zangetsu wasn’t earth-aligned, but even then…

"It will change the trajectory," I commented, my future sight flaring for a moment and reassuring me about our survival.

The massive attack was unleashed, tearing through the crystal ground with ease. The triple wall arrangement barely slowed it down but did force its trajectory to shift. The explosion was massive; even from multiple kilometers away, the flash was bright enough to blind me for a moment.

"So that's a fully charged bijudama..." Zangetsu shuddered for a moment.

"Yeah. No way we could have survived even a glancing hit." I agreed, taking a quick look at what used to be a decently large island. The naval maps would clearly have to be redrawn; in place of a forested island, there was nothing but ocean. The crater left by the explosion was completely underwater.

"Fuck. I might have to summon Tsuki if this keeps going to shit," I sighed, but the elderly cat was rather enjoying her retirement. I wouldn't summon her unless I saw no way to win.

I swear, if this situation goes any further south, it's going to hit interdimensional Mexico.

"Dodge and distract, right?" Zangetsu said, prompting a sharp nod from me, and we both moved. Each of us rushing in opposite directions. Yagura would now have two annoying flies buzzing around him.

I had seen Zangetsu attack with another massive fire jutsu, and I seized the moment.

"Crystal Sealing Chains!" I declared purposefully; the remnants of the crystal island shook as massive pink chains shot out from the ground.

This time, though, Yagura knew just how dangerous this jutsu was to his fully transformed self.

Zangetsu's second attack hit an empty shell of coral, and so did my chains. Yagura was on the move again, heading straight for me in his second-stage cloak.