Battle for the Heart (Persistence)

Molten pieces of the dome fell from the sky, destroying the environment and hitting a few civilians who cried out in agony.

"What is he doing!? He's harming the civilians!" Onoki shouted with an expression of shock.

However, he was unable to do much as I walked out of the smoke with multiple flaming tendrils surrounding me.

"Hey kid, what the hell are you doing? Your hurting innocents!" Kurotsuchi reprimanded as she readied for a fight.

We frowned, ""Doesn't even come close to fucking mattering,"" We responded, suddenly vanishing into thin air.

Kurotuschi stepped back and scanned the environment only to feel warm breath tickle the back of her neck.

"Wha--!?" She shouted as she turned around, coming face to face with my mad self and beginning a punch.

""Boo!"" We joked humourlessly.

The moment the attack hit me, her rocks broke apart and I grabbed her arm before violently crushing it with brute force.

"Agh!" She cried out in pain only to be shut up as I grabbed her by the head and kneed her in the jaw.

She was stunned from the attack and then I used my free hand to backhand her with brutal strength which sent her rolling across the ground.

Just before slamming into the wall, Kurotsuchi landed on it with her feet and shook herself out of her daze.

"Fire Style: Flame Spear!" She declared, weaving many handsigns which my striking red eyes followed closely.

A spreading flame appeared above her hand and swiftly took the form of a sharp bladed spear which Kurotuschi grabbed in her stone-covered fist.

Sensing the danger, I leaped into the air, just barely dodging the large blazing spear which was thrown at me.

'What is this? Precognition? It must be due to that sharingan...' She noted to herself as she observed me flipping through the air.

However, her expression of focused shifted into one of bewilderement as she saw me weave many familiar handsigns.

"Shit!" She screamed as I grabbed a flaming spear that I conjured, 'I just gave him a new jutsu!'

'Fire Style: Flame Spear...' I called out in my mind as I used the symbiote to increase my weight, sending me crashing down at insane speeds.

'Damnit! Why's this kid so strong!?' She inquired in her mind as she prepared to kick with a stone leg.

I came diving from above with the spear still in my hands and slashed brutally, colliding with Kurotsuchi stone kick to create a powerful wave of pure force.

The two of us pushed at each others' attacks, trying to overpower the other until both of us shoved away by the power of our attacks.

I tumbled through the air and landed roughly on all fours while Kurotsuchi landed gracefully on the ground.

'This damn thing is torture... But it's making me stronger, I want more...' I thought to myself hungrily, my heavy breathing speeding up and deepening.

The drool pouring down my mouth melted the ground as it landed and my rough breaths emmitted powerful bursts of high-powered boiling steam.

I could feel my blood boil inside my body in an agonizing way and my bodily functions feel clogged from the biomass overflowing within me.

It was as though my biological functions were engaging with my supernatural abilities due to some rageful adapation which was powering me up but destroying me.

Like I was stuck in a trap that served no other purpose than to strengthen my rage with agony, in an infinite loop.

And it was working. The pain was stoking the flames of my tortured anger as my visible skin glowed red from the superheated blood within me and the symbiote suit tightened on my body, harming me painfully.

Not to mention the steam in my mouth which was practically pumping out of my twisted jaw in blazing waves.

[Warning: Host's body is overheating. Shut down of chakra networks is suggested lest an explosive chemical reaction occur.]

I ignored it, my sight almost completely obscured.

'''Kill her, eat her, ruin her, consumer her, devour her,''' We thought within my- our mind as the jaw completely unhinged from my skull, the mettalic cables stretching out in proportion as steam flooded out thickly.

"Aahhhh...!" I almost silently screamed as the steam burnt my throat and blasted forth, scorching the earth.

[Overheating]

My wind and fire chakra was simply running crazy within me, destroying my body and escaping in the form of steam.

[Overheating]

The rage within me seemingly powered the hail of steam before it reached a new peak and the steam began concentrating into something more deadly.

[Overheating]

However, as my rage reached the breaking point, I felt something break and suddenly I was leaning forward and puking blood.

Kurotsuchi was observing everything with a defensive wall to protect her as I clawed at my symbiote covered throat.

'This damn kid is fucking crazy...' She muttered, a tinge of fear leaking out as she observed me trying to strangle myself.

I continue to puke blood, a constant stream of blood pouring out of my mouth.

But there was something strange about it... The blood was getting redder, it was boilling, it melted the very ground.

My throat, despite being completely eviscerated, let out a savage shriek as I leaned back, the blood bursting upwards before stopping as a highpitched screeching sound echoed out from within my mouth.

[Overheated chemical combustion has been reached. Beware of self-destructive ignition, host]

And then, the area was bathed in a fiery red light.

Kurotsuchi stared in shock and awe as a stream of blazing red flames billowed out of my jaw, nothing but raw fire and wind chakra blasting out of my torn-open oral cavity and chakra network.

""Kkhhhhggggggghhhh!"" We shrieked through the flames scorching our vocal cords as we spun around in pain and burnt everything in sight.

Soon enough my subconsious anger forced my body towards Kurotsuchi, the hail of fire immediately blasting towards her.

"Earth Wall!" She called out, creating a defense from the flames, watching in shock as the earth wall melted from the heat of the flames.

Seeing her defenses being destroyed, Kurotsuchi jumped off the top of her wall and leaped over my body.

"Damn monster... Time to shut you up..." She muttered to herself as she landed behind me and created a mask-like rock covering in her hands.

Still reeling from the pain of the fire blasting out of my throat, I was unable to react as Kurotsuchi grabbed me by the back of the neck and clamped the rock mask over my flame-breathing mouth.

"Hrmgh!?" I mumbled through the mouth restraint which was being heated by my continuous fire-breath.

"Go to sleep, monster!" She spat out as she put me in a headlock and the flames I never stopped breathing began to leak out of the mask.

'Damnit, this isn't gonna work... I'm going to have to take extreme measures..." She noted to herself as I screamed from the pain of my own fire burning my mouth.

[Skill: [Burn Resistance] has strengthened]

With that thought in mind, Kurotsuchi pulled herself away and readied an axe-like construct on her hand as I gripped my throat.

"Grrrrrkkkkhh!" I shrieked as the flames exploded out the mask and englufed my head in a torrent of intense fire.

[Skill: [Burn Resistance] has strengthened]

Immediately as my head was set aflame, Kurotsuchi pounded forward and crushed my throat with her rock arm, stopping the fire from bursting out of my mouth.

Unfortunately, despite my throat no longer blasting fire, my head was still alight with flames which continued to ravage my mind with torture.

[Skill: [Burn Resistance] has strengthened]

Spotting Kurotuschi off to the side, my determined mind tried moving toward her only to fall onto all fours.

She gazed at me with disgust in her eyes as I writhed on the ground like a tortured animal, shifting on my limbs.

However, her disgust turned into horror as my twisted body contorted and began crashing towards her on all fours, my skull still alight with flames.

"Damnit! I'm ending this now!" She yelled in anger, seemingly grabbing the air with her hand as the ground shook.

""Grargh!!!"" We roared demonically as we sprinted at full speed, scorching the ground beneath me.

Rocks from the ground floated into the air and took the form of a massive bladed fist which was following Kurotsuchi's movements.

As I zoomed at her, my body slowly began speeding on two legs, my arms lifting up as I instinctively summoned two Eclipse Rasengans in my hands.

Kurotsuchi jumped towards me in one powerful jump as I rushed towards her, each of us readying our attacks.

Suddenly, as Kurotsuchi's rock fist construct headed towards me, I subconciously activated Psychokinesis and pushed the construct to the side.

"Wha--!?"

And then, in one massive collision, I flashed right under Kurotsuchi and slammed my two balls of pure flames right into her torso, inciting a tortured scream from her as the jutsus instantly shattered her stone protection.

An excrutiating feeling of seering pain overwhelmed Kurotsuchi as the flaming balls spiralled into her torso.

Kurotsuchi was propelled away due to the force of the Rasengans before the jutsu finally collapsing in on itself.

"Aaaaghh!!!" Kurotsuchi's distorted voice shrieked from the contorting force of the two Rasengans as my bulging eyes continued to stare through the fire wrapping around my head.

I was expecting my attack to end as it usually does, but unexpectedly, the effects of two Eclipse Rasengan imploding at the same time caused a strange reaction.

With the sound of Kurotsuchi's pained screams permeating the air, the flames twisted together, scorching everything in an infinite spiral as Kurotsuchi's body seemed almost lacerated by the flames.

Not a second later, the two orbs of fire came together in a single black hole-like anomaly which soon combusted into a wormhole-shaped pillar.

For a solid 30-seconds, the pillar continued to burn and attack Kurotsuchi before dissipating and letting Kurotsuchi's defeated form fall to the ground, almost unconcious.

The flames themselves didn't seem to burn Kurotsuchi due to her defenses but the pure force of the attack itself left her barely hanging onto conciousness.

Thankfully as well, the flames on my head were absorbed by the implosion, only leaving parts of my face mangled by the flames.

She wasn't the only one to be affected though. Onoki was also affected by the attack and was knocked out, his old age catching up with him.

Sayuri on the other hand was completely out of sight, likely not anywhere nearby.

'She's done, we win...!' I thought to myself, slowly approaching Kurotsuchi and admiring my own work.

There she was. The Tsuchikage lying on the ground, completely vulnerable and defenseless.

Not a single person was concious and we were the only people awake right now. Kurotsuchi was completely at my mercy.

Disturbed thoughts of vengeance infiltrated my damaged brain as I approached her barely-concious form.

A grin that would make the devil sit in admiration stretched across my face, watching her desperately try to stand up.

This... This would become much much worse for her soon enough. This wasn't the end. It wasn't even close.

I would have my restitution for her disrespect and humiliation. I would make her pay.

I would make her suffer---*KiKillher!Eateatconsumedevour*---'We will make her wish for the embrace of death at every moment for the rest of her fucking existence.'

We will make her suffer nothing but agony and humiliation for the rest of her life.

However, as we were about to engage in a truly disgusting revenge, the mental anguish of everything that we went through in the last few minutes hit me like a truck, overwhelming my mind.

""No. no, no, no, no, no!"" We shouted in resistance, struggling to stay awake*alive*, ""Let me live! Just a little more!""

The insane adrenaline which was being pumped endlessly and boosted by my adaptation, was beginning to fade away.

My body was giving into the self-destructive power-boost which was fueling my ruined form.

The terrible, overwhelming pain that assaulted our mind caused me to stumble and we fell right next to the unconcious Tsuchikage.

Despite thinking we had won the fight, we were the one who had gone through worse.

We wouldn't let this be the end of the fight... We had much more in store... We needed to get up!

She needed to feel the concequences of her actions! We needed to show her them!

But we couldn't...

We... were pushed back into the darkness of the subconcious.

And... I... was left almost completely unconcious.