Unexpected Foes

It's been a month of fighting and Iwa is starting to lose steam. After they lost two of their elite jonin, they've mostly been sending groups of genin and chunin to sabotage multiple locations at once. Iwa knows that they probably can't defeat me in an open battle, so they're resorting to hit-and-run tactics.

They have a better information network than Kusa, so Iwa is usually one step ahead. To counter it, me and the rest of the team has been split up into different towns that we rotate between randomly. It's had limited success so far, but it's better than nothing. I was alone while Hagiwara was with Fukushima and Imada was with Aikawa, so I haven't seen much of them over the month.

The war was thrilling at first, but now it's at a stalemate. Iwa keeps sending shinobi to die while Kusa struggles to defend. Iwa is losing morale quickly as more and more chunin and genin are slaughtered. They still have a significant military presence, but soon they'll have to stop, or else the other villages might take advantage.

At first, the war was good for sharpening my combat skills, but now it was depressing. I was just culling weak ninjas like they were cattle. The only good thing is that I've increased my perception over the month to an acceptable level. I'm not as good as a hunter-nin or an anbu captain, but it's an acceptable level for an elite jonin.

I've also increased my bounty by a lot and gained an alias. My head is now worth 40 million Ryo and people have started calling me the Taiyo no Hono (Sun Flame), which is pretty cool. I'm classified as an S-rank shinobi as well.

My training has been increasing slowly. My chakra and kenjutsu have reached over 90% recently. Progressing to 100%, though, is more difficult than ever. Each percent after 90 increases my power by a large margin, but it's going something huge to make that last jump. I did unlock Zanka no Tachi, Nishi: Zanjitsu Gokui, which is the ability that allows me to coat my body with flames. The flames are also invisible unless I want them to be seen.

My thoughts kept wandering as I started to travel toward the next town. It was a few hours away, so I wasn't in a hurry. It was also deeper in Kusa's territory than the other towns were, so it hasn't been targeted yet.

It was an hour later that I got a bad feeling in my stomach. I was 2 hours away if I used regular jonin speed, but I could be there in minutes with flash step. So I upped the ante and started flashing towards the town. As I got closer, I sensed two huge chakra signatures in the town. I burst out of the forest I was in and into the grass fields. I saw in the distance that the town was wrecked. Buildings were destroyed and the surroundings were on fire.

I arrived at and flashed through the town, arriving at the center, where a huge crater sat. I saw two figures holding up another, and my heart sank into my stomach as I recognized the distinct black cloaks with red clouds. Akatsuki members were here for some reason.

"Come on, Kakuzu! You're not even hurting them that bad. I thought this was an interrogation!" One said, waving a three-bladed scythe around.

"Be quiet, or I'll cut out your tongue again, Hidan."

"You're no fun…"

Kakuzu was holding up one of my teammates by the neck, choking them.

"Where is he?" He asked.

"I'm not telling you a thing, bastard." Imada croaked out.

I looked on the ground near Hidan and saw the mutilated corpse of Aikawa, her eyes wide open in fear and pain.

Fury filled my veins as my Shikai activated on its own, flames surging around me as if they were as angry as I was.

Kakuzu looked over at me indifferently, "Well, looks like I don't need you anymore."

I tried to shout out, but it was too late.

With a sickening crunch, Imada's neck was snapped, the life fading from his eyes.

I glowered. I might not have liked him much, but he was still my comrade.

Kakuzu tossed the body aside like it was yesterday's garbage.

"Your bounty has grown pretty well. I'll make a good profit this time."

"Can I have this one, Kakuzu?" Hidan interjected.

"Sure. Just don't damage the head too much; I'll need it to collect his bounty."

And suddenly, my anger which was once a raging fire turned ice-cold.

I looked at the corpses around me. The bodies of my teammates. The Kusa nin that were stationed here. The bodies of the civilians that couldn't afford to move.

All this, for some money?

"Zanka no Tachi, Higashi; Kyokujitsujin."

As the surroundings started to heat up, Kakuzu's eyes widened, realizing the danger of my blade.

"Hidan, don't let him cut you."

Hidan looked over his shoulder, annoyed.

"But that will take all the fun out of it!" He whined.

Kakuzu dropped his cloak and let out his four masks, forming horrific monsters with his threads. Hidan got more serious, seeing that Kakuzu pulled out all his cards immediately and took a defensive stance.

"Zanka no Tachi, Nishi: Zanjitsu Gokui."

The ground under my feet started to melt as my surroundings heated up even more. Kakuzu didn't wait any longer and used his fire mask's and wind mask's attacks in combination. He also shot earth spears toward me and tried to use his water mask, but the attack evaporated immediately.

Hidan moved in to distract me at the same time, hoping to stop me from dodging the attack.

I wasn't worried though. I waved my sword, sending a tenchi kaijin forward, stopping Kakuzu's jutsu in its tracks. Hidan kept moving forward, thinking to rely on his immortality to tank my attack. He moved forward and threw his scythe, hoping to penetrate the wave of flames.

The metal melted on contact as the flames reached Hidan. His arms were incinerated in an instant and the rest of him almost followed, but Kakuzu pulled him back with his threads just in time and dodged the flames.

Kakuzu immediately launched another jutsu, this time a beam of lightning, toward me. I flash-stepped forward, dodging the attack and appearing in front of Hidan.

He smirked and swung the jagged remains of his scythe at me, trying to draw blood. I swung my sword at him and he smirked.

"That's not going to do much-"

The moment my sword touched him, he was gone, a trench in the ground being all that remained.

Kakuzu cursed, "I told that dumbass not to get cut."

He launched more jutsu from his masks, forcing me to flash away again. He knew it would be a death sentence to fight me at close range. He started using the water mask, probably hoping to make steam to gain some semblance of stealth, but the water evaporated into nothingness too quickly for it to be of any use.

We played cat and mouse for a while, with him launching combination jutsu at me while I tried to get close to him. Minutes later, there wasn't much left of the town, as both of us weren't holding back. Now, it was just a series of craters and charred remains.

More minutes passed by and neither of us was exhausted yet, both of us having large pools of stamina and chakra. I was slowly gathering damage from his lightning jutsu since my flames couldn't block it.

The prolonged use of my bankai was slowly overheating my sword, so I knew I had to finish quickly. Ever since my first fight with the Akatsuki, I had been playing it safe. But Kakuzu was too strong and experienced; it was time to take a risk.

I flashed right in front of him, entering the range of his threads for the first time. He narrowed his eyes at me and was about to say something, but I cut him off by throwing my sword at him.

He was forced to dodge to the side, but I was already there.

"Sokotsu!"

I launched both my fists towards him and he blocked with his water and fire masks. I obliterated the masks and the hearts behind them, but it was enough time for him to counterattack. He shot a beam of lightning at me, burning a hole through my right should, and tried to launch a wind jutsu, but I was ready for that.

"Hitotsume: Nadegiri," a shadow clone muttered.

Kakuzu had known something was off, so he was able to dodge the attack with his life. He still lost his wind mask and his right arm, both incinerated into nothing. Right before the clone was dispelled, because it couldn't handle the power of my Bankai for longer than a few seconds, it tossed my sword back to me.

Kakuzu grimaced, "You damn brat. It's going to take forever to replace all those hearts."

I was about to attack again, but a bunch of black threads suddenly shot up from the ground. I rolled to the side, but still took some damage as they scraped across my right side. My flames incinerated most of the threads, but some still managed to pierce through.

I was immediately assaulted by lightning and more threads from the ground. I kept dodging but was taking more and more damage. I looked over at Kakuzu and noticed some missing fingers. He had detached them from his body and slipped them into the ground while I was chasing him. I cursed as I was forced to dodge again and again. Kakuzu wasn't idle, though. He sent out a tsunami of dirt and stone at me. The threads subsided at this point, so I took a stance.

"Onibi!"

I thrust through the earth to where I sensed Kakuzu, trusting my flame cloak to protect me. I popped out on the other side, surprising Kakuzu. I pierced his lightning mask, incinerating it.

That was the last my sword could handle as the heat finally warped and then melted it. My Bankai was deactivated.

I threw the useless handle away, before squaring off against my enemy.

Kakuzu formed a new arm out of threads.

"Finally run out of juice, huh? It's about damn time."

I smirked and formed a shadow clone next to me.

"Not even close, you old bastard."

He scoffed before taking a stance of his own. I created two more shadow clones before he rushed at me, sending forth multiple whips of threads. My shadow clones jumped back before each launched a Shakkaho, destroying the whips.

Kakuzu frowned as I moved forward to engage him in taijutsu. He immediately hardened his skin with earth chakra, before rushing to meet me. It became a deadly dance as we traded blows in a blur. He tried to use his threads while my shadow clones countered with kido. I started making more without seals when the others were depleted of chakra.

Each hit that was blocked or redirected shook the earth. I started launching Ikkotsu's and Sokotsu's repeatedly, but Kakuzu wasn't a pushover. He either dodged or deflected my most powerful punches.

Minutes passed, neither of us gaining an advantage. Even though I was more powerful and just as skilled, Kakuzu had an insane amount of experience under his belt and his instincts were sharp. I started to conserve my stamina as this turned into a battle of attrition. One that I wasn't sure I would win.

But I kept going, adrenaline pumping through my veins and a crazed smile forming on my face.

Kakuzu grunted, "You're enjoying this? Crazy brat."

I didn't answer as I tried to control my reckless nature, remembering the last time I almost got killed. I was still enjoying such a close fight though.

I noticed Kakuzu was more tired than me, and as the minutes passed on, he finally stumbled.

I immediately launched a Sokotsu at him, which landed. But that wasn't all, as he exploded into threads, piercing my arms and legs. I winced in pain as my arms and legs were bound together, causing me to fall to the ground.

Kakuzu towered over me. He moved to finish me, but I ripped one of my arms out of the threads, shredding it in the process, and grabbed his leg.

I grinned, "Itto Kaso."

Kakuzu shouted something indiscernible as a pillar of fire engulfed him, forming the tip of a katana.

I screamed in pain as my left hand disappeared, being the thing I used as a catalyst.

The flames died out and a burning husk fell to the ground. It was Kakuzu.

I won…

I rolled over onto my back, staring into the sky that was slowly turning to night. I knew that someone had probably heard the commotion, but I didn't know when they would reach here.

Darkness crept into the corners of my vision, but I forced myself to stay awake. My wounds had already been sealed by fire, so I wasn't in danger of bleeding out or anything. I just didn't like the idea of being killed by some Iwa cannon fodder when I passed out.

I lay there, panting for 30 more minutes before I sensed a familiar chakra heading this way.

"Tsurugi," I heard in the distance.

Hagiwara's face appeared, followed by some Kusa nin I couldn't identify. He looked concerned, talking urgently with the other Kusa nin as one of them bent down, their hands glowing green. I couldn't understand what they were saying, as the darkness in my eyes grew.

I tried to grumble out something, but I was too exhausted.

Sleep sounded like a really… Good Idea… Right now…

I let unconsciousness take me, a concerned Hagiwara hovering over me was the last thing I saw.

///// A/N /////

Hello guys. Kaen fights the Akatsuki a second time, this time victorious. I know some of you might say that Hidan died too quickly, but I feel that it was just a really bad matchup against Kaen, who can incinerate everything with a touch of his sword.

Speaking of swords, they won't be a major plot point. He will buy a higher quality sword with the money that he'll get from Kakuzu. Hidan was incinerated, so there's no proof he killed him. Let me know what you thought of the fight. See you next time.