Terumi Mei

"Mio! Can you still use that jutsu?"

I shouted out to Mio, who stood on the other side of Kuriarare.

She nodded, and quickly made a water clone. The two Mio's sprinted to either side to flank Kuriarare, making more hand seals as they did so.

"Boil style: Steam Entrapment Technique!" The two Mio's shouted out simultaneously as they took in deep breaths of air.

Fwoooosh!

Billowing tendrils of steam exploded out from their mouths to surround Kuriarare, shrouding him in a haze of boiling mist.

At the same time, I began making my move too.

Taking out as many shuriken as I could, I threw them in large looping arcs towards Kuriarare, and began making hand seals as fast as I could.

'Please work...'

"Ice style: Snow Steel Vortex!"

I felt all my remaining chakra, plus all the amount Kiyo could safely supply me with, leave my body in a rush. The snow in a 10 meter radius around me, infused with my chakra, began to rise up and swirl around me, condensing into a whirling cyclone of snow and ice.

"Katsu!"

I punched forward with all my force, the icy twister following my motion to shoot forwards towards Kuriarare. The shuriken I had previously thrown were caught in the icy currents as well, the glinting metal flashing brightly against the swirling snow as solid wall of churning ice enveloped Kuriarare and the steam from Mio's jutsu.

This was the strongest attack Mio and I could muster, a devastating combination of heat and cold. Mia's initial attack obscured the opponent's vision and would pass through most defenses unhindered, the shear heat being difficult to block. After, my steel snow vortex would envelop the target and Mio would cancel her jutsu. The opponent would not be prepared to deal with the sharp, piercing icicles and shuriken speeding around them after dealing with a lighter, less focused and more pervasive attack like Mio's. On top of that, the dramatic shift from extreme heat to chilling cold would severely damage anyone's body.

The shuriken and ice shard screeched as they whistled through the air in beautiful, yet deadly, arcs, occasionally clashing against each other. Nothing could be heard above the roar of the terrifying jutsu.

Terrifying streaks were cut into the ground in the wake of my jutsu, as if some massive beast had come to sharpen its deadly claws on the frozen terrain.

The vortex slowly closed in around Kuriarare. The clashing of steel on snow and metal suddenly drastically increased in volume and tempo.

'He... He's trying to block it with his sword? No.... Please... This has to work...'

I watched on with desperate, shining eyes. This jutsu was strong. Even a jonin would have trouble escaping completely unscathed. But... against an elite shinobi like Kuriarare... I had no idea how this jutsu would fair. Especially with the limitations on the jutsu due to my small chakra reserves.

Yet still there was no response from the ninja. Not even a scream.

The storm of ice and steel continued on raging in full force; I had supplied enough chakra that it would not let up for some time.

I felt a spark of hope igniting inside me as I wearily watched the swirling mass of snow.

'He hasn't broken out of the jutsu yet... Could he be struggling?'

Suddenly, the distinctive sound of flesh being ripped into sounded out, followed by a piercing shriek that would make banshees quiver in fear.

A voice rose up over the sound of the snow storm.

"Water style: Water Exploding Wave!"

A massive wall of water suddenly shot up from the center of the icy vortex, and then smashed down to the sides, completely engulfing my jutsu.

Mio and I had no choice but to jump back onto a tree to escape the rushing tides of water. Finally, the scene cleared, revealing a panting and wounded Kuriarare. Small cuts lined his arms and legs, and a large gash could be seen on his shoulder. Even his mask was pierced through in some places.

His breath came in a fast, heaving and loud waves that contained a palpable rage and killing intent. His body was shuddering in anger.

"You... Good. Good. Brat, you see what you've done? Do you see? All these cuts? Ahahahaha..." His voice cracked due to his trembling rage.

"You will wish you looked like this!"

"But don't worry! I'll stitch up every single one of your cuts for you right after I make them!"

The intensity of his killing intent once again skyrocketed, this time even greater than it had ever been before.

Mio flashed over to my side, trembling slightly in fear.

I adopted a defensive stance, my body heavy with fear and dismay. Even our strongest combination jutsu had only managed to wound him to this degree...

And this killing intent. I had no doubt that we would not survive another round of fighting with the enraged swordsman. Even as despair overcame me, my mind raced, trying to find some possible route of escape.

He crouched down slightly, twirling his thin sword around into a reverse grip. Everything seemed to move so slowly, I felt like I could see his calf muscles flexing as he prepared to push off the ground towards us in a burst of speed. I could feel his overwhelming killing intent focusing on a point on my chest.

But this clarity did nothing for me. I had no chakra. My body was injured, tired and simply too weak physically to compete with Kuriarare even at my best condition. The tightening of his hand around his sword felt tantamount to the tightening of a noose around my neck. A crushing pressure enveloped me as his weight began to shift forward.

"Lava style: Molten Core!"

An oddly familiar voice suddenly broke through the haze of petrifying fear that had enveloped me, as molten walls of scorching lava shot up around the completely unprepared Kuriarare, boxing him in.

"Boil style: Corrosive Mist Dispersion!"

A figure that again gave off an odd sense familiarity suddenly appeared directly above the trapped Kuriarare, spewing out a blowing cloud of steam exactly like Mio's jutsu. But much more dense and powerful judging for the chakra fluctuations that could be felt.

A wretched scream abruptly pierced the air; and then cut off as quickly as it had started.

I somehow knew without even having to see. That just like that, the ninja that had seemed impossibly powerful to me was killed. I felt so incredibly tiny and weak in that moment.

At the same time, however, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and admiration for our savior. I had long since recognized her: Terumi Mei. The sole possessor of two kekkei genkai in the Naruto anime, and my favorite female character. Terumi Mei, the fifth Mizukage and one of the powerful kunoichi ever to have lived.

Her stunning form suddenly appeared in front of us. Her vibrant green eyes were staring into Mio's equally bright and colorful eyes.

I couldn't help but be momentarily dazed by her beauty. Her long, wavy locks of silky auburn hair were partially pinned up in a top knot, the rest tumbling down around her shoulders and back in a captivating herring pattern. Her magnetic green eyes contrasted sharply with her auburn hair - like a lone patch of luscious green surrounded by the raging flames of a fire. Every feature seemed flawless sculpted, from her slender nose to her porcelain skin to her full, pink lips.

"You... Who are you?"

Her question was directed at Mio. Her eyes had not even once left Mio's face. I suddenly felt vigilant again, even knowing the extent of Mei's kindness and character from the anime.

"Terumi Mio." Mio responded. She seemed to share the same odd fascination of the other that Mei had for her.

"Terumi..."

"Little cousi.... Sigh."

Just as she was about to call out, she hesitated. She had clearly recognized Mio as family but seemed hesitant to accept her for some reason. A flash of determination mired with sadness suddenly passed through her beautiful eyes.

She suddenly whirled around, withdrawing a number of kunai from a pouch strapped to her waist.

Shiink!

She sent them flying towards the prisoners without hesitation.

I felt a surge of confusion and fear overtake me, reaching out as if in a vain attempt to stop them.

"NO!"

Klink!

The sound of metal piercing metal broke off my cry. The chains holding the prisoners together fell off with heavy clunks, although they were still left with handcuffs.

She averted her eyes from Mio and I.

"Run." She said this to everyone, but I could feel that it was especially addressed to us.

"The battle is practically over already."