56 3.18

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I pushed against the ground with my fist, and shakily rose to my feet.

In front of me, Danzo was clashing swords with a samurai, their blades moving so quick I struggled to follow. This samurai was the general of the Iron Country, Mifune.

At the same time, I heard many battle cries as yet another army entered the fight. The Samurai did come, after all.

I hadn't remembered it myself, but if there was one person who had a grudge against Hanzo, other than people in Ame that is, then it would be Mifune.

Jordan had been the one to remind me, and Claire, who had some knowledge of Naruto, and was the best runner, was sent to negotiate with them.

It was more of a second plan than anything, but today it had saved all of our lives. The battlefield, which had been heavily tilting in their favor, suddenly turned to our advantage as the Samurai joined the battle.

As Ooniki, the Third Tsuchikage would say in the future, any Shinobi would be foolish to fight a Samurai head on.

Samurai trained their whole lives to develop a blade fast enough to stop a Shinobi from weaving handsigns. And today, they were displaying that to the fullest.

Even on our side, Mifune took Danzo on, and wasn't at any kind of disadvantage. They were all equipped with respirators too, and took part in the fights against Danzo and Ibuse.

Nagato and Yahiko looked like they were in a bad state too, their skin unnaturally pale with hints of purple. Konan had even surfaced, and was fighting against Ibuse with smaller constructs, the large bird having gotten destroyed.

However, the battle wasn't won yet.

Mifune appeared next to me, holding his katana with both hands as he said, "Can you still fight young man?"

I nodded, eyeing Ibuse as I said, "Please keep Danzo occupied, while I deal with the salamander."

Mifune did not answer, but he appeared next to Danzo, resuming their clash, while I limped towards Konan, who was manipulating her paper constructs to help the Samurais, who were getting a little overwhelmed.

I patted her shoulder and muttered in a weak voice, "Find a way to get me on top of it, and I will kill it."

Konan did not answer, probably too focused on her jutsu, but I assumed she heard me as I limped towards the giant salamander, still holding my broken blade.

Our earlier clashes were still fresh in its mind it seemed as it ignored the samurai attacking it, and jumped at me, intending on crushing me to death.

I was too injured to dodge, but I didn't need to, as a giant fist made of paper suddenly appeared from above it, and smacked it in the head.

Ibuse suddenly crashed face first into the ground, right in front of me. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Konan drooping down, having probably used her last reserves of Chakra for this last attack.

Using the opportunity she gave me, I jumped on top of Ibuse, and slashed its right eye with my sword. The summon roared in pain, but I dug my fingers into its skin as I stuck my whole body to it, and used Force Drain.

With the entire front of my body in contact with it, my Force Drain reached an unprecedented efficiency as I started digging into its lifeforce.

As it transferred to me, some of my injuries started healing, while my Midi-chlorians were also nourished. Using my regained strength, I clamped down onto Ibuse even harder it tried to get me off its back.

However, even as it tried to do so, the Samurai didn't just stand by, and attacked it repeatedly, using the opportunity themselves.

As it was getting injured, the rate at which I absorbed its immense vitality only increased, and quickly enough I was back to being bloated. Unlike before, however, I did not stop.

I knew it wasn't good to overindulge, but it was either that or dying, so I greedily kept draining Ibuse. And feeling the overflowing vitality, I decided this was a good time to experiment.

Of the three Siths tiers of teaching, the first, Offense, was about forcing the Force to do one's bidding. The second, Body, was about influencing and transforming Vitality using the subdued Force.

One such famous technique was Force Lightning. However, I had tried to use it in the past week, and had failed to do so.

There was another technique however, one more suited to the current situation.

Cryokinesis.

Despite the name, it wasn't about manipulating ice. Instead, it was a Force Power with the aim to draw heat and life away from a target. In this sense it was somewhat similar to Force Drain, although in this case I wouldn't be able to absorb the drawn energy.

However, it also had its own uses.

My eyes closed, I tried stopping the absorption of the vitality, and instead tried to direct it directly to the outside world.

However, that didn't work. Moreover, Ibuse finally managed to push off the Samurai as it flipped onto itself, forcing me to let go as I jumped away, once again filled with energy.

Landing on the ground, I noticed that Ibuse looked noticeably thinner than before. Narrowing my eyes at it, I tried to manipulate the surplus of vitality within myself, tried to direct it out of my body.

It was harder than anticipated, but quickly enough, as Ibuse rushed at me, I finally understood the problem.

I was trying to stick to Force Drain too much. Cryokinesis, instead of having the user attract the vitality out of the target's body, it was supposed to make the vitality flee the target.

Rolling out of Ibuse's rampage, I grabbed the sword of a fallen samurai, which felt a little strange as it was the first time I held a katana. It didn't feel bad, however, as I rushed at Ibuse, who had run past me.

Dodging the giant limb, I jumped on top of it, and quickly spotted my first attack. It was a long cut across its back, which had only cut open the skin.

Now running the opposite way, I followed the cut, cutting a little deeper as I reached the flesh this time.

Ibuse grumbled and spat out a cloud of poisonous gas, forcing the Samurai back as it wasn't just toxic to breath, but also poisonous to the touch, and whipped its tail strongly, sending a ripple through its body as I was once again forced off its back.

As I landed on the ground, Ibuse was once again above me, this time slamming its body towards me willingly.

Holding out my hand, I used a Force Push, halting it long enough for me to roll under its arm, dodging the slam.

Then, I placed my palm on its side, and instead of using Force Drain, I tried the Cryokinesis.

Using myself as a conduct, I channeled the Force through its skin, deep into its body, reaching its core, its heart. And there, I deposited a seed.

It wasn't anything physical, but instead a seed of the Force.

The moment it appeared, Ibuse started quickly losing vitality. And it was much faster than when I used Force Drain. It was impossible for me to use Force Drain on it anymore, however, as I could feel its vitality was tainted.

Ibuse tried to attack me, but its body had turned sluggish. Without waiting for it to react, I rapidly slashed its skin with my sword, before driving it hilt deep into its side.

At the same time, the Samurai jumped on top of it, driving their own swords into it. They reached much deeper too, as their blades were imbued with Chakra.

Ibuse was powerful however, and even that wasn't enough to end it. After a momentary weakness, it slithered forward, its tail smacking the ground as it caused tremors.

I almost lost my footing, and the Samurai fell off its back.

It continued thrashing, moving randomly now as it tried to crush everything around it. I managed to get a few more licks in, before it slowed down.

The Samurai, who had been waiting for this, all jumped at its head, and did not show any mercy as half a dozen blades were driven through its head.

[You have assisted in the death of Ibuse the Great Salamander. Rewarded a Rank DD Reward and 2000 Points.]