Ch72. Onoki versus rampaging Han

Rei and Konan watched the boy clad in red chakra cloak ramming his three tails into the barrier Rei created. "This is insane..." Konan said. This was the first time she saw the strength of a rampaging jinchuuriki and she was not impressed at all. No, she was outright frowning as she realized she might be able to fight it but it would be a tough fight. She instantly resolved herself to get even stronger. The chance of herself or worse, Rei being attacked by a jinchuuriki wasn't that high but it was still there. No, she would have to get strong enough to face something like this with ease. It was all for protecting Rei, after all. "The chakra is so dense it can physically maul things." Konan continued. "The ground under him is charred... it must be quite hot too."

Konan was saying this out loud just because she was bored. She and Rei were doing this quite often. They talked about things and pointed out the things the other missed and in the end, they would reach a better conclusion.

Rei obviously knew some of its properties but even he found a few new things during the observation. "The chakra is uncontrolled. The Gobi doesn't have actual control over it." He pointed out, making Konan nod.

"So the chakra acts on 'instinct'. Is that what you want to say?" She asked and crossed her arms with a frown. "But that's an insane notion. Chakra is energy... it's not sentient."

"The tailed beasts are beings made of chakra." Rei hummed distractedly. As someone who knew his fair share in soul-based sealing, he had a clear idea of how that worked. It was the pivotal point in his 'tailed beast project' which was the reason why he

was gathering the chakra of other tailed beasts. But even then, he was still stumped on how Hagoromo actually created nine different and unique beings from ONE. It can't be that the ten-tails had a multiple personality disorder, can it?

Konan was about to reply when suddenly, the barrier was shattered and the boy roared. Two arms made of chakra stretched out of his back and started smashing the buildings around. For better or worse, the people in these buildings were long dead due to the steam the boy released at the start of his rampage which cooked them almost instantly. The barrier bought at best five minutes which both Rei and Konan used to evacuate most of the slums through either paper or rock monkeys so the rampaging boy could safely smash as much as he liked without mauling anyone who wasn't already dead.

"There goes this part of the city..." Rei muttered completely unbothered as he sat up, his feet dangling down the edge of the roof. Konan sat next to him, quietly sneaking her hand into his as they together watched the boy dismantle the street with his chakra hands while analyzing the situation and the chakra usage.

It was then that the new arrival appeared. From the sky, a small shadow descended right onto the back of the boy shrouded in dark red chakra, driving him into the ground before it quickly kicked off the back of the boy in order to jump away from him. This to be the right decision as not a second after he did so, hot chakra arms pierced the spot his chest was located. Rei narrowed his eyes in displeasure as he saw who was the man who arrived. Contrary to his expectations, it wasn't Yonbi's jinchuuriki but it was the Tsuchikage himself. "It appears the Yonbi won't be appearing," He frowned bitterly. The Yonbi Jinchuuriki would already appear if he was in the village...

The fight between Onoki and Han started anew when Han sprang his body at the middle-aged midget, leaping at him like a wild animal. Onoki didn't try to block and instead jumped to the side, letting Han sail past him. Han impacted the building behind Onoki and created a new opening in its wall while the dust rose all around. Onoki carefully observed the dust-filled hole, waiting for Han to make a move when his eyes widened as a searing pain sprang up to his spine from his ankles. He suddenly found his world spinning as the chakra arm that burst from the ground and took hold of it flung his body through the street at breakneck speed, right into an opposite building. Onoki's body also created a hole.

A moment later, both combatants could be seen exiting their respective holes. Han's rampaging form crouched on all four while growling and Onoki was floating a few centimeters above the ground while his ankles were badly burned. He gritted his teeth and glared at Han's form. It was useless trying to talk to 'it'. He knew he would have to punch the boy out of this stupor and right now, he nevertheless found it to be an incredible pain in the ass.

Onoki used his Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique to fly up while Han started filling the space around him in dense steam, wrapping himself in it. Rei and Konan wondered what he was doing but their question was answered shortly when the steam, in but a second, compressed even more and formed a small ball in front of the rampaging boy's mouth. Before Onoki could even widen his eyes, the ball was flung at insane speed in his direction. He barely managed to use Earth Release: Rock skin to shield himself. Both Rei and Konan could see a big explosion of superheated steam engulfing the sky.

Onoki's body rushed out of the steam in a straight line towards the ground, making a small part of it disperse due to his sheer speed. He landed on one knee, his hand instantly landing on the ground as he shouted. "Earth Release: Heaven-reaching Pillar!" From under Han's body, an earth pillar swiftly rose, pushing him into the sky before retreating back towards the ground. Han was now in the sky and that was exactly what Onoki wanted. He pushed his battered, slightly burned body, and flew at his airborne opponent at breakneck speed, his hand reaching towards him. Onoki was hopeful when he saw his hand 'almost' reach the boy, only for his hopes to be dashed when a 'fourth' tail sprung up from behind the boy and slapped him downwards. As he was barreled towards the ground, he twisted his body and landed on his feet into a crouch. The force transmitted through his body nevertheless put a sizable dent onto the ground. A moment later, a large fist made out of smoke impacted the area, sending a shockwave all around. The battlefield stilled.

The smoke started clearing and Rei smiled helplessly as he saw the rumble that was previously the slums of Iwagakure. "That was clever." He heard Konan calmly say and couldn't help but agree. Both were using their nature sensing to have a firm grasp on what was going on even inside the steam. The steam was now almost gone, only to be completely dispersed by a savage roar, revealing Onoki gasping for air as he stood above the boy who was still clad in chakra cloak, thrashing around but unable to lift himself from the ground.

"Yeah... he created a rock clone right during the first steam bomb attack, hid it, and now used it to land the Rock-Weight Technique onto the boy... This fight is over. With the amount of gravity on the boy, he would need to go into a five-tail state and Kokuo doesn't want to be released so he would prevent it. Onoki won." Rei stated.

"A pity Onoki decided not to use his Dust style though..." Konan stoically said as she peered towards the form of the old man. She wanted to see the fabled other Kekkei Tota in existence.

"Well, you can't really blame him for that. Deserted part it may be, but this is still a part of his village. His dust techniques would completely finish it off. This damage, "Rei pointed towards the destroyed buildings and cracked ground. "will be easily repaired with earth jutsu. But if he leveled the area with Dust Release? The reconstruction would take a lot of money." Rei finished in a Kakuzu-like voice. He momentarily let go of Konan's hand and snaked his arm around her waist. "Well, dear. It's time for us to leave. Looks like the second jinchuuriki of Iwa won't be joining the party so there is nothing more to be stolen here." He quipped, and Konan, with an amused smile, leaned towards him, pecking him on the cheek.

"You shouldn't be greedy." She weakly admonished him. They already gained a library-worth of jutsu, all copies so it wouldn't seem like the jutsu are missing. Then they stole quite a lot of valuables and money which will surely be noticed... and then the stash of the explosion corps and a few documents about missions that could prove to be useful blackmail material. If she took into consideration the sample of Gobi's chakra, wanting more was just plain being greedy.

Rei chuckled at that and shrugged. "I am only a human!" He said helplessly but then turned to Konan, looking into her eyes. "You are right." He stated and kissed her on the lips. They both pulled apart after a few moments and with the last look towards the still struggling boy and tired Tsuchikage, they disappeared into Rei's dimension. Rei no longer cared about the following events and Konan... she gave one last discreet but telling glance in Onoki's direction as her lips were twisted in an amused and playful smirk. Smirk, Rei rather not comment on as he knew when she was about to pull a prank...