The Battle Rages Still.

Raiden stood there, he face serene and composed as always. His hand quivered, the Kusarigama just a few inches away from Naruto’s faces.What stopped him from the kill? A hand clenching Raiden’s own.A woman stood perpendicular to Raiden, holding his hand, preventing what might have been pure murder and nothing else. Tsunade she was, and the hold on her adversary’s hand was stronger than steel. Nerves popped under Raiden’s skin as the Sannin’s pressure on his hand increased double fold. When all blood circulation had stopped in his right arm, Raiden slashed at Tsunade, as a means of preventing his hand’s imminent death. Tsunade jumped back, and Raiden likewise did the same. Two dangerous ninja, and a wounded genin stuck in the middle of their incoming fight.“ So it is as I thought. He was kidnapped, huh. Undoubtedly you must be the kidnapper.” Said Tsunade, and turned towards Naruto. “ Don’t worry Naruto. I’ll protect you from now on.”Naruto began to interrupt by saying something, but Tsunade payed him no heed. The fight had already begun.Raiden rushed towards Tsunade, frustrated because she had interrupted his battle with Naruto. How impudent and ill-mannered of this woman, to barge upon a fight when two men are fighting. Never mind, it was already one sided to begin with. This shall be a good exercise for me. Fighting a Sannin is not gonna be an easy task.Swapping his Kama to his left hand, he held the rope in his right. The rope was not going to be of much use now. His speed was enormous. Like his name suggested, he ran with the fierce charge of lightning itself. Sparks reverberated around him, causing an eerie glow around him. Smoke and dust filled the place where Raiden stood moments ago, such was the might of him.Tsunade was no less illustrious in her battle. With astonishing speed that seemed almost impossible for a woman with her body, she charged forward with her bare hands.Their clash shook the very air surrounding them. Air gushed away from the point of intersection. What had happened was unreadable; each movement was too fast to be perceived clearly.Naruto shied away, holding his arms to protect his eyes from damage.He wanted to join the battle. He wanted to defeat that man who had kidnapped him. He wanted to beat Raiden senseless. But his body would not obey his heart and mind. His legs became stiff as a rock and numb as rubber. He tried to take a step and fell down, head first.Meanwhile, Tsunade and Raiden’s battle continued. Raiden struck with elegant swiftness, and Tsunade countered it with immense brute force. While a quarter dozen hits from Tsunade’s end could’ve rendered Raiden senseless, it was not an easy task. Raiden’s lean figure dodged all of Tsunade’s punches almost easily, and slashed back with his own Kama.Parrying and punching and striking, happening consistently, blows and blows being dealt and received.Naruto could not understand anything that was happening. His legs felt like cooked sausages , and he was almost astonished that he didn’t topple over. Red blood dampened his dress, and blood dripped from his eyelashes, blinding his vision. Already black spots danced ahead of him, and the two ninjas fighting in front of him were just blurred figures. But slowly everything receded. He could now bare with the pain, could take a step. Limbs functioned, even if each movement caused a flaring pain across his entire body. But still, he was recovering.In the battle proceeding, things were not much difference. Both had a grace and an elegant touch to their attacks, and the fight continued. It seemed like a dance, that dexterity and finesse which ended with a smooth collision between both. Raiden now seemed on the edge of his stamina; Tsunade was beginning to get the higher hand. His movements slowed down, and he moved his hands a little too slow. Tsunade got in within range, and hit him squarely in his ribs.A crack sound was produced, and Raiden went flying backwards. A layer of flak-jacket had been protecting him, but even then the damage had been disastrous. And the worse thing for him was that he suspected that that was not the peak of the sannin’s brute power.Sweat glistening on his face, and teeth clenched, Raiden sheathed his Kusarigama in it’s holder at his hip. He grabbed the small cuboid hanging from a cord joined to his hip straps.Taking it, he secured his hand on the middle of it, and murmured, “expand, Shiro-Ōkami!”The small box like structure expanded until it became of a height similar to that of Raiden. Smooth in the middle, and rugged sharp teeth like those of a fox in the edges, it was a staff , made of ivory. The ends were covered, or perhaps coated, with high-quality metal, to prevent damage to the staff during battles.Staff in hand, swinging it, Raiden dashed at Tsunade. With the quarterstaff kind of weapon, he was sure he could get the upper hand. He had the longer reach, and with his speed, he could prevent his adversary from getting within a range of attack.Only when he got as near as two meters away from Tsunade, did he realise something was wrong. Fear. He smelled fear from her. The Sannin was afraid, and when Raiden looked her in the eye, he could see her’s wide and trembling . He was not sure why. She had been fighting on par with him, maybe even better so. But now suddenly her legs shaking, she seemed vulnerable as a duck. What happened? Does using her power or something make her exhausted? But this was his chance, no more thinking.Raiden, slick as a fox, sped towards Tsunade with his staff’s point looming threateningly at her.She was still at shock, and Raiden had to suppress his emotions when he became surprised.Still in a daze, Tsunade absently turned aside to dodge, but got caught. The sharp edge of the staff impaled her in her right rib, and cut open. Blood gushed outside from the fresh wound, and her blood loss was now more than Raiden’s previous injuries.Tsunade was on her knees now, trembling and clutching at her side where the blood was flowing out. As a small pool was forming, she took her left hand and placed it a few inches above the wound, at it slowly healed. Not all, and not fast, but anything done would be an immense help in the future. With her world-class healing, the wound almost closed shut. The Sannin then proceeded to tear a cloth and press it against the wound, to stop the imminent bleeding. Raiden stood a few paces away and stared intensely, but it seemed as if his patience would run out soon. The only reason he had not attacked now was that he was studying Tsunade, wondering and pounding his head over why she was trembling and quivering.

Blood. Dark blood. Red blood. Blood haunting me, blood chasing me. Blood by killing, blood for killing. Blood killing all. Killing relatives, friends…siblings and parents. Oh dear. Sweet little, Nawaki. So young, so innocent. He had been but a child, when the ravaging wars had stolen his life. With flushed red cheeks and a smile that lit up the entire world, he would proudly proclaim his dream of becoming the Hokage, almost every time we met. And Dan too. Both of them, always vowing to become the Hokage… Dan…Dan, another man I loved who was killed by the endless battles. He had died in my arms, because of my incapability. Blood. It had gushed out like a fountain, and seemed to make a small pool beside him in the next moment. Blood. My half-assed healing had not been able to save him. Oh, how desolated and empty and anguished I felt at that time. It is not much different now. Still unable to fight back, unable to protect. If only…Blood.Thud, thud. Thud, thud.Heartbeat became so loud in her ears, it appeared to tear up her eardrums from the inside. She could hear nothing, feel nothing, and a metallic yet sandy taste filled her mouth. Desperately she shook her head, her eyes wide with terror, old memories and nostalgic depression resurfacing. She had to get out of the trance. She had to protect Naruto.Her mind raced with a thousand thoughts, but her muscles would just not bulge. It was as if her nerves had been cut in her limbs, demolishing all communication between brain and hands. Her eyes seemed as if they would pop out any second.Naruto stood standing there, struggling to take a few steps at a time. He felt rage, pure rage filling him from the inside of his soul, an inferno of fire hotter than the sun. His fists tightened, his teeth clenched, and he almost howled into the expanse. Sharp fangs started to grow from his canine teeth, and his eyes sharpened and darkened. Dark black slits formed inside a crimson red eyeball, giving him the look of a dangerous fox.His nails grew until they became as sharp as a knife, and this whiskers on his cheeks thickened out. The monster. The nine-tailed fox monster. It’s immense chakra was leaking out. But Naruto payed no heed to it, ignoring all it’s strange effects. His blood was boiling; he wanted to tear apart that man and skin him, and wear his hide as a reminder. None of this mattered anymore. At least not right now.He pounced towards Raiden, baring his fangs. With speed that rivalled Raiden’s , he blitzed him from the back. Raiden had barely enough time to pull up his staff, much less to dodge. But Naruto’s attack was powerful enough to crack the staff itself. Raiden, looking at him with startled eyes, threw away the now broken staff. He brought back his Kusarigama, and changed to a defensive stance. Best to be on guard until proper gauging of the enemy’s abilities has been done.Naruto sped towards Raiden now, but this time he was ready for the attack. As his claws came forth to slash across Raiden’s breast, he unsheathed his dormant Wakizashi sword and parried his deadly strike with a quick slash. A merest cut shone across Naruto’s right wrist, and at the same time, Raiden forced his attack with his Kusarigama. A downright vertical cut which would have been a critical advantage for him; But Naruto dodged it as sly as a fox, slick enough to not get hit by mere hair-widths.Dodging back, Naruto snarled, his big white fangs shone as white as the moon.Weaving the hand signs for the shadow clone technique, two more Naruto-like figures appeared. Raiden sneered, “What good do you think will it do you to just add a few more clones, eh?” Naruto just remained silent, thoughtfully grimaced, and sent forward a clone for the attack. That one clone rushed in, drew out a kunai, and tried to stab him in the neck. Raiden parried and struck the clone, and peered out to look at the real Naruto’s body.“Rasengan!!!”