49. Victories at a Cost

The Sannin was about to rush over and check on Aō, but he stopped in his feet at the sound of a bird's caw. His eyes quickly scanned the air and noticed a crow flying in the sky above him.

"Dammit!" Jiraiya cursed at the sight of the crow. 'What is he doing here?'

The Sannin immediately ran through a series of hand signs. He quickly brought his hands to his mouth before releasing a barrage of fireballs towards the crow. The bird flew continued its flight through the sky, evading each of Jiraiya's attacks. With each missed fireball, however, the crow continued to fly closer-and-closer to the Konoha shinobi. Soon, more crows joined in and started flying in a circular pattern close to Jiraiya. A murder of crows had now surrounded him.

After the numbers increased to a substantial amount, the crows started to fly even closer to Jiraiya, preparing to strike at him with their beaks. The Sannin immediately ran through six quick hand signs.

"Needle Jizō!"

Jiraiya's white hair quickly surrounded his body. The individual strands of hair became sharpened into needles. The needles punctured the crows as they attempted to strike at Jiraiya, causing them to caw in pain before fading from existence. Once the crows had disappeared, Jiraiya undid his jutsu and his hair returned to normal.

He then jumped away as a figure started to fall to the ground directly above him. A few seconds passed by before a man landed on his feet. The new figure had jet black hair that was worn in a short ponytail and onyx colored eyes. He wore a black cloak with a red-cloud pattern on it. The man also wore a Konoha forehead protector with a slash straight through the Konoha symbol.

"So it is you." Jiraiya noted with a shrug.

"U-Uchiha Itachi!"

Jiraiya resisted the urge to curse. He wasn't aware of who said the figure's name, but he now knew that his squad was going to be fighting differently. Uchiha Itachi was one of Konoha's most infamous missing ninja, possibly second only to Orochimaru. There was no doubt in his mind that his presence could negatively impact the Konoha shinobis' mission.

"Everyone! Focus on your mission!" Jiraiya shouted to all shinobi in his squad – Konoha shinobi and Mei's rebels alike. "Itachi is my enemy. You all stay focused on the mission!"

All shinobi seemed to accept those commands and did their best to return to their mission and continued to fight off Kirigakure shinobi. One rebel shinobi under Mei rushed over and picked up Aō's body before leaving with him towards the nearest medical shinobi. Itachi remained still, not bothering to stop. He didn't appear to be paying attention to any of the shinobi in the area other than Jiraiya.

"So, Itachi, care to tell me where your partner is? I know how your little organization works. You gotta have somebody hanging out around with you." Jiraiya questioned the missing ninja in front of him.

"I don't believe you should be thinking about him, Jiraiya-san." Itachi spoke with a calm, quiet tone-of-voice. "I should be the only thing you are concerned about at the moment."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed at the man: "Tell me, Itachi; what are you doing here? Why would you come to Kirigakure in the middle of an invasion? I didn't believe you or Akatsuki would want to take a side in this type of conflict."

Itachi gave no verbal reply for a moment. His eyes slowly started to focus on Jiraiya, causing the Sannin to avert his own gaze in an attempt to avoid eye contact.

After a few seconds of tense silence, Itachi finally broke the silence. "And I wouldn't believe Konoha would want to take a side in the conflict, yet you are here and you are with an army." He proceeded to quickly rush through a series of hand signs. "I'm here on a mission, and while you are not involved with the mission, you are a threat to its success."

"Am I, huh?" Jiraiya nearly smirked as he ran through the same identical hand signs as Itachi.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Both shinobi breathed out a massive orb of flames out of their mouths that moved through the air directly towards the other shinobi. The fireballs made contact, merging with each other momentarily before canceling each other out.

With their jutsus failing, Jiraiya proceeded to charge forward towards Itachi while the Uchiha jumped backwards, running through another series of hand signs. Their battle had officially begun!

"Yeah right. Save me your holier-than-thou speech brat." Karitoriki rolled his eyes as he gripped his axe. "You don't understand anything. None of you do! You're trying to destroy one of the most powerful forces in the Elemental Nations!" He then proceeded to make another hand sign with his left hand. "And it's my duty to show you all the true power of Kirigakure!"

"Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

Karitoriki took in a deep breath before sharply exhaling, releasing multiple blades of wind from his mouth. The wind moved rapidly downward towards the ground and the rebel shinobi. Shikamaru, Haku, and Honoka jumped away while Kiri quickly moved Suigetsu to safety so he could heal him. Karitoriki, who was still exhaling wind blades from his mouth, noticed Kiri retreating with Suigetsu and turned his head towards him. The wind proceeded to focus in on him and seemingly moved faster.

"Kiri-kun!" Haku gasped as he made a singular hand sign.

A pillar of ice developed between Kiri and Suigetsu and the approaching blades of wind. The ice pillar took the attack, preventing the wind from cutting into the two shinobi. The ice, however, started to crack. It was showing signs of breaking apart at any moment.

Shikamaru took the time to make a series of hand signs: "Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!"

The Konoha chūnin breathed out a massive fireball shaped like a dragon's head that flew into the sky towards Karitoriki and his vulture. Karitoriki turned his head towards the fire, causing the blades of wind from his mouth to launch themselves at the dragon head. The wind, however, did nothing to stop the approaching flames. The dragon head-shaped fireball continued to fly towards him.

'Hmm. He's got a good fire affinity to create something I couldn't blow out like that. Wonder how much chakra he put into it.' Karitoriki thought to himself as he closed his mouth, canceling his jutsu. He then rubbed his hand on the head of the vulture he was riding. 'Whatever, though. I'll take a different approach.'

The vulture, understanding what its summoner wanted it to do, let out a loud squeal before flapping its wings heavily, creating a massive gust of wind. The wind tore through the approaching fireball, causing it to dissipate. The wind continued to fly towards Shikamaru. The chūnin immediately jumped out of the way, barely missing the attack.

Karitoriki placed his hand off the vulture's head, causing it to stop flapping its wings. It then flew downward at a quick speed towards Shikamaru. Karitoriki gripped the axe in his hands tightly as the vulture came closer to Shikamaru. Just as it came close to Shikamaru's body, Karitoriki leaned over the vulture's body and swung his axe, aiming for Shikamaru's neck. Shikamaru, however, reacted in time and pulled out a kunai and used it to intercept the oncoming attack. He avoided getting his head chopped off, but the force of Karitoriki's attack knocked Shikamaru off balance, causing him to get knocked back and fall to the ground.

The Kirigakure executioner, noticing Shikamaru on the ground, directed his vulture to fly towards Shikamaru again. As he approached him, he readied his axe once again to chop off the Nara's head. This time, Shikamaru ran through a series of hand signs.

"Ninja Art: Shadow Protection Jutsu!"

The shadows around Shikamaru surrounded him and formed a circular, defensive barrier just in time before Karitoriki's attack. The Kirigakure shinobi swung his axe directly against the shadows, making no obvious signs of damage to the barrier. Karitoriki prepared to swing his axe once again and try and cut through the barrier, but he began to notice a sound that resembled metal clanging against metal.

"Uzumaki Fūinjutsu: Chains of the Earth!"

A series of chains developed underneath the earth directly beneath Karitoriki and his summoned vulture. The vulture reacted instantly and flew away, avoiding the oncoming chains. The chains proceeded to fly in the air towards him. As the vulture was flying away, he turned his head towards Uzumaki Honoka, who had her hands locked in the tiger hand sign.

"The same tactics don't work twice on me!" Karitoriki declared.

Honoka gave no verbal reply; she only continued with her jutsu and continued to fling her chains around, trying to make contact with the Karitoriki and the vulture. The chains began to move at an even faster pace. Seeing her attempts to capture him, Haku proceeded to make a series of hand signs. Giant pillars of ice quickly developed in front of the vulture and to its sides, preventing it from flying forward and to the side. The chains continued to move towards it, having seemingly caught the vulture.

Karitoriki quickly kicked the vulture lightly, causing it to fly upward instead. Realizing what he was doing, Haku quickly made a hand sign, causing the ice pillars surrounding him and the vulture to develop a ceiling that would prevent him from flying upward. The executioner, however, reached for his axe and quickly swung it as the vulture approached the ice ceiling. The axe completely shattered the ice, causing it fall to the ground.

The Kirigakure shinobi and the vulture continued to fly through the air, trying to get away from the chains. The chains, however, continued on their pursuit. They, seemingly, were going to continue chasing him forever.

'Thought they'd be done by now. Should've known they'd keep going. They're powered by her chakra and based on her hair, she's an Uzumaki.' Karitoriki realized. 'If I want them to stop chasing me, I need to stop her jutsu.'

Karitoriki, momentarily, placed his axe in a holster on his side. He then directed the vulture to turn around, towards the chains. Karitoriki made three hand signs before he extended his hands forward while the vulture, simultaneously, flapped its wings: "Wind Style: Godly Wind from the Mountains!"

Honoka's chains managed to reach the vulture, gripping it tightly and began dragging it down to the ground. Her chains, however, did not stop his jutsu and a massive vortex of wind developed. The vortex rushed forward Honoka, who was focusing on her chains. Seeing the approaching wind caused her eyes to widen and forced her to cancel her jutsu in order to get away. She was too slow, however, as the vortex managed to make contact with her left arm and leg as she was trying to jump away. She screamed in pain as the vortex of wind cut into her body. When she managed to pull herself away, her arm and leg was full of cuts. Blood was starting to drip from each individual cut.

With her jutsu canceled, the chains holding Karitoriki's vulture down disappeared, allowing it to fly freely. Shikamaru, now out of his shadow-barrier, cursed at the sight of him.

'We're at a disadvantage here, even outnumbering him. He's untouchable if he's up in the air and he seems to know how to combat any attempts to drag him down to the ground.' He noticed. 'If we want to actually win this fight, we need to take out that vulture somehow.'

Shikamaru momentarily closed his eyes as his mind tried to think as fast as it could exactly how to handle the situation. He recalled the skillset of himself, Haku, and Honoka and thought of any combination of techniques that could take down the vulture.

His eyes shot open the moment he heard the sound of flapping wings. Karitoriki's vulture had released a massive gust of wind with the movement of its wing directly towards him. Shikamaru quickly ran away, avoiding the attack. He then continued to move, avoiding the subsequent blasts of wind. His eyes were focused on the wings, making sure to avoid getting hit by any gust of wind that the vulture released.

'The wings… wait, that's it!'

Shikamaru immediately rushed over to Haku and Honoka.

"We need to get that vulture out of the sky, and the best way to do that, would be with a chain reaction." The Konoha shinobi declared as his eyes moved from the Uzumaki to the Yuki. "From both of you."

Realization dawned on Haku's face. A small grin seemed to develop on it.

"It should work. But how do you-"

"That's where hers comes in." Shikamaru interrupted, pointing to Honoka. "She'll make sure you can do yours."

"And how are we involved?"

Shikamaru turned his head and noticed Suigetsu rushing over to him, with Kiri not far behind. While Suigetsu did have quite a few open wounds, the big cuts on his chest and stomach seemed to have been healed enough to be able to move.

"Are you fully healed?" Shikamaru questioned.

"I'm good to fight." Suigetsu declared, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You still need to be careful, though, Suigetsu." Kiri warned. "I don't want those wounds to open up again."

"Yeah, yeah." Suigetsu shrugged before turning to Shikamaru. "So how can we help?"

Before Shikamaru responded, another large gust of wind from Karitoriki's vulture was flung towards the group. All five shinobi jumped out of the way, avoiding the blast. Shikamaru then turned his attention back to the shinobi around him.

"Kiri, focus on healing the cuts on Honoka. She needs to be able to maintain focus on her jutsu and we don't want pain or anything to snap her out of focus." Shikamaru stated before turning his head towards Honoka. "Honoka, you're going to get Haku up-close to Karitoriki and his vulture. He'll take everything from there." He then pointed to himself and looked at Suigetsu. "You and I are going to use any long-range jutsus we can to keep him distracted."

With the plan in mind, all shinobi went to work. Kiri started to place his palms on Honoka's open wounds and began treating her as she made her necessary hand signs: "Uzumaki Fūinjutsu: Chains of the Earth!"

Karitoriki noticed the chains developing underneath the earth. He smirked smugly: "One-trick pony? You think trying that's going to-"

The words died on his tongue as he realized that the chains were not trying to grab him. The chains, instead, grabbed Haku, covering his torso completely. The chains then rushed forward from the underground, forcing Haku up into the air with them.

'The hell is this? What's she aiming at?' Karitoriki's eyes narrowed at Haku's approaching body. Another smug smirk developed on his face as he made a singular hand sign. 'Guess I'll take advantage of this though. That bloodline filth is much closer to me now!'

"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!"

"Water Gun Jutsu!"

Before Karitoriki could activate his jutsu, he was forced to divert his attention to an oncoming fireball shaped like a dragon's head, as well as a drop of water moving through the air at an incredibly fast rate. He patted his vulture on the head, signaling it to move. The summoned animal did just that, flying upward to avoid both attacks. He turned his head back to the ground and noticed Shikamaru making more hand signs and Suigetsu making a gesture with his hand that resembled a gun.

Suigetsu began rapidly firing drops of water from his index finger while Shikamaru breathed out another dragon head-shaped fireball at Karitoriki. The Kirigakure shinobi was forced to direct his bird to fly to avoid each attack. He then was forced to be on the defensive as he tried to evade their barrage of jutsus.

"Stop that!" Karitoriki shouted as he took in a deep breath. "Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

The executioner breathed out multiple blades of wind that flew downward towards Shikamaru and Suigetsu. The two shinobi jumped out of the way, but Karitoriki turned his head to follow them, allowing him to continue his barrage of wind blades. Suigetsu, who was still injured, was unable to avoid forever and was eventually caught in the attack. The blades cut deeply into his back, causing him to bleed further. He shouted in pain.

"Ninja Art: Shadow Protection Jutsu!" Shikamaru shouted.

Shadows quickly surrounded Suigetsu's body, covering him within a defensive barrier. Karitoriki continued to focus on the barrier, prepared to cut through it with his wind. A few seconds passed, though, and he noticed Haku, still being carried by Honoka's chains, was quickly approaching him and his vulture.

Quickly turning his head, Karitoriki focused his jutsu on the incoming Haku. The Yuki-clan shinobi winced in pain as the wind proceeded to cut into his skin. However, the chains surrounding him did not budge from the attack and remained strong. This allowed Haku to continue further in the air. His body eventually made contact with the wing of the vulture. Honoka's chains immediately loosened slightly, allowing him to use his hands more freely. Haku then gripped tightly on the vulture's wings.

"Ice Style: Chains of Earthen Ice!"

Ice particles began to develop at an alarming rate on the vulture's wing. The ice spread quickly, completely encasing the wing in ice. The vulture cawed in pain. It started to descend slowly from the air.

"What?" Karitoriki's eyes widened.

The ice on the vulture's wings began to inch its way further up the vulture's body, but eventually stopped. It steeled its eyes as if it was resisting the ice trying to completely freeze its body. It was forced to use all of its energy to stop the ice from killing it. In the process, however, it was unable to stay focused on flying. The vulture's gradual descent turned into a plummet downward.

Honoka's chains immediately left Haku's body, freeing him completely. He waited until the vulture was just about to make contact with the ground before jumping off and landing on the ground safely by his comrades. The vulture, in contrast, slammed into the ground hard, creating a crater underneath it. The force of the impact caused the vulture to disappear, returning back to the land where it was summoned from. Karitoriki, still feeling the force of the impact, was lying on the ground and trying to pull himself up.

Shikamaru immediately dispelled his jutsu, uncovering Suigetsu from the shadows. The two rushed over to Haku's side. Kiri, who had healed Honoka's wounds to a satisfactory degree, immediately turned his attention to Suigetsu's cut on his back.

"How did you manage to do that?" Suigetsu questioned.

"A particularly lethal jutsu I know." Haku replied with a smirk. "That jutsu of mine allows me, as long as I have physical contact with something, to channel ice particles on their body that will slowly works its way up their body and freeze them to death. The only way to stop the jutsu would be to either force me off or to focus all of your chakra and energy on preventing the ice from developing." The Yuki clan shinobi then pointed to the vulture and the newly developed crater. "The vulture obviously focused all of its chakra and energy into stopping the ice, but in the process, it wasn't able to fly at all, forcing it to crash land."

"You're awesome, you know that right?" Kiri told the shinobi with a smile.

Haku smiled, a small red blush developing on his cheeks from the compliment: "Th-Thank you Kiri-kun, but it's really Shikamaru-kun's ingenuity that led to the defeat of the vulture."

"Speaking of that, though," Honoka spoke-up with a sigh as she looked at the crater, "we're not done."

Shikamaru nodded his head as he quickly made a singular hand sign: "Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

The Konoha chūnin's shadow extended forward at a rapid rate towards the crater. Karitoriki had managed to pull himself off the ground, but was unable to do anything about the shadow. As a result, he was caught. His body became locked. Almost immediately after, the shadow that was trapping him began to slowly extend up his body towards his neck. Karitoriki's eyes widened before he narrowed them. The shadow stopped its ascent, remaining still on the man's stomach.

"Y-You think you can overpower me?" Karitoriki shouted. "I'm a loyal Kirigakure shinobi and I'm defending my village! I cannot die as long as I have people here to protect!"

"People to protect?" Shikamaru resisted the urge to spit as he tried harder-and-harder to push his shadow further and overpower him. "We're trying to reform Kirigakure and Mizu no Kuni! Your administration is destroying both of them!"

"We're saving them! Once this civil war is over and you rebels have been defeated, Kirigakure and Mizu no Kuni will be at peace for once! Random villages in Mizu no Kuni won't be the target of violence any longer!" Karitoriki continued to shout. "That's what I fight for and that's what my comrades for!"

Shikamaru opened his mouth to respond, but he stopped himself as he felt a presence dangerously close to himself and his allies. A group of four Kirigakure shinobi jumped out and threw hundreds of kunai and shuriken at him and his allies. All five rebels were forced to jump away to avoid the attacks, causing Shikamaru to break his jutsu and freeing Karitoriki. The four Kirigakure shinobi then rushed over to the executioner's side.

"Karitoriki-sama, are you alright? We saw your vulture descend from the sky!" One of them informed him.

"We're here to back you up!" Another shinobi offered.

"I… thank you. Thank you all." Karitoriki let out a small chuckle.

"Dammit. There's more opponents now." Honoka cursed.

"Each of you, handle any of those rebellious traitors that you want. Just let me fight the Konoha shinobi one-on-one." Karitoriki requested.

The four shinobi nodded before they jumped forward, each of them rushing to a different shinobi. They, along with Suigetsu, Honoka, Haku, and Kiri, quickly moved away slightly to begin their own individual fights. Shikamaru was the only one left un-attacked. He glared at Karitoriki, who was starting to approach him.

"You want to fight me so badly? Why?" Shikamaru demanded.

"You've been commenting over-and-over again about me and my character. You're the one who simply doesn't understand what Yagura-sama and Kirigakure is trying to accomplish here." The executioner proceeded to hiss as he gripped his axe tightly. "I want to educate you so that you may understand what we are doing. Consider it the last thing you ever learn before you die!"

Shikamaru scoffed, but gave no verbal reply. Instead, he opted to rush through a series of hand signs.

"Let the personal execution begin!" Karitoriki shouted as he charged forward just as Shikamaru finished his hand signs.

"We'll see. I'll have you know that I'm no 'dirty leaf'." Hinata countered as she got into her gentle fist variant style. "I'm a proud shinobi of Konoha with the Will of Fire!"

Unmo's response was to begin a series of hand signs. Their battle had now officially begun.

"Water Style: Stormy Blockade!"

Unmo slammed his hands on the ground, causing a massive amount of water to rain down from above, creating a hole in the ceiling as it came rushing in. Hinata quickly jumped away as water began to pour into the room. The water seemed to flow in a circular pattern, making sure not to go down the hole in the center of the room. The water continued to fill the room so much that Hinata was forced to jump onto it and use her chakra to stand on top of it. Within seconds, the entire room was filled with water. Unmo lifted his hands upward, causing the water to stop raining into the room, and smirked at the kunoichi.

"I know how you Konoha shinobi work. You pride yourselves on your fire style jutsu. This battlefield not only makes your fire jutsus completely useless, but it gives me the perfect environment for my techniques." He exclaimed smugly as he made the 'rat' hand sign. "Water Style: Droplet Release!"

An orb of water rose from the battlefield directly in front of Unmo. He placed his hand inside the orb, causing multiple streams of water, in the shape of spears, to rush forward from the orb towards Hinata. She quickly started running, avoiding the spears. The water, however, continued to rush forward at her and she was forced to keep dodging. Realizing this, Hinata focused on the orb of water in Unmo's hand and extended her palms towards it.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

Hinata compressed the air in front of her palms and released a 'Vacuum Palm' that rushed through the air towards the orb of water. Upon making contact, the orb fell apart, stopping the water spears from approaching her. With the constant attacks now stopped, Hinata rushed forward towards Unmo.

"Want to get close and personal, huh?" Unmo sneered as he made a single, 'snake' hand sign. Water rushed upwards towards his hands and encased him, creating gloves made out of water. "Then bring it!"

Upon reaching him, Hinata attempted to strike at him with a palm. Unmo jumped backwards, avoiding it. He then attempted to use his water-covered fist to deliver a punch to Hinata's face, but she quickly and gracefully side-stepped out of the way. Unmo continued his assault quickly, trying to punch Hinata; however she managed to dodge the attack again. Hinata, still moving gracefully around him, landed a palm strike on his left shoulder. He winced at the contact.

The Hyūga heiress attempted to land another palm strike on his right shoulder, but Unmo jumped into the air and avoided the attack. He then landed hard on the water directly behind her, slamming his palms against it.

"Water Style: Water Shaking Pillar!"

Water from underneath him shot forward, creating a large pillar that completely encased his body. The water came up with so much force that Hinata was repelled backwards away from him. Unmo immediately freed himself from the water pillar and placed the palms of his hands on the water once again just as Hinata's body made contact with the water. Water formations in the shape of hands quickly grabbed onto Hinata's arms and legs, preventing her moving. She started to struggle, but she couldn't break them.

"Heh, that was quick." Unmo commented with a chuckle as he brought his hands downward, bringing them underneath the water. "Now, drown!"

The hand-shaped water immediately dragged her underneath. She immediately began holding her breath as she continued to struggle against the water holding her down. In a few seconds, she stopped physically struggling and, instead, began concentrating chakra in the tenketsu in her arms and legs. After concentrating the chakra, she released it from her tenketsu. The chakra, in the shape of needles, quickly pierced through the water holding her back, freeing her.

Now freed, Hinata quickly jumped out of the water. She then extended her palms outward, releasing another Vacuum Palm. The blast hit Unmo off guard, pushing him backward against the wall in the room. He groaned in pain as he coughed up a little blood. Seeing him momentarily stunned, Hinata rushed over to him, preparing to strike.

'I have to make this quick. You're in my area of divination!' She thought to herself. 'Eight Trigrams, Two Palms!'

Hinata struck Unmo with two palm strikes on his left shoulder, causing him to wince in pain. She then extended her palms forward to land two more strikes on him, but before she could, Unmo quickly slammed his foot on the ground. The Kirigakure shinobi's body was immediately submerged underneath the water

"Dang it." Hinata shook her head as she quickly began moving.

Using her Byakugan, Hinata was able to track Unmo's movement in the water underneath her. She extended her palms backward, preparing to release another Vacuum Palm at him. Before she could use her attack, however, Unmo made a punch from underneath the water. A pillar of water was created that rushed from underneath to above the water towards Hinata. The pillar made contact with her stomach, causing her to cough up a heavy amount of blood as she was brought back against the wall of the room. The pillar of water began changing shapes, resembling a net, and proceeded to hold Hinata against the wall.

With that move, Unmo resurfaced from underneath the water and quickly pulled out multiple shuriken: "I know you can apparently break free from my water's hold, so I'm just going to act quick and end this fight with no stalling." He then proceeded to toss the weapons. "So, die!"

Seeing the weapons aimed for her head, Hinata quickly took in a deep breath, concentrating chakra in her mouth, before opening her mouth: 'Water Style: Gunshot!'

Hinata released a barrage of water bullets from her mouth that made contact with the shuriken before they could reach her, deflecting them.

Unmo's eyes were wide in surprise. "What the-"

Having distracted him, Hinata concentrated chakra throughout her body and released it, freeing her from the net. Still having chakra concentrated in her mouth, she continued to release water bullets directly at Unmo. The first two attacks hit the shinobi, knocking him backwards and causing him to cough up more blood. The third bullet, however, was intercepted by him; Unmo reached forward and touched the oncoming bullet with his right hand, stopping it. He then punched it back, sending it flying backwards toward Hinata. Hinata quickly dodged, causing her water bullet to hit the wall she was pinned against. It created a massive hole in the wall.

"That took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting you to know water style ninjutsu. I was really expecting you to be a fire-type like most Konoha trash. Perhaps this battlefield isn't as big of a disadvantage as I thought it'd be for you." Unmo shook his head for a moment. A smug grin developed on his face. "However, I can tell by the fact that you haven't used a single water style jutsu until now that you aren't that proficient with it. Your skill with it can't hope to match mine. This'll still be the end for you, Konoha scum! Water Style: Droplet Release!"

After creating another orb of water, Unmo released another set of water spears directly at Hinata. Hinata quickly began moving, avoiding each of the attacks. She attempted to use her Vacuum Palm to disrupt the jutsu, but Unmo started to move as well, preventing her jutsu from making contact with the orb of water.

This pattern continued for nearly a whole minute as Hinata continued to keep moving. Hinata was focused on dodging the multiple water spears heading for her while Unmo continued to move to prevent Hinata from disrupting hits jutsu. After a minute had passed, Hinata's Vacuum Palms finally made contact with the orb of water, destroying it and ending Unmo's jutsu. Hinata then extended her palms backwards, preparing to use the same jutsu again. Unmo, in response, punched the air as he channeled chakra. Hinata released another Vacuum Palm at the same time as Unmo created another pillar of water. Both jutsus collided against each, canceling out and causing water to rain over the battlefield.

After her jutsu failed, Hinata began to speak: "Why do you hate Konoha so much?"

"Why do I hate Konoha?" Unmo actually laughed at the question. "Are you that naïve that you wouldn't understand why another village would hate yours?"

"I'm not naïve! I just want to know why!" Hinata questioned.

"You're a Hyūga, aren't you? Do you hate Kumo?" The Kirigakure shinobi asked.

"… No." Hinata, although hesitantly, shook her head. Realization dawned on her face though, as she began to seemingly understand what Unmo was trying to get at. "Did someone from Konoha wrong you?"

"Not just someone; an institution that your village publicly backed. An institution that your village pretends doesn't exist, but still allows to live!" Unmo hissed in anger. "If you even understood what Root and Shimura Danzō have done, then even you would hate Konoha just as much for letting those abominations exist!"

"D-Danzō?" Hinata repeated the name in confusion.

While she didn't recognize what the word 'Root' meant, she did know Danzō's name. Her father had mentioned his name in passing a couple of times. A former Hokage candidate and rival to the Sandaime Hokage, Danzō was somebody most shinobi knew even if they had never personally met him. He was always a mysterious shinobi and people said he wasn't a particularly sociable or likable person, but what could this man have done that would have someone like Unmo, a shinobi not even from Konoha, to hate him so much that he would hate the entire village?

"… You really don't know anything about him, or your village then, do you?" Unmo shook his head at the Hyūga's confusion. His anger seemed to fade slightly and an almost pitying look developed on his face. "You're just ignorant, then. I guess I can't hate you, kid. You're not one of the Konoha trash that should know better." The Kirigakure shinobi then started running through a series of hand signs. "You're still a Konoha shinobi, though, and you're aiding the rebels in destroying the village. You'll need to die by my hands, still."

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

A large portion of the water in the room came together and changed shape into a large, serpent-like dragon of water. The water moved faster than Hinata could react and slammed at her hard. She was shoved backwards, into the wall by the door to the room. The water continued to beat down on her hard constantly with no signs of stopping. The constant barrage water was also preventing her from breathing properly.

It was difficult for her to move her body, but Hinata, in an attempt to stop the jutsu and save herself from dying from either the constant pressure or from drowning, brought her hands together and channeled her chakra into them. 'Protection of the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four Palms!'

Hinata began releasing streams of chakra from her palms. The streams of chakra managed to pierce through the water that was pinning her to the wall. She then began to move her palms at a rapid rate in front of her, causing the streams of chakra to move forward in different directions. In a few second, the water dragon that had pinned her was completely destroyed and turned to plain water in the battlefield. Hinata, now free, started to breath heavily as she was able to breath properly again.

"Hey kid, you alright over there? I could hear that from out here!" Jinin called out to her from the other side of the wall.

As they had agreed when they were found out by Unmo, Jinin remained outside the room and continued to fight off various Kirigakure shinobi that were closing in on their location. Hinata had remained focused on her battle with Unmo the entire time, but she would also occasionally look outside the room and notice Jinin's battle. He had been attacked by thirty different shinobi and had killed twenty-seven of them. He was currently fighting off the last three shinobi. However, there were still more coming towards him.

"I'm fine." Hinata answered with a shake of her head. "Are you?"

"Never better! I'm kicking ass out here!" Jinin hollered with a laugh.

"Jinin-san, don't lie to me." The Konoha chūnin replied.

Hinata could see his condition with her Byakugan. Jinin had many open wounds on his body and he was breathing heavily. The constant, never-ending wave of enemies was starting to get to him.

"Then don't lie to me either! We're both going through hell right now. Though honestly, I know the dude you are fighting and you definitely have a harder task than me." Jinin stated, still laughing. Hinata opened her mouth to disagree – while Unmo was, indeed stronger than the shinobi attacking Jinin, he had more numbers to face – but Jinin started to speak up before her. "Just focus on killing Unmo and, when you get done, see if you have the energy to aid me taking down these guys. Just focus on yourself and worry about me later."

"… Fine, then do you do the same." Hinata told him before turning her attention away from the wall and Jinin's battle. She turned her full attention, once again, to Unmo.

"Your traitorous comrade has a point. I should be the only concern you have right now." Unmo informed her.

"I know." Hinata replied with a sigh. She quickly got back into her gentle-fist variant style. "I'm going to need to take care of you, though, so I can help him out."

"Go ahead and try." Unmo nearly snorted as their battle continued.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Shikamaru breathed out multiple fireballs that flew towards Karitoriki. The Kirigakure shinobi dodged them as he inched closer-and-closer to the Konoha shinobi. Karitoriki reached Shikamaru quickly and swung his axe at Shikamaru's arm. The Nara rolled out of the way in time, avoiding the attack. He then tossed a kunai with an explosive tag attached to the ground by Karitoriki's feet and ignited it quickly. The executioner jumped backwards, avoiding the blast. The explosion created dust that filled the area.

"Ninja Art: Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

Shikamaru's shadow extended forward. It traveled underneath the dust clouds on its path towards Karitoriki. The executioner looked for the shadow, but he was unable to see it. The dust was concealing the shadow from him.

Realizing this, Karitoriki took in a deep breath before exhaling, creating a gust of wind that blew the dust away from the battlefield. With the dust gone, he was now able to see the shadow approaching him, dangerously close to his position. The Kirigakure shinobi proceeded to jump away, avoiding getting caught. He proceeded to take another deep breath before releasing blades of wind from his mouth towards Shikamaru.

Seeing the oncoming attack, Shikamaru proceeded to call his shadow back to his side. He made another series of hand signs, causing the shadows around him to form a defensive barrier that protected him from the blades of wind. Karitoriki, however, continued to use his jutsu, causing the wind to consistently hit the same location on the shadowy barrier. After a few seconds, a crack started to develop in the barrier, causing Karitoriki to focus harder on his jutsu in order to smash the barrier.

'Shit-'

Shikamaru's barrier eventually was destroyed, leaving him wide-open. The blades of wind made contact with his body, causing him to shout as he started to bleed further. Resisting the pain, Shikamaru ran through a series of hand signs.

"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!"

The Konoha chūnin breathed out another massive fireball in the shape of a dragon's head. The fireball moved forward, blocking the blades of the wind. As it moved forward, the wind seemed to amplify its power, causing it to grow larger in size and move faster.

After a few seconds, Karitoriki stopped using his jutsu as the fireball moved dangerously close to him. He jumped away in time to avoid most of the attack, but the fireball managed to graze his right arm slightly, causing it to slightly ignite in flames. His eyes narrowed as he resisted the urge to shout. Instead, he quickly took a deep breath in before exhaling, creating a gust of wind powerful enough to extinguish the fire on his arm.

Shikamaru took advantage of Karitoriki's distraction and pulled out more kunai with explosive tags. He began tossing them over in his direction. Karitoriki, after getting the fire put out on his arm, had barely enough time to react; he jumped away just in time to avoid the blast. He then proceeded to move quickly to avoid the other explosions from Shikamaru's explosive tags. Each explosion created holes on the streets of their battlefield.

With the battlefield now filled with holes, Shikamaru changed tactics and made a singular hand sign, causing his shadow to extend forward into the holes he had created. It then charged towards Karitoriki's body, moving faster thanks to the shadows from the hole. Karitoriki managed to jump away, however. As he kept moving away from the incoming shadow, he proceeded to toss his axe directly at Shikamaru's body. Shikamaru proceeded to duck, avoiding the axe. He then returned his concentration on trying to trap Karitoriki.

Karitoriki still kept moving, avoiding Shikamaru's shadow. He was now, however, moving noticeably slower. Shikamaru realized he was getting closer to capturing him. Shikamaru, however, remained focused on the Kirigakure shinobi's face. Karitoriki didn't seem anxious about his declining speed. Instead, he had an almost smug grin on his face.

'What's he planning?' Shikamaru's eyes were narrowed in suspicion.

Shikamaru's eyes, for a moment, focused in on Karitoriki's hands. He noticed the man making a pulling gesture with his right hand. The Konoha chūnin's face twisted into surprise. He then jumped out of the way, just in time to avoid an axe to his back.

Karitoriki's axe flew back to its owner's hand. The Kirigakure shinobi's smug grin faded and he looked disappointed.

"I made sure the wind I was using to pull my axe backward was silent. Must've tipped you off facially or something. Dammit." Karitoriki grumbled to himself.

"Something like that." Shikamaru replied as he began planning his next method of attack.

"Was close to killing you there." The executioner. "Screw being close; I'll just kill you upright now!" He then proceeded to make the 'ram' hand sign and take in another deep breath. "Wind Style: Divine Wind!"

Karitoriki released another massive gust of wind. This gust of wind, however, quickly split into multiple gusts of wind that developed into four, small tornados. The tornadoes began to move directly towards Shikamaru.

The Konoha chūnin's eyes were wide in surprise at the sight of the tornadoes, but he quickly jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the first oncoming tornado. It then quickly turned back around, heading back towards him. He jumped out of the way again, but he was now in the path of the second one. It proceeded to cut into him deeply in his left arm, shoulder, and side before pushing him backwards. He fell to the ground, blood pouring from his wounds.

"Devastating, isn't it?" Karitoriki questioned smugly as he made the 'tiger' hand sign. "Well, let's make it a little more interesting, shall we? Fire Style: Running Fire!"

Karitoriki proceeded to breathe out a stream of flame that quickly surrounded Shikamaru's position. It formed a ring of fire, trapping him on the inside. Karitoriki then made a gesture with his hands, causing the tornadoes to move directly into the fire. The four tornadoes were instantly ignited, causing them to become vortexes of moving, spinning flames.

"F-Fuck…" Shikamaru cursed.

He was now surrounded by four large fire tornadoes with no way of getting out. The tornadoes began to inch slowly closer to him. As they began to grow closer, Shikamaru's face was starting to sweat heavily.

"Burn. Burn to the ground!" Karitoriki shouted as he watched the fire tornadoes move closer.

'I don't think I have any jutsus to get me out of here, but there's no way I'll survive getting hit by these things. I'm going to either burn or melt to death.' Shikamaru rubbed sweat off his face as he looked back-and-forth between the approaching tornadoes. 'There's gotta be some way to stop them. Stop them from reaching me, maybe?' His eyes wandered to the ground. He noticed that, while the tornadoes were getting dangerously close to burning him, there was still just enough space on the ground between himself and the tornadoes for a jutsu. He immediately started doing hand signs. 'That's it!'

"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!"

Using his chakra, Shikamaru began to change the ground around him into deep, thick swamp. Using his chakra, he extended the swamp back as far as he could, underneath the fire tornadoes. The approaching tornadoes were unable to continue moving forward; they were stuck and unable to reach him.

"Huh?" Karitoriki blinked in confusion at the sight of his flame tornadoes stuck in swampland. A scowl developed on his face as he pushed forward with his hands. "Move! Move!"

Despite his efforts, Karitoriki's flame tornadoes were not budging. They were stuck too deeply in the swamp Shikamaru had created. The Kirigakure executioner grit his teeth at the sight.

'Fine. If my flames can't burn him, then I'll just cut into him the old fashioned way.' Karitoriki grumbled to himself as he tightened his grip on his axe. 'Thanks to my jutsu, I know he's still stuck in the middle of those flames. He's unable to move, meaning he's an easy target!'

Karitoriki proceeded to charge forward towards the fire tornadoes. As he close to them, he made a hand sign, dispelling them and revealing Shikamaru at the center. Karitoriki jumped into the air, over the swampland Shikamaru, and swung his axe quickly before he could react. Shikamaru was unable to move fully out of the way in time, getting hit by the axe on his right arm. It was not a deep enough cut to cut off the arm, but the wound is incredibly deep and caused blood to flow freely out of his body. He screamed in the pain.

"Heh." Karitoriki grinned as he pulled the axe out of Shikamaru's arm, causing more blood to pour out. He then prepared to swing his axe again, this time aiming for Shikamaru's neck. "Die-"

Despite the pain, Shikamaru managed to quickly bring his hands together: "Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

Shikamaru's shadow extended past his body towards Karitoriki. Due to how close the two shinobi were to each other, the Kirigakure shinobi was unable to get away in time; he was quickly caught in Shikamaru's shadow. His body was now locked.

"Dammit!"

Shikamaru ignored Karitoriki's cursing as he made another series of hand signs. More shadows from the area rushed over towards Karitoriki's body, encasing the shinobi. Within seconds, the executioner's body was entirely covered in shadows; the only thing uncovered was the man's head. After feeling satisfied with the amount of shadows, Shikamaru took a step slightly backwards, separating himself from the shadow connecting him to Karitoriki. Despite severing the connection, Karitoriki was unable to move.

"Grr! Move dammit!" He ordered his body as he tried to pull himself away from the shadows.

"Save yourself the trouble." Shikamaru informed him as he started to walk towards the man slowly. "You've used probably way too much chakra and energy already to pull yourself away."

Karitoriki opened his mouth to growl in response, but he stopped himself as he took the moment to look at Shikamaru's body. The Konoha chūnin was incredibly bloody with deep, open cuts all over his arms, shoulders, and left side. He was panting heavily and looked as if he was going to pass out at any moment. This caused Karitoriki to grin.

"You don't look good either, you know. And while you look bad physically, I assume you're even worse chakra-wise." He commented smugly. "Whatever control you have over these chakras is going to fade soon, and when it does, I'll kill you."

"I'm not using much chakra to hold you. Not much as I could be, at least." Shikamaru replied dismissively. "Why do you think once the battle turned to a one-on-one fight between us I started throwing so many explosive tags and making so many holes in the ground? I wanted to make as many shadows as I possibly could to give me and more shadows I could use. The more shadows I can use, the less strain on my chakra network." The Konoha shinobi then proceeded to pull out multiple explosive tags. "I have just enough chakra in my system to hold you down long enough for me to finish you."

Karitoriki's eyes widened in realization and fright as Shikamaru began to place explosive tags all over his shadow-encased body, including on his head. After a few seconds, there were twenty separate tags placed on the executioner. Once they were all placed, Shikamaru jumped backwards a good distance.

"No… No…" Karitoriki mumbled to himself.

"I suppose this is fitting." Shikamaru mumbled as he raised his index finger, preparing to activate the explosive tags. "You're going to die the same way you killed those hostages back in Chishio."

"You still keep going back to that…" The executioner's eyes narrowed. The fear that had been momentarily in them was now replaced with anger. "You holier-than-thou little shit! You think you're better than me, don't you? More moral than me? Well guess what, scum, YOU ARE THE SAME AS ME!"

"How? How so?" Shikamaru shouted in response. "I didn't kill innocent lives just based on prejudice!"

"But isn't that what you rebels are doing? You're killing Kirigakure citizens right now! And some, you must realize, aren't 'prejudiced' like you think of me and are innocent of any blood. They're just going to be casualties of war, but you won't care. None of you rebels will care!" Karitoriki shouted. His lips began to twist into a maniacal grin. "However, that's not how you and I are alike. No, our similarities in in much darker ways."

Shikamaru remained still for a moment. He was prepared to ignite the seals and kill the executioner, but something was stopping him. For some reason, he felt himself waiting to hear what Karitoriki had to say.

"Bloodline freaks attacked my village and killed all the friends and family I had when I was growing up. I swore revenge on them. And, I made sure I got revenge. I became a Kirigakure shinobi and became the famous executioner I was!" Karitoriki's voice became more-and-more manic with every word. His grin somehow proceeded to grow wider. "I got my revenge on those FREAKS with every execution I did! And you… you! You swore revenge because I killed some bloodline hostages and here you are; getting your revenge!" Karitoriki opened his mouth and started to openly laugh. "You followed the path of revenge that I took! You're no better than me! YOU ARE THE SAME AS ME! AND JUST LIKE ME, YOU ARE GOING TO KEEP FOLLOWING THIS PATH UNTIL YOU DIE!"

His laughter continued to grow louder-and-louder. Shikamaru felt a chill go down his spines. He had to get the voice to stop; he had to shut Karitoriki up… forever. He instantly activated the explosive tags. All twenty tags started to light up.

"YOU'RE MY LEGACY TO THIS WORLD!" Karitoriki continued to laugh as he watched the explosive tags light up.

The executioner's laughter was finally stopped as multiple explosions occurred on his body. Dust clouds filled the air. By the time the dust faded, there was no visible sign of Karitoriki's body. He was gone from this world; as if he had never been there.

"You followed the path of revenge that I took!"

"You're no better than me!"

"YOU'RE MY LEGACY TO THIS WORLD!"

Karitoriki's voice and laughter repeated over-and-over in Shikamaru's mind. The Konoha chūnin grabbed his head and his ears in an attempt to silence the voice that wouldn't seemingly escape. Despite his efforts, he couldn't silence it.

'I'm not… I… I was just stopping him from doing that to others. I'm not the same!' He told himself.

"BUT YOU ENJOYED IT, DIDN'T YOU? YOU ENJOYED KILLING ME!" He could imagine the executioner laughing. "YOU ARE THE SAME! WE ARE THE SAME!"

Shikamaru fell to his knees before falling to the ground. He glanced up slightly and saw shinobi approaching him. He knew he recognized them; was it Haku? Kiri? He couldn't really tell. Shikamaru knew they were shouting at him, but the only thing he could hear at the moment was Karitoriki's demented laughing in his mind. It was to this noise that Shikamaru finally succumbed to his physical wounds and chakra exhaustion and fell into unconsciousness.

"Water Style: Raging Rapids!"

After making three hand signs, Unmo quickly raised his hand upward, causing the water underneath Hinata's feet to start to swirl around. Hinata quickly moved away as a powerful vortex of water shot upward.

Seeing his attack miss, Unmo clapped his hands together, causing the vortex of water to break apart into multiple pillars of water. The pillars proceeded to rush Hinata. The Hyūga proceeded to move around gracefully in her place, avoiding each attack. As she dodged the oncoming blasts of water, she proceeded to channel chakra in her mouth. She then turned to face the Kirigakure shinobi and spat out a barrage of water bullets at him. The man side-stepped to avoid the attack, but in the process, canceled his jutsu, causing the water pillars he created to disappear.

With his jutsu canceled, Hinata proceeded to charge forward towards her opponent. She began to concentrate her chakra into her hand. Unmo, watching her approach him, proceeded to make a series of hand signs before unleashing a barrage of water bullets that moved faster than the ones Hinata had created. The Hyūga, however, proceeded to jump out of the way of the oncoming attacks.

After dodging all of the water bullets, she extended her palm towards Unmo, concentrating her chakra and releasing it. She created a stream of chakra that was released and rushed towards the man. Unmo proceeded to jump away, but the chakra stream moved fast and sliced into his side, causing him to bleed slightly. He closed his eyes in pain for a moment as he landed on the water behind Hinata. He then made a series of hand signs.

"Water Style: Torrential Burial!"

Unmo slammed his foot hard against the water, causing the water around Hinata's body to rise up in the form of massive tidal waves. The water then quickly moved into slam into her. Hinata, however, got into a defensive position.

"Protection of the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four Palms!"

Quickly, Hinata proceeded to release multiple streams of chakra around her entire body. She rotated, allowing the chakra streams to completely surround her. The streams of chakra created a protective barrier around her, shielding her from the oncoming waves while also cutting into them.

Unmo, seeing his jutsu fail to hit her, changed his tactics and switched to another jutsu: "Water Style: Raging Rapids!"

The water underneath Hinata's feet proceeded to rush upwards, creating a giant, spinning vortex. She was unable to move away or direct her chakra streams to the water below her, causing her to take the full force of the fact. The vortex slammed her against the ceiling of the room, holding her place as more-and-more water slammed against her. A few seconds passed before Unmo, with a flick of his hand, canceled his jutsu. Hinata's body quickly fell down. Her body managed to sink into the water.

"Now, drown this time!" Unmo declared as he clapped his hands together.

Water shaped like hands proceeded to rush over to Hinata's body under the water in the room and grab onto her. They proceeded to pull her down further and held her against the floor of the room, preventing her from getting up. Hinata winced from the force of the hands and could feel herself struggling to breathe. A few seconds passed before she quickly channeled chakra into the various tenketsu her body and released it, creating more chakra streams that destroyed the water holding her down. She quickly jumped out of the water and landed by the door to the room. Upon resurfacing, the Hyūga proceeded to breathe heavily.

"Th-That was close…" She mumbled to herself.

Unmo opened his mouth to respond to her comment, but he was silenced at the sound of another man.

"Gah!"

Hinata's eyes widened at the sound of the voice and she gasped. Using her Byakugan, she momentarily looked at the battle outside of the room. Jinin had apparently been stabbed in the back by a Kirigakure shinobi. The member of the Seven Swordsman of Kirigakure fell to the ground.

"Jinin-san!" Hinata shouted his name.

Jinin struggled to move; it seemed like he was unable to pull himself off the ground. Nevertheless, he found the strength inside of him to lift his sword, Kabutowari, up into the air and slam the hammer-portion of the sword onto the ground, creating a shockwave that shoved the shinobi that had managed to injure him backwards into the hallway wall. With the shinobi no longer on his back, Jinin proceeded to slowly get himself off the floor.

Hinata could see with her Byakugan approaching allies; she recognized Kakashi and a squadron of the rebels getting closer.

"Jinin-san, hold off for just a little longer! Please! Reinforcements are coming!" She shouted to him.

"Oh?" Unmo frowned as he proceeded to make a series of hand signs. "Guess I ought to finish you off now then."

Hinata turned her attention back to Unmo and frowned. Jinin was struggling outside of the room; she needed to end the battle now in order to be of any help to him. She needed to defeat Unmo now.

'It's risky… but I need to do something. I think I can kill him with it. I just need to overwhelm him!' She told herself as she began making hand signs. 'Jinin-san, I'm going to use the jutsu you gave me! I'm going to use one of the single strongest water jutsus out there!'

Both Unmo and Hinata raced through their hand signs as quickly as they could. They were channeling heavy amounts of chakra as they rushed through them. Water began to slowly rise behind both shinobi and began to change shape. They then proceeded to finish their hand signs at the same time.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"

The water around Unmo quickly rose up and changed shape to resemble another giant, serpent-like dragon. The water around Hinata, on the other hand, simply rose above her, swirling in a circle in the form of a massive ball. Both jutsus managed to drain the room of all of the water in it.

'H-How does she know that jutsu? She's from Konoha! How would she know a water-style jutsu of that strength? How would she be able to produce it?' Unmo nearly choked at the sight of Hinata's technique. He then quickly shook his head. 'No, whatever. Her jutsu may be stronger than mine, but I'm a better practitioner of the water element. My technique should surpass hers!'

'Focus, Hinata. Put all of your chakra into this. Put all of your strength. Keep holding onto it. Do what Jinin-san and Jiraiya-sama said; put ALL of your strength into this jutsu and send it flying at him!' Hinata mentally told herself, eyes narrowed in determination.

Instantly, both shinobi released their jutsus; Unmo's water dragon rushed forward towards Hinata while Hinata's massive ball of water quickly streamed forward in one, massive cascade. The two jutsus collided against each other.

The two jutsus, for a moment, remained in deadlock. Both shinobi tightened their control on their techniques and attempted to have theirs overwhelm the other. After a few seconds of trying, Hinata's cascade of water was magnified, streaming forward like a waterfall. Her jutsu was now starting to move forward, pushing past against the water dragon.

"No… no way…" Unmo's eyes widened in fright as he saw his jutsu being overpowered. 'A Konoha shinobi is going to overpower me? With water-style?'

Within moments of that realization, Hinata's Giant Vortex completely overwhelmed the water dragon; its water was mixed in with Hinata's jutsu, giving it more power. The massive cascade of water quickly rushed into Unmo's body before he could move, completely crushing him. The water slammed him against the wall and broke through it. The blast continued to keep moving, slamming him through wall and wall of more-and-more rooms.

Eventually, the jutsu reached a wall it couldn't smack through and slammed him against it. The force of the collision against the wall, however, managed to crack Unmo's skull. When the water started to fade and the jutsu came to its end, Unmo's body fell to the ground, unmoving.

'I can see him… he's not moving. He's death.' Hinata told herself. Immediately after, she nearly fell to the ground. 'Erk! My body!'

The jutsu had taken a lot out of her body. Hinata felt herself completely spent; both physically and from a chakra standpoint.

Despite this realization, she proceeded to walk slowly towards the door to the room and exit in some attempt to help out Jinin and her comrades.

As she had shouted to Jinin, their squad mates had arrived. Various rebels of Kirigakure, led by Kakashi, were engaging the loyal Kirigakure shinobi that Unmo had called forth. Jinin lay on the floor, right next to the door to the room Hinata was in, with a medical shinobi attending him. Hinata quickly rushed to his side.

"Jinin-san!" She shouted his name as she assessed his condition.

Her eyes were wide in fright. While she could see his condition with her Byakugan, she was also distracted by Unmo. Seeing him now, however, showed her that he was in much worse condition. So much blood was pouring out from various wounds all over his body. The medic attending seemed to be conflicted about where he should be treating.

"Heh… kid… I heard you use the j-jutsu I taught ya…" Jinin mumbled with a hard chuckle. His chuckling stopped, however, as he started to cough up blood.

"Jinin-san, please, don't stress yourself out. You'll be okay!" Hinata told him frantically. She reached down to him and gripped his shoulder slightly, as if she was somehow helping him.

"You… showed that Unmo b-bastard… heh." Jinin ignored Hinata's advice and continued to chuckle. "Y-You're something special kid."

His eyes slowly started to close. Hinata's eyes widened further and tears started to flow from them.

"P-Please, Jinin-san, don't close your eyes yet! Y-You can make it through this!" She begged him.

"N-Nah kid. I'm an old guy who l-liked to fight. Th-This was always going to be fate. B-But boy did I take down a number of bastards with me." He replied softly. His eyes opened ever-so-slightly as he took one more look at Hinata. "Y-You and that blonde kid you were with… y-you reminded me of me and my girl b-back in the day."

"B-Blonde?" Hinata sniffled slightly. She knew he was referring to Naruto, but she tried to recall when Jinin would have met him.

"You t-two better live longer than w-we do." Jinin requested as his eyes started to close again. "Enjoy love. Enjoy life… Hinata… while you can."

With those words, Jinin's eyes closed for good as his body began to slouch forward further and his breathing stopped. Hinata's tears seemed to grow exponentially as she held her head down in shame.

"J-Jinin-san…" She mumbled his name.

She had managed to defeat Unmo and her squad appeared to be completing their mission. Everything was going according to plan…

… But at what cost?

"Well, I was wondering when you three would arrive. I was expecting this for a while now." Yagura told them in an almost cheerful fashion.

"Y-You expected us?" Naruto's eyes widened at the statement.

"Hello Kyūbi jinchūriki." He responded, ignoring his question. His eyes then moved to Utakata. "Hello Rokubi jinchūriki." He then turned his attention to Mei. His eyes narrowed slightly. "And hello to you too, Mei-chan. It's been a while, huh?" The smile on his face began to appear more malicious. "Are you three prepared to die?"

"Prepared to die?" Naruto repeated Yagura's words as a scowl developed on his face.

"Yagura-kun, do you really intend on killing me? After all we've been through?" Mei asked the Mizukage, a frown on her face.

Yagura's eyes remained focused on Mei. The malicious smile on his face dropped and a frown took its place. He proceeded to cross his arms over his chest.

"Is that not what you are here to do to me, though? Aren't you three here to kill me?" Yagura questioned.

"We aren't here to kill you." Mei answered with a frown.

"Then why are you here?" He asked back, his eyes narrowing.

"To free Kirigakure." She answered simply.

"… So, I was right; you are here to kill me." The Mizukage chuckled slightly. Despite his laugh, the frown on his face seemingly deepened. "I thought we had a close enough relationship where you wouldn't lie to me like that, Mei-chan?"

"Yagura, what happened to you?" Utakata spoke-up, drawing the attention of the Mizukage to him. "I know about your life story, Yagura. I know about how you fought to obtain the title of Mizukage to make Kirigakure a better place. You wanted to overthrow the Sandaime Mizukage that led us into the Third Shinobi World War. You wanted to make a village and country where there was no hate. What happened to you?"

Yagura gave no verbal reply. The grey-haired man walked forward. Mei, Utakata, and Naruto tensed and got into a combative stance, prepared to strike if necessary. Yagura, however, simply walked past them.

He continued to walk forward towards the cemetery. Mei, Utakata, and Naruto followed behind, still prepared to engage him at any moment. Yagura didn't seem to notice; he simply continued to walk until he reached a plain grave. A small, red tablet marked on it said 'Sandaime Mizukage', revealing the occupant of the grave.

"You know, this is a cemetery for the loyal shinobi. Most Kirigakure shinobi don't consider the Sandaime a loyal Kirigakure shinobi; they see him as a madman who led our village to ruin during the war." Yagura started to talk in a nostalgic tone-of-voice. A small smile developed on his face. "I was advised him to bury him somewhere else, if bury him at all, but I put him here with a plain grave; without a proper tombstone. I wanted him to feel miniscule in the afterlife, surrounded by the great heroes of Kirigakure. And I wanted to come out of my house, at any given moment, and look at this grave and see that this man was dead."

Yagura turned his head back to face Mei and the jinchūriki, now grinning at them: "What happened to me? I succeeded! I overthrew the Sandaime Mizukage and I'm now on the path to making Kirigakure into what it should be. It's a better place! It's close to being without hate!" The grin disappeared instantly and a scowl took its place as he smacked his hands together. "The only thing standing in my way is you, Mei-chan, and the fucking rebel scum that have been plaguing Mizu no Kuni for years."

"Fucking?" Mei repeated the word with a frown. "Yagura-kun, you've picked up a nasty rhetoric. I always thought you were too proper to swear."

"And I thought you wouldn't turn your back on the village!" Yagura's scowl deepened as he spat out his words.

"She's not turning on the village, Yagura!" Naruto stated, drawing attention to him. "She's fighting to actually bring peace. She's fighting to save everyone!"

"What do you know about peace?" The Yondaime Mizukage questioned, eyes now focused on the blonde.

Something about the way Yagura was staring at Naruto should unnerve him, but it did not. Naruto, instead, looked at him with unshakable confidence present in eyes.

"Enough to know that war needs to stop; that hate needs to stop! Mei is fighting to end the hate in this village and this country." The Kyūbi jinchūriki answered. He then crossed his arms over his chest. "… She told me of a theory, you know? That you are being controlled. That there's some guy that's messing with your mind."

"This 'guy' wouldn't happen to be the Sanbi, would it? Because I'll assure you; I'm in complete control of him." Yagura's scowl turned back into a malicious grin.

"That's not who she is talking about; she's referring to a man with the Sharingan. A man who I believe may have killed my parents." Naruto answered, stunning both Mei and Utakata.

"It's not a theory; it's true!" The Kyūbi growled within Naruto's mind. "Being this close to the Isobu's jinchūriki, I can feel the taint of Uchiha Madara reeking from him. That filthy Uchiha has his dirty little hands all over the jinchūriki."

"And you know what? The Kyūbi can sense that man's presence too." Naruto spoke aloud, vocalizing the fox's words. "You and I, Yagura, are the same. We are both jinchūriki who were affected by the same man…" Naruto proceeded to extend his right fist forward, pointing it at Yagura. "So I'm going to help set you free from his control!"

"You'll be a marvelous shinobi, Naruto-san…" Mei smiled after Naruto finished talking.

"Naruto…" Utakata mumbled the blonde's name to himself.

Yagura remained still for a moment, as if processing Naruto's words. A few seconds passed by before he started to laugh. Naruto, along with Mei and Utakata, stiffened. They each prepared for combat.

"What an inspiring speech! You have some charisma, Kyūbi jinchūriki. You nearly convinced me that I was possessed or something." Yagura stated as he reached for his staff. "However, I know better. I am the same person I've always been. I am Yagura, the Sanbi jinchūriki and Yondaime Mizukage. And, in the name of Kirigakure, I will strike the three of you down!"

Quick Notes:

1: Unmo knowing about Danzō and Root; the only information we have on Unmo from the canon was that Sai was sent to kill him because he was 'an enemy of Konoha'. I interpreted that further and said that he may have had information knowing about Danzō and some of Root's actions. It makes sense to me, considering I'm also adjusting his character and writing him as if he was also a plant of Sasori's in Kiri. That's the beauty of using some of the extra characters from the Naruto anime that didn't get much development; you can develop them however you want. :) Just felt like explaining why a seemingly random character may have knowledge about things you may not have expected him to know about.