44. Conclusion

"Now it is my turn" they heard the voice of the man from the mist. It was a bit muffled as the mist was starting to block the sound due to its increased viscosity.

'Meiton: Jajimento'(Dark style: Judgement), thought the black haired man as he spewed out pale blue flames from his mouth towards Jiraiya and the boy, he was like a fish in water inside his Dark mist.

Aiko's and Jiraiya's senses screamed danger and Aiko quickly held Jiraiya's shoulder and teleported to the mark he had placed in the adjacent room where the prisoners had been kept.

'Will I also get this ability if I assimilate his chakra?' thought Aiko as the surrounding temperature increased from the flame attack.

'I can't hold back anymore.' thought Jiraiya planning to summon Gamabunta, he was refraining from doing so earlier because he did not want to risk the outbreak of poison by using large quantities of chakra

'I won't know until I try.' thought Aiko analysing all the details he knew from the enemy and thinking of a means to defeat him.

"Jiraiya san, how long can you fight?" asked the boy as he noticed Jiraiya's aura was starting to get unstable. "I have a plan." he said as he whispered something to Jiraiya.

"Are you sure?" asked Jiraiya in a low voice and felt a kunai fall in his hand as a reply causing him to sigh.

The black haired man made a few hand seals and the seal which had formed on dead man's body glowed and his body withered, breaking apart, at the same time a similar seal formed on the black haired man's forehead and he felt the increase in his power as a crazy smile formed on his face.

'Praise lord Jashin' thought the man, black coloured chakra surrounding his body, as he walked towards the two people who had almost ruined his plan. In the past, he was nothing but a ordinary boy, whose village had been destroyed by the flames of war, once when he was rummaging through the trash for food, he had met his 'neighbor' in faith who had introduced him to the path of Jashin, It is also where he had obtained enlightenment that death was true liberator of suffering and he was doing the god's work by liberating the people.

A few kunais came flying towards him causing him to smile at their futile resistance, he waved his hand and the mist front of him became a lot thicker blocking the kunais.

"Well!" he exclaimed in surprise as one cut through the mist flying straight towards his neck he hurriedly moved his head to the side making it slide past his face. His eyes widened as the kunai suddenly transformed into the red-haired boy, who held his shoulder and kicked him in the face using the momentum.

'Chakra Assimilation' thought Aiko, activating the skill as he touched the shoulder of the man trying to absorb his chakra and kicked him at the same time to keep him distracted.

Aiko felt the burning sensation that came with the skill but only this time the pain was much worse and he felt as if his body would split apart, he continued his attack as the 'calm mind' skill helped him ignore the pain.

'Ding! Chakra Assimilation completed!,' a notification resounded in his head and a small timer appeared in the corner of his vision showing 29 minutes 59 seconds and it kept on decreasing.

Aiko put some distance between them using the rebound of the kick and felt an inexplicable relation with the surrounding mist as if it was a part of his body.

Aiko opened his eyes and he could see everything clearly as if the mist did not even exist and Aiko also realised the Mist was getting absorbed by his body replenishing his stamina.

'Absorb' he thought, focussing on that sensation and the absorption speed increased drastically as he continued avoiding attacks from the man .

"How...how is this possible?" shouted the man as he saw the black mist getting absorbed by the red haired boy. He had always believed that was a special reward he had obtained from his lord as he first awakened this ability after participating in the ritual conducted in the cult.

Even today he felt the chill down his spine when he recalled the pain he had to endure to obtain this ability, but seeing the boy just touch him and control the dark chakra almost making him go crazy.

Just as he was about to go forward to capture the boy as he realised his body contained many secrets he felt his back hit by something with irresistible force pushing him forward as he flew towards the boy spurting blood.

..................

Jiraiya was hesitant to believe the boy when Aiko said he had a way to deal with the mist, but considering the situation and his judgement regarding the boy's character based on his interactions with him, he believed that Aiko was not the type to boast about his abilities.

To his surprise the mist really started thinning after a few seconds and Jiraiya was able to look at his surroundings again.

'Tōton Jutsu'(Transparent Escape Jutsu)he thought, forming a few hand seals and his figure slowly turned transparent vanishing from the sight as he neared the black haired man reducing his presence as much as possible.

'Rasengan' he thought as a blue swirling ball of chakra formed in his hand, arriving behind the black haired man who was focussed on attacking Aiko, hit him squarely in the back sending him flying in the process

The black haired man tried to absorb the chakra wreaking havoc in his body but found that his chakra networks were already destroyed making it impossible to absorb. He looked at the two people, his eyes filled with anger and hatred. ' I will take you with me' he thought as he performed a hand seal.

Aiko felt the life force of the man drain quickly and he saw a strange seal form on his forehead which got brighter as more life force was absorbed. Aiko felt a huge sense of danger so he quickly held Jiraiya, teleporting them out to the village square.

Just as Jiraiya was about to ask what happened he heard a loud explosion as the house of the village head blew into pieces, getting destroyed completely.

...............…..

The matter came to an end and the village chief's son was sent to Konoha for interrogation as he refused to tell anything about this cult or it's location and Jiraiya wasn't proficient in genjutsu or mind reading techniques. Jiraiya decided to rest for the night in the village and head out tomorrow, the matter had come to an end quicker than he had anticipated.

There was a bit of a celebration in the village as the depressing atmosphere that had covered it was swept away as all the kidnapped villagers were retrieved unharmed.

"Jiraiya san do you think the gods exist?" asked Aiko once they were back in the room, Aiko had a feeling that the reverence and belief the man exuded wasn't an act.

"I don't think they do" said Jiraiya after thinking for a bit as he drank a large sip from the wine bottle he held in his hand, his aura had stabilised after the fight and he was back to his sloppy behaviour.

"Ok" said Aiko falling deep in thought because he felt like Jiraiya wasn't lying either.

"What is it boy?" asked Jiraiya looking at the boy's serious expression.

Aiko then explained his doubts to him about how both of them weren't lying yet stating opposite things.

"Hmmm" said Jiraiya placing a finger on his chin as he looked at the boy, thinking how to explain it in a way that he could understand.