Setting the Final Stages

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Hidden Leaf Ravine.

November, x784.

Upon entering the room, what the alliance wizards saw that made them so furious was a number of tanks. In each of these tanks was a humanoid silhouette. Though, none of them could be called humans any longer. And although that was enough to gain the ire of the wizards, what really set them off was the fact that all of these humanoids were clearly children.

Even worse, there was an operation table in the center of the room. Lying on the table was a still conscious, young boy with a large cut on his chest. And standing over the child was an ash-grey haired young man with his hair tied in a short ponytail, onyx black eyes, and black-rimmed, round glasses wearing a dark purple, high collared shirt, dark purple pants, and a white, cloth waistband holding the still beating heart of the child on the table in his hands.

"Oh, the intruders have arrived." The grey-haired man said casually. "What a pity, I was almost done noting down all the effects of the latest serum."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man clenched his fist, crushing the heart in his hands and killing the child. Then, in an unhurried manner, he pulled a handkerchief from one of his pockets and started wiping the blood from his hands.

*Bang!*

*Boom!*

Before he could finish, however, he vanished from where he stood in a burst of speed. Appearing in the grey-haired man's place was Guy, with is fist extended. Less than a second later, the sound of a small explosion could be heard from the wall where Guy's punch sent the grey-haired young man flying.

"Kabuto Yakushi, a traitor of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, to think you would be one of Orochimaru's followers." Guy said, seething in anger. "And to see you betraying us just to commit atrocities like this, where you steal the youth away from children, unforgiveable."

"Hmph!" The grey-haired young man, Kabuto, snorted before spitting out a mouthful of blood as he climbed out of the hole in the wall his collision created. "For someone with such a low amount of magic power, you pack quite the punch. "I'm curious to know how you trained your body so far. Even more impressive is the fact that your body has not broken down because of it."

"That won't matter once I'm done with you." Guy said, straightening his back as he spoke. At the same time, he folded his right arm behind his back while extending his left hand forward in a provocative gesture. "I will let my youth burn brightly in place of all the children whose youths you have taken away."

"Even if your body is abnormally strong, you have no chance of defeating me." Kabuto said as his right hand began to glow with a soothing green light. "[Healing Magic: Mystical Palm Jutsu]."

Placing his palm on his jaw, Kabuto began healing the cracked bones he received from Guy's punch.

"We'll see about that." Guy said, vanishing from his spot once again.

In the next instant, before Kabuto could finish healing himself, he was launched straight upward, crashing through the ceiling of the cave. At the same time, Guy, with his right leg pointing straight up, appeared I the spot where Kabuto once stood.

"You all keep going." Guy said, lowering his leg as he spoke. "I will deal with this traitor."

Then, before anyone could respond, Guy leapt upward, through the hole his kick created after connecting with Kabuto's chin. Meanwhile, the other four wizards were left standing in place with anger still visible on their faces.

"So, what do we do with this place?" Kagura asked, scanning the room as she spoke.

"We check for survivors before burning everything in here to the ground." Alfonzo said coldly.

"Yeah, whether it be the successful experiments those mad men completed or the research data, nothing in here should ever see the light of day." Yoruichi added in a solemn tone.

With that, the four wizards split up and checked all the tanks in the room. Unfortunately, after searching for half an hour, they found that all the specimens were no longer human. The only saving grace was that none of them had to suffer any longer, as they were all dead.

"Well, then, let's get rid of all this shit." Alfonzo said as he carefully closed the eyes of the boy Kabuto had been operating on when they entered the room. "I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner. But we'll make sure that they never had the opportunity to do this to anyone else."

Seeing just how much the sight of tortured children bothered him, Marin could not help but approach Alfonzo and give him a hug. Returning the hug after being slightly shocked, Alfonzo forced a smile.

At the same time, the body of the child on the table next to them started turning crystalline. Then, at high-speed, a sharp crystal spike grew from the child's corpse, stabbing straight towards the side of Marin's head.

Before any harm could come to Marin, however, the gravity around the operation table increased by tenfold. As a result, the crystalline child corpse, along with the crystal spike that grew from it were crushed and shattered into dust.

While Marin was caught off-guard by the sudden sneak attack, Alfonzo's hand was sparking with purple electricity, ready to destroy the incoming attack. However, that was completely unnecessary, as Kagura acted before he needed to.

"Thanks, Kagura." Alfonzo said, retracting his electrical current. "But this cavern is so annoying. I couldn't even feel the magic power in that attack until it was close."

As he spoke, Alfonzo looked towards the entrance to the cave. Standing at the end of his line of sight was a fair-skinned, black-eyed young woman with light blue hair worn in a spikey ponytail with side bangs that framed her face wearing a green, knee-length kimono, with a long left sleeve and a short right one. Underneath the kimono, she wore a red turtle neck and a pair of black compression shorts while her lips were adorned with red lipstick.

"You reacted very quickly. And for that you deserve praise." The blue-haired woman said as she strode into the room. "but I cannot allow you to destroy Lord Orochimaru's work. And for even considering it, you deserve no less than death. Lucky for you, I won't be killing you quickly. Oh, no. I will enjoy the pained and agonized cries you make as I slowly turn you all into crystal statues."

"Then, you must be the last of Orochimaru's followers mentioned in the report, Guren." Alfonzo said in a blunt tone. "Good, then the only ones we still haven't seen are the two ring leaders and Kurotsuchi's creation, Nemu. But I do have one question for you before we get this started."

"I suppose I can grant you this one mercy." The blue-haired woman, Guren, replied with a sadistic smile.

"How do you plan on stopping me from destroying everything in this room?" Alfonzo asked as he was covered in a purple electric current. "[Electromagnetism Magic: Chidori: Stream]."

*Zap!*

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

Just as he had done when destroying the traps before, Alfonzo, with fine control of his magic power, ejected just enough streams of electricity to destroy all the tanks and places were experiment data could be stored. At the same time, he controlled his electricity so that it would not harm any of his allies.

Seeing that display of power and control, Guren furrowed her eyebrows in frustration. At the same time, she began performing a series of hand signs.

"[Crystal magic: Crystal Shuriken]." Guren chanted, holding the last hand sign.

A moment later, dozens of shuriken, formed from pink crystal, appeared around Guren. Then, with one gesture, they were sent spinning towards the group of four.

Preparing to intercept the incoming projectiles, Alfonzo planned to create an equal number of metal projectiles to counter. Before he could, however, Kagura stepped forward. Then, she raised her sheathed katana over her head.

"Slashing Form]." Kagura cried as she swung her sword down.

With the wind pressure alone, all of the incoming crystal projectiles were dispersed. Then, Kagura charged forward with determination glowing in her eyes.

In response, Guren formed another series of hand signs.

"[Crystal Magic: Jade Crystal Blade]." Guren chanted with the completion of her final hand sign.

With that, a single edged crystal blade began forming on Guren's forearm. Unlike the earlier crystal constructs, however, this blade was a dark, bluish-green instead of pink. And using this newly formed blade, Guren was able to intercept the incoming slash from Kagura's sheathed katana.

"Are you mocking me?" Guren asked with displeasure as she glared at kagura and her sheathed blade. "Unsheathe your sword and fight me for real."

"I would never." Kagura replied without changing her expression. "My style of swordsmanship does not require that I draw my blade."

"I see." Guren replied, her expression relaxing slightly. "Then, I guess that means you're a practitioner of the [Style of the Undrawn Long Sword]]. Perhaps you will be a challenge, after all."

Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Marin, and Yoruichi had simply slipped past the two women who were completely focused on each other.

"We've been searching this hideout for a few hours, by now." Marin said, still shaking off the horrible scenes she saw in the last room. "How much longer do we have to stay in this gloomy place."

"well, from what I can remember, there should only be one or two more rooms filled with captives." Alfonzo replied. "Then, we'll only have to deal with the last three nuisances."

"Then, there should be one for each of us, right?" Marin asked with a smile.

"Nope." Yoruichi replied. "I'm on rescue and support duty, remember? The last three will be for you two to play with."

"Oh, right." Marin replied, a small, embarrassed blush making its way onto her cheeks. "After seeing all those poor people, I kinda forgot the plan."

"Yeah, missions like this aren't for everyone." Alfonzo said, combing his fingers through Marin's hair as the trio moved forward. "And the worst thig is, this isn't even the worst place like this I've ever seen."

Like that, the trio continued to walk through the corridors of the cavern. And since Guy was no longer with them, Alfonzo was forced to bathe each new corridor in lightning to destroy the traps hidden within.

Eventually, after coming across two more rooms filled with prisoners, while Yoruichi vacated the last of the civilians, Alfonzo and Marin reached a large, empty room that seemed to have been used as an arena of sorts. And standing in the middle of that arena was Nemu.

"One of you may pass while I must ask the other to stay with me.' Nemu said while bowing her head politely.

"I see." Alfonzo said with a nod. "So, they wanted to split us up and fight me alone, huh?"

Instead of responding, Nemu maintained her bowing posture.

"Well, I'll leave her to you, Marin." Alfonzo said, combing his fingers through Marin's hair one more time. "When Yoruichi is finished moving the last of the civilians to the shelter, she'll lend you a hand if you need it. But I doubt you will."

"Sure." Marin replied, a resolute expression on her face.

Smiling in response, Alfonzo leaned forward and planted a kiss on Marn's forehead. Then, without another word, he walked towards the entrance behind Nemu. Surprising for Marin and Unsurprising for Alfonzo, Nemu did not move to attack him at all.

"I expected to see you attack him from behind." Marin said with a confused expression on her face.

"I was instructed to separate the intruders and battle the one left behind." Nemu replied, finally raising her head once Alfonzo could no longer be seen in the corridor behind her. "Whether that battle is to the death or simply to capture will depend on how much of a threat you represent."

"I see." Marin replied, unsheathing her daggers as she spoke. "Then, let's get started. You all need to pay for all the horrible things you've been doing to these people."