Chapter 11.2- One Thousand Hands

I nocked another arrow and fired it right at him. The water release chakra was able to last better against his armour instead of burning up at first contact, but it still meant nothing as he deflected the attack with a savage backhand that showed more rage than one would expect. I don’t think I’ve done very much to piss him off, I thought to myself. Only to facepalm as I figured that it was probably a result of the tailed beast chakra running through his body. Tailed beast chakra. That was right. This armour one worked because he was powering it with the Yonbi’s chakra. Otherwise, I doubted he had the reserves and control to pull off something like this on his own.

But did that matter? Wa sit anything more than an academic discovery? It wasn’t like there was anything I could do about it now that I knew it was tailed beast chakra. Maybe if there was some sort of rule against that, then I would be able to cry foul to the ref and get things settled in my favour. I looked in his direction, seeing him watching everything with an amused smile on his face. Yeah, there was no chance Orochimaru was stepping in.

I body flickered all the way to the other side of the arena to avoid the stomp that shattered the ground I’d been standing on. And then I scowled, noting that I’d dropped my bow in my haste. Moving, I focused my chakra in my arm and began to command it to take shape as I needed. He ran towards me again, not giving me time to breathe. Working on a jutsu, I didn’t have the time to body flicker away. I ducked under the first swipe that threatened to turn my head and neck into distant acquaintances, and stepped back from a stomp that tried to grab hold of one of my feet. My footwork was immaculate as I danced around the pissed off Jinchuriki. He was faster than me in a straight line. He could cover distances faster than I could truly think. But none of that mattered in close combat. Not against me, at least.

He moved quicker than I did, but it didn’t matter because every move he made was hideusly telegraphed. I stepped to the side of a thrust aimed at my chest, and knowing my jutsu was ready, I completed a thrust of my own. Unprepared an caught with his pants down, Roshi of Iwa took a full powered Rasengan right in the head. I pushed down with the jutsu from the second I made contact, forcing it to grind further and further into the Iwa Genin’s armour before the jutsu finally exploded and sent him flying backwards.

Breathing room. Finally. I took stock of my body, noting the burns on my left hand and the ones across all my exposed skin from being in such close proximity to the lava armour. The former was much more severe than the latter, but the latter were still something to worry about. I looked at the hand, figuring that I hadn’t damaged any of the important tenketsu and that the damage was most likely superficial. The only problem was that this was going to make it a bitch and a half to weave hand seals. Luckily, the next jutsu did not require any of them.

First things first, rotation. I forced the chakra to spin all around my arm. I added the power next. And then came containment. The rasengan formed in no time, a ball of spinning threads of chakra. An impressive jutsu all on its own. And then I turned the containment up a notch to force the ball to change shape. I hadn’t managed to figure out a way to form this type of rasenshuriken any quicker than this. But luckily, my opponent seemed satisfied thinking about his life from his half buried position into the stadium wall.

He only really seemed to zone back in by the time I’d completed my jutsu. I held it above my head, waiting for him to move from the wall so I could throw it without risking the integrity of the entire structure. He acquiesced to my unspoken request, pushing himself off the wall with a slow movement. It was then that I noticed that he clearly hadn’t just been laying there doing nothing. Where one tail had once floated behind him now there were two. Two tails of dense lava. There was no change to the armour itself it seemed, I thought.

A thought that fled my head when every instinct I had told me to dodge. I did it, moving out of the way of an attack I hadn’t seen coming at all. He stood where I’d stood, tilting his head at me, and so I did the only thing I could think of. I thrust the rasenshriken in my hand into his chest at an angle that I knew would send him flying upwards, not towards the civilians. This time, I was more than content to allow the jutsu fly without me right from the get go. The spinning blades ground into his armour as they pushed him further and further into the air. Even as I watched it, I could tell it wouldn’t be enough. Maybe if I could have pulled off a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, then I might have some chance of putting him down with that blow alone, but I knew the limits of my jutsu.

“Kukuku” I turned to the third member of my cousin’s team and saw him watching Roshi’s floating form with a slimy smile on his face. Creepy bastard. I’d found him creepy from the moment I was introduced to his character in the anime. Thinking about that brought another memory to my head. He’d subdued a rampaging Jinchuriki. How? I tried to remember as much as I could. It had something to do with odd and even numbers. Naruto had the eight trigrams seal. Orochimaru had sealed his seal with something odd numbered? What was it? The Five Symbols seal? No. Not that. Five Elements! Gyogo Fuin.

I could try that here. Only problem? I didn’t know Gyogo Fuin. In fact, I knew precious few seals that would have any effect here. If only I’d been born with the adamantium sealing chains like a good Uzumaki. Life would be so much easier. No use crying over spilled milk. The jutsu ran its course and allowed its victim drop to the ground. Looking into the crater he’d formed, I saw that he was already healing the would that went most of the way through his stomach. Any other person would be either dead or dying. He just had to take a few seconds to breathe.

I turned to Orochimaru, hoping he would call the match in my favour either way, but the man seemed satisfied with avoiding my gaze. Fuck him. I jumped into the crater, kunai in my hand. I could already feel my chakra reserves and how they’d dropped to dangerous levels. Using exploding water colliding wave on such short notice had taken more than its usual due. A usually draining technique became punishing without the efficiency gains from slow use. Adding a rasengan and then a rasenshuriken to that was just begging for punishment.

His eyes were closed. His armour was gone. I just had to do this quickly and end it. I squatted near his position and reared my kunai up. I closed my eyes at the thought of what I was about to do. But Roshi would grow into a powerful jinchuriki that would threaten my life in future. This wasn’t murder. It was self defence. I brought the blade down. One feet, two feet, and then it stopped. I felt a powerful grip on my wrist. I looked down to see the Iwa Jinchuriki staring at me with red eyes. No. Fuck.

He began to squeeze. I could feel my wrist straining. The bones weren’t made to take this kind of pressure. With his hand around my wrist, he climbed to his feet, taking me along for the ride. He lifted me up like I was some sort of trophy. Fuck him. I stabbed my right hand right at his chest, wielding my chakra as a lance and tearing through his heart. He just tilted his head at me, as if the attack hadn’t even registered. Red chakra poured from him in waves. My wrist was burning. It was like I’d dipped it in acid, but even worse because the pain wasn’t reducing as my nerves fried themselves. Fuck.

The chakra around him crescendoed until it formed three floating tails behind him. Fucking Jinchuriki.

”There are some seals I teach you only for you to have the knowledge. You are never to use them on any one. Pay close attention, Shori-kun. This is what our ancestors called the Three-body disruption seal.”

”Three body disruption?”

”Exactly what I said. It works to disrupt the relationship between a target’s mind, body, and soul”

That memory played over and over again in my mind. It was like the universe was sending me a message. I had to use it against him. I had to. The only problem was that I’d never been taught how to actually apply it on a target. Grandmother had taught me about the seal, and its effects, and even shown me the matrix but I’d never practiced it before. I had no idea if I could even use it. Especially without a matrix. I’d be applying a new seal with touch.

Everything I’d been taught told me it was impossible, but how true was that really. I was a genius without peer. I’d learned seals so quickly even an Uzumaki seal mistress was impressed. I could do this. I had to.

I formed the matrix in my mind, making sure I had a clear picture of everything even as my body burned from within. I made sure I had it, and then I took the chance to plant my hand on his chest. He laughed. He was playing with me.

I ignored the burning from both sides of my body. My wrist and my right palm. I zoned it out. I smashed the image of the seal into my chakra and slammed that against his chest with my hand. I watched the kanji spread across his body with a grimace on my face. The pain was too much for me to even remain conscious anymore.

As I lost touch with reality, all I heard was a single deep voice saying, “That was a mistake”.

A/N; This chapter took a life of its own. This is not what I planned for the chapter. But I think this is the right way to go.