Chapter 8 - The Sacrifice

(The Fifteenth hour of the Konohagakure siege)

Ryouko blazed through the seemingly endless demons, the prophecy rattling around in his brain.

Has destiny played another trick on me? If I’m not destined…at this point, it’s meaningless to speculate. As far the Leaf is concerned, I’m in charge until this attempted coup has either succeeded…or been eradicated. There will be no mistake this time. I’ll kill Orochimaru if it comes to that. I’m going to make a prophecy of my own: The two of us can no longer co-exist. One must die.

That was going to be true. Like last time, these demons had chakra and jutsus their disposal. However, the longer the fight went, the more the demons adapted to their surroundings, and the more dangerous they became. Ryouko saw too many familiar sites: The Sharingan eyes of the Uchiha, the Aburame clan insect techniques, and even what must have been the forerunner to the Ino-Shika-Cho combo. It was horrifying, but Orochimaru’s weakness was revealed: The zombies didn’t have full mastery of their bodies yet.

“Wroof! Wroof!”

Ryouko now saw the unmistakable Inazuka clan’s loyal ninja hounds. But under Orochimaru’s spell, the hounds were trained to attack Ryouko, rather than defend the Leaf. Ryouko had never struck an animal before, but was left with little choice as one of the animals tried to sink it’s teeth into Ryouko.

“Bad dog!” Ryouko swatted the mutt away with left hand. It skidded backward, then leapt, aiming to grab Ryouko’s throat. All Ryouko could do jump up to meet the dog and hope to be quicker on the strike.

“Fang over Fang!”

Ryouko heard the familiar jutsu. He knew right there that he’d been duped. Where their were Inazuka dogs, there were Inazuka’s. And he had just fallen into one of their signature techniques. In a split second, Ryouko would be torn to bits, unless he did something. He did, and hoped it would be enough: A replacement jutsu with an exploding tag on the log, placed during the split-second transfer.

KABOOM!

AIEE!

Ryouko looked back briefly, to see both the hound and the master returning to dust. That brief glance was shortened further by another familiar jutsu.

“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!”

Ryouko twisted in the air to dodge the incoming fire, and had a warning to Sasuke already in his throat when he saw his assailant. The warning died in his throat, instead become a gaping stare.

Goggles, but no eyes underneath them. No right half of the body. There was only one person this could be; or had been.

“Obito Uchiha?”

Ryouko suddenly knew that Orochimaru had all but neutralized the Hidden Leaf forces. Like when Ryouko had been forced to fight the Third Hokage and become emotional, so would someone faced with a deceased friend or relative close to them. Even Kakashi, as powerful as he was, would have submitted to seeing his old comrade in this state. But the one thing that baffled Ryouko was simple: Not having any family in the Hidden Leaf, and few friends, he couldn’t be affected emotionally in the way the others could.

Why would he do that? Ryouko thought, his kunai clashing against the half-Obito demon, dicing it into shreds. To ensure that I wouldn’t have any help? He knew I’d go this alone…So why go to the trouble regardless? Ryouko soon answered that thought himself.

Because the Leaf would have risen to the occasion to fight him again. I’m one man against an army; last time, Orochimaru barely lost against a better Leaf force, even combined with the power of Sunagakure. If things had nearly worked in his favor last time AGAINST an army, how could one person stop him? Then again…one person was all it took last time. The Third Hokage stopped Orochimaru, albeit at the cost of his life. The Village took a pounding, but was saved. So my task has become clear. I can’t drag this out any longer…It’s time to make my move…

Ryouko retreated to the top of the Hokage Mountain. On top of the Third’s head, Ryouko’s nimble fingers went to work, rigging a way to get him to Orochimaru by clearing most of Konoha all at once. It was sad to see the village in such a horrible state. Only the back third of the of the Village was intact, and that was where people were holding out. Some were fighting the demons. The only good things was that Konoha’s losses were very small in terms of manpower. The Village itself could be rebuilt; the lives lost could not. That was why Ryouko was getting ready to take such a chance with a new jutsu based off one of the Third’s best.

--

“Two more, Sakura.”

Katsuyori gently laid two more injured people in the biggest room in the Academy, which was serving as the hospital. In one corner, the emotionally-wounded Tsunade was being tended to by Shizune, while Sakura and Kantai were making rounds, healing who they could.

Katsuyori’s cold tone was not lost on Sakura. She knew that she had made an enemy of Katsuyori by choosing Sasuke over his sensei. That in and of itself was tolerable. But, looking back, Sakura had LET Tsunade rub her relationship with Sasuke in Ryouko’s face, on a night when it should have been all about Ryouko and her. Not as a couple, but as heroes. Katsuyori had studiously avoided Sakura for two years, and hadn’t troubled to hide his displeasure at being forced to work with her. When he could help it, he gave the new patients to Kantai. Spending time with her was no chore, he had learned very quickly.

The doors opened suddenly, and Ryouko strode in.

“Everyone, listen up!” he barked. Everyone quieted down, waiting to hear what Ryouko was going to say. At their silence, he continued:

“I need everyone to stay indoors, and close your eyes, cover your ears, and open your mouths. It’s going to get loud and bright very quickly. After that, stay hidden as long as you can…Until this siege is over, there needs to be a leader. Will all due respect to you, Tsunade, you’re in no condition. Before this mess began, I sent one of my summons to the other Sannin, Master Jiraiya. He and I are going to launch a dual offensive. But regrettably, he can’t lead you. And neither am I the best choice. There remains one person with the will to do so…”

Ryouko’s outstretched hand pointed to Naruto.

“Keep everyone here, Naruto. It’s the only way this crisis is going to be resolved. It’s this easy: If you go outside, you’re going to die. Only myself and my student have any hope. We’re not natives here, Orochimaru can’t attack our psyche with his ressurection jutsus. The rest of you are, no doubt, the most capable Shinobi fighters around…but anyone can crumble when seeing their greatest fear come to life. For now, put your faith in me…Trust me, for one last time.”

There was silence. Katsuyori strode over to Ryouko. Though younger, Katsuyori was a sturdy young man, and more muscular than Ryouko. His eyes wander to Kantai, while Ryouko had to force himself not to look at Tenten. He couldn’t afford any memories at this point.

--

“Katsuyori, are you ready? I know you’ve never done this before, but I know you can handle it. Hang on tight.”

That was easy enough. Katsuyori didn’t like heights, and he was riding on top of a hawk. Nothing nightmare-inducing there. He WAS hanging on tight. Any tighter and he would be strangling the poor creature.

“Alright, here we go. Just throw the kunai I made. I’m going to show you a modified version of one of Lord Third’s best jutsus.”

Katsuyori threw the kunai, exploding tags fluttering behind them. Ryouko held two kunai, and threw them. He made hand signs, faster than Katsuyori had ever seen anyone make them before. And he was no slouch. A sword might have been his preference, but he could weave handsigns with the best of them.

“Multi Kunai Shadow Clones!” Ryouko barked. The two Ryouko had thrown became two thousand! Far below, Ryouko could see the corpses trying to finish their attack on the Hidden Leaf, seemingly unopposed. In reality, that was what Ryouko had wanted. They had walked right into his trap.

“Remote Detonation Jutsu!”

The sky light up like the fourth of July. The odor of searing flesh hit Katsuyori, and he vomited over the side of the hawk. As he looked down, he saw the incredible destruction. If there had been five thousand zombies, no more than one hundred remained. And that number was about to be cut down.

“Now, sensei?” Katsuyori wanted to know, his handsigns done.

“Now,” Ryouko confirmed.

“Fire Style: Dragon’s Ember Jutsu!” –Ryouko

“Fire Style: Fire Sword Rain!” –Katsuyori

Ryouko’s fire came arching down from above, while swords, lit with tongues of fire, fell to the ground. There was a second explosion, easily as violent as the first, which wiped out at least seventy-five percent of what remained of Orochimaru’s army. Katsuyori and Ryouko nodded to each other. They leapt down on opposite sides of the hawk, and started to run across buildings.

“Katsuyori, find anyone who’s left and get them to safety! There’s going to be one more explosion, and this one might do EVERYONE in if they aren’t protected! Have anyone who can add elemental jutsus: Fire, water, earth, anything! And make sure they brace themselves!”

Ryouko sped up, aiming for the giant snake that signaled Orochimaru’s presence. As Ryouko hit a certain spot, something glinted off of the village wall. It was, roughly, the shape of a woman. Ryouko couldn’t help but smile; that was Jiraiya, subtle as ever. This was also good news; it mean that Jiraiya was ready to attack.

--

BWAMPF!

“What the hell?!” Orochimaru turned on top of his snake to see Jiraiya standing on top of Gamabunta.

“Orochimaru, it’s been a while! Too bad I don’t have time to shoot the breeze with you. Only have time for some toad oil!”

Orochimaru growled with anger. “Kabuto, kill Jiraiya! That little pest, Sarutobi’s pet, is going to be here any time, and I need to kill him myself! GO!”

The toad oil came spewing from Gamabunta’s mouth. But Jiraiya didn’t use a fire jutsu. Ryouko, leaping through the air, used TWO fire jutsus.

“Dragon’s Ember Jutsu: Clone Instigation! Dragon Seeking the Way Jutsu!” The first jutsu was self-explanatory; a clone using a fire jutsu. The second was the fire the clone created turning into a lethal highway that only Ryouko could stand on without being scorched into ash. Ryouko used this bridge to reach Orochimaru, while Jiraiya snared Kabuto into a fight.

--

“Okay, you’ve reached me! What do you plan to do now?! You’ve got nothing!” Orochimaru taunted.

“One thing you can count on, Orochimaru, is never counting me out until you’ve felt my pulse disappear!” Ryouko shot back. Time to whittle away at Orochimaru’s ego.

“How did two years inside my swords feel? You’ll come to treasure that feeling, Orochimaru. At least you were alive! After this fight, you won’t be able to boast that!”

Orochimaru seemed unphased. Slowly, he opened his mouth and withdrew the Striking Serpent Blades.

“These swords? Oh, no, they’re MINE. Finders, keepers, Ryouko. And what comes with them is mine, too!”

“Shuurai!” Ryouko suddenly remembered. Slowly, it sunk it: Ryouko was in deep shoot and sinking fast. He wasn’t about to open his mouth for help, though. He was going to do what any cornered warrior would: come out swinging. And he had a new aim:

I have to get those swords away from Orochimaru! Shuurai is like family, I can’t slay him!

Orochimaru grinned even wider and opened his mouth again, the Kusanagi protruding. Orochimaru didn’t remove the sword from his mouth. Now it was three legendary swords against two empty hands.

“Shall we begin?” Orochimaru darted forward and started slashing. Ryouko dodged, leapt, and twisted, sustaining superficial cuts, but nothing major. He DID have a sword, but he couldn’t play his ace too soon…

Damn it, I’ve never faced THREE weapons on one person before…if it was only two swords, no problem, even against Orochimaru…but no matter which way I move, that third sword has me trapped! Shadow clones? No…too much chakra this early in the game. Genjutsu? Maybe the time inside that sword weakened his mind to genjutsu. Once I’ve done that, I can stop him with taijutsu…

Without making handsigns, Ryouko cast three genjutsus at the same time, each growing in difficulty. First, there was the “Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique. Hidden inside that was the “Bringer of Darkness Technique”. THAT technique concealed Ryouko’s specialty, the “Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique”.

“Release, release…” Orochimaru had seen Ryouko do this before, but it had been two genjutsus before. The third caught him by surprise. He staggered backward, nearly falling off the giant snake he and Ryouko were battling on. That was Ryouko’s cue. He rushed in. Orochimaru miraculously recovered, and swung three swords at once. All three bit into Ryouko’s flesh. POOF!

“A Shadow Clone? I’ll give you this, Kaguya, you’re no fool!” Orochimaru said calmly.

“Striking Shadow Snakes!” Ryouko barked. Orochimaru turned just in time to see Ryouko’s snakes burst from his wrist and strip the Striking Serpent Blades away from Orochimaru. Orochimaru cursed and tried, in vain, to grab the blades again. Ryouko’s snakes threw them to the side. The swords sank into the muddy ground far below until their ornate hilts were all that stuck up.

“Neither one of us can have them now! On your guard!” Ryouko decided now was the time to play his ace.

--

The red moon slowly turned pale again. Sakura noticed it over her shoulder as she was tending to more patients.

“Ryouko must have done it!” she exclaimed. She distinctly felt her heart strings being plucked at when Katsuyori wordlessly nodded, then walked away, congratulating the other medic-nin on weathering the storm. It had been rough, even though they hadn’t been in combat. Of the thousands in the Hidden Leaf, less than fifty lives were lost, despite Orochimaru’s best efforts and the bloodiest coup possible.

Katsuyori ran into Sasuke on his way downstairs. They exchanged cold nods, before Sasuke called back down to Katsuyori:

“You have a problem with Sakura?”

Katsuyori looked back up the stairs at Sasuke. He thought for a moment, but decided Ryouko-sensei wouldn’t have wanted him to spout what had just come to his mind.

“Apparently so,” Katsuyori countered. “I’m sure she’ll discuss it with you. If you’ll pardon me, I have a task to perform.”

Sasuke stared back after Katsuyori, deciding if he cared enough to talk to Sakura about it. Whatever it was seemed to be bothering Sakura, so Sasuke decided it was worthy of his attention. It was probably nothing major anyway.

--

Atop the massive snake, Ryouko didn’t notice he had garnered attention. With Orochimaru’s demons defeated, the Leaf Shinobi were walking free, the storm over. They had gathered to watch the fight. Two former Leaf Shinobi, two legends, hashing it out over a village neither one belonged to. But the intentions of each were clear.

Ryouko was a defender of the Leaf. The Village wasn’t his problem, it was it’s leadership. In a time like this, where leaders were defined on the battlefield, Ryouko could look past the technical details and come to the aid of the village he loved.

Orochimaru was the attacker with an unforgotten grudge against the Hidden Leaf, despite the years that had passed. His immortality (more or less) made him fearful, and he never minded using that fear to command attention, and even ill-gotten respect.

Something had to give between the two.

“Orochimaru, it’s time our two swords clashed in lethal combat! Very rarely do I take lives, but yours is one that the world needs to be rid of!” Ryouko withdrew his summoning scroll, and extracted a black cloth. Inside was a sword, but not just any sword. The legendary Suitoru, the absorption blade.

“Death Foreseeing Jutsu!” Orochimaru chanted suddenly. Ryouko unsheathed his sword, letting the case fall to the ground. Using the gold hilt of Suitori, Ryouko blocked the jutsu. The blade expanded in size.

“So you’ve learned to control the one sword that may defeat mine! However, you’ve failed to take into account just how deep my influence is among those swords! Come forth!”

Both Striking Serpent Blades shot at Ryouko, their dangerous tips coming from either end of the giant snake, and Orochimaru coming down with his Kusanagi at the ready. Ryouko had nowhere to dodge. In desperation, Ryouko may have sealed his own fate. With no other option, Ryouko had been forced to use his bloodline, the Kaguya Shikotsumyaku. And the jutsu he chose was more than a little taxing.

“Dance of the Seedling Fern!” Ryouko hit the ground with both palms. Or, rather, the snake. From nowhere, bones shot up, killing Orochimaru’s giant snake, and forcing Orochimaru himself to play defense, at least at first. Once the bones stopped growing, Orochimaru noticed something interesting. Ryouko was on all fours, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth

“So you inherited more than the abilities of the Kaguya, you also inherited the disease that killed the last one! Or, almost the last one! Our fight is as good as over!” Orochimaru crowed. The Leaf began to talk, prompting Orochimaru to continue.

“You’re such a fool. Legend or not, you’re still a child! And you didn’t see through my plot, did you? The First Hokage made the original, true prophecy. But I created this bogus prophecy to lure you into mortal combat. And now, Nature has made my task easier!”

“Not just yet, Orochimaru!” Ryouko got to one knee, and wiped the blood away with his hand, fierce determination in his eyes. “I will not lay down and die! Even if I’m shortening my time, knowing that you’ll be joining me in the afterlife makes it worth it!”

Orochimaru swept in, striking with the Kusanagi. Ryouko blocked his strike, one hand on the back of the blade, against Orochimaru’s more powerful strike. Both blades inched toward Ryouko’s throat. Forming a plan of desperation, Ryouko slid to his knees to lower his center of gravity, and swung a leg at Orochimaru’s leg. Orochimaru leapt, giving Ryouko time enough to but his blood to good use.

“Summoning Jutsu! Adamantine Yoi Transformation! Adamantine Prison Jutsu!”

Orochimaru suddenly found himself trapped inside a box made of adamantine, a substance harder than diamond. He saw Ryouko, mouth bleeding once more, holding a hand up.

“This time, it ends,” Ryouko said solemnly. He closed his fist, giving Enma (The Monkey King in control of the Yoi) the signal to close the box up, until Orochimaru was cramped inside and couldn’t defend himself.

“It’s against the grain for me to slay someone incapable of defending themselves, but I’ll do what I have to. DIE!”

Ryouko stabbed forward with Suitoru, hitting Orochimaru in the chest. POOF!

“Damnit! Subsitution!” The only upside was that this jutsu forced Orochimaru to drop his Kusanagi. BRACK!

Orochimaru hit Ryouko from behind, sending Ryouko into one of the bones he created himself. Immediately, Ryouko knew he needed that sword back. It could kill AND act as a seal. Orochimaru had more than one soul; Ryouko needed to seal them all AND kill Orochimaru’s host body. Without Suitoru, that would be nearly impossible.

CRACK! THOCK!

Orochimaru was just toying with Ryouko now, hitting him hard, but not hard enough to kill. Ryouko was barely blocking, and even then, it didn’t always help much. He saw Suitoru, and could see no other way of reaching it, except for using the Shikotsumyaku once more.

THWACK!

Orochimaru landed one more shot to Ryouko’s stomach, knocking him backwards into the center of his bone attack from earlier. Orochimaru had all the confidence in the world right now. But, unknowingly, he put Ryouko just where Ryouko wanted to be. Leaning against the bone, Ryouko sunk into it.

“WHAT?! Kimimaro’s jutsu! How can you still be performing it?!”

(Ryouko’s hand grabs the Suitoru Blade)

“It’s easy, Orochimaru. YOU yourself made the prophecy. And you yourself made it come true by underestimating me! This time, I make no mistakes. We’ll likely die together, and Sarutobi will finally get his rematch with you!”

Ryouko and four clones appeared on all sides of Orochimaru, coming out of the bones. All of them held Suitoru. Orochimaru’s shock rooted him to the spot, even as the swords arched down from all directions. Each one pierced Orochimaru, until four blades were sticking out of him. That left the fifth unaccounted for.

“This blade has the unique ability to suck in jutsus, remove the chakra, and then return the jutsus. In other words, this blade is full of chakra, stored for nearly one hundred years. And that’s just about how much I’ll need to pull off this jutsu!”

The blade between his teeth, Ryouko made handsigns, using a jutsu he himself had both created and forbidden:

“Emotional Chakra Release: Blade Sacrificial Seal!”

The sword glowed with the chakra taken from thousands of jutsus, plus Ryouko’s own Emotional Chakra. Ryouko made his move, and cut at Orochimaru. The blade didn’t even need to touch Orochimaru for this jutsu to work. Only the visible wave of chakra. Orochimaru screamed in agony; then pain was too much. It was insanity in a sane mind; ANYTHING to end the pain! It was as if every emotion had come rising to the surface. Each one took turns being the dominant emotion, but ‘defeat’, ‘despair’, and ‘agony’ kept coming back. All in a second’s time.

Ryouko threw the sword in the air, making handsigns as fast as he could. The blade landed in his hands once he had finished.

“Ten Elements Seal!” Ryouko cut straight down at Orochimaru’s head. The blade cracked Orochimaru’s skull, then- sucked his body in? If that’s what was happening, it was clearly straining Ryouko. But it happened. The sword fell to the ground, next to the barely-conscious Ryouko.

“Sensei!”

“Ryouko-san!”

Katsuyori and Tenten rushed over as quick as they could.

“It’s fine. My work isn’t done yet. I need to get to a fire…(koff)”

More blood came with Ryouko’s words. Katsuyori and Tenten looked at each other, then nodded wordlessly.

“Alright, a fire. We’ll make it here, while you get a checkup.”

Ryouko shook his head at Tenten’s proposal. “No…I have to do this, first. I’ll only agree (koff) to medical treatment once my work is completed.”

--

Ryouko used a kunai to cut open each hand. He held the daggers by their edges and squeezed to achieve this. After he was satisfied, Ryouko picked up Suitoru. First the blade. Ryouko took the blood from his right hand and squeezed the blade, up near the tip. After putting the sword away in it’s case, Ryouko used the blood from his left hand to mark where the case and habaki (sword collar) met.

“No mistakes this time…two blood seals…two chakra seals…he’s not getting out.”

Ryouko coughed again, more blood coming with the cough. Using the light from the fire, Ryouko looked at his life line. It had shorted a lot. But what could Ryouko do about it now? He would die without the regrets of hundreds of deaths on his conscience. That was all he could do. Ryouko looked again, trying to defy his own thinking. Strangely enough, he noted, his love line had grown longer.

“What the devil can that mean? How can I love if I’m dead?” Ryouko muttered. He was so engrossed with his hand that he didn’t notice the disturbance behind him.

Behind Ryouko, Tenten snuck up, with Katsuyori, Lee, Temari, Ino, and Kantai. This jutsu Tenten was going to perform needed absolutely no resistance from Ryouko. Wordlessly agreeing, everyone jumped Ryouko at once, forcing him to the ground, restraining him until Tenten could pin him down by kneeling on his chest.

“I’m sorry, Ryouko. But I can’t let you throw your life away…”

Just like before, Tenten kissed Ryouko. But this time, she made a different move, and Ryouko felt his chakra being drained from him, When he couldn’t fight any longer, Ryouko eased into unconsciousness, the victim of a Chakra Return jutsu. Tenten immediately felt awful about doing that to Ryouko, especially using the few people he trusted as accomplices.

Any relationship I might have had with him…I just killed my chances. I really hope he forgives me…but I won’t blame him if he doesn’t…and it doesn’t matter, as long as Lady Tsunade can save him!

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