Chapter 62 - Arc VIII: Death of the Flesh- Chapter 12

Fwoosh!

Yuji was right behind her, the bright, firey wings out of his back again. Using a fire jutsu, he set Konan’s wings on fire before swooping in himself and snatching Shoki.

“Almighty Push!”

Yuji closed his wings around himself and Shoki, letting him and Shoki drop, shielded by the fire from Pain’s attack. The wings slid back into Yuji, then dispersed, coating him in a layer of fire.

“You okay?” Yuji asked, his voice hurried. At Shoki’s nod, he half-grinned, then spun to face Pain. What he saw astounded him.

The ‘summoning’ Pain had apparently come back, but was dissected by Miko. The ‘lead’ Pain was missing an arm. The Pain that could grab souls was also missing an arm. And behind all of them was a Pain Yuji hadn’t seen. Apparently, Miko had managed to make this one explode, from the inside out, as the body was completely incinerated, and the concave burn wounds showed the attack had come from inside; like swallowing a paper bomb.

But Yuji didn’t really see all that. All he saw was Miko, held in place by the lead Pain’s Universal Pull Jutsu. She must have been struggling, because now he saw the one-armed ‘soul’ Pain reaching for her.

Yuji knew he’d never make it in time. There was nothing he could do. He ran toward the fight, but was met with two paper shuriken to his legs, sending him crashing. From the ground, he began to weave signs, until paper bound his arms. He concentrated as hard as he could, aiming a genjutsu at the Pains. More paper shuriken put a stop to that.

Shoki ran forward, but stopped when he saw Miko’s eyes glaze over. Even he knew that it was the end.

Just as she had predicted, Miko had perished without a scratch on her.

The pain would come later, Yuji knew. Now, he could afford to feel nothing. At this moment, he had one more life to protect. The Pains were in bad shape. He needed to take advantage.

“Just like we practiced, Shoki,” he muttered, his voice firm. He cast a glance at Miko’s body being held by the soul-sucking Pain. Moving with speed he never thought possible, he slashed off Pain’s arm with a mix of a Chakra Scalpel and the fire coating his body. He caught Miko’s body, used a Replacement Jutsu, and landed a good distance away. He gently laid Miko down under a tree, pausing to look at her face one more time. They had never been married, but even despite that Yuji felt an affinity towards her. He crossed her arms over her chest, pausing again to look at her face. He closed his eyes, reached a hand out, and gently pulled her eyelids shut.

As her eyelids closed for the final time, Shoki realized that this was his sister, and yet Yuji didn’t seem angry. Weren’t they going to be married?
Then it hit him. Yuji had shifted to neutral chakra, devoid of any element. That was the key to the attack he was about to use.

Shoki ‘dissolved’ again, reappearing in front of the three remaining Pains. All three tried to grab him, but were rebounding from the Awasekagami Jutsu Shoki was casting. The gray ’mirror self’ could block any physical blow or ninjutsu, apparently. And it wasn’t limited to one ’self’. Rather, it was like ’mirror shadow clones’.

Yuji had since seen how Miko managed to kill one of the Pains. It took an internal injury so severe that there was instant paralysis, and so much damage that death would follow. That meant Yuji’s new jutsu would do it. He had named this one himself, after working with it for a while. Before he could use it, he needed to do something else.

“Shadow Clone Jutsu! Sickle Moon Dance!”

Three clones spread out and attacked the stunned Pains. Each one managed to get their swords in and pry open a hole, leading to the innards of Pain. With Yuji directing, all three used the same jutsu:

“Fire Style: Shoukyaku Jutsu (Destroy by Fire Jutsu)!”

Exhaling neutral chakra into the wounds they had made, the clones disappeared, leaving only Yuji as their attacks finished. The fire that had reduced entire trees to ashes during practice in the open was now being confided to the size of a human body. That much power in such a small area…

BOOOM!

…had to be fatal. This HAD to work. Yuji had nothing left.

The smoke cleared, and the smoldering remains of the Pains fell to the ground. Burned chunks of body fell from the sky, landing all over with stomach-churning, squishy sounds coupled with the ‘crick’ of burnt flesh and internal organs.

Yuji fell to one knee, spent from the effort. Shoki was with him immediately.

“Are they finally dead?” Shoki asked, not seeing any movement. He looked to Yuji, who nodded.

“Yeah…They’re de-”

As one, the Pains stood up, seemingly unscathed. Yuji pushed Shoki behind him, shielding him. He knew he could only give the boy a few extra seconds of life this way, but anything could happen in those few seconds.

“Yuji-senpai…”
Shoki’s voice held a note of desperation. Yuji hated hearing the boy sound so worried. Yuji was the only one the boy had left; at least, until he could find a better home for him. This attack, more than anything, made Yuji believe he would die early himself. But he wouldn’t let himself die until he’d done all he could to make his friends happy.

As the Pains advanced, Yuji let his mind wander for a moment.

I never…had friends before. All this time I’ve tried to push them away. All because Naruto found happiness with Sakura. All because I was jealous. All because I could never measure up. Not to Naruto, but to myself. I demand perfection of myself…

Yuji tapped his sandal on the ground, loosening the hidden blade in the heel. He spun and kicked, sending the blade into the crowd of Pains coming toward him. It struck the throat of the ‘Soul’ Pain, but he might as well have sneezed at them for all the good it did.

Fumbling for a cigarette, Yuji dropped the first one, still pushing Shoki back while backpedaling himself, his eyes locked with the lead Pain.

…It was so stupid of me to resist. I could have been happy, even if I wasn’t as strong as they were. But I chose this. And I guess I would always make that choice. I just can’t live peacefully, knowing I could be doing more…

Yuji clicked his tongue, flicking aside the fake top on a hollowed-out tooth in the back. He clicked his tongue again to free a small black pellet that had been lodged inside the tooth. In the same motion, he spat it towards the coming crowd. It exploded nastily. While the residue of the explosive was still in the air, Yuji threw a string of kunai tied with razor wire. On the wire were exploding tags. He hit the Pains successfully. With seconds until detonation, Yuji spun Shoki away from the explosion, shielding him with his own body, his back toward the explosion.

That did some damage, buying a few extra seconds. The air was hot and stifling, burning with the scent of cinders and explosives. But the Pains just kept coming, seemingly unstoppable.

…I guess that’ll be my downfall, then. But even if it’s the end of me, I hope that I can at least save Shoki. I can cover him long enough to escape, I think…

As he moved to do that, Pain’s sword slashed down. Yuji pushed Shoki away, then rolled backward himself, his foot coming up in a kick. Pain’s sword was coming faster, so Yuji withdrew his foot and spun. As he did, he pulled a kunai out of his waist pouch.

Thunk.

The dull sound came from Yuji’s back hitting a tree in mid-turn. Shoki was on the other side, peering around. Yuji had only looked for a second to check on him when he felt a presence immediately in front of him. Pain was right there, and his sword was thrusting toward Yuji.

I can’t dodge it! If I move, it’ll go right into Shoki! This is it!

Yuji moved just enough to avoid a critical hit. The tip of the sword went through Yuji’s left shoulder, out the other side of the tree, and stopped just shy of Shoki’s face.

“Shoki! Go!” Yuji shouted, throwing his kunai into Pain’s face.

“Know pain. Almighty Pu-”

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