Chapter 108 - 'After' Arc- 7

Then Yuji felt something. Something that was very wrong. It was the feel he got when facing someone of Orochimaru’s caliber. Dark, evil, and endless chakra. The endless chakra part is what bothered Yuji. These people were supposed to be incapable of using chakra in any ninjutsu-like manner. So what the hell was up with these ridiculous chakras?!

Yuji looked for their source, and to his surprise the chakras felt familiar. But the chakras he was feeling now had been weak before.

No…not weak. Suppressed. Damn it, of course! If they could even seal Ten no Kishootsu chakra, then of course they could seal regular chakra. Or conceal, in this case.

The four chakras loomed in front of Yuji just as a more diminutive presence landed next to Yuji.

Tetsu was kneeling at Yuji’s feet, a dagger in his sash.
“Forgive me, Lord Yuji! I was sure they were loyal, so I undid their chakra seals so they could fight…”

The four ‘druids’ that had helped Yuji and Kuroko before were now aiming to kill Yuji. Their chakra was weighing heavy on Yuji. But he heard them saying something. A low, continuous whisper came from all of them. They were all in harmony with whatever they were saying.

Their chakra changes with that chant! It’s slight, but there’s a fluctuation when one stops chanting to take a breath or to stay in rhythm. But what does it mean?!

Tetsu tugged at Yuji’s sleeve, pulling him back. “Lord Yuji, their chanting augments their chakra. No, more than that- that chanting is what allows their chakra to unite in their bodies and be expelled! The ‘black’ chakra and ‘white’ chakra, which keeps the chakra in check, is united with that rhythm! Only the most skilled among us can do that!”

“No problem,” said Yuji, flexing his fingers. “I’ve been spoiled; haven’t had to make handsigns in a while…let’s see…”

Yuji’s hands blurred as they formed a set of signs that you wouldn’t find in any academy scroll.

“I had to learn how to seal chakra, in case my master ever needed to seal off his Kyuubi chakra. This wouldn’t quite hold five tails, but for these guys-”

Yuji dashed forward, one hand each smacking into the stomachs of two of the druid-like shinobi before they could react.

“Five-pronged Seal!” Tetsu exclaimed. He figured out how to unbalance the chakras again! Genius!

Perhaps wisely, the other two with newfound shinobi abilities backed off.

“THE LEAF WILL PAY FOR THIS!” came a shout from someone in the rapidly expanding group.

“The Leaf,” Yuji asked, making sure to sound confused just to irritate the crowd more. Best to keep their attention as long as possible. “The Leaf have nothing to do with this. Unless there’s some law about defending your fiance that I don’t know about…”

That little comment caused the ‘Kuro’ side to cheer.
“Lord Yuji has sided with us!”
“Kuro will rise!”

That led to a whole bunch of in-fighting in the crowd. Yuji just shook his head, saddened and amazed by the display of the worst side of human nature.
“Uh, guys? I’m not on anyone’s side except my fiance’s side. But by all means, keep making asses of yourselves.”

The crowd stopped their battles, some still holding onto their opponent’s shirts; some were even holding others in headlocks. Their heads turned toward Yuji as one, ready to shout more insults and threaten- but not ready to attack yet.

“Good. Now, I’m only after one person. Hiro. Your would-be leader. Problem is, he’s been harassing my fiance, and I suspect manipulating more than one of you out there. Anyone want to question what I’ve said?”

One fool ran up. Yuji dodged his attack and dropped him with one punch.

“Next?”

One more person tried. Yuji was less merciful this time. This attacker earned a fire-laced kick to the gut, sending him sprawling and hacking up fluids. One of his friends ran over to him, checking on him.

“I can’t believe that fruit in the scarf just did that to you!”

In a second, Yuji had kicked the man in the face, sending him sprawling.

“Hey! The scarf is off-limits! My fiance made that with her own hands! Mock it again and it’ll be your life!”

The crowd was silent again, staring at Yuji with expressions of disbelief. Yuji glared at them all, not backing down an inch.

“What? You’ve never had your girlfriends give you something?! It’s a treasure, fools! And…why do I feel like I sound like Master Jiraiya? Ugh, Three Shinobi Prohibitions. Women really DO screw with your head. In a positive way, of course…heh heh.”

A person from the ‘Shiro’ faction stood up and risked Yuji’s wrath with a comment that made everyone think.
“How can you be in love with that demon girl?! We heard she boils snakes and drinks their blood! That’s what we’ve always been told!”

Someone from the ‘Kuro’ side shouted back. “Oh, yeah?! YOUR heiress strangles cats and uses their blood to summon demons!”

“HOLD IT!” Yuji shouted, his arms up to halt both sides volley of insults. “What the hell is wrong with you people? I’ve been with both these girls! They don’t do any of that! Either of them! If they were satanic she-demons, why would I still be alive? Why settle for the blood of cats when you could have the blood of Ten no Kishootsu? Does that really make sense?”

A murmur rose through the crowd as they discussed this. That did make sense. Yuji standing before them unharmed was proof. And if both sides agreed on one thing, it was that ‘Heaven’s Temper’ was a symbol of the best part of their culture.

“What are we doing, fighting over something like that?” cried out an old farmer, his kama dropping to the ground. “Those rumors are stupid and clearly meant to make us battle each other. Each heiress is as good as the other, right?”

There was a shout of agreement from someone Yuji recognized as being in the faction opposing the farmer’s faction. More weapons began to drop as others began to talk excitedly, realizing how the truth had been staring them in the face all this time. Yuji let them go for a while before he called attention back to himself.

“As one who intrudes upon your culture, I respectfully ask your permission to meet your leaders. My fiance’s life has been threatened once already. I will not allow it to happen again. That sort of cloak and dagger stuff is meant for enemies. I am not your enemy any more than my fiance is.”

The crowd parted for Yuji, allowing him passage. He walked down the center, aware that this could very well be a trap. But he had to give these people the chance to show integrity or they would never function as a whole.

As he got to the end, one woman reached out- slowly, carefully- and grabbed Yuji’s sleeve.

“Will you kill Hiro-sama?”

Yuji’s eyes were filled with worry as he faced her. He braced himself quickly after allowing the woman to see that trace of what he was feeling.

“I’d rather not.”

With those words spoken, Yuji continued his march toward the final battle.
--
--

Kuroko, Shiroko, and Kaname worked their way into the depths of the land, using passages long since forgotten by all those who lived ‘normal’ lives. The resistance knew these tunnels well. But the tunnels were not for hiding. They were for searching.

“Once you found Yuji, Kuroko,” Kaname said, holding a lit torch and ducking under a tree root, “We began to try to find ways to control his power. The seal that binds the Ten no Kishootsu chakra is down here, hidden away by those who followed Lord Masashi’s son. Since it’s been six months or so, we’ve been able to narrow our search to the East portion of the area.”

Shiroko exchanged glances with Kuroko. Both girls were worried, though they had faith in Yuji.

“I don’t want him to kill my father,” said Shiroko. “I know he’s been evil, but I can’t just give up on him. It wouldn’t be right. He taught me a lot about Battoujutsu and Kyudo. In a backward sort of way, he’s the reason I’m still alive now.”

“I don’t want him to kill Hiro-sama because he’ll feel guilty. No offense Shi, but I was never a big fan of your father,” added Kuroko, thinking about how close she’d come to being murdered by Hiro’s orders. If it hadn’t been for Yuji…

There was silence for a time as the three kept walking and searching. But eventually, Kuroko stopped, her head down. Immediately, her companions stopped to check on her, asking her what was wrong.

Kuroko forced herself to look at Shiroko. Then she forced herself to ask a very difficult question. But this had been plaguing her for a long time now, and she had to know.
“Shiroko…why did you step aside with Yuji? Why did you let me have him?”

“We broke up-” Shiroko began, but Kuroko cut her off.

“You were in love with him! Even now, you’ve never spoken a harsh word about him! I’ve known you for too long, Shiro! Please, don’t lie to me! Tell me the truth- why did you break up with Yuji?!”

Shiroko didn’t answer. She seemed to be thinking carefully. That made Kuroko all the more tense and suspicious, and again she demanded an answer.
“Why, Shiroko?!”

Shiroko finally gave a small, sad smile. “Because I loved you both. Kuro, if Yuji wasn’t in your life, you might well have died when my father decided to end the threat of the Kuro side. I had Kaname all this time, regardless of what I felt- at one point- for Yuji. I had my family. You had no one. Yuji knew that pain, maybe better than anyone else. You both needed someone. You needed each other.”

Kuroko seemed relieved, but persisted with one more question:
“It wasn’t politics, then? You didn’t just pair us up because you wanted ShiroKuro to stand a chance in the civil war?”

Shiroko leaned forward and kissed Kuroko’s forehead, just like she did when they were children.
“No. I would never mix love and politics like that. That would be a grave sin against the people I love.”

Kaname smiled, happy to hear talk like this even in the middle of a war. The ground above them rocked with more of Yuji’s fighting, shaking loose dirt. That shook him back to reality.
“Girls, we need to get moving! If we don’t, Yuji won’t be there for either of you to love! We have to be getting close!”

They started to run, but suddenly Kuroko stopped. She seemed to be in some kind of trance. No matter how hard they tried, Kaname and Shiroko could not rouse her. They were faced with a choice: Split up and leave her, or stay by her side and let Yuji fight without the power of Ten no Kishootsu.

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