Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > The Youma Hunter
Chapter 18
0 reviewsLost in a strange world riddled with demons and with no way to get back home, a mighty warrior catches the eye of the Organization. Co-Written with Drunkmansquawkin.
2Exciting
Four years ago...
“Hey! Hey! Pervy Sage! What are you gonna be teaching me today?” A 13-year-old Naruto Uzumaki asked his mentor with a wide faced grin. He and Jiraiya were on a three year training trip and are currently out in a cabin in the middle of a woods. Trees could be seen going on for miles in every direction.
Jiraiya was sitting on the cabin’s porch and Naruto, his student and godson, was sitting cross-legged on the ground.
The white haired man let out a boisterous laugh and leaned forward with his hands on his knees. “Today, I’m gonna teach you a very useful technique that will get you outta trouble.” He grinned stupidly, close-eyed and all.
The blond rocked back and forth in excitement. “Really? What is it, what is it?!”
Instead of telling him, Jiraiya decided to show him; he made several hand seals and made sure he made them slow enough for Naruto to see, and when he got to the last one Jiraiya’s appearance had changed.
The light left Jiraiya’s eyes as they dulled and blanked and his skin lost a bit of its pigmentation. Naruto wasn’t good at sensing chakra either, and if he was then the blond would have noticed the man’s chakra was being suppressed to the point only a very skilled sensor could detect it.
The sight surprised Naruto a bit and he quirked his head to the side in curiosity. “What’s that?”
“This is a genjutsu that alters your appearance to make you look like you’re dead.” Jiraiya explained as he gestured to himself. “It’s useful for tricking your opponent into thinking they killed you. With it you can get yourself out of trouble, or, surprise attack them when they get close.”
While Naruto was interested in it, the blond pouted childishly and crossed his arms with a huff. “I can’t do genjutsu though…! I have too much chakra to use ‘em.” He reminded the man with a grumble.
The Toad Sage grinned smugly at that as he cancelled the technique and his features went back to normal. “Then it’s a good thing this jutsu has no limit on how much chakra you can use. It will automatically ‘snuff’ your chakra to the point it’s near undetectable to anyone but the most skilled sensors once it’s used though.”
That perked Naruto right up and he straightened himself up a bit now that the man captured his attention. “How should it be used?”
“‘Playing dead’ - that’s the name of the jutsu - works best if you’ve been ‘hit’ by an attack. It will also help if they’ve drawn blood, it would make the genjutsu look legitimate.”
That confused Naruto. “But, wouldn’t that make the genjutsu useless then?”
“Nope!” Jiraiya grinned. “The way ‘Playing dead’ works is that it doesn’t change any injuries you have. It’ll change your skin complexion the longer it’s on, make your eyes ‘dull’, but it won’t hide any of your wounds. Even better, it will work even if you’re unconscious!”
Naruto’s eyes were positively glinting with eagerness by this point. “Oh wow! How often did you use it?”
“It bailed me out of trouble many times in the past. So it was pretty often back in the day.” The man replied as he rubbed the back of his fingers against his sleeve with a smug grin. “Not many people were smart enough to actually check if I was still alive or not when I used it.”
//
Present time...
In Alphonse, the body of Naruto Uzumaki laid in the snow, staring up at the sky with blank eyes. The blood in the trench he made when Rigardo had thrown him had long since dried up. The Awakened Beings were long gone by this point, and were fighting the Task Force in Pieta.
The faint sounds of combat, crumbling buildings, and screams could be heard coming from the besieged town of Pieta.
His thumb twitches, but the blond didn't move.
While the genjutsu made him appear as if he’s dead, he was actually unconscious. His healing factor had long since kicked in and healed the injury Rigardo had dealt to him. He would still be feeling phantom pains in his side when he wakes up though… and a headache as well in thanks to the rough landing.
But that didn't change the fact that he was still unconscious and at the mercy of the elements around him. And there’s still two more powerful Awakened Ones lurking around.
His thumb twitched again...and Naruto’s hand slowly clenched the snow.
//
In Pieta…
Things were not going well for the Task Force. Out of the 24 women only 17 were still fighting, and thanks to Naruto killing three Awakened Beings prior to getting - unknown to the girls - knocked unconscious by Rigardo, they had lost another 3, giving the opposition 18 out of 27 in total. While the half-breeds were almost evenly numbered with their enemy, they were still outmatched by them. But despite that, they were taking on the Awakened Ones one at a time and using their numbers to get an edge over them.
Jiraiya was no longer on the rooftop as he had taken a couple of Awakened Ones to another part of town to give the girls a small breather. The fact that the man was still invisible when he did it had taken a few of the Awakened Ones by surprise, but they couldn’t act on it because they were beset by the warriors.
Miria bared her grit teeth as she dodged the fist of an Awakened One that smashed into the ground where she was standing. Then she, Queenie and Tabitha all attacked him together; Yuma was on her side on the ground with a gash on her front and a small puddle of blood around her.
She took a quick glance to see how the others were doing. Claudia from Undine’s team was down. Wendy and Karla from Flora’s team were down. Pamela and Matilda from Veronica’s team were down. Them being alive or dead was unknown to the woman thanks to the yoki suppressant they all took prior to the battle.
Off to the side, next to the head of a beheaded Awakened One stood Rigardo; he was no longer in his Awakened form and was butt naked thanks to his transformation destroying his clothes. And the wound Naruto gave him prior to the fight was still there. With a pained look the man observed the warriors that were still fighting.
“One, two, three, four, five…” He counted. “Five strong ones. Each one leading a team to face a single Awakened One and they take them down by working together. Our side has already lost 6, while they lost 7…”
Just as he said that, the yoki aura’s belonging to two Awakened Beings were snuffed out. “No...make that 8 loses for our side now.” That made the total of Awakened Beings left 16 out of 27. His yoki began to spike as he transformed back into his Awakened Form. “Still, we cannot afford anymore losses.”
And when his yoki spiked, Miria was immediately alarmed as were the rest of the Captains.
“No…Rigardo the Lion... he’s… HE’S HERE!” Miria shouted in genuine panic; none of them could take him on! Where was Jiraiya?! Where was he?! He’s their best shot at fighting him!
Suddenly, the still injured Rigardo appeared in front of Veronica and Cynthia startling the two immensely. Veronica was grew wide eyed when she saw him glaring down at her.
“Wha-” Veronica could only stare at him in shock, wide-eyed.
“First one.” He growled interruptingly, and then, Veronica was cut down before she and her teammate could react; her body sliced into three pieces. She was dead before she even felt it.
The way she was taken down had shocked the rest of the Task Force, and Cynthia…
“RAAAAGH!!”
She was rightfully pissed off! When her Captain and friend was cut down before her, the Number 14 immediately tried to avenge her by taking off Rigardo’s head. He leapt back and out of the sword’s reach however, and when he landed, the Awakened One let out a pained grunt and fell to a knee when his pelvic region flared up with pain again.
He was reminded that he still wasn’t fully healed there.
“Damn it!” He grunted.
Then Rigardo quickly looked for his next target, and he moved again, albeit much slower than this time. The Lion-like Awakened One appeared behind Undine and tried to cut her down as well. Due to how slow moving he was however, the muscular woman was able to react in time and block his claws.
Rigardo was in a stalemate…
“You managed to block my attacks? Impressive…” He praised, before overpowering her and severing the woman’s arms at the elbow, shocking her immensely.
“Gah!” Undine cried out in both pain and anger, “D-dammit!”
Then Rigardo sliced her from her shoulder to waist. The woman choked on her own blood, “G-Goddamn it…” Undine wheezed as she fell to the ground on her back.
“CAPTAIN!!” Deneve cried out in dismay; she dashed forth and tried to avenge the Number 11 only for the Awakened One to aim his arm towards her. The next thing that happened was Deneve getting chunks torn off her body and armour and she fell to the ground. She cried out, not in agony, but in anger - Helen had to go and bail her out before Rigardo could finish her off.
“Deneve! Deneve! Deneve!” Helen cried out a little ways out of the way from the fight, her best friend was lying on the floor, bloodied and missing chunks of her body. “Hold on! J-just heal okay!”
“J-just… go and help the others.” Deneve told her friend, panting with grit teeth.
Helen looked at her friend in surprise, but nodded. “Y-yeah! Just lie here and heal up, I’ll be back before you know it!”
And with that, Helen turned to look Rigardo’s direction with a fierce glare before dashing off to rejoin the battle. Deneve let out laboured breaths as she got to work on healing herself.
“Just lie here… and heal. Lie here...and heal.” The woman said to herself, raising a bloodied hand up before pressing the back of her hand against her forehead. “Damnit!” Tears of anguish and frustration began streaming down her cheeks. “Not only did I not avenge Undine, but I was unable to lay a hand on her killer!”
“He’s aiming for the Captains!” Zelda cried out as she recovered from the abrupt takedowns of Veronica, Undine and Deneve. “Just like the Youma Hunter said! Protect them!”
“Where the hell is Jiraiya!?” Miria growled, her eyes were no longer silver but were a demonic gold with the irses slanted like a feline.
Rigardo meanwhile had already gone after his next target: Jean, who was with Clare and Flora.
However, because of his injury to his pelvis the powerful Awakened One wasn’t able to catch Jean by surprise, or get in her face and he was immediately met with obstacles in the form of Helen, Clare and Lily who tried to defend Jean from him.
Helen and Clare tried to attack him at the same time, their faces were slightly distorted as they brought out a little over a quarter of their yoki.
“I don’t have time for small fry.” Rigardo growled, and with that he effortlessly shoved Helen and Clare out of the way, his supernatural strength had thrown the two of them several yards away. Then with Lily he gave her a devastating punch to the face that threw her back into a building with a sickening crack! and then she slumped down to the ground and didn't move from her spot from it.
Jean immediately defended herself from Rigardo and deflected many of his elongated claws with the flat of her claymore. He was unrelenting in his assault, his claws attacked the eyebrowless woman in many directions and was ultimately trying to make her slip. The Awakened One would have impaled her with his clawed hand right when he got an opening and just when he was about to do so…
“RASENGAN!”
He was forced to stop his assault and leap back and out of the way when Jiraiya showed up at the very last second, dropping down from the sky with an all too familiar spiralizing ball of energy in his hand slamming into the ground. The second the Rasengan smashed into the ground, a cloud of dust and smoke shot up into the air concealing the reincarnated shinobi and relieved Jean.
Jiraiya didn't need to yell out his technique when he dropped down from the sky. By doing do he gave away his element of surprise; but the man did it for a reason: by yelling out his attack, it forced Rigardo to jump back, to disengage the obvious one-sided fight with Jean before he could kill her.
“Looks like we got here just in time, Jiraiya-boy.” Fukusaku said as the three fused Sages stepped out of the dust cloud. The dust cloud itself dispersed into the air moments after he walked out of it.
“Not early enough, I’m afraid. A lot of them are dead.” Jiraiya added grimly, just before he stomped the ground and cracked it under his foot. He didn't want to give this fellow the impression that many of them could still be alive - that would ruin the plan Miria came up with after all.
The man gave Rigardo the most vicious glare he had ever given and asked demandingly, “What did you do to my godson?” Shima and Fukusaku were glaring at the Awakened One as well. Neither of them were afraid of the lion-humanoid. After being alive for nearly a millennium there wasn’t a lot that could surprise them, let alone scare.
“G-Godson…?” The revelation that this man was the godfather of Naruto had shocked many of the still conscious women in the Task Force, but none more so than Flora. Even she didn’t know that!
Rigardo paused; after seeing that weird sphere made of energy in that man’s hand, the Awakened One had come to the conclusion - the right conclusion - that the man before him was also his teacher.
So, he decided to tell the truth and not sugarcoat anything. “He’s dead.” He told the reanimated shinobi. “And soon, you all will be joining him.”
Although he could still sense his godson’s chakra, even though it’s being actively suppressed, Jiraiya scowled heavily and clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. Over his dead. Body. Literally at that.
“Jiraiya-boy!” Fukusaku exclaimed with dangerous eyes. Shima had followed suit and gave the Awakened One before her a vicious hiss.
“I know!” The ground cracked even more under Jiraiya’s feet when he bent his knees. Then the man leapt forth with a clenched fist and bared teeth. Rigardo growled and with a pained flinch from the wound on his pelvic region, he leapt back and avoided Jiraiya’s fist.
In retaliation he got up close to the man and dug his claws into his stomach and tore it open. He, along with the still conscious women of the task force recoiled in surprise when they saw paper of all things pouring out of his wound instead of blood.
What the hell?!
Then Jiraiya smashed his fist into Rigardo’s maw and the Awakened One was thrown back across the clearing and into a building. Almost immediately, the hole where his stomach should be started to seal itself back up in an instant, and a very pissed off Jiraiya leapt after him.
Inside the building’s front room, Rigardo grunted as he pushed off the rubble from his body. Then he looked up and rolled out of the way, pain flaring on his pelvis, when he saw the now fully healed Jiraiya coming at him. He got out of the way just in time for Jiraiya’s knee to utterly shatter the ground upon impact, and dust, dirt and splinters shot up everywhere. Rigardo was thrown back, yet again, into a wall only this time the Awakened One managed to stay on his feet.
His pelvis flared with pain again, this time it was even greater than before. That boy did a number on him; it was taking what felt like a damn eternity to heal back up! Were it not for that, this fight would have ended a long time ago!
Jiraiya then stepped out of the dust cloud with his sharp teeth bared at Rigardo.
“Lad! Look there!” Shima said, drawing Jiraiya and Fukusaku’s attention to the still-healing wound on Rigardo’s pelvic region.
Jiraiya let out a smirk, “Heh. Looks like someone’s not fighting to their full capacity.” And he knew what kind of attack leaves a wound like that.
“It looks like Naruto-boy’s managed to hurt him bad before he was taken out.” Fukusaku observed with squinted eyes.
“Which makes our job easier!” Jiraiya yelled with a fierce, terrifying grin. Then he moved and Rigardo had to lean to the side to avoid the fist that punched the wall behind him… and blowing it right off.
The lion got in another hit, this time lengthening his claws and controlling them to stab Jiraiya up through his chin and skull and ripping off his entire face. Jiraiya healed near instanously as he retaliated by grabbing the lion by the neck and tossing him out of the building and into another one. He followed after him, stopped, and Shima opened her mouth and shot out her rapidly growing tongue that grew closed eyes, a mouth, and several warts. That tongue proceeded to coil around Rigardo’s arms and torso and toss him out of the other building, through the wall, and back into the battlefield.
Rigardo rolled and skid along the ground before regaining his momentum and rolled to a stop up onto his hands and knees. The impact hurt his wound more than he would care to admit: it was starting to bleed again.
He heard Jiraiya stepping out of the other building and he looked up at him with a snarl and glare. “What the hell are you? No one, not even those claymores would have survived getting their entire face ripped off like I did to you!”
“I am the product of the Impure World Reincarnation.” Jiraiya brought up his hand to look at it, at the cracks. “A deceased warrior brought back to the world of the living through a living sacrifice. No matter what you do to me, no matter how much damage you’ve dealt me, I will keep on regenerating and I will keep on coming.” He gave the Awakened One a narrow eyed glare. “I can’t die. And you have no way to keep me down - the only one who had the possibility of keeping me down was the one you had killed.”
Rigardo roared defiantly, much like the lion he resembled and sashed forth, looking to test that claim. If he failed, Isley would kill him, so it wasn’t like he had any choice but to keep on going. If what Jiraiya said was true, then he was going to die either way, so he might as well go down fighting!
Before Jiraiya could react, he felt something prick his forehead and then there was a sudden, sharp pain as Rigardo bisected him down the middle. While his Sage Mode was incomplete, he had to admit that was impressive; he can see how his godson had been defeated by him. The man quickly regenerated from the inflicted wound. Jiraiya then grabbed the wrist belonging to the gobsmacked Rigardo, and all male Awakened Beings in the vicinity winced when the reincarnated Shinobi brought his foot up and kicked the lion-like Awakened on the groin in between his thighs.
Rigardo roared in pain and indignation at that, trying to pry his wrist from Jiraiya’s grasp as his claws lashed out all at once. His attack would have slaughtered anyone else.
“I told you: I will keep regenerating.” Jiraiya said as he regenerated over and over and over again from the inflicted injuries given by those claws. Neither he, Shima, or Fukusaku noticed his regeneration was getting a little slow as the assault continued. It was still shockingly fast however, so it was not surprising they didn't notice.
Then Jiraiya opened his mouth and chomped down on Rigardo’s wrist when it got close to punching him again, and tore out a chunk of his flesh and muscle with his sharpened teeth. The Awakened Being let out a roar of pain as purple blood gushed out of the hole on his wrist. He staggered back and focused on healing it while glaring at the man who spat out the putrid flesh like it was rotten meat.
“Impressive powers of recovery,” Fukusaku observantly said as he watched the chunk of missing muscle and flesh heal rapidly before their eyes.
“Yeah. I can see how Naruto had trouble with him.” Jiraiya agreed.
Rigardo appeared in front of him again, ignoring the pain flaring aggressively around his pelvis, and bisected Jiraiya again cutting the man into three pieces like he did to Veronica. He fell on his back with a grunt; Rigardo didn't stop there though he kept attacking the man while he was down, trying his damndest to put the dead nina down for good. He completely ignored Fukusaku and Shima however as he was more focused on the man instead of them. Jiraiya was a much, much bigger threat. It was around this point that Jiraiya finally took notice that his regeneration was beginning to slow down. It was still fast but it was nowhere as instant as before.
The second his legs were healed and reattached, Jiraiya bent his knees, and kicked the still attacking Rigardo away from him. The Awakened One was thrown back 5 yards away before coming to a sliding stop. Jiraiya kicked himself up with a flip and looked at himself with a concerned frown. He was still healing, but it was noticeably slower now.
“Are you okay, Jiraiya-boy?” Fukusaku asked in concern, having noticed it as well.
“Yeah, boss. I am. I don’t feel any different.” His arm regenerated completely and he turned his hand. “My chakra is still normal.”
“Could there be a limit as to how much damage you can take, lad?” Shima asked.
“None that I’m aware of,” Jiraiya replied with a thoughtful frown. “I studied the Second’s technique a while back, just in case it was used against us again. This shouldn’t be happening to my knowledge.”
It’s entirely possible that whoever brought him out of the Pure Land had put a fail safe on him. Outside of Naruto, no one else in this world is capable of using chakra, he’s also unstoppable since he can just regenerate from anything; from cuts, to wounds, to dismemberment, to bisection. So that means outside of Naruto - who can seal him - this world has no way of stopping him permanently.
Either way, his healing slowing down like this only served as incentive to end this fight as swiftly and effectively as possible.
With that in mind, Jiraiya straightened up and prepared for the fight of his unlife.
//
While Jiraiya was fighting Rigardo, everyone else was still fighting for their lives. For Miria this is especially hard because everyone around her was falling like flies as they were getting separated and double teamed.
Team Undine was nearly gone, Deneve was still standing at this point as she had recovered from her wounds inflicted by Rigardo. And Zelda was still standing, though had it not been for Tabitha, who shoved her out of the way of an attack in the nick of time, she would have been on the ground in a puddle of her own blood by now.
Team Jean had also suffered a near total party wipe, having lost Eliza, Emelia, Diana and Natalie.
Team Flora had lost Lily, leaving Clare and Flora the last ones standing in that team.
She herself had suffered a near total party wipe as well, having lost Tabitha and Queenie. The former who took the blow for Zelda after shoving her out of its way.
Team Veronica hasn’t lost anyone else, yet. But the last members of that team Helen and Cynthia were now helping her Miria and Team Flora out.
They lost 17 members of the Task Force in a matter of minutes. Out of 24, only 8 were still combat ready. While her Task Force was falling like flies around her, Miria had mentally noted that Isley’s army had suffered very minimal losses during those minutes - only one dead and a few injuries here and there. Miria had a feeling if Naruto was still around they would be having a much better time with this.
Hell, they might have actually won!
But, he wasn’t here… and to say that Flora was acting irrationally as a result would be one hell of an understatement. The usually-kind and soft-spoken woman, Miria noted, had gone into when she heard Rigardo bluntly state that her boyfriend was dead and there was no getting her out of it . The unbridled fury she exhibited was so out of sudden and character that even several warriors and awakened beings alike were legitimately scared of her, especially after she single handedly reduced a titan-sized Awakened to ground beef.
Even Miria was more worried about her than anyone else. At this rate the woman scorned risked going over her limit.
“Clare,” Miria called out, “Do what you can to keep your captain from Awakening, for the love of all that is pure and sacred!” That was the last thing they needed, right now! Though her rampage had given them one less Awakened Being to worry about and injured several others, the thought of Flora’s rage and grief sending her over the edge made the Number 6 worry for their lives. “Helen, Deneve, cover them and try to keep Flora from getting herself killed!”
“I WILL MURDER-FUCK YOU ALL!!” A vengeful Flora screamed as she chased one frightened Awakened One away with murderous eyes. It would have been a comical sight if not for the circumstances.
“Easier said than done! She’s completely lost it!” Helen shouted, then yelped when she was forced to dodge some blades that tried to bisect her.
Then Rigardo was blown through a building and crashed into that Awakened One, knocking him off his feet and through another one. Jiraiya, who was now missing an arm, the lower half of his face, and a huge chunk of his torso, sped past the bewildered Helen as he chased after the lion-like Awakened. Paper spilled out of his wounds as it left a trail in his wake. The man was also regenerating much slower now. Fukusaku and Shima were no longer on his shoulders as well, having been sent back by Jiraiya to Mount Myoboku. The reincarnated Toad Sage didn't want them to go through any unnecessary risks, since they were of great importance to Mount Myoboku.
When Jiraiya got to Rigardo, he Spartan kicked the Awakened One through the walls of a nearby house, and followed him out of it, as the building collapsed on top of the other unlucky Awakened Being.
“Just keep her from losing it any more than she already has!” Miria shouted.
“GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING SONOFABITCH!! I’M NOT DONE WITH YOU!” Flora screamed like a rabid dog. Her eyes were aglow with yoki, and were now a demonic gold with vertical slits for pupils, like a feline.
“FLORA!” Clare cried out with wide eyes, as her captain got further and further away from the rest of the group. “Damn it! She’s being lured away from us and she’s too angry to realize it!” The woman looked at Helen and Deneve and said, “We need to get her back here before she gets herself killed, c’mon!”
“Aye! C’mon Deneve, let’s go get Flora before she does something stupid!” Without waiting for an answer the spirited woman dashed after the enraged Number 8. Deneve followed after her best friend without a word and Clare chased after them as well. She didn't want to leave Jean or Miria by themselves either, but they had Zelda and Cynthia with them.
She hoped being seperated from them won’t end up being their downfall…
The remaining Awakened Beings steered clear of the clash between Jiraiya and Rigardo as the two of them continued to duke it out. The latter roared in pain as he was lit ablaze by a massive fireball. The wound that Naruto had given him was only getting worse as their fight continued and the undead sage was taking full advantage of that. But now that he was no longer taking in nature chakra, the man was taking hits too. He was much slower, and his healing was clearly not as fast as before. That was something Rigardo was taking full advantage of whenever he gets the chance.
When Rigardo was lit ablaze, he returned it by spearing the undead sage through the stomach. Jiraiya retaliated by headbutting him and punching the Awakened One in the pelvis, where his godson had wounded him. And when Rigardo roared in pain from both attacks, the latter being much worse than the former, he pulled out his hand from the man’s stomach.
The man now had a massive hole in his stomach. Combined with his missing arm, the lower half of his face, chunks of his torso and now the hole in his stomach, the man looked like he was on his last legs and would keel over any moment. But still, he pressed on.
Blood gushed from a wide-eyed Cynthia’s shoulders and pauldrons. She dropped to the ground like a puppet having its strings cut an awakened being with blades for hands had her blood on them. Jean was next; blood sprayed from her shoulder to her waist and she too dropped like a brick. Zelda cried out in distress upon realizing that she and Miria were the only ones in the area.
“C-captain,” she shouted, “we need to retreat!”
Just then, Rigardo was thrown into a heap before them. And the next thing they knew, a heavily-wounded Jiraiya - who was now missing even more of his torso - was in front of them, driving a full-powered Giant Rasengan into his head. Rigardo’s entire body twitched and spasmed as his entire head was grounded down to a bloody paste.
Just as relief washed over the Number 24, her hopes were dashed; the instant his technique dissipated, a wooden coffin appeared behind him and Jiraiya blinked at it for a moment as he read the kanji.
“Huh… it looks like… I took too much damage.” Jiraiya said, talking even though he had no jaw, or tongue for that matter. He looked at Zelda and Miria apologetically, “I’m...really sorry.” Then the coffin’s door opened and he was snatched up by it; the door closed and the box disappeared with him, soon after.
“...Helen, Flora, Deneve and Clare are down.” A now shaking Miria added moments after the coffin disappeared.
They were alone.
“C-Captain…” Zelda took a deep breath and resigned herself to what may possibly her death. “...it was an honour.” The Awakened Beings menacingly loomed over them.
“....the honour was-”
Pain struck them as they felt their blood gushing out of their wounds… and they dropped like sacks of bricks.
//
Once the last embers of resistance was snuffed out, the remaining Awakened Beings left the ruins of Pieta. Out of the 27 Awakened Beings, only 13 of them were left. Isley of the North and two others left the North shortly afterwards, one being a certain boy that Clare was searching for, and the other being a deceptively powerful Awakened who surpassed the Abyssals in power. A brunette by the name of Priscilla.
The 13 Awakened Beings split into two groups: 6 would be heading to the West to attack Riful and 7 would head on to the East to attack the Organization. Isley on the other hand, unknown to his army, would be heading to the South… to take it from Luciela.
His army was just a distraction and before any of them realize what’s happening, it’ll be too late.
“Hey! Hey! Pervy Sage! What are you gonna be teaching me today?” A 13-year-old Naruto Uzumaki asked his mentor with a wide faced grin. He and Jiraiya were on a three year training trip and are currently out in a cabin in the middle of a woods. Trees could be seen going on for miles in every direction.
Jiraiya was sitting on the cabin’s porch and Naruto, his student and godson, was sitting cross-legged on the ground.
The white haired man let out a boisterous laugh and leaned forward with his hands on his knees. “Today, I’m gonna teach you a very useful technique that will get you outta trouble.” He grinned stupidly, close-eyed and all.
The blond rocked back and forth in excitement. “Really? What is it, what is it?!”
Instead of telling him, Jiraiya decided to show him; he made several hand seals and made sure he made them slow enough for Naruto to see, and when he got to the last one Jiraiya’s appearance had changed.
The light left Jiraiya’s eyes as they dulled and blanked and his skin lost a bit of its pigmentation. Naruto wasn’t good at sensing chakra either, and if he was then the blond would have noticed the man’s chakra was being suppressed to the point only a very skilled sensor could detect it.
The sight surprised Naruto a bit and he quirked his head to the side in curiosity. “What’s that?”
“This is a genjutsu that alters your appearance to make you look like you’re dead.” Jiraiya explained as he gestured to himself. “It’s useful for tricking your opponent into thinking they killed you. With it you can get yourself out of trouble, or, surprise attack them when they get close.”
While Naruto was interested in it, the blond pouted childishly and crossed his arms with a huff. “I can’t do genjutsu though…! I have too much chakra to use ‘em.” He reminded the man with a grumble.
The Toad Sage grinned smugly at that as he cancelled the technique and his features went back to normal. “Then it’s a good thing this jutsu has no limit on how much chakra you can use. It will automatically ‘snuff’ your chakra to the point it’s near undetectable to anyone but the most skilled sensors once it’s used though.”
That perked Naruto right up and he straightened himself up a bit now that the man captured his attention. “How should it be used?”
“‘Playing dead’ - that’s the name of the jutsu - works best if you’ve been ‘hit’ by an attack. It will also help if they’ve drawn blood, it would make the genjutsu look legitimate.”
That confused Naruto. “But, wouldn’t that make the genjutsu useless then?”
“Nope!” Jiraiya grinned. “The way ‘Playing dead’ works is that it doesn’t change any injuries you have. It’ll change your skin complexion the longer it’s on, make your eyes ‘dull’, but it won’t hide any of your wounds. Even better, it will work even if you’re unconscious!”
Naruto’s eyes were positively glinting with eagerness by this point. “Oh wow! How often did you use it?”
“It bailed me out of trouble many times in the past. So it was pretty often back in the day.” The man replied as he rubbed the back of his fingers against his sleeve with a smug grin. “Not many people were smart enough to actually check if I was still alive or not when I used it.”
//
Present time...
In Alphonse, the body of Naruto Uzumaki laid in the snow, staring up at the sky with blank eyes. The blood in the trench he made when Rigardo had thrown him had long since dried up. The Awakened Beings were long gone by this point, and were fighting the Task Force in Pieta.
The faint sounds of combat, crumbling buildings, and screams could be heard coming from the besieged town of Pieta.
His thumb twitches, but the blond didn't move.
While the genjutsu made him appear as if he’s dead, he was actually unconscious. His healing factor had long since kicked in and healed the injury Rigardo had dealt to him. He would still be feeling phantom pains in his side when he wakes up though… and a headache as well in thanks to the rough landing.
But that didn't change the fact that he was still unconscious and at the mercy of the elements around him. And there’s still two more powerful Awakened Ones lurking around.
His thumb twitched again...and Naruto’s hand slowly clenched the snow.
//
In Pieta…
Things were not going well for the Task Force. Out of the 24 women only 17 were still fighting, and thanks to Naruto killing three Awakened Beings prior to getting - unknown to the girls - knocked unconscious by Rigardo, they had lost another 3, giving the opposition 18 out of 27 in total. While the half-breeds were almost evenly numbered with their enemy, they were still outmatched by them. But despite that, they were taking on the Awakened Ones one at a time and using their numbers to get an edge over them.
Jiraiya was no longer on the rooftop as he had taken a couple of Awakened Ones to another part of town to give the girls a small breather. The fact that the man was still invisible when he did it had taken a few of the Awakened Ones by surprise, but they couldn’t act on it because they were beset by the warriors.
Miria bared her grit teeth as she dodged the fist of an Awakened One that smashed into the ground where she was standing. Then she, Queenie and Tabitha all attacked him together; Yuma was on her side on the ground with a gash on her front and a small puddle of blood around her.
She took a quick glance to see how the others were doing. Claudia from Undine’s team was down. Wendy and Karla from Flora’s team were down. Pamela and Matilda from Veronica’s team were down. Them being alive or dead was unknown to the woman thanks to the yoki suppressant they all took prior to the battle.
Off to the side, next to the head of a beheaded Awakened One stood Rigardo; he was no longer in his Awakened form and was butt naked thanks to his transformation destroying his clothes. And the wound Naruto gave him prior to the fight was still there. With a pained look the man observed the warriors that were still fighting.
“One, two, three, four, five…” He counted. “Five strong ones. Each one leading a team to face a single Awakened One and they take them down by working together. Our side has already lost 6, while they lost 7…”
Just as he said that, the yoki aura’s belonging to two Awakened Beings were snuffed out. “No...make that 8 loses for our side now.” That made the total of Awakened Beings left 16 out of 27. His yoki began to spike as he transformed back into his Awakened Form. “Still, we cannot afford anymore losses.”
And when his yoki spiked, Miria was immediately alarmed as were the rest of the Captains.
“No…Rigardo the Lion... he’s… HE’S HERE!” Miria shouted in genuine panic; none of them could take him on! Where was Jiraiya?! Where was he?! He’s their best shot at fighting him!
Suddenly, the still injured Rigardo appeared in front of Veronica and Cynthia startling the two immensely. Veronica was grew wide eyed when she saw him glaring down at her.
“Wha-” Veronica could only stare at him in shock, wide-eyed.
“First one.” He growled interruptingly, and then, Veronica was cut down before she and her teammate could react; her body sliced into three pieces. She was dead before she even felt it.
The way she was taken down had shocked the rest of the Task Force, and Cynthia…
“RAAAAGH!!”
She was rightfully pissed off! When her Captain and friend was cut down before her, the Number 14 immediately tried to avenge her by taking off Rigardo’s head. He leapt back and out of the sword’s reach however, and when he landed, the Awakened One let out a pained grunt and fell to a knee when his pelvic region flared up with pain again.
He was reminded that he still wasn’t fully healed there.
“Damn it!” He grunted.
Then Rigardo quickly looked for his next target, and he moved again, albeit much slower than this time. The Lion-like Awakened One appeared behind Undine and tried to cut her down as well. Due to how slow moving he was however, the muscular woman was able to react in time and block his claws.
Rigardo was in a stalemate…
“You managed to block my attacks? Impressive…” He praised, before overpowering her and severing the woman’s arms at the elbow, shocking her immensely.
“Gah!” Undine cried out in both pain and anger, “D-dammit!”
Then Rigardo sliced her from her shoulder to waist. The woman choked on her own blood, “G-Goddamn it…” Undine wheezed as she fell to the ground on her back.
“CAPTAIN!!” Deneve cried out in dismay; she dashed forth and tried to avenge the Number 11 only for the Awakened One to aim his arm towards her. The next thing that happened was Deneve getting chunks torn off her body and armour and she fell to the ground. She cried out, not in agony, but in anger - Helen had to go and bail her out before Rigardo could finish her off.
“Deneve! Deneve! Deneve!” Helen cried out a little ways out of the way from the fight, her best friend was lying on the floor, bloodied and missing chunks of her body. “Hold on! J-just heal okay!”
“J-just… go and help the others.” Deneve told her friend, panting with grit teeth.
Helen looked at her friend in surprise, but nodded. “Y-yeah! Just lie here and heal up, I’ll be back before you know it!”
And with that, Helen turned to look Rigardo’s direction with a fierce glare before dashing off to rejoin the battle. Deneve let out laboured breaths as she got to work on healing herself.
“Just lie here… and heal. Lie here...and heal.” The woman said to herself, raising a bloodied hand up before pressing the back of her hand against her forehead. “Damnit!” Tears of anguish and frustration began streaming down her cheeks. “Not only did I not avenge Undine, but I was unable to lay a hand on her killer!”
“He’s aiming for the Captains!” Zelda cried out as she recovered from the abrupt takedowns of Veronica, Undine and Deneve. “Just like the Youma Hunter said! Protect them!”
“Where the hell is Jiraiya!?” Miria growled, her eyes were no longer silver but were a demonic gold with the irses slanted like a feline.
Rigardo meanwhile had already gone after his next target: Jean, who was with Clare and Flora.
However, because of his injury to his pelvis the powerful Awakened One wasn’t able to catch Jean by surprise, or get in her face and he was immediately met with obstacles in the form of Helen, Clare and Lily who tried to defend Jean from him.
Helen and Clare tried to attack him at the same time, their faces were slightly distorted as they brought out a little over a quarter of their yoki.
“I don’t have time for small fry.” Rigardo growled, and with that he effortlessly shoved Helen and Clare out of the way, his supernatural strength had thrown the two of them several yards away. Then with Lily he gave her a devastating punch to the face that threw her back into a building with a sickening crack! and then she slumped down to the ground and didn't move from her spot from it.
Jean immediately defended herself from Rigardo and deflected many of his elongated claws with the flat of her claymore. He was unrelenting in his assault, his claws attacked the eyebrowless woman in many directions and was ultimately trying to make her slip. The Awakened One would have impaled her with his clawed hand right when he got an opening and just when he was about to do so…
“RASENGAN!”
He was forced to stop his assault and leap back and out of the way when Jiraiya showed up at the very last second, dropping down from the sky with an all too familiar spiralizing ball of energy in his hand slamming into the ground. The second the Rasengan smashed into the ground, a cloud of dust and smoke shot up into the air concealing the reincarnated shinobi and relieved Jean.
Jiraiya didn't need to yell out his technique when he dropped down from the sky. By doing do he gave away his element of surprise; but the man did it for a reason: by yelling out his attack, it forced Rigardo to jump back, to disengage the obvious one-sided fight with Jean before he could kill her.
“Looks like we got here just in time, Jiraiya-boy.” Fukusaku said as the three fused Sages stepped out of the dust cloud. The dust cloud itself dispersed into the air moments after he walked out of it.
“Not early enough, I’m afraid. A lot of them are dead.” Jiraiya added grimly, just before he stomped the ground and cracked it under his foot. He didn't want to give this fellow the impression that many of them could still be alive - that would ruin the plan Miria came up with after all.
The man gave Rigardo the most vicious glare he had ever given and asked demandingly, “What did you do to my godson?” Shima and Fukusaku were glaring at the Awakened One as well. Neither of them were afraid of the lion-humanoid. After being alive for nearly a millennium there wasn’t a lot that could surprise them, let alone scare.
“G-Godson…?” The revelation that this man was the godfather of Naruto had shocked many of the still conscious women in the Task Force, but none more so than Flora. Even she didn’t know that!
Rigardo paused; after seeing that weird sphere made of energy in that man’s hand, the Awakened One had come to the conclusion - the right conclusion - that the man before him was also his teacher.
So, he decided to tell the truth and not sugarcoat anything. “He’s dead.” He told the reanimated shinobi. “And soon, you all will be joining him.”
Although he could still sense his godson’s chakra, even though it’s being actively suppressed, Jiraiya scowled heavily and clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. Over his dead. Body. Literally at that.
“Jiraiya-boy!” Fukusaku exclaimed with dangerous eyes. Shima had followed suit and gave the Awakened One before her a vicious hiss.
“I know!” The ground cracked even more under Jiraiya’s feet when he bent his knees. Then the man leapt forth with a clenched fist and bared teeth. Rigardo growled and with a pained flinch from the wound on his pelvic region, he leapt back and avoided Jiraiya’s fist.
In retaliation he got up close to the man and dug his claws into his stomach and tore it open. He, along with the still conscious women of the task force recoiled in surprise when they saw paper of all things pouring out of his wound instead of blood.
What the hell?!
Then Jiraiya smashed his fist into Rigardo’s maw and the Awakened One was thrown back across the clearing and into a building. Almost immediately, the hole where his stomach should be started to seal itself back up in an instant, and a very pissed off Jiraiya leapt after him.
Inside the building’s front room, Rigardo grunted as he pushed off the rubble from his body. Then he looked up and rolled out of the way, pain flaring on his pelvis, when he saw the now fully healed Jiraiya coming at him. He got out of the way just in time for Jiraiya’s knee to utterly shatter the ground upon impact, and dust, dirt and splinters shot up everywhere. Rigardo was thrown back, yet again, into a wall only this time the Awakened One managed to stay on his feet.
His pelvis flared with pain again, this time it was even greater than before. That boy did a number on him; it was taking what felt like a damn eternity to heal back up! Were it not for that, this fight would have ended a long time ago!
Jiraiya then stepped out of the dust cloud with his sharp teeth bared at Rigardo.
“Lad! Look there!” Shima said, drawing Jiraiya and Fukusaku’s attention to the still-healing wound on Rigardo’s pelvic region.
Jiraiya let out a smirk, “Heh. Looks like someone’s not fighting to their full capacity.” And he knew what kind of attack leaves a wound like that.
“It looks like Naruto-boy’s managed to hurt him bad before he was taken out.” Fukusaku observed with squinted eyes.
“Which makes our job easier!” Jiraiya yelled with a fierce, terrifying grin. Then he moved and Rigardo had to lean to the side to avoid the fist that punched the wall behind him… and blowing it right off.
The lion got in another hit, this time lengthening his claws and controlling them to stab Jiraiya up through his chin and skull and ripping off his entire face. Jiraiya healed near instanously as he retaliated by grabbing the lion by the neck and tossing him out of the building and into another one. He followed after him, stopped, and Shima opened her mouth and shot out her rapidly growing tongue that grew closed eyes, a mouth, and several warts. That tongue proceeded to coil around Rigardo’s arms and torso and toss him out of the other building, through the wall, and back into the battlefield.
Rigardo rolled and skid along the ground before regaining his momentum and rolled to a stop up onto his hands and knees. The impact hurt his wound more than he would care to admit: it was starting to bleed again.
He heard Jiraiya stepping out of the other building and he looked up at him with a snarl and glare. “What the hell are you? No one, not even those claymores would have survived getting their entire face ripped off like I did to you!”
“I am the product of the Impure World Reincarnation.” Jiraiya brought up his hand to look at it, at the cracks. “A deceased warrior brought back to the world of the living through a living sacrifice. No matter what you do to me, no matter how much damage you’ve dealt me, I will keep on regenerating and I will keep on coming.” He gave the Awakened One a narrow eyed glare. “I can’t die. And you have no way to keep me down - the only one who had the possibility of keeping me down was the one you had killed.”
Rigardo roared defiantly, much like the lion he resembled and sashed forth, looking to test that claim. If he failed, Isley would kill him, so it wasn’t like he had any choice but to keep on going. If what Jiraiya said was true, then he was going to die either way, so he might as well go down fighting!
Before Jiraiya could react, he felt something prick his forehead and then there was a sudden, sharp pain as Rigardo bisected him down the middle. While his Sage Mode was incomplete, he had to admit that was impressive; he can see how his godson had been defeated by him. The man quickly regenerated from the inflicted wound. Jiraiya then grabbed the wrist belonging to the gobsmacked Rigardo, and all male Awakened Beings in the vicinity winced when the reincarnated Shinobi brought his foot up and kicked the lion-like Awakened on the groin in between his thighs.
Rigardo roared in pain and indignation at that, trying to pry his wrist from Jiraiya’s grasp as his claws lashed out all at once. His attack would have slaughtered anyone else.
“I told you: I will keep regenerating.” Jiraiya said as he regenerated over and over and over again from the inflicted injuries given by those claws. Neither he, Shima, or Fukusaku noticed his regeneration was getting a little slow as the assault continued. It was still shockingly fast however, so it was not surprising they didn't notice.
Then Jiraiya opened his mouth and chomped down on Rigardo’s wrist when it got close to punching him again, and tore out a chunk of his flesh and muscle with his sharpened teeth. The Awakened Being let out a roar of pain as purple blood gushed out of the hole on his wrist. He staggered back and focused on healing it while glaring at the man who spat out the putrid flesh like it was rotten meat.
“Impressive powers of recovery,” Fukusaku observantly said as he watched the chunk of missing muscle and flesh heal rapidly before their eyes.
“Yeah. I can see how Naruto had trouble with him.” Jiraiya agreed.
Rigardo appeared in front of him again, ignoring the pain flaring aggressively around his pelvis, and bisected Jiraiya again cutting the man into three pieces like he did to Veronica. He fell on his back with a grunt; Rigardo didn't stop there though he kept attacking the man while he was down, trying his damndest to put the dead nina down for good. He completely ignored Fukusaku and Shima however as he was more focused on the man instead of them. Jiraiya was a much, much bigger threat. It was around this point that Jiraiya finally took notice that his regeneration was beginning to slow down. It was still fast but it was nowhere as instant as before.
The second his legs were healed and reattached, Jiraiya bent his knees, and kicked the still attacking Rigardo away from him. The Awakened One was thrown back 5 yards away before coming to a sliding stop. Jiraiya kicked himself up with a flip and looked at himself with a concerned frown. He was still healing, but it was noticeably slower now.
“Are you okay, Jiraiya-boy?” Fukusaku asked in concern, having noticed it as well.
“Yeah, boss. I am. I don’t feel any different.” His arm regenerated completely and he turned his hand. “My chakra is still normal.”
“Could there be a limit as to how much damage you can take, lad?” Shima asked.
“None that I’m aware of,” Jiraiya replied with a thoughtful frown. “I studied the Second’s technique a while back, just in case it was used against us again. This shouldn’t be happening to my knowledge.”
It’s entirely possible that whoever brought him out of the Pure Land had put a fail safe on him. Outside of Naruto, no one else in this world is capable of using chakra, he’s also unstoppable since he can just regenerate from anything; from cuts, to wounds, to dismemberment, to bisection. So that means outside of Naruto - who can seal him - this world has no way of stopping him permanently.
Either way, his healing slowing down like this only served as incentive to end this fight as swiftly and effectively as possible.
With that in mind, Jiraiya straightened up and prepared for the fight of his unlife.
//
While Jiraiya was fighting Rigardo, everyone else was still fighting for their lives. For Miria this is especially hard because everyone around her was falling like flies as they were getting separated and double teamed.
Team Undine was nearly gone, Deneve was still standing at this point as she had recovered from her wounds inflicted by Rigardo. And Zelda was still standing, though had it not been for Tabitha, who shoved her out of the way of an attack in the nick of time, she would have been on the ground in a puddle of her own blood by now.
Team Jean had also suffered a near total party wipe, having lost Eliza, Emelia, Diana and Natalie.
Team Flora had lost Lily, leaving Clare and Flora the last ones standing in that team.
She herself had suffered a near total party wipe as well, having lost Tabitha and Queenie. The former who took the blow for Zelda after shoving her out of its way.
Team Veronica hasn’t lost anyone else, yet. But the last members of that team Helen and Cynthia were now helping her Miria and Team Flora out.
They lost 17 members of the Task Force in a matter of minutes. Out of 24, only 8 were still combat ready. While her Task Force was falling like flies around her, Miria had mentally noted that Isley’s army had suffered very minimal losses during those minutes - only one dead and a few injuries here and there. Miria had a feeling if Naruto was still around they would be having a much better time with this.
Hell, they might have actually won!
But, he wasn’t here… and to say that Flora was acting irrationally as a result would be one hell of an understatement. The usually-kind and soft-spoken woman, Miria noted, had gone into when she heard Rigardo bluntly state that her boyfriend was dead and there was no getting her out of it . The unbridled fury she exhibited was so out of sudden and character that even several warriors and awakened beings alike were legitimately scared of her, especially after she single handedly reduced a titan-sized Awakened to ground beef.
Even Miria was more worried about her than anyone else. At this rate the woman scorned risked going over her limit.
“Clare,” Miria called out, “Do what you can to keep your captain from Awakening, for the love of all that is pure and sacred!” That was the last thing they needed, right now! Though her rampage had given them one less Awakened Being to worry about and injured several others, the thought of Flora’s rage and grief sending her over the edge made the Number 6 worry for their lives. “Helen, Deneve, cover them and try to keep Flora from getting herself killed!”
“I WILL MURDER-FUCK YOU ALL!!” A vengeful Flora screamed as she chased one frightened Awakened One away with murderous eyes. It would have been a comical sight if not for the circumstances.
“Easier said than done! She’s completely lost it!” Helen shouted, then yelped when she was forced to dodge some blades that tried to bisect her.
Then Rigardo was blown through a building and crashed into that Awakened One, knocking him off his feet and through another one. Jiraiya, who was now missing an arm, the lower half of his face, and a huge chunk of his torso, sped past the bewildered Helen as he chased after the lion-like Awakened. Paper spilled out of his wounds as it left a trail in his wake. The man was also regenerating much slower now. Fukusaku and Shima were no longer on his shoulders as well, having been sent back by Jiraiya to Mount Myoboku. The reincarnated Toad Sage didn't want them to go through any unnecessary risks, since they were of great importance to Mount Myoboku.
When Jiraiya got to Rigardo, he Spartan kicked the Awakened One through the walls of a nearby house, and followed him out of it, as the building collapsed on top of the other unlucky Awakened Being.
“Just keep her from losing it any more than she already has!” Miria shouted.
“GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING SONOFABITCH!! I’M NOT DONE WITH YOU!” Flora screamed like a rabid dog. Her eyes were aglow with yoki, and were now a demonic gold with vertical slits for pupils, like a feline.
“FLORA!” Clare cried out with wide eyes, as her captain got further and further away from the rest of the group. “Damn it! She’s being lured away from us and she’s too angry to realize it!” The woman looked at Helen and Deneve and said, “We need to get her back here before she gets herself killed, c’mon!”
“Aye! C’mon Deneve, let’s go get Flora before she does something stupid!” Without waiting for an answer the spirited woman dashed after the enraged Number 8. Deneve followed after her best friend without a word and Clare chased after them as well. She didn't want to leave Jean or Miria by themselves either, but they had Zelda and Cynthia with them.
She hoped being seperated from them won’t end up being their downfall…
The remaining Awakened Beings steered clear of the clash between Jiraiya and Rigardo as the two of them continued to duke it out. The latter roared in pain as he was lit ablaze by a massive fireball. The wound that Naruto had given him was only getting worse as their fight continued and the undead sage was taking full advantage of that. But now that he was no longer taking in nature chakra, the man was taking hits too. He was much slower, and his healing was clearly not as fast as before. That was something Rigardo was taking full advantage of whenever he gets the chance.
When Rigardo was lit ablaze, he returned it by spearing the undead sage through the stomach. Jiraiya retaliated by headbutting him and punching the Awakened One in the pelvis, where his godson had wounded him. And when Rigardo roared in pain from both attacks, the latter being much worse than the former, he pulled out his hand from the man’s stomach.
The man now had a massive hole in his stomach. Combined with his missing arm, the lower half of his face, chunks of his torso and now the hole in his stomach, the man looked like he was on his last legs and would keel over any moment. But still, he pressed on.
Blood gushed from a wide-eyed Cynthia’s shoulders and pauldrons. She dropped to the ground like a puppet having its strings cut an awakened being with blades for hands had her blood on them. Jean was next; blood sprayed from her shoulder to her waist and she too dropped like a brick. Zelda cried out in distress upon realizing that she and Miria were the only ones in the area.
“C-captain,” she shouted, “we need to retreat!”
Just then, Rigardo was thrown into a heap before them. And the next thing they knew, a heavily-wounded Jiraiya - who was now missing even more of his torso - was in front of them, driving a full-powered Giant Rasengan into his head. Rigardo’s entire body twitched and spasmed as his entire head was grounded down to a bloody paste.
Just as relief washed over the Number 24, her hopes were dashed; the instant his technique dissipated, a wooden coffin appeared behind him and Jiraiya blinked at it for a moment as he read the kanji.
“Huh… it looks like… I took too much damage.” Jiraiya said, talking even though he had no jaw, or tongue for that matter. He looked at Zelda and Miria apologetically, “I’m...really sorry.” Then the coffin’s door opened and he was snatched up by it; the door closed and the box disappeared with him, soon after.
“...Helen, Flora, Deneve and Clare are down.” A now shaking Miria added moments after the coffin disappeared.
They were alone.
“C-Captain…” Zelda took a deep breath and resigned herself to what may possibly her death. “...it was an honour.” The Awakened Beings menacingly loomed over them.
“....the honour was-”
Pain struck them as they felt their blood gushing out of their wounds… and they dropped like sacks of bricks.
//
Once the last embers of resistance was snuffed out, the remaining Awakened Beings left the ruins of Pieta. Out of the 27 Awakened Beings, only 13 of them were left. Isley of the North and two others left the North shortly afterwards, one being a certain boy that Clare was searching for, and the other being a deceptively powerful Awakened who surpassed the Abyssals in power. A brunette by the name of Priscilla.
The 13 Awakened Beings split into two groups: 6 would be heading to the West to attack Riful and 7 would head on to the East to attack the Organization. Isley on the other hand, unknown to his army, would be heading to the South… to take it from Luciela.
His army was just a distraction and before any of them realize what’s happening, it’ll be too late.
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