[Social] Long Time Coming

[Niro]

Tatsuo sat back in the large leather desk chair situated behind his desk full of paperwork at the Tsuchikage Tower. One of the reports he had just read had stopped him in his tracks. It wasn't every day people from his past were listed in these reports. The report had been about a break in and murder of one Fukusha, Jinsai. Tatsuo hadn't known the man personally but knew his most recent lover/girlfriend/fiancé. Akari, Ume.

Kotaru and the girl hadn't worked out for the long term after settling their differences it seemed. The younger Akari had found the girl moved out one day with a note explaining her reasoning and where she had gone off to. To leave her alone.

Tatsuo had been surprised when Kotaru was more okay with it than either of them had anticipated. The younger man wasn't ready for the slow life of making house with her while she found someone who more readily was. Finally, the two were free of her.

Or so they thought.

The report indicated Jinsai had been murdered in the home and then the second inhabitant, Ume, had been taken. There was only one party who could be responsible for this and to those previously involved it was clear as day. The Elders of the Akari clan had orchestrated something. Jinsai previously had history with the clan due to his own brother and it was surprising for both to find him accepting of Ume to such a degree. She had been a target of the Elders previously but with Kotaru's influence they had left her alone. Without him and the protection granted by being with him, they had finally moved against the girl.

Tch. This was something they'd have to deal with personally. Not as Tsuchikage and his Bannin but as Akari, Kotaru and Akari, Tatsuo. He penned a quick letter explaining the situation to Kotaru before handing it off to one of the many starlings hiding within the building due to Natsumi. Within an instant the small bird was off to find Kotaru while Tatsuo prepared himself before departing the tower for the Akari District.

[Kao]

Kotaru had always known there was a chance that he could never fully allow his meticulously constructed walls to come down. When Ume moved in with him, the bannin had danced around the topic of exclusivity. No matter what promises she made, he couldn’t fully commit to the relationship. Part of him couldn’t let go of their tumultuous history, the constant back and forth that left him heartbroken time and time again. Even as he welcomed her into his home and his bed, he privately forced himself to prepare for the very real possibility that things wouldn’t pan out. He hadn’t been ready to fully give himself to her, but he had, at the very least, been willing to try. After all, all he had ever wanted was to be happy. And for a while, they were happy in each other’s arms.

But happiness was fleeting.

The first few months of living together were blissful. Nearly perfect. But it didn’t take long for Kotaru to notice that Ume seemed unsatisfied with their situation. She wanted more. If she could give up old habits and old flings, if she could fully commit, then he should have been able to do the same. But his slightly softened heart was still difficult to penetrate, and whenever doubt and fear crept in he would bury himself inside some other woman. At least he could be completely sure of their intentions. He knew it hurt Ume. It gnawed away at her. But the man justified it by recalling the storm of emotions she’d made him feel for years.

When she left, leaving nothing behind except for a terse, neatly written letter, something within him shut down. The Akari promised himself that it would be the last time. He was masterful when it came to appearing unaffected. Kotaru was ok in the most basic sense. Not happy, not unhappy.

Indifferent.

By the time he told Tatsuo that she had left him - again - the man was completely numb. Some might call it a defense mechanism, a way for the man to cope with having happiness within reach then losing it without warning. Feeling nothing was better than feeling everything.

Instead of facing the disappointment, the hurt, the reality, Kotaru spent his time working and training. He was often at his favorite training grounds, a perpetually on fire cavern deep within one of the mountains surrounding the village. The tiny bird would find him there alone, brooding in the stifling heat. He was unsurprised to see one of Natsumi’s birds delivering a note, but the note’s contents left him dazed.

It was certainly not the first time he was delivered news that Ume was in mortal peril. But unlike the half dozen times before, Kotaru’s expression didn’t change. His hands didn’t shake. His heart didn’t skip a beat, but instead reverberated steadily in his chest like a thundering bell in an empty cathedral.



Minutes later, Kotaru was staring coldly at gates to the Akari compound. It looked the same as always, dark and unwelcoming with a foreboding air. Tatsuo was already waiting, and when Kotaru went to his side he initially said nothing. But eventually he spoke, his voice teeming with venom. “She better not be dead. I made her a promise once and I meant it. If anyone in this fucking clan crosses me, there won’t be anyone left.”

[Niro]

It took Kotaru a minute to open his mouth once he finally arrived but it was about what Tatsuo had expected to come from his younger brother. Especially after all the ordeals the Elders of the Akari clan had already put both of them through. They knew touching Ume would at least piss off Kotaru and had a vague chance of also eliciting the same response from Tatsuo. Unfortunately for them, he was just waiting for a chance to legally move against them. He couldn't go around throwing his weight as Tsuchikage as he pleased with the clans but the fact another clan member was more than likely killed by them gave him plenty enough reason to act.

"Who knows what they've planned with her having an Astrashiin. For all I know, she might be already. Signs of struggle at the home were minimal and they were both skilled Jounin. Whatever dog they sent out to do their dirty work may actually be dangerous." Tatsuo warned the shorter man with a side eyed glance. "I have a feeling we'll find what we're looking for in the Arena."

Tatsuo pushed through the gates to the Akari District and let them ambiance of the zone wash over him. This place had been their home for years. Was their home. He had moved his family out of the District once he had taken the mantle of Tsuchikage under the guise of keeping them close to him but anyone close to him knew it was to keep the Elders filthy hands away from them. Especially after they had orchestrated his brothers death. Tatsuo looked down the main street cutting through the Akari District and in the distance loomed the gray, stone monolith known to the clan as the Arena. The place where Akari stole victory from the jaws of defeat. Where they were slaughtered like animals. A hard look overcame Tatsuo's face as he looked around and noticed no one was lining the street. The usual hustle and bustle of people moving to and fro like a usual day was silent.

"Something is wrong." He muttered as he picked up speed and began to race towards the Arena. As Tatsuo passed each shop and home, his Echolocation reached out and confirmed his suspicions. No one was anywhere. Barely a blur as he dashed towards the Arena, he was surprised to eventually hear the sounds of cheering from within. Usually there were some holdouts who stayed home and continued their days during Arena Days but it seemed the attraction today was enough to draw everybody in. The bad feeling Tatsuo had picked up on earlier only seemed to intensify as they came upon the entry gates for fighters.

It hadn't been the first time the two had seen these gates. Tatsuo placed his left hand against the metal double doors and felt the cool steel against his finger tips and the thrum of the crowd resonated from their seats to his fingers. His head craned over the side of his shoulder to look at Kotaru before he nodded and pushed through the doors and broke into a run down the dark tunnel, past the challengers room, and straight into the Arena proper.

Bright lights welcomed the duo as they entered and the crowd roared once more into applause. Tatsuo looked around and it really did feel like every clan member was here. Finally, his eyes locked onto the cage dangling high above the battleground with a lone still figure trapped within it. The locks of blue hair hanging out of the slots in the cage were enough to convince Tatsuo who it was. At the same time, a microphone cut in and silenced the crowd.

"Thank you one and all for joining us today! Today, an Astrashiin is up for grabs!" The announcer roared from within the sound box and the ground went wild again. "Everyone and anyone is eligible to try! Now that our final contestants, the Tsuchikage and his Right Hand have joined us, we're ready to ruuuuuumble!"

The hard look on Tatsuo's face turned into a frightening snarl as he realized the Elders ploy. Ume was no longer worth their time and effort and it was time to get rid of her. Have someone who they could more easily control and mold consume it and in the process, cut them both down.

From the sides of the Arena, several doors opened to reveal multiple shiin wielding challengers eager to cut through them and claim the Astrashiin above for themselves. Tatsuo's helmet shifted into place, the metal coming up from his chest and along his neck, as his released his own melashiin and temershiin with a small burst of chakra. The almost-black purple appendages slithered free from his waistline and hovered in the air around him as the crowd went wild and the challengers stepped forward.

[Kao]

Kotaru bristled. The Arena was easily his least favorite place on the planet. The memories he’d made within those walls were formative and traumatic, and he had avoided that hellhole for years now. “Something’s always wrong in this place,” he retorted bitterly through clenched teeth. As Tatsuo raced through the streets, Kotaru took to the rooftops and followed closely behind. He too saw no one in the streets, nor could he detect anyone in their houses. The realization that everyone must be in the Arena twisted his stomach into a loose knot made of dread.

He landed next to Tatsuo soundlessly, glaring up at the entrance. He followed his Tsuchikage - his elder brother - down the narrow tunnel. Unlike years ago when they had made the trek alone, one after the other, they raced down the dimly lit path together. United.

After his eyes quickly adjusted to the bright lights, his gaze moved first to the crowd then to the cage hanging above them. The younger bannin heard nothing the announcer said after the word astrashiin. The voice was drowned out by a deafening high-pitched ringing when he saw that unmistakable blue hair. Kotaru’s breathing hitched, his glare darkened, and every fiber within him radiated murderous intent.

The man’s melashiin and eroshiin bloomed, his stare still glued to the cage. Only when several doors opened did his gaze break, and he immediately flew into a set of seals as the dozens of Akari started to pour out of the tunnels. There were thirteen tunnels in all, though the one that the brothers had emerged from was already sealed shut. It was safe to say that once their opponents filled the arena floor, those doors would close as well. The Elders didn’t intend for anyone to leave once the carnage began.

Kotaru raised his arms to either side of his body and a condensed, intensely swirling sphere of flames quickly formed in each palm. A column of flames erupted from each of his hands, one barrelling towards the tunnel to the immediate right of the one the two bannin had exited; the other headed for the one at the opposite end. There was a brief moment of chaos as the challengers scrambled to get out of the flames. A few agonized screams graced Kotaru’s ears, their pain fueling him and his rage. On the opposite end of the arena floor, the column had more distance to travel. It gave them just enough time to react. There was a thunderous roar as the fire made contact with a barrier, and the jutsu sizzled and steamed at the point of impact.

’Suiton. Fuck.’ They had come prepared. It was no secret, after all, that Kotaru was a master of katon techniques. Undeterred, Kotaru flexed his wings and flew upwards. She was in there. The man didn’t want to imagine what kind of torture they had subjected her to after they captured her. Whatever they did to her, he would inflict that upon the Elders ten times over. The katon pouring from his hands stopped momentarily so he could grab on to the cage and hopefully find the strength to rip the door off its hinges.

Watching from above, one of the Akari elders grinned. Foolish boy.

As soon as he touched the cage, wave after wave of electricity shot through the young bannin’s body. His vision went white, his mind blanked, and his entire body shook from the sudden assault on his body. Kotaru then went rigid, and he struggled to remain conscious as he fell to the arena floor.

JutsuShow

Twin Flames
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
After performing the needed hand seals, Kotaru clenches his hands into claws and holds them up. A swirling jet of flames will erupt from each hand and move in a spiral pattern. This jutsu lasts up to three posts.

[Niro]

The air around them was electrified by the emotions of the crowd. All around them the patrons were going wild, screaming obscenities and booing as loud as they could at the two. Tatsuos eyes swept over the overly rambunctious crowd and his heart dropped as he recognized faces within it. Friends and their families they had grown up with were cheering on for their death. The crazed look in their eyes, near-frothing of the mouths, and sheer intensity of their bloodlust was enough to convince him something was wrong with everyone in the crowd. A wide scale genjutsu cast over the crowd was the only thing Tatsuo could deduce for what was going on. Whatever genjutsu was affecting them right now, his only shot was for Kotaru to override it with one of his own but right now they were a bit busy as the contestants moved to swarm them.

Kotaru moved first, firing off two blasts of flames to each side of the Arena. The first blast of flames had struck true and washed over a group of competitors. Quickly Tatsuo could smell their clothes and flesh burning as they tried to scream but the smoke from their own charred flesh choked them. The other side was more fortunate and someone had put up a barrier strong enough to deny Kotaru's jutsu. In a flash the younger Akari had flown upwards towards the cage containing the "prize" and was rewarded with enough volts of electricity to light up the Arena for a brief moment before beginning to fall.

Tatsuo leapt upwards with a curse escaping his lips to catch Kotaru and activated the flight function of his greaves at the apex of the jump with Kotaru in his grasp. The two hovered in the air for a moment as Tatsuo shook and slapped Kotaru on the face just hard enough to get him to focus and shake off the jolts. Below them the combatants began to charge chakra in preparation for a barrage of jutsu.

"Cast something to put the crowd to sleep! They're mine!" Tatsuo snarled as he let Kotaru go and dive bombed the gathered crowd below them. Jutsu after jutsu were fired off at him as he soared downwards only to be reflected entirely by [Ananta] or slowed and batted away. He impacted the Arena floor like a meteor and the ground rumbled and roiled as if it was ocean itself before the floor shattered and dust and debris filled the air.

[Kao]

Before Kotaru could crash into the ground and into danger, Tatsuo snatched him from midair. The slap was an interesting strategy, but it had the desired effect. The younger Akari brother groaned, his hands and melashiin still trembling from the overwhelming voltage that protected the cage. Of course they would do that. The Elders knew that Kotaru’s first priority would be to rescue Ume. They believed that only after assuring her safety would he commit to raining down hellfire and destruction upon the clan.

They miscalculated.

Though he was still a bit dazed and shaken, Kotaru pulled himself together well enough to form a string of hand seals. His wings beat powerfully as he hovered in the shadow of Ume’s cage. Rage and fire soon illuminated his features, his eyes fiercely burning as he completed the seals and simultaneously manifested his lacrishiin. A sphere of wildly rotating flames surrounded him, shielding him and leaving him only partially visible, as he then moved into a much longer and much more complicated set of hand seals. If Tatsuo wanted the crowd to sleep, he would gladly oblige, though it would take some time.

Below, dozens of combatants attempted to surround the Tsuchikage. Within the crowd there were weapons drawn, hand seals formed, and the subtle glow of chakra as some of them channeled. Most people cowered in the presence of Tatsuo and were paralyzed by the mere thought of going up against them, but these men and women were emboldened. Feral. Kotaru expected they were under a genjutsu that made them fearless. Perhaps it made them reckless as well.

More than half of the crowd began to converge on Tatsuo. Dozens of shuriken and kunai flew towards him, followed swiftly by two massive bolts of lightning and a column of swirling water in the shape of a dragon’s head. Others turned their attention to Kotaru, launching projectiles and blades of wind. The weapons thrown at the man were incinerated, while the fuuton simply fed the flames.

Enemy JutsuShow

*Raiton • Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunderous Bombardment
A-Ranked Ninjutsu
This technique visibly charges electricity for a single moment after the user performs their hand seals. Once this moment is over, it fires a massive column of lightning in a single direction, forming a cylinder with a 30m radius that extends up to 65m from the user's position. This cylinder travels at [45] Speed and erupts on contact with [45] Strength. (x2 from two different people)

*Suiton • Water Dragon Projectile
B-Ranked Ninjutsu
After performing the correct hand seals the user creates a dragon head of water. Once it has been created, the user can launch the three-meter diameter projectile towards a target at [Control] Speed and Strength for up to 40 meters. Following the head is a long body and tail, stretching nearly six-meters. During the course of it's travel, the user may alter the course of the dragon three times, allowing it to complete a U-turn per alteration.

*Fuuton • Godly Mountain Wind
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
After forming the necessary hand seals, the user will thrust their hands forward as a vortex of wind blasts through with [45] Speed. The vortex's direction can be controlled. The control, however, is limited; it can only be moved in a 45 degree angle, up to three times. A hit from this vortex packs a large push back force, though the person can avoid being pushed back with more than [45] Strength. Control of this Jutsu fades after two posts and spans an area 3m wide and up to 25m in length. Direct hits result in long but shallow cuts on the victim's body, covering the whole radius of the techniques point of contact, no deeper than half an inch.

Kotaru JutsuShow

Demon’s Encampment
A-Ranked Ninjutsu
After performing the needed seals, Kotaru creates a swirling spherical mass of flames around him. The flames swirl at [Control] speed and have [Control] strength. The sphere is capable of being up to 20 meters in diameter. The jutsu lasts up to6 posts or until dispelled.

Temple of Silence
S-Rank Warp Genjutsu
This is a technique that allows the user to affect a large body of people. After performing the needed hand seals, Kotaru performs a katon technique. Anyone who sees the flames of the technique will fall under the genjutsu. Once the genjutsu is activated, the targets will see dark, thick smoke for one full post. Due to the nature of the technique, if a target realizes this is a genjutsu, they only need a Willpower stat of 20 to break out of it. Otherwise, the targets will fall into a state of unconsciousness at the end of the second post.

[Niro]

Tatsuo felt the ground buckle beneath his feet as he landed like a meteor from the heavens. The concrete making up the floor of the Arena shattered and exploded into fine dust as the shock reverberated throughout the entire structure. The emboldened Akari who tried to swarm him upon landing were thrown away by the force as if they were leaves in a storm. Tatsuo's right arm shot through the dust and debris shrouding his form and violently grabbed the face of an incoming clan member coming from his left. With a flick of his wrist, the man was taken off his feet and thrown backwards through the crowd before impacting through the seating surrounding the Arena and disappearing entirely. His left arm came from below, his hand balled into a tight fist as it shot through the chest of the next clan member in reach.

The incoming hail of shuriken and kunai along with the lightning bolts and dragon head met the border of the Dominion formed by [Ananta]. Tatsuo allowed the Raiton jutsu to pass through the zone as if it wasn't there before each were met with melashiin tentacles shrouded in intense air pressure generated as the limbs rushed forward to intercept the jutsu. The lightning bolts were deflected into the storm of projectiles and the dragon head with great effect. The Suiton jutsu lost its form and gallons of water crashed to the floor useless while the projectiles lost their momentum and clattered to the soaked floor. Tatsuo stomped his left foot against the ground and once more caused it to tremble and shake as if the very world was being torn apart.

The melashiin not preoccupied with deflecting jutsu shot outwards into the crowd of Akari clan members and swept them to the sides while biting and eating through those who decided to attack them. Tatsuo leapt into the crowd as they fought against Kotaru's genjutsu, his fists not caring who or what they encountered while his shiin ran wild. Only once the crowd stopped, would he.

"Look at them go!" The announcer cried from his safe spot in the box as the cage holding Ume dropped for a moment before beginning to wind itself back up into the ceiling and away from them.

[Kao]

As Tatsuo dealt with the crowd, Kotaru peered down at him and their foes through the occasional space between his swirling flames. It was only a matter of time before his genjutsu took full effect. The Encampment provided protection for the time being, but perhaps more valuably it gave him a moment to think. This kind of operation had to have taken weeks, if not months, of planning. To get even half of the clan together in one place peacefully was quite a feat, so to get the majority of the clan into the Arena was almost unfathomable. But the Elders had succeeded, no doubt using both Tatsuo's and Ume's astrashiin as irresistible enticements.

It was treason. The village was in the midst of war and expansion, yet the Akari clan prioritized their own selfish gain over the needs of village. Instead of being proud of Tatsuo for becoming Tsuchikage they despised him and cursed him for falling completely out of the clan's control. This was all about punishing the both of them for daring to break free from the chains of their clan. The thought enraged Kotaru, and it took a significant amount of effort to not fall completely into his fury and join his brother in the onslaught. But his resolve cracked when a metallic creak sounded above his head, and his draconic gaze shot upwards towards Ume's cage as it dropped and then rose toward the ceiling. As if on cue, as Kotaru's rage spilled over and seemed to engulf every cell in his body, his Silence fell over the arena. Just over three-quarters of the clan collapsed where they stood and feel into a deep, dreamless slumber. The rest of them had already broken themselves out of the jutsu, many of them grinning triumphantly because they were still standing.

The flames around Kotaru disappeared with a loud whoosh, whipping the man's hair violently around him as he flew up and above the cage while forming a short set of seals at blinding speed. He pointed and aimed downward at the four chains holding up the cage at its corners, pausing for only a second to allow chakra to form at his fingertips. Before he could fire, a kunai four timesthe usual size flew toward his chest. Even through the din of the chaos the man's ears piqued at the sound of it approaching him, and just before it could pierce his abdomen his melashiin intercepted and took the hit instead. Unfazed, Kotaru then aimed upward and quickly scanned for the gears that were raising his former girlfriend's cage. A single well-aimed shot was all it took to disable the gears and stop Ume from disappearing into whatever room lay above.

Rage bloomed and erupted in his chest. Kotaru ripped the kunai from his shiin without so much as a wince. Blazing seafoam green eyes locked onto the announcer's box, and the blade of the weapon in his hand turned molten red. "Look out folks, the stray that the infamous Kage took in is upset! But the astrashiin is still safe and yours for the taking if you can take down these two bastards! These two are all that's standing in the way of Miss Ume's beautiful astrashiin!"

His already shaken composure cracked even more. Faster than the announcer could blink Kotaru was in his face, separated by only a nearly transparent blue barrier between them. The man, pallid and gaunt, grew even whiter at the bannin's sudden proximity. Choking on his words, he could only watch at Kotaru reared back and slammed the red-hot kunai into the chakra barrier. When he composed himself a bit, the announcer taunted, "Looks like even a spoiled bannin can't break our Elder's shield! Not only that folks, but our prize is now unguarded!" As he spoke Kotaru gripped the kunai with both hands and, without breaking eye contact, flooded the kunai with katon chakra. The announcer stopped mid-sentence as he watched Kotaru drop down and out of sight, and the glowing chakra on the kunai grew more and more unstable. He'd have no time to run. Seconds later, the kunai exploded, shattering the barrier around the announcer's perch.

Kotaru had every intention of ripping the announcer's head from his body. But he couldn't yet turn his attention fully away from his brother and Ume. Two hooded figures stood in the stands side by side, watching Tatsuo just as intently. Their hands were locked into a seal, and as Tatsuo rampaged through the crowd with blood and gore in his wake, the two slammed their hands to the ground. An enormous cloud of smoke erupted briefly filled the arena. The area around the figures had changed for several dozen feet in all directions. Anyone well versed in tenkujutsu would be able to tell they had summoned a fraction of a realm, and within it was a gigantic spirit in the form of a spider's abdomen. The rest of the beast's body was hidden in a burrow beneath them. Almost immediately, a sticky web shot outwards and began to spread, threatening to coat the entire arena.

Kotaru JutsuShow

Bursting Finger Pellet
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After forming the needed seals, Kotaru extends his pointer finger and a small ball of chakra roughly 2 inches in diameter will form at the end of it. The chakra can be launched at a speed equal to his control, and can travel up to 10 meters. The chakra will burst on contact, and the sound will cause discomfort in the ears for 2 posts.

Trained Ears
B-Ranked Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisite: [Perception] Concentration
Kotaru’s sharp senses allow him to pick up on slight sounds within a 40 meter radius of himself. This can range from the sound of a weapon being drawn, a projectile in flight or subtle footsteps and sounds of light breathing. In terms of eavesdropping he can discern a conversation at such a range as if he were standing next to the person whom is speaking.

Natural Defensive Awareness
C-Ranked Taijutsu Discipline
Kotaru has mastered the art of simultaneously using multiple limbs. While is he is aware of his surroundings he is able to coordinate his melashiin tendrils respond to surrounding stimuli defensively without requiring to entirely take his attention away from any one target This will work as long as he is entirely aware of his surroundings. This also allows for defensive counterattacks with his melashiin.

*Katon • Heated Blade
D-Rank Ninjutsu
By channeling katon chakra into a metal weapon or blade, the user will cause it to grow hotter and cover the blade in flames. The imbued weapon will be able to carve through defenses of [Control] or less strength with ease.

SpiderShow

Endurance: 45
Strength: 45

Onigumo's Web
S-Ranked Jutsu
Spider uses its web to coat a large area. The web has 35 strength/durability. For each post the web is active, it strengthens by 5 strength. Those who are caught in the web are not only held with the web's strength but they also suffer a continuous willpower debuff of -8 for up to 5 posts.

[Niro]

Tatsuo's mind wandered back to when he had first Ume while his body and shiin fought the remaining combatants on autopilot. They and another Akari genin were on a simple mission to kick off their careers as shinobi to help with some form equipment in the villages outskirts. The other Akari genin who had tagged along with them was far too far cocky and had paraded himself around like an expert but had gotten caught by one of the machines leaving him to become horribly mutilated as his head and shoulders were ripped from his spine and he died on the spot. The gore and viscera weren't the norm for Ume just then compared to Tatsuo who had already numerous shiin and she had to be coached through searching for and consuming any shiin that had been left behind. Tatsuo guided her in searching through the remains and then as she choked down the shiin sac with tears in her tears as its disgusting taste and texture overtook her senses. It was the moment that had led to their friendship and eventual relationship with her. Ume was the first girl he had laid with and he her first as well. When he had realized what was going on between her and Kotaru his heart shattered into microscopic pieces it took years to put back together.

Betrayed by her and his adopted brother, the then-young man had thrown himself into missions and illegal fight clubs beneath the village to keep his mind off of what was going on between them. While he wasn't fighting someone or something, alcohol was always in hand and consumed in copious amounts as a way to sleep and forget. It had taken him years with help from others to have gotten over it and move on. Tatsuo steeled his heart and closed it off to her. From there, he would see her name here and there when it came across missions reports as he became a Bannin and then the Tsuchikage but otherwise he kept contact to non-existent. The walls and grudge he still had within him when it came to her only recently disappeared after he had awoken from the come sustained as a result of fighting in the Great War.

Tatsuo, upon waking up, had bound from the hospital and towards the mountain peaks to test his body and get a feel for his legs again. Ume had been the jounin dispatched to reign him in and escort him back to the hospital. She probably thought he didn't notice it was her due to the hair and clothing changes but the smell of her shampoo stayed the same after all the years had gone by. After the horrors of war, it was like a mountain was lifted off his shoulders to see one of the people he had grown up with had survived.

Now?

Tatsuo was almost positive Ume was dead and her body just dumped in the cage to bait them in. Keeping her alive and possibly able to be rescued when they were taking their final gamble? It didn't seem likely. For the Elders to launch such an operation and attack not only a Bannin but the Tsuchikage himself? It was treason, no if's, and's, or but's. They would be purged by the end of the day and a new dawn would come for the clan no longer puppeted by their corruption. He wasn't sure how the clan would move forward; elect new Elders or chose a different method of leadership?

Tatsuo was interrupted from his thoughts by the explosion caused by Kotaru's infused kunai and once more focused on the carnage around him for just a moment; limbs were strewn across the stands and puddles of blood were drying up where combatants met their end. His melashiin tentacles were tearing through and eating every shiin of the fallen clan members around him as the cloud of smoke erupted and filled his vision. Tatsuo leapt upwards and into the air as the smoke cleared and a sneer came across his face. He really hated giant spiders and other pests after having to heal with the ones down in the Catacombs.

The Tsuchikage watched as the spinneret spat silk across the strands and Arena like a wave of white as it covered everything on the ground. The spectators who had fallen asleep were easily entombed in the silk while those who were still alive and awake did their best to fight free of the web. Some were able to free themselves but others slowly yet surely struggled to the point of exhaustion and were also swallowed up. As he hovered in the open air space of the Arena, Tatsuo watched as it covered everything. Sure, he could slash and hack his way through it but it'd take forever to actually reach the spider. The best bet was to allow the enraged firebug, other known as Kotaru, to burn it all away. They could deal with the potential burns of the entrapped later.

"Kota! Burn this shit away!" Tatsuo called out as his fists began to glow with a purple fire in preparation to punch the spider right back to where it came from.

[Kao]

He didn't need to be told twice.

From the moment they'd found Ume helpless and caged, Kotaru wanted nothing more than to annihilate everyone within the Arena. Every breath they took was an affront against him. Every clan member that had conspired and schemed would suffer. In that moment all of the hatred that had festered within him for decades condensed in his gut, and he knew he could finally release it in its entirety. The bannin's hands twisted into a set of familiar hand seals. This pattern of seals was among his favorite; every time he had formed them in the past he had been able to unleash a small fraction of his fury. Now as he contorted his hands and felt his chakra mold within him, Kotaru knew there would be no need to hold back. The only two people he intended to spare were hovering in the air with him.

Kotaru dedicated a large amount of chakra to this technique. In exchange, his jutsu would be strengthened far beyond its normal capabilities. The bannin inhaled deeply and raised his arms at his sides, holding his hands open with his palms facing inward. His blackened fingers looked more like the claws of a demon than those of a man. When he exhaled, years worth of wrath and resentment flowed out of him as white-hot flames. The conflagration quickly covered the arena floor and several Akari were immediately reduced to ashes. It then slowly spread to the spider silk. At first the silk seemed as though it would hold despite the flames. Had Kotaru not strengthened the technique, perhaps it would have maintained its form and resisted. But the fire was more powerful than the summoners and their massive spider had expected, and the fibers simply couldn't hold. The silk blackened and collapsed as it burned. Those pitiful Akari who had been wrapped like prey were slowly roasted alive.

The smell of burning flesh and spider silk filled the already stifling air. Kotaru paused his flames momentarily, and a hoarse bark of a laugh escaped his lips. The man watched as the fire traveled up the spider's fibers and into the stands, and the few still-conscious spectators cried out and screamed as it quickly became evident that they weren't exempt from the man's fury. His eyes devoured the scene laid out in front of him, and he wanted nothing more than for the terrified and agonized screams to crescendo and eventually cease. Despite the hellish flames, the spider and its masters remained on the Arena floor. The two summoners still held one of the other's hand to hold a seal, while their free hands were extended at their side to hold up a protective barrier around them.

[Niro]

With over a decade of teamwork established and under their belts between the two, Tatsuo didn't have to wait long for his call out to be rewarded. He felt the build up of chakra, so great it could be felt even though he wasn't a sensor, before the flames were released from Kotaru's jaws and swept through the entire Arena floor and stands. The sea of Kotaru's white hot rage churned and roiled below him as Tatsuo just watched from above. The flames were so intense the stone making up the stands and floor began to pop and crack; the noise adding to the chorus of burning traitors and spiders silk. Screams were stolen from the lungs of those who hadn't been reduced to ash immediately as the very air around them turned their throats into sandpaper and burnt away their lungs. Electricity crackled around Tatsuo's feet as he launched himself like a missile towards the spider spirit and its realm summoners who had been able to erect a barrier in time before Kotaru's flames had been able to reach them with the intent to use the still raging flames as insurance the arachnid wouldn't be able to entangle him with its silk, if it could even produce any after the flames swept over it.

The raging purple flames surround his fist only seemed to glow brighter as he approached the barrier and reared his fist back to build up enough force to shatter the barrier in one blow. Tatsuo crashed into the barrier like a meteor, the impact enough to blow away the flames surrounding the immediate area, his fist launching forward with the intent to vaporize the duo as he did so. The barrier groaned and bent under the force of the blow for a moment before shattering like glass and a concussive blast exploded forward. The robed pair tried to scream but it was cut short as they too were turned to ash. The realm surrounding them began to falter and melt away as the source of the chakra keeping it here was no more. Tatsuo looked at the disgusting and burnt corpse of the summoned spider before his gaze turned to the cage hanging in the center air space of the Arena.

Once more the cage lurched but rather than go upward, it went into freefall and crashed into the Arena floor where its door opened with a bang. A bad feeling crept over Tatsuo as he dashed down the stands and into the Arena floor, flames still here and there as they burned away any remnants of webbing. It didn't matter who got there first because the view was the same; Ume was still and there was no sign of life. Rather, it seemed she had been dead for a few days, at least. Stitches littered her body, the most gruesome on her forehead, where shiin could be extracted. Tatsuo's blood ran cold at the sight and it felt like he had been punched in the gut. All he could do was stare and blink, his mind blank.

As the flames died down, one final gate began to rise at the far end of the Arena.

A woman with two-tone black and white hair split down the middle and red and black eyes walked out from entrance with a wide smile on her face, revealing the sharpened teeth filling her mouth. Akari, Yuuki. The former nemesis of Ume; the woman was the former lover of Ume's first bodyguard Koyama who passed away during an attempt on her life. The woman had also been the one to hunt down and eat the brother of her second bodyguard and lover, Fukusha, Jinsai. Ume challenged her in battle and rather than kill her, she left alive after her defeat as a form of humiliation. The Elders had seen the festering rage built up within the woman and had saved her after her loss by healing her from the brink of death. The bound her with fuuinjutsu, seals covering the majority of her skin, and fed her to the brim with shiin to make her their ultimate weapon. They had even brought Ume before the woman and let her torture the bluenette before extracting her astrashiin and others for her to consume.

"She was delicious~"

[Kao]

Kotaru was so focused on his fiery revenge that he didn't hear the metallic groan as the chains and gears weakened. He didn't hear them finally snap, sending the cage plunging down. Only when the cage crashed to the burning arena floor did the bannin's glare tear away from the burning bodies and his brother's carnage. His stomach lurched as he flew down, far too late to catch it and soften the landing. At worst, he thought, Ume would be banged up from the impact. But she was strong. She had always been strong. Even if she had been tortured beforehand, a fall that was only a few dozen feet down wouldn't kill the woman.

All thoughts that she was okay vanished when he saw her body. Ume was beyond broken. She was mutilated, beaten, burned, and the burns weren't fresh so they weren't his doing. His seafoam green eyes blanked when he saw her condition. The woman was dead. She had been dead long before he and Tatsuo were notified of her capture, long before they made the trek to the Arena to save her. Ume had already been dead for days when he had arrived. There had never been a chance to save her. Suddenly, Kotaru could hear nothing but the rush of blood through his ears. His body shook and his legs went completely numb, and he found himself suddenly on his knees and clutching her lifeless body to his chest.

He screamed, but he couldn't hear the sound of his own throat tearing.

---

"I still owe it to the clan, Kota. They deserve this clinic. They deserve my help. Our clan can be so much better if we just try." Akari Ume stood over a hot stove, expertly tossing a pan of vegetables to stir fry them. Her brows were furrowed in irritation as she and Kotaru rehashed the same argument. It had been months since she'd moved into his home far from the Akari clan compound. At first she was more than okay with it. It had given her time to rekindle her relationship with Kotaru and prove to the man that she was ready to settle down with him. Although he didn't say it, she could tell he didn't quite believe her. He didn't have to say it; whenever they got into a pretty bad argument he'd leave for a day or two, and she knew he disappeared so he could forget his problems by seeking comfort in some other woman's bed. She never brought it up, but he knew that she knew it was happening. And what could she say about it? She'd put him through hell since they were kids by being hot and cold with him, by leaving him over and over again whenever things got too hard and scary. But she knew that despite his inability to cope in a healthy way, the green eyed bannin still loved her more than anything. It hurt her, sure, but they meant nothing to him and he always came home because she was his home.

"You don't owe them a damn thing," Kotaru countered, doing his best not to raise his voice at her. He sat atop the dining table with his arms folded across his chest. "You're just an astrashiin to them. The only reason they haven't tried to really force you to play their games is because you're tied to me."

"Tied to you." She echoed him with bitterness in her voice. She didn't like the way he worded that. She didn't like how their relationship was going - how he had yet to fully commit to her and support her plan to move the clan in a kinder direction. He was the most stubborn person she had ever met, and Ume was starting to remember all the reasons they had never worked. She loved Kotaru tremendously, but they saw the world differently. Despite all her hardships she still had hope for her brethren. Kotaru had long ago abandoned the idea that their clan could be helped and redeemed.

"Yes, tied to me. Even when you weren't living with me even when we weren't together they knew better than to touch you. Ume look at me." She hesitated, but when he repeated himself she finally looked up and met his eyes. They were always so expressive now. Lately when she looked at his eyes she saw so much devotion that it scared her. She saw how much he cared for her. This time was no different. But mixed in with that love she could see the hatred toward the clan that he had nurtured since his parents first rejected him for having an undesirable shiin. "Forget about them. All they want to do is hurt us - hurt you. And I swear to every god out there, Ume. If the clan ever hurts you, I'll make sure there's nothing left."

---

When he opened his eyes, Kotaru initially only saw his own dying flames surrounding him. A small part of him wanted to close his eyes and never open them again. But as soon as the thought formed, something stronger within him snuffed it out. He straightened his back and looked down at Ume's ruined face, and a mixture of horror and disgust shot into his throat like acid. The feeling churned and morphed, and it was quickly saturated with rage. As he set her body down and turned to the newcomer, her words belatedly registered in his head. And then his mind went blank again. That woman's face was familiar to him, but in that moment he was beyond reason.

He would make sure that he was the last person she would ever see.

[Niro]

Tatsuo was no stranger to friends and family dying; the Arena made him well acquainted with it from a young age and the Great War only helped to reinforce how horrible life could be later on. It never got easier having to bury comrades. His eyes swept over Ume's broken and tortured form. Injuries covered her body from simple cuts to burns done with Gods knew what. Whoever had done it had a deep seated grudge and it was obvious from just a glance. Tatsuo felt like a cold bucket of water was tossed on him as the woman across from them heavily implied she was the one to have done it. Kotaru's screaming as he desperately clutched at Ume's body was drowned out by the pounding in his ears as Tatsuo rocketed forward with a pained roar, his fists primed to pummel the woman into paste for what she had done.

The rage clouded Tatsuo's mind as he closed in and was intercepted by a mass of melashiin tentacles spawned from the woman's body. Each of the melashiin were strong, as strong as he was, and there was plenty of them to push him back. The two collided for a moment before Tatsuo was sent flying back and into one of the walls which crumbled down into a pile of rumble atop of him. Lying underneath the broken pieces of the wall, Tatsuo let loose a groan as he used the blossoming pain in his chest to focus his mind away from his seething rage. The woman had plenty of shiin and with Ume's astrashiin, she was free to combine them with each other to make whatever just like he was. This would probably be the closest thing to fighting himself he'd ever encounter. He'd have to really knuckle down to come out of this one on top, especially with Kotaru as he was.

Meanwhile, Yuuki giggled before it erupted into a full blown maniacal laugh. The Elders had promised her power, enough power to make anyone bow before her and now she had just sent the Tsuchikage flying. The forest of melashiin tentacles surrounding her snaked across the ground and the air, ever present. She held her scarred arm out and a phasmashiin in the shape of a large launcher spawned from it. The dergoshiin she had combined with it upon consuming Ume's astrashiin and the dergoshiin the bitch had pulled from her was able to fire high powered shots from it with ease. The barrel of the appendage began to glow and crackle with electricity as Yuuki charged it with a Raiton jutsu. Small lightning bolts lanced off of it and struck the ground where it cracked from the amount of energy coming off of the attack.

"Die!" Yuuki screamed as the attack reached its full power and she prepared to fire it off.

[Kao]

Kotaru's pulse spiked when Tatsuo charged forward and was quickly thrown backwards. Who was this monster - this bitch - who could go toe to toe with Tatsuo? In that instant it didn't matter that she had physically bested the elder Akari brother. With a rush of chakra, Kotaru manifested every shiin he housed in his body. Already present were the eight dark red tentacles from two melashiin sacs and the brilliant blue-green wings of his eroshiin. Now he boasted a long and powerful rusty orange temershiin that split into two tails, one with a needle-sharp end and the other curved and scorpion-like; the sturdy armor of his violet-speckled blue lacrishiin; and finally, the deep purple beak-like protrusion from his forehead that was his derghoshiin. The man could count on one hand the number of times he had ever used the derghoshiin. He had hated it from the moment he obtained it. It represented the Akari clan's precious castes, the shiin that was second only to the coveted astrashiin. Kotaru had always told himself he would never obtain the ultimate prize of the astrashiin. But now, facing Yuuki, he wanted nothing more than to rip the shiin from her head and, just maybe, take it as his own.

Kotaru opened his mouth and exhaled, and flames swirled and condensed over his body to form a second layer of armor. He took a slow step forward, then another, each movement leaving a blazing print in his wake. He again drew upon his chakra and forcefully directed it through his chakra network, this time charging every muscle and every nerve of his body. His reactions would be faster, his movements sharper. His chakra reserves took a hit, but chakra reserves be damned. He was focused on destroying this woman and nothing else.

The young bannin rushed forward, his sight tunneling as he stared down Yuuki's cracking phasmashiin. The woman cackled wildly as she raised her weapon. She seemed to be focused on Tatsuo; he was certainly the bigger, more dangerous target. No matter where she aimed her phasmashiin, Kotaru took one step forward. Then he took another, leaving fiery footprints in his wake. On the third step he took off, dashing directly toward her in one leap. Eyes drenched with rage and moving much faster than he was used to, he thought nothing of the danger of directly facing off with the woman who could knock even Tatsuo off his feet.

[Niro]

In the darkness of the rubble, Tatsuo focused. He calmed the rage coursing through his veins turning his heartbeat into a drum so loud it drowned out all else. He couldn't fight like this, all riled up and not in control of himself. Apparently there was a part of him deep down that still cared about Ume and seeing her murderer was enough to immediately set him off like dynamite. The rubble laid against the armor covering his body as he could hear the sizzle of electricity even beneath all the stone as Yuuki charged her dergo-phasmashiin with chakra. A cold fury spread throughout his body as Tatsuo willed himself forward once more.

The swarming mass of melashiin tentacles met the flaming form of Kotaru head on with a simple command from Yuuki. They collided with the Bannin as if they were a brick wall before they began to sizzle and explode from the heat of the flames surrounding the teal haired man. The tentacles burned away to ash but not before pressing back against Kotaru even harder to prevent him from reaching Yuuki by finally giving him a shove just like Tatsuo and sending him flying into the wall making up the Arena floor. Now, the two were lined up just where she had wanted them. She could kill two birds with one stone.

Yuuki's cackle echoed through the air as she finally fired off the charged jutsu and three bullets of crackling blue lightning fired from the combined shiin on her arm. From the pile of rubble, Tatsuo burst free and met the blasts head on with his arms outstretched. The [Ananta] surrounding him flared outwards at its maximum strength as it struggled to keep Tatsuo safe before shattering like glass and the orange glow surrounding him disappeared. The bullets of electricity slammed against Tatsuos hands as he held them out with a roar of defiance before the final bolt impacted and a flash of electricity covered him in a blinding light.

The armor protecting Tatsuo began to crack and peel away as the electricity danced across it before finally crumbling to barely-there pieces as the wave overtook him. The roar of thunder drowned out Tatsuos own as he felt the electricity surge across his body, from his brain to his toes, and then it was over. Smoke wafted off of him while sparks of electricity jumped to life momentarily across his skin. For the first time in a while, Tatsuo had been hit and felt pain. His skin felt like it was on fire and his limbs didn't want to work properly. His deep purple eyes locked onto Yuuki with a look threatening more than death even though he couldn't move. It'd take him a moment but he was already focusing his healing factor to clear his motor functions of the paralysis rather than worry about the burns or impact damage.

The black and white haired kunoichi screamed at the Tsuchikage and the combination on her arm retracted before being replaced with a large blade as a lacrishiin armor covered her. She jumped high with enough force to shatter the ground beneath her feet and raised the blade above her as she came down on Tatsuo who continued to stare at her as she approached only to duck forward and under her blow. He twisted as he did so and summoned his own large phasmashiin blade, bringing the blade down across her back and causing her lacrishiin to shatter while his own formed around him, astrashiin included.

Tatsuo pressed forward to finish off the woman only to be met with more melashiin tentacles he had to slice through to finally reach her again. The newly regenerated ones were too weak to properly defend against his slashes but it gave her enough time to reposition, reform her lacrishiin, and jam the muzzle of her combined dergo-phasmashiin into his gut and blast him away with an uncharged shot. Yuuki followed his soaring form through the Arena before he kicked off the air to reposition himself. The sudden change in momentum was unexpected for the woman and her eyes opened wide as Tatsuos phasmashiin once more slashed her across the chest and destroyed the armor, leaving her vulnerable. Her armor and swarm gone, now was the time to finish her with something big even if Tatsuo was in the blast zone.

"DO IT, KOTA!"

[Kao]

When Kotaru collided with the woman's melashiin, he grit his teeth and urged his body to push forward. For a moment it seemed like he would break through her defenses and reach her. He could almost taste Yuuki's blood on his tongue. The man wanted to rip her apart with his teeth and with his bare hands, shred her until she was a pile of unrecognizable masses of bones and organs. But she was strong, and with a mighty push she threw the bannin back and he crashed painfully into the concrete rubble. It knocked the wind out of him and blood trickled out of the corners of his mouth as he slid down the wall. His ears rang. His vision blurred. A single blow had battered his body to the point that he was on the verge of shutting down and passing out.

But he pushed through, driven by unadulterated rage. Kotaru groaned as he slowly and painfully shoved a block of concrete off his left shoulder. The armor surrounding him continued to burn and the flames cracked and blackened the debris scattered around. The bannin's ears rang loudly and his breathed came in ragged, irregular huffs, and his eyes stung as blood poured from a gash on his forehead down his face. Despite all the anger and rage and turmoil that coursed through him and out of every pore, he was able to focus chakra to his eroshiin and the flames changed from bright orange and white to brilliant green. Slowly but surely his body began to recover due to the healing fire. As his hearing came back he heard the sound of shattering and cracking, and Kotaru opened one eye in time to watch Yuuki attack Tatsuo with a dangerous looking phasmashiin blade. The shockwave from the blow's impact slammed into Kotaru, delaying his response. Moments later he was in the air again, a flaming beacon of wrath.

He immediately began channeling a massive amount of chakra to his right hand. Katon visibly pooled and swirled around his entire arm and converged in his palm, lengthening and extending and condensing until it formed a massive flaming spear. Kotaru could feel his energy waning, but he still had enough gas to propel himself down a merciless path of destruction. Time seemed to slow as he watched Tatsuo completely destroy her armor - the only thing protecting Yuuki from the younger Akari bannin's vengeance.

For a brief moment his eyes wandered from the two combatants and instead took in their surroundings. The Akari Arena. His eyes drank in that cursed edifice that had been the backdrop of countless deaths and betrayals. They swept over the broken body of his former lover Ume, the only woman he had loved softly and tenderly, who had proved to him that deep within the darkness of his soul there was light. There was a kernel of good that could be nurtured even after their relationship had ended for good. But with her death came a rolling blackness that overwhelmed him, and any semblance of light within him was now permanently snuffed out.

As soon as the command left Tatsuo's mouth, Kotaru raised his newly formed weapon. With a surge of chakra it lengthened to twice its normal length and the spear itself seem to roar with power. He threw it straight at the woman, and just before it impacted he raised his hand and twisted his fingers into the kai seal. The spear rapidly expanded with a hiss. For an instant there was complete silence. And then it was broken by a deafening explosion. The Arena was instantly engulfed and the Akari would be forever changed.

[Niro]

The heat coming off of Kotaru's attack was the first thing Tatsuo felt as it approached like the righteous hand of wrathful god. The next thing he felt was the concussive force generated from the explosion impacting against his lacriishiin and astrashiin. The two pieces of armor groaned underneath the pressure before finally blackening and beginning to crack as the flames washed over Tatsuo immediately after. The feeling of being cooked alive wasn't completely foreign to the Tsuchikage but it was never pleasant; his throat burned as he tried to breath and his eyes stung as they threatened to evaporate into nothing, the air still superheated as the explosion rocked the Arena. If he hadn't been wearing his lacriishiin or another piece of armor, he'd have been cooked to the bone just like Yuuki and whoever else was unlucky enough to still be trapped in the arena. The ground shook from the force of the explosion and the dome covering the arena had been destroyed, the roof beginning to cave in and rubble fill the area.

'So this is how the Akari end...' Tatsuo thought to himself as the rubble piled on and on overtop of his back and the ground slowly stopped shaking. In the darkness of the debris, he took a moment to himself and laid there. His body was definitely sore and he could feel his healing factor already kicking in where he had gotten burned from either Yuuki or Kotaru's attacks. As a child, he never would have thought the crazy meeting with Ume as a child would lead to this. The first girl he had ever loved, the first girl he had ever given to himself to. The first person he had seen a future with, a future where the Akari clan was changed and better than what it truly was. Now, Tatsuo knew those already-dead dreams were never meant to be anything more than that. The reality was it had led to this. To the destruction of the Arena in the grief and rage of the two brothers she had been closest to. To the forever changing of the Akari clan. Tatsuo hoped Kotaru's flames had turned her body to ash carried out in the explosion to the mountain breeze where she would float forever free in her next life.

Tatsuo knew he couldn't dwell on it forever and began to slowly but surely stand up. The mountain of rubble began to shift and slide as he stood and by the time he stood straight, the entire thing had fallen to the wayside. He looked to the left and to the right and only found destruction around him. Tatsuo bent his legs and jumped atop a pile of rubble and surveyed the destroyed Arena. Everywhere he looked, there was death. The mangled body parts of those who had not been vaporized stuck out of the ceiling rubble here and there. Thankfully the entire clan wasn't here but it had been a large portion of them. Even from here, Tatsuo knew this was going to become an incident worthy of rumors and talk throughout the village it.

Nevertheless, Tatsuo began to dig around in an attempt to find Kotaru. He knew the younger Akari wouldn't die from something as simple as the roof caving in on them but it wouldn't surprise him if he needed help freeing himself. He was the much more physically gifted of the two of them and, while Kotaru wasn't a toothpick anymore, could easily free himself from something like this. Tatsuo was instead rewarded with finding the charred and limbless form of Yuuki who reminded him more of a rotisserie chicken than anything. His hand shot down into the rubble and made sure to keep away from her mouth, even though she appeared to be dead, and tossed her stump of a body free of the debris. Her hair was burnt off, her eyes seemed to be rolled back in her head if not shriveled entirely, her nose was ripped from her face, and her lips were burnt off revealing just the gaunt image of her teeth.

As he got up and turned back to look at her, debris and rubble a few meters away from him begin to shift and fall before revealing an old and bloody hand clawing itself free from the debris.

[Kao]

Concrete, metal, and glass crumbled and fell as the Arena collapsed. For a brief moment Kotaru relished in seeing Yuuki engulfed in his firestorm, her shiin and flesh and blood boiling and charring. In the next instant his vision went black as an enormous slab of rubble crashed on top of him. He felt peace then. Even as the structure groaned and collapsed, for him there was silence. His heart and his mind quieted completely for the first time since he became a shinobi, and the furious flame that burned within him was reduced to smoldering embers. It would have been easy for the man to let this be his final act. In his short life he had clawed his way out of obscurity, out of rejection and loneliness; but even after breaking free from one family's neglect and into the warm and welcoming arms of another, his personal suffering had never stopped. He could lie beneath the rubble and fall with the rest of his damned clan, and that could be the end of it.

But the quiet of his mind was interrupted by the sound of shifting stone. Kotaru opened his eyes, and had it not been for the shooting pain radiating down his neck he'd have thought he was dead. The man groaned, learning quickly that turning his head was a bad idea, so he directed healing chakra throughout his body until the pain ebbed. He wiggled his fingers and toes, and once he was satisfied that he hadn't lost any limbs in the explosion he flexed his melashiin so they snaked through the spaces of the debris to find any kind of leverage. It was an agonizingly slow process to free himself from the wreckage, but it was nothing he had never done before. He had, after all, spent his life clawing and climbing and slogging through pools of blood - both his enemies' and his own. Eventually the bannin made his way to the top, pushed away a charred and bloodstained slab of concrete, and was finally free from the rubble. The sunlight stung for a moment, and after his eyes adjusted he was greeted by a kind of carnage that he hadn't seen since the war.

Kotaru smiled.

The bannin had razed the Akari - his own clan - to the ground, just like he had promised. He smiled, and then he chuckled, and then he broke out into hysterical laughter. It was uncontrollable, it shook his entire body, and it was empty. With a shuddering inhale he finally steadied himself and was able to rise from his hands and knees. His feet and tentacles dragged as he sauntered towards Tatsuo, who had long before freed himself from the ruins of the Arena. Kotaru said nothing about the older man's condition; it had never occurred to him that in his rage he could have injured Tatsuo. The tsuchikage was standing and he was breathing, and that was all Kotaru needed. In between them a bloody, gnarled hand moved desperately as its owner tried to do the same, to free itself as the two bannin had done, but its feeble movements weren't enough to pull its body up and out of the wreckage. "A survivor?" the man droned, and a tentacle curled forward and prodded it. "Can't have that." The melashiin tapped the broken fingers then shifted the debris around it as if helping the person get free. But his intentions were clear when he grumbled, "Hurry up and come out of there so I can decide how to kill you."

[Niro]

As the rubble crumbled away and Kotaru climbed free of it, the small pit of doubt lying deep within Tatsuo's stomach evaporated and the feeling of possibly losing another family member subsided as relief instead flowed through him. The relief for Kotaru unfortunately did not extend to those beneath the wreckage of the Arena. There may be some survivors deep underneath the concrete and rebar, protected by the webs of the realm summon placed in their place in an attempt to slow them down. Between the flames and the collapse, Tatsuo bet he would be able to count the survivors on his hands and feet, maybe even his shiin. His thoughts were the opposite of his brothers as they relished in their victory; one with the hope of survivors, recovery, and the future and the other with the hope all of them had perished in the hell of their own creation. They were the lucky ones it seemed, just like they were each and every time. Tatsuo would never admit it, even to Kotaru, as he fell back and sat against a pile of rubble.

Luck.

He was lucky. Ever since the beginning. His father and mother had actually loved him as their son first and then as an Akari second. Tatsuo was lucky his parents didn't eat him from the moment his astrashiin first showed itself to them as a toddler. Unlike Kotaru's birth parents who treated him like trash when they thought his shiin was garbage and a waste. They had led him on the path to becoming the physical manifestation of all of the contempt of the unlucky Akari he saw laughing like a madman before him.

Fuck 'em.

Tatsuo spat out a bloody glob of phlegm on the ground as he sat forward on the debris and watched the weakly grasping hand try to claw itself free of the debris. It took a moment but with Kotaru's violent assistance, the survivor was revealed as none other than Granny Kanehara. The ringleader of the Akari Elders Council and the main culprit to making their lives difficult since they were children. Tatsuo had never fallen for her and the Councils words and empty threats from the beginning and waved them off. His actions were only ever backed up when they had tried something whether it be an assassin or an Arena combatant. The only time they had been able to strike a blow against him truly and deeply was when they had orchestrated his older brothers death against a much stronger combatant in the Arena. It had completely killed any hope of reconciliation between them and, if anything, was a declaration of war.

Between the village council and the Akari Elders Council, the word 'council' itself was tainted for the Tsuchikage.

Granny Kanehara shook her hand free of Kotaru's grip as she fell free of the debris and crumbled down it and to the hard ground below with a crunch. Her body was visibly crushed in multiple places and blood and bones poked out from beneath her torn gown. The old woman tried to push herself to her feet with her one unbroken arm and broken legs but was unable to. She fell once more in a heap before a scream erupted from her prone form. She threw herself to side and then onto her back as her head swung back and forth between the two shinobi.

"You damn upstarts! Ever since you came of age you've been nothing but a thorn in my side!" The woman howled, the noise mixed with a cry of pain as her lungs pressed against broken ribs. "All of my plans! Ruined!" She clung to the word as blood and spittle flew from her lips as she wriggled back and forth like a child throwing a tantrum.

"You could've been the perfect Akari! Our Tsuchikage, you could've been ours!" She continued to scream, her still functioning arm reaching out towards Tatsuo who recoiled in disgust at the sight before him. "You and that bitch could've popped out Astrashiin like candy! Two astrashiin mating near guarantees the child will have one...each of the council could've basked in glory but they're all dead thanks to you! It's all ruined! Disappointments! Disappointments!" She howled, the broken shiin still manifested by her dying body weakly reaching out to both of them in a last attempt to strike them down.

Tatsuo paid the slowly moving limbs no mind and instead directed his attention to Kotaru. The look in his eyes said it all.

End it.

[Kao]

Kotaru watched, eyes blank, as the survivor slowly - and hopefully, agonizingly - crawled out of the wreckage. The moment he realized who it was his eyes first widened in surprised and then narrowed to form dangerous slits. This woman had been the bane of his existence since the day he met her as a special jounin. For a decade she had plotted and schemed, had even at one point attempted to pit the two Akari brothers against each other. But their bond had been stronger than her guile, and she had to resort to other measures to get them under her thumb. She had never succeeded, but she had been the mastermind behind nearly every clan-related misfortune that had followed the two men. Every decision she made as she vied for power had brought them to this moment.

His shiin became still as he stood, pensive, while Kanehara writhed and lamented. But her insult was the flint strike needed to set Kotaru ablaze once more. The man stepped forward, glass crunching beneath his boots, as she shouted about her disappointment in them. His face contorted with hatred. This woman. She was the epitome of everything he hated about the clan. Even now as she faced death and ruin she prattled on about the clan, about how she had planned to feed his nieces and nephews to the fellow council members.

"ENOUGH!!"

Eight tentacles flew forward and grabbed her limbs and broken shiin. They snaked around whatever they touched and then they pulled, and the sound of her flesh ripping filled his ears. Kanehara, now short several shiin and both legs, was then dragged toward Kotaru and he clamped his hand around her mouth to muffle her screams. With his heart racing and breath coming out in ragged pants, he stared directly into the woman's eyes for several seconds and then growled, "You're the cause of everything, Kanehara! You and your ilk spat on us because we weren't your perfect little playthings! Tats became kage and you spat on his name because he didn't do it on your terms! You had people killed - had Ume killed - and for fucking what?!" He let go of her face roughly; his hand was quickly replaced by the end of his temershiin, shaped like that of a scorpion's tail, piercing the bridge of her nose. Kanehara gagged pitifully and her eyes began to roll to the back of her head. "For this? And this?!" He stabbed her once more, this time just above her heart, and with his bare hand he pulled free a green, fleshy sac. The bannin then reached into the open gash in her face and dug out a similar sac, this one a derghoshiin's vibrant purple beneath the dark blood covering it.

He held the shiin sacs in his hand and glowered at her. Not caring if she was alive or dead he continued, "The thought of devouring you makes me wanna puke. But I haven't forgotten - you told me once to never let desirable shiin go to waste." He dropped her limp body and kicked it toward Tatsuo. He could do whatever he liked with the rest. Kotaru walked up to his brother, shoving the shiin sacs into his hand. "If you don't want them, I'll do it." His voice was softer now. Still saturated with rage, but less so than before. The bannin's eyes wandered until he found Yuuki's charred form, and he gave a breathy humorless chuckle as he contemplated.

Would Ume want him to take her shiin? She and Tatsuo both knew how averse he had always been towards obtaining an astrashiin. It went against his principles. The thought of it made him squirm. But everything had changed now. A cool breeze caressed his cheek, pushing his filthy hair out of his face. "Should I...Tats?"

[Niro]

It was a rare sight for Tatsuo to see Kotaru's display of unusually explosive rage aimed at the woman weakly rolling on the ground crying about what could have been compared to the common rude comment or insult he was used to hearing come from him. The younger Akari's rage was understandable; the comment made his skin crawl and his blood turn to ice once it left the woman's lips. The plan was to use him and Ume as a baby farm? Not to raise their offspring as soldiers or as their own but to eat? The idea only justified the actions of today in Tatsuo's mind but he couldn't help but to think, in another, sad reality, it might have been the case. But not here. It didn't surprise him, though, with the woman being the architect of their suffering over the years. Even now she had caused them more pain than any enemies or foreign nation.

Tatsuo was quiet as Kotaru's rage transformed from words into physical action right in front of him. The younger shinobi's melashiin grasped her limbs and held her still even as some pulled to the point each of her legs popped off with a sickening squelch. Whatever bit of consciousness she had clinging on was doing so off of her sheer rage alone. At the end of Kotaru's words, Tatsuo's eyes followed as his temershiin ravaged her face and allowed him to pull out the shiin sac responsible for her dergoshiin. Her crown jewel, only surpassed by the astrashiin housed by him and, formerly, Ume. He stared at it but said not a word as blood streamed down her cheeks and poured from the sockets of her decrepit hips. Any protest or cry from her was quickly replaced with a weak gurgling gag before finally a gentle breeze blew through and carried her dying breath with it.

Rather than get out from his spot, a single of his own wine-colored melashiin tentacle slithered free from beneath him and took the fleshy colored sacks from Kota's possession with an unfurling of their four sections gently grabbing them. The appendage retracted through the dirt and debris to deposit them into his waiting hands where he rolled them over in his palm, his thoughts racing.

"Something so little, so stupid being the cause of so much." Tatsuo muttered with disdain and disbelief lacing the tone of his voice. Instead of ruminating on it further, he threw it up into the air with a flick of his wrist for the lone tentacle to follow it. The appendages making up the tip of the tentacle unfurled as the mouth at the center of it opened with a hiss to devour the dergoshiin sac at the same time his eyes trained themselves on the corpse of Kanehara. Although she was no longer among the living to see it, her most treasured possessions were consumed by her most hated failure before it moved on to the still warm corpse and beginning to eat it too until there was nothing left.

"Between us, better you than anyone else. Who else will best remember her?" He thought to how Ume had probably held out hope until the very last moment she would be saved by either Kotaru or Tatsuo just to die alone in the dark, her worst fears coming true as the elders deemed her time up. Then his thoughts drifted to his own words; she had once explained to him how her mother had grown reclusive before falling ill and attacking her in a fit of jealous and then rage towards her astrashiin. And how her father had fallen to the same madness, years later. With no other immediate family, she would eventually be forgotten in the end, just like any other Akari.

[Kao]

Shrouded in grief, the bannin picked up Yuuki's charred corpse. She hadn't been dead long, so if the astrashiin hadn't been burned then it was still possibly viable. Kotaru turned the body over and he could see a fuuinjutsu on the crown of her head. The area was the only part of her body that was completely free of burns. Kotaru scoffed in realization. Kanahara and the other elders had evidently been prepared for this exact scenario. It was no doubt meant to protect the astrashiin, that coveted prize. They had truly thought of almost everything. In another display of anger he slammed his fist down to crack the skull beneath the base of her head, and then he split open the rest. When he pulled out the astrashiin sac, the bannin stared in surprise. It was tiny, no bigger than the size of his pinky. Compared to the other shiin it looked pathetically puny. This thing, barely present in that unlucky Akari's body, was the cause of so much strife.

A normal person would cry. Kotaru hadn't shed tears since he was a child. He had trained himself not to, to not feel or acknowledge the pain that had come from attempting to love. The man's heart, he thought, had shut down years ago. But as his eyes stung and his vision blurred, all he could think was how much suffering this little flesh had caused Ume. If that pain and sorrow had over the years been concentrated within the violet flesh of the astrashiin, would it be transferred to him? For a moment the man closed his eyes and shook his head, and his prejudice against the astrashiin faded as his convictions curdled. Finally, with his cheeks somehow still dry, he held the shiin above him, tilted his head back, and when he dropped it into his mouth he swallowed it whole with a noisy gulp.

It normally took time for the body to absorb and incorporate devoured shiin. For novice Akari the process could take days. But his body had a massive chakra pool and plenty of experience in taking in new shiin. The effect was near instantaneous. Kotaru couldn't feel much change, but when he brought his hand to the back of his head he could tell. Knowing she was full to the brim with other shiin, Kotaru went digging. Many of the shiin sacs near the surface of her body were burned and unusable but he managed to salvage two melashiin sacs, a phasmashiin, a lacrishiin, an eroshiin, and finally deep within her skull was a usable derghoshiin.

"We should be able to harvest plenty of shiin from the rest of the dead if we move fast enough." Maybe with a reserve of shiin, the man thought, the violence that plagued the Akari clan could finally come to an end.

[Niro]

As Kotaru went about digging through the charred stump of a corpse Yuuki had been transformed into due to their fight and then consuming the shiin sacs he had been able to salvage from deep within it, Tatsuo went about devouring the elder Akari's body just like he had the Hokage's during the most recent Invasion of Wind Country. Three more of the dark wine-colored melashiin tendrils were released from his body and then snaked their way from beneath his form sitting on the pile of rubble. The tendrils cut through the wreckage lining the floor, pushing glass, concrete, and bits of rebar aside as it did so, before joining the single tendril already biting at and consuming the woman's flesh. The three tendrils rose high into the air as each of them unfurled their tips to expose the gnashing teeth at the core of each before they dove at the body.

Tatsuo watched in silence as his melashiin tendrils ripped and teared at the elders corpse until nothing was left. Finally, she was gone. They were gone. No longer could the Akari council threaten them or the rest of his family. Their grand plans foiled with each of their members dead and beneath the rubble. Their corrupting influence no longer poisoning the clan and its youth as they tried to grow in strength only to be turned against their own brethren. When only a blood spot remained, Tatsuo could feel the mass of shiin he had consumed from eating the woman's body begin to assimilate with his own. A number of melashiin and temershiin sac had made up the majority of her shiin but there had been a couple phasmoshiin along with an eroshiin and dergoshiin as well. The combination wasn't hard to decide as Tatsuo felt the phasmoshiin each combine with the dergoshiin and eroshiin.

The rest of the shiin within the corpses didn't interest him and as Kotaru spoke, he was quick to get behind the idea. "Well, I guess we better start retrieving corpses then." Tatsuo said with a mirthless chuckle following it. "The paperwork for this shit is going to be a mountain on its own. Their last fucking parting gift to me, I guess." He lamented as he reached out to Natsumi with the [Mind Communion] jutsu tattoo'd on his body. With her alerted, medical teams would be on their way to assist along with others to help clean up the absolute mess the destruction of the Arena and reduction of the Akari clan had been.