At Mitsuo's command the boy flew high into the air, watching as his best friend charged headfirst into the horde of parasites. The Enkouten dodged the volley of acid attacks and then went into an attack of his own. Mitsuo wasn't exaggerating when he told Kotaru to go high; jagged pieces of stone flew in every direction, and had he stayed where he was he would have likely been impaled. His friend followed up with a lava attack, and Kotaru had to admire the older jounin's handiwork. He had never seen him use those kinds of techniques, and it was an impressive sight.
'Shit, someone's been training,' he thought to himself as Mitsuo cleaned up the remaining parasites.
Even from his bird's eye view he could tell Mitsuo was winded, which didn't look good. There was still the giant worm to deal with, and from the sound and look of things in the distance, Tatsuo wasn't having an easy time with the beast. Kotaru dropped from the sky, hovering a couple meters above Mitsuo. The boy Akari brought his own sleeve to his face, covering his nose and mouth to protect himself from the green spores.
"I hope this green shit isn't poisonous," he quipped as he turned his attention back to Tatsuo. As soon as he looked up, Tatsuo and the worm collided, and the ensuing shock wave was strong enough that Kotaru had to brace himself. It blew away the spores, and Kotaru hesitantly dropped his makeshift mask. Tatsuo was making next to no progress with the worm, and Kotaru growled before telling Mitsuo,
"We gotta help him!"
No sooner than the words left his mouth, the worm disappeared. Its sudden retreat made Kotaru uneasy, and the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stood on edge. Something wasn't right. And then....
"TATS!"
Kotaru wasn't sure what he just saw. One moment Tatsuo was there, and the next moment he was simply...gone. In his place was a the worm, swaying as if gloating. The boy didn't even register what happened next. He barely saw Mitsuo rush forward into the fray, foolishly fighting a monster that not even Tatsuo could defeat. Tatsuo, who had been the strongest of the group. Tatsuo, who had done the impossible and had pulled Kotaru from his endless self-loathing and showed him that there was another way. Tatsuo, his best friend. He was gone.
The boy saw nothing of the battle in front of him. He was lost in his own head, his eyes almost impossibly wide and his heart beating painfully in his throat. He couldn't take his gaze away from where Tatsuo had once stood. All that was left was a massive crater, a deep and black void that exuded the air of death. It was the place where Tatsuo had last stood. Finally,
finally, Mitsuo's voice pulled him from his grief, and seeing Mitsuo seemingly suddenly beaten and his armor shattered only deepened his feelings of terror and despair.
"But...Tats...he's...." At the words 'it already killed Tats,' the boy's hand shot up to his mouth and he dry heaved. By the time the ill feeling subsided, Mitsuo had told him to get ready.
"MITS, NO!"
He couldn't stop him. Kotaru could only watch as Mitsuo released one last attack, and it became painfully obvious that it was one that would use nearly all of the Enkouten's remaining chakra reserves. Almost immediately Mitsuo collapsed, and Kotaru almost collapsed right there with him. He wasn't moving, and from Kotaru's standpoint it looked as if his friend was barely breathing.
"MITSUOOOO!!!" His scream was shrill, bloodcurdling, saturated with terror and grief that threatened to completely overwhelm him. It was nothing like he had ever felt before, and it left him utterly unable to move.
And then, the entire cavern began to shake. The worm was already recovering from Mitsuo's attack, shaking the lava off its badly burned skin. The youton fell to the ground in clumps, taking the worm's flesh with it. But Kotaru watched in horror as the worm's stark white skin sizzled and began to heal. Its entire body moved from side to side, searching for the human that had dared attack it after it had devoured the one that had manage to knock it back more than once.
Kotaru was completely outclassed. His entire body shook as he looked from the worm to his friend and back again. Mitsuo was likely on the verge of death, and Tatsuo had been already been killed. There was nothing he could do for his cousin, but he'd be damned if he left his remaining friend on the cold ground. Somehow he regained feeling in his legs and he rushed toward his friend, grabbing him under his arms. Kotaru's sudden movement caught the attention of the worm, and it raised itself from the ground and let out another ear-shattering screech. In the next moment it was gunning for them, and for the slightest moment Kotaru froze.
Suddenly, he snapped out of it. As fast as he could he spread his wings, flapping them with all of his strength so that he could lift both himself and Mitsuo's near lifeless form out of the way. But the worm was gigantic, and the in the few precious seconds in which he froze, he had given the worm enough time to get close enough that Kotaru couldn't completely avoid the impact. The jounin somehow evaded its gaping mouth, but when it was clear to the beast that Kotaru wouldn't be its next meal, it swung its head. Its aim was off and Kotaru managed to avoid the full brunt of the attack, but even skidding against the side of the worm had enough force to send the boy flying. He nearly lost his grip on Mitsuo, but he managed to bring his melashiin forward and wrapped them around the Enkouten in a protective hold.
The impact of his back hitting the rocks knocked the wind out of him, but his hold on Mitsuo protected his friend from further damage. The blow left cracks in the cave wall, and he slid down and groaned. The ordeal wasn't over, not by a long shot. The worm reeled back, and Kotaru had seen enough to know what it was about to do. He tightened his grip on Mitsuo once more and then flew to the left, narrowly avoiding a barrage of acid projectiles. The jounin hid behind a huge fallen boulder, his breath ragged from fear. The Enkouten still seemed to be breathing, but just barely. Reluctantly, Kotaru set him down and propped him against the rocks.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled as he squeezed his hands into tight fists.
"But you know I can't just leave you." As the words left his mouth he took several steps back and then channeled chakra to his throat, and the blue armor of his lacrishiin sprouted to encase his entire body. He then flew into hand seals, concentrating. A burst of flames erupted from his body and then condensed around him, forming a layer of fiery armor over his lacrishiin. With a second set of seals he created a long spear of katon, one in each hand. After what he thought could be one final look at his friend, he took off.
Kotaru flew at full speed, flying up and to his left while keeping his eyes on the worm. The beast screeched, turning to follow Kotaru's darting flaming form.
"Come get me you STUPID FUCKER!" It was a bad plan. The boy knew it was a bad plan. But if he could get the worm away from Mitsuo somehow - far away from Mitsuo - he could maybe circle back, grab Mitsuo and Masaru both, and then head to the surface. It wasn't the best plan, but it was the only plan he had that could possibly end in the two of them making it out alive.
The worm was fast. Kotaru had to keep a far distance to stand a chance of getting away but it was gaining. Whenever it got too close he threw one of his katon spears at the worm, and it screeched and moaned as the flames made impact. The boy constantly changed directions and darted around as quickly as his wings to carry him to confuse it, and for a while it worked. But eventually the worm momentarily stopped its pursuit, reeled back and released its acidic projectiles. One of the projectiles hit his melashiin, but the katon armor burned much of the acid away and lessened the blow. He landed on a giant boulder and paused, ready to commence the chase once more, and then he saw it.
Them.
Hundreds of glowing eyes were emerging from the cave walls, from the floor, and even from the boulder on which he stood. Kotaru's heartbeat shot into his chest as the eyes, simultaneously, turned toward him.
~Basic Formation: Lacrishiin
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
Type: Lacrishiin
Channeling chakra to their shiin, they cause it to inflate, fully forming into its full glory. Taking the form of an almost opaque armor with an appearance of glass, the lacrishiin almost completely covers the user's body. As a pseudoarmor, the lacrishiin has no inherent strength, but has a stamina equal to the Akari's stamina+3, while causing the Akari to move at 3 less speed
*Katon • Flame Armor
B-Rank Ninjutsu
After the needed hand seals, the user will release a blast of katon outward from their body rapidly as the fire twists around them. This fire forms a 3-inch layer of flames around their body that manifests at 30 speed, and essentially provide a pseudo-defense against taijutsu because for the next three posts if anyone comes into contact with it they will receive severe second degree burns. Additionally, this technique can be used offensively for that reason as it also has an impact force of 10 strength.
(x2) *Katon • Izanagi's Spear
A-Ranked Ninjutsu
After performing the correct hand seals the user will form a condensed 5cm diameter, 3 meter long spear of fire in their hand then throw it at an opponent. At any time during the course of the spear's travel, the user may use Chakra Kai to activate the spear. This causes the spear to rapidly unwind and expand into a 10 meter long, 7 meter diameter whirlwind of fire at a speed of 25. On impact, the spear will then explode at A-Rank strength.
