Search and Destroy [mission]

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke didn't expect his metal clones to last long, still though he was gathering data. Kyouzou had limits, and it seemed that his steel could be controlled or tampered with. The Steward watched as the ebon blade drove right through his foe and even out of his back. Kyouzou ultimately pushed him back. For a moment Sousuke was separated from the ebon blade, but he willed it back to him easily enough. Kyouzou spoke of how dim he was. The Steward gripped the ebon blade. "Not to worry. I am finding out what makes you tick. I have made no critical errors yet. You have though."<i></i> Sousuke spoke. Sousuke watched with interest as Kyouzou transformed yet again. He had adapted an aspect of the ebon blade it would seem. His armour was now black and so was his weapon. The Steward suspected that perhaps he had tapped into some of the shadow abilities that the blade held. Sousuke's own shadow power was lacking. It was growing but the Steward wasn't comfortable with using it just yet.

Kyouzou came and struck, Sousuke braced for it and this time tested his foe's strength level. Sousuke prepared for the worst, choosing to take each attack as a direct hit, but maximized his defensive abilities to lessen the slashes. The MKII took damage, there were hacks, and cleave marks in the armour. "I know my armour well enough. You don't"<i></i> Sousuke would answer without so much as a strain on his voice. "How is that burn treating you? I suspect you've lost your nerves, because it should be quite hot in there given that you combusted some time ago. Not at all spontaneous of course that was my doing."<i></i> Sousuke would then channel lightning chakra through the ebon blade. "Things are about to overload here in a moment."<i></i> Sousuke's MkII would begin to recede. The MkII had weaknesses, in particular fire and lightning. Kyouzou was slow to realize this. The Steward would then overload and flood the ebon blade with lightning chakra. The sounds of birds chirping flooded the room. "I can't say that this is an original technique, but I can tell you, it is a personal favourite of mine... but first let's see what you make of this..."<i></i> Sousuke would first open up with a plasma blast from his palm. The Steward was gathering plasma chakra and supercharging it but not to the same extent as his lightning jutsu. The Steward had yet to see how Kyouzou would react. He had absorbed the plasma axe earlier, but that was a weapon. This was a more offensive use of plasma. As a follow up the Steward would then swing the lightning enhanced Ebon Blade horizontally across the stomach of Kyouzou. He had already pierced him, it was time to take his injuries further.

-Actions
-maintain defensive stance
-endure w/ Total Endurance Effect
-deactivate Titanium body
-Hyper Beam
-Chidori Control - Chidori Blade effect

 

[Toraono Michino]

The creature quickly slithered his way over to the edge of the bookshelf to see how well the conjured bolt of lightning had struck his victim. The creature scowled with a glare as the strange little man turned into a noxious colored smoke. Tama leaped off of the bookshelf causing it to throw itself backwards against the wall as he landed with a loud thump. A low deadly growl ushered from deep inside his throat as the little man started to provoke the raging fires inside of him even further by making mention of Okibi. Before his ears could catch on where the damnable imp was speaking from his vision became clouded in black.
The blackness was soon filled by orb like objects that glowed a deadly red and when gazed upon for even a second revealed the trap; though by that point it was too late. The scientist’s body froze up in it’s demonic reptilian form the moment he locked eyes with a single eye. He could feel a heavy weight suddenly begin to weigh down on his conscious as the strong genjutsu user once again showed his strength over Tama.
Of course enraged despite the sleeping effects of the genjutsu caused a trigger in his chakra that activated the dojutsu in the scientist’s eyes revealing all of the chakra being thrown between the eyes in a mix of ninjutsu and Uchiha sorcery.

The reptilian body became straight as a board as the ultimate genjutsu technique began to take place on the blonde. As a last ditch effort the creature that was Tama screamed and released his own chakra out of the pores of his skin so that it ‘bled’ off of him and lifted up into the air around him to fuse and mess with the chakra web that the genjustu was being cast with. His bound hands in a strength of will managed to make a single seal each, both different. Doing this would normally break the genjustu entirely and give the caster quite a headache, but since this was the Sharingan he was fighting, it only partially diffused the technique. This caused a walking nightmare like before where he saw the terrible and insane of his mind as he walked about the room, stumbling over books that he thought was bodies and crawling around bewildered.
All the while this was happening the cursed seal on his chest was starting to hold true to its name. The marks around the Ryuu Seal appeared to be absorbing his life force little at a time and his flesh, once trapped in the genjutsu, flipped from the sickly swamp gator green into the pale white of near death. Unable to focus the wild chakra in the state of genjutsu the seal on his chest was eating away at his life force freely, imposing death that would be sudden and quick in a matter of minutes.

Then he cut his foot. While crawling about the wreckage of the bookshelves weeping in the terrifying sound of a lizard weeping his scaly flesh managed to snag itself on a large chunk of wood. This caused blood to spill over the markings on his foot that helped him channel Nature Chakra. Doing this caused the seals on his body to start drawing in exuberant amounts of the room’s natural energy into his body as a purity that suddenly began to combat the blackness of his cursed seal.
A war fired up inside of the scientist’s stomach that caused a scream, the break of the genjustu and for the man to writhe there on the fallen bookshelf in unspeakable pain. Parts of his flesh returned to normal, parts remained reptilian, and over all his body actually started to look like it was going to try and fuse with the books he was laying on. Shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise then that when this happened the flesh that touched the books began to reverse transmute them into their natural element that then began to spread across his flesh.

There was no telling what this was. Wood creeped up the creature’s body pinning it down to the bookcase It screamed in pain and terror for only a moment before the wood began to increase its speed over his body and suddenly covered his entire existence before sprouting a small tree out its stomach.

The Tama Tree just sat there, immobile and slowly dying from not being in dirt and technically for being a product of justu-gone-wrong horror. It remain so until the enemy he was facing had grown curious or just wanted to destroy the tree to make sure. The very moment he got close enough the tree transformed once again.

Into a cloud of smoke.

“Ambiance Interdicta!”

Ryuu Tama, standing in his birthday suit and looking terribly exhausted held his hands out before him in a seal while the ley-lines freshly written there by his own blood glowed the white aura that was the world’s neutrality. The moment he uttered the words in the old tongue the white aura shot itself into the air before him creating an insanely powerful force of pure chakra that was in the form of a mock wind. The force of it was similar to that of a sudden tornado full of razor blades.

The scientist dropped down to the ground on one knee panting. A hand went to his chest to grip at the flesh as if it would stop the pain of the dead chakra coil inside of him. All that was left to him now was the artificial chakra coil and a stubborn determination to not die. He had managed to pull this out of his ass as a last desperate attempt to keep himself from becoming that tree. The two seals that the lizard crafted right before being placed in the walking nightmare forced all the chakra that had been lifted up into the air to steal the chakra used to create the powerful genjutsu and shift it off somewhere the Uchiha could not see. The technique normally couldn’t be used at all unless, of course, you had a massive amount of chakra around you in a stationary form or multiple chakra coils; Tama had both of that in a single moment. In doing this he managed to form a second body, a copy that was him, but wasn’t. He had found a way to take the clone technique and literally make a clone. The creature that had poofed away into smoke? His actual old body just being compressed down into chakra that would feed itself back into the ley-lines of the world.
Despite his crazy craftiness saving his life once again he could feel the power he had given away to preform that technique. Using the powerful win jutsu had actually cost most of his remaining chakra, even with the help of the ley-lines. He could only hope that the attack connected. The blonde lifted his head up to look at the damage his surprise attack caused.

 

[Okibi]

---------------OKIBI---------------​

Emotions rolled through her as she looked into those eyes that mirrored her own, the foremost of which was confusion. She knew there were a variety of eye colors out there, some of which were strange by natural standards. While she didnt doubt there were other people out there with the same color eyes as hers, she didnt think she would ever meet them. The only reason her eyes were pink was because of a 'freak' accident that changed her on a genetic level. What were the chances that she would meet another person with pink eyes in the headquarters of her enemy, of all places?

Then there was the matter of his scent. No matter how many times she tried to expel the scent from her nose to try again, she kept getting the same smell; a mix of her own and something else that made her blood run cold. She couldnt quite put her finger on it.

With her hands shaking just a bit, Okibi grabbed hold of the bars and slowly dropped into a crouch so she was at eye level with the boy. "Who are you?" She repeated, this time sounding genuinely confused and unsure. The boy turned to her further, seeming to take more interest in her after hearing her speak again. He put his hands out in front of him on the ground - she cringed at how skinny they were - and slowly started to crawl towards her. The closer he got, the more clearly she could see his features.

Those eerie eyes of his were wide and round when his crawl came to a stop a foot away from the bars. The chains that held him captive wouldnt let him go any further. A soft sound came from the boy, something like a whimper one would hear from an unsure puppy. To anyone else it would have been just a senseless sound.

But Okibi was not just anyone.

"Mine?" The boy was saying, using a very simple form of beast speak, something she was sure came of pure instinct, the way it did in all baby animals. But how did a human boy know to speak such a base language? Okibi's brows furrowed. Mine? What did he mean?

The boy reached for her then with one of his tiny, bony hands, his eyes growing wider and lighting up with something she didnt understand. "Mine." He repeated, sounding more sure this time. Feeling compelled, Okibi reached through the bars for the boys hand, and the moment she brushed the tips of his fingers a sharp, piercing pain stabbed through her lower abdomen. Gasping, Okibi propelled herself backwards, hitting the wall behind her with a thud. It felt like she'd just been stabbed! She looked down frantically, her hand pressed against her stomach to staunch the flow of blood coming from the wound.

Only, when she looked down, she saw that there was no wound.

But . . . how could that be? She was sure she just felt something sharp and hot stab into her stomach and rip across it. Breathing heavy, Okibi pulled aside the spandex material of her top and looked over her pale belly; everything was in order, every scar still there.

Including the one that traversed the whole of it, spanning from one side to the other. Where something had cut her open.

All at once a flood of what had to be memories plowed through Okibi's mind with the force of a hurricane. She doubled over and clutched her head as images swept past her closed eyes; flickering torchlight, searing pain, her rapidly growing belly, more pain, a knife . . .

The cry of a baby and the flash of bright pink eyes.

Emotions raged through her once more: fear, disgust, hate and . . . something else she couldnt quite name. It was warm, and so out of place in that torturous hell hole. She realized that these were not what she was feeling presently, but what she'd been feeling in the past when . . . when . . .

"Mine." Okibi gasped, clutching her abdomen just over the scar that cut across it. She looked up at the boy in the cell, as if really seeing him for the first time. She crept closer again, falling to her knees at the bars and reaching through, almost desperately. "Mine." She growled, knowing he would understand her. As her fingers brushed his again his face lit up with a brilliant, beautiful smile and a warmth the likes of which Okibi had never felt before spread through her chest. Tears welled up in her eyes for reasons she couldnt explain and she found she was hard pressed not smile back. She wasnt sure what she was feeling, but she was sure of one thing: this boy was hers.

Suddenly, the boy reeled back and screeched with pain as a collar she hadnt noticed before lit up with bolts of electricity. He clawed at the device as he fell over and Okibi shot to her feet, a sound the was altogether unholy and unrecognizable breaking free of her. He was hurting, hers was in pain! She had to make it stop!

"Lovely, isnt he?"

Her wide and desperate eyes flashed up to find the doctor waltzing out of the shadows, holding a small device in his hands. He pressed something on it, and another shock was sent through the collar around the boys neck, making him cry out again and Okibi to screech and pound at the thick metal bars. "I will tear you to pieces and feed you to the desert storm if you do that again." She threatened, her voice low and guttural as it came out in a viscous growl. The doctor didnt so much as glance at her.

"After you left we needed a new test subject. We could only do so much with him since he was so young, so we had to find others." He waved at the neighboring cells. "But still, with his lineage, he has made for some very interesting behavioral experiments. Here, watch." He pressed the button again and yet another shock rendered the boy writhing in pain on the floor, clawing at the collar to get it off.

But she saw that he actually had claws now. Large, dark claws tipped with lethal daggers for nails. The shocks kept coming, and with each shriek of pain, each moment of torture, the boys body changed, growing in size and taking on beastly characteristics.

Okibi had seen enough.

With a harsh cry she slammed her fists into the metal bars of the cell and with her proficiency over magnetism bent them outwards while simultaneously propelling herself into the cage. She shot right over the changing boy and went for the Doctor, her claws aimed at his throat. He dodged her, surprisingly, and made off down a passage way in the shadows that she hadnt seen from the hallway. It was dark, and she lost sight of him the moment he leaped into the shadows. A predatory snarl rattled through her chest and she was about to make chase after her prey. The cry of pain coming from the boy behind her stopped her in her tracks just at the threshold. She whirled around on her feet, and watched, her rage dying away, as the scrawny little boy in chains continually seemed to be morphing into something that just wasnt human.

She didnt need to think about it twice. Okibi left the doctor to his dark passageway and raced over to the changing childs side, sliding on her knees. He cried and howled with pain as the collar continued to shock him even after the doctor was gone. Growling, she latched onto the collar with her hands, and channeled the electrical energy into her body and out through the floor where it quickly dispersed. Once the energy was drained, she sliced through the thick leather and metal collar with her claws and tore it off the boy, taking care not to hurt him any more than he already was. His neck, now almost twice the size of what it was only moments before was riddled with burn marks caused by the shocking. Although his wailing died down after she removed the collar, the child creature continued to whine in pain as he lay on the floor, twitching spasmodically. She noticed then that tears were rolling down his hallow, dirty cheeks, and she didnt know why the sight surprised her. What child wouldnt cry after going through that?

When she reached out and touched the boys shoulder he flinched away from her and started to growl threateningly. Okibi stopped her approach for only a moment, and was surprised when she heard a sound come out of her involuntarily. It was a soothing sort of growl, something to reassure the boy that she was not there to hurt him. He turned his face toward her, his mouth agape with needle like teeth as he panted, and his eyes glowing red. What was happening to him? Why was he changing this way?

Questions buzzed in her head like a hive of bees as she reached out once more, not stopping when the boy flinched and growled this time. She simply continued to growl in return, and when she placed her hand on his matted, dirty hair she smoothed it back gently. Looking into the boys red eyes she felt more calm then she logically should have - what was it about learning that you had a long lost child to throw your perspective on things into a new light? What time did she have to be afraid of the dark when there was a baby there who was so much more afraid than she was?

"Mine." She growled, stroking his head and slowly pulling him closer to her. "Calm." When he was within arms reach she wrapped the boy up in them and pulled him into her lap, noticing that his form was quickly shrinking back to its normal size. While pulling him into her lap she realized that he was even thinner than she'd thought, and she hissed with anger at the thought of how poorly he was treated. The boy whimpered when he heard the sound and buried his face into her chest. Okibi immediately felt horrible and held the child tight, mumbling apologies she knew he wouldnt understand.

"Okibi?" Seven said as he came into view outside of the cell. Okibi looked up at him, her eyes wide and unsure. Seven glanced down at her arms, still clutching the child, then back at her with a raised brow. She looked down at the boy herself, and rubbed his bony back. "Mi-" She cut herself off when she realized she was about to speak in the base beast language. Clearing her throat, she tried again. "He's . . . mine." She whispered.

Seven reared back with surprise, blinking silently. For a few moments, nothing more was said as they both sat in their confusion and the boy started to purr from Okibi's ministrations. Finally, after what had to be minutes, Seven cleared his throat and spoke up. "Where- What happened to the Doctor?" He asked, deciding that they would come back to the subject of the boy later. They had other things to take care of for now. Okibi blinked owlishly, only just remembering that she'd been chasing the man down. She turned and pointed at the dark doorway behind her. "He ran down there. I was going to follow him but . . . but . . ." Her baby needed her, was what she couldnt say. Seven nodded, understanding. Without another word, he bolted into the cell and through the dark door. He was gone for almost five minutes before he returned looking a little perturbed.

"It leads to an elevator shaft. Im certain the Doctor used it to escape, his trail is getting cold." And that was his subtle way of saying she needed to get her ass up and moving. Okibi nodded and gave the boys back a final rub before standing them both up. She looked at the shackles and chains binding him and sneered. The shackles themselves were too thick for her to do anything about, but the chains she could handle. Pulling the chains taut, she reared her metal hand back and brought her claws down in a deadly swipe. The chains broke cleanly as close to the shackles as she could get them.

"I'm going to free the others." She said as she placed the boy on Seven's back. He looked from the child to Okibi with a confused look. "Take them all and find a way out of here. Keep them safe until we're finished." Seven just looked at her and she winced, running a hand down his head and neck as she glanced at the boy on his back. "Please."

Seven glanced over his shoulder at the child and sighed. "I'll find a safe place to hide them outside, then I'm coming back. You're not doing this without me." Okibi smiled and gave him one more pat before turning to the boy and putting her hands on his cheeks. He whimpered and grabbed hold of her wrists; his hold was so light. "Brother-dog, safe, go." She said, using the simplest terms she could think of. The look the boy gave her made her think he didnt quite understand, but it didnt matter. She would not have him in the compound when they confronted the leader. He would be safer outside.

"Go." She said once more to Seven as she stepped into the hallway. He shot past her without a word, and on his heels she used her magnetism jutsu to pull the metal gates clean off the cells. The boy cried out unintelligibly and reached back for her, making her wince as a bit of pain shot through her chest.

At first nobody moved, so Okibi manipulated some of the gravity around the older girls to pull them into the hallway. "Follow him! He'll lead you to safety!" And with those words it was like a damn was broken. The rest of the women and children flooded out of their cells and up the stairs that Seven was taking. Okibi watched and made sure every last one of them had left before heading back into the cell and running down the dark passage. She followed the Doctors scent, which like Seven said was already getting cold, and found her way to the elevator shaft he mentioned. She frowned when she saw there was no elevator in it. The Doctor probably used it and kept it at the top, and sadly, she could see no buttons or switches to pull to make the thing work.

But what kind of obstacle was that for a ninja?

With a crouch and a spring Okibi launched herself at the elevator wall and grabbed hold with a little chakra in her palms and feet. She quickly started to climb her way up, and it was about halfway when she heard a loud clank and the whirring of gears starting to grind. She looked over her shoulder and saw the thick metal cables which pulled the lift up and down were moving, and quickly too. Okibi looked up, and sure enough, she saw the flat surface of the elevators bottom coming straight towards her. A gusty sigh hit the wall in front of her before she dug her claws into the wooden beams of the shaft, preparing herself. The lift was descending fast, and when it was close enough she launched herself directly at it and threw herself into a spin, splaying her claws and turning herself into a spinning mass of destruction. She plowed right through the floor and the ceiling of the lift and latched onto the wall once more. Obviously the Doctor knew she was coming, so there was no point whatsoever in lollygagging. Okibi propelled herself up the shaft in double time and leaped through the opening at the top when she reached it.

Immediately she was engulfed in darkness, and a bone chillingly familiar voice swept over her skin.

"Ahh, my sweet. I've been waiting for you."

She screamed.

(Forgive me if your parts seem incredibly lackluster after all that, but I just wanna get this post freaking done with. =_= Lol)

---------------TAMA---------------​

The attack left the deformed little man writhing in pain on the ground, nearly dead. Tama would notice that in the wake of his attack a door would appear on the other side of the room. Perhaps the imp had been hiding it with his illusionary magic. The door would lead onto a terrace overlooking The War Room, and the battle going on inside it.

CHOOSE NOW WHAT YOU WILL DO WITH YOUR OPPONENT​

---------------SOUSUKE---------------​

Kyouzou reflected the beam that was shot at him easily enough with his large black blade, but in doing so had become distracted, and didnt see the blade of electrified chakra coming at him. His body was cleaved in two, and with a roar of pain dispersed into hundreds of tiny glass like shards. The pieces fell to the floor, tinkling like little bells.

It would seem like the fight was over, but a wise man would not jump to conclusions.

The pieces of glass started to shiver on the ground and suddenly gather towards each other in the central part of the room. A mirror was form, small a round, something that could be held in ones hands. If someone were to approach and take a look, they would see their own reflection - of course - but it would quickly become something sinister. Their face would twist into a sinister smile and their eyes would begin to glow red like Kyouzous did. The mirror would levitate into the air and offshoots would start to spring of it, spikes of glass and mirror that would start to take the shape of a human body.

DESTROY THE MIRROR BEFORE KYOUZOU HAS A CHANCE TO REGENERATE WITH YOUR FACE!​

(Once all foes are defeated, proceed up the grand staircase and to the large doors at the top. It will be at this point that you hear Okibi scream.)

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Kyouzou was undone. Cleaved in two. His pained howl escaped his form as Sousuke put him to the sword. Strangely though as his cloven corpse would disperse into shards. Sousuke's eyes darted about tracing the shards and found them going to the middle of the room. Sousuke's faceplate retracted as he saw what was going on. In the mirror there was a reflection ofSousuke with not black eyes, but red eyes. An expression formed on the face, one that was alien to the Steward. It took the Steward not even a second to realize what was going on. "Never original. Always a copy."<i></i> Sousuke would speak as he sheathed the ebon blade. He began to charge his palms with plasma chakra. "Kyouzou the Reflection, you are hereby sentenced to death as you are a threat to the realm. Know no peace or harmony in the night lands."<i></i> Sousuke then raised both of his palms and unleashed a devastating ray of plasma. The plasma was not melting the mirror it was disintegrating it. Removing it from existence. Kyouzou would no longer replicate. Kyouzou would no longer kill. Kyouzou was simply no more.

This man who tortured Okibi was dead. Yet still it wasn't quite enough. With one foe down, there was still work to be done. The Steward withdrew the explosive unit he had Tama prepare earlier. Sousuke wouldn't program it to go off based on time. No instead he would have to trigger it. Not now but later. Where Kyouzou perished Sousuke placed the explosive. It took a moment for it to be fully set in place. The Steward willed what metal was left in the room to become metal clones. He would establish a debris shield of sorts with the metal clones. The explosive was still intact, but it was hidden.

Sousuke would have to go on, there was still one bomb site left. The Steward took to the staircase. His movements were a series of phase shifts. Silently going up. He did stop when he heard Okibi's scream. The Steward paused. No. He would not lose her again. His ward who was precious to him would not be lost a second time. I am coming Okibi. I regret breaking my promise to you though. Sousuke gripped the ebon blade with his left hand. The blade proceeded to melt away and become one with his being. The Steward's form was growing darker. It seemed at odds with itself which form to take. One of spikes? One closer to the form of the MkI when it turned black? The original form of the MkIII? As the Steward's form darted upwards and through the doors the form that took place was a mixture of the more feral form, and the ebon MkI. White eyes, and military black grade gear. The design was had razor sharp talon hands. What was before him was a room full of torches. What the shadows held was an entirely different matter.

 

[Toraono Michino]

The scientist’s other knee dropped to the ground as his hands followed. The moment his blurry eyes witnessed the creature who had caused so much pain be torn apart by his wind jutsu he allowed himself just a single moment of self reprieve. It was unfortunately met with a hacking cough that caused blood to splatter across the floor in front of him. A weak, shaky hand reached up as if it could stem the destruction his body was going through.

All he had left in his body was the artificial chakra coil implanted in him by a fellow mad-scientist. All of his real ones that had been stolen and his own were sacrificed to give him another chance at life. The first was destroyed when the darkness in his seal took control of his body the first time and now the second was done in the same way. Without the natural coil overlapping his nervous system his entire body was going into shutdown. The natural energies of a chakra coil were what kept the artificial one going and gave him the extra strength than he was able to use and make him seem so godly. Now blood gushed from over the palm of his hand as his coughs grew louder.

A snide wet laugh echoed along with Tama’s coughing.

“Now the fool blonde dies...forced into...using all his trickeses...on stupid me. Hasn’t....has...<i></i>” the creature wheezed a death rattle, barely able to speak his snide remarks but he wanted the fool scientist’s last moments to be poisoned with his failure,
“...the bossssss....he will...destroy the rest of your friends and you die....drowning in your own blood...<i></i>” He then coughed out a bloody laugh.

Yet the scientist had not been still the entire time the creature spoke. The moment the eerie high-pitched voiced began to speak he used all of his willpower to stop his coughing and listen and wonder - why was it not dead yet? Turning his dying vision to the creature’s soon to be corpse he began to make a slow crawl towards its crumpled and torn body as it continuously mocked him. The short distance between the two had sapped all of his remaining strength and he collapsed next to the creature’s body. His hand slowly brushed up off the floor and touched a piece of the bloody flesh, and almost instantly the scientist jolted up and with his mouth gaped open. With his hand he took from the creature its chakra and fed it into the artificial one in order to slow down the shutdown process to his body’s organs. The thing glared up at him, his lungs too full of blood to be able to continue to curse at the blonde’s sheer genius or luck; it was unsure what fueled the mad man.
As if to punctuate on how mad it thought Tama was, the scientist went out of his way to prove it by reaching into his face and removing his own left eye via a small incision of chakra to his retina. He removed the blue eye from its socket and tossed it across the room, almost playfully.

“You know the terrifying thing about me, that no of you violent thinkers seemed to able to comprehend is despite what you do, it will never be enough to trump over my genius. It has been tried and tried again and, though you pushed me into a pit of darkness I had been running from for a long time, I was still able to overcome the lesser for the greater. So such you should understand why it is that I do this<i></i>,”

Tama’s bloody fingers that had plucked out his own eye reached down to slip into his opponent’s eye socket and remove the one thing he had spent a great deal of his scientific career trying to replicate. The little man screamed and screamed, holding his hands against the eye that had been so suddenly removed from his face as the blonde simply leaned looked at the Uchiha clan dojutsu with his good eye and chuckle. Not at the fact that he had simply gained what he had tried to create but at the thing’s multiplied pain. It tried to jerk away from the scientist but every time it did he simply buried his hand a little deeper into a wound on its thigh to increase the pain.
Before he could throw it into shock, though, he thought it a good idea to place into his own empty socket the eye of his enemy via a large amount of frightening patience and advanced medical techniques which involved cutting the side of his skull open to place the eye into the socket gently and attaching the retinas with healing chakra before closing the wound completely. By the time he had done that the thing had long stopped screaming in pain and began to go into death rattles again with more fervor.

“Just in time<i></i>,” he said cheerily as he removed the hand, moved it up to the thing’s throat, and crushed it. His right eye closed and his left one opened to reveal a faded red eye with three wheels circling the iris. He had drained a great deal of chakra from the thing repairing the eye but now that he had the eye...even just a little bit of that vision...he could see the impossible that could only be imagined.
Focusing the last bit of energy he had into the Uchiha eye Tama watched the body of the creature until it died completely and a small ball of glowing red energy lifted up from the corpse. Without hesitation he reached out and grasped the thing’s soul and brought it closer to his body, pressing it to his naked abdomen where the center of the chakra coil would be.
“Told ya I was going to eat your soul.<i></i>”

The red energy was pressed inside of his body, giving it a terrifying dark red aura that began to heal up his injuries almost immediately. Strength was given back to his legs as his body began to assimilate the soul as his master had taught him. Closing his eyes we waited for the memories to come rushing, things that were attached to the being’s living essence. His inner eye leafed over its life, only carefully taking in information regarding the use of its bloodline and completely ignoring how an Uchiha had managed to go from human to what ever the little hunched over creature was. Holding true to his original promise he allowed nothing of his opponent to be remembered except that which was already known to others anyways; anything that wasn’t pertaining to the Sharingan was dismissed and turned to energy.
When his eyes opened again he could see with clear vision once again...well with half of his face anyways. The moment he opened the eye that held the Sharingan he cried out and closed it again due to how his vision tried to hold up to one eye seeing HD and the other box tv. With a frustrated set to his face he sighed and just simply kept the eye closed for the moment; it would be something to work on.

Feasting on the soul would give the artificial coil in his body enough power to run on for some time so long as he didn’t use extravagant amounts of chakra until he found a new flesh coil. The thought occurred to him that he could remove the thing’s chakra coil but he wasn’t sure what kind of effects it could have on his body due its twisted nature. Thinking it best to simply work with what he had despite a major nerf to his abilities the scientist walked over to where he had transformed and recovered the tattered remains of his clothes and his lab coat. It was around then that the a door opened up in the library as if by someone’s will to lead his attention on. For a moment he thought of doubling back but had no idea how he got here in the first place. Before he did, though, he moved to a corner in the room and placed the bomb there and set the timer on it via his own style of paper bomb jutsu that he would be able to set off remotely by copying the exact same seal to his forearm.

He had seen too many movies to trust timers.

It didn’t take Tama long to navigate to a room where a great fight had been held and saw the next door with the figure of his Kazekage walking through it. He wanted to call out his name but the moment the blonde opened his mouth a blood-curdling scream sent his blood cold. He switched the vision of eyes just to make sure it wasn’t another genjutsu before giving into a small panic that lead him to leap off the balcony and dash after Sousuke with the same, if not stronger feelings, he had in response to that scream.

 

[Okibi]

The large ornate door opened seemingly on its own when the Steward stepped up to it. When he walked in he would take notice of . . . well, nothing, considering it was pitch black inside of the concealed room. Even the light from the dimly lit War Room could not penetrate the thick darkness that saturated the room like a blanket, cloaking absolutely everything. As soon as they stepped over the thresh hold, neither Sousuke nor the newly eyeball'ed Tama would be able to see a thing, physically. They could put their hand up and touch their nose with their palm and they would not be able to see it. This darkness . . . it was not natural.

"Oh, look my pet, your friends have joined us." Came a smooth, rich voice. It seemed to emanate from every part of the darkness, as though it was part of it. The sound of a small struggle could be heard from further in, as well as the high pitched grunts of a certain white haired kunoichi. "Now darling, dont be like that. I'm not going to hurt them..."

Suddenly, as if those words triggered something, all the darkness in the room suddenly started to roll like a wave towards a single point at the back of the room. As the shadows receded they gave way to a finely furnished room that was well lit by sconces and a giant crystal chandelier. Plush red carpets lay underfoot and beneath overly stuffed chairs and couches. It was an interesting sight, seeing the lavishness of the room being revealed by the sticky darkness. One would not have guessed that something so foul could hide such beauty.

A large, hard wood desk, shined to perfection, was the very last thing to be unveiled and standing just behind it, Okibi and her captor.

Spoiler

"Yet."The tall, handsomely featured man smiled with his hand wrapped around her throat, and his other holding her arms behind her back. A thick piece of something dark and wiggling was gagging her, keeping her from saying a thing. One of the man's pale, slender hands ran up her neck gently, and he ran his pointer along her bottom lip. Okibi quaked a little and yanked her head away from his touch. He laughed and circled his hand back around her neck, pulling her face forward once more.

"So lovely." He said, dipping his head down and running his nose up Okibi's cheek. Again Okibi started to shake and tried to pull away, but he held her fast. "You did well in healing her after she left us." His voice grew louder as he addressed Sousuke and Tama. He pulled away from Okibi and shoved her back against the wall, where more of the wiggling black stuff slithered around her and lifted her off her feet, holding her hostage three feet in the air. The man looked at her for a moment, then reached up and ran his hand over her chest, down the center to rest of her flat belly, directly over the scar that ran from one side to the other. "Who knew she would become such a beauty. I certainly didnt. She was such the skinny thing when we took her in."

Suddenly his form dispersed into a black mist, and just as suddenly he was standing behind Sousuke and Tama. He leaned over, standing a few inches taller than even Tama, and gave the scientist and sniff. "You smell like her. She's a good fuck isnt she?" He laughed, but before either of the men could get a whack at him he was already gone and reappearing behind his desk once more. "Is he supposed to be your mate my dear?" He asked, turning just enough so he could look at Okibi. Her eyes quivered in their sockets as she looked from him, to Tama, then back again. Their was fear in her eyes . . . but not of the normal sort. The man grinned, and looked back at the two men. "She was mine first you know. She even bore me a child. Does that make you my father-in-law, Steward?"

Okibi's eyes grew to the size of saucers and she quickly turned her gaze away in shame. That had been the source behind her fear; she didnt want him to reveal that she'd sired him a son. She'd already been confused about how she felt about the child, but to have the news broken to two of them men she loved most in the world.

The shame.

She'd never felt such shame before. Never had the word even been part of her dictionary, even when she was recovering from her ordeal in this place the first time around. She'd been fearful, anxious and schizophrenic, but never had she been ashamed. How was she supposed to face her mate and surrogate father now? She was used goods, damaged, defiled. No good.

How could he possibly love her now?

 

[Toraono Michino]

Tama faithfully followed both his duty and his heart as he raced on the heels of the Steward. The scream echoed through his body and the new eye in his left socket itched with recognition of those tormented screams. Without a word he passed by Sousuke and plunged himself into the shadows with not a single shred of fear in his form. The darkness was thick and heavy and felt like he was pawing his way through a sea of wrong, like being stuck in a room with something you know is going to kill you. Yet the scientist didn’t falter a single step as he plunged on fearlessly until he heard the silky smooth voice of a man. The sea of shadows then lifted up around them and sucked themselves all into a single point.

Tama knew the feeling of fear. He was an advocate for the emotion on a lot of levels, but nothing quite shocked through his core like the sight of Okibi being held so effortlessly by a man whose power reminded him all to much of his own master. He knew her to be so much stronger than this on so many levels and yet the being before him held his mate down like a squirmy rag-doll.
The blond started to move forward in the simplest of instinct that she was in danger and needed to be saved, however his brain was able to keep him in check as he watched the man lift her and cause a multitude of shadowy tentacles to hold his lover in the air. Rationality was all the young man was trying to keep about him but it was hard with the mix of his panic and the need to bring her to safety fighting inside of his mind with the part that was trying to tell him to analyze the situation before acting.

Then without so much as a warning he was beside the two as he praised their ability to heal the very same wounds they had wrought upon her both physically and mentally, along with a few other choice key words. A special part in his heart snapped and the scientist couldn’t stop the fist that swung up in an uppercut. He knew exactly how much work had been put into returning Okibi to her old self as he had been there literally every single step of the way. Not a day had gone by in the time since they had found her that she was not with Ryuu Tama. This man was sweetly mocking all the work he had put into the relationship if even just with snide little observations and comments. Sadly his fist only connected with the sickly wet air of the black mist as it returned over to his mate and reformed into the beautiful man who was so set into goading the two shinobi before him.

The questioned that he asked the blond threw him off for just a second as he looked up at Okibi, catching that worried look in her eyes when he spoke the reason why he asked. He had no idea why the evil before them would even ask such a crazy question until he spoke again.
The room started to spin a little as his heart lurched up into his throat and an emotion that Tama couldn’t even begin to described gripped his stomach with icy claws. He wanted the man to be lying but his intelligence just wouldn’t let it rest that this was that man. Tama didn't even care about the child that had been fathered, and honestly he had hoped that who ever had been responsible for Okibi's assault was already long dead. The scientist refocused his vision to look on his love once again, and his fist clenched tight beside him while his teeth crushed down against each other so hard it hurt. However he wasn’t doing this because of what the being revealed...

...but because of the look on Okibi’s face as he said it.​

All that pain and terror that the scientist had tried so hard nurse away from her was being returned through a new look on her face that broke his heart even more than it did to be awakened by a night terror.
“Shut up...”

The words were almost whispered as the scientist looked straight past the man and at his mate. If all she would do was to look into the eyes of her lover she would see the determination there to free her from all of this with the tears cornering his eyes with the pain he was suffering watching her suffer. He had already killed Okibi with his own hands in his mind, and that had been less painful to him than to watch the guilt tear down everything he had built up inside of her.
His hand raised up to his lab coat to rip a piece of it off and wrap it around his good eye so that he wouldn’t open it on accident as he slowly lifted his left eye-lid to reveal the Sharingan beneath in its most powerful form, the Mangekyou in the shape of a funky bio-hazard sign. Despite the fact that it had been stolen the scientist was a man known for claiming what was his and the same would easily be said of the eye as it had not only changed shape in the tomoe but the color of the iris was as green as ever. Tama began to greedily feed chakra into the eye to use the power of the clan by slowly beginning to manipulate the space around him with chakra before pulling nature energy into the air with it.

“To hell with you, and the irrelevance of the past. I don’t care what you claim she was, she is mine now, and I’ll be damned if I see you break her down again!</B><i></i>

Green energy and blue chakra swirled violently around Tama until the body of a masculine humanoid creature began to form around him, raising above him and protecting the scientist with the swirling energies that created it. The scientist raised his arm out to the left and held out his hand open as if to expect something and the creature that had formed around him copied the motion causing more blue chakra and green energy to swirl around until a sword was created. He clenched his fist and the sword was grasped causing the entire room to shake with the sheer energy of the thing he had created out of a purified chakra mix.

“<B>Sousuke, forgive me for taking this eye. I didn’t want to use it so soon or in front of you ever, but I’ll explain myself later. For now I would ask that you please try to save Okibi and I personally will see to this man’s execution in your stead...”

 

[Takahashi Aki]

After hearing the revelation spoken by the man before them, it seemed very capable that Sousuke was going to snap. The ebon armour seemed to crack around the area of the mouth. The armour literally broke and revealed a very sharp series of fangs. The teeth were gritted and the expression was at best a snarl. This was hate. Pure and complete hate. The eyes narrowed, and shifted to Tama as he spoke first telling the man to shut up. That was all that was needed for the moment. Sousuke's vision would go red as he began to calculate all vulnerable points. Throat. Lungs. Heart. Face. Eye. All weak points. Granted landing a fatal blow upon these points at the present time would be difficult. This was a man not to be triffled with, but then again neither was the Steward of the Realm or Ryuu Tama.

"Your uncompromised absolute accelerated annihilation is at hand. Any form of partial, spaceial, celestial reincarnation will not be possible. All threads connecting you to a plane of existence will be severed entirely and terminated."</B><i></i> The Steward spoke plainly and clearly. What the form of the Steward was saying didn't match his form. It was a feral mode speaking in precise calculated words. The Steward's eyes would shift over to Tama as he spoke of how he didn't want him to see these eyes. "This form is not meant to be seen by many. It is not a loss of control, it is quite the opposite. I am fully aware of this form. We are at odds, agreed, but this is not a foe that can be handled single handedly. We must proceed with caution. Okibi must be secured first, and then we will ensure this enemy's annihilation."<i></i> Sousuke would step forward. As his foot landed, he projected a plasma field to disrupt the darkness. An astral project would reveal itself being the Shade that Okibi and Tama had seen before. The Steward's form was dark, and in itself Sousuke knew how to deal with the shadows that this foe projected. "First we begin with reducing your elemental expanse, then we contain it, then we nullify it."<i></i> The Steward conjured a plasma star which he formed easily enough. The form raised up and began to expand outward. The Steward was by no way conjuring photon, it was light but it was not a white light, it was an orange glow. <B>"Kyouzou underestimated me. It would do well for you not to do the same."

 

[Okibi]

"Kyouzou and Odei were both fools." The man said as he crossed his arms behind his back and stood up proud and straight. He turned to Okibi and gave her a smile. "Did Odei's soul taste good, Ryuu Tama?" He glanced over his shoulder with a grin. "I see youre gaining control of his eye easy enough. Very commendable. Did you know your would-be mate had a taste for human souls, my sweet?""

Okibi squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head more towards the wall. She didnt want to hear him speak anymore. Every thing that came out of his mouth was poison; she didnt want to hear it!

The man laughed quietly, his shoulder shaking just. "I would make the suggestion that you take your own advice Steward. It would do you well not to underestimate me. Doctor, the vials." Okibi's eyes popped open and she watched as the Doctor she'd been chasing eased out of a hidden corridor behind a bookshelf. Of course he was still here; it must have been his plan all along to lure her to this room. Her eyes followed his hands as he handed over two slender vials to the other man. One had a faintly glowing purple liquid in it, and the other had blazing orange. The man popped the tops off of both at the same time, and threw his head back, downing to contents of the glass wares.

He tossed the vials back at the Doctor and almost instantly there was a change in the room. His shadow grew to be ten time's his size, and took on the shape of a ghastly monster with glowing eyes. It twisted, writhed, and groaned as two forms popped out of it, falling to the floor with a thud. The shadow shrunk back down to human-like proportions, and Okibi watched with dread as the lumps that fell from the shadow began to take shape. One reared up in what was vaguely a humanoid shape, though the horns and large talons brought to mind images she'd seen in books of demons and trolls. The reddish orange glow only added to the hellish effect. The other creature grew large and long in size, becoming rather serpent like, its body sleek and black like midnight, but when it opened its eyes and mouth, the insides glowed with a somber purple hue. When the pair of creatures laid eyes on Sousuke and Tama, they started to shriek and howl like deranged beasts.

"Just a little something the Doctor and I cooked up for you two. Enjoy." Then, as the man turned away, the creatures leaped and charged at their opponents, the fiend taking Sousuke and the serpent taking Tama. He reached up and plucked Okibi off the wall, holding her as if she weighed nothing. He turned around and hopped onto the desk, seating himself down and placing Okibi in his lap. She squirmed and fought against his hold, but it was for naught; his hold was too strong. He reached up and slowly stroked her hair. "By the way, my name is Hyakuhei. Let's get along shall we?"

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Does 'evil' always seem to insult other evils? It didn't surprise the Steward, as was the nature of evil. How dark a path was Tama travelling? Sousuke's own powers didn't depend upon souls. Granted Mikaboshi was in essence the shadows, Sousuke did not take part of the more spiritual vampiric element of it. Merely he called upon the shadows. "We'll speak of this another time Tama. Not here. Not now."<i></i> He would merely say. Tama would need to explain a great deal of things later, as would Sousuke, but more so Tama than Sousuke.

Sousuke watched as two shadow beings came into existence. Was this a summoning or a creation? The Steward was hard pressed to tell. The contents of the vials could have been what was required to put the finishing touches on the needed rituals... but from the way they howled it did not seem like they were summoned merely created. "Dual entities. I would think they are opposing elements given the colouring of them, but that remains to be seen."<i></i> Sousuke watched as the now named Hyakuhei was about ready to make his way off with Okibi. This would need to end quickly. "Re-engage after I've struck first. Make note of any weaknesses or if they regenerate at all."<i></i> It was an order. The Steward flew after the first creature which closely resembled a demon. Sousuke's left hand sparked with lightning chakra. His right hand curled into a first and was surrounded by an orb of fiery chakra. The Steward disappeared from sight. He first went after the creature that was going after Tama. The Steward needed to give Tama time to follow up as Tama was not proficient in melee combat. The Steward would phase shift to the side as deliver a fiery blow. The Steward would attempt to knock the serpent off course. He would attempt to drive his first through the side of the snake like creature in an attempt to figure out its defensive capabilities. Once completed the Steward would phase shift to deal with his other foe. The Steward's other hand was overcharged with lightning chakra. He would aim a piercing strike through the chest of the would-be fiend. With both creatures proved to show any form of resilience to base elements the Steward would step up his game and proceed into the more advanced elements of metal and plasma.

 

[Toraono Michino]

“I said shut up!<i></i>”

Tama was enraged, terrified, and shamed all at the same time when the dark accuser spoke of the souls he had eaten to his beloved. It was the one part of his past, of his secret terrible habits, that he had managed to keep Okibi from finding out. He had never planned to tell her of this hoping that it would never come to surface but here was this villain exposing the scientist for who he really was.
The blond’s fist clenched causing the ghostly thing around him to do the same and threw a punch as if that very act would silence him, but before the blow could connect the powerful chakra form flickered and dispersed, following a very sharp exploding pain in his new eye to cause him to drop to one knee. His hand reached up to knuckle at the goopy flesh as if it would help recede the pain any. No matter how fast he was adapting to the new techniques of the Uchiha he still wasn’t of blood. The soul he had feasted on allowed him to have a limited full control of the eye’s abilities, but apparently he was not ready to actually use the technique he was displaying.

By the time Tama opened his eye again the monster before him had chugged down two vials given to him by a man that he recognized from the briefing. Shadowy demons formed from swallowing of the liquids which the scientist could only assume meant that something in the fluid was allowing him to split off his power into physical manifestations. His bi-colored eyes watched as the two beings raised over them. The blonde held a hard line on his face as he watched his Steward attack the two creatures with a physical front. No doubt he would be expected to provide a ranged back up to his attacks but something told him that his focus needed to be a little split.

The scientist assumed a battle stance and began to weave shinobi seals in an old fashion style compared to how he was normally able to control elements through the use of nature chakra. In fact as his sharingan analyzed the chaka patterns of the power used to create the creatures as well as target the scientist not a bit of nature chakra was being played into any of his abilities. It was easiest to say this was because the power that the sharingan used had to be carefully managed and attempting to draw the Earth’s power out while in mid fight just didn’t seem like it would result in positive effects if he wanted to continue using the edge his eye gave him.

A small burst of power erupted around Tama in the form of electricity that he shot from an extended arm to follow up from the first attack before bending the lightning around him to blast a bolt of lightning to the first creature powerful enough to leap over and surround Sousuke’s blade for the second attack. His ability to bend the nature of his natural chakra was far beyond any ability he had shown thus far and it was all due to the power granted by the forlorn clan of the Uchiha. Just as the second bolt of lighting leaped up to empower his leader’s attack Tama formed the seals again before placing his hand directly upon the ground to cause the floor to break and force a large crack to speed after the scientist before opening up the floor right beneath him.

Perhaps the drop would kill him.

 

[Okibi]

The first attack came from Sousuke, a flame charged punch at the shadow serpent in an attempt to veer it away from Tama. Soususke would prove the upper hand when it came to speed, for even though the serpent saw him coming, and attempted to swat him away with its tail, it wasnt fast enough to make contact, or avoid the Stewards attack. The fiery blow landed, launching the serpent backwards with a pained shriek. It hit a wall, making parts of it crumble as it fell to the floor in a small cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, they would see that Sousuke's attack made a small hole in the large snake's side. But then, in nearly the blink of an eye, the wound weaved itself back together, and the serpent was back on its . . . belly. It reared up and hissed, obviously angry now, with its sights set on Sousuke. Distraction successful.

Hyakuhei laughed from where he sat on his desk, running his long and slender fingers through Okibi's hair. "Perhaps I should have given them a bit more intelligence. Dont you think my dear?" He bent his head forward so he could speak directly into Okibi's, making her cringe. She was trying not to watch the battle; she didnt want to see either man get hurt as she knew they inevitably would be. Hyakuhei laughed once more as he wrapped his fingers around her chin in an iron grip and pulled her face around. "What bad manners. Your men are fighting for you, the least you could do is watch as they meet their ends my pet."

Okibi flinched, wanting to close her eyes, but finding that that was impossible to do once she caught sight of the fight. Now that she'd seen them, she couldnt look away.

Sousuke was quick, shifting from one place to another in the blink of an eye. When he phased in front of the horned demon and thrust his doubly charged electric fist at it - thanks to Tama - he would find that he was not the only one gifted with quickness. The demon moved, in a fashion very similar to Sousuke, just to the side of the attack, avoiding being impaled in the chest. The fiend laughed as he wrapped his large taloned hands around Sousuke's arm. Immediately Sousuke would be able to feel the immense heat that the demon generated, even through his armor. The fiends arms then began to melt, losing distinctive form as they seeped around the Stewards arm, looking very much like sentient lava, or magma. Just like the essence of a volcano the heat would become unbearable, rising higher and higher the longer the fiend stayed in contact with Sousuke.

Then, to make matters worse for the Steward, the serpent he so successfully distracted chose that moment to lend it's fiery friend a hand. It slithered up behind Sousuke while Tama was busy making a fissure in the ground, and without so much as a sound opened its maw and bore it's fangs. It deadly needle like teeth dripped with a toxic looking purple substance, and bit down with bone crushing force on Sousuke's shoulder. The first bite did not completely penetrate Sousuke's superior steel, but it didnt need to. Sousuke would hear a distinct hissing sound coming from where the snake bit, and if he looked he would see that the small holes made by the serpents teeth were starting to expand, the metal being eaten away by the small pools of purple liquid left behind.

The snake reared again, preparing for another bite as the fire fiend continued to laugh in its deep, demonic timbre.

On the other side of the room, the Doctor looked down uninterested as the large crack in the ground made by Tama raced towards him. Just as the fissure was reaching his feet, a sudden explosion of cloth happened behind the doctor, and four spindly, metallic arms broke free of his back. The spider-like arms extended and pierced the sides of the small chasm, keeping the doctor aloft and not falling to his death. "If you have no more need of me master, I will be taking my leave." He said to Hyakuhei, who only nodded and waved him off. Without another word the metal arms propelled the Doctor away from the crack in the ground and up the wall, quick as a lick, and through a hole that he made appear by pressing an invisible latch in the wall. One adversary was gone, but they were still left with more than enough fight on their hands.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

It was perhaps the best for Tama that Sousuke had acquired the attention of both created entities. Acid burned through the Steward's armour, and secondly he was being further burned by molten lava. The Steward was used to the heat. He worked in forges of varying degrees, and thus he was used to the extreme conditions. These conditions, however, were severe, but still workable. The Steward shifted for a moment before delivering his counter attacks. He would combine two techniques. The first was a piercing technique he had learned from fencing, but the concept was not simply to have a focal point it was to have multiple focal points. The second feature of this technique was to then amplify it through use of metal jutsu. While the enemy was reduced to a molten state, the Steward was quite certain he would feel the effects of being pierced by either the metallic element or the ebon blade which was now part of his very being. "Shield yourself Tama."<i></i> Sousuke would warn as he began to mingle the two techniques. "You cannot hold back a storm of swords."<i></i> Several spikes and blades would sprout out of the Steward's metallic form. Seconds later another series of spikes would sprout out of the Steward, but these spikes would fire out of the Steward's metallic form. The first set of spikes was meant to deal with the molten demon. The second set that was deployed as a series of projectiles was another measure to deal with the molten demon, but more so to deal with the serpent. The Steward's intention was to fully impale the both of them.

Should the combined attack not cause the Steward to be released, Sousuke would follow up with the greater threat of the two being the molten demon. The Steward's fingers would meld into needles as he would attempt to stab his foe in the face with an enraging strike. He needed to break his foe's grasp on him before his combined form was completely compromised. The Steward's attack was meant not so much as to damage his foe, but to cause confusion. Cause the molten enemy to strike his venomous ally instead. By striking the cranium the Steward's intention was to further cause his enemy's mind to enter such a confused state of attacking friend instead of enemy. The second item to note here was to give Tama an opening to deal with this molten foe during his confusion. "Tama follow up. Do not engage directly no matter what. Their attacks will melt flesh be it through extreme heat or poison. Neutralize with what you can."<i></i> The Steward spoke. Once more the feral form betrayed the words that came out of the mouth. Monstrous this form was. It was a blade given intellect and thought. The spikes retracted as Sousuke retracted his expanded form.

Actions - Tsukogami Omni-Flash - combining Million Stab and Superalloy Tempest
Enraging Strike

 

[Toraono Michino]

“Shield yourself.”

It was all Tama needed to hear before rolling through a handful of seals to slam the ground and raise a barrier up around him made of earth. He had been dissapointed that non of his attacks were working and the frustration of it was building. Was he not the super genius of Suna? Capable of creating devices that could change the face of the world should they make an exit from their deep cave? The fact that another man with machines attached to him out smarted the scientist’s attack aggravated him more than the fact the creatures were both focused on Sousuke as the threat rather than himself.

While shielded from the Stewart’s attacks Tama began to mold a massive amount of the newly replenished chakra in his body while slowly rotating through seals and speaking Ancient language to beef of the energy focused into the jutsu he was creating. As soon as the Kage’s rain of blades finished the barrier dropped large gusts of wind began to engluf the room as he powered up his most powerful Wind Element technique. His sharingan caught the snake like thing, catching it’s reaction after his leader’s technique and unleashed a large confined force of wind to crush it against the wall, should even it hold against the weight.

[Technique Used: Ambiance of the Forbidden]