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| - It was around then that, Itsuki had the uneasy feeling that he was being watched. His nervousness showed by the slight decrease of his walking pace. The only one who noticed was Madoka. "You should take a different route than me, meet me in Kumogakure." Madoka and the other member of the Dragon Force nodded before using the Body Flicker Technique to make a quick get away. Once, Itsuki was alone he continued walking. Five minutes pasted before the first Black Zetsu appeared. Itsuki quickly unsheathed his sword with his right hand and cut the Zetsu down. A second pasted before two more appeared, and he was able to take down those just as quickly. Over time more and more Black Zetsu appeared, and when a minute had pasted he found himself surrounded by a lot of Black Zetsus. Slaying members of the Black Zetsu Army was never easy, since they could easily reform due to their malleable nature and control over their form. As the platoon surrounded Itsuki, they took full advantage of this However, their attack did not go unnoticed. On his way back from gathering supplies in the surrounding area, Kei sensed the attack in progress and rushed to the traveller's aid, feeling his unique chakra signature. As he made his way there, the Black Zetsu platoon shapeshifted into many animals, and began to attack in waves. "Kenjutsu doesn't seem to be working... Let's try ninjutsu." Itsuki thought to himself. Itsuki jumped high in the air and formed the following hand seals: ram, horse, snake, dragon, rat, ox, and tiger. After forming the last hand seal he kneaded chakra into fire and manipulated the flames to look like a dragon. Once that was done, spit out the flames from his mouth and the flames headed directly toward the mass of Black Zetsus. The flames burned away at the zetsus it hit, but more came at the young man, hoping to consume him in all. But then, the sound of thread whirled through the air, as the soulsword had cut through the masses coming towards the man. Since the sword was designed to attack spirits, materializations of Will were easy enough to be slay with slashes from the needle. As the string returned the blade to Kei, Kei leaped down besides Itsuki. His blue eyes flashed at a few Black Zetsu that had made eye contact. In an instant, they were under his control and he unleashed them on the others. There was no need for communication in the heat of this raid. For in this world, humans were allies. And Zetsu was the enemy. When Itsuki landed on the ground he noticed the human helping him. He was glad for the help because he figured that sooner or later he would have to use his Kekkei Genkai. Itsuki reached into his cloak with his left hand and retrieved a couple of shuriken. He infused white colored Chakra into the shuriken which increased its cutting power and weight, Itsuki then flicked his hand and the shuriken flew threw threw the air towards the mass of Black Zetsu. Magnetizing the attack of shuriken, Kei was able to guide these for more powerful strikes. As they whizzed through the air, currents transformed into crescents as their sounds were weaponized as well against the Zetsu, cutting them into many. Magnetizing them as well, it allowed them to become Kei's playthings, as he manipulated them into trees and strung them on the long sword. Soon, the platoon's ranks were in disarray. Itsuki has always been great at teamwork and it only took him a minute to adapt his fighting style to assist his new ally. During the few times a Black Zetsu dodged the shurikens and came close to his ally, Itsuki would swiftly swing his sword at the Zetsu before deriving a powerful kick to try and force it back. The air crackled as electrical energy hissed into existence. Natural currents fried the Zetsu swarm, sending them back as the Zetsu Kei controlled were able to lay waste to the rest. Like an extension of his hand, lightning morphed around the shinobi. The famous Lightning Release Chakra Mode burst to life and Kei lunged into the fray. Within two minutes, he entered Sage Mode with the help of Denji Ryū, amplifying his strength. Sending Zetsu crashing into the trees around, he electrified the battlefield. But it was far from over. Itsuki was starting to think that he would need to use his Kekkei Genkai for this fight. He's only used it twice in his life due to his ability to use Ryūjin Release without being in Ryūjin mode. As he was thinking this he gathers a lot of chakra in his stomach and converts it into highly pressurized wind. Itsuki then opens his mouth and fires the wind at the Zetsus in the form of a tornado-like blast of wind that would destroy almost anything in it's path. Blowing a lot of Zetsus away, Itsuki succeeds in stopping the first swarm. But what of the second? All Black Zetsus weren't that "easy" to beat. Other forms retained much more power. And unfortunately for these two, some of those forms were present in this platoon. From behind, an enenmy shinobi attacked Itsuki with a sword strike as a Black Zetsu titan came out of the darkness of the woods to face Raijin down in battle. Itsuki was able to smell the shinobi coming and thanks to his incredible reflexes he was able sidestep and only receive a small cut on his right ribcage. He turned around and tried to kick his attacker with strength that was two times stronger then the average human. If his kick connected he would channel Ryūjin chakra to his feet to increase the kicks destructive power slightly. Itsuki sent the man reeling back, but the shinobi was no ordinary one. A Lightning Bandit coated with a black zetsu, he summoned forth White Zetsu as he prepared to attack once more. He was able to recover from the blow due to Black Zetsu. In the meantime, Kei found his hands full with the titan. Finding their strength to be equal, he found that he had to resort to other means of combat. Itsuki quickly formed the clone seal and create a single Shadow Clone. He then channels Yin-Yang chakra to his right fist and charged the enemy, when Itsuki was close enough to strike he brought up his fist to strike, but instead moved with enough speed to create an afterimage and appear behind the shinobi within a second. Once behind, Itsuki would punch the shinobi with the Yin-yang chakra covered fist which would create a powerful shockwave with enough force to cause brain trauma if the attack was successful. Itsuki's speed was tremendous and managed to catch the shinobi off guard. However at the last second, the Black Zetsu uncoats himself from the forsaken, leaving the shinobi to die as he prepares to engage Itsuki once more. Morphing into a lion form, he breathes a spiritual energy fueled fire at the young man. Kei draws down his four fingers on his right hand, producing the legendary Hell Stab. Dashing forth, he changes the intensity into white and increases it with the power of his tailed beast. The giant prepares to smash him with one powerful punch. Itsuki smiled as he saw the fire approached him. Instead of dodging it, he opened his mouth and ate the flames. Itsuki is abled to convert the fire into energy that he used to restore his spiritual energy. He then gathers a lot of chakra in his stomach and converts it into incredibly hot flames, which he fires out of his mouth towards the Zetsu in the form of a large column of flames. Meanwhile, the shadow clone headed toward the giant and tries to attack the zetsu with a powerful kick towards the ankle. The lion had great jumping skills. Feeling the heat, the will lion was able to dodge the majority of the flames, starting a forest fire. The heat would of been unhinging, if the lion had been an actual animal. Difusing into many small lions, he hoped to ambush Itsuki. Kei was no stranger to combat, and was not always one to go head to head, unlike his predecessor, A the IV. Before they could collide, Kei utilized his electric form to teleport behind the Zetsu as his bunch hit nothing but air. The shadow clone delivers the kick to the ankle and Kei then proceeded to stab the zetsu, making use of Denji's special abilities to end the titan. Meanwhile, one of the min lions aimed to take control of the unsuspecting shadow clone. Itsuki was tiring quickly and he knew he had end this quickly. Using Yin chakra he brings up an image of a spot behind the horde of lions. Then he uses yang chakra to appear at that spot instantaneously. When he appeared at that spot something seemed different about Itsuki. His eyes had turned cat-like and skin looked like they could be as hard as dragon scales. Itsuki is able to control this form because it was only in the first stage. Itsuki formed the following hand seals with great speed: horse, tiger, ram, monkey, boar, horse, and tiger. After the necessary hand seals were formed he gathers chakra in his stomach, and converted it into fire. Itsuki then blew out a massive fireball that would head toward the horde of lions at great speeds. If the fire were to hit the any of the lions it would cause the lion to be engulfed in fire. Engulfing the lions in fire, the unsuspecting shadow clone was coated by one mini lion. As the shadow clone went to attack Itsuki, Kei moved even faster, using his legendary speed to his advantage. He punched straight through the clone like a bullet, poofing it into nothingness. The battle won for now, Kei mused something aloud. "I suppose that was one of the smaller platoons. We got lucky," Walking over to Itsuki, he asked, "I suppose you are from the Dragon Force? The people I requested?" When the battle was finally over, Itsuki's eyes and skin returned to normal. "Yes I am, the other members are on there way to Kumogakure as we speak." Itsuki responded. "I'm the leader of the Dragon Force, my name is Itsuki Dairyū. Thanks for helping me." Itsuki continued. "Hmm, no need to say thank you, remember we're all in this together," Kei said. This is good, he thought, more people are joining the union against Black Zetsu. At this rate, we might have a chance. "We should get there to, before a bigger platoon comes or the platoon comes back for more. We didn't really "kill" a lot of them, only disabled. Probably don't want to be here when they come to. Or when the weather becomes unpredictable." Taking to the trees, he urged Itsuki to follow him back to the village. "How far are we from Kumogakure?" Itsuki asked as he followed the man's lead. If Kumogakure was less then twelve miles away, Itsuki might be able to teleport himself and the man there. Itsuki wasn't sure he could teleport the man, the only other living thing he has tried teleporting with him was a dog a couple of weeks ago, and that dog is a lot smaller than this man. "Only like a second really, I can get us there quickly. I will just need you to stand on this." Kei explained, obtaining his metallic disk from a scroll. "We can get into the village quickly by Heavenly Transfer, no need to risk the trip back." Itsuki nodded and waited for Kei to put the disc down. "Are you going to perform the technique?" Itsuki asked. Itsuki wondered if his body would be able to handle being transferred with the technique. He didn't want risk being torn to shreds so he entered the first stage of Ryūjin just in case. Upon entering this form his skin turned as hard as dragon scales and his eyes turned cat-like. "Yeah," Kei said as he put the disk on top the forest floor. He motioned Itsuki over, and vibrated his chakra. Utilizing his Lightning Release mastery, he converts them into light and they teleport into Kumogakure safely. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" He says as he steps out into Central Kumogakure. Itsuki glanced in Kei's direction once he stepped off. "It could be worse." Itsuki said as he returned to normal from his dragon-like state. Even with his hardened skin he didn't survive the trip unharmed, there were tiny scratches located on his right arm. Itsuki realized that it could have been worse so he didn't complain. The newer generation seems very capable... Kei thought. He wondered if they would be enough to face the threat Black Zetsu posed. Well they'll have to be. Or we'll all die. "Come with me." Leading the young man down a series of halls, he wandered for a few minutes before turning down a dead end hallway. At the end was an iron door, that K gestured to and said, "And these will be your quarters as you stay here and assist in our efforts. Go on, see what's inside." He gestured toward the handle, a steel knob. Itsuki did as he told and called the man through the halls as he looked around. Has he walked he began to wonder if his team had arrived here safely. As long as Haruhi was with the other member, they should be ok. When he arrived at his room he nodded in thanks, but instead of walking in he asked, "Do you know if my teammates have arrived yet?" "Actually, I'm afraid you're the first to arrive," Kei said. "Did you send them ahead of you or something?" He noted that they may have run into trouble on the way. "If they're not here, Black Zestu might have gotten to them. This is very bad." K gained a worried expression on his face and began to focus his chakra for wide-range sensory. "Where were they last? Where did you guys part ways?" he pressed, rather than asked, emphasizing the urgency of the situation. "We mustn't waste time if they're still out there!" "The last time I saw them was right before the I ran into the Black Zetsu. I sent them ahead of me and told them to come here.", Itsuki responded with a hint of worry in his voice. "At the speed they were going they should have arrived here already or at least reached the reached the gate.", he continued. "Sabotage is definitely at play here. If you want to see your friends again, you mus come with me and act fast." Kei retraced his steps and then prepared for teleportation. Teleporting back into the forest with Itsuki, he told the man that they would have to split up. Surrounded by dense forest though, there was much ground to cover and not enough time. "Be careful. Zetsu is a dangerous enemy and your friends don't have much time if they didn't make it to the village safely." He sped off in one direction, hoping the dragon boy would go in the opposite and continue the search. Activating his sensory prowess, he began scoping his area. Itsuki allowed the man to teleport him back to the forest, but when Kei went off, Itsuki didn't run off in the opposite direction, at least not immediately. Instead, he raised his hand palm upwards, and spoke in a nearly inaudible voice. The words he was speaking wasn't a normal language, it was the language required to perform an Incantation. Once he was done speaking, a small circular pool of water was created above his hand. The pool of water, then shaped itself into fish-like shape. Once it was shaped, Itsuki whispered the named of his missing family members which caused the fish shaped water to scatter in different directions. Once the fish shaped water scattered, Itsuki ran off in the opposite direction as Kei and began to search for his teammates. Kei began to sense a weakening chakra signature, hastening his steps. Eventually he abandoned foot travel entirely, resorting to flight instead. At this pace, he eventually neared the location he was sensing, a large clearing. As he approached, he could hear screams and roars. A battle was definitely unfolding and he was almost certain another squad of Black Zetsu was the case. As he neared, he noted it wasn't a natural clearing, it was made. The battle had downed several trees. The Black Zetsu squad was resorting to everything they had. He could literally see it. Along with the original assortment of Black Zetsu-like entities, a few titans were attacking the remaining members of the Dragon force. Kei sped towards the fray, lightning crackling around him. Drawing forth his Tb energy, he had Denji draw in natural energy. It didn't take long for Itsuki to sense the familiar chakra that came from his cousin. He could tell that her chakra was starting to weaken. So instead of continuing he quickened his pace and soon found himself near the clearing. He then began to breathe in deeply while gathering a lot of highly concentrated chakra in his stomach. Once the appropriate amount of chakra was gathered, he transformed the charka into wind. The wind would then be expelled from his mouth in the direction of the closest titan. The wind took the form of a large and powerful tornado-like blast. The giant split into two giants, one taking the blast and the other emerging unscathed. It began to stop, sending shockwaves throughout the land and air. The giants then began to shape-shift and multiply, as soon as Kei finished entering Sage Mode. He began charging a special attack, and cast lightning into the sky as well. However, he did so from a hidden spot as he watched Itsuki. Once finished, he would use it on a titan before continuing his plans. Itsuki glanced at the titan that split to avoid getting hurt and as he charges Yin-Yang chakra to his right fist. Afterwards, he ran towards the titan and jumped up high towards the titan. As he was in the air he entered the third stage of his Ryūjin Kekkei Genkai, causing dragon-like wings to branch out from his shoulder blades and a dragon-like tail to extend from his tail bone. Any sensor type would notice that his chakra levels would increase greatly as soon as these new appendages appeared. His chakra levels weren't the only change, his strength and senses increased greatly as well and with this knew found strength he tried punched the titan with his right fist. If it made contact it would cause the titan an explosion of pure chakra would emit outwards from Itsuki's fist, which would cause the titan to be propelled back with great force. Kei followed up on Itsuki's attack with a Super Mini-Lightning ball, finishing off the titan finally. While others remained, a storm emerged in the sky. Lightning strikes, completely at the Yotsuki's control, struck down the remaining titans at once, leaving the remaining army scattered. Urging Itsuki to get to his Dragon Force members, who were on the other side of the waning squadron, he jumped into the fray, hoping to take down the platoon from two fronts. Utilizing the Chain Lightning Technique, many of the platoon became felled with a mass of natural electrical energy. After punching the titan, could be still in the air. He wasn't falling, but instead levitating thanks to slow rhythmic flapping of his dragon-like wings. Itsuki took a deep breath and released a large stream of fire that engulfed another part of the platoon. After releasing the flames, Itsuki flew towards his companions at incredible speeds and lowered his arms so his teammates can grab his wrists. Once he reached them his cousin grabbed onto his left wist while his fiancée grabbed his right. Afterwards, he looked back at the man who helped him to make sure it was fine for him to leave. And so, the mission would be completed. Together they would manage to make a small distraction so Kei could teleport them all back to Kumogakure through Heavenly Transfer. It was a dangerous journey, but he knew he couldn't leave any one behind. Not anymore. After a couple weeks of recovery and training, he would dispatch the Dragon Force from Kumogakure. As the Zetsu were growing closer and closer to winning, it became important to unite the other strongholds in the struggle. And so, he would send the Force outward towards the Frost Country, along with other Kumo shinobi. This would be one of the first steps to uniting the country. And then secondly, he himself would depart to Kirigakure.
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