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'A rogue ninja... a Missing-Nin... and she's using Snakes; those things were famous in Orochimaru's fighting style... Not good, not good at all...' Eluamous was closer than most would have anticipated to Tsuki; the snow bank he'd hidden behind being only about fifty feet form her location. Unfortunately, it meant he was also very close to her snake attack; as the hundred of snakes crept across the snow; Eluamous's breath quickened; as he possessed a mild fear of snakes. 's**t... why did it have to be snakes? I hate snakes, always have... s**t, damnit... not good... they'll be here soon. Alright; calm down, relax, wait and watch...' Quickly calming himself down, Eluamous forced himself to remain calm, forced his heartbeat to slow; lowering his seven shields and spears from his Spinning Turtle Formation before beginning to bury himself under the snow; forming his hands in the shape of a handseal as he finished burying himself. Not a sound, not a single hint of fear... Eluamous knew he couldn't allow anything in the outside surroundings to keep him from his state of calm... He focused, remembering an old story he'd once been read; a story of a king fighting to his last breaths against an opponent he could not hope to defeat... Why he'd done it? No one could say, perhaps a matter of honor; to show that if one dies honorably they might even move the dead to action... It was an old tale told to him only to remind him of battles, to fight honorably and die honorably; to take as many enemies as you could down with you... Eluamous had heard the story so many times he knew it by heart...

Castle Lotar had been constructed many centuries ago when the kingdom was still young. It had taken decades of labor, building it slowly, stone by stone, to construct its walls and chambers. Standing within the throne room, center of the palace, King Aldred and the remnants of his knights prepared to make their final stand. It was an early age; steel weaponry had only recently been discovered, and was well beyond their current resources. They now wielded the ancient bronze weaponry that had served them for ages past. For their own defense, the room had been cleared completely; thrones and statues had been moved aside to create makeshift barricades. Two of the three oaken doors leading into the hall were barricaded shut, preventing entry from all but the single remaining door. Aldred of Lotar, to say the least, was not a warrior that his ancestors would have been proud of. His once great kingdom was soon to fall; centuries of lost time had erased many of Lotar’s old ways and had made them weak.
‘Only a strong warrior with compassion for his people should hold the throne, for he is their last defense should our knights fail to defend us.’ That was the only rule of the long forgotten ways that had been passed on, yet he was told only to learn to fight and he would defend his kingdom well. Fear gripped his stomach as he watched the remainder of the knights braced themselves for the inevitable doom soon to befall them.
The southern door burst open as the steel clad knights of Venneran charged in to face them. Lotar’s own knights drew their weapons and charged forward to defend their king. Though outnumbered, they fought till their last breath, but even their courage could not prevail at such a disadvantage. The last of the knights died and the Venneran soldiers formed a circle around Aldred. A swordsman in steel armor entered the circle; his face covered in a thick black beard and moustache. Though the miniscule swordsman only stood up to Aldred’s shoulders, his eyes gleamed with bloodlust, and the grease in his barbaric hair reflected off the torchlight. Beside him stood a thin and frail man clothed in violet robes.
“Duke Yulran…” Aldred looked at the pathetic man and his eyes began to tear, “You’re the one who opened the gates for them…”
The swordsman smirked and looked at the duke, “Yes, he was of much help, all we had to do was provoke his greed. He sought to rule this kingdom, though I see no reason for it, the kingdom is dead and you, King of Lotar,” the swordsman paused to stab Yulran through the heart with his blade, “are now the last of its people.”
“The Dragon Slayer, Greatest of our Knights, is still out there, he’ll kill you even if I am to fall…”
“You still believe those old legends, it’s been thirty years and he’s not been seen since. Admit that the warrior died in slaying that dragon; and stop clinging to a false hope. Your doom is sealed, your land is mine.”
“If death is all that I have left to look forward to… then let it come.” The king bowed his head as he placed his hands on a battle ax from the body of a nearby knight, “But as the life fades from my eyes this axe will slash open your black heart!”
He hoisted the battleaxe over his shoulders and charged at the swordsman, who sidestepped the attack and readied his blade. The swordsman raised his sword and with speed Aldred had never seen before, dashed past him and slashed at his side. The old bronze armor the king was wearing split in half from the attack. Looking around him, he saw the swordsman readying another attack. This time the king braced himself and as the swordsman came again to attack he thrust his battleaxe forward and caught the sword’s blade with it. The swordsman grinned, surprised and amused by the ploy, but with a swift flick of his wrist the blade sipped through Aldred’s parry and slashed across his neck. A fog seemed to cloud his mind as blood flowed from the wound, the time till his death measured in seconds.
He saw the swordsman looking down on him, laughing a sickening, mocking laugh that sent chills through him. Spirits of the fallen Lotaran knights gathered around him, telling him to hold on and to complete his vow, that they were with him and helping him. Nodding his head in almost a drunken manner, his hands clasped around the battleaxe one last time and swung it at the swordsman’s chest. His attack missed by a hair’s length and the Venneran soldiers surrounded the King and with spears and swords, and slew him. Reacting to their fallen king, the spirits of the Lotaran Knights attacked. None of the Venneran soldiers who had entered the castle survived their wrath. Outside the terrible ruin of Castle Lotar, the remainder of Venneran’s knights saw only a single figure escape…the swordsman who had slain King Aldred...

That was right... the killer had lived on; a tragic tale of death repaid to all but the original slayer... Why? He must have been missing a part of the story... A tingling sensation at his feet... they were close to him... a dozen snakes... the countdown was to begin... five seconds.... four seconds.... three, two, one... NOW! Clasping his hands tighter together as a surge of chakra ran through his body; a massive pillar of fire erupted from his mouth at a diagonal angle towards the snakes above him; immediately aligning himself to spew flames towards the remainder headed towards them; the deadly Fire Dragon Flame Projectile; a massive jet of fire spewing from the user's mouth to incinerate foes... Burning the small army of snakes that had headed towards him to nothing but a large row of ashes; Eluamoua quickly channeled energy into the palms of his hand; the seven shields and spears again floating around him in a spiral; a snap of his fingers in his off hand as a sudden flux of darkness would soon cloud over Tsuki's mind; leaving her in a void of her own mind and unable to perceive any incoming attacks. The Bringer of Darkness technique, a powerful genjutsu taught to him in the afterlife by the Hokages of old, even if it were to be broken; to break it would require enough distraction for Tsuki to be unable to react to his next attack; he probably only had the chance for one attack... He'd best make it count... The energy within the palm of his dominant hand become a spinning disk of high intensity, shredding energy as he threw it from behind his defenses; the disk launching suddenly and without words or hand signs; a surprise attack... Rasengan. As the shredding disk of high intensity chakra aimed towards Tsuki; Eluamous refortified his defenses; arranging his seven shields to float around him at all angles; protecting him as best as possible should the attack fail... His seven spears aligning to form a seven point pentacle as an attack formation, prepared to counter attack if Tsuki did in fact escape his attack...

Sam stood there not feeling threatened at all by the team as he smiled. he had cast a genjutsu hiding its name in his words. as they would try to break free they would be trapped by the Fear Me genjutsu he had cast shortly after the genjutsu. Sam then began his next set of handseals as he would start to take off running. he would seem to be moving as fast as light now. team c wouldn't be able to tell what was happening and would continue to be stuck by the rings of light.

's**t... Ryuugan...' A rogue ninja of Hidden Cloud; something he'd not expected... He saw his attack dispersed into thin air... and immediately formed all seven shields around him; three behind, two on each side to brace against the lightning attack; leaving no cracks between them in which the lightning could slip though elsewhere... Eluamous stood there; bracing himself, a single piece of parchment dangling in his hand... As the lightning attack zig zagged towards him; time slowed; and the memories of old again entered his mind...

Thirty years prior to the fall of Lotar…
Outside the great hall of Lotar, two knights stood guard grimly over the room. The people entering were not in their usual mood, for a dark day had fallen over the kingdom. An illness had taken their prior king’s life, and the people came to pay their last respects. After assuring there were no more people, the two knights closed the oaken doors and spoke quietly to each other.
“The king is dead…”
“Who is to rule next?”
“The advisors say his son is to rule.”
“The boy? He’s too young. The last of the ancient laws say-“
“I know what they say, but the king died far before his time, I suppose he expected his son to me much older and stronger. And the advisors are too stone-headed to defy the king’s last wish. They obey the wrong laws and ignore laws that hinder them.”
“So the boy Aldred is to rule?”
“Yes, the thought still troubles me…”
“Still, there is the Orb of Souls…”
“Its powers didn’t seem to do much for the king. Though I suppose we should have gotten a proper scholar to study it. Even the court wizards agreed on that point, the few books that have written descriptions of its powers are too cryptic.”
“Even with a proper scholar, one would have to devote a lifetime to study it and understand that thing, all we had were the few hours of a last attempt, and some old documents dating before the magi path.”
“Now that was a fairy tale, a great road of magic to the other kingdoms.”
“It’s rumored the renegade knights who went and formed Venneran only got to the north by following where the path was, and some say that the great city of Aquoriou is built on a section of that path.”
“And we’re off topic again; what I’m saying is that even with that orb, Aldred won’t be any better off. Most of us can see through it, the council of advisors wants to rule the kingdom through him.”
Two figures cloaked in dark blue robes walked towards the knights, their faces were lightly tanned and they smelled of the ocean. Under the robes they wore a leather armor top and breaches. Each had a curved scimitar belted at their side within a thick leather scabbard.
“Halt,” the two knights said in unison, “What is your business here?”
“My brother and I,” the taller of the two spoke, “are from a newly formed kingdom of merchants and sailors, perhaps you’ve heard of Nequoriou?”
“Only rumors of a group of sailors exiled for treason” one of the knights replied.
The shorter, yet burlier of the two sailors stepped forward, “We were not exiled! We left Aquoriou at our own will to avoid the further corruption of their monarchy. They branded us as traitors only to prevent others from following us! We searched for months to find a suitable home, and found land to the east across the sea. All that work, building a new home from only what we could find there, and they refused to recognize us as a kingdom!” though he only went up to the knight’s shoulders, he spoke so angrily the knight almost fell over. The shorter man’s hand reached for his sword, but his brother pulled him back and murmured something in his ear.
Once calmed down, the shorter man spoke in a low voice, “I apologize for my outburst; what you brought up is still a touchy subject. Still, we’ll be recognized as a kingdom sooner than they think…Is your king available for an audience?”
“I’m afraid you’ve come at a bad time,” one of the knight’s spoke, “you see our King was taken by illness and we’re waiting for the announcement of his successor.”
“Well then…” the taller man spoke taking out a sealed envelope, “if you could deliver this message to the new king, we’ll return in a few days for the answer.”
The knight took the envelope, nodded, and without another word the two figures left as quickly as they had come. Assuring that the strangers were out of sight, they resumed again in conversation.
“They’re after something, I can just tell…”
“There are two of them and they’re not heavily armed, I can’t imagine they’d try fighting the entire garrison.”
“They didn’t strike me as magic wielders, but there’s something odd about them.”
“What could they possibly want?”
“Gold, allies, someone to tell Aquoriou that they’re a kingdom-”
“If they think we could convince Aquoriou, they’ve been at sea for far too long. From what I’ve heard a large group left about five years ago, and returned several times over the past two years for people who wanted to sail back with them. I can imagine that they would seek an alliance and recognition from the queen of Aquoriou.”
“So if she refused then they must be seeking the support of another of the ancient kingdoms. And since the kingdom of the Dark Forests south of us has long been broken into factions of barbarians-”
“-and no one knows what happened to the desert tribes, and the Isle of Miquerto is somewhere far southeast in the ocean, probably no maps left showing where it is.”
“They chose us, the only real option they had…”
One of the doors pushed open behind them and knocked the knight who had been leaning against it onto the ground. The mourners didn’t even look down and continued out of the castle. They had no more reason to stay and would return to the surrounding villages. A new king would take his place on the throne and life would return to normal. As predicted the council exited last, several of them looked happier than what would be expected after a funeral. With the council gone, the two knights looked into the room and saw the young boy Aldred. He sat alone holding his father’s crown, teary-eyed.
“Message for you sire…” the older knight sat down by the young king and gave him the letter from the strangers.
“Things aren’t so bad, a few minutes as king and people from across the sea have already sought an audience with you. They didn’t tell it what the letter said…but we think they might want an alliance.”
Aldred looked up at the two knights and wiped the tears off his face, “Really?”
“Well the only way to find out is to open it.”
Aldred nodded and ripped open the top of the envelope, then slowly read the message, squinting whenever he needed time to make out a word. He crumpled the note and ran out of the room crying without another word.
“What did it say?” one of the knights asked as the other picked up the note and skimmed over the writing.
“They’re demanding we give them the Orb of Souls…”
As promised the strangers had returned for an answer to their demands. Aldred took both options into consideration. Most of the council suggested immediately that he refuse the demands, the Orb of Souls was a sacred treasure of Lotar and marked them as one of the original kingdoms. Several of the nobles heard news of the demands and told him just to give in and avoid a war that could end the young king’s reign. Looking at the two strangers, Aldred thought of what his father would have wanted; it had been a strong input towards making his decision.
“No, you ask for what I cannot give you. The Orb of Souls is a sacred treasure of Lotar, passed onto us by our ancestors. If denying you this causes a war between our people, then so be it. I will not sacrifice our kingdom’s sacred treasure just to appease complete strangers!”
“You disappoint us young king. The very moment you denied our request, our dragon began his first attack. Call for us when you wish him gone, you know what we’ll want in return…” The two men looked at each other, then to Aldred and nodded as they left the room.
Duke Yulran, a pale young man who often never spoke outside of the council meetings, looked to Aldred feverishly, “You’ve doomed us all”
Aldred laughed, “Do you honestly think there are dragons around? They’ve been extinct for ages…”
In a way he’d been right. A little more than a century ago, a group of renegade knights from Lotar left north to found their own kingdom. Unfortunately they’d ignored all warnings, entered territory under control of the dragons, and were attacked. The group escaped further north into a cluster of foothills near the Dracor Mountain Range. Under the cover of the hills, they built themselves a fortress designed to trap attacking dragons so they could be easily killed. Either the dragons had been exterminated, or they’d taken enough losses to be content living in their mountain caves. As far as anyone knew, the dragons were no more than myths.
To Aldred’s surprise, as he looked out his window that night, a great black dragon flew off into the distance, letting loose a great roar of fury as it flew away from the nearby village it had attacked.
Five days later, things did not look well for Lotar. Several brigades of knights had been sent to deal with the dragon, and only a handful had returned. Of those knights, only one was not permanently injured. The knight had, according to the information the general could find, been a self-taught swordsman and was in his prime years. It had been only through a combination of his fitness and sheer luck that he’d managed to escape injury. The stories that an extraordinary knight had survived the battle without injury were good for the castle’s morale, and soon spread. Old tales of dragon slaying came to Aldred’s mind and he wondered whether this knight would dare attempt such a feat.
A few hours later, with the council at his side, Aldred arranged the knight to be brought to an audience. In his mind, Aldred had predicted someone with a build like a bear appearing heroically before him. Instead he saw a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. His dark brown hair was tousled and uncombed, he had no beard or moustache and showed signs of a recent shaving. His armor was made of copper chain links; the blade of the copper sword he carried had been partially melted. He carried what had once been a wooden shield, now a handle attached to blackened ash, in his left hand. On his back, the hardened leather sheath for his sword had been cracked and shattered. Despite his appearance, the knight carried a noble stance and walked calmly towards the king and council, bowed to them politely, and waited for them to speak to him. The councilman to Aldred’s left, an elder whose name he couldn’t remember, spoke first.
“You’re name, knight?”
“Padraig.” The knight spoke simply.
“No surname?”
“My parents were killed and their possessions stolen, any crest they might have had was stolen. If the knighthood hadn’t taken me in, I wouldn’t be alive now.”
“Enough talk of the past. We have little time to waste debating. Let us return to the matter at hand, the great black beast swarming over our lands.” Duke Yulran ended any further look into the man’s background.
The councilman in blood-red robes to Aldred’s right spoke, “You may or may not know this, but you were the only knight who escaped the dragon without serious injury.”
“I got lucky…I’ve always had a knack for that, I don’t know how or why, but I’ve always been able to escape things like that.”
“What we’re trying to say,” Yulran clarified, “is that we think you might be able to slay the dragon. We’ll be sure to provide you with stronger equipment, armor worthy of our finest knights.”
“Are you referring to bronze?”
“Yes.”
“It won’t fare much better. The dragon’s fiery breath is as hot, if not hotter, than a forge’s fire. And it’s got something in there that dissolves metals. Bronze may be stronger and harder than copper, and it might even stand against an enemy’s blade. But against that dragon I doubt it will make any difference…”
“What you’re saying is we can’t slay it.”
“Don’t put words into my mouth. I’m just saying we’ll need a stronger weapon to defeat that dragon…Nevertheless someone has to try and stop that thing. Maybe my luck hasn’t run out yet and I’ll find a way.”
“We’re relying on you, Padraig…”
“Don’t worry about my dying; even if I do I’ll be taking that beast with me.”
A grim silence settled in the room as the knight made a final bow and exited the room, taking the signed order from the king to the armory without any further words. King Aldred looked to the council and saw their faces blank, all certain of the doom that they’d sentenced the knight to.
“You’re just sitting there?” the young king stood up and addressed them angrily, “There has to be something we can do! Get some wizards to enchant the bronze, send out more knights to support him, anything?”
“The knight will bide us time.” An elder duke looked to Aldred with glassy eyes, almost as if he were blinded, speaking in a sharp tone that seemed to pierce Aldred’s mind, “and time is exactly what we need…”
The duke sat down and closed his eyes for a brief moment. It may have been Aldred’s imagination, but as his eyes opened again it seemed as if the glassy stare had vanished, as if he’d been in a trance. A strange thought came to him; it had been a long day, he should dismiss the council and get some sleep…

The dragon’s trail was not well hidden. With the massive destruction it had caused, a small child could have tracked it. Padraig was ever cautious as he followed the obvious trail, knowing the dragon wanted someone to follow it. Last time he’d encountered it his battalion had charged right towards it when it attacked a village. As long as the dragon was alert to attackers, it would have the advantage. He would either have to ambush it or try and kill the dragon in its sleep. On his honor he should challenge the dragon to a duel, fight it and die; but he also had no surname, there was no family’s honor or his own honor to uphold. Common sense told him to kill the thing, not be chivalric about it.
Two nights after he’d left the castle, Padraig picked up a fresh trail and under the cover of night, followed it as far as he dared, near the entrance of a cave. It would be foolish to enter the cavern alone, especially with the chance of the dragon having made its lair within the cave. Seeing no other entrances, Padraig decided to ambush the dragon as it exited. He double-checked his armor to make sure everything was secure. The armor consisted of newly forged bronze plate armor embedded with the seal of Lotar, a tower shield of bronze also marked with the same seal, bronze plates to cover his legs, and a lightweight bronze helmet. Though heavier than his old equipment, he was still able to move fairly well in it; the royal blacksmith had always been effective at doing that with armor. Scanning the area, Padraig found a thick growth of hedges to hide in while he waited for a sight of the dragon.
The scent of bronze, carried by the wind, drifted deep into the cave, reaching the dragon’s senses. Opening an eye, he shook his scales lightly and inhaled a great breath of the air. One knight, perhaps a straggler seeking personal glory, was waiting outside the main entrance. It was a small annoyance, nothing more, but it was the first thing to attempt and fight him for quite some time. The dragon took interest and, under the cover of night, slipped out of the cave using a hidden back entrance. Spreading his wings, he caught the night winds and took flight, silently hovering over the area. With his nose, he quickly caught the scent of bronze and traced it to Padraig. Hiding in the bushes, the knight had planned to ambush him, an amusing thought. Soundlessly the dragon dived down, extended his claws, and as he was almost upon the knight, roared in fury.
Hearing the roar of rage, Padraig leapt out of the bushes seconds before they were shredded to pieces by the dragon’s claws. On instinct, Padraig drew his sword and turned to face the beast. Shimmering black, armor-like scales coated the dragon’s serpent-like body. Its head was made of a single large plate of scale, with two thin slits in the plate for its gazing yellow eyes that sent chills of fear through his spine. A set of large, leathery, bat-like wings opened from the beast’s back, making it seem twice its actual size. With speed Padraig had never imagined the dragon flicked his tail, long and seeming like a chain of thick black scales, at Padraig. Though able to raise his shield in time, the thin sheet of bronze shattered on impact, and the force of the strike knocked him off balance. Regaining his footing, the knight threw his sword at the dragon’s eyes. His throw missed, and the sword bounced off the plate of scale protecting the beast’s head.
Padraig had not proved much of a threat to the dragon, but the knight had gained his attention. While there was the option of playing with this small human, there was a persistent defiance about him. This knight would keep trying to fight until he was dead, and the dragon intended to end this pathetic battle. He reared his head back and inhaled a great breath, summoning the fires deep within his core. Thrusting his neck and head forward, he released a great blast of his deadly breath attack, a mixture of fire and acid, towards the doomed knight. Padraig stood alone, bracing himself for the end…

No records showed what had happened after; but the Dragon had been found the next morning slain dead! Eluamous knew the legend by heart; most having assumed Padraig had unleashed some form of final attack in his last moments; what had happened to the knight? Eluamous knew there had been something that happened that night... there was no reason not to believe that the knight didnt survive... Aldred's last moments had been spent believing that the Dragon Slayer had survived...
And as Eluamous found his resolve; the pendulum stopped... and swung forward again; Eluamous's fingers quickly moved into the appropriate hand-seals; striking the parchment with the final seal as the lightning-based attack Tsuki had fired cackled for a moment and was sealed within the scroll. Eluamous grinning faintly as he panted; the Seven Spears moving in front of him like a cage as he looked towards Tsuki; "Well met, Missing-nin... well met..." What a power, what a tremendous power... He could feel the lightning pulsing within the seal; the cackling energy longing to escape... Pulse, pulse, pulse... and then it quelled; Nothing more than a seal on parchment. Eluamous waited within his defenses; did the Missing Nin intend to launch another attack like that? Or was she planning something else? He held no doubts about her capabilities; having seen her ability to summon snakes firsthand... He'd launched a powerful counter; but his power levels weren't strong enough to contend with her; especially having already been fairly weak when she'd first arrived. His chakra pool was dwindling; while hers was still fresh... If he were to have any chance at escaping; he would have to pull off a clever gambit very soon...

-determining number of jutsu usable-

He could feel it; the killing intent... pulsing deep within the core of her being and stretching outwards into her aura like a putrid scent in the air... She spoke her attack, but Eluamous only heard the second word within it, calling to him like a trigger to the memories he'd absorbed in the Afterlife. 'Destiny...' Eluamous heard that sole word; and suddenly the pendulum again swung backwards in his mind;

The truth of the Dragon Slayer…

Padraig stood alone, bracing himself for the attack... two fragments of paper in his hand; one marked with the kanji for Fire, the other a Kanji for 'Poison'. Pressing both pieces together in his hands as they clapped together; a golden aura glowing around his hands as he dug his feet into the ground, bracing against the massive collision of fire and acid within the Dragon's breath; a massive explosion of black smoke bursting into the air as Padraig sought his sword, realizing the power he'd been gifted with... He'd always feared the power of the Shinobi clans, yet... he had only survived because of it... It was time to stop his fear of being accused of witchcraft because of his powers, he had to slay this dragon; or at least take it down with him.... Letting go of his fears, Padraig released his chakra and felt himself levitate into the air. He knew how to defeat this dragon now as he gripped his blade with both hands and flew up, charging towards the dragon as the smoke cleared.
The dragon had not expected this knight to survive, nor had he expected the power he now sensed flowing through the knight. Completely unprepared, the dragon roared in agony as the sword glowing with a silver light slashed his snout. He inhaled and unleashed another blast of fire and acid, and his rage increased further as a barrier of light-based energy formed around Padraig. He prepared to inhale again, but found something had changed, his nostrils were blocking! Crossing his eyes downward, the dragon saw the area around his wound turning to stone. Fear gripped him as Padraig’s blade slashed open his chest and the entire area turned to stone. He was too heavy to fly, and fell onto the ground, gasping for air, his chest refusing to inhale. Padraig raised his blade again, and with a bellow of defiance, drove his blade through the dragon’s skull, turning him completely into stone. With a powerful thrust, Padraig removed his sword from the body of the petrified dragon, and raised the blade in victory...


Another haze of a memory that was not his own...Destiny? Perhaps there was more to Destiny than the road ahead; also lurking within the paths behind... The shards began to make their way down towards him as Eluamous allowed a small silver object to slip out of his hands and into the ground; his eyes fixated on Tsuki; a thin cackle of electricity flowing over his body... The pendulum began its descent to the center... stopping momentarily as Eluamous's steel strong gaze remained on Tsuki; and in the blink of an eye; the Pendulum swung forward; Eluamous having activated the Art of Substitution to substitute his position with Tsuki's; putting her in his place as her own attack rained down against her... And in his own absence he'd also left that aura of electricity; now a Lightning Clone; which had had its arms wrapped around Eluamous; now clutching Tsuki in an attempt to hold her in place to prevent an escape from her attack. Eluamous knew already how much energy he'd expended in battle; and was not eager to wait and see if Tsuki survived. As he shook off the slight disorientation from substituting himself; Eluamous launched his seven spears in a frenzy towards Tsuki to add an additional threat to the attacks headed towards her; and ran as fast as he could without looking back, to escape Tsuki; looking for any nearby allies in order to find a safe place to recover, keeping his Seven Shields of the Spinning Turtle Formation close to him as an added defense around himself... 'I need to get the hell out of here and into a safe place, another enemy encounter and this battle might finish me for good!'

They stood looking down on the village under the boughs of a large fir tree. A sentinent darkness being standing next to them a crumpled Flying Thunder God Tag in each of their hands. It was one of their back up plans to get out of the village quickly, each had one stored and when Adonis spoke a single word they had timed the reactions down to the second. They had allot of time to practice this manuever and thanks to that they were able to pull out of the village without danger. Adonis looked back at the other two before speaking into his collar. "All Akatsuki pull out, this village will sink." Adonis looked down at what was going on. "Shisui, Koujin, take the villagers and get out of here I can't tell you where to go, but go somewhere safe." Koujin stepped forward placing a hand on Adonis's shoulder. "But your coming with us right?" Adonis continued to look down on the battle with his cold steely eyes. "No, the enimies of the Akatsuki have gathered far too quickly and violently. I plan to sink this village and all of them in it. You have to go... you have a child to raise." Adonis placed a hand on Koujin's hand, something strange transfering from Adonis to Koujin. "What you've got to be kidding, we can't leave without you! And what in the world is this?" Koujin looked down at the strange eye that stared up from his palm. "That is my shield, now your shield, use it to get Rin back from those bastards. I can't tell you anything about the Nine, they've blocked my memories. The way I see it, you have to continue down this path if only for now. Take this as well, I'm not sure you'll be able to use it, but if you can manage to figure it out it could prove invaluable," Koujin just looked down at the revolver placed into his palm over the dark eye. "You really don't believe you'll make it out of this place alive." Shisui spoke her voice fearing the answer to the words she let pass her lips. "No, I don't. I plan to take them with me though. Let Rin know that this is where her fathered died when the time is right. Now both of you get out of here," Adonis removed his dark black gloves removing the ring that marked him as the Void of Akatsuki. It disapeared in a puff of smoke. Koujin gritted his teeth as he turned away, there was nothing he could do now. He turned to the sentinent dark being, "You can move the villagers right? Do it." the being of darkness sunk into the surrounding darkness. The Akatsuki seemed to be in retreat from this village. Koujin swept around, his eyes more hollow then normal, a seemingly rather contained child was hurting now more then ever." he took Shisui by the hand and they swept off looking to link back up with any of the surviving Akatsuki. The storm was changing around the village, the box sitting in the center snapped closed sealing the chaos back up. The blizzard, already viciouslly ripping at any of those in and around the village now became even more powerful as snow turned into icy needles that rained down with the force of the famous Rock Lee's punches, this attack would target everyone in and around the village. The snakes in the village would be the first ones to be crushed into a bloody pulp, the ones in the air would find themselves bombarded from above and those on the ground wouldn't find many places to hide in the village covered in the rubbery substance of the Darkness. Adonis raised his hands to the sky as his feet began to move in a strange pattern, was he dancing up there? It seemed so, it might have been a slight tremor from an explosion somewhere in the battle, but the whole village just shook...