| abstract | - The Senpūgakure ANBU's famed ANBU Commander, Jakku Supai, looked ahead with his enhanced sight and deemed the path clear. As he walked in the lead, Gappei followed in behind him. They were surrounded by five other Whirliwind Black Ops, for protection. The war had just begun, as declared by the first Yamakage, Ryun Uchiha. No doubt that soon enough, other unallied villages or even Sorane itself might try to capture Gappei. Ryūko Maka, the current Whirlwind Chief had ordered that he been transported to Kouchuu Houru, the home of the Beetles, so he could master the Seven Tails. He had to be ready for this war. Jakku was also worried for his friend personally. He knew Gappei well, and wasn't sure if he could handle all this pressure for him to perfect using the Seven Tails. In fact, he hadn't said anything since they had departed from the Village. Gappei thought about what was happening. He had never experienced war first hand before, and didn't know what to expect. He was a target for Sorane, as far as he knew and he had to be best equipped for it. He had never been to the Beetle Home before, eventhough he summoned them personally. There was a lot at stake in his quest to master the power of the Seven Tails. He wasn't sure if he could bear all of it, but he would for his village, no doubt. This was war, there was no second guessing. He soon spoke to Jakku, telling him he was fine and ready to master his power. Just once the mountain was in sight, there was a rustling noise in the foilage around them. Jakku drew his sword and the five ANBU members did their proective formation around Gappei. Jakku cursed. "It's an ambush!" Just as a shinobi stepped out of the woods, he gasped. "It's you." "Long time no see, partner," Kirin Satoshi said, flexing a bit. On closer inspection, he was a bit more muscular, as well as more tattoos adorning his body, "still pissed that I gave a little kid to the wrong village?" Jakku wasn't there for talk. "What do you want here?" He drew his kunai and let light release chakra flow through. "You won't get Gappei!" "Who says I want him?" Kirin replied simply, slipping a number of throwing stars into his hand, "I just came to reminiscence with an old friend. We never finished our last fight, if you remember correctly..." "You haven't learned, have you? It looks like I'll have to contain you. Your criminal days are over." Jakku rushed with his kunai at him. Forming the correct hand signs, several balls of light appeared around Kirin. "Light Release: Star Burst." He whispered silently. As "burst" left his lips, the Senpūgakure shinobi covered their eyes as all the balls exploded and bright flashes. "And now..." Jakku used the light chakra on his kunai to create a Lightning Ball. "Ha!" He tossed the electric ball at the flashes, causing an explosion of smoke to erupt. He backed away from the explosions. Was that it- His thoughts were cut off by Kirin appearing with his kunai, covered in Lava Release Armour, charging at him, completely unscathed. "You forgot this was my specialty?" Kirin asked, seemingly offended, "guess I'll have to remind you." He quickly performed a series of hand seals. "Lava Release: Lava Fist Technique." His fist coated itself with lava, and he landed a hard blow on Jakku's jaw. Gappei gasped. Jakku was a high level shinobi. How could he let a hit like that happen? His face would be burnt off, unless... Gappei knew what was going to happen before Kirin or the others. "Cover your eyes!" He ordered to the other ANBU. "Jakku's going to explode!" They understood, thankfully. Their commander's signature jutsu was in play, they released. And they shielded their eyes, but Kirin realized too late what was going to happen. Jakku's clone had already begun to glow. "Shit!" Kirin said, quickly covering himself in lava and blocking his vision, at the same time releasing a throwing star, which flew into a nearby grove of trees, causing a hidden Senpu ANBU member to drop to the ground, knocked out. It was too late however, as he blocked his vision, the real Jakku sprung into action, tieing him up with chakra restricting ropes. The rogue ninja had been contained. Gappei yelled at him. "Why scare us like that?" He demanded. Jakku chuckled. "Seemed fun. Now..." He said, his tone now serious. "What to do with you, Kirin? I guess you'll have to be excuted." They set up camp right away and the campfire was soon lit. Kirin was forced to kneel beside it, for his excution, by the ANBU member he knocked out. "You took me by surprise is all," He sneered. "Now you'll get what you deserve, scum." Jakku and Gappei came forward, and read him his crimes, as it was the procedure of the village for a rogue excution. Then Jakku got out his ANBU blade. Blowing wind chakra onto it, he made a Wind Release: Vacuum Blade. "It's time, old friend. Say goodbye." But just before he could deliver the final strike, a young ninja came bursting out of the woods, detremined to stop the execution. "Get," the young man said, delivering a blow to a guard's solar plexus, "away" another guard toppled to the ground "from" another guard "my" another "sensei!!" Several throwing stars were launched at both Gappei and Jakku. "I got this!" Gappei willed himself into a Version 1 cloak of the Seven Tails. Moving at superhuman speed, he dodged all the shuriken and used the stunning gas cover the young man, and the guy fell to his knees. Gappei moved out as four Senpu ANBU members stood at the cardinal pints, making a barrier jutsu. The young man yelled wildly, wanting to save his sensei. "Damn," the young man said, glancing around quickly. "Time to get a little more serious." His hands quicky began forming handseals. "Nova Release: Big Bang!" What appeared to a small star surrounded his body, and quickly expanded to fill the space, causing the barrier to crack. As pressure mounted, the boy leaped, pressing his hand against the area of the greatest pressure and emitting a Chakra burst, causing the barrier to pop. The young man skidded to a stop, sliding neatly behind Gappei and Jakku, while at the same time removing a kunai, which he quickly hurled at Kirin's bonds, breaking them in a smooth motion. Kirin stood up, rubbing his wrists. "Thanks, brat," he said, lava already beginning to form on his body. "No prob, pops," the young man said, lightning crackling around his body. Gappei was on top of the matter. Using his Version 1 cloak again, he moved behind Kirin, grapping him. The lava would have no affect on him. Jakku took advantage of this sitaution before the young man could move. Pointing his blade at Kirin, he spoke: "Gappei will kill him. Surrender now, and we'll make a deal. Don't be a fool." "He's no the fool," Kirin said, moments before desolving into his lava form. His voice echoed out from an unknown area. "Show 'em, Susano." Susano smiled, quicky forming a series of hand seals. Lightning burst from his body, temporarily blinding those in the area, only Jakku could view him. He grinned at the ANBU leader, "let's see who's light is stronger, you're pure light or my lightning?" Jakku did a series of hand signs and light chakra formed around his right hand. "Can you handle my Light Release: Chidori!" Then, instead of running towards Susano, he tossed the jutsu down, creating a huge blinding explosion. "Now," Jakku said and he formed many Ligth Clones. "Lets see if you can deal with this." Susano looked around, then began to perform a series of hand seals as well, as lightning cackled around his hands. "If I can't fight you face to face, then I might as well get rid of all of them. Take this! Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon's Roar!" A massive amount of lightning chakra exploded from his mouth. Quickly jerking his head around, most of the clones quickly dissolved under the barrage. Each clone that disappered created an even bigger flash, blinding even Susano. Even though it was temporarily, it was all Jakku needed. Using all his remaining clones, he gathered chakra and performed hand signs. "Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!" Jakku knew this would overload Susano's Lightning Armor. Susano reeled back, quicky performing a series of odd hand signs. "Madness Technique: Black Hole!" A large amount of black flame with strange eye patterns shielded him from the light, though he dispelled it as quickly as possible, panting a bit. "Surrender." Susano whirled around to see one of Jakku's clones holding his real sensei in a choking hold, a kunai pressed against his neck. Kirin struggled, but Jakku tightened his hold. Another clone spoke to Susano. "We're going to make you a deal. You better hear me out, unless you want your sensei to die." Susano stayed quiet, rage tightening his figures, while at the same time he seemed to be holding himself back. "What?!" Jakku kept his cool. "I'm striking a deal. If you two help our village in the war, all your crimes will be forgotten, and if you survive the war, you're free to go, as long as you don't betray Senpūgakure. But the Senpūgakure ANBU will protect you from other villages who might still want you to pay for crimes. So what is it: the war assistance, or your sensei's death?" Susano pondered. "How am I supposed to decide that? Wars like this was why I became a missing-nin in the first place! And now you're telling me to go back just because you ordered me to?! IT's... uggh..." He let his hair fall over his eyes, as he stayed silent a little more. "So use this oppurtunity to end all wars. Don't let the cycle go on." Gappei spoke, he was previously stunned. "Decide, now." Jakku declared. "The War rages on." Susano stayed frozen for a little bit longer. His body began twitching slightly. "End all wars? That...." Suddenly, another voice spoke, that seemed to come from Susano, and yet not from him, "borrrrriiinnnggg!" "I mean, come on!" the voice continued, "if war was gone forever, then there wouldnt' be any fun. I wouldn't have any at least. Now kid, just let me finish them off for ya!" Susano's chakra began to change, causing a feeling of nervousness in those present, almost paranoia. "That's him, isn't it?" Gappei asked. "Raio." "Well well well," the voice echoed again, "has my fame even reached a village like yours? How's Chomei-kun doing, by the way? Been a while since we last rampaged together." "Things are different now, Raio," Gappei said. "Chomei is fine. And you better stop asking questions and join us, we don't have time for this! The war still rages on like Jakku said, and I need my training if we're going to win!" "Is that the way to ask someone a favor?" Raio replied smugly, "I can use this brat's body at any time I want. Thanks to some recent damage to that scarf, I can play with him any time I want. I might even try a fullbody takeover... Now, if I do decide to let the brat help you, what do I get?" "War, battle, chaos, blood, whatever." Gappei said. "There's no time!" "We'll do it," Susano's voice returned, "but this is the only time. And don't even think we'll go beyond fighting in the war." "Great," Jakku said. "And as a bonus?" Gappei added. "You can train with me in the beetles home. There you can master Raio. Or just learn to summon beetles." "What?" Jakku said in surprise, "Are you insane?" "You wish," Gappei laughed. "But anyway, it'll make him stronger. What do you say?" "I don't wanna be mastered," Raio replied from the scarf. "Shut up," Susano said simply, rapping his scarf, "okay, we'll see when we get there? How much longer?" "Actually, not much, maybe an hour?" Jakku replied, looking ahead. "So, lets get going!" Gappei said. "We can rest there." After Susano convinced Kirin, they made their way to Mountain Fang, and Jakku led them through an underground tunnel. "This is it," He said. Then they all stepped straight into the home of the beetles.
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