| abstract | - Waking up in an empty room with walls that seem to stretch on forever and coated with a foggy white, Dorutan could only recall the events leading up to this. He was told of a special lake that gave a shinobi the opportunity to face their greatest fear. All he remember is looking into the pool and suddenly awaking here. Looking up, he saw what looked like a massive, round opening far beyond reach. Knowing he probably wasn't going to leave this place without facing his fear, he made his way to a single, dead tree in the center of the room. Each footstep was greeted with the sound of water splashing, as if he was walking on water. The water was soothing, almost like it was giving his chakra a refill at all times. Upon touching the tree, Dorutan felt a dark disturbance. Looking behind him, he saw himself, or more accurately, a darker representation of himself. Donning clothes that were as black as night, a large contrast to Dorutan's white attire, this Dorutan was encased with dark energy. "What are you?" Dorutan asked, assuming a battle stance just in case. "I'm you. Or, rather, the thing you fear most." The doppelganger replied, finishing the sentence with a deep chuckle. "The thing I fear most?" The statement confused Dorutan, wondering why a doppelganger would be his worst fear. "We all have demons. They can be our hatred, our anger, our fear. We can choose to release them, to control them, or hide them. But for those who hide them, beware. Demons that are caged for too long will want to get out, and will claw their ways out through any means necessary. I'm the demon you kept hidden all these years. All those times you swallowed your anger only served to make me stronger." The doppelganger chuckled once again. Closing his eyes, the demon opened them again, revealing the Tetsuigan, Dorutan's Kekkei Genkai. Knowing he was going to be in for a long fight, Dorutan followed up with the same, activating his Tetsuigan. The two quickly charged at each other. Each move Dorutan performed was blocked and countered by his demon, each of them on equal footing. The demon quickly began to spin, utilizing the water that surrounded the room to form a powerful waterspout. With a quick thrust of his palm, the demon sent the waterspout towards Dorutan. Thinking fast, Dorutan performed the same, but with an opposite rotation and sent the waterspout towards the other. The conflicting rotations tore the two waterspouts apart. The demon, taking advantage of this, launched into the water and out the other side, taking Dorutan by surprise with a drop kick. With just barely enough time to react, Dorutan raised his arms above his head, blocking the kick with his wrists and pushing the demon back. The two suddenly stood still, not only eyeing each other but also gathering up natural energy to build up their Sage mode. After about a minute of silence, their Sage modes were combined with their Tetsuigans and the battle resumed. Each move was, again, countered by one another, but the impacts were far greater. Just merely blocking a strike caused waves, as if the energy from the attack still kept going. Suddenly, when Dorutan went in for a punch, the demon disappeared. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared next to Dorutan while in mid strike, delivering a powerful kick that sent Dorutan airborne. Taking advantage of this, the demon jumped up just below Dorutan and performed a powerful Shishi Rendan, finishing it with a crippling drop kick that sent Dorutan down towards the shallow water. Struggling to get up, Dorutan slowly got himself kneeled up, coughing up blood from the powerful combo. "Let's face it, my anger is what makes me more powerful than you. You're weak because you chose to keep your anger inside you instead of outside where it could be used. And that will be your downfall." Once again, the demon chuckled, clenching his fists in confidence. Walking up to Dorutan, he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him against the tree, delivering a strong barrage of punches against him. The tree itself was largely unaffected, being made of ironwood, a wood as strong as iron itself. Grabbing Dorutan by the neck, the demon threw him once again, this time against the water. Dorutan, battered, bruised and weakened, refused to give up, slowly getting himself back on his feet. Letting out a sharp exhale, Dorutan charged at the demon, engaging his Chakra Enhanced Speed to give him an even further speed boost. The demon, thinking one step ahead, did the same. The moment Dorutan went in for a kick, the demon not only ducked under it, but within a millisecond afterwards, delivered a sweep kick that took Dorutan off his feet. Another millisecond after, the demon delivered a high kick onto Dorutan's midsection that put his back onto the ground. "This demon, he's too strong to fight head on. He's far too fast for me to keep up. If I deliver an attack, he'll just counter it with a blinding fast counter and leave me back on the ground. Think, Dorutan, what can you do to give yourself an advantage?" Dorutan thought to himself. Looking down at the water, his eyes widened. "The water, of course! It keeps my chakra from running out. Perhaps it's time to go old school again." Getting up, Dorutan dusted himself off and let a slow exhale. Closing his eyes, he performed the hand seals Ox, Horse and Ram. ""Suiton: Rekkū Suigeki!" Suddenly, several droplets of the water began to hover in front of Dorutan and quickly froze into sharp icicles and began making their way towards the demon. The demon, smirking and thinking Dorutan' had no moves left, began snidely dodging the attacks. Using this as his advantage, Dorutan used his chakra enhanced speed once again and delivered a massive high kick towards the demon's head, sending him soaring. Instantly making his way above the demon, Dorutan delivered a drop kick against the demon's midsection. As the demon began to drop down, Dorutan waited for the perfect moment. Timing it perfectly, Dorutan delivered a jump kick against the demon the moment he fell within the proper elevation and sent the demon flying in a straightforward direction until landing hard into the shallow water. Thinking quick, he formed the hand seals Boar, Rat, Bird, Tiger, Ram and Dragon. "Sējiāton: Suisei hi tsuisutā!" Suddenly the demon found himself wrapped up in a waterspout. Shortly afterwards, a ring of fire began to spin around the waterspout, wrapping itself into the twister and spinning counterclockwise. Suddenly, the twister became massive and began spinning quickly. At its crescendo, the tornado shrunk down and burst apart, dropping the demon on his back. "No, this is impossible! My anger makes me strong! I should have beaten you!" The demon yelled out, unable to get up due to his injuries. "Your anger made you strong, this is true. But accepting my fear was what gave me the strength to defeat you. By accepting that my fear was letting my anger get the best of me, I learned the best way to not let that happen is to just keep being me." Dorutan replied. With a smile, he looked up as everything began to fade to white. Waking up in a bed, he saw Chieko sitting down next to him, having waited for him to wake up. Giving Dorutan an embrace, he smiled, having finally understood what it was that he feared and how he could overcome that fear.
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