Third-Person POV

"Come in, Hisao, over," said Kimito. "Still no sign of the target-in-question. Permission to descend into the second level of the pipe room, over."

"Kimito, this is Hisao," he responded promptly. "Permission granted. Just be careful, over."

"Roger that. Alright, let's go, Ran."

The two chunin quietly but swiftly took the stairs that lead to the second level. It was even darker down there than above. Only a single fluorescent light could be seen in the distance.

"Man... Doesn't this kinda remind you of our practical test during our Chunin Exams?"

"The practical test...?"

"Yeah, when we had to go through the Internment Zone at Hozuki Castle and avoid their prisoners trying to kill us? What, you don't remember?"

Ran rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, I guess it's just been a while."

"Not really. It was like a year and a half--"

"Hey, do you know how many levels this goes down for?"

"I think it's only three. Why, what were you thinking?"

"Just wondering how far down this Momotaro guy would be able to hide if he were down here."

"A-ah, I see," she nodded in agreement, but in truth, she was concerned. Something's wrong with Ran. He's been off since we put together Hisao's search team. Is he not feeling well? Maybe something's on his mind? Oh, in that case, I know what'll lighten the mood.

"Hey, Ran, why did the chicken cross the road?"

"What?"

Kimito sweatdropped. "Come on, why did the chicken cross the road?"

"Uh- I don't know, why?"

"Huh?"

"Hm? What?"

"No, that's not... what you..."

Ran kept staring at her absentmindedly.

"Never mind." They went on their way with the search afterward, but Kimito's mind was now running loops.

He didn't... he didn't complete the joke like we always do. And that always cheers him up...

Meanwhile, Hisao and Issun-boshi were starting to get worried during every long period of silence when they weren't in contact with their teammates.

"I don't like this, Hisao," said Boshi. "We should call them back before they go in too deep."

"Yes, I think that would be wise," he said, reaching for his comms device. "Aside from that, it is likely he is not even down here. Otherwise, Ohashi and Satoru would have him b--"

"Hello, Hisao? Are you there?" Shizune's voice had come bursting through the nindroid's channel. "Please respond, over."

"I'm here, Shizune, what's the matter?"

Issun-boshi raised a brow. Shizune?

Guessing correctly what Issun-boshi had on his mind, Hisao added his channel to his own so he could hear what Shizune was about to say as well.

"Oh, good. I'm sorry to burden you with this, but do you think you could keep an eye out for a chunin named Ran? He was supposed to be on my team but we can't find him anywhere. He's of average height and wears a paper cap, you can't miss him."

Hisao and Issun-boshi were dumbstruck all throughout the time she spoke. "W-Wait a moment, Shizune, I thought you had sent Ran to join my team, over."

"Hm? No, I didn't do that. Wait, does that mean he's with you? Hisao? Hisao, are you there?"

Kimito stopped walking.

"What's wrong?" Ran asked.

"Ah, I'm sorry," she smiled, "but I just feel like I need to ask this question. N-no stress, though, it's just to verify that it's you I'm talking to and no one else -- I honestly don't even know why I feel so afraid right now, haha!"

She was attempting to laugh it off, hoping Ran would join in with her, but he was quiet. Unnervingly quiet. The darkness of the pipe room seemed to encapsulate his face. Kimito felt her heartbeat was running a marathon.

"Go on."

"....huh?"

"Ask your question."

She swallowed a hard gulp that lodged itself in her throat. "What... what did Ohashi... get me... on my 20th birthday?"

"Interesting. Yeah, sorry, don't think I could tell you."

That was when Kimito could no longer deny it. "You... YOU'RE NOT RAN, ARE YOU?!"

With a single blue eye visible through the darkness, he moved like a shadow to overwhelm her.

"Shizune, I need you to confirm if what I am about to tell you is true or not," Hisao demanded with a terrifyingly direct voice. "You gave Ran express orders to join your search team."

"That's correct."

"You didn't give him any overlapping orders, such as to join my team, instead?"

"No, I didn't. I would've remembered otherwise. Hisao, what's going on? Is there a problem--"

"Apologies, Shizune, but I will have to call you back." With that, Hisao switched channels to address his teammates. "Everyone, return at once!"

Then they heard the voice of a woman scream.

"There was an impersonator in our midst!!" Issun-boshi reacted faster than Hisao and hurled himself in the direction of the scream.

"Issun-boshi, wait!!"

The old man went hopping and dashing through the tunnels like a speedball, leaving slight dents on the surfaces he rebounded off of. He reached the estimated area where the scream had occurred, but halted suddenly, his eyes flying wide open.

He was too late. Kimito lay embedded against the wall of the second level with several spikes of shadow protruding through her in a bloody mess.

"NNNOOOOO!!!" Boshi was overcome with rage. The multitude of spikes reacted to his presence immediately but he was already swinging first by blowing them away with his One-Inch Punch technique. However, given the environment, they had the advantage and were spreading faster than he could react.

Of course, in a tunnelway as dark as this, he realized with sickening dread, I won't have anywhere to escape to!

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!!" He threw up the wall from the scraps of metal and allow lying around, but nothing seemed to matter to the reach of that darkness. All it cared about was consuming. Issun-boshi thus stopped going on the offensive and proceeded to bolt out of there in search of a light source.

If I don't find those fluorescent lights there's no telling what shadows of this magnitude might do to me as opposed to last time! I'm so sorry, young one!!

Hisao himself was about to give chase to catch up with Issun-boshi, but his comm device started fritzing.

"zzzzzz-- Hello!? zzzz H-Hisa--zzzzzzzzzzzzzz-- ead me?!"

"Ohashi, is that you? What's the matter?" The nindroid's heart froze when he could hear the sound of pandemonium and disaster from the comms and in real life as he approached the stairs to the lower level. What is this? "Ohashi!!"

"zzz--under attack," came Ohashi again. "zzzzzz-- Kimito-- zzzz. zzzzzzz-- help!!!" The line was cut.

"Ohashi, come in! Do you read me, Ohashi?!"

All Hisao could hear after that was a static noise.

How could he have us cornered like this? It's almost as if he's everywhere at once!

He prepared himself to dive headfirst for the lower level but just then one of the lines was restored, and Hisao noticed it was Kimito's.

"Kimito, thank goodness, what's your status?"

"She's out of commission, I'm afraid."

There was no mistaking that deep and malignant voice. It was his.

"You."

"Yeah, me. Hey, do me a favor and turn around, would you, Hisao?"

He knows my name now.

He remained where he was. Then he heard the man heave a sigh over the comms.

"Do you want me to kill everyone on your team all while you stand there, looking stupid? I said turn around. Now."

At last, Hisao complied. He looked behind him to see Momotaro in front of the entrance to the pipe room with his hood still over his face. He looked like a typical comic book villain, surrounded by all that darkness.

"What happened to Ran and my teammates?" he demanded.

"Ooh, someone's mad. Guess I should be worried. I'd lie to you but I don't really see any point in that. The truth is I have no idea. Whether they live or not depends on how hard they fight back against me, against the shadows. I'm sure the old man already knows what the fate of that girl is."

Hisao flashed his teeth in ire. "You mean to say you're not even courteous enough to face them in battle yourself? You left your ninjutsu to do it for you?"

Momo raised his head in wonder. "Courteous? No, no. Who has time for that anyway? You shinobi? I doubt it. If you did, imagine the number of lost souls that would still be around today. You give none, so why should you expect to receive any?"

What is he going on about it? "I do not understand," said Hisao. "What exactly did you come to the Leaf for, and what is the Chunin Exams' connection to it all?"

"That's the least of your worries. What you should be concerned with is who you can still save at this very moment. If you hurry, you might be able to back up the old man, or you could try your hand at attempting to apprehend me again. That option is there, since I'm right here, after all. And if you succeed, then all multiple attacks happening simultaneously could be stopped at once."

Wait, what is this? Is he... giving me a choice on what course of action to take? Why? What is his motive?

"What will it be, Hisao? Hurry and choose, or everyone dies anyway."

No, I mustn't overthink things, nor should I act impulsively; that's just what he'd be expecting me to do. I have to turn this situation around in my favor. I may be surrounded by darkness but I can become the light that I need to win!!

He whipped out a kunai and ignited it in one hand and summoned a large Rasengan in the other.

I trust that Issun-boshi can protect himself. Right now, I need to focus all my energy and attention on this.

"Hear me, you scum, I don't know what it is you're up to or what your end goal is - I don't even want to know what your justification for everything you have done up until now is - but believe me when I say it all ends NOW."

Hisao moved so fast that Momotaro didn't even have time to blink. It was the equivalent of a flash step in real-time, and as he moved, the light of the fire on his kunai and the Rasengan blazed forth and erased the darkness through the tunnel in one swoop.

?!

Hisao would have killed him right then and there with the Rasengan to his chest had it not been a Shadow Clone from the very beginning.

"Hardly," he chuckled as he faded to black, "in fact, I dare say it's all just beginning."

Hisao gasped at his comment. That sounds just like what Zutsumi Ginchiyo said to me once.

The shadows once again returned in full force and from them manifested more clones of Momotaro than Hisao could count. Equipping themselves with weapons, they launched a simultaneous attack on the nindroid, throwing him into full defense mode as he had to dodge and kill as many as he could without getting killed himself.

Damn, there's no end to them, he seethed. For every ten I cut down, another fifteen appear!! What's more, I cannot detect the real one!! My scanners show me that they are not like typical Shadow Clones. No, they were quite literally manifested from the shadows and were simply just imbued with his chakra signature! There is no way to tell the real one apart from the others!

"Yoo-hooo~" came his voice again.

Hisao jerked his head, midway through using his Particle Style. There he saw another Momotaro this time standing just outside the entrance into the pipe room.

His chakra signature, that's the real him!! No, he was keeping me distracted this whole time so he could make his way to the entrance. He plans on making his way to the top!!

"NO, WAIT!!!!!" In a mad rush, Hisao launched any and every ninjutsu that gave off light as he mowed down the army of clones in his way.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted, Hisao," he said, condescendingly. "See you around, I guess."

"GET BACK HEEERRREEE!!!!"

Hisao was just upon him with a massive Rasengan in hand, but Momotaro slammed the chakra-resistant door in his face and dispersed the Rasengan in the process. He could hear him proceed to lock the door from the other side as the clones began to swarm him again.

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ Meanwhile ✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

Lightning Style: Blackout (停電/Teiden)

Created to be a natural, yet devastating counter to Earth-natured ninjutsu, due to how rushed its development was, this jutsu is an S-ranked, double-edged sword.

The process of utilizing it begins with the user storing their chakra in any part of their body along the Chakra Pathway System, and continuing to build it until they reach the utmost limit of what their tenketsu can hold, similar to pouring water into a glass until it reaches the brim before it can spill over. The downside to this is that the user will not be able to mold or release the chakra from that tenketsu all the while, effectively meaning they are unable to manifest ninjutsu or genjutsu from that tenketsu, lest they expend the chakra they are trying to store.

Once they have reached the utmost limit of what their tenketsu can store, the large amount of stored chakra in their system will begin to react violently from being stored in one part of the body for so long. Until the point where once the user releases it, it will discharge from their body in an explosive manner similar to breaking a dam that was holding back a rush of water.

The larger one's chakra reserves are, the more chakra they are able to store. The more Lightning-natured chakra is stored, the more destructive the release will be, damaging not just any physical entity within the vicinity of its release, but the user as well.

"Um, hey, guys," said Daito, "so, what the hell was that?"

Yuura could still feel the gusts of wind whip against his face even after the aftereffects of the jutsu had died down. He saw Iroko standing his ground in the arena, clutching unto his right hand and Itsuki raising himself to his feet after what must have been one of, if not the, most shocking unleashments of power yet.

That must have been it. That must have been the new jutsu he's been working on! "Uh, I-I don't know!" he answered Daito. "I-it came out of nowhere, huh?"

Asami was looking right at Yuura knowingly but he pretended not to notice, amidst a flood of sweat.

"Came out of nowhere is an understatement!" Genzo exclaimed. "That s##t was insane!! I had my doubts about him but that just about shut me up!!"

Baku, Sayo, Ken, Kanbe, Rui, Yui, and Kakashi we're looking down in the arena with as much shock as anyone else.

To release an offensive jutsu on that scale, Kakashi ruminated, one would need to draw chakra to store from a reserve almost as large as that of a jinchūriki's. It's enough to be classified as an S-rank jutsu. Iroko, just what did my former student teach you?

"Kakashi," Temari called him over the comms, "I've got a really bad feeling about that jutsu. Should I cancel the match?"

"No, let's keep it going. The Barrier Jutsu should be able to hold the intensity of it, but just in case it can't have some jonin reinforce it right now while the match is ongoing."

"Copy that..."

"This is... this is it..." Ena realized. "With that jutsu, they'll be on even ground. Iroko, you can do this!"

Daito, Genzo, and Yuura joined in cheering him on.

"Yeah, you got this, man!"

"Better keep your guard up, Itsuki!"

"Do your best!"

Fumino and Yohei looked all around at everyone's eager expressions (minus Asami, of course). The Warai ninja looked down at Iroko, now even more curious than before.

Maybe it's just me, she thought, but I just got the weirdest feeling that there's so much about you I don't know. With what Itsuki was talking about, have I really been paying attention to everyone in my class? Have I been paying attention to you?

"What... was that...?" Itsuki heaved.

"Itsuki, you are strong with Mineral Style, there's no doubt about that. But where you were wrong was thinking you do have a chance of winning this battle with it alone. Listen up, you've got two options right now: Either you use Scorch Style to beef up your chances of winning, or you lose to me all the same because I swear to you now by the power I have vested in me, I will destroy your Mineral Style."

Damn, that first discharge completely frayed my cloth bands, Iroko thought, glancing at his hand. I didn't think it would be that strong - my hand hurts like hell! But now I know that it works. I've got six or seven tries left until I completely exhaust all that I've saved up. I'll make sure to beat him before then. That's right, with this jutsu, and everything that I've learned, I can beat him!!!

Iroko clenched his fist tightly, then booked it towards Itsuki.

"S##t, he's coming!" Itsuki announced to himself and clapped his hands together. I don't know what that was, but I cannot under any circumstances let him use it again, or I'm screwed. Iroko, so this is what you were hiding! "Earth Style: Concrete Walls!!"

Four massive walls, each one taller than the last surrounded Iroko on all sides. He could tell what he was trying to do easily enough. Iroko had shaken Itsuki up quite a bit with Blackout and now he was no longer thinking straight. He was acting out desperately.

Iroko stamped his right foot into the ground and tried to muster chakra for a Flash jutsu but fell short at the molding of his physical and spiritual energy.

It's no good, I'm too low on chakra. I can only rely on Blackout for the time being.

"I saw your reaction from earlier! When I asked what it was you were so afraid of. So, what is it, huh?" he shouted. "What about your Kekkei Genkai are you so afraid of?"

"That's none of your business," he replied coldly. Gathering all the crushed sediments of rock from before, he formed a number of giant stone pillars directly over the center of the walls then let them fall.

"Is he trying to crush and bury him?!" Yui exclaimed.

"Bro's getting desperate," said Kanbe. "You can see it all over his face. And I would be, too, if I was in the same ring as someone who had that kind of power. Maybe there's hope for Iroko after all, but something tells me Itsuki's far from having shown his best cards yet either."

Iroko looked up at the cascading pillars that were closing distance with the ground. Asami, Ena, and everyone else watched with bated breath.

"You think I don't know that?" he said. "OF COURSE I KNOW IT'S NONE OF MY BUSINESS!!!" At the moment the pillars were about to connect with the ground, Iroko leaped into the air and allowed his right foot to come into contact with the surface of the first pillar, exploding in a shortlived blaze of lightning that only propelled him along the surface of the pillar by less than 12 feet before he pulled out a kunai and stuck it into the side to pull himself up further.

"But meddling where and when you don't need to is what makes a hero!! I thought you of all people would understand that!!"

From there, he was jumping and rebounding from pillar to pillar as they fell with the help of his kunai to propel himself even further up, until he'd jumped over the last pillar and was well above the arena ground, with his sights set on Itsuki once again.

"I'm not turning my back to someone in need," once again he held his right hand out before him, and it started to glow again, "and I'm not losing this fight either!!"

"No, not again!!" Horse --> Ox --> Dog --> Ram --> Snake --> Hare --> Ram --> Dog --> Ox --> Horse

Itsuki brought broke down the walls and pillars to form a defensive wall before him, complete with earth-molded cannons. "Mineral Style: Absolute Sedimentary Defense!"

He moved quickly, thrusting his hand into the wall to take control of the cannons, and aimed a sedimentary cannonball right at Iroko's hand that had been powering up Blackout, sending him spiraling through the air.

"Got him!!"

Iroko wanted to scream in pain at his broken right hand that was bleeding profusely, but instead, he gritted his teeth to the point where he almost cracked them, and reared his left leg backward.

Itsuki's widened his eyes in horror once again. He saw the sandal Iroko was wearing disintegrate as he swung his leg. "BLACKOUT!!!"

Temari dove for cover again as the side of the arena Iroko was facing was blanketed in another lightning storm. However, this discharge was not as powerful as the last one. Itsuki's Absolute Sedimentary Defense was torn down to its base, but it was not completely wiped out, and Itsuki himself was pushed back by several meters but he wasn't thrown off his feet. The damage to the ground was still immense, though, leveling the arena even further and turning it barren.

In the infirmary, Jin watched this all unfold with rising anxiety, not for herself, but for Iroko.

"Iroko... His opponent's so strong," she said, "but Iroko's just as strong, too, I can tell."

His arms and legs are wrapped in cloth. I wonder if I had given him an idea back then.

She turned to her teammate. "Kazue, what do you th--"

"SHUT THE F#$K UP. I'm watching."

Jin flinched at the murderous tenacity in his voice. She gazed at his face, and her breath hitched when she saw the expression on his face as he was watching the match. The nurse was shocked to hear him respond in that tone as well but decided not to make a scene out of it. He no longer resembled the Kazue with whom he and Jin had just friendly banter. His fangs were fully grown and the pupils of his eyes were slit like a cat's.

Jin gulped. Suddenly, her fear of him had come back again, and she pried her gaze away from him. She dared not say a word to him now, for she knew he was holding himself back from exploding on the nearest living thing, focusing all his rage on the TV instead. This is what Iroko had been talking about, she realized; unbridled hatred of him that no one could figure out what the reason for was. All she knew was at that moment, he was back to being the same Kazue at the beginning, and she rathered she would remain invisible to him once again.

Back in the arena, Itsuki was able to recompose himself from Blackout slightly faster than he had last time.

I can't believe ... he used his leg instead. Dammit, I should've seen it coming since they were wrapped in cloth as well! What does this mean - can he unleash the jutsu from any of the limbs on his body? Although ... I think this discharge was weaker than the last one. Does it get weaker with every blast?

He then heard footsteps approach him from beyond the fog of dust.

No way to know for sure until the third blast, but I can't let him use it just to verify this suspicion either. Right now, what I need is a strategy to deal with it.

"Hey, listen," came Iroko's voice, "there's something about me I want you to know."

"Whatever it is," Itsuki retorted, "I don't ca--

"I lost my parents when I was 8."

Itsuki went silent.

"And every day, for the longest time, I let myself continuously spiral into a pit of anger, sadness, and fear. Anger about my parents dying on me, sadness because I was completely and utterly alone, and fear because I no longer knew what my future held in store for me. You wanna know what that did to me?" Iroko then got to a running start. Itsuki was too spaced out by the sudden revelation to react accordingly.

The blue-streaked ninja delivered a shot right into his gut, saying: "It held me back from reaching the full potential that I knew was possible!!"

Itsuki grabbed at his hand and wrested it away from him, preparing to fight back with everything he had. "I already know what my potential is!"

"Then why am I able to beat your a$$ so easily?!"

Itsuki swung next with a foot to Iroko's face, which he narrowly evaded. The adrenaline between the two was rising with every blow they exchanged, their faces and clothes drenched and sweaty. Iroko managed to counter the next punch Itsuki had swung then held him down in an arm lock and elbowed him right in the face.

Itsuki stumbled back in immense pain, but Iroko did not let up and swung another fist at his face again, then his throat, then his chin, then kicked him in the side of the torso, all the while screaming into his ear with every blow: "Anger! Sadness! Fear! Guilt! You can't achieve your dream if you let these emotions stop you!!"

Just then, it occurred to him why he was going so hard on Itsuki, and was taking this fight so much more seriously than any other before it, and it echoed through the words he spoke, words that had lain buried in his subconscious for years that were suddenly spilling out so clearly and understandably. He realized these words were meant for him as well.

Looking at Itsuki, he blinked and saw himself standing in his place, taking all the attacks he was dishing out. This wasn't just a battle against the Sand genin, he knew, but a battle with the conflict residing deep within him as well. He wasn't even sure if either battle was one he really could win, or if he could save either, but that never stopped him from trying.

Itsuki struggled to keep himself composed. Iroko's words cut deep, deeper than any blade. What was worse, they kept forcing him to recall that memory over and over again, and with every flash of it, the more vivid it became.

No! No, please, don't! Don't make me remember that! DON'T!! "SHUT UP!!!"

The flames in his eyes were lit again. He centered his point of gravity and immediately took to countering Iroko's strikes, catching him off-guard. It got to the point where he was now on even ground with him, and both were beating the other to a pulp until Itsuki had had enough and flung Iroko into the air.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!!" He blew an inferno at Iroko in point-blank rage.

"Blackout!!" He unleashed the lightning storm again with the same injured hand.

Here it comes!! Itsuki braced himself for the impact, expecting it to be even less severe than last time, but then he came to two, horrific realizations. The first was that his chakra reserves were beginning to run dry, which meant his defensive walls were half-baked and incomplete before the moment of impact. The second thing he realized as Blackout roared against the Fireball jutsu was that the severity was not actually getting weaker but even stronger.

What?! I thought he was starting to run out!!

The Fireball jutsu and Blackout ended up canceling each other out in a static blaze of glory, throwing both Iroko and Itsuki to the ground.

Afterward, Itsuki slammed his fist to the ground in anger and frustration. He'd focused his spiritual and physical energy to mold more chakra and found he only had enough for one more massive attack. The problem now, though, was that even if he was to use it to manifest Towering Pillar there was no guarantee it would finish the fight in his victory since Iroko could apparently manipulate the output discharge of Blackout.

He tried to think of another last-chance tactic or technique that could give him the win, but with the amount of chakra he had left, and no amount of Earth Styled jutsu that could top Blackout, a feeling of retch began to creep up in his throat as he came to terms with the words Iroko had said right before the start of the match and after he'd used Blackout for the first time.

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"I'm not going to make you use it. I'm gonna make you realize that you need it."

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"Listen up, you've got two options right now: Either you use Scorch Style to beef up your chances of winning, or you lose to me all the same because I swear to you now by the power I have vested in me, I will destroy your Mineral Style."

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I see now...

This whole time, he had no intention of trying to convince me with his words, that was only a side tactic. His goal, through and through, has always been to win this match regardless of if I used Scorch Style or not.

Whether I lost to him because I refused to use Scorch Style, or he managed to force me to use it in the end, his point would have been proven anyway, that I couldn't win without it. I couldn't be the hero of my dreams without it.

It was me that couldn't allow that to pass. He knows I can't defeat him with Mineral Style, and it's almost as if he doesn't care either... but if I want to stand a chance at winning...

His face wrinkled into an emotionally distressed mess.

Dammitall. Is there really no other way....?

"Problem?" A bruised and battered Iroko panted. "You're running low on chakra, aren't you? Guess that's brought us to the final draw of the curtains."

He could no longer form a fist out of his bloody and broken right hand. Its cloths were completely tattered and ruined, and it was shaking uncontrollably. Asami was the only one with her keen vision to catch sight of this.

You idiot...

"Just answer me this," said Itsuki, getting up again. "Let's say your way is the correct way, then what does that mean for my nindō, huh? Were those 5 years of blood, sweat, and tears a lie? Were they all for nothing?!"

"Of course not!!" Iroko shouted. Then he smiled at Itsuki. "It got you this far, didn't it? And, at any rate, it's not my way any more than it can be yours. I'm struggling to fight this battle the same as you!"

A teardrop fell to the ground, and it was coming from Ena's eyes. Nobody had noticed this until Genzo made a passive glance at Ena and got confused.

"H-Hey, what are you crying for?"

Ena rubbed her eyes. "It's just so awful. Iroko... I can't believe he went through such a similar experience after all. This world really is too cruel..."

Beside them, Yuura caught sight of the harrowed gaze in Fumino's eyes, and heard her mumbling: "How did I miss that...?"

"I understand," Itsuki bowed his head low, "but regardless, in spite of all of that, this is something I just can't give up on."

Iroko's smile faded. Ena, Genzo, and Yuura's expressions fell.

The Sand genin reached into his jacket and drew out three more unique minerals: gold, wolframite, and steel. He tapped into their latent chakra potential and they suddenly became malleable, turning them into massive drill-like objects of destruction.

"It's your will against mine, Iroko."

He sighed. "Yeah, I figured as much..." Then his hand started to glow and pulse again.

Put it all on the line, Itsuki thought. With this attack, you'll be on your last legs, but that's okay. Everything you were taught, you believe in, that you came to embody is to show them who you are, and what it was that molded you into the ninja you are today! Never forget your origin and ideals!!

More. I'll use even more, thought Iroko. If I have to sacrifice my whole arm to get to my destination then so be it! Last time, I used up 2 and a half's worth of what I had saved up, so this time I'll go beyond that, even if it messes me up! No matter what, always strive to surpass your current self!!

They leaped at each other. Itsuki reared back his arm, preparing to unleash the drills, then he hurled it forward and they went forth with destructive force. Iroko held out his hand and the jutsu once again did all the work, letting the pain sear throughout his entire system, but before he could really let loose, he found he wouldn't have to at all.

Just as Blackout made contact with the drills, a solid chunk of the gold drill was zapped right off of it. It went whistling through the air and hit Itsuki square on the forehead, cracking the metal plate on his headband.

Crap, I'm spacing out....

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*

"Hey, cut that out!!"

Itsuki ran to where the sound of crying was coming from. Deep in the forest, he'd spotted a couple of preteens roughhousing with a boy around the same age as him, but they were on the verge of taking it beyond that by threatening to peel off the boy's fingernails with a kunai.

"Screw off, Itsuki," said the oldest kid there who was most likely the leader. "We were just messin' around a little, having ourselves a chitchat, ain't that right?" He gave a knowing glance at the boy who nodded reluctantly amidst his tears. The other boys snickered.

"You're lying," said Itsuki, "you were gonna do something to him!"

"All's were doing is handling business," he retorted, pointing a kunai at Itsuki. "If you don't wanna get involved you'll walk the other way and pretend you saw nothing, got it? Alright, hold him down!" He barked at the other boys.

They did as he said, and held out the boy's left hand, who began to wail again.

"Shut your damn crying! This is your punishment for not following up from last week. Maybe now you'll learn not to cross with us."

He positioned the kunai just below his nail, getting ready to peel it right off the nail bed.

"NO! NO, PLEASE! I'M SORRY!! I'M SORRY!! I WON'T DO IT AGAIN!!! AGH, AGGGHHHHH!!!"

He'd started to push the nail off, but just then Itsuki had intervened and thrown himself at the boy, which earned him a beating and kicks to the stomach from the other boys right afterward.

"Hold the other kid down," the leader ordered. He walked over to Itsuki and pulled him up to his feet by the collar of his shirt and glared right into his eyes.

"You're dead as hell."

Itsuki had gone on to receive the beating of his life. The older kid held nothing back, unloading all of his pent-up anger and frustration on him. Even the other boys were uncomfortable with how far he was going. He threw blow after blow until Itsuki was a bloody mess, with a black eye and possibly broken ribs.

"Stay down, or I'll kill you," he whispered in his ear. "F$#king loser."

He kicked him one last time in the stomach, then went back to his boys, telling them to take the other boy deeper into the forest.

Before he got himself beaten up, Itsuki was both mad and afraid about the situation. But now... now he was just livid.

There were no thoughts in his head, in fact, he was too angry to think. The only thing on his mind was wanting to hurt the leader. He wanted to hurt him for being the selfish blowhard that he was, who thought he could throw his weight around wherever he liked and wouldn't get to suffer the consequences of his actions. Well, no more.

No... Please don't make me revisit this.

His arm began to steam up, and as he slowly got back on his feet, he let the steam well up. The leader and his boys heard Itsuki getting back up. When they turned around they saw his face riddled with tears and indescribable fury, but what was even more terrifying was his arm that was surrounded by heat distortion. He screamed and hurled in their direction a wave of searing hot steam.

***

"Four children with third-degree burns, a forest fire and he's responsible for it!!" Chiyome screamed. "I mean, how the hell does something like this even happen?!"

Itsuki remained in his room, sitting on the ground, with his hands over his ears, and tears in his eyes. His parents were downstairs in the living room and his mother was throwing a fit.

"This is all your damn fault!! If you had started taking his training more seriously none of this would have happened!!"

"It's more than that!!" Eiji screamed back. "These kids need to be held responsible for their actions!! They were threatening to tear a boy's fingernail off, what was our son supposed to do, just stand and watch?!!"

"There you go again defending him!! It's like you don't listen to a single f$#king word I say!!! Itsuki set a forest on fire and nearly killed those kids, the one he was trying to save, included!!!! The boy needs to be set straight!!!!"

"Oh, don't you dare bring your family into this!!! I told you I want them to stay away from him!!! I don't CARE about you or their customs!!!"

It always went on like that for several minutes, usually followed by even more screaming, loud banging noises, the sound of something being broken, and eventually the front door being slammed shut.

All Itsuki could ever do during those altercations was stay in his room with the door shut then crawl into bed where he would cry himself to sleep. The worst part about it was the memory of the boys being set on fire was forever etched into his brain. Hearing their screams of agony, while watching the fire eat away at their skin and their bodies becoming desiccated. It was enough to end anyone's childhood right there on the spot.

That evening, his father came into the room to wake him up, but he found he was wide awake already.

"Dad...?"

"Hey, bud. I'm really sorry to do this but it looks like you and I are gonna have to go on a little trip. Your mom's in a pretty sour mood right now."

Itsuki was dismayed.

"Come on, I've got all your stuff packed."

They took off via the back door and made their way down the street in the direction of the local hotel where they would spend the night, and quite possibly the next day.

Eiji Miura was a relatively tall and bespectacled man with fluffy and tousled hair like Itsuki but crimson-colored and tamer, gentle red eyes, and always wore a calm and reassuring smile. However, that smile was nowhere to be found today, Itsuki had observed.

"Dad, I'm sorry," he started to cry. "I'm really, really sorry."

Eiji got on his knees to comfort him. "Hey, it's gonna be okay--"

"No, it's not! It's all my fault you and Mom are fighting again! I just wanted to save that boy but I got everyone hurt instead! It's just like that mean kid said, I'm a loser. I'll never be like you or the Fifth Kazekage because of this stupid Kekkei Genkai--"

Suddenly, he was engulfed in a hug by his father.

Wait, I don't remember this part.

"Never call yourself that," he said sternly but softly. "You are not a loser. And don't blame your Kekkei Genkai either. I'm the one that's failed you, my son. I can agree with your mother on that much. But, regardless, this Kekkei Genkai, no matter what it's used for, it's still a gift, a gift to you from us, and it will always be a part of you. That's something you can't fight or run away from."

He placed a hand on his son's head and brought it to his so their foreheads touched. "You want to be a hero, right? Then don't let this one mistake ruin that. Don't let anything or anyone hold you back .... Continue to try your best to be the best ninja you can be."

"But," Itsuki sniffled, "what if it happens again? What if this power hurts someone again?"

"Then I place the power of love over it, so if it does it won't have been as an act of aggression but as an act of saving others and yourself. That's your power," he said. "Itsuki, whatever or whoever it that is or will hurt you, I want you, henceforth from this day, to not believe them, but believe in yourself instead, alright?"

Itsuki remained still, staring at his father in awe. Eiji drew him for another hug.

"I love you, son. Now and always."

*

*

*

*

*

*

"I love you, too.... Dad....."

"Itsuki!!" Iroko called out to him after deactivating Blackout. He was lying flat on the ground with his metal plate having been cracked and his forehead bleeding. The spectators were watching with anticipation but were more concerned than anything since a kid had just been hit right in the head with a mini boulder. Temari was seriously debating calling off the match before it could get any worse.

Iroko made a move to go check up on him but stopped when he noticed the most peculiar sight. Itsuki was crying.

The power of love...

Did he really... Why don't I remember that...?

I must have suppressed the memory because of what had happened earlier...

He reached his right hand out to the sky, taking in the bright blue sky and the yellow orb that shone fiercely. He thought back to the incident with the giant snake but this time recontextualized it differently, and immediately it all clicked in his head.

Of course. It's nothing like theirs because it's my power that was blessed by him. And it was all just to save me, save me from myself.

Damn. I think I get it now. Sorry for having been so foolish for so long, Dad.

"Iroko, and Ena, too, if you can hear me, I'm sorry."

The two of them were confused by his sudden apology, but then all room for wonder was removed from their heads when they saw him perform the Fire and Wind elemental hand seals.

"The truth is I'd forgotten the truth about my Kekkei Genkai, and in my forgetfulness, I went on to treat it as a foreign body belonging to my mother and the Futten clan, but now I remember." He raised himself back up and as he did so there was steam emanating from his entire right side which he continued to let well up.

"After that one incident when I had burned some kids out of anger, my father blessed my Kekkei Genkai so from then on it would never be used as a weapon of aggression again. I had forgotten that was the case because I had suppressed the memory for so long." He smiled. "I can't believe I'm saying this after having just gone on about your will against mine. Quite frankly, it's embarrassing. But you did just say I could make your way my own as well, right? In the end, I guess I was never really true to my nindō or heroism without it."

Iroko's eyes were wide with astonishment.

"This whole time, I could never truly overcome all the obstacles in my way, not without saving myself first."

And just like that, the billows of scorching-hot steam had burst forth.