The Zero Tails Jinchuriki #30

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Land of Fire

–Kenta Senju–

“What is that?” He whispered to himself, feeling the bastardisation of Nature Energy happening right in front of him, as Jirobo pulled himself out of that hole, unrecognisable from moments ago, with his chakra having multiplied and not just his chakra, the Nature Chakra in him increasing as well.

“Ah,” Jirobo began, as he noted the acidic chakra nature slowing down significantly in their approach, “I didn’t expect a tree hugger to push me this far. But!” His face turned grim as the Earth Nature chakra coalesced around Jirobi, forming a thin layer all around his body, “This is great! More! Give me more!” 

He jumped to the side as the Earth below his feet began churning, as Jirobo, having anticipated that, came at him with his hands spread apart. It was a very disturbing sight, especially to him, since he could feel the way Nature Energy was being forced into Jirobo, a Kinjutsu that would sooner or later eat him from the inside because Nature Energy did not like being corralled around, especially by someone who had not become one with Nature.

He sighed, suddenly having had enough of this. He had gathered enough information and he still had the acidic chakra signature to deal with. He tried doing it the usual way, by baiting them with the safety of their companion but apparently, they just did not care too much, Jirobo, so he was going to have to do it the hard way.

He stilled, entering Sage Mode, his senses exploding at once as he, with a sudden burst of speed, got into Jirobo’s guard. He saw Jirobo’s eyes begin to widen in shock as he pulled his fist back and punched him in the chest, feeling it cave in as he smashed Jirobo into the ground, creating a crater all around them.

Straightening up, he saw Jirobo’s neck slumping, the chakra in his body receding, and the Nature Energy leaving his body as if water flowing through sieves. Patting him down, he found nothing of note aside from the headband. Tying him up, he straightened up and surveyed the scene of destruction all around him. 

He then abruptly turned around and caught the arrow an inch away from his face. Then, he had to jump as another arrow whizzed past where his chest was, concentrated in chakra. Not knowing the effect of that chakra, he dodged the second arrow and jumped on a tree nearby. His eyes widened as he saw the arrow explode with distinct Fire Release chakra, taking a small chunk out of the land, alarmingly close to Jirobo’s position.

Waving his hand, his gaze snapped to the seemingly ordinary arrow as it remained stuck to his hand. His eyes honed in on the web that stuck to his hand. With a mental command, Fire Nature chakra rushed to his hands, burning away the web as the arrow finally clattered to the ground.

He had to jump back on the ground as multiple arrows were launched at him, laced with either Fire Nature chakra or Wind chakra. Even mid air, he had to tilt as twin arrows hit his position at the same time, as the acidic chakra signature began closing in on him.

Just what kind of mastery with the bow did they have for them to so accurately target him from so far away? Glancing at the still unconscious Jirobo, he made a split second decision and jumped with all his might, bulldozing through trees, on his way to the acidic chakra signature. 

It stood to reason that someone who used bow and arrows as their weapon must be weaker in hand to hand combat, which was his strong suit. So, dodging the arrows he could and throwing the small pieces of log he had at the ones he couldn’t, he jumped through the explosions, all so he could reach the bow and arrow user.

His eyebrows rose up into his hairline as a similar chakra explosion as Jirobo happened around his second target, throwing his senses off for a few seconds as he sensed the same bastardization of Nature Energy happening in them. 

That slight moment of hesitation cost him as the barrage of arrows turned from impressive to outright impossible, as he had to not just dodge a volley of attacks coming in from multiple angles, he also had to dodge the secondary attacks just waiting for him to dodge the first ones.

He had to tread close to the ground, zipping all around, using the terrain to his advantage by always having stones, pebbles and tree branches to throw around at the arrows as most of them were primed to explode on contact and the ones with Wind Chakra shredded through the stones, giving him some warning as to which ones to dodge.

He couldn’t even begin to understand how the person was deciding the attack patterns as the arrows zoomed all around him. Honestly, only his exceptional chakra senses allowed him to dodge most of the arrows as they were laced with–

His eyes widened as he suddenly came face to face with an arrow, a regular arrow, mere inches away from his face. Time seemed to slow down as he was already in the motion of throwing a rock at the arrow he knew he wouldn’t be able to dodge without putting himself in a flat area, with more avenues of attack. 

Time seemed to slow down in front of him as his mind churned at high speed, realising the small window of opportunity that was taken by the enemy. Part of him was impressed and part of him was a bit afraid now, as his back muscles contorted enough for him to essentially duck on himself, compressing his muscles and spine, as the arrow whizzed past his head, ruffling his hair, as he straightened back up with multiple cracks.

Thank the Sage for his tough physique as it allowed him to spring back up with no issues. 

The bow user had changed course, bit by bit, bringing him closer to Jirobo, but the—

His neck snapped in Jirobo’s direction, an arrow nicking his arm, drawing blood as it was laced with Wind Chakra. He cursed as he turned course and began running towards Jirobo, dodging arrows left, right and centre as he realised he had been tricked somehow. Despite having a chakra signature so distinct, so mangled from normal ones, the bow user had somehow hidden his shadow clone and managed to bring it very close to Jirobo, likely transforming the shadow clone into an arrow that he had dodged.

“Shit!” He swore as he felt the chakra of the one behind him flare once more, likely the same activating that Jirobo did that turned him into an impressively durable demon type shinobi. His decision to stop and brace himself was right as arrows of all kinds, now came faster than ever. 

That Kinjutsu, it not only gave them an upgrade across all parameters, but it also heightened their danger level, since it seemed to be improving upon what they were already experts at.

Jirobo became even stronger, even more durable and presumably more capable of absorbing chakra.

The bow user, on the other hand, became even deadlier, constantly sending in arrows targeting his blind spots, and once they realised that due to his Sage Mode, he had practically no blind spots, they began layering the arrows in a way that he had to divert all his attention towards them, since regular arrows were also mixed in with chakra laced arrows.

Worst of all, he felt his Sage Mode slipping away, the worst trait of his particular brand of Sage Mode rearing its ugly head at an inopportune time. 

Frustrated at his lack of progress and the way he was getting pinned down by someone who should have been well within his means to defeat, he took in a deep breath and for the first time in months, opened the lid on it, all the way.

The last remaining embers of Nature Energy practically fled his body as the Zero Tails chakra entered the fray, as a small cloak of brown energy enveloped his body, tanking the explosions and keeping the Wind chakra laced arrows at bay. The cloak would have been a lot bigger and denser but he controlled its output, as he had not yet forgotten about the Kumo shinobi he was going to have to confront later on.

One moment, he was dodging the hail of arrows, all intelligently placed in all his paths of evasion, and the next, he was jumping straight at the bow user, disregarding any arrow that came his way, swatting them away contemptuously.

He made holes in the land as he jumped where the Bow user was, grinning as he felt their mental confusion and panic at seeing someone like him jumping at them. The added effect of seeing a cloak that was exclusive to Jinchuriki must have made them afraid, as they turned tail and began to run.

Alas, despite not having Sage Mode active right now, he could feel their panic as he honed in on that. Jumping past a large tree, his gaze zeroed in on the bow user as his eyes widened at what he was seeing.

A monster, with more than 6 legs, sturdy armour, running away, using webs.