Reborn in the Mist

In a poof of smoke Killer Bee was gone, spun away from where he stood a split second ago. But my [Water Perception] had no trouble keeping track of him. “Snatch him!”

Unaimaru snapped, spring leaping several metres in the air. His jaws cracked wide open to swallow Killer Bee as he tumbled through the air like a porcupine of seven swords— the eighth the bubbling chakra cloak around him.

Bee sprung to before Unaimaru could snap his jowls around him. He released four of his seven blades, each coated with the harsh sting of Gyuki’s chakra. Unaimaru shrieked and reeled his head away, I didn’t let the Unagi’s agony stop me though— I ran up his scaled head, leaping at Bee as he fell.

I slammed into Bee as hard and fast as I could, my arm wrapped around his waist as I tackled him down into the water where one of us was bound to have the upper hand in aquatic warfare. The moment we splashed into its depths Bee rocked punches into my sides, each blow landed squarely on my vital organs. I gasped out but didn’t let go, my [Sage Mode] body granted me extended underwater breathing without the use of a jutsu— so I swam.

I endured Bee’s blows and used my strength to sink us even deeper where lurking in the dark blue were my Shadow Clones were lying in wait. Killer Bee broke away with a roar that echoed even underwater. Vapour bubbled to the surface, the water around Bee boiling as he roared in defiance, his tails flailing furiously.

My clones, all four I’d hastily summoned, were blasted away by the shockwave of Bee’s explosive power. I was slammed through the water as well but the waters remained mine to command, I steadied myself, pushed back against the shockwave with ease. My slit eyes narrowed around Bee, his chakra cloak was peeling into a new form and quick.

“Don’t let him transform!” Isobu screamed in my head, but Unaimaru was ahead of us both.

The giant unagi plummeted, its toothy maw clamped down on Bee before even I could fully process his attack. Unaimaru bit down hard, driving his teeth through Bee’s thighs and torso as they fell even farther into the depths.

My clones returned, only one of them sported my [Sage Mode] and its abilities but the others were just as capable and had their roles to play. I nodded at the three and they dived after Unaimaru— the giant Unagi was certainly powerful in its own right but Killer Bee had only just gotten started.

Not a moment after my three clones dived, Unaimaru’s body came flying our way. Between my [Saged Clone] and myself, a flick of our wrists was all it took to create a water cushion to catch the beaten summon.

Unaimaru glared down at me, his mouth and face bled, sporting a combination of stabs and raw, burnt scales. “Don’t say I never do anything for you!” He groaned, slithering back down the water.

One of my Sage-less clones hounded Bee with a seemingly endless assault of Ninjutsu. In a blink of an eye the once empty blue waters were filled to the brim with sharks. They rushed at him, their jaws finding more success than failure as Bee beat, kicked and tried to swim away from the swarm. My nose crinkled as the strong scent of blood flooded my nostrils.

In a heap of frustration Bee roared, his tails gathered around him like a flower and then, all together he blossomed, extending his chakra tails omnidirectionally as he spun furiously destroying each and every [Shark Bullet] and even faster than my clone could create.

Each rotation and spin destroyed tens out of the hundreds, but rotation was not something Bee wanted to be doing—

I ignored the sensation of a clone being dispelled and watched as the last standing Sage-less clones weaved through different sets of hand seals before slamming their hands together. Chakra soaked the waters around them completely and in a spiral of sudden winds a maelstrom was formed, one Unaimaru happily acted as a Kraken for. His jowls hung agape as the maelstrom naturally set him at the centre.

The whirling maelstrom sucked Bee in as it ballooned in size and pushed water into a wall around it. But Bee was stubborn, I didn’t see when but the Jinchuriki had made it into his Version 2 State, he sported six, dense chakra tails that beat against the water, and an exoskeleton shoulder that told me what he planned to do once he regained his footing.

That won’t happen.

Unaimaru was far too weak a summon to deal with Killer Bee’s Version 2 transformation, but the giant unagi’s maw provided a primal motivation and more importantly— a distraction. While Bee fought against the obscene amount of water whirling him about, my clones silently exhausted every last bit of chakra I’d imbued in them before dispelling.

I pressed my hands into a Tiger hand seal and my last standing clone, one empowered by the same Sage abilities, did the same on the other side of the whirlpool. It was at this point Killer Bee seemed to sense our intentions, he stopped fighting the wave and gave in, allowing it to rush him towards the centre where Unaimaru sat in what was now a nervous wait.

“Hyrrahh!” He roared, his fist rocked against Unaimaru’s cheek, dispelling the summon in a puff of smoke just as my jutsu was ready.

In unison with my clone we manipulated the excess of chakra the others had sacrificed, weaving in our Nature Chakra as we executed the jutsu. “Sennin Hiden: Torrential Serpent King!”

Our bellow was reverberated by the screeching roar of two colossal Elemental Dragons, one of wind, the other of water— the entirety of the whirlpool specifically. Killer Bee, trapped right from the beginning, was flown up in a rising tsunami that was its body.

The [Water Dragon] ascended into the sky, rapidly twisting around its billowing twin. They fused into one right before my eyes. I pursed my lips as I watched the amalgamation, a pulsing, roaring calamity of razor winds and drowning waters ascend further into the sky with Killer Bee snatched in its maws.

I felt the burden of the jutsu shift solely to me, my clone silently entrusting me with it as we moved to the next part of our assault. This variation of my personal Hiden was not nearly as large or devastating as the one I unleashed upon the Nine-Tails, but my connection with the Sea as a Sage, my impossibly heightened affinity with Water Release made it just as effective if not more so.

Unlike its predecessor, I could finely control where the winds sliced, how deeply water filled his lungs and how tense its grip around Bee was. I shared a look with my clone, the spitting image of me nodded back, the barbels attached to his face flailed and then in a blink of an eye a jet spree of water was all that was left where he stood.

He appeared far ahead of me, beyond the diameter of where the whirlpool once encompassed. With my Sage double in place I willed the [Torrential Dragon] to its descent. The colossal elemental jutsu nosedived towards my clone with barreling speeds, the woosh of its body alone sent waves rippling through the sea as it raced.

My clone jumped into a dash of relative speeds but at this point Killer Bee’s frightening Tailed Beast form was growing and worse, he’d gotten a foothold on his chakra long enough to spam [Continuous Tailed Beast Balls].

They rocketed through the [Torrential Dragon], distorting its form enough that he manages to wiggle free, if only for a split moment before I willed the Dragon’s claws around him, squeezing like I meant to crush— it was the only way to keep Bee but also keep the water from evaporating completely.

Killer Bee struggled, chakra arms bugled and buckled but I tore them to ribbons with my winds. He roared out, perhaps rage or more likely in rap as my clone and dragon came mere feet away from each other. My clone skidded on the water, sliding into the awkward stance we’d distractedly learned from Kaizoku— left foot out, shoulders dipped and fist reared back in an open palm.

This should hurt.

My victorious grin had barely begun to form before Killer Bee wiped it away in an explosion of chakra— right at the last second. In a burst, eight, boiling red and dense chakra tails blew apart my [Torrential Dragon]. He swung free, fists bulged with colossal power my clone was now freely on the receiving end of.

The water exploded. A mushroom spray of moisture rose dozens of feet in the air as I processed the final seconds of my [Saged Clone’s] life— he was unflinching even in the face of Bee’s overbearing fury, he met the Jinchuriki’s strike with one of his own. I was barely trained in Kaizoku’s Kaikyo-Ken, having only seen the great sea serpent demonstrate its applications a couple of times, but I was genius enough to put it to practical use sooner rather than later.

My clone had blown Killer Bee’s arm away, just as its own body was forced to contend with the strength of the eight tails, he poofed instantly but there was more than enough time for me to finally get some skin in the battle.

Barely a second had passed once I processed everything but my feet were already moving, the mist that skirted around me lagged as I burst into action. Just as my clone had, I willed the water to slide underneath me, to propel me into velocities I wouldn’t normally be able to without [Sage Mode]. I didn’t need to weave hand signs for this jutsu but I did, clapping my hands together just as I arrived beside Killer Bee.

His arm was still thrown aside, his Tailed Beast transformation fast at work reforming the deformed parts of it. The smoke from my clones dispersal still lingered and Killer Bee had yet to react to my presence even if he had surely sensed it.

I only have one shot with this, if I miss then—

I quenched the thought and slammed a fiery palm against Killer Bee’s right shoulder. “Fuin!”

My declaration was thankfully met with the exact reaction I wanted. Killer Bee stumbled, the pulse of my chakra forcing his seal shut sent nauseating waves through him— I’d know as I tested this particular seal on myself. I hissed less at the burn of touching him barehanded and more at the strain the seal placed on my pathways.

Gyuki truly is something! I thought in mild panic as I felt the Tailed Beasts chakra yelp at my coercing Fuinjutsu, but it was too late. The mark flared instantly, lines of blue-white script bleeding from my skin onto his, sinking through muscle and cloak alike.

As Kage, taking care of the village's assets was my responsibility and Utakata was one such asset, as was I. Beyond my duties, my memories of this world’s many Fuinjutsu related tragedies made studying the art all too important not to spend [Shadow Clones] on.

Killer Bee’s transformation began to unravel, seep and dissipate away, regressing rapidly to the fair and manageable [Version 1 Tailed Beast] transformation. I placed a hand at his throat and channelled Wind Release chakra through it until my fingertips hummed like a buzzsaw.

“Don’t move an inch.” I warned. “Your chakra cloak might allow you to survive having your throat cut, but I’ll bet you’ll have a hard time fighting me when your chakra is fighting you.”

I leaned over as Bee groaned, mumbling some rap. “Try anything stupid and I’ll make sure this lesson leaves a mark.”

“W-what did you do to me?” Killer Bee croaked, falling over slightly as he lost control of the chakra keeping him afloat.

I caught him by his scarf—

“Unhand Lord Bee this instant!” A soft, feminine voice demanded.

I looked up and lo and behold there was an entourage of Kumogakure delegates. I’d use the word ‘delegate’ lightly as by my count, there seemed to be only one among the five other guarding shinobi around her. Each and everyone of them were dark skinned, furious looking and all too ready for a fight.

“Mabui, you came…why?” Bee panted, making a dizzy attempt at swimming even while I held him by his scarf. His Chakra Cloak receded completely and for a moment I relaxed— the seal was a little relief to the large itch that was the Eight Tails Jinchuriki, just setting up the opportunity to place it cost me a lot of chakra.

And that was before he knew I could do all what I did.

I put aside the thoughts of containing Bee and released his scarf, allowing him to plop into the water where he began to kick his way over to the woman he called Mabui. She wasn’t what I remembered but then again, my memory wasn’t the most reliable, not after a year here.

She wore her scowl deep and proud as she marched up to me. “Mizukage-dono, we are here on behalf of the Raikage to settle ongoing disputes between our two villages…not escalate them.” She said the last part with a harsh glare directed both at myself and Bee who could only manage to keep his head over the water now while he tested out his chakra again. “How long is he going to be that way?”

‘That way’ being without access to his own chakra network and thus without the means to mould or direct chakra of any kind…

I smirked at Mabui, the fine caramel skinned delegate managed to exceed my height by a foot or less, but that meant nothing in the face of my victory here. I allowed myself the victorious grin from earlier as I answered as vaguely and as unhelpfully as possible.

“As long as I wish.”