The Light Of Konoha

Finale

Ryuu's P.O.V.

Crack.

The earth split as my sword made contact with the ground.

"Stop running around like a little rabbit and sit still already," I grumbled as the ninja riding the worm slithered out of my clutches once again.

Despite my cocky exterior, I could feel the sweat dripping down my back.

The other was still somewhere under my feet...

Suddenly, the ground exploded behind me and a cylindrical mouth of swirling teeth was milliseconds from tearing me apart.

My body went into auto pilot, leaping to dodge and bringing my sword down across its body, severing it.

"Shit!" I cursed.

Izumi chuckled from her perch,
"I thought you'd learnt by now..."

The severed head grew and elongated, the body doing the same.
Voila, two new, deadly earth creatures.

"Cutting them up has no effect~" she finished.
"My worms are close friends with Lady Tsunade's slugs, they share similar regenerative justu..."

The now three deadly worms converged, diving into the ground and leaping back out in a vicious circle, surrounding me and making the ground rumble and shake.

"Dark style: pulse!" I grunted, tapping the tip of my sword onto the ground.

From the point of contact, a bubble of dark energy exploded, causing no harm to me but repelling the oncoming attacks.

Upon contact with the worms, the dark energy disintegrated their heads as their tamer leapt to a safe distance.

Yet this didn't faze the beasts and their heads simply regrew.

My breaths came more and more ragged, mind racing to concoct a plan that could thwart her attacks.

A slow grin stretched across my face as my new plan blossomed into my head.

"Dark style: embrace..." I muttered, arms spread as my edges became blurred.

My body burned away into shadows until nothing but my rumbling cackle could be heard, dispersed around the gorge.

Izumi didn't waste a second, instantly starting a new jutsu to protect herself, her hands flying to create the symbols.

"Mud style: cloak!"

From the name, I expected her to be covered in her slimy, gruesome mud. I thought that might be the reason for her title: molten soldier.
But to my surprise, the mud wrapped around her then simply blended to her skin, as if she had nothing at all covering her.

Yet I didn't believe for one second she had left herself defenseless.

However, it wasn't her I was intending to target...

My dispersed body turned sharp at my will, bonded with that of my blade, and slashed and slashed.

Thousands of cuts rained down upon the monsters, severing them hundreds of times over.

I had taken a gamble, but the fact that the molten soldier wasn't cockily boasting about the army of hundreds I just created was enough to confirm my suspicions.

When Tsunade's slugs were severed, they became smaller versions of them selves.

When Izumi's worms were severed however, they became full sized versions of the originals.