Akazo

Hikari's Grudge

   A nonchalant Zuko sighed lightly to himself. With little effort, he brought his right hand in front of his body to catch the large blade that was coming his way. Now standing in front of him was a blonde-haired Jonin from the Hidden Stone. Concern was certainly on his face when he applied more pressure only to realise this was cracking his sword quicker.

   Zuko and the others were battling Hidden Stone reinforcements in the southern part of the village, not too far from where they left Gyatsō. After swinging his body up to shove a fragment of the sword into the man's chest, Zuko looked around to notice that he was now being surrounded.

   "Well, you Stone ninja move quite fast, I have to say," he complimented the group of assailants around him. As soon as Zuko began to perform hand signs, the men roared loudly, closing in on him with their weapons.

   Another bored sigh escaped Zuko's parted lips as he bounded backwards, roundhouse kicking the shinobi that were closest to his back.

   Landing on his hands, Zuko twirled around quickly, landing more brutal kicks on his assailants. A masked ANBU member appeared in front of him, swiping his leg around to hit Zuko's arms.

   The black-haired male crashed onto the ground and instantly moved his head to the left. The ANBU's glistening sword had barely missed Zuko's head.

   "You almost got me," said Zuko, his facial expression remaining blank. The masked shinobi above him scoffed and pulled his sword out of the ground.

   "I won't miss this time!" he yelled, bringing the sword down towards Zuko's head. Zuko's eyes widened as he activated the second stage of his Shaolin, forming a slight smile on his lips. Bringing his hand up to the tip of the blade, the Taisega clan member winced as it cut deep into his palm.

   Before getting a reaction from the ANBU, Zuko used his free hand to perform a quick series of hand signs, finishing the jutsu he tried to cast before.

   "Fire Style: Burning Ash."

   A stream of chakra-infused gunpowder spewed from Zuko's mouth, which surrounded the region. As the gunpowder is composed entirely of ash, it stayed in the air like a cloud. Zuko used this as a smokescreen to escape while the confused reinforcements remained in it.

   "Hide and Hikari are fighting a different group of shinobi, so these guys can all burn," Zuko whispered to himself.

   He ignited the gunpowder with a flint placed on his teeth beforehand to create a spark, which resulted in a violent explosion. Booming screams filled the area as he fled the scene, leaving the Hidden Stone ninja to all burn alive.

   Further up north in the village, Hikari had finished his own battle with Stone shinobi. He turned around to eye the cloud of smoke hovering over the horizon.

   Hide appeared next to him with a smirk. The serpentine male licked a spot of blood off of his cheek. A large amount of unconscious Hidden Stone ninja were sprawled across the ground. Hide also looked at the smoke cloud, snickering a little.

   "Say, Hikari. Does it pain you to see your village being destroyed from the inside out?" he asked. Hikari turned to Hide, scoffing at him. Hide knew his allegiance was to the Hidden Dark Nation, as all members of the Osore swore loyalty to the Dark ages ago.

   "When I met Lord Gyatsō, he promised me that he'd help me exact revenge on the Hidden Stone. Seeing the village in this current state makes me want to destroy it even further," Hikari replied with a smile on his face. There was no doubt he didn't feel a shred of regret for what's happening to the Stone. Hide accepted his answer and nodded in approval.