Chased PTIII: Lifeline

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

The sun was way past its prime and the day was now in its late stages, the wind was slowly becoming much more hostile and instead of a fresh breath of air now brought full on chills. This was especially annoying to Mana because her shirt had a massive hole in it under her cloak from the time that a piece of wood lodged into her back. That wound still caused the young woman to slightly bite her lip in pain when she had to twist her back or bend over. She honestly could not imagine fighting the Leech now and the worst part was that she sensed him being rather close that night. He was moving much faster than she was and once he found Mana it wouldn’t be easy losing him. “What am I doing here?” the magician thought to herself as she looked around the ruined and abandoned fortress that she was exploring.

Strangely enough the ruins were quite tall, it was quite strange how come they weren’t seen from above the trees as they did extend several floors above the treetops. The higher one would climb, the harder it was to breathe and the colder the air was, also it was way much more dangerous as the floor often collapsed just by taking a careless step. Everything in the top floors was hanging on a thread, Mana was too afraid to use walls for support because she was worried they’d simply collapse. Her quest was borderline impossible. To find the legendary most powerful rabbit on top of barely standing ruin in the clockwork room and convince him to help her – had the odds been any less insane the young woman wouldn’t have even considered this quest an option. Now – when her life depended on this slim chance it was her saving straw.

This encounter could just be her last – Mana knew it. Leech moved way faster than she did at the moment if he healed his legs already, Mana was injured and even the easiest climbing maneuvers now took forever. The magician wanted to use her chakra to climb the walls but she didn’t know if that would make her position more clear for the Leech. To be honest, the young woman didn’t know a lot of things about him at the moment. One of those things was how much intelligence he regained. The last time that Mana met the Leech in Kirigakure she fried his brains so hard that some part of them died ironically was the part that she needed in order for genjutsu to work on him. Every time the Leech absorbed a part of her he not only got stronger temporarily but also permanently healed up his brain and slowly started becoming smarter. Not that it mattered – by Mana’s calculations the Leech would finish her up by now.

For some reason the smarter her predator got, the more chakra he took. The first time they met in Konoha he barely took half of her full reserve, then he started sucking out more and more every time Mana fell against him. If she is caught now the young Sennin feared it would be the death of her. The magician leaped up to catch a platform, she grunted in pain and pulled herself to it getting one more floor higher. Her lungs were huffing air pretty hard – this climbing exhausted her, this pain tested her will and determination to go on, this height made the little air she got even rarer. This journey was a torture. Loud thuds echoed from somewhere close by, suddenly Mana’s stomach started aching hard, she grabbed her stomach area and writhed in pain. The chakra she felt was so strong that it literally hurt her. The Leech was close, in fact he was just behind the wall that the magician was located near right now.

Mana crawled to the wall in order to hide because there was a huge hole gapping in it, she saw the man poke his head inside and look around missing her by just a couple of inches. He sensed her being close but couldn’t find her. “I have to keep moving.” Mana thought, there was no way that she could just sit in here, the Leech would last longer than she would. As the loud thuds of the man’s footsteps thudded to a further area Mana quickly flipped over through the hole and then ran to behind another wall on the other side. After a moment the Leech turned around, Mana grabbed her shoulder, the pain in there was almost like it was burning. The man went up to the wall that the magician hid behind and banged on it a bit, the purpose of this eluded Mana but she didn’t rely on Leech being too smart at the moment. The pain got stronger, it literally felt like pieces of her flesh were torn from her shoulder – she should’ve stayed in bed that night.

The young woman couldn’t help it anymore, she whined in pain as silently as she could. She could hear loud thuds on the other side of the wall, the Leech frantically looking for the source of the silent cry that he heard. Silence finally settled, the magician literally had to keep her breath held, she was just too afraid. After a minute of this silence passed she wondered if it was safe to move now, she tried to stand up. At the very same moment a loud thud followed by the debris of the wall flew at Mana, one rock hit her pretty hard in the head. “He broke through the fucking wall!” she thought, the survivor didn’t have the luxury to be knocked out by that, she felt blood running over her hair and down her face but the adrenaline forced her to shoot to another platform. “Alright, jump on that pole, quickly swing up, stick to the wall with chakra and run up, the top floor can’t be too far away…” Mana thought to herself as the ledge approached and the Leech was approaching even faster.

Unfortunately her plan didn’t go as planned, Mana leaped for the pole but it was nowhere nearly as firm as if was supposed to be to be used for swinging. Right as the weight of the young woman was passed on to it the pole broke off with a loud clang and the magician could only feel her own weightlessness and intense pain in her shoulder before she fell down into the darkness below.

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

The sensation of falling was so unexpected that for a moment Mana froze. She didn’t know how deep the darkness was but she literally must’ve only had moments before she hit the ground and splattered all over the ruins. The idea did not allure Mana too much her hands flashed through hand seals just in time to lift her up to a platform. She lost a lot of altitude and the youth was too tired to try climbing all this distance again. “Screw it, I’m floating the whole way up. He knows I’m here, I don’t care what happens now, it may as well be do or die…” Mana thought as she took a leap into the darkness and used the same wind currents to lift her jump to about 10 meters up. There were a lot of walls around to kick off and reinitiate the jutsu.

Climbing this way using the Mystic Wings jutsu was way faster, the shoulder pain was still making Mana clench her teeth but she was already at the peak of desperation. At this point she had to throw everything she had out there before she could do nothing and just collapsed. Mana used the jutsu in spurts. Used the current to lift her up, stopped the jutsu temporarily to jump off another platform and then used the currents again. “That wall!” Mana thought as she noticed a pretty alluring target to float to, she once again used the currents to take her up to it and then used her chakra to run up. It brought her almost all the way back to where the magician fell from, all she needed now was just kick off and fly up to the platform she wanted to reach before.

Sadly once again things didn’t go as planned, right as the young woman flew up the Leech leaped at her and tackled her with his shoulder bringing her down on the floor. This could’ve been it, all he needed to do was grab Mana and not let go of her and he could drain her dry. The man tried to do so but the young Sennin was smarter than that, she initiated the same jutsu that took him down before in Kirigakure, he roared in pain as charge of Raiton chakra passed through his body and jumped away from her – apparently the jutsu brought up unpleasant memories for the predator and he had to calm himself down. This gave Mana time to dash, she felt blood on her back as the Leech dragged her through the stone with his weight for a while. Just how much more of this can her body take? The magician guessed that not much.

The young woman ran fueled by fear and desperation to reach her purpose. She threw all of her remaining tags in the air and used a wind gust to throw them all around the room, remembering what double this amount of tags did with her mansion, this was supposed to give her enough time to convince the rabbit to help her. Mana wiped the blood off her face as it started getting in her eyes – she was starting to feel dizzy but the adrenaline kept her going. She had to move or it would be all over. Kiyomi and Meiko would never find out that she was alive, she would never get to tell Ryuuto that she liked him, she’d never see her student again. “No! This has to work!” Mana whispered to herself and charged forward. She felt the Leech close by but didn’t manage to avoid him in time. The large and strong hand grabbed her leg.

The Leech swung Mana into the rocky wall, it wasn’t held together too tough and it collapsed but it was probably enough to break most of her ribs anyway. Out of sheer rage the hunter threw her forward right into the room she meant to reach in the first place, Mana made the activation handseal and blew the room up now that she wasn’t in it. Part of the fortress collapsed and fell well over fifty metres down. Mana’s body was beaten up, she could feel death coming for her but she at least knew that the man after her would not be having it easy. After a fall like that even someone like him would have trouble getting up. “Blood…” Mana thought as she felt sticky liquid get into her hair. “This is unfortunate. I’ll die right on the edge of the room I wanted to reach, so close to the goal.” the young woman smiled. She wanted to at least turn her head and see the rabbit she was looking for but the only action she had enough strength to do was keep breathing for a short while.

“Well this is awkward…” Mana heard a loud and powerful voice. It was the rabbit she was looking for. It was just such a drag to die right beside him without even getting to see or meet him. Mana coughed up some blood and smiled. Her eyes started feeling heavy. “Don’t dare to die on me, little one. I have not had anyone visit me in years.” the young woman heard before her eyes closed. This wasn’t fair. She reached the room of the strongest of rabbits, she did everything right, she fought so well. Was it really all for nothing? This wasn’t like the time Mana fought Ayushi, the youth didn’t want to die this time, she didn’t accept death now. She felt warmth running all over her, “Maybe it’s blood. Heard that drowning in blood is the worst… Sucks… No. It doesn’t feel like a liquid…” the magician’s eyes opened again, she was slowly regaining strength.

“How is this possible?” Mana asked, she finally had enough strength to speak but not yet enough to move. “I will have you know I am the most powerful rabbit there is. I have the power to deny you death, I sense in you the power to save me from my prison and I shall use that power.” the rabbit spoke. “That rude gentleman that threw you here, he feels like a bad person, I will kill him for you, little one.” The young woman grunted in pain, she knew that healing was not the most pleasant of processes once it passed the saving from certain death stage. “My name is Mana.”

“I am Usushiko.”

Spoiler:

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

Mana finally felt strong enough to move her head. She was really lucky that this strongest of all rabbits was also a medical ninjutsu expert. Slowly the young woman lifted her head to get a slight glimpse of the rabbit who was her last hope. Unfortunately Mana could only move her head up only enough to see its ears, still if ears were any indicator of the thing’s size the rabbit had to be massive. For a second the magician had to wonder if the thing was possibly large enough to even beat the Leech. What if there was someone so large, that it could absolutely stomp the monstrous man, despite his absorption. After all, Leech’s fighting style relied on tanking whatever came his way and taking in all the damage, what if the single onslaught was so overwhelming that even he couldn’t take it. That it was so powerful that even someone like him would’ve collapsed before absorbing the chakra.

“So what is that guy, is he evil?” the rabbit asked. “I’m not sure. I mean, he is lead by instinct to absorb chakra but I’m pretty sure that he can live on food as well, I mean he’s just human. Yet he chooses to kill and drain life of other people he deems “tasty”. Yeah, I’d say he’s as sinister as they get.” Mana replied. Something told her that she’s better off being honest with this rabbit, after all he may have been her only salvation. He was the thing that held within himself the power to make Mana see her loved ones again. “Heh, guys like him make my blood boil! I’m a pretty peaceful guy but when I see someone like that I just want to stomp them!” Usushiko yelled out while still healing the magician. “I think we’d get along just fine, Usushiko-san.” Mana replied with a slight smile that she managed to force through despite the pain all over her body.

After a while the young woman felt strong enough to stand up, she could resume the healing in a sitting position and she could see the giant rabbit in all its glory. Unfortunately all that Mana could see was the rabbit’s head, somehow the rabbit managed to get its head stuck. “So… Usushiko-san. What happened, how did you end up in this predicament?” the young woman asked, she figured that if the rabbit was going to heal her for some time he may as well have told her his story. “Eh, it’s nothing special really, I saw this guy stealing some relics from the fortress and I chased him all the way here. He outsmarted me and I got my giant head stuck in here. If we were to strike a deal we could both benefit from it, Mana-san.” the rabbit replied.

“All I need is for you to summon me onto an area further away where my size won’t have me stuck and I’ll help you once in a while. What do you say?” the rabbit asked. Mana was actually pretty surprised that Usushiko knew who she was, he knew that Mana had the rabbit contract which may not have been common knowledge to someone stuck in a passageway. If the young woman had to guess she would’ve definitely concluded that the size of Usushiko qualified him as the biggest thing she has ever seen, larger even that Yoroi’s giant snake he summoned in the archives back when they recovered the rabbit contract scroll. Having someone of his size helping Mana out may have been beneficial in her quest for survival. Usuzoku may not have been wrong when he said that Usushiko could help her.

“Alright, as soon as you heal me up I’ll help you.” Mana smiled for the giant rabbit. Truth be told the magician would’ve helped the gigantic rabbit anyway, even if he didn’t agree to help her. That was just the kind of person she was, even if she has become a lot bolder and more rude as a result of this survival mission. An hour later the magician finally felt brave enough to stand and walk around. “Thanks for the help, Usushika-san, I guess I owe you my life.” Mana bowed for the giant rabbit head stuck in a passage way. “A debt I’m sure you’re soon going to repay.” Usushika replied. The young Sennin felt like the rabbit felt just what kind of person she was. Mana turned around and walked up to the emptiness that the Leech recently fell into, she hasn’t considered the danger yet.

What if the Leech was going to interrupt her summoning? Either way she had to try, even if the cost of it was her own life and even if the Leech was going to kill her, Mana had to rescue the legendary rabbit hero from this pickle that he was in. That would’ve been that one feat that defined her life, if she died while rescuing Usushika she would’ve been happy, it would’ve been a good death. “I’ll be seeing you really soon, Usushika-san.” Mana let the rabbit know that she’d be back. The magician walked up to the edge of the room. The whole corridor and rooms leading up to the clockwork tower that the two were on has collapsed, unfortunately that was due to Mana’s own actions and she wasn’t proud of it. The magician took a step into the nothingness and started falling down. She made the hand seals needed for the Mystic palm jutsu but didn’t start it until she was at least 10 meters above ground.

The wind currents stopped the magician’s fall and slowed her down enough for her to touch the ground without injuring herself. Mana didn’t try to look for the Leech or try and find out if he survived, she already knew the answer. Nothing stopped that man, surely he would’ve survived several hundred meters of freefall. The young woman did her best to find a spot where the rabbit may have theoretically fit and made the Summoning Jutsu hand seals. In a cloud of smoke Usushika appeared. “Thank you, Mana. Your debt has been repaid.” he thanked her. “Shit…” Mana cursed, she sensed the chakra signature of the Leech rising up again. “Do not worry, Mana-san. I will take care of this trash for you as a sign of my gratitude, plus I’m sure he’s a scumbag anyway!” Usushiko said as he turned his gigantic body to face the Leech.

Spoiler:

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

“Be careful, Usushiko-san. The Leech is not someone to underestimate.” Mana had to warn Usushiko to fight like he means it and not pull any punches. As of yet the magician wasn’t sure what the rabbit’s abilities were exactly but, seeing how he is considered the greatest of the rabbit kind, she assumed that he knew how to handle himself. The situation was made even harder by the fact that Mana will not be involving herself in this battle, anything she would do would only increase the Leech’s abilities and make it harder for Usushiko to fight him. The Leech was injured from the explosion and the fall: his clothes were torn and his body was covered in burns and he had bleeding injuries on most of his body from the fall. Then again Usushiko wasn’t at his prime too, he spent a lot of time stuck in that clockwork room and had to heal Mana up to full health.

“This guy is nothing!” Usushiko shouted out, his voice was so mighty that it caused gusts of wind that started tearing the leaves off the forest trees. The rabbit attacked quickly and fiercely, he spat out some sort of liquid from his mouth onto the Leech, the amount of the liquid was impressive, whether it was slime or acid of some sort it looked almost like an entire tsunami had enveloped the enemy and the surrounding area and in his signature fashion the Leech didn’t even try to avoid it. Mana took a troubled look at Usushiko, maybe she needed to explain to him the Leech’s abilities as Usushiko clearly fought him like any ordinary opponent. The naked figure of Leech appeared out of the crashing wave of acid that Usushiko launched at him, it was a gruesome sight. The area around the man quickly corroded into slime but the Leech only had patches of burnt skin on his body in addition to previous burns and injuries. Worst of all he was smiling!

The man charged out still covered in acid and punched Usushiko head on, the punch was incredibly powerful and shot out a powerful shockwave. Mana had to cover her eyes so that the pieces of wood that it tore out didn’t get in her eyes. “That’s all you got? Heh, ya wimp!” Usushiko yelled out and swung one of his massive ears sending the Leech crashing back into the pool of acid. “Look what you made me do you insect!” Usushiko roared out and jumped in the air, “You made me melt part of the forest, you fool!!!” Usushiko shouted as his massive body slammed on top of the Leech causing a massive earthquake. The shockwave knocked Mana on her behind. This battle was insane.

“ROARGH!!!” the young woman heard loud grunts of the Leech – the man was still alive! This was bad, if he could take everything Usushiko throws at him he’ll become insanely powerful. “Still breathing, huh?” Usushiko laughed out “How bout this?!” he followed up with a powerful foot stomp straight on the Leech’s head. The gigantic rabbit did not stop stomping, each stomp sent a shockwave even more powerful and devastating than the last. If this battle was to take any longer they’d be taking down half the Forest of Death like this. “You’re making me hurt the forest! Stop-Making-Me-Hurt-The-Forest-Ya-Little-Shit!!!” Usushiko kept shouting out stomping the man’s head one more time for each word he said. This battle was really annoying the giant. Apparently Usushiko was a nature lover. It was ironic knowing how much damage just him moving around could cause.

After a while the rabbit stopped stomping. He had made a giant crater several times wider than his own size which was telling something. “What a fucking dick, can you believe it, Mana-san?” Usushiko said after climbing out of the crater and pushing Mana gently with his ears to help her get out too. “I can’t believe how tough it is for some guys to die…” the rabbit laughed out. “I… Kill… You” Mana heard a mumbled voice, she turned back to look at the crater only to see the Leech’s head which she considered crushed appear out of the dirt. “Kill you!!!” the Leech shouted as he stood up, those were the first words Mana heard him say. That wasn’t good, it meant that the man was absorbing chakra from Usushiko and took in enough to jumpstart his brain again. The young woman looked at the rabbit and shook her head.

“He won’t stop, Usushiko-san. There’s no use in this, please leave and let me fight it out with him alone.” she said. Mana knew quite well what this decision meant. She accepted her death and stopped running from it just like Usuzoku told her to. “Nonsense, he’s not worth you getting your hands dirty, I’ll just stomp him to the center of the goddamn Earth next time!” Usushiko turned at him. He looked really pissed at the Leech’s refusal to die. Still, the magician had to hand it to Usushiko – he beat up the Leech so badly using nothing but brute strength, utilizing that brief moment before the force of his blow is absorbed. Looking at the face of the Leech the magician still wondered how on Earth was he still standing - it looked like an apple after a couple of good hits. The man barely reminded of the gentleman he once was.

“Come ere, ya runt!” Usushiko roared and charged at the Leech with a tackle. The collision of the rabbit’s head and the Leech caused yet another shockwave sending trees around down and forcing the magician to hold on to something so that she didn’t fall down. After the smoke cleared out she could see that the rabbit failed to even move Leech back – the man managed to stop him in his tracks. “I don’t think so…” the Leech replied and started pounding the rabbit’s head mercilessly as the rabbit also started hitting him with his giant ears. This clash was a battle of wills, which one was going to collapse first. A powerful blow of the Leech followed with another but not before taking two or three good slaps from Usushiko’s oversized ears. “ENOUGH!” the Leech yelled out and kicked Usushiko’s face sideways, causing the rabbit to fly off into the direction he was sent and crash into the Rabbit Fortress causing it to go down.

The Rabbit Fortress was no more, Usushiko was beaten under the rubble and the Leech now made his way towards Mana. He walked slowly, enjoying his moment and imagining the feast he was about to have. Mana tried to take out a kunai, weapons were her only hope. “Empty?” she realized that her supplies were gone, no more food, no more bandages, no more tools. That was it. This was supposed to be their final dance but Mana knew in her heart there was no way she could keep up with the Leech anywhere close to how Usushiko did. She wasn’t strong, she wasn’t like her friends… Mana remembered the time when Konoha was under attack by a Bloody Man several years back. She remembered how easy she was handled and toyed with while Meiko managed to hold him on for the girls to come up with a plan to win. “Meiko… I’m not like you, I’m weak… At least I won’t run anymore, I’ll stand tall and face my death. I’ll fight… To the end.” Mana thought and got her hands into hand seal position.

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

There was quite a distance between Mana and the Leech. The predator was located in the middle of the crater that Usushiko’s rampage made and the magician was right outside of it. There was time to get a jump start. Get some distance and maybe even get away for today. But where would she be running? What would she be running for? No! Mana decided firmly against it. The magician tried to weigh her odds and come up with a course of action, plan out her attack. It was all for nothing: the Leech gathered so much strength fighting Usushiko and the young woman would only boost his strength by fighting him. It was ironic that fighting the Leech was the wrong way out – a non-violent way, Mana’s way was the way out. And yet she could not think up of a way out that wasn’t violent. This enemy was supposed to be perfect for the magician, someone who didn’t believe in violence being the answer.

“You’re not… Running?” Leech shouted out, there was still a brief pause before the third word and speaking still felt unnatural to him but he was speaking. This epic fight with Usushiko helped him regain his intelligence and he was now even more dangerous than he used to be. “That’s it!” Mana suddenly shouted out to herself, the Leech looked confused that she spoke to herself. How could the magician miss this essential detail, it was the only thing that mattered now and could’ve saved her life. It was so simple that the young woman started laughing. “I fail to see what’s so funny.” the Leech spoke, once again in a slow manner and pausing between words. Mana’s eyes filled with confidence, she made a several hand seals slowly, without haste and looked right into the Leech’s eyes.

As their eyes met Mana saw what she wanted to see – pupils. Her own eyes were now filled with strength, she smiled for the predator and spoke with a strong and confident tone. “I won. I give you one more chance to turn around and walk away, do not kill anyone ever again, if you do I will find you and end you. Do this and I’ll let you walk away.” she spoke. The confusion in the eyes of her enemy was apparent, he may have thought she was bluffing but the confidence in her voice was so good it couldn’t have been bluffed. “What? What are you talking about?” the Leech spoke in confusion. Mana laughed out, she still held the jutsu prepared for casting.

“You’re actually a pitiful man, Leech. Made into an outcast by both nature and the people around you who is unable to touch and love. I feel sorry for you. That is why I’m letting you go, accept that your clan is never to be, accept that you are alone and unfortunate and live your life in solitude. That is your only choice if you want to live.” Mana spoke again, the Leech started coming towards her again but this time he rushed. He used haste because he was afraid, he had intellect which meant he was able to feel fear. “You know, you entertain me!” the Leech spoke again as he slowed down, “I’ll give YOU an offer, stop fighting me. You have most chakra of all people I’ve met, maybe you could survive long enough to extend my bloodline… Worth a shot? Our children could be just like me, they could be the most powerful ninja ever! You’ve got nowhere to return to, no one will miss you, everyone thinks you are dead. Stop rambling madness and think about it.”

That last reply made Mana furious. The nerve of this guy to think that the magician would stoop so low just to keep living. She’d rather die. Luckily enough, she won’t have to. Mana initiated the jutsu making her hands glow, the Leech hasn’t seen this genjutsu, he didn’t know now to look into the bright light. Instantly he fell victim to it. “It’s over…” Mana took a breather, Leech was only a ninja by his bloodline, not his training. He couldn’t dispel this illusion and it ended with him falling into a coma that only a skilled medical ninja could treat. It was all over when his slow healing factor cured the part of the brain that Mana fried last time in Kirigakure, that part which was required for the genjutsu to send him comatose. Now when it was cured the chakra network was complete and the illusion could be casted.

After a brief moment the Leech collapsed and his chakra signature shot down to barely even noticeable. There was no way he could’ve been faking it – even an ordinary human had more chakra than he did. Mana walked up to the knocked out brute and looked over his body. The amount of punishment that this man could take was remarkable, she finally beat him! But Mana now had to decide what to do with him, does she leave him here? What if some genin finds him and somehow touches him in a way to give him chakra? It probably wouldn’t heal his coma but it would definitely kill the kid. The magician couldn’t kill him, no matter how much of a freak of nature he was or how dangerous he was, no one deserved death. Mana let her cloak slip off of her shoulders, the cold evening wind instantly pierced her torn shirt. This cloak symbolized Mana when she was running away, not a hero but a survivor. Well the young woman decided that just surviving was not worth it, she stood against her foe and came out on top. Mana tried to sense Usushiko’s chakra, the rabbit seemed to have moved further away now and was healing himself. “See you later, Shiko-san. And thank you.” Mana thought.

Hours later a lonely figure walked out of the forest dragging a body of a knocked out man, the young woman looked like the recently deceased hero of Konoha Nakotsumi Mana except her clothes were poorer, her body was covered with patches and bandages and had some nasty looking scars. Despite that, the young woman introduced herself as Nakotsumi Mana to the guards and explained that she was dragging with her an S rank threat which was knocked out and had to be examined by the medical ninja and detained in the safest cell the village could find. Mana did everything properly now, she didn’t damage the brain of the Leech, even if he woke up, she could put him down again.

Of course the guards decided that Mana was lying and took both her and the Leech to the Konohagakure Police Force building. Maybe later someone would identify her and let her go, in the meantime, at least she had a place to stay for the night. The Sanctuary was burnt down after all…

Spoiler:

[EXIT]