CH_7.45 (263)

CH_7.45 (263)

Takuma felt as though his head was literally splitting.

There was so much sweat and plaster on his face from running through the wall, along with the fire ninjutsu which had blown up right in front of him, that it hid the fact that he was tearing up from the pain.

His teeth and jaw hurt from over-clenching to bear the pain coming from his head.

Not once in his life had he fought through the intensity of pain he was feeling now—and he had been brutalised several times during his Ring days. Even when he was almost killed by ROOT assassins, he had Sango's painkillers in his system, which, along with adrenaline, made him practically incapable of feeling pain.

But nothing helped as he fought Kon and a ROOT agent trying to kill him. His reaction time was so slow because more than half of his mind was focused on the pain. However, he was glad that he was able to clear Rikku and Kameko out of the room with a ROOT agent for information. The mission was technically over, and he could run away, but then he wouldn't get to know what was happening to him.

He had to capture Kon to get some answers for the headaches, the scars, anything he could.

Takuma locked in on Kon; the only silver lining was that the pain from the fire jutsu and his physical trauma paled in comparison to the headache. He rose toward Kon as chakra flooded his arm for the highest power of augmentation he could manage without injuring his body.

In truth, Takuma had never tested the limit of how much chakra he could pack into his arm because he’d been in enemy territory for months. It was an extremely dangerous choice to make when his ability to focus and think was compromised.

But he had to bet big to win big.

His sleeve and the skin beneath was still on fire as he cocked his arm back, ready to lash out a full contact strike, when all the pain in his head suddenly vanished like it never existed.

It was the most wonderful feeling he had felt in his two lives. His entire body felt light and springy; he clenched the muscles in his arm taut, he was going to take out Kon with this strike.

The feeling of freedom from pain was short-lived because the pain returned just as quickly as it had vanished, and it returned with a vengeance. Vertigo, nausea, breathlessness—everything hit him all at once. The moulded chakra in his arm slipped out of control and dissipated before he could do anything with it.a wasn't even aware that he had hopped away from Kon on instinct because his vision was overcome by a blinding light.

His sole thought that he managed to muster through the pain was to wonder whether he had been trapped in a genjutsu.

Click.

An intense feeling of fear invaded his heart when a memory he had never seen before flashed before his eyes. He was lying down on a cold, hard metal table with a blinding white glaring down at him. In his peripheral vision, he saw the shadows of multiple men wearing scrub caps and masks.

Split.

The memory shifted to him sitting in a room with white walls, floors, and ceilings. There were only three pieces of grey furniture in the room—a bed, table, and chair. Posters stuck to the wall had writing on them that Takuma couldn't make out as the memory blurred them out.

The him in the memory looked down and saw pairs of child's arms and legs covered in bandages stained with yellow medicine and red blood—so much blood. The feel of the memory was calm, with a hint of tension present in the background. The door to the white room opened, and the memory began to shift as a figure stepped in.

He couldn't make out who they were.

Pop.

The fear and panic returned to the front in full blast as Takuma felt his back pressed against the wall. His chest and shoulders were rising faster and faster—and standing in front of him was undoubtedly a much younger Kon, who seemed to be yelling something at him. The sound was garbled, but the more he yelled, the more dread Takuma felt—to the point that he could neither breathe nor see properly.

The window next to the one Takuma was standing under shattered and Kon rushed towards him.

"Free!" Kon yelled.

That message was for the other ROOT agent, who he had failed to shoot and both he and Kon immediately launched a pincer attack.

Takuma pulled Kon’s sword from the floor, swung it at the agent, and then ran across the hallway to keep both of them in front of him. His right hand was useless from the damage, and he truly wished that he had the time to create water tentacles, but he didn't have the water or the time for it.

He was sure that Kon understood that as well and was giving him no time or space to remedy his injury. But he had Kon's sword that he switched to his mangled hand. He had no genuine experience with a sword, and it felt heavier in his hand because of his weakened grip; he would've been able to handle a lighter kunai much better. The sword was necessary because he didn't want his opponents close to him because of his injuries.

The ROOT agent rushed in, and Takuma responded by swinging his sword at him. Kon tried to use that time as an opening and even threw in a curve by bouncing off the ceiling, but Takuma was expecting that and punched a second-form augmentation at him. Kon crossed his hands as the chakra hit him and was thrown several feet back, temporarily knocked away from the fight, leaving the ROOT agent.

Takuma stopped backing away and slashed at the agent with the sword, and it was not only easily parried but also knocked out of his hand. He didn't panic and moved in closer and threw an augmented elbow at the agent. While the hand was useless, the rest of the arm still worked; the agent blocked with his arm the strike knocked the wind out of him.

Takuma followed up with a kick to the knee, flooring him—and then smashed his left fist in his face with a second-form augmentation, breaking his nose.

Now he finally had both space and time to use ninjutsu. Seeing that he was fighting alone, Hidden Mist Jutsu was the obvious and perfect choice. He would flood the floor with mist and then use the opportunity to cast Wild Water Wave to create water for the Eight Tentacle jutsu and then use the cover of the mist to mount himself a comeback.

He raised his hands to weave hand seals for the Hidden Mist Jutsu when he suddenly heard something move behind him.

"Takuma!"

Takuma was already turning when he registered the voice that called his name.

All the pain, the chaotic emotions stemming from the new memories, the cold spreading through his body from blood loss, the fatigue that was beginning to set in—everything came to a stop when he saw Rikku standing before him. She was facing him and gazed up at him with a shocked expression that matched his—neither of them expected what had just happened.

"My body just moved," she said, her voice just above a whimper as blood dribbled down the side of her lips.

Takuma looked down and saw a bloody sword sticking out of her body, a little bit too close to her chest. He recognised the sword because it belonged to the ROOT agent Rikku and Kameko had taken away. He watched as the bloodstain grew out from the place where the sword exited her body. He looked up and jolted when he saw Kon behind her with a hateful smirk..

His smirk grew into a grin at Takuma’s growing shock.

"You're not the only one who can use clones."

Takuma wasn't listening.

Kon's clone pulled his sword out of Rikku, and she collapsed forward into Takuma's embrace, who grabbed her out of pure instinct.

"Huh?"

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