Locate Matsu Naosuke!

Part Three: Mizukage faceoff!

The coffin stood vertically, doing nothing for a moment. Kazu's eyes were locked onto it, awaiting what might happen next. It seemed like forever had passed before the coffin began to creak, and the door began to fall. Smoke rose up from the inside of the coffin, and the front of it crashed into the ground, kicking up a little dust. More smoke began to rise up from the inside of the coffin, until a shadowy figure was revealed. The figure's eyes glowed red for a brief second, before it stepped out into the light to reveal its identity. Upon laying eyes on the figure's face, Kazu's eyes widened. He stood there in disbelief.

"Damn it!" Kazu muttered to himself. "Why did I have to be right...?"

There, in front of Kazu, stood a familiar face. Matsu Naosuke, Nidaime Mizukage. His short, black hair. His pale skin, and red eyes. Though, something was off about him. Kazu had only seen this man in pictures and heard of him in stories. But, he looked... different somehow. Though, enough like the pictures that Kazu recognized him immediately. He appeared almost younger, as though he had been revived in his prime.

Saburo has managed to revive Matsu. But why? Why would anybody want to revive such a monster? After all of the awful things he had done in his era of reign as the Mizukage. It didn't make any sense to Kazu, but it didn't have to. Kazu knew one thing for sure. He couldn't let Matsu roam around freely. He had to stop this man, even if it meant sacrificing his own life. Kazu stood there for a moment, observing Matsu. Matsu gazed back at Kazu, only to vanish suddenly.

"Where'd he -"

Standing behind Saburo was Matsu, holding Saburo's sword in his right hand. Matsu thrust the blade forward, and it penetrated Saburo's body from the back, piercing his heart. Saburo let out a grunt as the blade entered, and another as Matsu pulled the blade out. Blood spurted from the wound on both sides, staining the ground below crimson. Saburo fell to his knees, clutching his chest with both hands. The blood forced itself between his fingers, oozing out and down his body. Saburo, using all of his remaining strength, tried to stand back up, but instead, he fall onto his side, his life quickly fading away.

"Matsu!" Saburo muttered, coughing and choking on his own blood. "How could you be so foolish! I gave you life! Another chance!" Saburo continued to cough up his own blood as his eye lids grew heavy. Matsu, using his foot, rolled Saburo onto his back. He placed his right foot over top of the exit wound in Saburo's chest and began to push down. Matsu gazed down into Saburo's eyes with his cold stare, and Saburo's eyes began to lose life. Matsu pressed down on the wound, and Saburo let out a quiet yelp.

"You were the fool." Matsu responded without a hint of remorse in his voice. "You brought me back thinking you could use me for your own goals. I am beyond anybody's control."

With those words, Saburo finally left the world of the living. Any sign of life finally left his eyes, and his body became limp. His life had faded. Matsu lifted his foot from the wound and kicked the body to the side as though it were in his way and it had created such an inconvenience for him. Matsu redirected his gaze back to Kazu, and Kazu returned the cold stare.

"So," Matsu began. "you're the current Mizukage? How many have their been since my reign?"

"I am the fifth." Kazu responded.

"So, three of them since then. Well. No matter. With your death, there will no longer be a need for a Mizukage. Kirigakure will be in ruins."

Kazu's face tightened. The thought of watching the village he cared about being destroyed by one of the very men that swore an oath to protect it made him cringe. Images of the village engulfed in flames filled his mind and fueled his uprising rage. Smoke would rise up to the heavens, blocking the sunlight from reaching even the surrounding areas. Children would die far too soon, and the rest of the villagers would suffer and perish. Kazu couldn't let this happen. Where would it stop? This man would undoubtedly spread the terror across the rest of the lands. First Kumogakure would fall. Then Konohagakure. Matsu had tried this once before, and he would most definitely try it again if given the chance. Kazu's fists tightened, and Matsu noticed that he had struck a nerve.

"Oh?" Matsu spoke curiously. "Are you angry, Mizukage? Then show me your power. Allow me to demonstrate that the power of the Mizukage has deteriorated since my reign. You've all grown progressively weaker over the years."

"I will prove something to you. That you were once the most powerful shinobi in the Mist. But I have surpassed even your strength, and I will use my power to destroy every fiber of your being. When I'm done with you, there won't be so much as a hair left."

Kazu and Matsu both locked glares, as though they were trying to defeat one another mentally before bringing the other down physically. Both of them still wearing their Kage robes. Suddenly, they both vanished into thin air, reappearing a short distance away, clashing fists. Using Taijutsu, they both tried to get the edge on the other, in an attempt to find an opening, or even create one. Both of them slid back, forming signs.

"Suiton! Suigadan!" both of them shouted simultaneously. From the nearby ocean, two spiraling masses of water shot up, headed straight for one another. Both of them leaped to the side, and the masses of water clashed with the ground they previously stood, raising up dust and dirt. Two small craters remained from the impact.

Both Kazu and Matsu landed on the ocean surface, using chakra at the bottoms of their feet to keep them from sinking down. The waves began to grow stronger and they began to sway with the waves. Kazu kicked up water as he took off, rushing Matsu as fast as he could with a kick aimed at the side of Matsu's head with his right leg. Matsu ducked, dodging the kick, and unloaded a punch straight to Kazu's stomach. Kazu, using his elbow, redirected the punch, causing it to miss by mere fractions of an inch. Kazu hopped up, using the momentum from the previous kick to bring his left leg up and make contact with Matsu's head once more. This time with a successful strike, Kazu's heel struck Matsu in the side of the face. Matsu burst into water, revealing that this was just a water clone. Kazu regained his composure, and fixed his stance once more. His eyes darted around, and his head twisted every which direction in a desperate attempt to locate his foe. Behind him, Matsu began to rise up from the water, standing directly behind Kazu. Matsu, using his knee, struck Kazu directly in the back. Saliva spewed from Kazu's motuh, and his eyes grew wide as the pain blasted through his body and the strike sent him flying forward. Kazu landed on the surface of the water, rolling and flailing to a stop. He was face down, and as he tried to get back up, Matsu jumped into the air, landing on Kazu's back once more, digging his knee into Kazu's back. The force was powerful enough to launch Kazu under the water. Matsu stood on the surface, staring down into the water, waiting for Kazu to rise back up.

Kazu floated about underneath the surface. It was deep and dark enough that Matsu couldn't see him. Regardless, Kazu was in an immense amount of pain now. Two strikes to the back would do that to a guy. Blood began to mix with the water from his mouth. Kazu spin himself around so that he was looking straight up. He could barely see the sun's light reaching him. He held his breath, and took the chance to think about his next move. Kazu had never faced an opponent as powerful as this in his entire life. This was his greatest challenge yet. but he was determined to overcome it. He gazed up into the sky with a certain amount of determination, ready to make another stand.

"Suiton! Suigadan!" Kazu shouted beneath the water one more time. Three spiraling masses of water began to form around him, and then they shot upwards towards the surface. Kazu disappeared into one of them as it moved up. The three spiraling masses shot up, surrounding Matsu. Matsu looked up, the spiraling liquid masses taking him by surprise. Kazu shot out from one of them, and in mid-air used his chakra to redirect them all inwards, directly at Matsu.The masses crashed into the ocean, and for a moment, Matsu disappeared into a mass of water. Seconds later, Matsu shot out from the mass, cut and bruised. His limp body rolled along the surface of the water before he forced him self to stand, sliding to a halt. If his body were real, he'd be gushing blood from multiple wounds now. But instead, he just looked beat up. His robes torn apart, revealing some basic, blue shinobi combat armor that he wore beneath the robes.

Kazu began forming more signs as he landed back onto the surface of the ocean. "Hyōton! Chikei Kaihen!" Kazu shouted as he placed his palms flat on the surface of the water. The ocean's surface began to freeze a rapid pace. The watery environment worked to Kazu's advantage here. And the surface froze beneath them, Kazu began to form more signs.

"Hissatsu Hyōsō!" Kazu shouted.

Suddenly, multiple spikes rose up from the ice directly beneath Matsu. The whole situation had caught him off guard, and the spikes penetrated Matsu's body, raising him up into the air. He was unable to move or free himself now. Matsu, for the moment, was stuck on the spikes. Wasting no time, Kazu began to form his last set of signs.

"Hyōton! Kokuryū Bōfūsetsu!"

Kazu thrust his arm out forawrd, and a large, black dragon rose up from the ice below. Its eyes and mouth glowed bright red and it homed in on the target, the helpless Matsu. It struck Matsu, shattering the large spikes of ice at the same time. When the dragon vanished, there was nothing left. Matsu was gone. Kazu wandered back onto the land, exhausted. His clothes were torn apart, and he was riddled with cuts and bruises. Approaching him were his team mates, Yumi and Reina. Reina ran up to him, slapping his arm.

"What happened?!" she asked, obnoxiously.

Kazu let out a quiet yelp. He was pretty banged up after his fight with a previous Mizukage.

"Don't worry about it." he responded, careful not to even mention that fact that he had just faced off against the infamous Matsu Naosuke. "Were you able to kill the other two?"

"Yep! Just for you!" Reina stated as Yumi just remained silent.

Kazu let out a sigh. "Good. Let's head back now."


Tagged:Fumiko Fumiko Fumiko
OOC: tagd u thre tymes

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS