Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Hidden Villages ❯ Fist to fist, Lee verses Kenji ( Chapter 13 )

“What is it that vexes us and causes us to push beyond our body’s limits? Is it the overwhelming need to protect what you hold most precious to you or is it your own sheer will to not let yourself die in a pathetic way?” –Kenji Akabane, legendary ninja of Paradiseo and serial killer


Kenji's eyes widened as he barely dodged Lee's punch. The boy had gone into a drunken rage, not to mention he was using the lotus so even Kenji was beginning to have trouble dodging the rapid strikes that his opponent was unleashing; it didn’t help that Lee was a pretty damn good taijutsu user to begin with.

"The drunken fist plus the lotus, not too bad for a dork to conceive during such pitched combat." Kenji calmly said as he slammed his fist into Lee's gut, Kenji was impressed that the youngster was managing to hold him back but it was all pointless. The boy stood no chance in the end, if only the rain would stop then Kenji’s waltz would begin and the boy would be torn asunder.

"I'm not a *hic* dork!" Lee yelled as he punched at Kenji's head, the dark figure barely managed to duck beneath the attack. Kenji was fast and highly skilled at close combat; the fact that he was managing to counter both the lotus and the drunken fist was testament to his impressive skills

"Juubei, if it's not too much trouble could you stop this damned rain!?" Kenji howled in frustration as he dodged another round of drunken high speed blows as his ears were assaulted by his foe's drunken ramblings.

"If you insist dear Corpse Bird," Juubei said cruelly as he cracked his joints and exhaled a deep breath. "These voices, deep inside my soul; open your mouths and speak your sweet sorrow for the world. Dance my jackal, come hither and let's do battle on this day of terror for our enjoyment. Take breath my madness."

Something moved… Juubei's flesh came alive with a mind of its own; the patchwork became strained as if something was trying to come out. The 'x' on his heart opened up as a toothy mouth, his left bicep grew outward. There was a tattoo on there; it was two bent staffs and a straight staff and four dots, the muscle had become a shape reminiscent of a dog's head; then it became a mass of thick cord like flesh. More mouths opened up from Juubei's stitch work body. Juubei moaned in pain as the mouths opened and tongues began licking the teeth, then a fang filled mouth opened on the growth from Juubei's shoulder. The growth grew ears and two eyes opened from the bent staffs. The growth smiled at Kuroudo with a look of twisted amusement on its freakish dog-like face.

"Well, well, well and here I thought Juubei wouldn't ever need me again!" The growth proclaimed with the voice of a devil, "Well, so this is Kuroudo? I'm Schwarzwald."

Juubei locked eyes with Kuroudo, Juubei's face looked different; there was a thick black line drawn underneath his eye and extending vertically underneath his mask; above his eye was a small black four point star. Juubei chuckled and all his new mouths did the same. The affect was enough to give any fresh corpse goose bumps; fully forty mouths chattering as if a decent joke had been told, it was the laughter of Hell itself.

"Ninety percent!" Juubei, Schwarzwald and all the mouths proclaimed, chattering and resounding with their voices as one nightmarish crescendo of impending doom and dread. The rain stopped as the ground shook from the horrendous laughter of the jackal.

Kuroudo answered Juubei with a howl that resonated with pain and anger that transcended the normal scope of human emotion; the howl seemed to shake the world as Kuroudo continued to howl to Juubei. To Juubei’s eye the souls that swirled around Kuroudo seemed to be howling their anguish with Kuroudo; the effect was like something from a nightmare as the ground itself quaked beneath their feet. And then once he’d finished howling Kuroudo launched himself toward Juubei and their conflict gained an even greater intensity as the brutality reached a new level.


“It’s over!” Kenji howled in glee as he dodged another punch from Lee, "Origami death dance, Waltz one: falling feathers!"

Kenji rapidly signed and his coffin’s lid burst open; papers launched out and into the air. Thousands of sheets danced in the sky controlled by Kenji's chakra, they swirled like insane cherry peddles as they filled the sky. He waved his hands like a conductor before a symphony, skillfully directing the music of the battle before him.

"This is where your fight ends little boy, you put on a good show but there is no taijutsu that can counter this." Kenji proclaimed proudly as he waved his hand at Lee who barely managed to dodge the papers that flew at him, they sliced the roof that Lee was on to pieces. Lee kept dodging the papers in the air. He eventually managed to land on the same roof as Kenji.

"Get over here you, you... STUPID HEAD!!!" Lee howled in pain as he opened another gate and rushed towards Kenji, a deadly wave of paper barely missed him as he closed the distance. "I've got *hic* you!"

Lee threw a punch at Kenji's forehead, before the faceless ninja could react to the strike. Lee's right fist slammed hard into Kenji's forehead with a satisfying crunch. Kenji reeled backwards as his hat flew off and blood poured from his forehead, Lee had managed to draw blood on a legend. One of the great Warlords of Paradiseo had been struck by a genin.

"I really underestimated you, boy." Kenji’s voice was filled with malice and anger as he stood slouched over looked directly into Lee's eyes. And Lee was finally able to see the face of his foe; Kenji had his black hair in a flat-top haircut, spiked upwards, his sideburns were shaven very short as was the lower half of the back of his head, his jaw was square with a nappy soul patch beard, his eyes were narrow and gray, Kenji also wore light framed reading glasses that seemed to ride low on his nose. Kenji wasn't ugly per say, his age showed slightly on his face. Kenji stood up straight; he wore a facial expression of dejection as he stared Lee down.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Kenji casually said as he shrugged at Lee, "Or should I end this battle?"

Lee rushed forward, screaming random gibberish at Kenji, who grinned wide. Around Kenji his papers began to swirl like a brilliant white tornado, the death dance continued.

"Origami death Dance, Waltz two: Raging Storm." Kenji howled the name of his deadly skill as he weaved his hands around like a maniac; the papers whirled around and began slicing through anything and everything they touched. The eight by eleven papers were slicing buildings in half with impossible ease. Lee, even though he'd opened the sixth gate was having trouble dodging Kenji's brutal assault. Kenji's face became one of anger. "Just die already!"

“Origami death dance,” Kenji said harshly as he leapt up into the air and the papers fluttered around him. "Waltz three: Tango in the sky."


Koga stopped his jutsu when the rain stopped, his eyes widened in horror. He drove his hand into the ground, eyes widening the whole time. Then he looked up at Guy and Kakashi and a wide toothy smile spread across his face, baring even his gums; his face bore the insane elation of a madman.

"No, you're not leaving here. I will not allow my prey to escape and deliver itself to be slaughtered by the Jackal." Koga said with a voice that resounded with the cruelty of Hell itself as he stood up straight and stared directly into Kakashi's Sharingan, still with the same crazy smile, "Look that way and look for the black chakra, that's Juubei's, Kuroudo's will be green, Momoko's is white, Kenji's is yellow, Lee's should be bright red."

"How do you know that, how!?" Guy watched as Koga broke out laughing; he tilted his head back and closed his eyes. His laugh was more of a howl than anything else. When Koga finally stopped laughing he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Guy.

"Do you mean the chakra colors, or are you wondering how I know about a Sharingan's inner workings?" Koga said with an almost gleeful voice as he opened his eyes wide. Kakashi looked in disbelief; Koga's eyes were Sharingan eyes, he had the Sharingan. Before Kakashi could ask Koga answered the question on his mind.

"Long ago Paradiseo and what would become Konoha were at war, then peace. Before Mandra's time the Uchiha weren't so strict about marriage and also this was before tracker ninjas came into being. My ancestors 'stole' the Sharingan from right under the noses of our enemies; that's where the mutation known as the Ryugan draws its roots from. I just so happen to have the uncorrupted Sharingan. As does another ninja from Paradiseo, Miho." Koga said dully as he cracked his neck and began to walk toward the fallen Juri, "But don't you dare fool yourselves into believing that the Sharingan is my only neat little trick. Like for example..."

“What are you up to?” Kakashi said as he tensed his stance, the enemy was showing his back but Koga seemed far too skilled to make a mistake like that.

“Now this should be something new for you to see,” Koga said casually as he effortlessly picked Juri up and looked at the stunned Kakashi, "I have a very serious case of split personality disorder!"

“What in the world-!?” Kakashi could only watch in muted amazement as Koga suddenly reabsorbed Juri into his body; her body became a liquid and swirled into his open mouth.

"What in the name of God!?" Guy said as he recoiled slightly from the sight. Koga walked toward Kakashi while whipping blood from his mouth.

"I am host to four souls; Juri of the Flaming Water, Menos the Empty, Fenris the Wolf, and of course Koga of madness. Those who have treated me as you two have in the past are all in their unmarked graves, their headbands are the only reminders I keep of my victims, and if I could I'd show you my collection." Koga said calmly and then rushed towards Kakashi, and before the Jonin could react drove his hand deep into his gut. "I am very powerful, am I not?"

Kakashi coughed up blood as Koga withdrew his hand. Koga turned towards Guy, flicking the blood from his fingers and shaking it off his hand as he walked towards him. Koga clearly was beyond the normal level of a mere Chunin; he was easily facing down two Leaf elites and wasn’t even breaking a sweat.

"I'll gather your headbands as trophies of my conquest." Koga said as he leapt up into the air, his insane smile was back, "I'll show ya'all my favorite tricks!"


Menos grabbed Sasuke's arm and tossed him high into the air. Menos swung his armored right arm into Sasuke's gut; sharp talons dug into the soft flesh. As Sasuke's blood gushed from the deep wounds and the boy cried his pain to the sky Menos hollowed his joy to that same sky. The battle was nowhere near even, the whole fight was in Menos’s advantage and Sasuke was quickly learning the power of a Paradiseo S-rank killer. Even with the Sharingan, Sasuke just couldn’t get the attack pattern down that Menos was using; it was too fast and too random, it was the fighting style of a street brawler; not that of a trained martial artist.

“Why doest thou cry so loudly!?” Menos howled in horrific glee as Sasuke screamed in pain, “Did thou not wish to face me, did thou not wish to be the knight who was to slay the monster!? So why do you cry like a frightened princess!?”

Sasuke could only scream in pain as Menos threw him violently across the field and his body slammed into the damp ground. Sasuke struggled to stand back up, his guts were shredded and his right arm wasn’t moving properly. Sasuke figured he had very little time left before he bled to death and he couldn’t think of a plan to defeat the beast in front of him.

“I’m a knock-down monster,” Menos cruelly said as he charged toward Sasuke like a mad freight train, “I’ll show you what it means to face down a real monster!”

“Gah!” Sasuke screamed as Menos’ right arm swung underneath his chest and hurled him violently up into the air; the shattering of fragile ribs could be heard over Sasuke’s screams.


Miho's breaths came in sharp gasps as she struggled to hold her guts in, she was losing pretty badly. She'd gravely underestimated Itachi; her body was covered in wounds from kunai and shiriken. Miho leered at her foe who pointed at her while wearing an expression of pure dejection towards his foe.

"Next I'll knock your head band off and then you'll fall victim to my Mangekeyo Sharingan.” Itachi calmly said as he stared the already half dead girl down, “That will mark the end for you."

"Oh, really?" Miho quipped as she gripped her headband and violently tore it off, "Do you believe that your victory lies behind this eye? Well, you're wrong!"

Miho shook her head around, letting her long hair whip across the cool sky. Slowly she directed her gaze toward Itachi and opened her left eye and Itachi froze in place; Miho gave a slight grin to his reaction.

"There is no victory for you behind my eyes." Miho said with a tone of sadness as she opened both her eyes wide: the right was the Jagan; the left was the Mangekeyo Sharingan. She was obviously enjoying Itachi’s reaction, “I just don't like the idea of losing my sight too much. And now that I've done away with my blind spot, this battle is now even."

“Even you say?” Itachi calmly said as he adjusted his stance; she is no ordinary foe, surely no average Gennin…

“More or less,” Miho calmly spoke to Itachi as she froze her gut closed, looking at Itachi she said, "Paradiseo legend states that ‘Beowolf’ is the demon of the high frozen peeks of Paradiseo's mountain ranges; a feared wolf-like monster that controls the temperature of its surroundings and is highly vicious towards travelers who get lost in its home territory. That is what I have sealed within my body, and what you have to face down now."

"You're nothing but a host." Itachi said coldly as he appeared behind Miho; the young ninja didn’t even flinch or turn to face Itachi; he calmly thrust a kunai at the back of the girl’s skull, "You're too slow."

"I may be slow." Miho said coldly as Itachi's kunai froze in an ice spire that rose in an instant from the ground itself. Itachi quickly jumped away from Miho before the ice could reach his hand. Miho giggled at his quick and sudden withdraw away from her.

“Impressive,” Itachi said as he realized that his hand felt numb and the air felt colder than it had before, “you’re no normal genjutsu specialist are you?”

"Unpredictable isn't it?" Miho giggled as she turned toward Itachi, when she locked eyes with him she continued her little speech, "It’s my defense, the Beowolf fist automatically controls nearby water and uses it to protect me, when I go on the offensive; one hit means instant death. The liquid in your body will freeze; the air inside your lungs will freeze into frost. Your body will go from 98 degrees to negative 70 degrees in an instant. One hit, that's all I need. Unlike most genjutsu users, I excel in close combat; you don’t survive in Paradiseo unless you can fight your enemies at point blank range."

"You're no normal foe; you froze your wounds closed. You pull out a Sharingan you shouldn't have, and now you're telling me how hopeless my situation is?" Itachi said as he looked at Miho and saw the dull fire behind her eyes, "But in revealing how you can freeze anything, I feel I must tell you: you can't freeze the flames I can set."

“We shall see,” Miho said as she tensed into a fighting stance, “if I can or not, won’t we?”


Lee watched as the papers formed wings for Kenji, when they spread open they blotted out the sun, eclipsing the battlefield. Kenji looked down at Lee, like a twisted angel of death or a vicious bird of prey hunting down a field mouse. Kenji’s gaze was predatory and his expression gleeful and insane; he knew that the battle was his.

"You should feel pride, you're the only Gennin to force me this far. But it’s over now; this is the last tango we'll dance together!" Kenji howled as he looked down at Lee; his papers filled the sky and supported Kenji’s weight as he blocked the sun. The papers descended upon Lee, he tried to dodge but found his gut sliced open. As Lee fell he sobered up.

"End game." Kenji said harshly as he looked upon his defeated foe, "No matter how fast you are I'm faster still."

"End game, Corpse Bird!" Kazuko howled as she sliced Kenji's right wing off, "This is the last dance, dance with me!"

Kazuko threw herself at Kenji with reckless abandon for her own safety as the older warrior panicked and sent a wild wave of paper at his foe as he tried to distance himself, but Kenji had ignored the terrain and lost his footing against the edge of a building’s roof. Kazuko didn’t let this chance pass her by; she tore her Akatsuki robe off as she leapt to tackle Kenji. They collided and both fell from the roof; Kazuko wrapped her arms tightly around Kenji’s chest and the two fell down.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Kenji howled as he tried to wiggle from Kazuko’s tight grasp.

"Aren't you happy to have such a nice partner for your last dance?" Kazuko said with a wide smile as Kenji looked at her uncovered chest.

"No way," Kenji said with a dull terror on his voice as he looked in horror at Kazuko's uncovered chest; she'd covered herself in explosive tags. Kazuko closed her eyes; she looked peaceful as she fell with Kenji to the moist ground. Kenji screamed loudly; not of terror but of joy, the corpse bird howled in true joy as he plummeted to his own fiery doom.

Kazuko contemplated as she saw the ground draw ever slower closer. I've dug my own hole here; I'm a traitor to both Kuroudo and Juubei. There's nothing left for me in this world except to set it all right with my own death. With my death, the Corpse Bird will never fly again. I can take comfort in that right? Can't I dear Kuroudo? Can't I? Will I be remembered with pride or distain? I suppose it doesn't matter, you'll remember me. Kazuko chuckled slightly as thought to herself. That's more then I can ask for, cherish my memory dear cousin and friend... No, remember me as your little sister, I'll remember you as my big brother. Good bye.

"Good bye brother." Kazuko said as she opened her eyes as she and Kenji hit the ground and the tags exploded. The explosion was a massive one, engulfing the street and demolishing the exteriors of the nearby buildings; a brilliant and beautiful end or was it?

To be continued.

-Kazuki Ferret

Next time: Flashback! Part 1