[01] burning burning burning

[thethundersaid]

Who: Uchiha Buttface Sasuke, making land
Where: Isla Empieza
When: November 18th
What: A lot of fire, a giant purple kinna ghosty-looking guy, and probably a lot of rudeness. Mod-approved destruction of market buildings and possibly harbour pieces.
Warnings: Violence?
Style: Any! I'm happy to continue in log or switch to action style. :D
Status: Open

Sasuke had known that Obito and Madara weren't sane well before he'd heard the details of the Eye of the Moon plan, but he hadn't realized the extent to which they had planned out their madness. His first instinct on waking had been to burn that joke of a message out of hand, but second thought had made him consider the likelihood of one or both of them having left a clue in it -- whichever one had somehow managed to activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

That had left him with his second instinct: destruction.

If this was meant to be the illusion of eternal obedience and peace, it shouldn't have been as easy as it was to activate his own Mangekyou and summon Susano'o's flesh and bones, purple chakra swallowing up the town square with ease and -- a certain amount of drain that was unusual, but not entirely expected after how much chakra he'd been using lately.

After that, it was barely any chakra at all to start a fire: just a regular blaze for now, catching the scraggly plant life lining the square with ease and licking up the walls.

Voice venomous, he lifted one of Susano'o's humongous fists and smashed it down onto the ridiculous fountain, cracking its stone rim and spilling water in a steady leak. How will you maintain the peace now, Madara?

Comments

[forthevillage]

He knew that monster of chakra. He'd yet to form his own to that degree, or at all really, but Itachi was well versed in various Uchiha techniques. That was Susano'o, meaning that there was another member of his clan on the island. That could be very problematic for him, especially with how familiar that signature was.

All the same, he can't allow this to continue. This person is of his clan, and because of that they were at least partially his responsibility - at least as far as he was concerned.

He drew one of his few kunai, twirling it around one finger before throwing it against the side of the chakra creation. It would do nothing, of course, but perhaps it would get the other's attention. If that failed, he'd have to try something else.

[thethundersaid]

The kunai served its purpose: Sasuke's glance flickered to the disruption and then paused there, startled. The surprise faded into anger in the next blink -- he'd seen his dead brother walking too recently for the shock to stop him, but for the choice of illusion to be the child Itachi must have been when he'd gone to Akatsuki in the first place was doubtless meant to be a slap in the face.

Chakra flared from Susano'o, fist diverted from the cobblestone to reach for the illusion instead.

[forthevillage]

Good. That was what he wanted. Itachi hopped backwards out of the way of the grasping hand. He wouldn't be able to do much against a Susano'o of this strength, but he might at least be able to lure its user away from town.

It was very hard to ignore how similar this teen's hair was to his brother's, or how familiar the chakra was, but Sasuke was seven years old. This couldn't be him. Mentions of how both space and time were crossed to bring people here was also shoved to the back of his mind for the time being.

"What do you intend to accomplish with this?" He shouted as he retreated.

[thethundersaid]

Susano'o didn't reach in time, and Sasuke funneled more chakra into it even as he strode towards the Itachi-illusion's retreating form, steps steady with intent. If he was to be taunted in this manner, he would destroy the worst of them first. The hands of the chakra being lifted, the dark burn of Amaterasu coalescing into the bow on its left arm and a second right arm lifting into existence, crackling with black fire already.

"To use your image, he doubtless already knows what my intentions are." The monster drew an arrow, air growing hot and dry with fire -- overkill for such a small target, but not for the insult of its image.

[forthevillage]

"I am not an image." This response was quieter but still just as easy to hear. "And you will have to explain yourself further. Whatever you were doing before you were brought here, I wasn't privy to it."

The bow and arrow is disconcerting. Sasuke was fond of archery, and it caused a cold knot to begin building in his stomach. He didn't want to acknowledge this possibility, but as a ninja it was his duty to take all possibilities into account. The red of the Sharingan seeped into his own eyes, twisting immediately into the mangekyo so that he could take in everything as best as he could.

"You wear the face of my younger brother," he finally added, because there was no denying it even with the extra years. "Are you claiming to be him?"

[thethundersaid]

It was so predictable a response from an illusion that it was nearly laughable -- essentially I'm real -- and rather than responding to its ridiculousness verbally, Sasuke raised an arm, moulding chakra for Susano'o to notch the arrow. The spectre drew, tension building while Sasuke aimed at an Uchiha chakra signature for the nth with Sharingan, and then --

He narrowed his eyes, movements stilling.

"Are you claiming not to know who I am? What purpose would that serve, when this genjutsu has already failed to force peace from me?"

[forthevillage]

"I have told you this isn't a genjutsu." His eyes were telling him that none of this was either, making the situation that much worse. If this was really his brother from the future, he should not be witnessing this. That sort of thing needed to stay secret from him.

At least he appeared to be healthy.

"I am merely confused, as when I last saw my brother he was seven years old, and you are clearly older than that." Perhaps it was good that they were both confused, as it made his words more genuine and it kept the other from a full rampage. He is likely dead in this future, anyway, which would make Sasuke's bafflement all the more understandable.

[thethundersaid]

Sasuke swiped the words away with an impatient gesture of his hand, Susano'o trembling with anticipation around him: "I'm not a child, to fall for an illusion telling me it isn't one."

And how bizarre that even a young Itachi created out of whatever Madara might have known of him would still treat him like a child. Still -- even if the illusion were correct in tone and even in posture, Sharingan picking out the details that said this is it, this is the brother you remember, who knew what power the Eye of the Moon might have?

"When I last saw my brother, he was dead." For good, it seemed, and perhaps even at rest. "Why bother pretending this isn't Madara's insane dream? What purpose can hypnotizing the senses without the mind serve?"

[forthevillage]

Dead, was he? Was it by his brother's hand, as it should be?

He shouldn't be contemplating this, but given everything he'd just recently set into motion, to hear those words... A bit of surprise slipped into his features, but he was quick to stifle it. He had to focus on the now, and that meant continuing to keep Sasuke's attention.

"If this doesn't act like the illusion you suspected, then perhaps it isn't. This place has no concept of time, little brother." Learning this has been hard enough for him, but he has proof staring him in the face. "Your fight is still with me, whether you believe I'm real or not."

[thethundersaid]

There was the first piece of useful information -- no concept of time -- but it made no sense. Even within a genjutsu the mind processed time, unless the statement was meant to be some attempt to convince him that he was somehow coexisting in reality with the fleshed-and-blooded ghost of his brother's 13-year-old self. To try to tell him the Infinite Tsukuyomi was something that could be expected in order to fool him into believing this wasn't it was nothing he wouldn't put past Madara or Obito, no more than using Itachi's image.

They had sold an Uchiha body to an outsider for use in Edo Tensei, after all, one of their own to be desecrated by Kabuto of all possibilities. Little better than the Sandaime allowing Danzo to riddle his arm the secrets of so many Uchiha eyes.

"You don't get to say that to me," a snarl, and a flood of chakra in the next raise of his arm. "You don't get to disrespect my brother's image!"

The arrow of black flame quivered, sizzled across its chakra bow, and released.

[forthevillage]

There was something wrong about the way Sasuke said those words. Itachi should be a murderer in his eyes - the object of his vengeance. Perhaps there had been some respect gained through rivalry, not at all unheard of but not something he would have assumed would happen in this situation. It gave him pause but ultimately didn't draw his attention away from the more important aspects of their battle.

Amaterasu added to Susano'o. So he'd succeeded in passing his techniques onto his brother. In a way, that was heartening to see. And the combination itself was beautiful. Genius. Were those his eyes Sasuke had as well? He actually hoped for it.

As beautiful as it was, however, it was also deadly. Those black flames would burn everything until there was nothing left. If those were his eyes, this being his technique, he should be able to put them out himself. He focused his attention on the flames, willing them to die out before the arrow itself just nicked his shoulder, drawing blood but not cutting very deep.

[thethundersaid]

For it to be that easy for this illusion to subsume his Amaterasu could only mean -- but no, it could only mean that if this were real. In a genjutsu, the laws of reality were dictated by shinobi who controlled the senses. His chakra was ensnared in the very fabric of illusion right now; it would be child's play to remove Amaterasu, and of all people Madara would know what it looked like --

What it felt like -- because the alternative was not one that was possible.

What it meant was that Mangekyou-based techniques were all fair game for manipulation, the gift of his brother's eyes too familiar to the men who had ensnared him. Even as the last dregs of the arrow nicked Itachi's shoulder (a strange reversal, and all realism --), Sasuke dropped Susano'o, the pain of maintaining it vanishing into bone-deep ache, and blurred towards the image of his past, hands spinning through seals for fire manipulation.

[forthevillage]

As Sasuke came after him, Itachi continued to retreat. The hand signs his brother formed were the most familiar of any he knew, and he was quick to mimic them. They weren't close enough to water yet for him to fight off the flames that way, so canceling them out with (hopefully) equal force would have to do.

He took a deep breath, the heat flowing up from his lungs and leaving his mouth in a burst of flames. Despite the fact that his brother didn't believe he was real, and despite that the other was coming at him with killing intent (something he expected to face one day anyway) he was filled with a great deal of pride at how far Sasuke had progressed skill-wise. These were high end Uchiha techniques and he had made them his own. That was just how it should be.

[thethundersaid]

Fire met fire and crashed apart in a wave of heat, scorching skin and singing cloth, but the Katon was meant only as a diversion: Uchiha jutsu were all points of risk here, but there were alternatives. Through the thick cloud of smoke and ash Sasuke put on a burst of speed, lightning-natured chakra haloing his hands until his Sharingan picked out the signal (still spot-on accurate for Itachi, but that was to be expected).

A spray of Chidori senbon hurtled towards that signal, aiming to pierce not skin so much as chakra itself, confusing nerve signals.

[forthevillage]

Lightning nature. That was his brother's second element, then. It was unsurprising that theirs didn't match. Itachi glanced quickly to the fountain, but it was too far away and time was too short for him to be able to utilize it in a proper counter. If he took the attack he would be left wide open.

A shield of chakra formed around him then, a haze of orange and red that didn't match his brother's either. It wasn't a full Susano'o by a long shot - was hardly one at all, in fact - but it might be enough for him to be able to avoid those elemental senbon momentarily as he determined the best way to get out of this fight alive. He was meant to die by his brother's hands, but not here. Not like this.

[thethundersaid]

Even an unformed Susano'o deflected the slender needles of Chidori senbon, chakra fizzling out of existence as it encountered Itachi's faint golden shield. It wasn't his full Susano'o by any means, however, which meant it could definitely be damaged by brute force -- Sasuke yanked out one of his few kunai and focused lightning chakra to it.

It was no Kusanagi, and though the tempered steel was strong, it lacked Kusanagi's precision -- but then, that wasn't Itachi's full strength either. The Raikage's jutsu had covered his entire body, but that had been against fully-formed ribs: Sasuke focused on the kunai and let the Sharingan's memory coat his arm together with it instead, the chakra around it crackling into visibility.

It was clear that shape manipulation was one thing, but this jutsu was -- he wouldn't be able to maintain it for long, but he only needed a burst of speed across the still-smoking roofs before he was smashing the kunai into that hazy armour, all force concentrated at the point of the weapon.

[forthevillage]

Too fast, and he was still retreating. He might not even succeed in being a proper distraction, as it looked like he was going to have to end up escaping the battlefield. He'd have to attempt this again later once he'd had time to plan better (or hopefully once Sasuke had learned more about this world himself).

The kunai broke through the clumsy shielding easily and Itachi grit his teeth as his shoulder took further damage, further toward his chest this time, blade sinking into skin and lightning numbing nerves. At this rate, even escape was starting to look a little optimistic.

[thethundersaid]

It was Susano'o in its early stages without a doubt, for all that Itachi's chakra felt familiar -- a chakra he knew, growing up beside it and soaked in it through countless nightmares, marrow-deep regret -- but his brother had never been this easy to wound, not even coughing up blood and unsteady from degenerating Mangekyou eyes. This image of him was insulting, and if there was any logic to the illusion at all it would be simply now to remove it. He raised his left arm, chakra sparking --

But in the next moment the last people flooding out of the burning buildings changed trajectory abruptly, intent shifting from panic to threat, and Sasuke snapped away from the fake Itachi just in time to avoid some kind of high-speed projectile whizzing through the air.

Some of the others began throwing ladders up against the sides of the building they stood on. Was this supposed to be the maintenance of the peace?

"What is this?" The question was directed at Itachi, his voice still threatening.

[forthevillage]

The opportunity was used to back away, hand clutching at his wound. His gaze flitted around to each individual looking his way in manner that might resemble a cornered animal for anyone who didn't know an Uchiha better.

"The navy, I'd assume. You've made something of a mess here, little brother."

He couldn't stay there any longer. It was as good of an opportunity as he was going to get, and he'd just have to hope that his brother, capable as he was now, would be able to get away on his own as well. Itachi backed up another step and then dissolved into a murder of crows. Those around that had been caught in his genjutsu were startled by this, some firing off shots at the departing birds. It was something Sasuke would be able to shake off easily enough as Itachi went dashing off further toward the harbor to take care of his injury.