Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_424: The Banquet of Abyss [UPDATED]

While the world of chakra and shinobi was more dangerous, when it came to the depiction of horror, Takuma's original world was far ahead. The internet had allowed people to share their twisted imaginations with other twisted people who were inspired by it and built upon it using everything from simple words to advanced computer graphics. The result was a constant stream of a vast variety of horror born from the collective imagination.

Genjutsu: The Banquet of Abyss

Takuma's special brand of horror was a derivation of that very result.

Genjutsu was a special tool. It wasn't as straightforward as taijutsu, nor was it as versatile as ninjutsu. There were several restrictions associated with it. Not everyone was capable of learning genjutsu. Any decently strong genjutsu required an inordinate amount of focus; most users couldn't move while they were casting. It was easy to break, and once it broke, the target was undamaged.

The last part, however, was a misconception.

It was true that genjutsu left behind no physical damage, but what about mental?

Takuma felt a dark delight as he gazed at Kon's pale face, sweating in terror. His eyes were bloodshot, and his breathing ragged. Takuma could see it, hear it, smell it—the fear radiating from Kon.

That was real damage.

"A scared cripple. How about you piss your pants and get this over with already? Pathetic," Takuma said softly, but it was enough for Kon to hear over his thumping heart.

"Kill him." Kon managed through his gritted teeth before yelling. "KILL HIM!"

The identical agent duo pulled their swords out on command. Takuma did the same, his sword blade glinting in the sunlight. Their blades were broader and longer than his.

He raised his sword and pointed it right at Kon, declaring that he was coming for his head. Kon’s face twisted in half measures of anger and fear.

The duo slowly stopped forward. He gazed at them with caution. Kon said they were his personal grim reapers, handpicked especially for him by Danzo. Ignoring the terrifying fact that Danzo was aware of him and considering him a threat, these two were selected by him. The old warmonger, with his infinite experience in matters of assassinations and nefarious murders, considered the duo enough for him. That alone made them dangerous.

There was a second of silence where both parties simply watched, waiting to see if the other would take action, before they moved simultaneously. As Takuma rushed forward, the agents split up to attack him in a pincer move.

He threw a kunai at Blue, backing it with chakra, but it was effortlessly dodged. The kunai’s augmented speed made Blue slow down just enough that he was now running a second later than his counterpart. Takuma widened it by running straight towards Red. There was now a gap where he and Red would clash alone before Blue would enter the combat.

He and Red clashed, their sword singing on impact. He didn’t want to get caught between the two agents, so he moved in the opposite direction from where Blue was approaching, but at that moment, Red’s sword sparked with electricity.

Takuma felt a jolt travel through his body, leaving weakness in its wake. It was only momentarily, but he almost lost the grip of his sword, and his knees buckled. In that moment, he could only roll to the side and quickly got up to a kneel. Red and Blue seamlessly switched positions. Blue’s sword sparked with electricity as he swung it down. Takuma managed to put his sword up, but the moment metal clashed, he again felt the current weaken his body. Blue’s sword easily overpowered him in his moment of weakness, and the blade left a shallow wound on the side of his thigh.

They were merciless as Red switched right back in with a horizontal slash that aimed to take his head off. He managed to roll underneath it as the sword whistled over his head.

He was in a bad position. Without a proper footing, his options for evasion were limited. Worse of all, he couldn’t make any contact with either sword.

As Red made space for his partner to continue their merciless attack, Takuma jumped at Blue the moment he was within reach. Without space, Blue couldn’t swing his sword, but he could still make it touch Takuma, who felt the electric jolt weaken him, but that didn’t matter as his body’s momentum carried over, and they tumbled on the ground.

The agent managed to come out on top, but Takuma kicked him in the stomach. Blue folded in half as he flew right into his partner, finally giving Takuma the chance to stand up and gain proper footing.

Red managed to support his partner, and the two agents were almost instantly ready to fight back.

Takuma threw a smoke bomb, which Blue instinctively cut, causing it to explode in their face. Instead of going after them in the haze, he turned around and rushed at the third agent on the field.

He needed a moment to think about the strategy before his next face-off against the duo.

———
.

Kon recoiled when he saw Takuma’s expression as the latter sprinted towards him. There was a hunger and bloodlust in his eyes. Kon hesitated before dropping his kunai and reaching out for his sword on his back, only to see Takuma grin wider. It was too late to do anything else. Takuma leapt into the air and brought his sword down on Kon. The contact made an ugly screech with sparks flying like fireworks. Kon’s sleeve around the shoulder ripped apart, and he felt the joint almost pop out of its socket. Fortunately, the lack of one arm had made the other much stronger, and he managed to hold his own.

Takuma suddenly changed the angle of his sword. The blades glided against each other as he redirected Kon’s sword and flung it back so it couldn’t be used for the next moment.

With only one arm, which was now temporarily out of commission, Kon had no way to retaliate.

‘I need to get away,’ Kon thought the panic as he felt the sword suddenly being parried and pushed back, taking his good arm with it.

He wasn't supposed to be involved in the fight. The Gemini Brothers were supposed to take care of Takuma on their own. His job was to ensure that the brothers got enough uninterrupted time with Takuma to get the job done without any external obstacles. He had already done that, but when he thought about Takuma dying while he remained in the base, it didn't sit well with him.

He wanted to talk with Takuma before he died. He wanted to see the moment of his death. He wanted to watch the life and hope drain from his eyes.

He was only supposed to provoke him a little bit before falling back away to a safe distance and letting the brothers do the job.

But then—!

"—Hey, you know what this means, right. That bitchface oldfuck Danzo didn't trust you with the job, so he sent someone else to do it for you—"

"—But you will never be able to take your revenge. Even if I die here today, it won't be because of you. You are utterly useless...—"

"—A scared cripple. How about you piss your pants and get this over with already? Pathetic—"

He couldn't let Takuma die just like that. He wanted to be the one to kill him. He made a mistake.

He tried to leap back, but before he could, Takuma slammed his foot over Kon's, locking in place. He could no longer escape. Before he could think about his next move, Takuma struck him in the throat. He barely managed to move his chin in the way. It absorbed some of the force, but the fist still struck its intended target.

Kon's air supply was immediately cut as he thought that his air pipe was crushed because he felt the force hit his spine in the back of his neck. He felt his vision darken and his balance shaken. He staggered back and tried his best to take control of himself when he saw a silver flash.

Takuma's sword slashed at him, cutting him just above the elbow of his good arm. It sliced through the flesh but missed the bone by a few millimetres.

For a moment, everything slowed for Kon as he saw blood spurt out. The horrifying, blood-filled vision he had seen in the genjutsu was no longer the terrifying one he had seen today. This was his nightmare.

He screamed from the top of his lungs and tried to escape, but Takuma punched him in the stomach, knocking the air out of his body, cutting off his screams. Takuma grabbed him by his hair and held him up. Their eyes met, and Takuma, his face covered in blood splatter, smiled.

"I already took one, I might as well hack this arm as well. Don't worry, I'll still kill you afterwards."

In that moment, the version of Takuma in the genjutsu and reality overlapped in Kon's eyes as the bastard who had ruined his life raised the bloodied sword.

———
.

Takuma’s heart was sprinting with adrenaline as he looked at the Kon’s miserable face twisted in dread. He promised Grey that he would kill the bastard here, thus letting go of the opportunity to relish inflicting pain over a longer period. So, in return, he was going to make his last moments hellish.

But that would have to wait.

‘They’re quick,’ he clicked his tongue when he saw the identical duo in his peripheral vision. It had only been a few seconds since he had charged at Kon. He released Kon's hair and jumped away to dodge a chain made from pure lightning that cracked with sparks of pure electricity. Just as he dodged the lightning chain, a flash of lightning in the form of a bolt zapped towards him at a blinding speed.

Takuma held his breath before twisting in the air to face the incoming attack. As he was in mid-air, he positioned his sword in front of him. The lightning bolt struck the metal. There was only a split-second where the lighting chakra gathered around the sword before jumping straight up. In that moment, before he could even place his soles on the ground, he released the sword.

The lightning chakra, stuck to the metal, but a small portion of it jumped through the air and zapped him. His body tensed for a couple of seconds as arcs of lightning zapped around his body, rampaging through his body.

“Urgh, that’s tingly,” Takuma grunted as he managed to avoid tanking the entirety of a C-rank jutsu. The weakness wasn’t as bad as with the kenjutsu, but it wasn’t going away. He glared at the identical agents, who had both thrown a Lightning Release ninjutsu at him. They hadn't made any attempt to rescue Kon, and even now, they weren't looking at their peer.

It seems there was more going on here than Kon knew himself; the one-armed bastard wasn’t high on the priority of his teammates.

Lightning Release and kenjutsu that put him at extreme disadvantage at melee range. Takuma frowned with a bad feeling. Kon had called him his grim reapers. He now knew they had said this.

His two affinities were Water and Earth.

Water strengthened Lightning.

Earth was weak against Lightning.

Unless they had a second nature, he had no type advantage against the brothers.

And they leveraged their advantage into eliminating his strong suit in close combat.

He needed a different strategy.