❁𝐈𝐙𝐔𝐌𝐈'𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘- 𝘈 𝘕𝘌𝘞 𝘉𝘓𝘖𝘚𝘚𝘖𝘔 𝘖𝘍 𝘏𝘖𝘗𝘌 ✔︎

Chapter 7, Part 3

Sakura bolted down the hallways, clutching the child's hand tightly for fear of losing him. Both were out of breath and exhausted, but neither stopped running.

They were determined to save everyone and get them to safety before any further harm was done to them.

A whine interrupted her run, and she quickly came to a halt as she tried to tune in and sense anything.

"Multiple...people!" Sakura concluded as she picked up the child and ran faster than usual.

When she arrived at a destroyed hallway, she noticed a group of women and children hiding and crying in fear.

Their eyes widened and they took a quick step back as they met her gaze. "N-No, I am here to help you all! I am friends with Izumi Uchiha!" Sakura yelled as she placed the child down.

He dashed over to them and quickly hugged his mother as tears streamed down their faces.

"It is help! Help has arrived!" One person yelled as they all began to cry together.

Sakura smiled and immediately went to work on understanding the situation and healing the injured to the best of her ability.

The castle began to shake, and everyone hugged each other because they were afraid it would collapse on them.

Sakura looked up, already aware of what was happening. "Izumi must be dealing with the enemy, so I am left with rescuing everyone..." Sakura pondered as pieces of the ceiling began to fall.

The shaking was unimaginable. "H-How strong...are they!?" Sakura thought as she tried not to be distracted by what was going on above.

"Izumi, please do not die!" Sakura considered the worst-case scenario.

-

Ayame and Izumi fought as if their lives depended on it.

They used everything and went all out, forgetting about what was below or on their aides. They had to win because they were only concerned with defeating each other for personal gain.

Ayame was down to three marks; they were not moving any faster, and Izumi knew she did not have much time before the entire castle crumbled.

They both took a step back before launching full force at each other again.

They were both so bloodied that they finally used their ultimate moves.

"Lighting style: stunning shrine!" Ayame yelled as everything from above turned into a massive thunderstorm.

The lighting began to strike at the buildings, destroying them all.

"Susanoo!" Izumi exclaimed as she focused all of her chakras on her Susanoo, defeating and removing her remaining marks.

Ayame laughed as the strikes hit the Susanoo, knocking her backward.

"S-So strong! My susanoo will not be able to withstand it, even in this condition!" Izumi thought as she attempted to punch Ayame.

"Pathetic! Even your Susanoo will be unable to escape my power!" Ayame shouted as she performed multiple lighting portals throughout the area.

Izumi dodged all of the lightning strikes. Only more shots were fired, and some even hit her Susanoo, nearly knocking her off the edge of the castle.

She gulped and returned her attention to Ayame, who was sprinting towards her.

"Only two marks left, I know I can defeat her!" Izumi pondered as she began to bolt towards Ayame with full might.

Izumi's Susanoo aimed a punch at Ayame, but she dodged it and was pushed to the center of the destroyed castle. Lighting struck her only defense, and Izumi could feel the tremors around her.

Izumi punched again, this time missing. Izumi got back on her feet and looked around, watching Ayame dodge all of her punches with her Susanoo.

"Damn it! She's too fast!" Izumi thought to herself as she attempted to punch her or find an opening to take her out.

Her eyes widened as she conceived of an idea. Hitting her feet with kunai or shuriken to cause her to fall could work, and Izumi would be able to land a blow.

She took out the appropriate equipment from her pouch and carefully watched Ayame for her next attack or dodge. She continued to try to land a blow on her with her Susanoo while also keeping an eye out for patterns.

When Izumi realized she was going from behind with each of her punches, she punched again as a diversion and quickly turned around from inside her Susanoo to reach her feet with the weapons.

Ayame observed this, but in the end, she avoided both.

Her eyes widened as she dodged. Ayame chuckled, "That was close, I must say! You are getting sloppy, half-blooded freak!"

Izumi smirked, and Ayame just stared at her, dumbfounded. But when she saw Izumi pull a wire, her eyes widened and she looked down at her feet, feeling the pain sink in.

Kunai and shuriken had struck her.

Ayame quickly fell to the floor and winced as sweat accumulated on her forehead. Trying to get rid of the weapons quickly, she used another jutsu on her, "Lighting Style: Strike!" Ayame exclaimed.

Izumi's Susanoo punched Ayame before it could even hit her, leaving blood all over the place.

Izumi exhaled heavily and turned around with wide eyes to see Ayame give her a death glare. Looking at her arm again, she noticed the third mark gradually fading. Once it did, it was down to two.

She was so close to officially defeating her, and Izumi could not afford to give up or succumb to her injuries and exhaustion.

She was going to end it. Once and for all.

Ayame's blood had boiled from her previous defeat. But now that she was down to two, she could not afford any more failures.

Izumi smiled, and she immediately began to plan her next strategy.

"It appears I have truly figured you out, Ayame!"