Paths of Divergence

Meltdown

Chapter 19

-Meltdown

Ritsuko's fist trembles with anger as she stares at the perpetrator in the shadows. Her eyes settle into a glare full of bloodlust, ready to strike Jōran down. The man's evil grin glistens in the shadows, his aura filling the surrounding area with a dense presence. Finally he takes a menacing step forward, bringing himself out into the moonlight.

"Hmph. You must be the one who's caused this. All the lost business... gone," Jōran elegantly states.

"Business?! These are honest people making an honest living and you're terrorizing them!" Ritsuko yells, pointing an accusatory finger.

Jōran takes off his tiny spectacles, rubbing them with his vest before examining them and resting them back atop his nose. He then runs his hand through his slicked back white hair, tidying it up into a neat position. The man oozes with high-class demeanor while also maintaining a maniacal presence. Ritsuko can feel the heavy chakra in the air almost as if it was sticking to her skin. The girl grits her teeth before taking a step forward while whipping out a kunai, her resolve dead set in her mind.

"No no... this simply won't do," Jōran says quietly, disappearing in a flicker.

Before Ritsuko can even react, Jōran knocks the kunai out of her hand, grabbing her wrist at the same time. The woman is paralyzed with fear, coming face to face with the wicked man. Ritsuko's lip tembles, unable to handle being close to the source of his malicious chakra.

Jōran leans in, smiling with the insanity of a bloodthirsty murderer, "You've only led yourself into a trap. You're just bait for the others!"

With one swift and effortless movement, he plunges his hand through Ritsuko's chest cavity, holding her heart on the other side. The woman's eyes fade away into to dark emptiness of death, her body slumping forward onto Jōran's arm.

"And they will come," He whispers into the girl's ear.

Shizake and Kenta are the first one's to drop into the market square. Both of their eyes go wide in horror, observing the girl's still beating heart gripped by Jōran's large hands. Ritsuko's heart takes one last beat before he squeezes it, blood gushing out of the organ like a fountain.

Nitatchi and Toshika are the next to drop in, both of them reacting the same way as their comrades. Shizake's temper flares, manifesting as pure rage. His Sharingan activates as a result of this anger, staring at Jōran with murderous intent. In this heated moment, Shizake observes the man's chakra but ignores its size, its presence, and its density.

"Ah... I knew it would work. Now I can rid of you parasites so that my business suffers no more," Jōran says eloquently.

"Your days are done you sick twisted excuse for a human!" Shizake roars, "We won't give you the pleasure of mercy!"

"I think you're the ones who should be worried about mercy!" The man manically yells as his chakra concentrates around him. The man makes one single bird seal with both of his hands. His arms and hands seemingly split apart, giving him four sets of limbs, four hands, and twenty fingers. He brings all four hands together, making simultaneous hand seals in the blink of an eye. As he lifts up all four palms, a mixture of fire and electricity blasts out towards the ANBU group. Each of them narrowly escapes the destructive attack as it completely shreds two buildings to rubble. Each member of the team scatters. Toshika and Nitatchi find their selves on top of a building of the village on opposite sides of one another. Shizake and Shītto both duck into an alleyway to observe Jōran from a safe vantage point.

"Cowards. The lot of you. Step out and fight like real ninja!" Jōran yells.

Shizake signals with his hand to Toshika who relays the signal to Nitatchi. The Hyuga nods, reaching into his pack. The rest of the team does the same, each of them wielding a few kunai with bomb tags attached. Simultaneously, the ANBU squad leaps out from their cover, all of them unleashing the explosive ninja tools at the man.