Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Journeys We Make

A Long-Awaited Kick-Back

Auntie Rokane ground her teeth against Junichi's kneecap, forcing blood to spray all over the trousers and leg of the Allied Ninja veteran and splatter over the face of the old woman who appeared to be gaining vigor through physical contact with blood. It was not a matter of fact, however, just the way in which the bloodthirsty cannibal hag carried herself as just a whiff of blood got her own old bones ready for a rumble like nothing else.

"Y-You think this is going to stop us?" Junichi hissed in a tremendous amount of physical pain, his face wincing in torment as sweat poured down his face in a desperate attempt to not give his enemy the satisfaction of betraying just how torturous her ultimatum was.

"Just you dare try something!" auntie Rokane howled with a bloody mouth. "Then I'll have to eat you as soon as possible, I wouldn't like such fine meat to go bad."

"Despicable..." Mollay proclaimed, standing up tall. Blood squirting from the wound on his own leg as he extended his hands in a hand seal position, pointing downward. The cannibal of the Nine Tales gang froze and looked up at the enemy as if waiting to see if his response warrants an execution of their squad leader at her hands or if she could continue her feast.

The moment of delay made her decision to come out already too late. A diagonal cylinder of clear-white beamed down in a wild howl and the rumbling that telegraphed the terrific decimation of the ground and rubble it passed through. A bright, flashing spark in between Mollay's hands transformed into a solid beam of light that engulfed both the bleeding veteran as well as the cannibalistic hag and made both of them dry out and turn to statues of solid stone in-sight.

"The Bloodline Selection ability," Mana mumbled under her nose before turning to Mollay. She was shocked initially that the Allied Ninja would use his most powerful ability, using his own ally as a human shield but then she recalled Mollay's words from after the fight with the Daisushi Brothers had concluded. "You can revert the transformation..."

Mollay looked no less drained after using this jutsu without having had a chance to recover after using it a couple of times already in the near past twice than Mana. Not only that but the wound on Mollay's foot continued to spray blood though the liquid had lost its vibrant scarlet hue and began appearing more pink-like in shade. Mana was no medical ninja but this was hardly a good sign.

"I'm going to need some help if I am to approach Junichi and turn him back. If I use the jutsu again from this angle, I risk accidentally illuminating the witch too," Mollay pointed out, turning to the other Allied Ninja. Only then did it dawn to Mana – Mollay would have to use his jutsu again and manipulate Junichi's molecules again and back into a living being. Could he even survive such a thing?

"Are you sure you can pull off another use of that jutsu?" Mana wondered. "Your body already exhibits signs of chakra loss. If you use too many you might..."

"Don't lecture me about chakra loss. I've been on the field for far longer than you, girl." Mollay turned to her. It was tough to say how much blood loss had been affecting the chubby ex-Iwagakure ninja but he definitely had pronounced, black bags forming under his eyes and his blood vessels were popping out on his face for all to see with unsightly bumps of his skin. "What other choice do I have? Just let our leader stay a statue?"

"Maybe we can wait until you are rested? Doesn't the enemy own an inn? With auntie Rokane eliminated we can use her inn to rest," Mana suggested. The last thing she wanted to see was Mollay dying of chakra shortage while Junichi remained forever as a lifeless statue. Granted, this was not a fate she wanted for auntie Rokane either but she was powerless to change anything at the moment.

"That's ridiculous. I used to think you a voice of reason but it appears that your judgment might get clouded when human lives are at risk. The enemy is more than likely to have trapped her inn well. Plus, I have a limited time to revert the transformation, or else it becomes permanent. I have it on good authority that if we wait for two more days which it would take for my chakra to recover – Junichi would be long stuck being this way." Mollay crushed Mana's suggestion mercilessly.