world order.
Tayuya gave a tired sigh as she lay back on the bed, and watched the ceiling of the room.
Her flute still in her hand, she grumbled to herself.
“Of all of the other members of the sound five, why did Orochimaru-sama choose me to bring back?”
She closed her eyes and exhaled, as she attempted to Answer her own question.
Kimimaro: “He was the strongest one of us, but it couldn’t have been him. He's Orochumu-sama’s favorite. He would waste his talents on a babysitting mission.
Jirobo: “That fat slob would have accidentally squished her to death.”
Kidomaru: “He'd probably dissect her”
Sakon: “He's too sadistic… even worse than me”
She looked over at her victim. Shinobu was on her knees, with her head bowed, and her arms outstretched in a T-pose. Demon Flute: Chains of Fantasia… even though Tayuya had stopped playing her flute some time ago, the effects of the Genjutsu still lingered. Though Shinobu showed strength of mind by remaining conscious, she was still paralyzed.
Blood dripped from her inner-arm, where Tayuya had taken a sharp blade to it. She was still crying softly…
"I got carried away…” Tayuya admitted to herself. She stood up, walking over to Shinobu, and knowing that her captive would not hear her, spoke softly; “Believe it or not, I don’t enjoy doing this to you… But its nothing compared to what he’ll do to me If I fail him, not to mention what he’ll probably do to you when he catches you again.”
Tayuya looked down with self-pity… she almost envied Shinobu.
She slowly brought her hand over to the curse mark on her body… Ever since she had received it from Orochimaru, there was no possible way to escape from him… even after she died, he brought her back…
Even death was no escape.
***
Kanae’s teeth were grit, but her lips were trembling as she looked up at Orochimaru.
“Ara,” he mused, in a voice that made Kanae’s skin crawl both ways, “quite a lot of you have come, this should be fun.”
Kanae sat frozen, when a second voice came from the shadows. Humorless, and menacing. “Lord Orochimaru, you really have made a mess of things. In addition to the man you wanted, a number of worms have now infested my castle.” The man approached, and came into Kanae’s view… he had the appearance of a man in his early twenties, with wavy hair that seemed to float about him, and the cruelest of red eyes.
“I hope you will pardon the inconvenience I’ve caused you, Lord Muzan.” Kanae’s heart sank as Orochimaru confirmed her fears.
“It is no matter,” Muzan replied. “The timing was inconvenient, but this can work out to my advantage. My upper moons and I will pick off the demon slayers who have entered here. Ubuyashiki will simply replace them soon, but it wouldn’t hurt to cause him grief.” Muzan looked down at Kanae. “Do you want this one alive as well?”
“No no,” Orochimaru chuckled. “You can kill this one. Now that Sasori is here, I have no use for the other demon slayer either. You may kill her too whenever you wish.”
Orochimaru disappeared, leaving Kanae alone in the room with Kibutsuji Muzan.
“Kibutsuji Muzan…” she told herself, as she crushed her own fear. “This is the man who is responsible for all of this… Get up Kanae! Stand up! How can you show fear here! Is this not the man who took Mom and Dad from you!? The man who you and everyone who care about has been determined to stop!?”
“Kibutsuji Muzan!” She finally declared. “You will not touch Shinobu. I will stop you here! Even if it cost me my life!”
“It will cost you more than that foolish girl,” Muzan snarled, as Miasma began to rise around him.
Kanae closed her bad eye, and left only the good one open. She said a silent prayer; “Kami-sama… please grant me the strength in this one strike, even if I never swing a sword again…” She rose up from the ground, and charged towards the Demon King! Flower Breathing: Final Form-
An invisible force stopped her from behind. Kanae turned around in shock, and her shock doubled when her eyes conformed what had stopped her.
“Sasori! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!???” She screamed angrily.
She felt herself fly through the air as Sasori pulled her back away from Muzan, and eased her landing by his side. “Sasori! How could you just-”
“Idiot,” he said, interrupting her. “Orochimaru’s gone in the direction of your sister. If you want to find her in this massive maze, one of us has to follow him”
“But why not you!?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” he asked, directing her gaze back to Muzan.
As the realization crashed into her thoughts, Kanae began to rapidly calm down.
“What was I thinking!? I would have died in vain!”
“I’ve improved my collection since the Mugen train,” Sasori assured her, “and I’ve adjusted the durability of my puppets as well, and tailored my poisons to be more like your sisters’, working more effectively against demons. I won’t lose so easily. Follow the traitor to find out where he’s keeping her, and try not to let him see you. It would be extremely frustrating for me if that happens.”
Kanae’s combative stance deflated, and she pivoted in preparation to run. “Thank you for everything Sasori-san, And please be careful. I still want to talk with you more when this is all over.”
She began to sprint across the massive open space, in the direction of Orochimaru.
Muzan’s eyes widened. “Who gave you permission to turn your back to me?” He snarled. Kanae turned to see a massive wall of nasty hydra-heads barreling at her! Extensions of Muzan’s flesh with massive fangs! They were coming in fast, and they were too much to possibly block or defend against!
Puppet Master’s art. Tombstone wall.
The segments of the Hiruko tails broke apart, connected by Chakra barriers, and formed a series of hexagons connected by a massive Chakra-shield that might have been the size of a fortress’s bulwark. Muzan’s attack broke against it!
Kanae left the platform, and leapt into the wider infinity castle… it was now bright again, and she couldn’t see Sanemi or any of her comrades, but she saw Orochimaru in the distance.
He stood on a bridge between the floating platforms, and there was no question in Kanae’s mind as to where that Bridge led to…
***
“She wants to talk to me? Stupid kid…” Sasori chuckled, as he stared down Kibutsuji Muzan.
“You seem awfully arrogant puppet master…” Muzan sneered. “...for someone who couldn’t even beat Akaza. Or do you perhaps believe that having turned Enmu into a puppet, you now stand a chance against me?”
Sasori smirked. Soulstone Ore was not the only thing he had found among the swordsmiths.
“Say, Muzan…” he began as he retrieved a scroll from the folds of his Yukata, and unfurled it. “...do you know, that when the Metal for Nichirin is extracted from Ore-bearing rocks, the stones bare the same solar-absorbed properties as the metal itself…” He summoned the Kinuta puppet, which still barred the resemblance of the swordsman who willingly offered his body, so that he could continue to kill demons. Muzan raised an eyebrow, as Kinuta opened his mouth, and a dark, metallic dust began to float out of it.
Sasori continued his monologue triumphantly. “After centuries of making Nichirin blades to fight you! The leftover dust is plenty cheap!”
The air began to grow heavier between the King of the Demons, and the Red Death of the Desert.
Puppet Master’s Secret Art. Nichirin Sand!
The attack was immediate! Projectiles of Nichirin were blasted at The Demon King like bullets, and with the added speed, hit him before he could even react! Muzan was blasted backwards as he was riddled with holes.
With a flick of the puppet master’s fingers, the Kinita puppet shot forward! Thunder Breathing, Sixth Form: Rumble and Flash!!!
Muzan was slashed throughout his body, including his neck, and Sasori chuckled at how insanely fast he healed.
“The blade wasn’t even finished cutting before his molecules already began to reattach,” Sasori mused. “Its kind of like cutting through a liquid.”
He turned his wrist, and flicked his right index finger upwards. The Nichirin sand which was on the ground, from the bullets, began to rise up.
With lightning speed, he yanked back the Kinuta puppet, and attacked!
Nichirin Rain!!!
Muzan blitzed forward at blinding speed! His flesh which was destroyed by the few Nichirin bullets that he didn’t manage to dodge was easily rehealed!
And Kinuta’s speed could not reach him either. Muzan shot right past the puppet, and at the puppet master!
“DIE!!!” he hissed, as his right arm formed a spear tip that plunged into Sasori’s heart!
In that moment, things seemed to be in slow motion for Muzan. He was mid-air, his feet off the ground as he killed his opponent, but there was no blood, nor even the feeling of flesh.
“This is a puppet too!!” Muzan realized this, but too late. Massive hooks shot out from the sides of the puppet and into Muzan’s sides.
A metal hose shot out from the puppet’s belly, and into Muzan’s.
Muzan’s eyes went wide. “The fact that you didn’t show any signs of having been poisoned yet…” Sasori’s voice sounded from an unknown hiding place, “...along with the fact that you heal so spectacularly fast, tells me that you have perfect if not total control of your own body, down to a cellular basis, exactly as that Tamayo said.”
Muzan’s eyes widened even further at the mention of that name.
“Curse you! And why can’t I break free!?”
Muzan did not realize it, but surrounding him and the Sasori-puppet, was a black diagram on the floor, which had activated the moment Muzan made contact with the puppet.
It was not just the fact that blade’s digging into his ribs and hip held him in place, he was caught in the puppet master’s paralysis Jutsu, and now a hose connecting them, was pumping poison directly into his abdomen! And the fact that Tamayo may have had something to do with it… If anyone knew how to make something that could have hurt him, it was her. “This bastard… I underestimated based on his unimpressive performance against Akaza, this is…”
From his hiding spot, Sasori smirked. “That little interruption of those two nights ago was worth it.”
“Who are you?” Sasori demanded irritatedly, “and tell me quickly. I’m in a hurry, so if your reason for delaying me isn’t good, I will hurt you. Now speak.”
Lady Tamayo bowed politely. “Ubuyashiki-sama told me where I may find you, I am someone whom you can tru-”
“I do not care for Ubuyashiki,” Sasori snapped. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want to help you,” Tamayo said, cutting to the chase. “To help you rescue Kocho Shinobu, and kill your enemy Orochimaru. I too have an enemy who is involved with him. Please, let me help you, it is in both of our interests.”
“I am listening…” Sasori said, urging her on.
“Kibutsuji Muzan, whom we both believe to be working with Orochimaru, is nearly impossible to kill, but I have been working on a poison that might help you.”
Sasori smiled maliciously as Muzan was seemingly trapped, when the demon King’s terrifying roar knocked the pieces off the board!!!
Muzan’s angered screams became deafening, as his body began to bubble, morph, and grow rapidly!
Sasori’s eyes widened in surprise, as Muzan grew into an absolute monstrosity! His arms stretched unnaturally, the muscles bulging before splitting apart, exposing raw sinew that stitched itself back together. Dark ichor dripped from the seams, pooling on the shifting floor and hissing as it ate into the surface. Muzan’s transformation radiated raw malice, a grotesque dance of power and decay that poisoned the air! His voice became guttural as he roared! A grotesque, fleshy growth emerged from his back, writhing as if alive. The sound of wet, tearing flesh filled the chamber! The puppet which Sasori had built in his likeness was now crushed under Muzan’s weight! The paralysis Jutsu was broken, and the blades and hose were expelled from his body!
Muzan threw his head back and his fangs were bared! His clothes were shredded and a rippling mass of muscle with sharp tentacles whipping around from the demon’s spine, and claws on his hands twitched with bloodlust!
“PUPPET MASTER! SHOW YOURSELF!” he cried.
Sasori sighed. “That puppet can just be repaired. It no longer matters, and the poison Tamayo lent me should start taking effect soon, but it is still not my policy to keep others waiting. Let's hurry this along.”
While Muzan was being envenomated, a large quantity of Nichirin sand had been pouring from Kinuta’s mouth, and was now ready for it’s ultimate attack.
Nichirin Sand World Order!!
A massive all-encompassing web of spikes made from the magnetized Nichirin sand spread like tree branches all over the area! Spikes shot through the walls and floor of the platform and onto other parts of the infinity castle!
Muzan weaved in and out, narrowly escaping the spikes, when he noticed- The branches of Nichirin sand, in addition to being dripping with poison, were also riddled with holes, the same kinds that were on the puppet’s arms…
The sound frequencies which emanate from that puppet were barely enough for Muzan to notice. It was no threat to him, but now in this newly created forest of them… Sasori smiled. The Kinuta puppet tapped his sword against the epicenter of the Nichirin sand, and soon, the entire section of the castle was ruptured with deadly frequencies.
Muzan’s cells began to explode! Faster than he could heal!
“That’s it!” Sasori cried loudly as he watched from just out of range, “Suffer and die! You shitty demo-” A projectile from one of Muzan’s Tendrils flew so fast that Sasori did not even see it coming. But he felt it.
His smile dropped, and blood began to gush from his neck where he had been slashed.
The Kinuta puppet collapsed to the ground as its puppet master dropped its strings, and Sasori, fell from the platform on which he stood, into the abyss below.
The ringing ceased as the Nichirin sand began to crumble, and Muzan stood hunched over, catching his breath.
His body was dripping, flesh and blood fell in chunks from his rotting muscles, but he was healing rapidly. “You got what you deserved puppet master,” he snarled. “Burn in hell.”