106. Sasuke Retrieval Arc, Part 7: Hinata Vs. Guren!

Guren steps back when it appears my comrades have successfully gotten away and plays with the tip of her arm blade while her gaze drinks in my appearance. I’m wearing the Chakra Armor, its folded mechanical wings laying comfortably on my back while my bust nearly spills out of Fubuki’s pale blue qipao dress, and nothing underneath~

The enemy standing against me has a spiky ponytail of cerulean hair, red lipstick, leather gloves, a green dress with one long sleeve and a camelia flower pattern, plus a red turtleneck underneath that has a fluffy white collar. So, this is the woman who made Shino completely rewrite our strategy? I’m not supposed to kill her, though. Looking closer at those pretty features and succulent lips, I realize she is delectable. My mouth quirks into a naughty smile as I imagine pushing Guren down and filling her bum with my gooey play-eggs. It’s no wonder Shino wants her for the harem—not to mention the Crystal Release, of course!

The original idea was for me to stall until the Crystal-immune insects were ready and then we’d capture the cerulean-haired woman together. That… hasn’t changed, essentially. I’m confident Shino is coming for me. All I need to do is keep Guren alive and occupied until then.

Seeing I’m not about to make the first move, she uses a ninjutsu, “Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Mirror!” A green snowflake mirror grows in the air before her as she smirks into her own reflection. “Lovely as ever, aren’t you? Mmm, hmm! Jade Crystal Clone Technique!”

Instead of ganging up on me, the clones split off in multiple directions. Oh! I can’t let her escape!

“Don’t fret,” Guren seems to read my mind, “I’m not running away. They’re simply making some preparations for us.” She produces a tiny ruby in the palm of her hand and continues, “This octangular jade crystal seed, when planted within the eight-trigrams eight-square formation, has an interesting effect. When it shines, the light inside the crystal will be trapped for all eternity!”

I didn’t really understand all that, but she’s activating some kind of formation. That’s probably a bad thing.

*Vum!*

Readying my Lightning blade, I dash forward.

“Patience, or you’ll spoil the fun. Crystal Release: Divine Pathway Jutsu!”

Guren places her palm on the ground and a series of long, pointed blue crystals erupts from the earth in a line going straight towards me. I dodge aside, narrowly evading the area of effect, but that gave her the time she needed.

“Bloom! Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Labyrinth!”

From where her palm touched the soil, the ‘seed’ having entered the earth, there’s a ripple of power that flows through the air. All around me, I see walls of red crystal rise to encase us in an isolating barrier. “I’m the one who doesn’t want you getting away.”

There’s something wrong with my perception—suddenly I see myself looking back from all directions! It hurts to look! What’s going on?!? “It’s no use… I can’t use my Byakugan!”

“I’ve heard about those eyes of yours, but inside my Jade Crystal Labyrinth all light is refracted—so your visual prowess is actually a liability here!”

Damn, she’s right!

“The Byakugan isn’t my only weapon…” I say, brandishing my sword. I don’t want to hurt her, but I need to defend myself.

That’s when her eight clones reappear and charge me from all directions, each bearing one of her Jade Crystal Blades on their arm.

It’s tough without my Byakugan. I’ve trained with it for years. Taken it for granted. I almost succumb to that first wave of attacks simply because I’m fumbling for an absent ‘limb.’

But Shino gave me the Sharingan and Fubuki’s special armor to increase my chakra reserves. Anko, Tsume, and Kurenai drilled their fundamentals into my reflexes. The girls and I traded Gentle Fist pointers for assistance in creating a swordplay style of my own. I’ll not fail them by dying here!

My one functioning eye darts from assailant to assailant, tracking them as their movements slow as if moving through molasses. This is the increased reaction time of the Sharingan!

*Whumm!* *Vum!* *Whumm!* *Schvrmmm!*

A Guren clone falls in two pieces and shatters on the ground. My sword buzzes through the air like a wasp searching for weak spots to strike. They surround me, darting in on my blind side two and three at a time, but I whip around and cut through their bodies and weapons in a single swing. Again and again, I fight them off while my heart hammers in my ears.

Then there’s only one left.

Guren slow-claps while leaning against a large crystal as she watches my performance. “Not too shabby for a Genin, but playtime is over. Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Prison Jutsu!”

The ground around me upheaves as pink crystal rises to swallow me whole. I have a fraction of a second to react, instinctively surrounding my body with chakra projected from all my tenketsu as Shino instructed while spinning in a modified version of Neji’s move, “Revolving Heaven Spin Attack!”

A blanket of chakra prevents my flesh and blood from crystallizing while my sword severs the forming crystal prison’s top half. I could’ve relied on my Chakra Armor, but Shino told me that’s my last resort. Its battery is more useful fueling my jutsu and Lightning blade than defending me from blows. Plus, we’ll have to send it for repairs if I break it. Although, groveling for Princess Koyuki’s forgiveness could be fun~

No! Focus.

“Tch,” Guren frowns, having thought she’d gotten me for certain that time. Sorry to disappoint, cutie; I’ll be sure to make it up to you later, in bed~ I give her a cutesy wink. She blushes hotly and barks, “Crystal Release: Growing Crystal Thorns!”

A tree of jagged pink crystals erupts from the ground beneath me. Noticing movement with my Sharingan an instant before it’s too late, I leap into the air as my Chakra Armor’s wings unfold and I shoot into the sky. The crystal thorns race after me, growing at impossible speeds, their needle tips nipping at my heels while my flightpath is limited by the constraints of Guren’s Crystal Labyrinth. I bank, tilting my batlike wings to circle the inside of the massive dome, and the lopsided crackling crystalline growth finally destabilizes before crashing to the ground to shatter in an ear-piercing clatter.

“Crystal Release: Shuriken Wild Dance!”

Pink particles moving faster than my eye can track circle Guren before shooting towards me at high speeds like streaks of light. Using my Sharingan eye to track the projectiles, my arm blurs and my blade flashes as I intercept them.

*Whumm!* *Ting!* *Vum!* *Ting-ting!* *Vum!* *Ting!* *Whumm-whum!* *Ting-ting-ting-ting!* *Vum!* *Ting-ting!*

Shards of crystal rain down as I fly toward Guren, now. I’ll tire too quickly if I’ve got to evade while constantly deflecting all those tiny shuriken. My Lightning longsword sings as I brandish it at her.

“This has gone on long enough. Crystal Release: Burst Crystal Falling Dragon!”

A serpent-dragon of pink crystal with huge horns, long fangs, and jade-green eyes ascends from the ground to meet me. It’s enormous, but I didn’t come all this way to fall here! My visual prowess sees through the arc of its trajectory and paves the way for a perfect slice.

*Shiiinnng!*

The decapitated dragon drops to the ground where it shatters and crumbles to nothing.

*Crack!*

An impact rocks me, sending me tumbling, spiraling, falling. I glimpse Guren smirking at me over a completed hand sign. Following her gaze lets me see what hit me—a tower of red crystal growing from the wall of the enclosure, the tip of which stabbed me in the back from my Byakugan-blind side. I try to regain my balance and pull out of the dive, but my Chakra Armor is damaged, and the wings aren’t working.

*Thump*

I crash into the ground at speeds that would’ve killed most people. Thanks to my Macabre Bone Pulse, my bones aren’t broken, but many of my organs feel bruised. As I struggle to my feet, two more crystal dragons rise to hang above me like executioner’s axes.

“It’s over!” Guren says while raising her hand to give the signal.

Shino, I’m so sorry. All my training and hard work wasn’t good enough. I just hope I delayed her long enough for Naruto to save his boyfriend. I’m certain the others won their fights, so at least I have that comfort.

*CRACK!*

“What?!?” Guren shouts in confusion as a hairline fracture runs up the side of the ruby dome, “My Crystal Labyrinth!”

Then the whole thing shatters.

“HINATA-CHAN!”

“Shino-chan!” She came for me!

“There’s two of them, now… Whatever,” Guren shrugs off the interruption as insignificant and chops her hand at me, sending the two crystal dragons my way. Right after, she turns away to address the intruder, “I’m not sure how you got in here, but it doesn’t matter. Crystal Release: Crystal Pentagonal Prison!”

*Crack! Shatter!*

“Isn’t this the jutsu you use to dispatch random mooks? Frankly, I’m insulted.”

“B-b-but, h-how???”

*Vooosh!*

I’m not done yet. I may not have the Chakra Armor boosting my reserves anymore, but I still have the Sword of the Thunder God, a Sharingan to guide my hand, and my visual prowess is restored. Without the Crystal Labyrinth refracting my Byakugan’s vision, I’m back to nigh-omniscient awareness of my surroundings. Darting forward, I vault over one dragon, spin, and behead the second. The first circles around for another go at me, and I do a flip, severing its head as well while sprinting straight for Shino.

“C-Crystal Release: Crystal Imprisonment Wave!” Guren stutters as her many jutsu begin to fail one by one. Shino's cloud of insects are encased in crystal by the glittering cloud for a mere moment. My brunette harem queen shoves her hands in her jacket pockets while her insects instantly break free from containment. “I-Impossible!”

“Hah. Don’t you know, ‘Life finds a way?’ No? That’s a shame. Maybe I should get that crazy director to help me bring a few of those classics to this world. A little cultural exchange.” There are fewer of the special insects than I’m used to seeing around Shino, but they work as advertised—immune to crystallizing and able to drain the chakra from Guren’s gemstones to the point of brittleness. That must be how Shino shattered the Crystal Labyrinth!

“You’re babbling nonsense!” Guren objects while preparing to throw several giant snowflake crystal shuriken. “Shut up!”

I’m at Shino’s side before my love has to raise a finger. My blade cleaves through both gemlike shuriken, and I deflect the fragments away from us with preternatural precision of the flat of my blade. “Shino-chan, you defeated your opponent and mastered the Crystal-immunity!”

She adjusts her dark glasses and rubs the back of her head, modest and embarrassed, “Thankfully, my genius ass was able to figure out the trick of countering Crystal Release, although coating my insects in chakra is more draining than normal. That’s as expected. It’s a shame the Chakra Armor broke, but I’m glad you’re alright, Hinata-chan.”

“All thanks to the Bone Kekkei Genkai you gave me, Shino-chan.”

Even though we’re on the battlefield, we can’t help but kiss upon being reunited. She sweeps me into a dip, holding me practically upside-down while our tongues intertwine. My heart explodes with love! Shino isn’t upset I couldn’t capture Guren on my own or that I busted the Chakra Armor. My wife is so kind and understanding!

“Bleck! I’m going to puke over here. Let’s finish this before I lose my lunch! Crystal Release: Crystal Lance!”

Guren forms a giant version of her arm blade around her right side, conjuring a massive sapphire spike as she lunges toward us like an arrow fired from a bow.

Shino rights me and slips inside through our hands clasped together, her presence filling me with comforting warmth like hot cocoa on a winter night. I’m not alone! Her arms manifest below mine, giving us four limbs to fight with, her Crystal-immune insects coating her hands—there aren’t enough to cover our entire bodies because she didn't have time to breed more.

I raise the Sword of the Thunder God.

*Whumm-vum!* *Shiiinnng!*

My blade slices through Guren’s crystal lance in one go.

“Crystal Release: Crystal Encampment Wall! Crystal Release: Crimson Fruit! Crystal Release: Crystal Armor!”

Layer upon layer of gemstone barrier after barrier springs forth to obstruct us.

“Don’t worry, Hinata-chan,” Shino whispers in my ear as her head manifests from my neck, “She’s just turtling up. Let’s finish this.”

*Whumm!* *Vum!* *Whum!*

“Muda muda muda muda!”

*Crack!* *Shatter!*

My sword hums as I cleave off huge swaths of ruby with each swing. Shino punches repeatedly at the crystal barricade, her bug gauntlets eating away at the structure’s integrity. The Wall falls.

*Whumm!* *Vum!* *Whum-whummm!*

“Muda muda muda muda muda!!”

*Crack!* *Shatter!*

I hack at the ruby bubble containing Guren while Shino pounds away until it breaks and crumbles to pieces.

*Whumm!* *Krrrrk!*

*Crack!*

Guren catches the radiant yellow blade with Crystal Armored palms as I swing overhead at her. With a twist of her wrists, she snaps the Lightning chakra sword in half and throws the piece aside.

“P-Pressure Points of—”

“I won’t let you! Muda muda muda, MUDA!!!”

*Crack!* *Shatter!*

Shino hammers away at Guren’s solar plexus until her Crystal-immune insects drain the chakra from the cerulean-haired woman’s jutsu, causing the armor to fissure and break. Guren is defenseless, though on the verge of some cataclysmic final move that Shino desperately wants to stop. I’m with my harem queen all the way!

““Sixteen Trigrams: Two Palms! Four Palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms! Thirty-Two Palms! Sixty-Four Palms! One-Hundred-Twenty-Eight Palms!””

The two of us interweave our Sixty-Four Palms, doubling Neji-kun's technique as we strike in unison. Guren staggers back and collapses as over a third of her tenketsu are blown out almost simultaneously. It’s over.

“Sorry, Shino-chan. I let her break the Sword of the Thunder God.”

Shino steps out of me with a lingering caress of my ass and stands over the downed woman, seeming contemplative. “What are you talking about? The only thing she snapped was a chakra construct. The vajra itself is fine.” Looking down, I confirm she’s right. In fact, the broken end slowly begins self-repairs when I pick it up. “I bet that’s your Lightning affinity at work. If litmus paper can sense your latent character, why not the sword?”

I sigh. “If I’d trained harder, I could’ve developed a full Lightning nature transformation by now.”

Shino hugs me, though her hands wander to my ass as our embrace continues (I lean into the fondling). “None of that! It’s very difficult by all reports. We’re not even supposed to be introduced to the idea until our second year. You’ll master it soon enough.”

“Hah! Defeated by a couple of Genin. Feh. What are you waiting for? Finish me.” Guren can barely move, but she coughs and spits her final defiance at us.

“Nope,” Shino plainly refuses as she whips out a scroll from her pack and summons a bug gourd. She uncorks the top and says, “Hinata-chan, grab her legs, please.”

New girlfriend get! Hurray!