Kratos & Hoshimaru VS. Animae

OOC: Post first, Animae.

His clean white cloak flicked against the wind as Animae zoomed in on the village. It seemed that Genesis had already been approached by their targets. The village was packed full of many shinobi with many different skills. However, they would be no match for Animae.

As he sttod with a direct composure, Animae was sending out a signal to the watch that Animae gave Munashii. "Munashii... The Order are currently attacking several villages. I will be joining them under false pretenses... inform the rest of the group of my movement and motives and stay away from Konoha. You must not blow my cover..." After a few more seconds of static, silence was all that followed.

When the signal was done, Animae brought both of his hands together. As his hands came within a foot of eachother, green electricity focused into a small ball. As the ball gained more power, it grew brighter and greener until Animae released it. A large pulse of green electricity burst from his orb and passed over the entire village. As the EMP expanded, all electronic devices shut down within the village along with all the lights. Now all he would have to do is wait... wait until someone came...

Animae could hear the man as he approached himself on the high peak overlooking the village. By the electromagnetic density that he was putting off, it was evident that he used lightning jutsu and was focusing his chakra outside of his body. As the lightning touched his skin, it almost instantly was absorbed. As the attack was sucked into his body, the chakra was filtered out and stored in a separate part of his body to be used later.

"Thank you... I needed that little bit for my last program..."

With one quick motion, Animae raised his hand to his enemy. As he did this, his arm detached from a spot between his elbow and his wrist. His hand shot towards Kratos straiter than an arrow and was connected by many cables attached to his body. With his skin harder than steel, his clasping hand would be mor ethan enough to crush him should it grasp his neck as intended.

"What the hell? He absorbs lightning?" Hoshimaru screamed in disbelief as he saw Kratos's Lightning Shuriken absorbed by the mysterious man. I can't believe it... he thought. He's a machine and is impervious to lightning...my skills are useless here...unless... Hoshimaru looked at the markings on his arm. It's time... With that, he removed his shirt, vest, and katana case and placed them to the side. He closed his eyes and focused his chakra to the seal.

"THUNDERBOLT SEAL; ACTIVATE!!!"

Hoshimaru transformed to his elevated state. His dark hair now a shimmering gold, his green eyes now bloodshot red, the formerly blue markings on his arm had become golden and had spread to his entire body. He had sparks flying out of his body and a small aura of chakra around him. He was ready to join the fight.

As soon as he saw Animae's arm shoot out at Kratos, he dahsed over to Kratos and leapt at the hand. In passing, he grabbed the wrist of the projectile arm and landed, still holding onto Animae's wrist. "Why don't you come on down you metallic shit!" With that, he gave a strong tug to the arm with the intention of pulling Animae towards himself and Kratos.

How futile it was for these shinobi to fight him. Fate could not have picked a worse opponent for them to face. With them both using lightning jutsu, there would be no way that Animae could loose. As his fist shot off in Kratos' direction, Animae noticed a movement close at hand. Hoshimaru dashed over and grabbed his hand just before it was about to grab hold of Kratos. However, Hoshimaru had made a huge mistake. As he pulled on the hand to drag Animae over to him, he was surely dissapointed when more of the cords were pulled out instead. There long length did have a limit, yet it was far from being reached at that time.

Animae's fingers twitched as a few cords disconnected themselves from his hand and wrapped around Hoshimaru. The cords tied around his arm that was clasped to his own hand. One must first analyze the situation before coming up with a solution and charging into battle. To Animae, Hoshimaru seemed very dense; even for a human. With lightning and sparks flying off of his body, each one was absorbed by Animae's cords and hand only making him stronger. It all seemed to have happened so fast as all of his chakra was being absorbed by Animae who stood still and impassive. With his "Chakra Absorption Technique" anyone who touched him or any of his parts would be drained of their chakra. And with Hoshimaru exerting even more chakra due to his seal and the aura of chakra around his body, all of it was being funneled into Animae's system at a remarkable rate.

While all this was taking place, Animae had not forgotten about Kratos. With his cords constricting Hoshimaru, Animae waited to see how Kratos would react. As he had expected, Karatos had been more logical about the situation and tried the next best thing. The fires all struck Animae directly and covered his body in flames. From their perspective, Anmae looked like a large fireball with cords connecting him to Hoshimaru. The flames engulfed him and blared their massive heat in all direction around him making the grass below his feet curl into ashes. As the flames died down, Animae was left slightly glowing a dull orange but quickly reverted back to his normal colors. Fire was the best choice when dealing with metals yet Animae's body was made of a unique compound that only he knew of. When creating it himself in an automated laboratory, he had made sure to make it non-magnetic and have no melting point. To Animae's advantage, the fire would not be melting any time soon. However, as the fire turned his metal body orange, for that brief two seconds, his body was weakened.

Raising his other hand towards Kratos, Animae used his "Flaming Arrow of Amazing Ability" again and shot his hand at Kratos once again. With Hoshimaru entangled in his cords, he would not be able to interfere this time.

Hoshimaru let out an ear-shattering scream as the cords wrapped around his body and began to drain his chakra. The only thing comforting Hoshimaru in this situation was that he knew his reserve of chakra was still vast enough for him to not be severely weakened by this maneuver. Injured, yes; weakened, very little. At first, it did not help when Kratos hit Animae with his fire attack; since metal is a very good conductor of heat, it wasn't long until Hoshimaru started to feel some burning as well.

***

Meanwhile, undetectable to anyone who was not spiritually attuned, Ryuuza and Kazuki were watching the battle by way of Ryuuza's astral projection.

"Your son is in trouble!" Ryuuza said silently. "This intruder appeared after the first one and seems to be able to extend his body by way of tendrils."

It could be the Earth Grudge Fear,[i] Kazuki said via telepathy. [i]Does this man resemble a rag doll in any way?

"No," replied Ryuuza. "He has a sort of cold, indifferent look."

He could be a machine then, said Kazuki as he observed Anime through Ryuuza's projection's eyes. Made of metal and given artificial intelligence.

"But your son is in trouble, you should help him!"

Not yet. He's activated his Seal. He should be able to get out of this one...

***

Kratos's attack had heated up Animae's body and made it more malleable. Not knowing the important details about metallurgy, but having the common sense to know that heated metal is easier to bend, Hoshimaru fought the burn of metal on his skin and Animae's Chakra Absorption to put all his strength into pushing the cords away from him making an opening large enough for him to slip out. He held the cords as far away from himself as he could for approximately ten seconds. After that, he pushed his way out and onto the ground and lay there immobile while he regained his strength.

Kratos squinted as the flames bluntly erupted from Animae's body, thinking he had successfully won. But in a matter of seconds, the flame died down and showed that the man was still there. He bit his lip and began to think, 'Fire against Metal... To a certain degree, it will be able to melt and form to your will... This guy is pretty much made of metal sources from what i'v seen.'He thought, studying his opponent.

Out of no where, Animae's other arm detatched itself just like it did to Hoshimaru. Kratos got ready. He wasnt going to make a mistake like he did with Hoshimaru; Hes not gunna grab it. Instead, Kratos took his sword, and held it in defence for it.

As the sword came in contact with the hand, he flicked his wrist, causing the blade to knock it out of the way. Kratos swiftly leaped into the air and steadied himself onto the wire's that came out of his arm. This was all in one, very quick motion.

As he ran, balancing himself on Animae's wires, he reached behind himself and grabbed a small ball out from his side-packs. "Eat this!!!"He shouted at Animae, pressing his finger down on the ball, causing it to light up a blue-ish pink glow from the inside, out. Kratos swiftly threw the Plasma Grenade at the man, then leaped up into the air. As soon as it came close to Animae, Kratos twitched his finger, causing an explosion.

A bright blue flash occured, having a thick layer of acid come closer and closer to Animae in just milliseconds.

OOC: Plasma Grenades

As Kratos leaped from the cords, Animae's hand reverted back into it's place just in time for him to reach out towards the plasma. Like a funnel for water to fall into, the plasma began to swirl into a ball in the center of his hand.

"Do you even know what plamsa is? Plasma is a partially ionized gas, in which a certain proportion of electrons are free rather than being bound to an atom or molecule. The ability of the positive and negative charges to move somewhat independently makes the plasma electrically conductive so that it responds strongly to electromagnetic fields...

In simpler terms... plasma is just heated electricity... but electricity none the less"

As he finished giving his lesson, the ball of swirling plasma seemed to dissipate as the electrons were broken down from it's components and absorbed into his body. As he moved both hands towards both his enemies, Animae let out a pulse directing electromagnetic radiation in a field 550 yards wide. The waves excite water molecules in the epidermis to around 130 °F (55 °C), causing an intensely painful sensation of extreme heat. While not actually burning the skin, the burning sensation is similar to that of an incandescent light bulb being pressed against the skin. Both Hoshimaru and Kratos would feel as if their skin was burning as extreme heat yet neither would really be on fire. Animae may not have said it, but his job was not to harm the people. The pain would hopefully be enough for each of them to collapse and end their futile attempt to stop him.

Spoiler:

Hoshimaru turned over on his back to see what happened and then stood up. He had recovered enough from bondage to be able to fight again. He had no time to defend from the next attack and all he heard was Animae saying "Plasma is just heated electricity...but electricity none the less." He saw Animae put his hands out in front and readied himself for an attack, but then something unexpected happened. It seemed as if Anime had not attacked until all of a sudden Hoshimaru felt a slight burning sensation that began to increase in intensity.

"This can't be Magic," he shouted. He's heating our bodies up! It's just like.....a microwave? Sensei, he's microwaving us!" His screaming got more intense the more the pain set in. The only thing keeping him standing was his will, the extra power of his Seal, and the fact he wasn't moving any more in order to not agitate his body any more. "For someone working with Magic-users, he sure is using a lot of science...ow crap...that hurts like a bitch...We have to avoid using Lightning...OW FUCK IT BURNS!!!"

***
Ryuuza and Kazuki were still watching the battle from afar. "Ah good," said Kazuki. "He's remembering the sciences I've taught him."

"What good is it doing now?" asked Ryuuza. "All he knows is that he's being burned severely! We should intervene now!"

"Not yet..." said Kazuki. "I think he can take a bit more..."

***
Hoshimaru had collapsed from the burning and the pain was lingering. While on the ground he was doing his best to get used to the pain so that he could eventually get up. Heh, motherfucker didn't even give me the chance to attack, Hoshimaru thought playfully to himself, used to the burn enough to be able to at least show a grin without hurting himself. I don't know what this guy is, but I am not letting my training and my power go to waste.

Hoshimaru rose from the ground, assumed a stance, and readied himself to attack. This guy... he thought. This machine...he supports The Order, but he is neither a ninja nor wizard. There's no way we can talk him down because we do not know his motives. Our Lightning attacks can just be absorbed, and Kratos-senei's Fire is not strong enough...but I haven't tried my Light on him...or taijutsu...

Hoshimaru took a few steps towards Animae. He had devised a strategy, but Kratos would have to follow only one simple instruction. "Light Absorption!!!" Hoshimaru screamed as he held his hands out to the side. His body quickly became coated in chakra and then faded to pitch black. His Light Absorption technique was based off the simple property that the color black absorbs all colors of the visible spectrum, simply, light. This technique allowed Hoshimaru to absorb all light in the immediate area, creating an umbrella of darkness around him. This technique also helped because it allowed Hoshimaru to gather electromagnetic power needed for his Light-based attacks, but left him with minor burns, as if he wasn't burned enough already.

His strategy was to render Animae's sight useless. First he made it impossible to see, hoping that Animae would try to make his optical sensors more sensitive. Then he would use this technique's counterpart, Light Emission, to blind Animae so his optical sense would be useless. When Animae's defense was impaired, that's when he would strike.

While most people found great pleasure in explaining their strength an how their abilities work, Animae found it meaningless and improbable to give anyone clues as to how to defeat him. Kratos would soon find out that anyways that his fire would have no effect on him, no matter the intensity of the heat. All the fire would do would be making his body extremely hot, giving him a burning touch to anyone that he grabbed after being engulfed by the flames. Animae had been very careful in selecting the perfect components and materials when making his body. With his vast knowledge, Animae had created the perfect metallic form. Unlike most metals, this special type did not have a melting point and would never grow weak from flames. Animae had formed his body using many diamond hammers that had to be replaced every five minutes because of their dulling on the metal.

Once again, Animae was swallowed by the flames that licked the sky with their intense heat. As the flames subsided, he was left glowing a bright orange with a red tint. With his partner already gone, Animae knew it would not be long before the rest of the shinobi came to aid Kratos and Hoshimaru.

Animae placed his hands in a single handseal that was unknown to all but him. As he did this, Hid body began to breakdown into many tiny particles. The cloud of silver dust began to quickly move past his opponents and towards the village that had still stood infront of him the entire time. While Hoshimaru's jutsu could be used at the perfect time to help himself, Animae had calculated it completely and found the attack to be a wast of time. His light absorption could absorb all the light but only in the area. All Animae would have to do is keep heading towards the village until he escaped this area. Another negative effect of his jutsu was that it absorbed all light meaning that not only would Animae not be able to see, but neither would Kratos or Hoshimaru unless they could see in the dark. Even the light of Kratos' fire had been absorbed leaving the entire area darker than a tomb. While knowing where the village was, Animae would not have to see but continue on his path. And with neither of his opponents being able to see the cloud of dust flew past them towards the village.

While it looked like metal dust, it was infact a massive swarm of micro-bots that were almost to small for the human eye to see; yet their mass in m=numbers mad them appear to be the metal dust. As he continued along his path towards the village, light soon came into view as he escaped from the clutched of darkness. The cloud swept across the village until Animae reached his destination...

Spoiler:

The many micro-bots began connecting their arms together until his body was reconstructed, standing on the balcony of the Hokage's office. Animae took two steps forward and placed his cold hand on the wall of the building. The seemed to disintegrate into the cloud of dust as the micro-bots eat the material and duplicated from their meal. As the last of the bots reconnected with Animae's body, he stood in the middle of a large circular hole in the wall of the office.

"Hokage... we need to talk..."

"Technique, end," Hoshimaru sighed as he stopped absorbing light. On the positive side, he had built up his chakra supply because of all the photon energy he absorbed. However, he had not calculated Animae's ability to dissociate into a cloud of metallic dust. As soon as he sensed this maneuver, he ended the technique. "I apologize, sensei, for my technique. I did not know his motives and had given him a perfect opportunity to escape." He then looked up at Kratos. His eyes had changed again. This time the pupil had vanished, leaving only a deep red iris that seemed to be glowing.

"But I will not make the same mistake again. Let's go, sensei." He was about to start running, but then stopped and sat down. "Kratos-sensei, I am not a strategist. I can usually get around strategy with quick, clever thinking as well as luck. This enemy is unique; I have never faced an enemy this close to being completely invincible before. When I had first unlocked the power of the Thunderbolt Seal, I was facing a shinobi possessed by a dark force, that seemed invincible before I had unlocked this power. I may have to dirty my hands much more with this extra power in order to even stand a chance, but I won't have to if we find a working strategy. I see you yourself have another trick up your sleeve. I am at a loss as to how we can coordinate our powers. Please, sensei, give me your guidance."

As Animae looked around, he found himself talking to an empty room. The Hokage was nowhere in sight but his belongings were sufficient enough. Reaching into the desk, Animae pulled out a large file that contained the info of every member within the village. "Yet another file to process into good use..."

As he ran his finger along the side, he flipped through the pages like a fast moving flip book. His eyes recorded everything into his vast storage of a brain making sure not to loose any information. Within five seconds Animae now had all the info on every person that Konoha had intel on. As he placed the file back into the desk, Animae caught a glimpse of a file labeled "Classified".

"I may not be human... but I do have dignity..." Animae closed the desk, and moved to leave. But as he did, Animae spotted a letter on the desk that spoke of a meeting of the kages. "Perhaps I should attend this meeting... "

With that, Animae left the building, turning back into the cloud of dust and drifted high into the sky...

"But didn't Sannam leave on a mission or something?" asked the puzzled Hoshimaru. With that he saw a cloud of silver dust rise into the sky from a distance. "Damnit! We're too late! We lost him." He shed a tear in defeat and reverted back to his normal state. When he did this, he fell to the ground on his belly. "I...I feel so weak now...just a side effect from use of the seal I presume." He picked himself up, but then sat down on the ground. "I don't know what to do, Kratos-sensei. This is all my fault. How can I ever make up for this? How can I stop him? Who knows what he has done in the village?" He turned to Kratos hoping for some sort of inspirational answer.

***

Meanwhile, Ryuuza and Kazuki had seen the entire battle and had followed Animae to the Hokage's office using Ryuuza's astral projection. After this, Ryuuza's projection returned to his body. Ryuuza and Kazuki now together ran to the village. "Your son has potential, Kazuki. And Kratos is very strong as it is, more than we would think. But now we must pursue this new threat before he reaches the Kages."

"I still can't get over my son's mistake," Kazuki grunted. "It brings dishonor to him and myself included. How could he not calculate for the enemy's escape? I know he's no tactical genius, but he should at least have some common sense!"

"Let's not dwell in the past," sighed Ryuuza. "I know my abilities allow me to pursue this menace. Do yours?"

"Yes, and if I'm wrong, I can at least make due. Anyway we should follow him now."

"Agreed," Ryuuza said. He then placed his hands out to the sides and whispered a spell. "Hato." With that, his body transformed into a group of a dozen doves that all flew towards Animae while at the same time dispersing a little as to not look conspicuous at all.

"Interesting ability," said Kazuki. "But I have a different way of doing this. Wind Release: Sky Dance!!!" Kazuki used this technique in order to fly, but could only use it for short periods of time, so he would eventually have to activate his Thunderbolt Seal as well.