Alas, Dear Brother... (P)

Haru would watch Altar dodge to the side, narrowly avoiding his kunai in the process. With his byakugan, he could see through the mist forming from the electricity and water, and he watched Altar kneel down and scoop up some water, before forming a ram hand seal. His speed increased immensely as he began to body flicker behind him. Haru was still able to track his movements, however, thanks to his sharingan. As Altar moved towards him, Haru turned his body with him, so that when Altar arrived behind him, Haru would be facing him. Due to the way the body flicker jutsu worked, Altar would have had to move in a straight line to move just behind Haru, and so he would now be facing opposite to Haru. Haru saw the man’s left side, whose hand held the water, start to turn towards him, and stepped in to gain leverage, now directly behind Altar. As Altar’s left hand came around to throw the water, Haru would grab it tightly by the wrist with his left hand, wrapping his right arm quickly around the boy’s neck. If he succeeded thus far, he would lift his right leg slightly and strike down on altar’s calves with his foot, sending him to his knees, held in a chokehold and unable to reach back with his right arm.


Due to Haru’s considerable speed advantage, there was likely little he could do to stop this. If necessary, he would start breaking limbs, but he hoped not to have to do that. He’d rather reason this whole situation out. Xyxer couldn’t seriously be trying to make him kill his best friend, could he? Was their new leader truly that cold?
”Altar, tell me what’s going on, now!” Haru commanded, the powerful voice of an ANBU officer being produced. ”I don’t want to kill you, but if you try anything, one little twist is all it takes…” He muttered, slightly nudging Altar’s head around to demonstrate the motion. ”So speak. And do it fast.” He commanded. He was looking for any sign that this wasn’t really him, that this was a test. If he found that proof, whoever this was would be ended in a moment, without hesitation.

Before Altar could really react, his arm was twisted behind his back and he was forced to his knees, hard pressed to take some action lest his neck be snapped. He didn't really think Haru would kill him unless he knew the whole situation, but he couldn't be too careful. Especially not when it came to a well trained nin like the man who now held him. So Altar needed to think quickly. "NO, YOU FOOL! Think not, let your body do what is does best. Let it fight in your mind's stead. Become the beast and give into your feral instincts. Fight naturally. Overthinking will lead to your death. Overaction will lead to his death!" The voice in his head spoke, seemingly giddy at the thought of this combat scenario. Altar half expected the voice to lead him to his death with it's advice, but the voice needed Altar to live. So he'd follow and see just where he landed.

Letting go of his thoughts, Altar let his instincts take over. His body seemed to kick into overdrive. A shadowy pulse of energy would leave Altar's body. The raw force of the blast would knock Haru back and leech some energy from the man. From here, Altar would roll forward and get to his feet. Tears threatened to stain the edge of Altar's vision, but Altar would simply shake his head and further disconnect himself. This was no time to feel. Quite the opposite, actually. Altar would keep his hands at the ready, preparing himself for another charge. The thrill of being on the edge of death was ever present in the young boy's body.

Haru growled in frustration as the boy remained silent. Without missing a beat, he released a pulse from his body, impacting with Haru and launching him backwards. Haru arced through the air, rolling so that he landed on his feet, sliding back against the dirt before coming to a stop, one hand on the ground for balance. There was about five meters between them now.
"Well... That's new..." He muttered in frustration. In his feral stance, Haru eyed up his opponent. He moved like Altar, that was for sure, and he had the same determination, but... Something was different. There was a certain spark that Haru had not seen before. He had never seen the boy so ready to take a life.

Even now, he stood there, ready to make another charge, and for a moment, time seemed to stand still as the two faced off. Without his realizing it, an aura started to form behind Haru, taking the shape of a large bear with a huge scar over its eye. The bear roared, echoing throughout the city, and Haru knew now that Xyxer had to be in on this. Nobody had come to his or Altar's aid, nobody had joined the fight. They had made quite the commotion, but only civilians watched their bout. 

Haru contemplated his options. He didn't want to kill Altar, but if he had to, he would be able to. His ANBU training had taught him that self preservation was more important than emotions. He was more useful to Kirigakure alive then dead, so alive he would remain. Still, he preferred to avoid killing his best friend. So for now, non lethal measures would be used. Haru would lunge forwards, his stance loose, as he began an eight trigrams assault. His Byakugan showed him the sixty four points he needed to hit, and his body willed him to strike quickly.

Haru would first strike at Altar's left arm, sliding inside Altar's guard before he could counter, and then striking his wrist, then his elbow, effectively disabling the arm. Now inside Altar's guard and safe from a stray chidori, Haru would then go for the other arm, striking the wrist and elbow again, before striking the neck, the chest, and finally the stomach. (170 Speed for the entire movement)

Should any of these hit, Haru would continue his attack on Altar's Tenketsu.

(616 AP)

Altar's eyes would widen ever so slightly as a manifestation of a bear started forming just behind Haru. Altar could feel the raw power rolling off of the man in front of him, as the power seemed to resonate from the bear behind him. Oddly, one of it's eyes was badly scarred. Perhaps that symbolized something. This... could be bad. Well... it would appear he would need to pull out all the stops. Activating his Meigan and Byakugan, Altar would fully disconnect his mind, finally allowing the voice in his head it's wish. "Yesssssss..." The seething hiss was the last thing Altar heard.

His brain now fully unhinged, Altar could almost feel all the sensations of pain and weariness leaving his body. A crimson aura would surround his body as a deafening roar would sound behind him. A fierce dragon would rise behind him, a burning black insignia burned into it's chest. "Behold, the Black Dragon rises!" This power...this emotional and mental detach...the will and desire only to hurt...it felt good.

And with not a sound, the action began.

Haru rushed towards Altar, the boy being able to track the man with little trouble. However, keeping up to par with moving that fast would take immense effort. It was possible, but it would be difficult. So, Altar would not take on his defense. He would instead keep on offense. A strike for every strike, blow for blow. Plan in his head, Altar would take the gentle fist form the man had taught him.

When Haru's arm moved in for Altar's left, he would sway to his right side, raise his left arm up, and use it to strike Haru's arm down and away, striking the wrist. He would then sway left and use his left arm to strike at Haru's stomach. Now only needing to worry about Haru's right arm, Altar would strike at the elbow with his right hand, and grab the man's wrist with his left, before throwing Haru's right arm to Altar's own left. This would serve to displace the man and turn him around, if all went according to plan. From here, Altar would strike at Haru's neck with his right hand, then just below his left arm, and his side, all in turn.

If all hits connected, Altar would continue the assault.

~AP = 573~

And so the dragon and the bear clashed, Haru's aura launching powerful strikes at the dragon, unafraid of the huge reptilian beast. Haru, meanwhile, noted now that this had to be Altar. He had taught the boy the gentle fist, and this was definitely that style. It was an impossible fighting style to emulate if one didn't know what they were doing. This was the real Altar, in the flesh. And yet, he was so different, so distant. Something was surely wrong with the boy. He would never just attack Haru like this unless something dire was on the line...

What was he to do? He knew the stakes. At least, he thought he did. He had to disable Altar, but the boy was putting up a good fight. Altar sidestepped Haru and attempted to swat his arm aside, but Haru was much faster. As the boy brought his arm down towards Haru's left arm, the Hyuuga would strike out with his left arm, jabbing Altar's hand at the wrist and disabling it. Due to his positioning, it was unlikely the boy would be able to avoid the taijutsu master's strike. 

With Altar's counter dealt with, Haru would then swing his left arm to the side, knocking Altar's right arm away before he could strike him with his forearm, before using his already drawn back position to strike forward, jabbing twice in the stomach, twice in the chest, and once on the neck, should all his strikes be allowed, Haru would have blocked six tenketsu, and continue his barrage.

(614 AP)

While the auras clashed above their heads, the two below were fighting just as fiercely, if not more so. Altar needed a new plan of action if he was going to actually be winning this fight. Leaning back and dodging out of the way of Haru's strikes, Altar would weave handsigns, and before a strike landed on the boy, he would be just behind Haru, a heavy piece of loose stone now where the boy stood before. However, he couldn't stop here.

Altar would spin himself around, forming a dome of chakra that, given Haru's orientation, would knock him forwards and off the ground. Altar's eyes would trace over the familiar sight of his sword, silhouetted on the ground. Taking off towards Haru, Altar would stoop down and scoop it up, never once taking his eyes off of the man in front of him. Seeing as the man appeared to be moving in slow motion before him, Altar would have no trouble catching up to the man in mid-air, and in one fluid movement he would coat his katana in lightning, and use it to cleave Haru's head horizontally in two.

But Altar wouldn't stop here. Instead, he would continue running alongside the man and form more handseals, completing the last one as his body would land from the air. Keeping his feet planted, a line of yuumei would crawl towards Haru, tracing the meager meter that seperated them. As the distance was so minimal, the cage would spring up around Haru within mere seconds of him landing on the ground, having traveled a total distance of about 10 meters from where he had taken off from the ground. Due to the nature of the cage, it would keep Haru's arms locked at his sides, disabling him from utilizing handsigns, let alone freely moving his arms. Presuming Haru had been trapped, Altar would run towards the cage and shove his lightning coated blade through the man's throat.

~AP=462~

The boy simply wasn't fast enough to keep up with Haru, although admittedly, he definitely displayed a lot of grit. Although Altar attempted to step back, as Haru was currently countering him, he had left himself open, and the strike at his wrist would land, leaving it disabled and sapping chakra from Altar, giving that chakra back to Haru through the sapping palms technique.

However, Altar's sacrifice of allowing the strike to land spared him from being assaulted by Haru's strikes aimed at his chest, at least for the moment, as he was no longer in arm's reach. Haru would step forward with Altar, but by then the hand seals were finished, and Altar was replaced by a rock. Frustrated, Haru began to turn around and attempt to strike Altar. Altar then attempted to knock Haru into the air with a rotation. While Haru had stronger positioning then before, and certainly could remain standing if he really wanted to, he was stunned for a moment, dazed even by the boy's killing intent. Haru was his best friend and mentor, and here he was, attacking him for power. The emotions rushed to his head and Haru almost quizzically allowed his feet to be pulled out from under him. He would be knocked into the air, away from the boy, who scooped up his sword and charged after him, attempting to go for a killing blow. 

It scared Haru a bit that Altar knew exactly how to kill him. Every strike had been aimed for his head, and his head was the only thing he could not protect with creation rebirth... It seemed that this had been premeditated. However, Haru was finished with this fight. The more he fought Altar, the more anger built up inside him... Why had Xyxer turned the boy against him? What good could come from infighting of the village?

As Haru flew through the air, he would lock eyes with Altar, who was closing in for the kill.
"Enough." He would say, barely above a whisper, yet louder then a bomb. The silence of the world around them was deafening.

In that moment, Haru changed. His form sparked with electricity for a moment, as Haru concentrated Yang energy. It only took a fraction of a fraction of a second, one could blink and miss the transformation that just took place. But Haru's form changed, clearly. His eyes began glowing red, his body began to almost flicker in the light, and his hair spiked up. Even his skin grew eerily pale, as if all color had been drained from it entirely. He was a blank canvas, fueled by silent rage.

Faster then Altar could see, Haru would make hand seals, replacing his form with the same rock that Altar had used to replace himself, appearing just in front of Altar, past the blade of his sword, within his guard, so that the boy could not turn the blade on him. The distance between them was so small that Altar would likely crash into Haru, whose stance would not falter. Haru's left hand would immediately move to Altar's right, striking his unblocked wrist first with enough force to break it, sending the blade it held flying into the air. Altar's other arm wouldn't serve much purpose if he somehow managed to retrieve the blade. 

Before Altar could react to losing his blade, however, Haru had his arm in a vice grip. There was no moment's pause as he pulled the boy over his head with extreme force, smashing him into the ground on his back, before lifting him over his head once more and smashing him into the ground again on the opposite side. The result would be an Altar that was not dead, nor was he broken, but heavily injured. Running at full speed, using a blade, and making hand signs would be incredibly difficult for the boy in this state, as he likely had multiple broken bones and dislocated joints, although no lethal or near lethal damage had been done. Haru had held back enough not to kill him, although he had gotten carried away for sure in his rage. 

He wasn't finished yet, however. He knew Altar, and he knew the boy would never stop until he was dead or completely unable to fight. Haru had to completely disable him to prevent him from fighting any more and risking his life. He would lift the boy up by his arm, releasing him and leaving him with a light upward momentum, still fast, but slow enough for Haru to get all his strikes in. A barrage of 19 strikes would meet the boy, trailing up both his legs and down both of his arms, leaving his limbs unusable and his body unconscious, should every strike land. 

The boy would continue flying up into the air, knocked out cold from the sudden outburst, before momentum ceased and the body began to sink to the earth. As this happened, the color bean returning to Haru as the fury would subside, fading back away and leaving Haru just as he had been before. Haru caught the boy and slung him over his shoulder just as the fury completely faded, checking his vitals. Alive, but minor physical injuries and major chakra circulatory injuries were present. Luckily the gentle step was nonlethal.

Altar was stunned as Haru began a transformation the boy had never seen before. All color seemed to drain from the man's skin as his eyes started to glow red and his hair stood on end. Everything from this point seemed to move in slow motion.

As Haru's strike connected, Altar's sword would fly into the air. Moving almost faster than he could see, Altar had no time to react as he was grabbed by the arm. As he was flung into the air, Altar would quickly start to form handsigns before slamming into the ground and releasing a pulse of yuumei from his body. This would force Haru to release his grip, and Altar would finish the handsigns as his back impacted the ground. Since the distance between the two were so close, the cage would spring up at Haru's feet almost immediately after Altar hit the ground.

Assuming Haru fell prey to the cage, Altar would roll forward and catch his sword before rising to his feet, swinging his blade, dissipating the cage and cutting the man in half.

If Haru avoided the cage, Altar would form handsigns and breathe out a stream of water aimed for Haru.

As Haru’s barrage began, smashing the boy into the ground over and over, it seemed Altar was not completely helpless against Haru’s assault, although he still definitely was injured from being smashed into the ground. As the boy struck the ground, he released the same pulse of energy from his body as before, something Haru was finding unendingly annoying. As his hand flew free of Altar’s leg, Altar used his Yuumei to form a cage around Haru at point blank range. Even as it formed, Haru knew he was strong enough to break this cage. As it formed, Haru was already pushing against the bars, ripping away the chakra-sapping substance with ease. However, Altar would still have time to regain his sword and roll towards him, due to their close proximity. As the boy dissipated the cage, Haru smirked.

The blade came quickly, but Haru was quicker. He brought up his hand, catching the blade directly by the edge, and closing his fist around it, applying his own medical energy to fortify his health as he did so, his bleeding fingers letting off steam as the energy restored the damage before it was even dealt. At the same time as he would grab the sword, Haru would reach forward with his other hand, grabbing Altar by the neck, using the boy’s own forward momentum against him. Altar would have quite a bit of trouble dodging him.

As Haru seized Altar by the throat, he also yanked the blade out of the boy’s hands, turning it effortlessly in his hand and holding it back, away from the boy.
”Try to move, and I’ll crush your windpipe and cut you in two.” He warned, his voice echoing through the empty streets. As he said this, he began to tighten his grip, choking the boy. He made sure to restrict his strength, so that Altar wasn’t killed, but quite frankly, Haru was growing tired of this game. He held the blade, ready to lash out or thrust forward at the boy, if he tried to use his hands for seals or to free himself. ”No Chidori, no Rotations, and no pulses of energy. I’ll kill you before you manage to free yourself, I promise.” He threatened, anger clear in his voice.

Haru would choke Altar until he lost consciousness, no more than that. As the boy’s movements would slow to a halt, Haru would release the brunt of his grip, the Fury of the Storm fading away as the fight was complete. Still holding the boy, Haru would let him go, his form collapsing to the ground.

Altar's eyes would flare, his neck held firmly in Haru's grip. The dragon would once again emerge from Altar's back, letting out one last roar as a crack of thunder sounded in the distance. During the course of the fight, the sky had darkened, black clouds rolling in on top of the pair, and they now let out their downpour, the droplets smashing against the ground with force. 

Altar would struggle slightly in the man's grip, but to no avail. His eyes would flicker and color would begin to fade, as did the dragon. Altar would take this time to examine the man holding him. Was this how he had been mere seconds before? Someone so uncaring, unfeeling, the only true emotion being a vague satisfaction at the end result. Someone bred and trained to take lives and take lives only. No questions asked. Was this what Altar was striving to become? An attack dog without mind or soul? Haru was completely ready to take Altar's life at the moment. Was this what an ANBU was?

He had no desire to become what was in front of him.

A flash of lightning would illuminate the otherwise dark and dreary scene, leaving half of the pair's body in light, the other half still drenched in shadow. Through gritted teeth, Altar would speak to the man before him.

"Is this...who you are? Is this...who we've...become? Loyalty...to the end...eh?"

After this, Altar would feel consciousness slip from him.