The silence between the two kunoichi was broken by a flash of lightning. Not in the sky — but in Karui's hand.
Raiton: Chakra Flow.
She charged at Anko, sword raised, lightning in her veins, determined to end this. The blade came down in a diagonal arc, slicing through the air with surgical precision. Anko stepped back, but Karui followed, relentless.
A second strike, horizontal.
A third, sweeping.
Sparks flew with each impact—against branches, stones, even the very air.
"Such a big mouth for someone so weak…"
Karui cursed, missing her target again and again. Anko, armed with a kunai, spun, rolled, dodged—but Karui kept coming, each strike faster, fiercer, like waves in a thunderstorm, leaving no room to breathe.
Anko grimaced. She couldn't afford to play around anymore. This wasn't like her previous fight with Takeshi, where she had some level of control.
She leapt back and pressed two fingers to her neck.
"I didn't want to use this… but... damn it!"
The seal awakened.
"Cursed Mark, Level One."
Her body tensed as black chakra surged. A dark aura enveloped her, like a fog of shadows. Black markings snaked across her neck and arms, pulsing with each heartbeat. Her pupil slit, and a feral grin twisted her face.
Scaly growths emerged on her forearms. Fangs gleamed in her mouth.
Karui froze for a split second.
"What the hell… is that?"
But Anko didn't wait.
She lunged—faster, wilder. Her clawed hand tore through the air, aiming for Karui's face. Karui blocked with her sword, but the impact sent her flying. She hit the ground and rose shakily, her arm numb.
A serpent burst from Anko's sleeve, targeting her throat.
Karui stepped back and slashed diagonally—the snake dissolved into black smoke.
"Wasn't I the one with the big mouth…?"
Anko laughed. A guttural, almost inhuman laugh. This was why she hated using this power—because she lost herself in it, gave in to carnage. In this form, she had once killed her childhood friend… and ever since, she blamed it on the greed she had back then.
A few years earlier...
Cold walls. Flickering torches. A silhouette twisted by the dancing light emerged.
Orochimaru.
He stared at her with his eternal smile, somewhere between charm and menace.
"Do you want to be stronger, Anko? Faster? Unstoppable?"
She, younger, with uncertain eyes, nodded silently. She loved her sensei, after all.
"Then give up on being human."
He stepped forward. His clawed finger brushed the back of her neck.
"Men hesitate. Beasts kill. Demons... transcend."
The ritual had been brief. Pain. Blood. And the cold burn of the seal etched into her flesh.
He told her she might die.
She survived—but at what cost? Of the ten others tested, only she made it. And later, she learned the man she admired was nothing like what she had believed…
Back to the present.
"You see, Karui," Anko said, her voice raspy as she straightened, "you've forced me to use this strength I loathe… I hope you're ready to suffer the consequences…"
Karui took her stance again. Her blade glowed, but her breathing was short.
"You're just your master's puppet. Nothing more."
Anko growled, the air vibrating with her dark chakra.
She charged.
The clearing became a battlefield. Blows rained down—claws versus steel, serpent versus lightning. The ground tore open, trees ignited or fell broken.
Karui saw an opening. Her blade slashed through the air, slicing Anko's thigh—a spray of blood. But Anko didn't retreat. She grabbed Karui by the throat and slammed her against a tree.
Karui gasped, the air knocked from her lungs.
She released a pulse of pure chakra from her fist, striking Anko in the stomach.
Anko staggered back, dropped to one knee.
Both kunoichi bled. Their breaths steamed in the forest air.
"Is that all you've got?" Anko hissed.
Karui didn't answer.
She closed her eyes.
Raiton… channel it. Strike at the right moment.
She focused her chakra into her legs.
"Raiton: Thunder Impact."
She shot forward like a comet. Her speed caught Anko off guard.
But the snake-wielder, on sheer instinct, raised a wall of fangs—a barrier of snakes she had prepared in silence.
Karui pierced halfway through, her sword shredding through reptilian flesh—but it wasn't enough to reach the heart.
A counterattack struck.
Anko stabbed a dagger into Karui's left shoulder.
Karui screamed. But she didn't back down.
Her blade spun in her right hand, and sliced Anko's side from hip to waist.
The two women broke apart, stumbling. The mist, nearly gone, began to return. Blood stained the leaves. The earth. Their clothes.
Karui dropped to one knee, breathing hard. Anko held her side, her breath wheezing. She could feel the poison working—there wasn't much time left. She had to finish this once and for all.
She had come here ready to die…