You Can't Run from Fate

The woods seemed almost serene as the sounds of the night continued on, seemingly ignorant of the events that had just transpired. Trees seemed to have been knocked over incandescently, deep cuts riddled the ground, upturned soil and bone spikes took the place of grass as the entirety of the situation resulted in one big, rough, makeshift clearing. And, in the middle of it were two distinct figures, the ones responsible for such a violation of nature as was caused by their battle. Or, rather, it would be if what had transpired could even be considered a true fight....

The man in black slowly slumped over as he struggled to stand. His mind slowly fading him as he breathed heavily, each gasping huff of air burning across the entirety of his skin as blood coated his already thin form. The very wind itself had become his enemy, slowly forcing him to inevitably give in and fall before his foe. With blurred vision, he examined what he was up against one last time. A man clothed in white, now stained with his blood, who possessed white hair. His body seemed normal except for the tendril-like spikes of bone extending out from him as spider like limbs, stretching across the sky as the moon eclipsed its twisted form only further highlighting the sheer alien nature of the ability.

Huhh... so that's where the boss got the idea from.... From these things. These inhuman creatures in human form. And yet, despite that, I can't help myself. They truly are fascinating.... So this is what it means to lose one's humanity? So be it. I concede. If sacrificing humanity is this strong, then I shall as well.... Just you wait, you brat... my time will come. The day shall arrive when I, too, become a monster. One even greater than you! A beast to rival the gods, themselves! Then you shall see. Then you shall all see the power of one devoted to destroying himself for the purpose of creating an entirely new existence!

A cruel cackling laugh weakly escaped the wounded man at his revelation. Indeed! That was what he was missing! Pure destruction, an absolute in nothingness for the sake of new life! Even as his foe walked away, he reveled in the concept he had come across. His bones had been broken, his muscles destroyed, his spirit shattered. And yet, despite all of this, the will to better himself lived on. And, in the coming years, it consumed him completely.

This was the story of Zeel. The most unusual and mysterious of the Blacksuits. A man whose very existence should be impossible who struggled on to take even more and more risks with his very soul itself each and every day in his ever-evolving transformation into something truly terrible.

Spoiler:

"I suppose this would be a good time to note that I don't have a weapon. Bukijutsu is weapon based, right?" Kiigan cautioned, holding up his empty hands to show June as they made their way to the training grounds. "Well, I guess saying these aren't weapons would be unfair..." he lowkey bragged, smirking as he made fists and idly punched the air. Kiigan so far specialized in Taijutsu, so his fists and feet really were his weapons. Maybe going up against an actual weapon user would help him navigate serious situations later on...you know, if he had any plans whatsoever of being a useful shinobi beyond getting paid.

The walk wasn't long to the area where they had met each other. Part of him was antsy about it, not that it made sense to be. The odds of her accidentally summoning a gigantic murder fox that hated Matatabi seemed unlikely, but it didn't change the fact that he'd almost died here not too long ago. Sometimes he still felt like he could smell the ink that had nearly suffocated him, and sometimes at night his dreams were just as black. He wouldn't mention any of this, of course.

Awkwardly, June forced a slight laugh at Kiigan's joke. As she brushed her hair to the side, she glanced away for a moment. At least he was trying and she should be supportive of him opening up to people, but that bit of humor just felt so... so forced. He went so far out of his way just to make that joke. But at least they were both just making forced efforts together now, right? So that was fine... wasn't it?

"Well... I guess your fists are dangerous?" She muttered, not quite sure what to say. "But I had something else in mind. I don't know how good this guy is, so I was thinking it might be better for you to face him first. Let him feel you out... you know? .... I could have said that better...." She shook her head clumsily before turning back to him to try and reset what she just said. Now that she was paying attention, the fog was still pretty bad today, wasn't it?

"What I mean is that you'll fight him with a sword so we can try and get a grip on just how strong he is against someone less skilled. And then, after that, I'll face him and... well, then I'll be able to adjust myself to how good he is if I have to, I think.... Or something...." Actually, now that it was on her mind, where was the guy they were supposed to spar against? Despite her best efforts, the field seemed silent. Not a single person could be made out in it, but it was hard to tell specifically from where they were. Still though, somehow this place felt different. It felt more empty... almost ominously so....

"Hey, Kiigan.... There's not... ACTUALLY a ghost here.... Right?" She chattered through a mildly concerned voice.

"Uuuh...?" the young man stammered, looking at her and then into the fog. Where did that come from? Those trash rappers? Figures she would take it seriously. "I've never seen a ghost here. Just people training," he answered, also scanning the mist for any shadows that may be their mission objective. Living in Kiri for pretty much his whole life, one would think everyone would be used to the generally persistent fog, but he still found himself annoyed with it. Almost always damp, and visibility was low. It made him appreciate those occasional days of sunshine all the more.

"Besides, how could anyone spot a ghost here? Wouldn't a shadowy spirit just blend in with the already shadowy mist? Natural ghost camo..." he muttered, not really realizing this viewpoint was probably even more terrifying to someone already half believing there could be. Ghosts were already hard to see, so in this case they'd be all but invisible, perfect for sneaking up and doing...whatever it is that ghosts can do that's so frightening. "If there was, I think more people would be talking about it since this is such a popular place. Someone other than those exposition nerds would have seen it."

As Kiigan talked, should he look over, he would notice that June was suddenly gone. The one who had been right next to him just a moment ago was just gone, leaving behind nothing but her footprints in the ground from where they were walking as if she had simply vanished into non-existence mid-conversation.

However, muffled screams could be heard from elsewhere in the mist.

Expecting at least some sort of response to his statement, his grumpy face turned toward where June should have been toddling along beside him, but she wasn't there. He stopped mid-step, turning three hundred sixty degrees to look for her. "Yo! June. If you're trying to scare me, it won't wo-" he started to holler, but was interrupted by the muffled screams. His brows shot up in alarm. Was the ghost real?! Had it grabbed her?

"JUNE!" he called loudly, heading in the direction of the sound, though he couldn't see any sign of what had happened or where she may be now. Maybe their client was playing a prank, or trying to raise the stakes of the spar? That would be absolutely stupid, so he doubted that was it. If June wasn't just pulling his chain, he'd certainly beat down whoever was responsible for this. You don't just go around grabbing people in the mist!

Eventually, an unknown man's voice broke through the silence. "You're Kiigan, right? The Two Tails? I didn't expect you to come here. For that, I apologize. I should have expected this once I was told about what you did the other day. Ohhh... what to do, what to do.... Decisions decisions." Each word came off both loose but almost methodical in their intention. Almost as if the man behind the voice was merely toying with the Jinchuriki with each point instead of actually letting information slip as one might have initially thought at first from his words alone.

Finally, the man revealed himself, walking out from the fog into view. He appeared to be a little over five feet tall, his body covered in varied black bandages of some kind that fit loosely on him under an already loose black button-up dress shirt and pants with a red tie loosely hung from his neck. His head didn't show any hair, being completely covered by the bandages, which revealed nothing except for an exposed piercing right eye and a set of white teeth with no sign of his lips in sight. But, even more pressing, was what was behind him. Wrapped up in loose bandages connected to either arm, the man seemed to be dragging both June and a young brown haired man in simple clothing behind him, with June struggling to escape her bindings as the younger man remained completely still despite being dragged. It was clear to anyone, even at a distance, that he probably wasn't just sleeping, but whether or not he was actually breathing was another matter entirely.

"Lets get down to business then." The bandaged man openly declared as he motioned his hand, several cats of various colors stepping out of the mist behind him and coming into view. "You see, my name is Zeel. I like to collect things! It's nothing much, just a fun little hobby. But gee. It seems like I'm short a cat." His eye seemed to intensify as he almost seemed to glare at Kiigan or, at least, as close to a glare as his expressionless form could create.... "I wonder who could have taken it. Who indeed! Oh well. I guess if I can't collect a cat, then maybe I should collect something else, instead?"

"Seriously?" Kiigan huffed under his breath, just trying to process it all. This guy was a freak. He had June...and probably the poor client. And he was pissed because one of the cats from the stupid mission was his? No freaking way. The ridiculousness of it all had him teetering between disbelief and anger. Maybe it was still a joke? Well, June didn't look like she was joking, wrapped up like this. And the guy really hit a nerve with the jinchuriki crap.

"I think collecting people is called kidnapping and is generally frowned upon..." Kiigan skirted his growing agitation, not wanting to provoke the man who had two hostages too much since he seemed unhinged, but also unable to completely restrain his sarcasm. He didn't like this at all. Zeel knew way more about him than the other way around. "If you're implying I took your cat, it was just out with a bunch of strays chowing on a fish. You should be more careful with your pets," he said, eyeing all the cats as well. "Kirigakure has a standing mission for genin to catch stray cats for children, so I'm surprised this hasn't happened to you more. I'm sure you could catch a new cat if you wanted, but maybe collecting rocks or coins would be easier?" he asked, slowly walking toward the guy to get to June. "So, if you could untie her, that'd be great..."

Zeel suddenly raised his finger and waved it at Kiigan at his attempt to move closer. "Uh-uhh, I'd stay back if I were you. Come on, we have plenty of time to talk. Don't worry about her, she'll be out soon enough and I'd kindly prefer not to have to haul a corpse back to the three pillars." As he talked, his teeth constantly remained in view. The more he spoke, the more it seemed like he might not actually have lips at all beneath the unusually dark shadows of his bandages.

"You see, the thing about cats are that they're quite fickle. They don't like to listen. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say some of them just want to kill themselves! Imagine that! But there's only so far they can go for help. So sometimes they tend to wonder off, cry for attention, look for people to turn them back. Usual cat things." He raised his hand threateningly as the bandages began to unravel, flashing complex symbols across their length with a golden glow as they loosened.

"You took my cat, two tails. So I suppose it's only fair that I take yours, right? Just come along and this will be so much easier on everyone involved. Who knows? You might even get to kill her yourself! And then there's that demon inside of you. You hate it, don't you? You despise it. It annoys you, doesn't it? What if I said I might be able to remove that pesky little annoyance from you without killing you?"

Kiigan held still, the eyes much like Matatabi's own searching this maniac's face, as well as his body and the two he had wrapped up. His mouth smoothed into a grim line, brows drawing down enough to crinkle the skin above the bridge of his nose. This was serious. Serious enough that he took inventory of his own skill level, since he couldn't glean much from his opponent. Kiigan didn't know many jutsu. He was still just a genin, and one that had only just begun warming up to being a ninja again for his own gain.

It pissed him off that the instant he decided to do that, here came the nutcases either wanting to use him or wanting to claim the demon for themselves. This is why he had shunned this way of life to begin with! This very reason! A vein on his temple started to pulsate.

However, his ears did perk at the very last thing the lipless mummy said. Was it really possible for the two tails to be removed from his body without killing him? Simply entertaining the idea vexed the wraith inside into a flurry of scolds and reminders that people like this would say anything to get a tailed beast, and that he probably couldn't do as he claimed. Kiigan wasn't a child anymore. He knew that it was probably a trap, but what if? Though it hurt Matatabi's feelings a bit, neither of them were surprised that he would love for it to be truth.

Masking his uncertainty, Kiigan spoke again. "For you to not have known I was coming, this seems awfully convenient. Planned almost. It's pretty unoriginal," he remarked, looking at the strange loosening bandages and tightening his own around his arms and hands. It didn't make sense. "If you really didn't intend to try to get at me, then why take June hostage? Did you need something from her already? Or were you just lurking here with your creepy cats and saw an opportunity to use a girl and a stranger against me?"

"Oh, you mean this?" Zeel casually mentioned as his bandages lifted June's body up with practically no effort at all, directly holding in front of him. Her eyes seemed shut now. Her body unmoving as she no longer seemed to even be breathing. "I just came by to take the easy prey. Fighting Jinchuriki is hard work, you know! So much uncertainty with the anger and the power boosts. But don't worry, you're too big of a prize to be ignored and we've only got so long of a window to go for it."

The Blacksuit's head tilted as the weight of his head bandages completely shifted with him. "Oops, did I let that slip?" He deliberately stated as openly as possible. "Originally, we wanted to just watch this one. Let her do on, grow a little, maybe even breed more of her kind. But since then, things have changed. The old Mizukage's gone and the new one's a Uchiha. It's only a matter of time before they crack down on the the body part trade. Even if they won't, the boss doesn't like taking the risk and he wants to cash both of you in ASAP so we can focus more on other nations."

His hand seemed to twitch slightly before relaxing off to the side in more of a conversationalist position, motioning slightly with his key words instead of being pointed at the man in front of him. "You know what that means? The Three Pillars are coming. I'd think they're barely a week away, at worst. And once they arrive, well, you're not going to have many options. Tell me, how does that make you feel? Worried? Angry? Maybe confused? I'd love to repeat it back to you if you still don't get the point.... You're fucked. You all are! And its only a matter of time before they take you out if you don't give yourself up willingly, so you might as well just take my offer so at least I can get the reward for this over those higher-ups who already have everything they could possibly need."

The sight of June hovering there, her fate uncertain, set him on fire. Not because they had become suddenly very close, though at the very least she didn't mind doing missions with him. No, more because even if this guy had come for June, now he was using her against him simply because he was a jinchuriki, and that hit a nerve. Everything the creep said only fueled it. Kiigan didn't understand any of it, but he wasn't just handing himself over to anyone, not this guy and not whoever these pillars were.

He wasn't anyone's prize or tool! He was a person who just happened to have a sought after demon inside him. He didn't ask for this, and honestly his first instinct, like usual, was to run. Deprive all these greedy trolls their toy bu not falling for their schemes. He was a selfish man, one tho definitely wasn't a hero, so though he didn't really want to leave the girl behind, there was a part of him that considered it. Probably the same part that considered taking the offer to have the nibi removed if it wouldn't kill him.

However, the second being he shared a body with was furious at his selfishness, and wasted no time reminding him of her previous threat. It didn't take much to convince him. While he was selfish and un-heroic, yes, he also wasn't so morally bankrupt that he could really walk away and leave June in this situation. There were at least three ways he could die here, so he wanted to go with the least cowardly one.

Kiigan lunged for the wrapped up June held between the creep and himself, hoping to burn the connecting wrapping and set her free from his control so he could go at this guy without having to worry about meat shields.

"HMM?!" Zeel uttered aggressively as Kiigan's flames cut through the bandages effortlessly. Surprised at the sudden turn of events, the bandaged man stumbled backwards, his mouth open in shock as the red haired man actually went a step further and actually managed to catch the hostage in his arms without a second thought before removing the bandages.

He just went at me! He! Just went at ME! This nothing rookie Jinchuriki thinks he's so clever as to throw out attacks while ignoring my words? "Oh- hohoho hoo!" The man in black awkwardly chuckled to himself as he stared directly into Kiigan's eyes. "How uncivilized. You've really put me in a pickle. You should feel bad about that, right? But oh well, I guess I have to forgive you. Fortunately, for you, I'm not prepared to fight a giant angry cat. At least, not yet. So I guess I'll just go for this, instead."

Before the brawler had a chance to drop June, Zeel pushed his foot off the ground, rushing forward haphazardly as he raised his right hand, the bandages coming undone one after another as a strange yellowish-green glow shone brightly from underneath! "Full Body Seal: Release!" Then, out of nowhere, a flash of light erupted from Zeel's palm as a blindingly fast beam shot from the glow, aimed straight at Kiigan's chest!

Yeah, he should've ran and freed June later. Too bad he hadn't considered that before now. Kiigan had very little combat experience...well, that was even making it sound like he'd had a little. If smashing training dummies and fist fights in bars counted, then he had some experience. But fighting with a real ninja, one that probably had no qualms about killing people? That was new.

As the beam came way too fast for him to dodge, the least he could do was lower June in his arms enough that whatever the attack did wouldn't get her too. Kiigan pre-emptively tensed, squeezing his eyes as he took the full brunt of it to his chest, just as the creep planned.

As the beam thinned before suddenly stopping, Zeel twitched his head slightly. His bandages wrapped back around his hand, covering the glowing energy as a set of symbols flashed back across them. "Hehh...." The man in black uttered with contempt. "It stings to let loose 200 like that, but maybe now you understand what you're dealing with."

Suddenly, June began coughing as she sprung back awake, her eyes shooting open as air was forced back into her body all at once with a dramatic gasp. What was going on? Was this a genjutsu? If so, she didn't feel anything. Things just suddenly went black and after screaming in panic she just couldn't breathe... and then... here she was in someone's arms. Who was carrying her?

Slowly, the woman glanced up, trying to make her first meeting with her would-be savior more dramatic before her eyes widened in surprise! Right next to her head was a patch of black fur on someone's chest! And the left arm that was holding her... it was a weird deformed cat-like paw, lightly covered in hair! Her vision suddenly shot up to the face, which seemed to now feature one slitted cat-like eye, a pointed ear, a sharper left tooth, and another patch of black hair coming out of his teeth! Her surprise suddenly hit her all at once as June almost instantly rolled out of his arms before forcing herself back on her feet.

"K-K- KIIGAN!!!" She shouted without thinking. "YOU'RE HALF-CAT! OR LESS!"

"Cor-r-r-r-ect!" Zeel replied as he physically grabbed the side of his head to snap his neck to the side before pulling it back into place. "Nature Energy's quite a weird thing, isn't it? When controlled, it's incredibly powerful. But let it go free and I wonder how much further this would go? Why, I'd say you only have another hit or two left. That is, if your body can even take the change! HAH!"

Spoiler:

The pointy ear on top of the left side of his head angled backward in agitation after he looked down at himself. The shock was pretty bad, but he was too pissed to freak out. "IDIOT!" he roared, refusing to consider being stuck this way or worse. How was this guy just skulking around turning people into cats and none of the chuunin or jounin of Kirigakure knew or cared? This is something that monster kid from the other day should be dealing with, not two genin on a D-rank sparring mission. Security in this village was seriously lacking!

Kiigan backflipped out of sight into the mist, using Mist-Style: Silent Killing so that he was completely silent. Moving around, the tried to decide the best angle of attack. Zeel probably would assume he'd moved to attack from a surprise angle like the back or side, but Kiigan rushed back in from the same direction he'd left, doing a Dynamic Entry flying kick aimed at his face, the extended foot engulfed in blue flames. "UNDO THIS!" he demanded savagely, intending to beat this man to death until he did just that.

"Don't you deny me!" The bandaged man shouted as Kiigan suddenly launched forward, managing to slam his foot against Zeel's face, sending his head twisting to the side with a cracking noise before the Blacksuit simply put his left foot on the ground in a staggered step. An odd cackling laugh escaped him, sounding somehow close to a weird moan of almost... enjoyment? "Ohh-Ka-KAHAHAHAA!" Zeel uttered as his head turned back in place with another snapping sound. "I may not be the strongest guy, but my full body seal is the real deal! If you're trying to kill me, you'll need to do more than that! Your weakened state's not giving me nearly enough... I mean, good hit! A few more of those and I'll be toast for sure!"

However, while he was taunting Kiigan, the man was suddenly interrupted by a large cloud of smoke appearing in front of June as she suddenly pointed forward. "Puu! Get him!!!" Before he could react, Zeel suddenly found himself faced with a lion-shaped mass of hair that quickly extended forward, grabbing his body as it tightly wrapped around him from the torso down, completely tying the man up! At least, for now.

A sigh of relief escaped the woman as she put her summoning scroll away and tried to relax herself a bit. She didn't know who this guy was or what he was about, but he did something to Kiigan that seemed to be aimed at her. And, also, now that she had a chance to take in the scene, he seemed to have some poor kid wrapped up with the same technique he used on her behind him. As the man's bandages folded over eachother, swiftly snuffing out the flames, she slowly found herself turning to Kiigan.

"Please...." She began. "Can you tel me what's going on, Kiigan? What is this guy after? What did he do? I don't... I don't understand any of this.... But... I just don't want anyone to get hurt, so.... I don't know. What do you think we should do, Kiigan?"

Before she could get an answer, June suddenly let loose a shocked noise as she noticed a grey cats suddenly pouncing straight at her summon!

This was not the time to stop and explain the situation. Couldn't she see that things were really bad? He was half cat for crying out loud, and this creep still had a hostage and was clearly after both of them! He shot a glance at her, noticing the imminent attack on Puu. "June! The cats!" he called first, concentrating on building his chakra into his fist, which started to flicker blue as well. Having this fire element just happen because of his deal with Matatabi was nice, but he needed to put this guy down. Now was the time, since he was all wrapped up. While Dynamic Entry hadn't done a whole lot, this next juts was bound to do more damage if it connected, even in his weakened state.

"This guy took you to harvest body parts or something. Then when he noticed I was with you, his eyes lit up and he got big, stupid plans. It happens a lot when you're a jinchuriki. Everyone wants what's inside and just tosses away the wrapper," he explained, flames swirling and jumping off his fist. He ran forward now before the man could get free, using Cherry Blossom Impact with hopes of doing a great amount of damage.

Instinctively, June's eyes were drawn to the cat! Was this weird bandaged guy controlling them?! HOW??? It didn't matter! Not now, at least! Without thinking, she drew her blade at the pet, meeting its gaze as she prepared to strike. But, at the most vital moment, her resolve suddenly faltered. She couldn't do it... she couldn't just cut down a cat! As it attacked, Puu thankfully jumped forward, avoiding the animal's attack while keeping Zeel tied up with its tail. But then, almost immediately, the cat's legs touched the ground as it jumped back at June instead! Without hesitating, June raised her arms to try and desperately protect herself as the cat managed to dig into her flesh with its claws, lightly cutting her as June winced in pain.

Meanwhile, Zeel twisted his head at Kiigan as the attack came. "Do you really think-" He uttered before suddenly being cut off as the red haired man's fist slammed against the side of his head! Immediately, his eye widened, almost bulging out of his head as his face was forced towards the ground before being violently stopped by the hair jutsu tying him up. A pained grunt escaped the man as he vomited up blood from the sudden hit, his bandages coming undone from the impact. As they quickly twisted back into place, for just a split second, it seemed like he might have an eye implanted into his forehead that was forced to close shut in pain.

"G- good for you-!" The man in black strained through his pain as more blood dripped down before he sharply twisted his head around at an awkward angle. Without warning, his teeth suddenly seemed to re-adjust themselves, pointing forward before they all simultaneously extended at Kiigan in a fan-shaped arc,each end now a dangerous flat point that threatened to cut right through him, leaving the man next to no ways to dodge the incoming attack!

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT SHE IS!!!" Zeel roared without moving his mouth mid-attack. "KNOW THAT AS YOU DIIIEEEE!!!"

Spoiler:

Kiigan flinched back in disgust and surprise as the teeth extended out at him, managing to step back and twist to try and avoid the attack. That at least protected his vital organs, but earned him a deep gash in his right side. Hissing through his teeth, he staggered and scrambled to put some distance between them while gripping the bleeding wound.

"Who cares what she is?" Kiigan asked, voice strained. "I don't care about crap like that. Quit trying to sound high and mighty...as if I have any right to care what anyone is, if they're different than I am...you're the freak here," he growled, mind racing to how to get out of this. June seemed to be having a hard time with a cat, but as of right now it wasn't life threatening. He needed to continue to act while this guy was wrapped up in fur.

He disappeared back into the mist, moving silently around while he thought. The other hostage...maybe letting them free would help. Three on one, if you don't count the cats. Burning more bandages would work if he could, and maybe get another solid hit in. Moving behind Zeel, he attempted to burn the other guy free before he lunged a flaming hand at the back of the creep's head.

As Kiigan approached, the man in black's extended teeth twitched erratically as he suddenly moved his bandages, along with the kid they were strung around, to avoid the brawler's fire attack before holding the child up as a human shield against his next move. "You really don't understand, do you? I've gained a sense for chakra through controlling this nature energy. My entire body's practically one giant eyeball, once I'm focused your big flashy moves might as well be a torch drawing me straight to them!"

But, before he could respond, Zeel's attention suddenly shifted as he looked directly at June. Instinctively, the woman flinched in shock at the sight of his weird weaponry. Something about it made her uncomfortable on a deep level.

"You!" Zeel shouted as his mouth suddenly flashed with light green light! The inside of his throat glowed intensely as June's eyes widened in confusion. This felt familiar, but where did she know this from? It was from... somewhere.... Where did she see this attack before?! Before she could come to an answer, a sense of dread suddenly forced her to act, rushing forward as she grabbed Puu, forcing him to undo the jutsu as she leaped forward onto the ground with the fox in her arms as she just barely avoided the beam of light! Why.... Why did she know what was going to happen?! Where did that knowledge come from?!?

Kiigan barely managed to not pummel the human shield, tipping himself off balance enough to aim his fist at the ground near Zeel's feet. It hit hard enough to create a small impact impact crater and send tiny pieces of rock debris kicking up into the air like petals. This was terrible. the jinchuriki's mind raced so fast, it felt almost as if time had slowed down. He had no idea what strength rank Zeel was in or anything about him, so it was hard to consider a strategy other than punch it until it stops moving, not including the complication of there being a hostage. Kiigan's own strength was nerfed because he was half cat, making his go to fighting style less effective. Now this guy was aiming at June, who was now starting to piss him off because he knew she could use that lava move and at least she had a sword. Maybe if they could coordinate, they could take this guy out.

He muttered a colorful word under his breath as the fox fur receded, meaning the enemy was once again free to move around, but at least he was distracted by June. The brawler hoped to take advantage of this to get in a barrage of fiery punches, kicks, and even cat scratches with his paw-like left hand while in too close of range for the human shield to be inserted.

As soon as Kiigan tried to rush in, Zeel turned around, retracting his teeth back to normal as a stray strand of bloody drool dripped down them. He seemed more frustrated than anything else at the direct attack. Was that still his plan? To just run in and punch him? Such predictable simplicity! Before the first attack hit, Zeel suddenly crossed his arms as his bandages loosened, a twisted glint of joy flashing across his eye as he revealed his glowing arms.

Immediately, June realized what was going on as she tried to rush in and stop what was happening. Her mind went completely blank as she ran straight at the man, sword in hand, as she pulled the weapon back and swiftly jumped at him. Her blade was ready as she prepared to cut into his neck! But, before she did it, her body seemed to freeze on its own. She... just couldn't.... She couldn't do it. No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to actively kill someone!

"Knew you still can't follow through!" The monstrous man suddenly announced as he continued with his wide-ranged flashing attack, all while June was stuck standing still right behind Zeel. Her weapon prepared to strike as it shook in her hands, frozen in fear.

What could she even do? What choices did she even have here? As the Jinchuriki was forced to either follow through with his attack or try to avoid the light, one phrase escaped the woman. "Kiigan, I can't!-"

Choosing to avoid the light, he backflipped away, his own blood slinging around as the motion pulled his flesh open. He came to a stop, the path splattered with red. Kiigan's angry gaze shifted from Zeel to June. "What do you mean you can't?!" he seethed, not quite believing what just happened. "You could have ended this... where a guy is actively trying to take you and sell your body parts...also trying to take me and kill me to get Matatabi... but you...can't?" he asked as he neared her, as if trying to clarify the situation to both himself and to the idiot girl he was cursed with.

Why was she even trying to be a ninja? Killing wasn't easy, he knew that. He'd never done it himself. But it was still taught as something that was necessary. To complete missions, to survive, ninjas had to be willing and able to do what it took. He wanted to scream all of this at her, but he'd already asked her that question. Kiigan had learned that lesson. Plus, this wasn't the time.

"So...you'd rather both of us die, rather than kill the evil guy?" His voice was more flat this time. He didn't have any weapons. All he had was this blue flame that he almost didn't know what to do with. His taijutsu required him to get up close, which might get him turned into a cat or worse. He was stuck. That sat in his gut like a frozen rock. Kiigan had to face it. He couldn't do this, especially not in his current condition. Worse yet, he had to admit it.

"June! I can't do this," he started, almost pleading. "I can't kill him. I don't have the right abilities...but you do. You had the perfect shot, and we might be able to get another chance..." he trailed off, pulling his bloody cat paw from his wound and holding it up to force her to see the blood. "This is reality. Are you going to let me die? The other guy still wrapped up...let him die, too? And yourself? To what...spare the life of a legit bad dude? This is real. Good and evil. Life and death, June."

"I-... I...." June stuttered before she forced herself to look away. He was right. She was a disgrace... why was she even trying to be a ninja if she couldn't take a life? Just what was wrong with her? Why couldn't she just finish someone off to save everyone?!

Suddenly, Zeel pointed his left arm at her, keeping her from moving with the threat of his unusual attacks. "I take offense to being called 'evil'!" He announced. "It's just fair business. They've got the parts I want and I do what they're going to do anyways. But, more importantly, I wonder if someone out there would ever possibly know what's going on here. Oh wait! I DO."

Almost immediately, the memories came flooding back as the white haired woman began clutching the side of her head. That... that was right.... "Please don't...." She muttered to herself, almost like she was in some form of trance. "I didn't-...."

The Blacksuit almost managed to form something close to a smile as his teeth seemed to reposition themselves to try and form the gesture. "It was shortly after coming here, wasn't it? It was one of my first missions. Back then, I wanted to just capture you and leave you tied up with food for a few years until it was time to cash you in. That's around when you made a friend of someone, wasn't it? Some random nobody who just wanted to be nice to you for a change with nothing but good intentions. And then you know what happened, Kiigan? You know what your innocent little angel-poo did?!"

"Stop!" June breathed as she began crying, tears streaming down her face as she forced her eyes closed. "I don't want to remember this! It was an accident- I- I didn't...."

A cackling laugh escaped Zeel at the effort before he stared directly into Kiigan's eye to continue, making full sure he had the man's attention. "That's when her bones finally decided to come out. And, what do you know! She didn't just stab that poor girl, your June practically exploded her! She went in with her bones and expanded! There were chunks of the poor bitch all over the place and you wouldn't believe the sounds she made! OH, the excuses!!! 'Waah, waah, I didn't mean to do it. What's wrong with me?' UNBELIEVABLE! I was so impressed I got teeth from her kind implanted the next week. THAT'S right! You wouldn't even be in pain right now if not for the technique that girl specifically inspired me to learn. And you know what's the best part?! I wasn't anywhere near as strong as I am now back then! Your June could've just driven me off with her sword if she wanted! ... But she didn't.... Instead, she went berserk and took out the only person who cared about her in the whole world for NOTHING!"

Finally, June fell to her knees as she dropped her weapon, simply unable to take it. "I never... I didn't want to.... I- I don't understand...."

"What was it?" The man huffed at the downed woman, sadistically. "If I remember right, you got sick after that, didn't you? Is that why you're still so pathetic? Because you associate being sick with that? Or were you always so shitty that you just gave in after your first kill? How disappointing for someone with so much potential." Without warning, Zeel took a step forward as he forced his right foot down on the genin's neck, specifically stomping her face into the dirt as she cried in pain to bring the torment full-circle. "Just go ahead and die! Make my job easier and just give up! The world would be better off without a fuck-up like you anyways.... There's no place for someone so useless in the world of ninja!"