CHAPTER 22: THE SIEGE OF THEWIND RYU:-A HERO NO LONGER

"Would you like to be my brother?" that question rang deep in Ken's heart.

Ken stared at Ryu in surprise.

"Brother?" he repeated the word in disbelief. "Ryu, do you really mean it?" he asked.

"I mean it Ken, no joke" Ryu said seriously.

Ken stretched out his hand and held Ryu's outstretched hand.

"Yes, from now on, let's be brothers!" Ken agreed.

Ryu smiled.

"Well then, call Tornado and let's have some fun" Ryu said.

Ken smiled and raised his ring. A flash of lightning and a brief storm announced the presence of an evolved Tornado.

"Tornado? You...evolved too. This is great!" Ken exclaimed in joy and excitement.

Ryu mounted Molten and Ken mounted Tornado.

"What do we do now?" Ken asked.

"It's a race battle" Ryu said.

"Sweet! Where do we start? Where do we end? What are the rules?" Ken asked.

"From here, we dive-circle this mountain to the bottom but we do not land. Pull up before you touch the ground. From there, we race low-level to those six mountains in a straight line" Ryu stated the path.

"You mean, the Earthen Brothers?" Ken asked.

"Yep, those guys. Then we climb-circle the first mountain at top speed, then twist-race to the sixth mountain. From there, we race to the skies and race upside down to the Wind ryu in screw-spin style. There are only two rules in this game. Firstly, get to the finish line which is the Wind Temple and secondly, try to knock your opponent off his dragon companion. Apart from that, anything goes. On, and I forgot to mention, the first person to touch the ground outside the mountain of the Wind ryu is a sore loser and an ugly stinking pelican" Ryu grinned slyly.

"I'm looking at him!" Ken said confidently.

"READY?!" Ryu called.

"This is so ridiculous" Tornado complained and crouched.

"Get ready to lose Tornado" Molten challenged as he crouched.

"Who said anything about losing? I'm the spirit of wind, faster than any moving force on earth" Tornado challenged.

"Ha! That's next to the speed of the sun's rays which is the fastest force on earth" Molten mocked.

"Rays of light, not fire" Tornado emphasized.

"They come from a fiery source, I'll show you" Molten challenged as he crouched even lower.

"OKAY! WE START IN 3, 2, 1...KICK OFF!" Ryu ordered as Molten and Tornado leapt into the air.

"Eat my tail dust Ryu!" Ken declared as he took the lead.

"IN YOUR DREAMS KEN!" Ryu replied.

Ken and Tornado dove toward the left side of the mountain. Ryu and Molten took the right.

"WHOO-HOO!" Ryu yelled.

"Tornado, let's do this, blur style!" Ken ordered.

"Molten! Meteor streak style!" Ryu ordered.

The two racers increased speed and dove at their maximum speed. They crossed each other the first time.

"THERE THEY ARE! EAT THIS RYU! WIND ELEMENT! CORKSCREW STYLE!" Ken yelled as he released a mini-Tornado.

Ryu leaned to the right, riding Molten upside down in the process. The mini-tornado missed and hit the mountain.

"MY TURN! FIRE ELEMENT! BLAZING FIREBALL JUTSU!" Ryu yelled as he blew an intense fireball towards Ken.

Ken took a curve round the mountain, the fireball hit the side of the mountain just as Ken disappeared out of Ryu's line of sight.

"Whew! That was close Tornado" Ken sighed in relief.

"DON'T DROP YOUR GUARD KEN! FIRE ELEMENT! MINI FIREBALL JUTSU!" Ryu said as he threw a mini fireball at Ken when they crossed paths the second time.

Tornado extinguished the fireball with a powerful breath of wind.

"NICE! TORNADO!" Ken praised.

"Always be alert Ken" Tornado advised.

"We're approaching the ground. This will be the final confrontation of the first phase!" Ken calculated.

"You've got that right! This is where you fall! DUAL JUTSU! UNQUENCHABLE FLAMES OF FURY!!!" Ryu and Molten created a combination jutsu.

A tremendous amount of fire from the combined chakra of Ryu and Molten headed towards Ken and Tornado.

"This is bad! We must do something fast!" Ken called to Tornado.

Ken formed seals.

"DUAL JUTSU! WIND FORCE FIELD!" he called together with Tornado as an orb of impenetrable storms surrounded them and deflected Ryu and Molten's jutsu.

Their jutsu hit the side of the mountain and melted a great part of it. Lava began to flow down the mountain. Ken and Tornado's wind force field disappeared. Ryu and Ken neared the bottom of the mountain. Both boys leaned back as the dragons pulled up. Dust flew about as the dragons spread their wings. For a while, nothing could be seen of the two racers, then with a loud shout, they both burst through the cloud of dust at the same time.

"YEE HAH!" Ryu exclaimed in excitement.

"We should do this every day!" Ken laughed.

"I wish! But there might not be much time. We must find the other saints and stop Nemesis from unsealing Shekan fast! Besides, I need to keep a burdensome promise, two burd-I mean three!" Ryu informed Ken.

"Tell me about 'em" Ken requested.

Ryu noticed that the sky was growing lighter.

"It's dawn already?! Let's finish this race and head back to the Wind ryu!" Ryu called over the wind.

"Tell that to yourself!" Ken yelled as he increased his speed.

"I don't think so!" Ryu yelled back as he and Molten caught up.

Now, they were tied with each other. Ryu removed shuriken and hurled them at Ken. Ken removed shuriken and hurled them in response. Their shuriken clashed and fell to the ground.

"Nice aim!" Ryu admired.

"I could have sworn I did that with my eyes closed" Ken boasted.

Ryu moved a Kunai, Ken did the same. Ryu crouched on Molten's back. Then he leapt of Molten's back. Ken leapt of Tornado's back in response and they clashed kunai in the air and landed on their respective opponent dragons.

"The six Earthen Brothers are drawing closer!" Ryu called.

"I know!" Ken responded.

Ryu leapt off Tornado's back and hurled his Kunai at Ken. Ken responded in the same way. The kunai clashed and fell to the ground.

"TAKE THIS!" Ryu yelled as he aimed a blow at Ken.

Ken attempted to punch Ryu in mid-air but Ryu caught Ken's fist just as Ken deflected his punch. Ryu hurled Ken towards the ground but Ken somersaulted towards Tornado and threw a ball of wind towards Ryu. The ball hit Ryu and sent him over Molten. Ryu caught and hanged unto Molten's tail. Ken used a wind technique to propel himself unto Tornado's back. The six mountains drew closer.

"You're out of the game Ryu!" Ken grinned throwing another ball of wind towards Ryu.

"Damn! I can't make seals while hanging like this!" Ryu thought.

Then he let go of Molten's tail and began to drop.

"SEE YA LATER UGLY STINKING PELICAN!" Ken waved.

"You think I've lost? Think again! FIRE ELEMENT! FIRE ROCKET!" Ryu called as a boost of flames pushed him upwards.

He somersaulted and landed smoothly unto Molten's back.

"No!" Ken yelled in exasperation.

"Hang tight Ryu! We're ascending the first mountain!" Molten warned.

The two boys held onto their dragons with chakra control. The dragons climb-circled the first mountain. The two boys could not attack each other while they clung to the dragons with chakra control. Soon, they were almost at the peak of the mountain.

"It's time for the twisting race!" Ryu yelled.

Meanwhile, back in the Wind Village, the excitement of the party had died down. Couples of chuunin were dancing to the blues being sung by a band of teenage ninja on stage. Rokkan and Tanya had taken a break from dancing. Michael and Nadia were still dancing.

"Y-You wouldn't believe me Nadia but this is the first time I've been to a party" Michael confessed.

"These parties were very often held in the Water Village but...none of them felt as special as this one" Nadia said as she turned away from Michael.

"Maybe it's because we're being treated as heroes" Michael suggested. "I don't really know how I'm supposed to feel at a party" Michael said sadly.

"Just be yourself Michael. To me...it's special because you are here with me" Nadia confessed.

Michael stared at her in surprise.

Nadia I..." Michael was saying.

"Sshh, you don't need to say anything Michael. Just treasure the moment" Nadia said as she kissed Michael.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Meanwhile, somewhere else...

"THIRD BEND! I WON'T MISS THIS TIME! EAT THIS! WIND ELEMENT! WIND CYCLONE!" Ken called as he released a cyclone.

"TAKE THIS! FIRE ELEMENT COMBINATION! DOUBLE DRAGON FIRE JUTSU!" Ryu yelled as he and Molten released a storm of fire.

Ken and Tornado dived out of the way as the two elements crashed. The Dragon fire jutsu hit the mountain causing an explosion that blew rocks all around. Ken's technique missed Ryu as well and the two racers evaded the flying rocks.

"FOURTH BEND! TWO MORE TO GO!" the two boys yelled as they crossed each other.

They removed their kunai and clashed blades with each other. Then they disappeared behind the fifth mountain.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Back at the party, Rokkan and Tanya were talking. Rokkan was suddenly silent.

"R-Rokkan? Did I say anything wrong?" Tanya asked worriedly.

"No" Rokkan said silently, then he smiled at Tanya. "Don't worry, you're not bothering me..." he said with a smile, then he paused with a look of sorrow on his face. He looked at his ring, then he removed his pendant from inside his jacket and stared at it.

"Wh-what's wrong Rokkan?" Tanya asked uncomfortably.

"It's just that...the last time I truly felt happy, these items were being presented to me by my master. I was only ten then and I didn't understand the significance of these items. I never had a normal life. The only family I knew were the Earth ninja. I've never told anyone this...but my master told me that he found me with this pendant around my neck, somewhere around the Earthen brothers on his quest to the Wind ryu. It's a miniature Dragon Zone. It protects me and gives me success on all my missions. That's how I became the Earth Master" Rokkan narrated.

Tanya looked away.

"I'm sorry for boring you with my history. I just needed to tell this to someone" Rokkan apologized.

"No, no, not at all Rokkan, you're j-just honest. Th-that's something good" Tanya said.

"I trust you Tanya. You're understanding but you shouldn't suppress your feelings. You need to show them. You need to let go of your fear, your shyness" Rokkan encouraged Tanya.

Tanya looked depressed.

"D-Don't take it the wrong way, I really like you and appreciate you the way you are. That's what makes you special" Rokkan quickly defended himself.

Tanya stared at him in surprise.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"All my life, the only sort of love I knew was being loved for being a great ninja and leader. Then I met Ryu...who taught me that everything, the other ryu, even the Dark ryu deserve to be loved and saved" Rokkan paused. "Still...I didn't feel complete till I met you" Rokkan said quite too boldly.

"Met me?" Tanya repeated in surprise as she began to blush.

"I don't know how to explain it but...when I met you, I felt something I've never felt before. You saw me, the true me, not just my abilities and that's when I knew what it felt like to be normal" Rokkan said.

"You are normal" Tanya said.

"I mean, to be loved not as a ninja...but as a person" Rokkan said. "Sheesh, now I'm going overboard. Sorry about that" Rokkan apologized with a nervous laugh.

Suddenly, the sky began to darken again. Dark clouds moved unnaturally from the eastern side of the village blotting out the rising sun. The party came to a standstill. Exclamations of shock and horror were heard throughout the village.

"No" Tanya said as she began to shiver uncontrollably from fear.

"What's wrong Tanya?" Rokkan asked.

"Th-They're invading...Nemesis' forces" Tanya said, almost in tears.

"How do you know that?" Rokkan asked.

"The thickness of the clouds, the littlest amount of natural light makes them powerless...and they've invaded before. Exactly ten years ago, they killed a lot of people...I don't want to remember!" Tanya cried as she covered her face with her palms.

Suddenly, dark ninja leapt out from all directions.

"What's going on?" Michael asked in surprise.

Atlanta fought ferociously, beating the dark ninja in large numbers.

"The Dark ninja are invading! MICHAEL! WE NEED A PLAN!" Atlanta yelled.

The ninja of the Wind ryu joined in the fight. Lee punched and kicked Dark ninja till he was back to back with Michael. Nadia ran to aid Atlanta.

"This battle formation, they used it ten years ago. That means...Dark mongerers are on the way" Lee informed Michael.

"What are those?" Michael asked.

"Huge ferocious, half-dragon, half-eagle-like creatures with amazingly destructive powers. We need to stop them before they enter the village or many will die!" Lee warned.

"Is there any weakness to these creatures?" Michael asked.

"Anything with the ability to generate natural light, like fire, could hurt them" Lee informed Michael.

"RYU!" Michael growled.

"Tanya, seek cover. I'll join the fight" Rokkan said as he stood up and began to move towards the main battleground.

Tanya held his hand thus stopping him.

"Don't go Rokkan. You can't win against them. They'll only kill you" Tanya pleaded.

"I can't hide Tanya. I'm also a ninja and I wear the proud title of EARTH MASTER!" Rokkan said.

"Don't join Rokkan, for my sake. You're the only true friend I've had in a long time. I can't bear the thought of losing you" Tanya cried.

Rokkan removed his pendant.

"I promise to come back. You will not lose me to death. Here, take this. I give you my word" Rokkan said as he placed his pendant around Tanya's neck.

Tanya hugged him tightly and burst into tears.

"Keep your promise Rokkan. You can't die. Come back alive" Tanya said amidst tears.

"I promise" Rokkan said, then he leapt into the fight.

"Hey...wait a minute! The Dark ninja...Oh yeah, we...then there were the ones that attacked the Crystal village. They fought in daylight" Michael recalled.

"Those were...Dark ninja. These are more advanced in the art of darkness, they are...the Shadow ninja!" Lee informed Michael.

"Where is Ryu?! We need him here now!" Michael looked around, searching for Ryu.

"Well...he's not around" Lee said.

"WHAT?! Where'd he go that he hasn't noticed the village under attack!" Michael roared angrily.

"He flew away with the Fire Saint and Ken!" Lee said.

"NOT AGAIN! WHY THAT IDIOT?! WHAT DOES HE THINK HE'S DOING RUNNING AWAY?!" Michael growled angrily.

"Running away?" the chuunin girl who was with Lee at the marketplace asked.

"The reason Ryu was not with us when we came to the party was because...he tried to quit, to run away, back to Crystal Village" Michael confessed.

"So you think he ran away?" Lee asked.

"Knowing Ryu...he probably might have" Michael scowled.

"NADIA! ROKKAN! ATLANTA! SUMMON THE SAINTS, WE'VE GOT TO PROTECT THE VILLAGERS!" Michael called as he raised his ring into the air.

Flashes of lightning announced the presence of the Dragon saints. Michael leapt unto Hurricane.

"Lee! Come up! I've got a plan but I'll need you! Rokkan! Take Law and Lao! Atlanta! Take Jet, Nadia and Slade!" Michael ordered.

The other saints obeyed.

"LET'S FLY!" Michael ordered as the dragons leapt into the skies.

"What's the plan Mike?" Lee asked.

"If Ryu were here, the best option would have been to enter the Jinn State and release an explosive force of wind in the skies. This would have blown the clouds away and revealed the sun leaving the Shadow ninja powerless" Michael said.

"Hmm, good plan. Too bad it's a bummer" Lao said.

"Since Ryu is not here, we move on to Plan B" Michael said as he reduced his altitude.

"Which was what again?" Atlanta asked.

"Villagers of the Wind ryu, divide yourselves into two groups. Group one, take cover in the pub! Group two, take cover in the Temple!" Michael instructed.

"Where's this getting to?" Nadia asked.

"NINJA OF THE WIND RYU! DIVIDE YOURSELVES INTO TWO DEFENSIVE UNITS! UNIT ONE, PROTECT THE PUB! UNIT TWO, PROTECT THE TEMPLE! ANYONE WITH KNOWLEDGE IN MARTIAL ARTS, DEFEND THE CIVILIANS AND LEAD THEM TO SAFETY!!!" Michael shouted orders.

"We're good to go!" a jounin saluted as he mobilized one unit.

Another jounin took charge and mobilized the second unit.

"AND US?!" Rokkan asked.

"Creeping mist, you'll be playing the most critical role in all this. You use Mist jutsu. Clouds are made of..." Michael was saying.

"Mist!" Lao exclaimed as he caught drift of Michael's plan.

"...and water!" Nadia exclaimed.

"We can move the clouds, literally! Atlanta, your group and Rokkan's, you part the clouds towards the West..." Michael was saying.

"Unnecessary and slow, leave it to us. All you need to do is get us up there!" Lao yelled.

"I don't know what you're thinking but fine!" Michael said as they ascended.

Soon they were high enough.

"Okay guys, let's try to find out the weight of the clouds" Lao said as he attempted to move a wisp of cloud.

He compressed the cloud and a stream of water flowed from it.

"Ugh! These clouds are heavy with water! It'll take ages to move them all. By the time we're done, the Dark mongerers will be here!" Lao informed Michael.

"Leave it to me!" Hurricane volunteered as he opened his mouth wide and inhaled deeply.

The water from the clouds came out from the clouds. The clouds became lighter. Hurricane moulded the water into a gigantic ball and shot it out of the village. The darkness lifted a little, yet the thickness of the clouds blocked the rays of the sun. On the ground, the villagers were struggling to get to their designated places. A young girl and her little brother were trying desperately to get to the Temple. Suddenly, they were surrounded by Shadow ninja. They hugged each other tightly in fear and shut their eyes. The Shadow ninja were drawing closer. Tanya was standing some distance away when she noticed this.

"TANYA RUN!" the shop assistant from Tanya's father's shop called to her when he saw her.

"I'm sorry...but I can't just hide and let others protect me. Do you have any weapons on you now?" Tanya asked.

The shop assistant looked at her in shock.

"I see...so Rokkan helped her gain confidence" he thought to himself.

"Fine, all I have is the staff your dad had me make specially for you. It's experimental and knowing your dad, he probably messed with it a little so don't be shocked at the results it can bring. I showed you how to use it right?" he asked, throwing the staff to Tanya.

Tanya caught it.

"PERFECT!" she exclaimed as she gave the staff a sudden twist.

Scythes came out of either end of the staff.

"Take care" the assistant called as he followed his group.

"Don't look Danny" the girl