The Toraono Spirit <Private>

[Mikaboshi]

Half-Ancient? A hybrid? Thoughts swirled around in Katsuo's mind ass Sousuke explained what they were seeing. Under normal circumstances, an outside observer might be tempted to chide Katsuo for choosing to stand back and let Teng complete his transformation but there were elements to a battle like this that those who expressed those types of sentiments often misunderstood. Drastic changes and transformations in a demonic or spiritual entity could mean any amount of things and rushing blindly into a half-transformed creature could spell the end for an unwary hunter if they jumped into the arms of a creature they didn't understand. Gripping the hilt of Tatsumasa, Katsuo performed a subtle transformation of his own as gilded chakra crackled down his arm and into the sword, fill the void within the scabbard with a brilliant light as he called Caliburn into it's awakened state with her name quietly on his lips.

By the time it finished growing, Teng's chitinous body was easily a little less than double Katsuo's height and was barely contained by the room they were battling in. At this point containing the fight to the building seemed unlikely given the creature's size and ferocity. Katsuo hadn't even felt a blow from it yet but he could tell there was a tremendous amount power lurking behind the hideous face of the creature that Teng had become. They had to contain it in here for as long as they could to give bystanders as much time as possible to escape the scene before their battle inevitably spilled out onto the street corner.

Under normal circumstances, Katsuo would have been inclined to issue a warning. It was his way. He preferred to give his opponents a chance to surrender before the fight began so that they could avoid bloodshed if need be but there was no resolution to this which involved the creature before them standing down. That was clear enough from it's posture and demeanor. It was hungry for this fight as much as any starving creature hungered for sustenance. The flash point of their battle came in the span of a single heartbeat as the Teng-creature crossed the distance between them in a flicker of hideous movement, one of it's twisted appendages raised high in a striking motion as it brought it downwards at an angle towards the waiting Kazekage.

In a flash of his own movement, there was a spark of energy as Katsuo snapped Tatsumasa from it's sheath, revealing the broken blade of the sword sporting a gleaming blade of condensed lightning chakra as curiously both the sword seemed to defy reality as it's arcing motion moved in two directions at a single time. His body seemed to split with his physical form moving in one direction and performing an action and a ghostly image of his body made up of his golden chakra moving in an entirely different direction. The translucent shimmer of his body brought it's Tatsumasa up and with a crackle of lightning and chakra struck back against the Teng-creature's blow with a strike of it's own with the intention to deflect it. The resulting impact knocked the creature's attack off course enough to send it crashing into the floor beside where Katsuo was standing as his physical body rolled with the momentum of the air around the attack and slashed at the Teng-creature's exposed flank with a single swipe of his energy sword. His blade bit deeply but not into it's intended target as the Teng-creature seemed to sprout superfluous flesh from it's body for the sole purpose of being cleaved from the monster's body.

Caustic blood gushed from the wound that Katsuo had dealt to it, dripping to the ground in wet chunks like rotten milk and collecting into piles of steaming gore that burned anything it touched but the Teng-creature seemed unperturbed by the attack as it turned to Sousuke to address the former Kazekage-turned-sennin in a similar fashion as it had Katsuo. Returning Tatsumasa to it's sheath with practiced precision, Katsuo crouched for a moment with the golden echo of his body following suit and after a moment of thought drew his blade with the same lightning speed that he had previously except where previously Tatsumasa and the echo had only moved in one direction... now they moved in twelve. Katuso and gilded echoes swarmed the Teng-creature from every direction, each with a crackling Tatsumsa clutched in their hands and swiping for any vulnerable place that they could find on the creature. Once more thick globes of corrosive ichor oozed from it's wounds as mounds of flesh and hardened bone rose to meet the biting edge of Katsuo's attacks with each passing swipe and as the Kazekage and his echoes skidded to a halt a few feet away from where the beast stood, condensing back into a single physical form with the duration of Katsuo's technique spent.

The creature is burning the life-force of it's host to generate flesh masses to blunt the impact of our attacks. Caliburn sent to him, her words materializing in his mind like his own thoughts.

Okay, how do I kill it? Katsuo couldn't argue with her assessment: they were hurting the beast's body by cleaving fattened chunks of meat and hardened bone but dealing no real damage to the structure of it's body. It made no moves to block or avoid his attacks because it's body reacted to them by simply mutating extraneous body structure for his attacks to claim.

Sufficient force to break through the superfluous muscle and bone being generated should yield results.

So hit it really hard. Got it.

In the moment of consultation between Katsuo and his partner, the Teng-creature seemed to finish with withstanding the Steward's attacks and with a cackling howl seemed to grow even bigger even though it's physical mass stayed the same. Another burst of energy washed over them and it was clear that the creature had just decided to take the battle to the next level. There was no second-guessing it now-- they had to bring the creature down before it's strength eclipsed everyone who was present. It turned to face Katsuo and in that moment there was no hesitation present in the face of the Kazekage. It was time to bring out the big guns. Lifting his blade before him just as the creature charged, there was a crashing boom and a cloud of dust from the attack that the Tengstrosity had wiffed into a pillar just shy of Katsuo's body and as the dust lifted, gone was the red-hair of the Kazekage-- replaced with the golden form of a man long since dead. His hair spiked upwards with resonating power and his attire transformed into a garb that was distinctly that of an ancient tribal leader, Katsuo evoked the very essence of his long-dead ancestor Primus as he stared daggers up at the tremendous Teng-creature that stood over him.

"You missed." was all he would say before his body would explode into a torrent of fists.

​

Moving so fast that the air popped and crackled from his movements, Katuso's fists slammed into the hardened surface of the Teng-creature's body again and again with the rapidity of a gatling gun, leaving crackling craters in it's flesh as his form moved. In that moment the Teng-creature gave as good as it got as it rained blow after blow down on the Kazekage, the two battling it out in a battle of sheer resolve and durability as a single physical strike from either of them would have easily have been enough to end the life of any normal person. The Teng-creature seemed incapable of feeling the pain that the Kazekage was unleashing on to it and if Katsuo felt anything from the blows being delivered to him, his expression said nothing. There was only a focused conviction on defeating this opponent before things escalated and got any worse. Finally with a convincing strike that shook the very ground they stood on, Katsuo blasted the Teng-creature across it's jaw shattering one of it's mandibles and causing it to stumble backwards, ending the stalemate of physical attrition that had been going on between them until it's attention was ripped away from the opponent in front of him by something that Chiyo and Michino had done outside of Katsuo's sight-range. He couldn't see exactly what was going on but he could certainly see the pillar of light that had been spawned and it had definitely drawn the attention of the Tengstrosity as well. Slavering like a ravenous beast, the creature nearly fell over itself as it turned and rushed in the direction of Michino and Chiyo.

Rushing alongside it, Katsuo appeared just in time to hold back the Teng-creature but not enough to stop it's egress entirely. He could strike it and harm it but simply holding it from moving was next to impossible. It's colossal form clawed and pounded on Katsuo's energized form causing bursts and crackles of lightning to explode from his body like an exposed wire from a live circuit.

"Whatever you're gonna do I advise you do it fast or get the hell out of the way!" He called to Michino behind him as he dug his feet into the ground and endured the angry thrashing of the creature that he was just barely restraining for the time being.

 

[Chiyo]

Chiyo's face contorted with revulsion as she found herself staring transfixed at the grotesque transformation happening beneath the surface of the creature Tengokai had become. She had seen some messed up shit in her short life, but really this was pushing it. Pulling her eyes away from the hulking figure, she glanced toward the Kazekage and Pestilence as they pushed against their opposition. They, at least, seemed to be unscathed so far she realized with relief before she turned her attention back to Michino with a grimace as she took in his pale, sweat drenched face. "Uh, yeah, that's probably a good idea." As much as it killed her to be forced to run away from a fight like this, it was very clear that Michino still needed medical attention despite his brother's efforts, and unfortunately that was the one thing she had never bothered to learn about. You'd think being able to pinpoint exactly where, and how severe, a person's injuries were would be a great benefit to the medical profession, but the Uzumoreru had always elected to use the talent for the opposite. Getting out was their best bet; she just hoped there were people outside that could be of more help to him than she was.

This time taking an extra second to position her back against her lover's chest, the Uzumoreru bent forward to lift him from the ground before taking off at a sprint toward the exit. They were halfway there before the blast of energy threw them like rag dolls against the wall and her head exploded in a sea of agony. The blackness that had filled her eyes faded in an instant and a thick black liquid started to leak from the corners. A soft groan rumbled in her chest as she struggled to pull her mind through the pain. It happened every time she overexerted her abilities, and this definitely qualified...it also probably didn't help that she had taken two blows to the head. Luckily, the stabbing feeling began to clear as quickly as it had come on, though the blood-tears continued to trail rivulets down her pale cheeks. We've got to get out of here. It was the only thing going through her mind now, spotting the pool of blood that was forming from the Toraono's wound. Moving him would only make the injury worse so she needed to stop, or at least slow, the bleeding. "Um...okay...tourniquet." Grabbing the nearest tablecloth, she ripped a long strip from one end and quickly tightened it with a splinter of wood, tying it a little above what was now the end of his leg. A small hand stroked across his forehead briefly before her eyes followed his gaze to the scroll that had apparently followed them across the room in the blast. Was it providence, coincidence, or careful planning that Tama's last gift to his brother was dancing in the air beside them screaming Hey, look at me? Not having known the man, Chiyo didn't have a clue what the thing might be good for, but so far it had only managed to piss their enemy off, and that hadn't been the least bit helpful. With a slight shake of her head, she started to reach for Michino to draw him across her back again for another dash toward the exit.

Unfortunately, her preparations to move him a second time were cut short by yet another blast of energy as they were hurled into the wall for the second time. This was just getting old, though they now had a clear view of what was happening between the Tengstrosity and the two men. With a little extra effort, her eyes grew dark once again for just a moment - long enough to see that neither men had taken any serious blows - before flickering back to normal and she let out a breath. The next moment Katsuo had taken on the image of a man that seemed to exude hope with his very presence. The exchange of blows was incredible, and she found herself leaning forward in the hope of learning a thing or two before she felt Michino shift beside her. "H-hey, what-?" It was all she could get out as he slapped his blood drenched hand to the scroll. Her hands raised to shield her eyes from the sudden burst of blinding light, and the next second she was no longer in the restaurant.

Blinking her eyes open against the bright whiteness she was now enveloped in, Chiyo turned in a circle to take in her surroundings. Strangely enough there didn't seem to be any "surroundings" to speak of. Everywhere around her was just nothing. There was no air movement, but it didn't feel stagnant either; it didn't feel anything. Staring around for a long moment, she continued to turn before she noticed a silhouette in the distance that felt...familiar somehow. After a moment's hesitation, she strode toward the figure only to stop short as she realized just who she was looking at. A beautiful young woman with impossibly long red hair and emerald green eyes stood smiling at her from just a few feet away. "M-mom?" It wasn't possible, her mother was dead, but here she was looking just as she always had. Am I dead? Just what the hell was that scroll? As soon as the thought crossed her mind the image of her mother was shaking her head and chuckling softly.

"No, my love, you're not dead. Tama is a very intelligent man, even if he's somewhat difficult." Amejisuto's tone was somewhat saddened by the thought, she hadn't known him very well but the memories she had were good. "The scroll was...well, you'll see. It's really quite genius, though that's to be expected." The woman crossed the last few steps to her daughter and took her into a tight embrace that felt just as real as they always had.

For a long moment Chiyo just felt the warmth of her mother's body press into her own, her distinct floral smell fill her senses. They weren't blood - but who needed that? The teenager had learned early on that the best family was the one you chose, and they - Toushin and his daughter - had chosen Ame for their own and she made them complete. Without her they were broken. "I miss you, Dad misses you...he's...not the same without you." Her eyes were filling with tears as she whispered the words she had been wanting to say for the last seven years.

"I know, I miss you too, but I'm always with you."

"That's cheesy." The teenager chuckled a little before pulling away to look into her mother's eyes. "But, you know Tama? Do you know his father? He's trying to kill Michino...my um...my boyfriend." A flush crept across her cheeks, it was a little awkward to mention her relationship to her mother.

"Yes, I know Tama, your father does too, but that's a long story and we don't have much more time." The woman uncurled her arms from around her child's small frame to take her face into her hands. "You need to know that your father believes Michino's brother is the one that killed me, but it's not true. Tengokai is the one behind everything and that sword he's wielding is the one I was trying to recover. You need to tell your father that when you get home, okay?" Green eyes glittering with urgency, she stared down into the golden eyes that were so like her fathers and she smiled as the girl nodded. "Good. I love you."

The Uzumoreru closed her eyes as she felt her mother's lips press to her forehead, but when she opened them again the world was in chaos. Hardly a second had passed since the golden light erupted from the scroll, and Chiyo's eyes immediately snapped to the monstrous form that held Tengokai's body within. A low growl rumbled in her chest as she stared at the being that had stolen her mother away.

[MFT]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The battle raged on and part of Sousuke's mind was taking in the absurd level of property damage going on. He expected that some time after this he was going to get a snooty letter about the sheer disrespect Katuso and him had for the Diamond District and how they should not be fighting in such an area. Katsuo would not take the complaint seriously. He would merely point out that due to his actions as well as the Steward's that they should be grateful that they had controlled the damage. Sousuke figured that he would more than likely do a speed repair of the place later. People of the Diamond District were not a humble sort of people, and most did not tend to put aside their ambitions for a noble and greater goal of trying to improve the life of the common man or woman.

Contact with the beast and cutting into him was causing a problem. The machine that was Pestilence observed. The first problem was that there was rapid healing. The Steward thought about shutting that down, but the second problem was of a far greater concern. Poison fumes. At this movement and speed of techniques the poisonous fumes were going to expand and move quickly. Pestilence would sheath his weapons and would spread his arms. As he did this he would spawn a spear made of wind. He would spin the spear of wind about for a moment. He would open up the ceiling with a blast of plasma with the hand that was not twirling the spear. He would seemingly hurl the spear. It looked like he missed Teng. That was the idea. He would then expand his hands. He was aiming to remove the poisonous fumes and funnel it into the force of wind that the wind spear was generating. The wind technique was drawing the fumes away. "Go." The machine called out to the youths. He held up his hand and called for the tuning fork. The device was grabbed and then it was hurled at the beast. The device landed in the shoulder and was quickly reprogrammed.

He entered the melee with his elementally charged blades. He watched for attacks that were incoming. Perdition's Arrival answered a wide swipe and Thunder Talon answered the other. Katuso would mount the offense. As the poisonous fumes were rising, the Steward moved the twirling wind spear forward to drain the outgoing fumes. Was this a brawl? No this was a calculated and precise engagement. Pestilence was not going to be giving his enemy an inch. The fight would come to a pause when Michino opened a scroll. Golden Light? This was a new variable. What was it? This was like Tama's energy source? How many scrolls did he have? Tama seemingly had contingency plan after contingency plan. Yet none of these plans were used when they were battling each other back in the Grand Palasis. Curious in the extreme it was.

Their enemy was now moving towards what seemed to be a golden light, that was perhaps by accident was unleashed, that enveloped Michino and Chiyo. "Recalculating." Katuso was hanging on and was making contact. Luckily it was not direct contact. Various metallic barriers would raise up and Teng would crash them through them which would slow him down. Yes. The property damage bill was continuing to skyrocket here. Pestilence would keep up and sheath Thunder Talon. He would press his index and middle finger against his head. He was attempting to re-direct Teng into the ground like he did before. The different here? It was a transformed state. The psionic technique would take quite a bit more focus to drive him into the ground. The last time it was a sword. This time it was a hulking mass. Detecting the resistance to his technique he would then sheath Peredition's arrival and raise the second hand to his temple to focus and hone the technique further. Golden and pure light was a dead giveaway for things that did not need to be defiled.

 

[Toraono Michino]

The walls summoned by the Steward caused the entire eatery to shake violently each time the monster struck against them. Despite them and the weighted jutsu that seemed to pull at his very flesh they were still barely enough to stop Teng, as the creature burst through the last wall and was met with Katsuo. Yet as it did so, and realized who still stood before him, the beast’s face fell. The powerful creature screeched its defiance at the Kazekage as it allowed the powerful Sunahoshi tackle his midriff and hold him but inches away from touching the golden light. Wounds that were caused by a mixture of both opponents caused more of the toxic blood to spray into the air; only to be instantly removed by the wind before it could do any harm. The creature lifted a foot and tried in earnest to push forward causing the wounds to open up wider. Yet nothing seemed to even so much as daunt his opponents causing the fusion of Teng and sword to wonder what these two had lived through.

“…these are the last orders of the scroll, Michino. I promise, this me will be better and not and embarrassment…so, be sure to help him out, kay?”
The young Toraono’s head lifted up suddenly. Immediately he shot his hand down to feel where the wound of he leg was to feel scarred tissue instead. The golden light behind the Kazekge slowly began to thin out until in was a singular pillar of light in the size of a human. Michino and Chiyo were both freed of the energy that had briefly engulfed them and both seemed to have been left with something unexpected. The young couple both seemed to be filled with a determination to fight now, despite the creature that roared thick waves of darkness towards the light. Michino reached deep into the jacket of his suit and flicked his thumb against a latch of the holster hidden within. He carefully pulled out the gun he had found in the desert during his last trip into the more cursed parts of the sandbox. Somewhere deep inside he was chuckling at the irony that him, a boxer that was a single fight away from becoming the undisputed champion, was pulling out a gun. He always told himself it was just easier to scare a punk off with flashing the weapon than actually trying to use it or fighting them. Between his good heart, and the fear of disappointing the Steward, Michino had never once used any of the guns he owned to shoot something living; only once had he needed to use it to scare off a fight. Now as the Toraono braced his back against the wall and took aim the boxer took in the irony of his attack and used it to focus his aim through the anger of not being able to fight properly. His thumb cocked the hammer of the pistol back and fired. The jerk of the pistol did little to move his arm and with little hesitation released the trigger to quickly cock the hammer again and fire a second shot. The first bullet would zip past Katsuo’s chest to explode against the meat of the beast’s left ribs and the second would dig into the creature’s leg.

The scroll’s spell work written into it began to vibrate around the kanji for blood. Runes exploded off the page and threw the blood up into the air. Certain runes in the column of words began to light up and force the blood inside to roughly take the form of a human’s vascular system. Two more runes lit up and the blood was suddenly bathed in a blue flame that burned away a small black cloud of demonic energy. Three more runes near the bottom began to glow in a color opposite of the five above and drew in the golden energy that had exploded outwards. Purified souls began to fuel the energy needed for the spell as a single soul was selected out of the golden energy. The Soul was in the shape of a small fireball until dragged inside of the circle. There it was attached to the blood and Ryuu Tama’s image slowly began to form around it.
The face that was being created in a golden light was one not of the older man he had been but one of his youth. A man in his early twenties who was living a dream those of his age were rarely allowed to live. Runes lit up all along the scroll surrounding the image of a young Tama, all in red. His soul was incomplete. His father had absorbed a piece of son’s soul to read the memories inside to gain an upper hand against his opponent. The rest he had saved back for other nefarious reasons but the scroll that Michino had used against Teng managed reclaimed that what was left; and all there was were early memories.

The runes flashed warning colors inside of the golden pillar. The spell was incomplete without the memories imprinted on the part of the soul that Teng had absorbed and started to break down. The light flickered once revealing the golden image of the young man every now and again. Heterochromatic eyes suddenly opened on the face of the golden from, read the scroll work it trapped in, and raised a single hand to rewrite two runes. The light became solid once more for two more seconds before starting to twist and absorb into the body of the seven-foot tall human. Long golden hair dropped down over the nude muscular form that slowly settled on the ground. The scientist’s legs wobbled a little as he raised a hand to grip his head.

“W-wha…” the tall youth began to speak when Beast Teng roared out a bellow of sheer fury. It released the black ball of energy and grabbed Katsuo to begin tearing at his body to remove him as it tried to move forward. The bullet wounds that refused to heal despite his powers leaked blood that the Steward only continued to funnel out. Teng removed a hand from the Kazekage’s back and reached up to swipe desperately at the scientist as he recovered.
Inches away from Tama’s head the blond ducked as if on instinct with a bored and slightly annoyed look on his face. With a few steps forward he leaned in tapped his leader’s back with a strange chakra that formed a small seal to start healing wounds and revitalizing him.

The red irises in the sea of black that was Teng’s eyes drew themselves into a pinpoint as it screamed the first intelligible sentence since transforming,
“WHY!? WHY WON’T YOU ALL DIE?!”

With the creature’s outrage came a wave of black energy that forced back all combatants as it tried to once again focus on Tama. It looked down near the Kazekage and found nothing. It’s wild eyes switched to Michino who was already getting ready to fire another shot. Screeching at the sudden threat it stepped forward to move only to feel the crushing weight of a sudden attack hitting his chest. Looking down it would barely see the girl darting back as her boyfriend fired his third shot at the same spot. The chakra she pumped into the chest on top of the special effects granted to each bullet shot from the gun exploded the creature’s chest to reveal the hilt of the blade buried deep where its heart should be. Teng felt a gush of blood explode out of his mouth as it stepped back from the force of the wound.

“We won’t die, because you keep underestimating us, stupid.” came the cheeky remark from behind the creature as Tama stood over the pile of clothes that had belonged to another him. He quickly picked up and drew the pants on for decency’s sake. He deftly zipped them closed before turning towards the creature without a single drop of fear in his form. The thing growled low at him as it turned slowly, again away from Katsuo, and took a single step towards the scientist. Sousuke’s jutsu would suddenly kick in again causing the creature to drop down on a single knee. As the son causally walked up to his father who was at the sheer mercy of the two overwhelming opponents he slipped his right hand into his pocket. The Beast was laid down on his back and pinned once more. Tama simply reached down to grip the hilt of the blade and gave it a violent jerk to brake it away from the blade. Without hesitation he tossed the black metal across the restaurant towards Sousuke to destroy it before the cursed metal could start whispering into his mind.

“Sunans will never be defeated by anyone that thinks they can overwhelm us. We’ve overcome far more than a single terrifying creature can offer because if there is one thing our history has taught all of us, it’s that everything is capable of death.”

Blood exploded from the beast’s mouth but it was no longer violently toxic; just normal and red. The gigantic red monster began to shrink and reform back into a human shape. The blade that had caused the transformation remained inside of the reformed human. This caused Teng to start screaming in, at first a panic, and then horrible pain as the black blade began to eat away at his soul and body from the inside. His screams was cut suddenly short as Michino fired a final shot at the man’s head to kill him instantly so that his suffering would be cut short. Within seconds the black blade had absorbed the flesh and soul of Michino and Tama’s father until all that remained was the smoldering black edge burning against the ground.

A hush fell upon the room now that their opponent had been defeated; it was quickly broken by the young blonde's question,
"So...who the hell are you guys?"

 

[Mikaboshi]

Katsuo couldn't see any of the action going on behind him save for the shadows being cast by the brilliant golden light behind him. All of his will in that moment was bent on holding back the Teng-beast from reaching it's goal. Wrapping his arms around it's lower torso, Katsuo put every ounce of his prodigious physical strength into restraining the creature and no matter how it thrashed pushed, the Tenth Kazekage refused to give an inch. Katsuo had no fear about defeating the creature, they'd already proved they could wound it but it seemed focused on harming Michino and Chiyo and while he didn't know them in particular that wasn't something that he could allow. When he'd agreed to become the Kazekage he'd agreed to become the shield that protected the people from monsters like this so that they wouldn't have a repeat of the Cabal disaster or the Djinn attack.

It was the role of the Kazekage to protect his people no matter what and that was Katsuo's immediate plan: keep Teng from hurting anyone else.

Dark fists rained down on Katsuo's back and shoulders leaving bloody bruises with each brutal blow but as the Teng-beast's fists lifted for another strike currents of golden lightning coursed over Katsuo's body and his flesh knitted back together at high speed as though the damage were being put on rewind. This was the fighting combination that made the Kazekage and his partner Caliburn so effective of a fighting force. He was the physicality and dominant strength and she supported that by repairing the damage done to his body at rapid speed. With his already considerable physical durability and his partner repairing his body with each passing second, Katsuo became an unmovable wall that no matter what foul power was mustered against him would be moved. The flooring beneath their feet shifted at first and then cracked and crumbled as the sturdy footing of the Kazekage proved to be harder to break than the very floor itself as it slowly began to give way under the weight of the two titanic beings that were clashing wills against each other.

So focused with his task of holding back the massive beast that Teng had become Katsuo could not hear the shots that rang out from the steel that Michino held in his hand but he knew that something had changed when the creature began to buckle under his strength. Pushing back against Teng, Katsuo took his first step forward and shoved the creature a full step backwards as the second shot impacted it's chest.

"You're not... so tough... you big dumb... bastard..." Katsuo growled to the Teng-beast as they deadlocked once more with the beast having been pushed back a full pace from where it had been previously.

The collected fighters brought a salvo of attacks down on the creature as Katsuo restrained it, enduring it's fury as it vented it's anger on not being able to reach them into it's assault on his body. Blood sprayed each time it lashed it's claws into Katsuo's body but still the Kazekage held it back as each new wound was mended with a pace that was rapidly beginning to slow as Caliburn's store of chakra that she possessed was beginning to run dry from exertion. Under normal circumstances she would have warned him but they both needed all of their concentration on their task or they risked failing at them.

Katsuo's objective was to keep his subordinates alive and Caliburn's was to keep her king alive.

The Teng-beast roared in anger at it's impotence and Katsuo could only just barely hear the remark that Tama made the fury which the Teng-beast had been using in it's rampage disappeared and allowed Katsuo enough tactical space to release his grasp and move away from the beast as it attempted to rally itself and take a step forward before being struck in the chest by Sousuke, causing it to take a knee in strain with it's fury spent on trying to get past the bulwark that had been Katsuo only moments before. It heaved for a moment before falling backwards and rolling onto it's back and the new man which Katsuo recognized as Tama from the inherited memories of Mikaboshi walked up to where it rested and plucked the hilt of the sword that had caused this whole mess from the Teng-beast's flesh.

"So...who the hell are you guys?"

"Hold that thought." Katsuo told Tama, turning to Michino and Chiyo first before anything else as the furious bolts of Natural Energy coursing around his body began to fade and the radiance of his golden transformed state gave way back to the normal Sunahoshi Katsuo and his dyed red hair... though somehow he had still managed to lose his shirt during the battle. "Everyone still in one piece?"