Book One: The Rise of the Blue-Haired Devil.

      I was about to continue the fight in a more serious mood when I heard a howl... The howl of a wild, enraged beast... The air was ready to catch fire like straw with a match to it, for there was a tremendous amount of uncontrollable bloodlust in it. I looked back in the direction of that growl. Even I was struck with fear from the pressurising aura... Even though I was able to control my emotions during battle, this was the true aura of a predator coming to the scent of its prey. But I was able to recover quickly. A few seconds later, the rock next to me trembled, and from behind it the body of a huge creature appeared, towering above the trees. It was a red fox with nine tails behind its back, moving in its rhythmic dance. With its scarlet elongated pupils it looked at us. The creature began to slowly, leisurely approach. I began to nervously think about what to do.       - Run! - The head of Inuzuka shouted in fear, starting to follow his own command. He even forgot about his comrades who were unable to move at the moment. No sooner had he run a hundred metres than he was hit by the flames released by the fox. The ninja fell to the ground, beginning to squirm in pain. His entire right arm and part of his face were still burning. He tried to douse the flames with his hands, but his attempts were futile.       The huge fox had just released a jet of fire over a very narrow area to hit only him. Now it had reached me. This monster won't let us go so easily. It's very intelligent, which makes it a very dangerous opponent. My sensorics are just failing next to him, which tells me that his chakra level is at least twice that of Ashina-sensei.       - I didn't want to die a hero. - I exhaled, folding my concentration seal to dispel my defence technique. Already in the next instant, my barrier that served as a defence for the merchants and the two kunoichi fell. - Get out now! - I shouted towards Yumi, who started running towards me. My words confused the girl.              - What?" she said in surprise, still not understanding the meaning of my words.       - There are no other options! We can't handle him. - I started to explain the situation, but I was interrupted.       - Someone has to hold him back. - Mito picked up on my thoughts, looking at the giant-sized fox that had already started its meal, slowly eating the poor Inuzuka that had been roasted a minute earlier. A satisfied slurping could be heard from the creature, but what could be said for sure was that the fox wasn't going to get enough of the poor thing alone. And even if he did, it would go against all logic, for a creature about a hundred metres in height could not possibly eat such a small amount of food. Hell, even if it ate all of us, it would only be a snack, not a full meal. I could see the confusion in my friend's eyes, she just didn't know what to do in this situation. But she made a decision the moment she faced my confident gaze.       - Promise me you won't die, Yuki! Otherwise, I'll come after you and kick your arse! - she cried out in tears. Her worries and demands were understandable. She had grown attached to me after all.       - It's too early for me to die. Go on, I'll catch up with you. - I throw to her in my already calm manner, though I realise myself that things are unlikely to be so rosy.       The girl wanted to add something, but was dumbfounded when she saw the terrible picture behind my back. At that moment, my intuition just shrieked of danger. I jumped aside, but even so I was hurt. The fox attacked me with his huge paw from the back. He was hungry, and I could feel it with every cell in my body. We stared into each other's eyes. I didn't show a drop of fear now, because I knew perfectly well that behind my back stood a man who was dear to me. I had no right to back down. Yumiko hesitated for a few more seconds before Mito took her hand, dragging her behind her forcefully.       It was already a minute later that we were alone.       - Aren't you afraid of me, little man? - The monster spoke in a bass tone. I could hear a hint of disdain in his voice. I didn't think he could even speak.       - They call you Kyubey no Yoko. We're just travellers who went our own way. We mean you no harm. - I answered him in a friendly tone, trying to show him that I was not his enemy. Do you think I realised it was him? It's very simple, the fox's voice was very rude.       - I'm a demon, and I don't care what you say. I'm just hungry," the biju grinned, looking at me with anger and rage. He inhaled more air into his lungs. I was almost sucked into his mouth from such a powerful pull. Then Kyubey, like a dragon, unleashed a huge stream of flames in my direction. Damn, I wouldn't have time to dodge. It covered too much area. Indeed, there was a tsunami of fire coming at me, and it was impossible to escape.       - Now I'll see if my ice is stronger than fire... The fire of the strongest biju! - I shouted at the top of my voice, fully immersed in the fervour of battle. I quickly formed a series of ten seals to create a counter technique.       - The element of ice, the coming storm technique! - I shout out the name of the technique, folding my hands together to perform this complex jutsu, and then a huge stream of icy air mixed with snow particles comes out of my hands.       The icy wind and the fire of the Greatest Tailed One collided, creating a veil of vapour. The technicians appeared to be equal in strength, much to Fox's surprise.       Without thinking long, I decided to take advantage of the loss of visibility. I had a plan, not even that, I had just one idea of how I could survive the battle with the tailed one. I started moving straight towards the fox, or rather towards where he had been the last time, leaving a path of ice in my wake. As it turned out, the demon wasn't standing still either. With a sudden movement of all its tails, it created a gust of wind that easily removed all the steam that was in its way. This attack was extensive and could have hit me, but I had the foresight not to go directly at the enemy, but to go around him. That manoeuvre allowed me to get close to Kyubey without serious consequences. The creature growled furiously, swinging his arm. It was obvious that it wanted to nail me like an ant with its huge paw. But even though it was huge, which made it hit a wide area at once, my speed was faster as it glided across the ice surface. As I got close enough to him, I began to pelt him with senbon. It might seem like a ridiculous thing to do, but these were not needles created by the ice elemental, but ordinary metal weapons that had the formulas of explosive seals inscribed on them. I knew very well that this attack would not cause any damage to such a great being. In fact, I hadn't even thought of that. The beast's fur is so tough. I just figured I'd have to piss the fox off. It would make it much easier to trap him. I purposely aimed for his eyes to make him uncomfortable.       After a few minutes of dance, in which the biju tried to stomp me, and I, patiently throwing my weapons at him and dodging all his attacks, prayed to all the gods that he didn't notice what I was doing. I don't know if the gods heard me or if the biju's patience had run out, but Kyubey lost control of himself, and I managed to finish my preparations just in time. The fox was so angry that he decided to burn the whole neighbourhood. He drew air into his lungs and blew the flames out at me, but this time I wasn't backing down. With a simple wave of my hand, supported by a mental command, I created a wall of ice that completely absorbed the damage from the demon's technique. The next technique was the most chakra-consuming in my arsenal. If it wasn't for the preparation to use it, I would have spent the rest of my chakra on it. But there was nothing to do. The creature decided to burn down the entire forest just to finally kill me. Our fight had already exceeded the limits of what was allowed for a ninja, so I had to finish it as quickly as possible, because my gut was telling me that someone would be here soon.       - Ice Element, Ice Oblivion Technique! - I said the name of the most complex technique in my arsenal at the moment, after I had finished folding a series of twenty-seven seals. With both hands on the ground, which was covered in a thick layer of ice, I began to pour all the remaining chakra into it. While I was busy with this action, the huge Fox continued to try to break through my defences, which were about to collapse under this onslaught of Kyubey fire. However, all things being equal, I had enough time in the nick of time to interrupt my enemy's jutsu.       First, a huge ice pillar with a diameter of four to five metres appeared from the ice-covered ground, and in the next second it had already begun to increase in size until it reached the Fox's throat. This tower of ice had a cone-shaped structure, making it able to easily pierce through the biju's fur. Kyubey even coughed from something like that. His coughing was accompanied by spitting out the remnants of fire from his throat. When he stopped, his gaze had already begun to exude hatred and murderous intent of an unimaginable level, which was directed at me. It was a good thing I had already finished the technique, otherwise my concentration would have been knocked out.       - You will die in agony, you lowlife! - The creature literally roared, starting to scowl heavily. The fox was about to start using some sort of technique, but my jutsu was already launched.       In the next instant, several dozen ice pillars burst out of the ground, beginning to pierce the demon in different parts of its body. Three of them hit its front paws, another dozen or so fixed its hind paws, five located on its body and neck, and each tail got one more. The huge monster was immobilised, and my chakra was at the minimum markings. I was breathing hard after that, trying to get as much oxygen into my lungs as I could, but there wasn't enough, because the fire had been raging around for quite some time now, mercilessly burning all the vegetation. I couldn't just stay where I was, because I wasn't that confident in my containment technique. As I left, I heard so many flattering words from Fox that my vocabulary had clearly had time to replenish. Honestly, I had no idea Kyubey could swear so harshly. To be honest, I didn't feel good at that moment, and that was putting it mildly. The hard fight and the carbon dioxide inhalation had taken its toll. Everything started to swim in front of my eyes as soon as I entered the forest. I don't know how long I moved in such a state, but I definitely remember that I lost consciousness climbing a tree when I had no strength to walk....